This week introduced the Mythic Blade special event into Pokemon GO, though a premium track of rewards have seemingly left many fans disappointed and upset. As with most free to play games, the developers introduce some sort of monetization elements, which is no different for the incredibly popular mobile title, Pokemon GO. An in-game store allows users to pick up items like Pokeballs, Egg Incubators, increased storage, and plenty more.However, developer Niantic has seemingly been incentivizing its player base more often by selling special research tickets for many of the events it has released in 2022. Over the summer, players could purchase tickets for Pokemon GO Fest, unlocking special rewards and opportunities that free players would not be getting. The same thing typically happens with monthly Community Days and the just released Mythic Blade event that took place this past week.Keldeo, the legendary Colt Pokemon was added into Pokemon GO this week, though unlike most events that introduce a new creature into the mobile game, it was locked behind a paywall. Trainers who wanted to catch an Ordinary Form Keldeo would need to pay $7.99 to access the Something Extraordinary Special Research story. While that move was controversial in and of itself, players have been venting frustration at the cost of the event and the rewards that it ultimately gave players.
In a Tweet by MrAvalanche, the Pokemon GO player made it known that for the cost of the special research story and basic challenges associated with it, the rewards were seemingly not worth it. Items included more common things like incense, Great Balls, Stardust, and encounters with Pokemon like Marill, Staryu, and Alomomola. Many comments were in agreement with MrAvalanche with some agreed that the rewards made this worth half the cost, especially when compared to the previous set of rewards in the last paid research event. Some believe that this ultimately won't matter as "FOMO" or the fear of missing out will push players to buy the Special Research.
Unfortunately, it seems like Niantic has been stumbling with its community more often than normal these past couple of months. Back in October, Niantic had to apologize for an issue with Elite Raids spawning at the same time as special 4-star Lampent Raids, preventing them from appearing as expected. Following that, a bug impacted the Zorua launch in Pokemon GO, forcing Niantic to disable them completely, sparking frustration from the community who were anticipating the launch.
Pokemon GO is available now on mobile devices.