4 Problems With Pokémon Go Raids

Pokémon Go just got its biggest update since launch, bringing raids into the game. Playing together with friends has been an important part of the game’s identity, even if it was never actually part of the game. Ever since the original trailer showed trainers gathering together to fight a Mewtwo in Times Square, players have been begging Niantic to add raids into the game. They have finally listened, though it’s not as spectacular as we hoped. There are a ton of problems with the new raid modes, ranging from annoying level caps to the lack of legendary Pokémon.

One Raid Pass A Day- In order to be a part of a raid, you need to get a raid pass. You can only collect one of these items a day from spinning a gym’s pokéstop, which means you can only play one raid a day. And you can’t get another raid pass unless you use the one already in your inventory, which means you can’t hoard passes either. That is, unless you want to spend real world money on a premium pass.

With this system in place, Niantic is alienating casual fans who don’t have the time or luxury to drop whatever they are doing and join a raid.

“Please stop hurting us by putting long hours of play time behind a paywall, we really want to play your game,” Kitter-Katter shared in a reddit post. “I just can't afford to buy a bunch of raid passes and I can't afford to play everyday.”

Join Lobby Before Using Pass- This is a quality of life change that needs to be implemented sooner rather than later. If you go to a raid, you have to spend your pass just to get into the lobby. If there’s nobody fighting with you or you have to bail for some emergency, you lose your raid pass. That means, even if you know you can’t beat a boss single-handedly, you still have to spend your pass to check.

I decided to check out a level three raid today, thinking that it might be something rare. It turned out to be just a Flareon, but there were a ton of people milling around on their phones so I thought it would be an easy fight. None of those bystanders glued to their smartphones were playing Pokémon Go , so I was stuck fighting a 23,000 CP fire dog with nothing but my own team. I managed to scrape an eighth of its health before my team got wiped. I wish I could have checked the lobby, seen nobody was playing and not wasted my pass.

Where Are The Legendaries?- When dataminers first uncovered the code for raids in Pokémon Go , there was mention of “legendary raid bosses.” You needed a special Legendary raid pass that dropped randomly after defeating a boss and then needed to wait for a Legendary battle to begin. So far, none of those have happened and Legendary Pokémon are still just a myth.

I know Niantic wants to wait until raids have been tested out and hype is at an all-time high, but I can’t live without a Ho-Oh. I’ll go to the ends of the earth, or at least to New Jersey, to fight and capture one of these glorious beasts. Give me my shiny bird Pokémon, Niantic.

The Level Cap- My girlfriend is only level 22 and can’t help me in a raid. Please Niantic, lower the level cap to 20. She’s getting tired of being dragged all over the place for Pokémon she can’t catch.