"Pokémon Go's" recent "Catch Mastery" event was meant to thrill trainers by increasing Shiny spawn rates for fossil Pokémon such as Kabuto and Omanyte. Unfortunately, Niantic dropped the ball once again, frustrating many players after they found that Shiny Omanyte and Shiny Kabuto had no added spawn rates.
Despite the AR company claiming to have fixed the problem, it was already too late for many players, particularly those in previous time zones.
Niantic Acknowledges Shiny Encounter Rate Mistake On 'Catch Mastery'
The weekend "Catch Mastery" event was intended to improve the probability of catching Shiny versions of particular fossil Pokémon. But, after a change, Niantic admitted the error and acknowledged Shiny Omanyte and Shiny Kabuto had not featured with enhanced spawn rates as designed.
On its official support page Niantic Help on X (formerly Twitter) page, Niantic clarified the issue:
"Trainers, we have resolved an issue where Shiny Omanyte and Shiny Kabuto did not have an increased chance of being encountered during the Catch Mastery event. We will follow up soon with more information for affected Trainers."
Players Report No Improvement Even After Fix
Even after Niantic claimed to have solved the problem, "Pokémon Go" players did not notice any real difference in the rate of Shiny encounters. No matter the hours of gameplay time and thousands of Poke Balls burned, little was to be rewarded for this effort from the trainers.
ComicBook spotted some frustrating comments because numerous people swore this was no one-time mishap but continued behavior from them.
Fans Express Frustration Over Niantic's Repeated Mistakes
Niantic's inability to increase Shiny encounter rates has disillusioned many players. Various trainers used X to express their disappointment, with some indicating that such problems are occurring all too frequently in "Pokémon Go" events.
According to one player: "I'm not sure it was fixed. I did the whole event. I saw 1 shiny omanyte, 1 shiny kabuto, 1 shiny archen. This is ridiculous for an 8-hour event that I played in its entirety, catching dozens of Pokémon."
Another person said that it's annoying to know that they were catching Pokémon in Sydney that's currently 37 degrees Celsius only to find out that the boosts were not working.
Some gamers hope that this problem will be fixed once Scopely takes over "Pokemon Go."
Will Niantic Provide Compensation to Impacted Trainers?
Niantic has pledged to come back with information about how it intends to pay trainers who were affected. Yet, it is still not specified how the company will determine who should be paid and in what form.
Since many participated in the event, most feel that everyone who participated within the event's window should be included.
Meanwhile, check these three "Pokémon Go" codes for your Legendary Pokémon catching.
