Niantic has shut down all Pokemon Go gyms in anticipation of the next big update. Team based events will soon be appearing on a regular basis, the entire gym system is being redesigned. This includes new items that can only be found during raids.
New Pokemon Go gyms will only allow six Pokemon, with no two Pokemon allowed to share a species. Defending Pokemon will no longer be arranged according to Combat Power, but instead operate in a First In First Out order of combat. These defenders will have a new motivation meter that counts down over time, and as the Pokemon lose battles. Run out of motivation and the Pokemon gets kicked out of the gym.
Team play comes into effect here as any member of the same team will be able to feed the defenders Razzberries to replenish their meters. On the other hand, Niantic has clarified that defenders will earn Poke Coins while in the gym; but will only give them to the owner once they are kicked out of the gym. Ideally, this prevents people from squatting on gyms as they need to periodically collect coins.
Similarly, Pokemon will be kicked out of gyms when raids occur. These are team based events where up to 20 players team up to bring down a single powerful enemy. Beating the boss fight in the time limit allows players to capture a slightly less overpowered version of that boss. For now it’s extremely powerful versions of existing Pokemon, but it’s assumed that this will also lead to legendary Pokemon being introduced.
Beating raids will also drop new items like Rare Candy and Technical Machines. Rare Candy are special candy that turn into candy from any Pokemon type. Technical Machines, or TMs, allow players to replace their Pokemon’s moves at random.
Joining a raid requires a Raid Pass, which drops naturally from Pokestops. However, Niantic is limiting players to one pass at a time. Still, additional passes will be available from the store. Which looks like a very good way to get additional money out of players.
There also appears to be a team code system for the raids, allowing friends to lock themselves into groups to take on the raids. Niantic hasn’t explained how it works yet, but Famitsu has published additional images showing how it works.
One last thing in the gym rework is that all gyms will function as Pokestops. What is more important here is that some Pokestops have been redesignated at gyms, while new Pokestops have been introduced. This was not part of the official announcement, but will likely prove to be the best part of the update. Especially for rural players.
[Source: Pokemon Go]
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