There are a lot of things to love about playing Pokémon Go but, according to a group of frustrated players, Dark Raids isn’t one of them.
Pokémon Go has made considerable progress in recent years with new features, gameplay mechanics, and plenty of new Pokémon to capture. The community is still very vocal about which mechanics are good and which aren’t, and the latest to make players unhappy is Dark Raids.
Dark Raids are special Raids that appear during events and must be participated in in person. They feature Team Rocket and Shadow Pokémon, and according to a group of Pokémon Go players on r/pokemongo, they’re a “real pain”and not worth participating in.
Pokémon Go players are fed up with Dark Raids
Originally appearing in this Reddit post, Pokémon Go player PolarSox85 shared his frustrations and said that Dark Raids are “the worst part of Pokémon Go.”
Shadow Raids are the worst part of Go byu/PolarSox85 inpokemongo
They mentioned how living in a city without a large player base or variety of arenas can lead to wasting time and gas.
Some Pokémon Go players in responses to this post shared the author’s pain, specifically because of the requirement to participate in a Dark Raid in person. One player responded that “the fact that Dark Raids are in-person only seems so arbitrary”and noted that they were essentially ignoring the feature.
Another shared their experience as a parent looking for entertainment while caring for their child, saying they would be “very willing to pay for Dark Raids passes”because they simply can’t access Dark Raids in person and face the Raid Bosses.
A few players mentioned that Niantic might change the feature if enough players stopped participating in Dark Raids, but others felt skeptical. One noted that this seemed unlikely and that it was more likely that players would get “a bunch of research that requires us to do Dark Raids”instead.
Other Pokémon Go fans in the replies encouraged the author to simply drop the feature, with one person commenting, “Dark Raids are a real pain, but the answer is to just not engage with games game that you don’t find fun.
Dark Raids are definitely a hot topic in the community right now as they have reappeared in another post, this time by Pokémon Go player mythicaltimelord. This post focused specifically on 5-star Dark Raids, with mythicaltimelord claiming that “Dark Raids don’t work.”
I hate 5 star shadow raids. byu/mythicaltimelord inpokemongo
In a similar vein to the first post, mythicaltimelord discussed how the in-person requirements for Dark Raids were irritating and tricky for players who aren’t based in huge cities with lots of players and arenas. They suggested adding a 1-3 hour window for Dark Raids to help players prepare.
Other Pokémon Go players in the replies agreed with the author, saying that, “they should at least make it clear where the Dark Raid appears the day before, so people can coordinate better”and that the Remote Raid should be added.
Some felt more optimistic about the community aspect of Dark Raids, however, encouraging the author and other frustrated players to use Campfire and local Discord channels to help them enjoy Dark Raids more.
It’s clear that there is a high demand for more Ranged Raid abilities in Pokémon Go right now and it will be interesting to see if this is implemented, especially as we move forward into the new season of the game.
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