We are back at it again with another GO Hub reacts after the most recent ‘trial’ event, A Colossal Discovery! This event was different from others in many ways, the most prominent being that a ticket cost 7.99 USD, and the content of the event was available from wherever you were. This event featured a special research to obtain the Legendary Pokémon, Regigigas, ten free raid passes, and increased Tier 5 raids to name a few.
If you have read or skimmed a GO Hub reacts post in the past, then you know how this works. If not, I had asked members of GO Hub to fill out an optional survey about the event covering a few topics: What was good, what was bad, what suggestions do you have. I feel that covering those three topics is the best way to approach the analysis of a trial event. Remember that all of these responses are pure opinion, and you can feel free to leave your opinion in the comments as well!
All the opinions shown in this article are from staff who either bought the ticket and played, or did not buy the ticket but went out and played alongside people who had the ticket.
Table of Contents
What about the event went well?
The raid frequency was fantastic. It never felt like we were looking for a raid to do for very long. I appreciated that the raid difficulty was taken down to tier 4 level as it meant one car could solo raid and not have to worry about organising a larger group. We managed 34 raids, only doing 3 in the first hour. That might not seem like a lot to some but in a small town without huge gym density it is the most we’ve ever done in a day! We were organised beforehand and set up a group chat and planned where to meet and accounts per vehicle, and I think that really helped us. We had a really good fun day and thoroughly enjoyed getting to do so many raids in an area there that would usually be impossible.
- Kittypokemonsalot, GO Hub Junior Writer
I thought the raid consistency was great, because we had originally planned to meet at a park with 3 gyms, then travel around town because our gyms are pretty sparce, and we didn’t have to leave the park often at all! We could turn around and BOOM there would be a new raid. It made the event a lot less stressful than it could have been, especially with the research being so raid-oriented.
The 10 free passes allowed all the ticket-holders to raid as a group and not worry about losing people as the event went on. At least 10 raids were guaranteed with the same people. The shiny rate was decent, as sometimes we can go dozens of raids without anyone ever getting a shiny, but at least 1 person got a shiny every raid!
- AutumnalKitsune, GO Hub Writer
The availability of raids during the event period.
- Dare, GO Hub Moderator
The large number of Regi trio raids I had in my place throughout the day. The addition of Lock On was amazing! Also liked the rewards for the Colossal Discovery
- MeteorAsh15, GO Hub Junior Writer
10 free raid passes were great and the field research tasks opened up shiny checks on a whole new level, which made side missions worthwhile.
- Grumwitch, GO Hub Junior Writer
The catch rate on the raid bosses, and the mix of research tasks from stops. Moving around the city collecting quests, then raiding to complete those quests, then collecting more quests on the way to the next raid was really smooth.
- EpicBookworm, GO Hub Junior Writer
The raids spawned very fast and a lot of people were here.
- 123321mario, GO Hub Moderator
The rate of raids was constant, like as soon as our group was done with one, another popped up a short walk away, even at gyms we just raided at. I did 15 raids in 3 hours, which is more than I’m usually able to do during events like Moltres, Raikou day and such. Making the Regis, one of the bulkiest bosses, into easy trios was a great decision, it was so much better than worrying about having enough people. Our community was having a great time, discussing the research, trading, and generally having a good atmosphere.
- Platinum, GO Hub Junior Writer
The frequency of the raids.
- Diogo dos Santos, GO Hub Writer
The free passes with the ticket were a good choice
- Rogue, GO Hub Moderator
Rewards and pass delivery, Research design and tandem events with non ticket holders.
- C9Gotem, GO Hub Junior Writer
The easy quest line made it achievable within the given time duration. The rewards were decent and gave trainers a sense of completion with the final prize being Regigigas. It got communities working together which in the grand scheme of things is what Pokémon GO is about and made it clear that this was the idea Niantic had when they announced this event.
- Avrip, GO Hub Junior Writer
The Unova Stone award (since it’s the rarest evolution item at the moment) and the Avatar Pose’s exclusivity. I’m not a huge fan of this specific pose, but I have it on my avatar because it’s the only one I have. Also the 10 free raid passes offered a great help to raid the Regis.
- ASilvaSLB, GO Hub Moderator
The 10 free passes gave players a good chance to nab at least one if not multiple shiny Regis, plus the short timers on eggs and frequent T5 raids occurring in almost every gym was a good thing. Furthermore, this event brought our local community together and everyone was out raiding/catching and having a good time together.
What about the event could have been done better?
The raid timers didnt seem to work consistently. We would head past a gym with no egg on it to another raid, and then the gym we had passed would suddenly have a regi on it with 20 minutes to go. We also seemed to have an abundance of regirock raids vs regice and registeel. The pokestop research for us was mostly raid/trade which worked well as they were quickly achieved, but the win a battle against another trainer task took too long and held us up so it was mostly abandoned.
- Kittypokemonsalot, GO Hub Junior Writer
The spawns were lack luster, they were the same spawns everyone had, and frankly playing in a nest on my part did not do me justice (If I ever see another Turtwig ever again…..). The field research started to get difficult after a while, and could not be done alone, you needed at least one other person with you at all times. The special research was okay, but it could have been longer and had more variety. Because of this, if another event like this happened, I would probably opt just to go out and raid without even buying a ticket, unless more was different for ticket holders.
- AutumnalKitsune, GO Hub Writer
For a paid event, it needed to feel more exclusive. Non ticket holders got to experience a lot of the event as well, with the spawns and raids being available to everyone, we ended up basically paying for a Regigigas and a pose.
- Dare, GO Hub Moderator
It was a good event all right. I honestly have nothing against the event. However, I hope trainers who did not want to get the ticket also have access to a good Regigigas. I hope Niantic doesn’t overdo these kind of events as Pokémon Go is largely popular for being a free game. Let’s keep it that way.
- MeteorAsh15, GO Hub Junior Writer
For this event being an exclusive premium ticketed event felt very abrupt and short. Even for rural players, which this event seemed to be tailored towards, seemed to have an incomplete and brief experience all around. The field research tasks motivated me to keep grinding but the lackluster rewards and amount of stardust, as well as the lack of spawns and items (charge TMs, dust, etc) quickly made me realize this event was strictly focused on catching Regigigas early and nothing more. Not everyone is shiny hunting so having a diverse field research reward pool would have been rewarding (ie: stardust, exp point, charge TMs and more).
- Grumwitch, GO Hub Junior Writer
A longer period for the raid bosses outside of the event. The short time frame for the Regis put more stress on finding those shinies than there needed to be.
- EpicBookworm, GO Hub Junior Writer
It looked like a regular 3 hours legendary event but on 8 hours instead.
- 123321mario, GO Hub Moderator
The special research was a little bland, being over way too fast. Half our group completed it in a bit over an hour, and some of the field research was a bit of a time sink. The “win a trainer battle” task especially, should’ve been “battle a trainer” so that both sides clear the quest. Outside of raiding and the quests, there wasn’t much to the event, as there were about 5 spawns and few of them were exceptional (Magnemite, one of my faves, and Swinub). The shiny rate wasn’t incredible, only a few of our group got a shiny in the 10 (12 as some keep a freebie from Friday) raids given (myself included, brag brag).
- Platinum, GO Hub Junior Writer
The shiny rate. 33 raids > 0 shiny! 0 shiny wild Pokémon as well.
- Diogo dos Santos, GO Hub Writer
The special research was not very challenging, and I finished it in less than an hour
- Rogue, GO Hub Moderator
Allow Skarmory to be a unique spawn for pass holders, rather than just behind quests. There have been quite a few “limited shiny quest” events and can be a negative impact to not get a single shiny after 60+ quest completion attempts.
- C9Gotem, GO Hub Junior Writer
The quest line could have been mixed up a bit, rather then just catching 7 of a certain Pokémon type, then evolving it and doing that 3 times, doing something unique for each quest line would have been a nice touch.
- Avrip, GO Hub Junior Writer
The free raid passes amount. There should’ve been more than 10, given the fact more raids were popping up on that day and the Tier 5 raids’ were easier to take down. The secondary rewards for special research (such as Stardust) should have been better as well.
- ASilvaSLB, GO Hub Moderator
The wild spawns could have been increased. Skarmory was a featured shiny for this event, and while skarmory research tasks were plentiful, I feel like they could have been added to the pool of wild spawns as well.
What suggestions do you have for events like this in the future?
The regigigas research was surprisingly short, we had it completed within the first hour. It might have been fun for it to be longer, but it did also allow us to then concentrate on raiding. A bit more consistency with the 15 min egg and 45 minute raid would help people achieve more raids. For rural players this sort of event is nearly impossible as it does require a group and multiple gyms. I travelled two towns over for higher gym density and to meet my raid group.
A higher shiny rate for wild spawns would make it more interesting for rural players as even if they were unable to mass raid, it would give a more event style feel to it, something like the castform shiny rates on lotad day for example, but only for the ticketed players. A bit more transparency that it was essentially a 7 hour raid day would potentially have helped as I think players who couldn’t do the whole event struggled to hop in mid way through the day as raid groups were small and concentrated and moving quickly. On a raid day like the legendary birds a route is easily shared, but this was more back and for and hopping quickly all over to squeeze in more raids. Potentially the regi shiny rate could be a touch higher with it being such a limited time, but I also understand that shinies are meant to be rare, not guaranteed for everyone. Overall a great day in my opinion!
- Kittypokemonsalot, GO Hub Junior Writer
I think spawn points and special spawns for ticket holders would entice a lot of people who did not buy this ticket this time around to give it a shot next time. Having Skarmory in the wild with a decent shiny chance would have been cool! Make it feel more like a Go Fest, in the way that spawns are diverse and have a decent shiny rate for hunters. Make it more different for ticket holders than for people without tickets, because it just felt like I paid for a research.
Also, the “Win a Battle” task should have just been “Battle another Trainer” because battling twice each time for someone to win was time consuming, and let’s be real, they weren’t real battles.
Add more research that can be done alone, so that you don’t have to run around with a group for 8 hours!
- AutumnalKitsune, GO Hub Writer
If people are going to pay for something, at least give them something where it feels like they’re getting something out of it – not just a pokémon which everyone gets eventually. Even the free passes didnt really work out as for some places in the world, we could have gotten far more out of buying premium passes than we did from the event ticket.
- Dare, GO Hub Moderator
Definitely decrease the cost. I’m not saying that the $7.99 was too expensive, but this amount is not possible for everyone. So reducing the cost could probably bring in many more players and make the event more acceptable.
- MeteorAsh15, GO Hub Junior Writer
From an objective standpoint I would suggest making the special research more difficult with premium rewards (ie: super incubators, star pieces, raid passes, etc) since many local raid groups in the area finished the special research within 45mins to an hour. Increasing the spawns with fully evolved or rare Pokemon would have made grinding star dust or shiny hunting more excited post special research. Making the rewards appealing to all players with different goals (battlers, shiny hunters, exp builders, and grinders) would have made the ticket price worth while. I personally finished the special research with my small raid group in less than an hour, but we all made the best of it since we all enjoyed spending time and catching up with each other. There are battlers, shiny hunters and grinders in our group, so if the special research, as well and the field research, allowed everyone in our group to maximize their goals accordingly the event would have felt satisfying.
- Grumwitch, GO Hub Junior Writer
Have the featured raid Pokemon be available on the weekends either side of the ticket – less likely to feel pressured for the shinies.
- EpicBookworm, GO Hub Junior Writer
Regigigas would be better if only available to people with the pass (no ex raids later)and add something else than a weird pose to those who bought the pass, I mean people without the pass still got a lot of things
- 123321mario, GO Hub Moderator
Of course a lower price point would help, somewhere around £4 rather than £8, or even let it be bought with pokecoins. This event’s raid frequency was good, and should be translated over to raid days; 8 hours, constant spawn rate, but maybe 5 free passes to keep them free. Ticket holders probably need more incentive, like bonus spawns, premium items in the research like incubators and silver pinaps, and maybe a better pose (it’s not great and clashes with a lot of clothes).
- Platinum, GO Hub Junior Writer
CD shiny odds, since we are paying. It will be more fun to get 1 or 2 shiny during a paid event.
- Diogo dos Santos, GO Hub Writer
The research just needed to have more, and make it more challenging and maybe more steps to it.
- Rogue, GO Hub Moderator
I enjoyed the special research, but it was not solo-player friendly and wasnt implicit that you couldn’t do it solo. Give pass holders unique spawns, it would feel really special!!
- C9Gotem, GO Hub Junior Writer
Giving trainers the opportunity to purchase the ticket in other ways rather then just with real money, such as being able to use Poké coins or even being able to certain tasks in the game that would grand access to the ticket. Many players did not participate in this event due to the cost of the ticket which I believe they will learn from and take into consideration.
- Avrip, GO Hub Junior Writer
One major factor that was lacking this event was a slightly increased shiny rate, similarly to the GO Fest and Safari Zone events. It can get frustrating to do multiple quests awarding Skarmory, and not see one single shiny Skarmory, given the Skarmory spawn rate was almost non-existent.
- ASilvaSLB, GO Hub Moderator
Personally I would like to see the requirements/tasks for completing the research to be a bit more challenging and difficult to complete. For a day long event, many people were done within the first 1.5 to 2 hours. Would also like to see extra spawns/spawn points added just for the duration of such an event.
Final Thoughts
The resounding message seems to be, “Good event, but it needed more, and needed to be more exclusive”. You could get basically the same experience with a few raid passes, without even buying the ticket! Unless something else is added (cough… SPAWNS… cough), it is likely many players will skip buying a future ticket, and just raid instead. Overall, it was a great event for a test, and I feel like there is a lot that Niantic could do to make the in-game rewards more… rewarding. Who do you agree with most? Do you have an entirely different opinion? Let us know, but always remember that suggestions are the best contribution to making a change!
