Following a bit of raid controversy during the Litwik community day in Pokemon GO, Niantic issues an apology to players. For many fans of the mobile hit Pokemon GO, it was a busy weekend as the anticipated Litwik Community Day saw the Ghost/Fire dual type, and its shiny form, take over for a few hours. As part of this celebration, players saw special catch bonuses activate as well including triple XP, double Litwik candy on catch, double the amount of XL candy earned for trainers over level 31, as well as increased incense and lure duration.
In addition to Litwik, the 3-hour Community Day window also brought 4-star Lampent raids with the added bonus of increasing spawn rates for 30 minutes and 300 meters from the Raid gym the Ghost and Fire-type Pokemon. Part of the appeal is that this bonus also made it far likely to see highly sought after shiny Pokemon appear. Unfortunately for players, the event didn't quite meet expectations, as Niantic's other big announcement, the return of Hoopa Unbound to Elite Raids, accidentally took over the majority of the gyms, preventing Lampent raids from spawning.
The overlap in raid schedules upset plenty in the community, especially with how limited the Lampent raids were intended to be. In response to the issues, Niantic issued a statement and apology to disappointed players. Under the Niantic Support account, the company sincerely apologized for the inconvenience and announced a few changes intended to help the availability of the 4-star Lampent Raids within Pokemon GO.
As part of those tweaks, Niantic announced that the company was delaying Elite Raid Eggs in certain regions to allow space for other Raid Battles to occur including Xerneas and Lampent. As such, Elite Raid Eggs started appearing again at 6pm local time on October 15, an hour after Community Day ended. From, there, they'll continue to hatch on October 16 at the expected local times of 11am, 2pm, and 5pm. While the changes likely helped some, it appears the damage was done as many follow-up comments were from players continuing to vent frustrations over the situation.
While this isn't the first major issue to face Pokemon GO and unlikely to be the last, Niantic has a chance to make it up to fans later this month when the annual Halloween-inspired event arrives. As expected, Pokemon GO will feature a remixed version of the Lavender Town theme at night and offer players a higher chance to catch Ghost-types like Phantump, Golett, Pumpkaboo, and more. This year, the Halloween event is split into two parts with a new Special Research task to finish, new cosmetics, event bonuses, along with the chance to catch Mega Banette through Raids.
Pokemon GO is available for free on mobile devices.
