Go Fest 2021 ended on Sunday after a full weekend of Pokemon action. There were highlights, lowlights, and some in between. Please remember, this is based on my experience only, your individual experience may have been different.
Very Excellent: I saw more Wailmer on Saturday than I have in a VERY long time. That alone made my Saturday, in spite of other issues discussed later. Can we please see more Wailmer in regular game play?
Excellent: The sheer number of raids made the game feel totally worth it. I was in an area where I could access 10 gyms pretty quickly between live (in-person) and remote raids. The 20 minutes was enough in this environment, especially when the live raid was close enough to where I was. I could make quick decisions with the various groups I was in that I could get there and not worry. There was definitely not a shortage of raids to choose from while I was there. (Note: this is not an endorsement of 20 minute raid times during regular gameplay. This is for special days that are announced with multiple weeks notice)
Excellent: The variety of T5 raids was off the charts. I would say that one way or another, everyone got at least one chance at their favorite(s). I did, and some that were not my favorite. This should be a staple of marquee event like this. Future T5 Days like this would be welcomed, even if independent of a bigger event and the raid passes are not doled out in such a larger quantity.
Excellent: The community. I was able to live raid with old friends and new friends where I was. I could probably find a team to raid with for just about every raid. It does help that where I normally play is a hub. It was great getting my Fiancee a Zekrom, which she missed when it was out. There were other newer players who were excited for getting the T5 bosses they missed out on for whatever reason. Seeing veterans going after their favorites, myself included, was great. I also had some great remote friends who were sending me remote raid after remote raid. I know I missed a bunch of them due to a live raid and taking a remote from whomever called first. This was amazing for me, and I look forward to next year based on this.
Mediocre: With the sheer number of gyms I had to access, I thought that there would be a more even number of raids. I do not recall a single Azelf locally. I remember during the last hour not seeing any live Rayquaza. I was expecting that there would be more coordination of the raids. There were times where there were 3 or 4 raids of one particular raid! Yes, I know I could have done remote raid site raids for some these if I wanted. I was hoping to do more raids with people I knew (live or remote) since that method is a lot easier than trying to fight for a spot on a remote raid site.
Meh: The fact that there were T1 and T3 raids during the T5 Raid Hours. I don’t think anyone was out on Sunday during the Go Fest Hours were going for anything but T5. Those could have been promoted on during Saturday and before 10 local and after 6 local.
Poor: Shiny count was pretty poor for me at least. Not as bad as last year when I got 4 throughout, but 14 all event is pretty low. I was expecting Community Day rates and thensome on Saturday. As I told a friend, I was expecting it to rain shinies. I got a dozen over 7.5 hours of solid play. That is not even 2 per hour. This is sub-CD rates. My Fiancee got 3 in 4 hours of play, not even 1 per hour! One of my friends said she got 52 on Saturday… that’s the better end. I certainly would not expect 6.5 an hour, but I don’t think 4 per hour is unreasonable for a marquee pay event like this. I also have to ask where the shiny magic was on Day 2. Granted, I was committed more to Raiding, but I would have thought shiny rates would have been much higher. I got 1 shiny from raids (hour 1 Latias) and a Shiny Pikachu in a hat from research (a consolation prize, IMHO). I didn’t hear too many people talking up getting shinies as I raided live – we all know people get excited over shinies. I was hoping for more shinies that day. I got no wild shinies either… was expecting about CD rates on Sunday. Very disappointing.
Overall, the B- is deserved. Sunday was an A… there were hiccups that hopefully get ironed out for a future global Go Fest. Saturday got a solid D+. The shiny rate was better this year, but still far below expectations. Also, WAILMER!
Moose's Pokemon Go Blog 