Next Time, Don't Make that Pit Stop in Santa Barbara
During the drive up to Solvang on New Year's Eve, I stopped by Santa Barbara for a late lunch. Now, Santa Barbara has a special place in my heart-I did attend UCSB back in the day, after all. But in retrospect, making this stop was a mistake. Solvang is less than an hour away from Santa Barbara, so I was already close to my destination. Why not just stick it out for another 45 minutes or so?
Wait, I bet you're wondering-why I am writing about this? This isn't remotely interesting! And you're absolutely right. I promise this will lead to something slightly more interesting. Bear with me.
So...Pokémon Go has this invite-only EX raid system. Let's just say it's a...um, slightly controversial system. Basically, there are three major complaints:
1. The EX raid passes are somewhat randomly distributed among all raiders. Even though players who have completed more gym raids should have a higher chance of receiving an EX raid pass, some players who have completed hundreds of gym raids are still waiting on their first EX invite. In theory, this can be easily fixed if there is another way of acquiring an EX raid pass. Something along the line of "Complete X number of gym raids to secure an EX invite" might be one way of doing it. But so far, Niantic seems uninterested in changing the system. /shrug
2. You can't choose the time of the EX raid. Yeah, this one annoys me to no end. You know, some people have jobs and stuff, and not everyone is going to be able to participate in a raid that takes place in the middle of the week. The EX raid system is supposed to take the popular raid times into account, yet I remain unconvinced that a lot of people are doing gym raids on Tuesday mornings. Call it a hunch.
3. Not only are you not able to pick the time, you can't pick the place, either. But at least you have some control over this. You will only receive an invite to a gym where you've recently completed a raid. And so far, all EX raids have either taken place in public places (parks, mostly) or sponsored locations (Starbucks or Sprint stores). So it is possible to plan for this to some extent. Still, there is always a chance the EX raid pass-should you be lucky enough to receive one in the first place-will direct you to an inconvenient location. Like Santa Barbara on a Tuesday morning, for instance.
So...yeah. Next time, I won't make that pit stop in Santa Barbara on my way up to Solvang. And if I do, I won't stop by a Starbucks to take part in a stupid Wailmer raid just so my free daily raid pass doesn't go to waste. Lesson learned.
While relating my tale of woe to some fellow players in one of the many recent Kyogre raids, I got a surprising response. "And you didn't go?" said somebody in the crowd with something akin to curiosity. I simply shook my head sheepishly.
Wait, I bet you're wondering-why I am writing about this? This isn't remotely interesting! And you're absolutely right. I promise this will lead to something slightly more interesting. Bear with me.
So...Pokémon Go has this invite-only EX raid system. Let's just say it's a...um, slightly controversial system. Basically, there are three major complaints:
1. The EX raid passes are somewhat randomly distributed among all raiders. Even though players who have completed more gym raids should have a higher chance of receiving an EX raid pass, some players who have completed hundreds of gym raids are still waiting on their first EX invite. In theory, this can be easily fixed if there is another way of acquiring an EX raid pass. Something along the line of "Complete X number of gym raids to secure an EX invite" might be one way of doing it. But so far, Niantic seems uninterested in changing the system. /shrug
2. You can't choose the time of the EX raid. Yeah, this one annoys me to no end. You know, some people have jobs and stuff, and not everyone is going to be able to participate in a raid that takes place in the middle of the week. The EX raid system is supposed to take the popular raid times into account, yet I remain unconvinced that a lot of people are doing gym raids on Tuesday mornings. Call it a hunch.
3. Not only are you not able to pick the time, you can't pick the place, either. But at least you have some control over this. You will only receive an invite to a gym where you've recently completed a raid. And so far, all EX raids have either taken place in public places (parks, mostly) or sponsored locations (Starbucks or Sprint stores). So it is possible to plan for this to some extent. Still, there is always a chance the EX raid pass-should you be lucky enough to receive one in the first place-will direct you to an inconvenient location. Like Santa Barbara on a Tuesday morning, for instance.
So...yeah. Next time, I won't make that pit stop in Santa Barbara on my way up to Solvang. And if I do, I won't stop by a Starbucks to take part in a stupid Wailmer raid just so my free daily raid pass doesn't go to waste. Lesson learned.
While relating my tale of woe to some fellow players in one of the many recent Kyogre raids, I got a surprising response. "And you didn't go?" said somebody in the crowd with something akin to curiosity. I simply shook my head sheepishly.