Kotaku: Pokémon Go's Eggs Aren't Lootboxes, They're Fun Presents

[WrenchNinja]

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is testing a feature that lets players see what might be inside the game's eggs before they walk the many miles to hatch them. It appears this is a response to the argument that the game's eggs are akin to lootboxes. There is an awful lot that could be better about Pokémon Go, but I would argue that demanding its eggs be held to the same standards as the most cynical and cruel of EA/Activision lootbox behavior really isn't necessary.

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The latest change to the free-to-play mobile app is a neat way to see what Pokémon could possibly hatch out of any egg you might collect while playing. Listed in order of possibility, you also get an idea of just how unlikely it might be that out of any particular egg will pop a shiny version of the rarest beast. It appears this is another step toward providing more transparency to players who are frustrated by grinding eggs for rare monsters, only to receive yet another Trubbish.

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Lootboxes, in general, are an exploitative tool used by developers/publishers to get players to spend more money on a game they've already bought. They imply that to get the most out of a game, to get an advantage against others, you need to keep spending, keep paying for more sealed containers that might contain items/accessories/weapons that could improve their performance in the game, or carry inherent worth. It's why they're increasingly recognized as gambling, and are even outlawed in some countries. They suck, they're nasty, dirty business, and it'd be great to see games rid of them.

That's not what Pokémon Go has, at all. The game's eggs are a system that offer the player no meaningful advantages, and all works perfectly well within the core game, without ever having to spend any money at all, frequently providing fun, surprising rewards.

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It works like this: via a variety of means, as you play the game you pick up eggs. They are color-coded based on how far you have to walk to hatch them—2/5/7/10/12km—and can contain a variety of Pokémon. To hatch them you need to put them in an incubator, and from the start of the game you're given one of these with infinite uses. You're also, early on, showered in other incubators with limited numbers of uses.

It's certainly a little shady—the game gets you used to having plenty of incubators on hand, right up until you don't. They're often included in rewards for completing the earliest tasks, but then just as you're comfortable the supply runs out. And yeah, like the obvious dealer analogy, it turns out you can get more, but now you're going to have to pay.

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But, really crucially, you just don't have to. In fact, it's actually incredibly unnecessary to do so. While there are chances of hatching a particularly rare Pokémon at given times, those chances are so low, and the effort to hatch anything—walking at least a kilometer for the most generic eggs (when aided by a Super Incubator), and as far as 12km—means that there are invariably far better ways of finding those monsters elsewhere. Honestly, anyone who is spending fortunes on incubators, then marching around vast distances days on end to try to hatch that Axew, is making some very specific life choices.

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Pokemon Go's Eggs Aren't Lootboxes, They're Fun Presents

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is testing a feature that lets players see what might be inside the game’s eggs before they walk the many miles to hatch them. It appears this is a response to the argument that the game’s eggs are akin to lootboxes. There is an awful lot that could be better about...

kotaku.com

The replies have been pretty good

 

[_zoipi]

They're not, they're worse. You have to walk to open them.

 

[delete12345]

Isn't the purpose of the game is to get you to walk / exercise more?

I wanted to know if Egg incubators are regulated.

 

[bluexy]

🤢

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Well that's a take all right.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

A Lootbox is a Lootbox, not matter if you pay a premium price to get access to the game in the first hand.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

The Revenge of Surprise Mechanics Part 6

 

[Brazil]

I never realized you could be bothered by the Eggs in Pokémon Go. I've always just treated them as nice bonus Pokémon I get from time to time. I've never really stressed out about them.

I guess it is a loot box, though, yeah.

 

[rsfour]

lol fucking lol.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

Hmm, it's interesting! I feel like they're obfuscated a bit because you get them quite a lot and you "play" to open them. Had never really considered them to be loot boxes but in retrospect I can see how there are evidently users who pay to open them at a higher/faster rate which makes them more similar than I'd initially think.

 

[Imperial Bishop]

Something something surprise mechanics!

 

[Exposure]

It's basically coming from the same place as "CS:GO/DOTA 2/[person's favourite gacha game goes here]/etc isn't that bad compared to other games!" that pops up sometimes in general threads about the mechanic.

e.g. not actually caring about the root issues with the mechanics but just wanting to dunk on companies they don't like right up until consequences/complaints also happen for the companies they do like.

 

[Porygon]

Also, you cannot throw away eggs, so if you are looking for a certain Pokémon in a particular egg group you need to make space by hatching

And besides the 7 and 12KM eggs, the one you get is random

 

[Forkball]

The birth of a child is kind of a loot box if you think about it.

 

[NHarmonic.]

Is this a new mechanic in Pokemon Go?

 

[zeitgeist]

I never would have considered them to be Loot Boxes but I guess they do qualify.

This is an eggstremely intereggsting argument.

 

[dreamstation]

They're all loot boxes!

 

[Hero of Legend]

But they aren't even chocolate eggs, so you can't even eat the shells.

 

[HandsomeCharles]

Nah, they aint.

 

[Jogi]

They ain't even fun. You get more dupes than any other form of loot box I've opened.

 

[night814]

Also, you cannot throw away eggs, so if you are looking for a certain Pokémon in a particular egg group you need to make space

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Right and then once you get a few 10km eggs looking for Axew they all hatch into Audinos. Eggs have been the weakest aspect of the game for a long time.

 

[Quinton]

The birth of a child is kind of a loot box if you think about it.

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[Gustaf]

Is this a new mechanic in Pokemon Go?

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no

 

[fourfourfun]

If you don't have incubators, you get overwhelmed with eggs quite quickly. Save up for a item pack, get a load of them, you'll clear your box but also notice that you don't get a whole load to replace them very quickly.

Pokémon is very light, but it is still very balanced to always want you to want just a bit more comfort than you already have.

 

[Parthenios]

They're absolutely a gacha lootbox and Niantic frequently treats them as such. How many events have a featured Pokémon that is egg exclusive with like a 0.5% rate?

I appreciate the mechanic as a way to encourage walking, but it is specifically designed to sap $$$ from players.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Yeah, no, they're very blantantly loot boxes.

 

[Melpomene]

"Fun presents" literally sounds like a satiric idea for a euphemism a corporation would come up with for lootboxes to make them sound appealing to children.

 

[Punchline]

This article is such a mess. Half of the time it reads like an advertisement and then the other half is questioning itself.

 

[KelThaFunkee]

The author must be unaware of how much money this game makes. People definitely buy incubators during limited events to hatch out Pokemon with perfect IV's or shiny. You know how much people grind to get things like a shiny riolu? Some pokemon are also completely egg exclusive. The argument that you can always get everything eventually doesn't really work because they me make it really hard to get specific shinies and that's where it becomes a lootbox.

Edit: Egg events are my most hated events. I'm done killing my body jut to get something they purposely make a tiny percentage chance to get.

 

[Deleted member 27751]

The loot box mechanic is that gameplay/content is hidden behind an obfuscated paywall that has no other option but payment to open. Pokémon Go's eggs are not functionally similar, because while they do hide content behind something, the actual function of opening is the game itself. If say the eggs could only be opened by finding a particular incubator that was incredibly rare, but the game also offered a quicker way to open by paying X dollars, then that is a loot box.

True loot boxes are predatory content aimed at decreasing your chances to gain the content if you do not pony up the cash. Go does not require you to even hatch the eggs to get certain Pokémon, at least from my memory.

Edit: a poster before corrected my point on some Pokémon coming from eggs only.

 

[zombiejames]

What a horrible, out of touch, corporate friendly take.

 

[RiOrius]

Boxes have corners. Eggs don't. Checkmate, atheists.

 

[julia crawford]

The birth of a child is kind of a loot box if you think about it.

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The scary thing is how true it is

 

[Apollo]

Honestly the article is full of "gacha isnt gambling", "you can play free, spending is a choice" apologism crap. Some people are really susceptible to this shit and it's wildly irresponsible to pretend otherwise.

 

[jokkir]

Are Kinder Surprise eggs loot boxes?

 

[Phellps]

Nah, it's definitely a loot box. It's like the free lootboxes you get in mobile games that you have to wait X hours to open or otherwise pay to open them earlier (in this case, the paid incubators). And you don't know what you're going to get or the precise odds of each item.

The only difference here is eggs don't open on their own over time. You actually have to walk.

 

[CenturionNami]

Kotaku continues to be utter trash.

 

[Cupcake Knight]

Are Kinder Surprise eggs loot boxes?

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Yes. They now forces you to use a smartphone app for some of their content. I'm done with them.

 

[Red]

What a horrible, out of touch, corporate friendly take.

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"Friendly" is too charitable.

 

[Rocky Road]

It's most definitely a loot box for all the reasons stated in the Tweets. The game has also increasingly snuck in many "exclusive" Pokemon (like shiny/special outfits/early access) to incentivize you to hatch more eggs via events. They tease shiny Pokemon for temporarily being in certain egg groups all the time and the rates are always awful to push people to shell out cash for more incubators. I dropped the game hard months ago after playing daily since launch because it became increasingly more and more stingy to the point of basically outright selling a chance of shiny Pokemon to players for a dollar price with things like "event tickets." This is the same game that tried to pull stuff like "hey trainers, go spin 30 PokeStops during the pandemic to get Victini!" and all sorts of other ridiculous mid-pandemic schemes marketed as "features" to exploit players during covid times. It's not at all the healthy exercise-encouraging game people make it out to be, especially with how often it demands your time and trying to get you to stand in one place doing monotonous mobile game chores over and over again. I love Pokemon, I'll always keep playing at least one game in every set of core Pokemon games, but Pokemon Go, despite starting out pretty strong, is now a really soulless and money-grabbing average mobile game with continuous "features" added that just try to get you to waste more time and money on the game, though honestly maybe even worse than your average mobile game after seeing how much they got away with during the pandemic. It's not worth defending, I'm guilty of having defended some aspects of it in the past, but after reflecting on it for a while it's a really drivel experience built around FOMO practices not worth anyone's time. I'm glad to see people criticizing articles like this trying to defend the game from writers who only have casual passive positive experiences with the game and aren't aware of all its hidden mechanics designed to exploit passionate players/whales.

 

[Heruderu]

Yeah, no, they're lootboxes. You can't pay to get a Pokémon directly or pay to get an egg, but if you want to hatch faster and multiple at a time to take advantage of their improved stats or shiny rate (or even some Pokémon exclusive to eggs, don't know if they still have that), you need to pay.

A mechanic to walk less for something you don't even know what will be but hope will help on PvP or raids, and can ultimately go wrong for you and make you spend more money is definitely a lootbox.

Kotaku continues to be utter trash.

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That's too much, though. They also have articles shedding light on crunch culture, giving voice to developers that are abused by the companies, etc. This is just a very bad, corporate-friendly take from a diverse outlet.

 

[Dekuman]

I have played gatcha lootbox games. I've never felt the desire to spend real dollars to walk an egg in Go. I have felt the desire to spend $30 to buy gems so I could pull some god forsaken 7 star rare weapon.

 

[Starlatine]

eggs are not boxes

checkmate law enforcement agencies

 

[BeanBoi]

Yeah they have seriously ruined the game with monetization. It's awful to play if you just want to collect and explore, even pre-pandemic.

 

[Fright Zone]

I... don't really get it? I've played PoGo since launch, love the fact that it encourages me to walk more, and eggs are one of my favourite mechanics for that reason.

 

[Friskykillface]

Really boggled my mind they didn't let you just buy Pokémon when people were leaving the game
It's not as big as it was when it released and I would've bought charizard and blastoise

those eggs are total loot boxes because I got a lot of meh Pokemon

 

[Benzychenz]

I never realized you could be bothered by the Eggs in Pokémon Go. I've always just treated them as nice bonus Pokémon I get from time to time. I've never really stressed out about them.

I guess it is a loot box, though, yeah.

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Pokemon are exclusive to them.

They added red 12k eggs you get from battling Team Go Rocket leaders and put Pokemon like Pawniard and Sandile exclusive to them. All I hatch from them is Absol and disappointment.

And baby Pokemon have always been egg exclusive.

 

[Soriku]

The birth of a child is kind of a loot box if you think about it.

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Life is a loot box

2deep4me

 

[daybreak]

They're not particularly egregious lootboxes and I do enjoy them as a goal in walking progression within the game, but they're still lootboxes.

 

[ArcaneStar_]

kotaku being trash just to have some outrage clicks? what a surprise

They are 100% lootboxes. I am not even THAT bothered by it and I can see what it is. It is scummy and not fun.