I've whined before about ex raid passes, which i think is a terrible way to limit mewtwos availability. Logically it seems to make more sense to make them freely available like other legendaries, but with a really bad catch rate (say 0.5%) if they want to make mewtwo really difficult to obtain. More people would buy passes trying to get one, more money for niantic.
So how does the ex raid pass system benefit niantic?
Why are they doing it?
Is there some sort of conspiracy? like it's a condition in their sponsorship contracts that they only make mewtwo avalaible at sponsored locations?
There's a resigned feeling among my group that we won't ever get access to mewtwo. Something smells fishy.
I don't think they'll only make them available at sponsored stops, but more often compared to other gyms.
There would be a ton of backlash if they did, and as seen with the moveset rebalancing when they made every single quick move take >1 second they're willing to revert changes if there's too much negative feedback.
43 Raikou raids, I only saw 1 at 1906, until today I was stuck on 1900--but landed that 1902. I'm still hoping to catch another Raikou that is 1906+. It is a little bit easier since I don't have to chat and organize a park raid. I just go to a sponsored one and it is already set up to quickly happen
Sure...but is that going to be consistent across different countries and regions - who are all experiencing different weather, different seasons and any other social variables?
Just because it happens a specific way in America...it doesn't guarantee that kind of information is going to be useful or consistent anywhere else.
Guessing they want it after normal working/school hours and in semi-public/safe places. It might not be fair, but it is a tough thing operate. Making the catch rate tougher is an option, but it doesn't always squeeze the people they want it to. Personally, I flat out can only raid weekends and 5pm to 8pm--pretty sure they don't want to offend "normal people" by having them at 10:30am on a Tuesday
You're not alone, I'm so over the entire raid thing as well. Many of us (rural players; people with RL responsibilities such as jobs and families; players who don't care to use Discord etc) were completely left out in the cold. Legendary raids in isolated gyms on remote hiking trails, but none in a popular city park on the weekend, and other blunders did not help either. So I'm wondering if they're currently trying to do some research on how to do it better? Of course, those who could get many other legendaries easily are crying foul.
You can't please everyone. However, I'm enjoying the current event. Something they're doing right!
I'm fine with the sponsors wanting some exclusivity, thats business, just wish they'd be honest about it rather than this 'testing' bollocks. Apart from the invite, a mewteo raid is no different from a normal raid at their end, an not expecting a full roll out til after the legendary dogs are done with
I have a theory that came to me as I was driving by a lonely Quilava raid at a non-sponsored gym and was wondering who would even bother with these any more? Then I ran into a group (A GROUP!) that had just come from doing a Magikarp at a Starbucks.
I think the original plan was to have all legendaries be EX (invitation only), but the disaster of Go Fest cause them to panic and overcompensate. But now they're trying to roll back to the EX system and are doing it slowly only at sponsored gyms, probably adding regions to test all aspects (turnout, server load, etc). Once they have finished that phase, I think they'll open it up to any gym being able to get you an invite.
How does this benefit Niantic? It encourages people to do as many raids, whatever the level, at as many different gyms as possible. People will probably think before automatically passing by that Quilava. I see this end-game is the ONLY way Niantic can build up non-legendary raid participation.
I think the original plan was to have all legendaries be EX (invitation only), but the disaster of Go Fest cause them to panic and overcompensate
I totally agree, from the earlier communications this appeared to be the case; after Go Fest, they overdid the damage control. Then the gold started to roll in and they just enjoyed the huge raid pass sales.
For me, it can only get better (I have no - zero - legendaries), so I'm patiently awaiting any positive changes.
I've thought of that before. Ironically it backs up my conspiracy theory even more, people more likely to do those magikarp raids at those sponsored gyms, making sponsors more happy ;)
IMO the testing theory is a bs cover up story for their real intentions. They didn't have any qualms about giving everyone in Japan a free mewtwo ;)
