Gyms seem to be a forgotten part of the game. Yes, the 50 coins for 8+ hours of defending (daily cap) is a nice bonus and I want to get them as I can. However, if I need coins, I will buy them normally. Admittedly, I have a hard time getting to gyms as none are overly convenient. This is a byproduct of where I live and my driving/walking patterns (especially on weekdays).
When I see a blue gym, it seems like more often than not that it is filled with all 6 Pokemon. Sometimes they are all at or near full strength, but usually they are down near the end of their strength, but have been there for a day (way more than what is needed for the 50 coins). When I play in an area with multiple gyms, it seems like many are all filled up with the same people (I look since sometimes I can see who might be around to talk to). Without a same color challenge system like I mentioned in one of my first ever posts, this just clogs many gyms. If there is not a decent enough force of the other teams around, many gyms just sit with the same 6 Trainers in them. This is common where I play on weekends. Sometimes I see where there are one to three (of 10) opposition color gyms. I do not always fight them since then the entire area would go my color and that is not fun either. I remember how little fun it was when an opposition color was the dominant color in gyms and commonly had all of the gyms locked down (mostly due to one Player… even some on the same team noted this behavior) where I play and my color couldn’t make any inroads. The third color has never been dominant as far as I know, though they are making some in-roads now. In fact, they are now the main opposition team and have been about 50/50 at times.
Platinum Badges have been a part of Pokemon Go for a while now. These give another level to the common tasks and actions we do as Trainers. I have earned 27 of these so far. I enjoy these for various reasons and I can see similar fun for Platinum Gyms.
I have a renewed interest in some of the badged tasks due to the Platinum Badges. I was thrilled with the Fighting type focus when that happened, as I gained my Black Belt Platinum Badge during this time. Steel (Rail Staff) helped get Meltans/Melmetals get back into focus. Even finishing the Pikachu Fan Badge put some focus and upped my desire to catch one of my least favorite Pokemon creatures while on the chase. I kept track of my Rocket fights to get to 2000 fights (Hero). Even when playing with friends, I sometimes mention how a certain raid can be towards multiple Badges: Rising Star Duo (raid with friend), either Champion or Battle Legend (Non T5 and T5 Count) possibly Rising Star (Different Species), and/or whatever type badge(s).
Platinum Gym badges would likely renew interest in many of the gyms. Make the goal XP high enough that most gold gyms will not go automatically Platinum. I would like to see a significant XP jump. Gold requires 30,000 XP. I would think 100,000 Gym XP would do good to get at least a few Platinum Gyms out there for Trainers to see that the goal exists. However, a minimum 250-300,000 Gym XP would not be out of the question. Many of the currently badged tasks have a significant jump from Gold to Platinum status. Some have a 10-25 times the between Gold and Platinum. 25x (750,000 XP) would be outrageous based on the point system. It currently takes about 3 weeks of defending a Gym without Raids, 30 raids without defending activities, or a combination of the two major types of Gym activities (Defense and Raids). Yes, taking over the Gym, feeding, and spinning the Gym Photodisc count give Gym XP, but those avenues are normally I know I would want to revisit my current Gold Gyms to work on them and turn them Platinum.
I was also surprised that gym attacking and defending was the only major discipline not represented in the Level 41-50 Challenges. Yes, you can prove your gym skills through getting the 3 gym based Medals a part of the 5 Gold and eventually 35 Platinum Medals you need to get to Level 50. However, none of the levels require you to say… defend a gym for a time frame (not necessarily in a row, can be x hours over any number of gym defense periods, like the Gym Leader Badge) or fight so many gym battles. Every other discipline is represented… from catching to Rockets to PvP. Why not gyms?
Moose's Pokemon Go Blog 