What should be Niantic's next priority?
First of all, props to Niantic for rolling out 2 significant changes to the game in such a relatively short span (Weather and Research).
What big changes or additions would you like to see next?
Answers
We need a more compelling pvp/teamvteam mechanic - whether trainer battles or something else. I miss the competition of the old gym battle system.
Imo, we also need something that will permanently or at least long-term remove a high level / decent mon from circulation. Maybe something where you can battle with it, and then transfer it to hall of fame for some sort of reward? I dunno - I'd just like something that could "use up" all these decent but not top-tier mons.
Yeah, props indeed, Niantic hitting the mark of late. Some nice little challenges, the 3 excellent shots on the spin gave me some entertainment today, finally got it with 2 on a sudowoodo & 1 on a ledyba. Larvitar the prize so worth the effort. I'd like another gym rework next up. Raids work fine, quests give the game a great new dimension but the gym/coins system is sadly lacking. With more & more trainers having powered up legendaries, even fully motivated gyms are just too easy & boring. I'm not advocating a return to the old system but having to know & choose the right counters is a fundamental part of Pokémon & they need to strike a balance between attack & defence. At the very least give us something to think about when gymming for coins.
I like the newest additions, but I still hate the gym system and will only be casual unless it changes. I hate the thing where I have to battle a Pidgey 3 times to knock it out. I want to fight good Pokemon, strong defenders, and I want to be deterred by the team, not berry feeding. I think the decay is too quick.
Living in a cold environment, we have 2 types of gyms...highly contested gyms you can play from your car, that hurts the minority team extremely, and gyms you can't reach by car, and Pokemon can sit there for days, even weeks without being touched. I actually like the local spoofer because he is the only way I can get coins from a hard to reach gym. Unfortunately, he hits all the gyms at the same time, so there is never a point in having more than 1 Pokemon at any time.
The cold weather also makes raids impossible, as people aren't out and about. I don't even worry about legendaries.
Another idea. Another cold weather idea. Connect walking to heart rate. My fit bit knows I'm working out because of my heart rate, regardless of my GPS. I do cardio 5 days a week, but the only distance I have logged since October/November, is when I open the game up just before I get home when I'm driving, close it, and open it at home a few minutes later, hoping to get a little distance.
I would like to see something that makes more mon useful. Prestiging did this to an extent. Having to do something random with a mon for research credit does to an extent, too, but this lends itself to being too random (I'm really lucky I kept a magikarp around to evolve. I mostly only keep final evolutions.) ...maybe some feature of gym battles that rewards using something other than the usual dozen, or so.
I would love some effect that changes your team. Something like once a month you have the option of entering a portal and when you come out you get some bonus PLUS you are on one of the other teams. I think that would really help the bad blood between strangers in many areas and add a fun twist to the game.
Perhaps conducting sufficient field research on an area of Poke-Stops could give you access to a map that you could, from at home, "travel" to to see what pokestops are there, pokemon are on the nearby, and what Raids are nearby. Complete enough tasks from a certain stop and you can travel there, not interact with anything there but at least see things like what Raids are popping in the area. This would both solve the need for an in-game Raid scanner and further motivate people to complete more of these hollow-feeling Field Tasks.
My idea is to see special gyms introduced – not all, just a few of these scattered around.
Every time a gym is cleared, you get a random type e.g.
– can only use mons less than 1000 CP (defender and attacker)
– only babies
– a certain number of legendaries allowed.
New types could be introduced every now and then, or rotated like raid bosses.
This would give variety by making more mons useful while still allowing people who like the old gym system to collect their 50 coins in the normal way.
