New Features – Some Great, Some Not So Much

April 15, 2020 brought a lot of news to the Pokemon Go world. Some of these are great news… some not at all.

First thing that is mentioned is the final (hopefully not) information about Remote Raid Passes. Only if you have a gym on your Nearby Screen (where we catch Pokemon) will you be able to use them. Great for those in urban areas where there are plenty of gyms (I remember in my nearby screen in Manhattan there were so many gyms that one could have used this pass idea and gotten at least a dozen or more, and that was only looking in one direction!), but not so much for those of us in rural areas. As I have mentioned in the past, I have one gym in my nearby screen, which is off a 2 lane each way numbered highway and I cannot see it from my house. In fact, it is virtually impossible to tell if anyone else is at the site until you get there. The gym doesn’t change color often (at least when I look), so it’s not heavily trafficked. This is absolutely no help to me, since I don’t know the people who put into the gym and cannot coordinate a raid. I feel for people who have 0 gyms in their nearby screens. This is completely useless to me and to many other players. Once again, the rural community is overlooked.

Next, they mention that we get a a bonus Field Research daily without visiting a Pokestop. Double edged sword really… though yes, it is helpful, especially if the research is easy to get without venturing outside. However, with this comes the lack of spinning (which let’s face it, spinning the Pokestop bonus is huge). Maybe this is remedied by the next announcement, that our Buddy Pokemon will go out and find gifts from nearby Pokestops. That would help out a lot, so that we don’t have to go outside, but only if the Pokestops are still spun.

At the end, there are two great things. First, the ability to multi-level Pokemon is a dream come true. There are multiple Pokemon characters I would like to level up, but having to go one at a time for multiple levels is a pain. That and stacking Star Pieces, Lucky Eggs, and Incenses makes perfect sense. There are times I would like to get 1 hour of effects at a time, so allowing the stacking makes sense. Hopefully there will be more good updates in the near future!