Pokemon Go players are praising Niantic for a new quality-of-life update spotted in-game that makes it easier for trainers to find active in-person Raid lobbies.
Pokemon Go trainers have had a rocky relationship with Raids as of late. The nerfs to Remote Raids have driven many players away from participating in them, and in-person raiders are finding it hard to complete these battles without support from remote players.
That said, Niantic has worked to improve the accessibility of in-person raiding via the Campfire companion app. This allows players to find local raids actively looking for players to join in on the battle.
But now, Pokemon Go has pushed an update that allows players to see when Raid lobbies are filling up from the overworld screen, making it easier than ever for trainers to decide whether they a Raid is worth traveling to.
Pokemon Go adds much-needed Raid feature
The feature was spotted by Reddit user Kaisonic, who shared their discovery on the TheSilphRoad subreddit. A screenshot of an in-game Raid showed the count-down timer was replaced by a UI indicating a number of players were currently in the Raid lobby.
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This warranted a number of positive replies from players that were very pleased with the update. “Actually a good QOL update!” one user stated. Another replied, “Sweet. Jesus. It’s actually something positive.”
However, some trainers doubted the utility of the update, seeing as players only have two minutes to join a lobby once it’s open. Meaning if you see a raid filling up from a distance, players likely won’t be able to reach the lobby in time to join.
“Flaw is that by the time you get over there, the raid already started. Good starting point but needs more,” a player remarked. Another claimed, “That would have been amazingly useful with remote passes. Instead, it’s just a tease of what you can’t get to in under a minute to join.”
While opinions seem mixed, it’s nice to see an update to raids that isn’t a direct nerf. And while Remote Raid passes are more expensive, this update is a great way for players to decide which raids to spend their Passes on.
