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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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