I read this in a previous post. Is this true? If so, how?
Hardly. The game is very much designed from a city player's perspective. Anyone who has played in a heavily populated city and then played in a rural area or vice versa can testify. The difference is pretty staggering but understandable considering the game is based around cell phone activity data.
The situation has improved alot since launch but in-game Pokestop submissions can't come soon enough
They have made an effort to assist low density areas. Heatran was a pretty easy duo for a dedicated player(s). Kyogre and Groudon can be done with 3 VERY consistently. Also made getting eggs thru gifts somewhat worthwhile. However, I was in a rural area for 5 days of Rayquaza first run (March 2018) and I just never knew when a tier 5 was going to be at the very few gyms available, I had the capacity to beat Rayquaza. At this point, number of gyms, spawns and pokestops major issues for rural players (yeah, much of the game)
The only nice things I've found about rural areas are that:
It's much easier to control gyms
Rare spawns seem more frequent, although that's probably because what I consider to be rare in my urban center isn't rare elsewhere (i.e. different biomes). However perhaps I've just gotten lucky with some of the wild Pokemon I've found in rural areas.
That's about it
As others have pointed out, Niantic has made some changes to the game that are quality of life improvements for rural players. To say that Niantic "panders" to rural players, however, is entirely inaccurate. Players who live in more densely crowded areas have advantages across the board with the exception of ease of gym control. Anyone who claims that Niantic is pandering to rural players is either misinformed or trolling.
Rural/small town players have:
Fewer stops (less items)
Fewer gyms (less items, less opportunity for battling and gym control)
Fewer raids
Fewer players to do the raids
Fewer spawn points
Less variety in their game play experience (I take one exact same route of 10-15 stops/gyms). There is no "exploring" except to go to an entirely different town
On the plus side:
Easier to take gyms and earn coins (except for exceptionally rural places with no turnover at all)
You know every single player in town
Everything is close together (because there after less than 10 gyms).
Tl;Dr does Niantic pander to rural players? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL no.
Thanks! I drive 15 miles round trip to walk 6.7 kilometers to hit 14 stops and 6 gyms. (Uphill the whole way of course). The nearest EX gym is 40 mile rt. If there is some minor favoritism, I think we earned it. I put my shiny triple MG in a gym after community day and it sat there for 2 weeks. Been playing for 6 months and defended that gym for 90 days. Coin payout per day not so great, but probably better than the biggest cities.
