Lots and lots of new things going on. Some great, some good, some jury’s still out, some need to be called out.
Should be Great: Spawn Points Changes for the rural player (granted, those players who had their spawn sites widened out may disagree, but those are likely more urban players and they probably have a more robust amount of spawn points). I wish I could rate this great. It seems as though in many areas, especially the rural areas, that there are more spawn points. This is great news to balance the game out and let players who don’t have as many opportunities to catch in the past should (theoretically) have more. Note the key word in that sentence and read on.
Has to be Called Out: Spawn Points Changes (in my experience) A lot of people have benefitted and talk about new or more home spawns. I was hoping to get some home spawns with this improvement. However, I still get 0 home spawns without incense. Bitter Disappointment
Great: Less tiers in raids. Sometimes simpler is better. In this case, less tiers in raids is awesome. This makes more raids accessible for all players. 1* (and previously 2*) raids tend to be the smaller basic Pokemon which will help the newer players. Turning the 2* raids easier will make it easier to collect those basic Pokemon. Remember, the Newbie Quests include getting Gold Medals in the first few generations. Raids tend to favor those generations from what I can tell. This also allows for all raids other raids to be soloable for the veteran players. By the time a player can solo a 3* raid, those players are looking to enhance talent levels, which raids can provide. Former 4* raids are generally in that range. Also, veteran players can assist newer players in these raids knowing full well that a victory is not out of grasp. This leads to less wasted passes as well. The prizes are also kicked up a notch so 1* raids yield 2* prizes and 3* raid yield 4* prizes. Hopefully with this comes more raids, especially in areas where gyms are more spread out.
Great: Heatran made its triumphant return to 5* Raids. One of my favorites and I hope to get another good one to build up.
Jury’s Still Out: Mega Evolutions. Too new and I haven’t had enough first hand experience with it. Yes, check Leek Duck or your favorite Pokemon News site for more on this. It sounds neat, but I am not 100% sure of it yet. More as I play and see what this all entails. I have played a few and like what I see so far.
Moose's Pokemon Go Blog 