Niantic Can Stop With Pokemon And Harry Potter Regionals Now
‘Regionals’ have been a thorn in the side of dedicated Pokémon Trainers since Gen one, and now they are causing quite literal roadblocks for aspiring
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Category : Pokemon
‘Regionals’ have been a thorn in the side of dedicated Pokémon Trainers since Gen one, and now they are causing quite literal roadblocks for aspiring witches and wizards as well. With Pokémon Go’s launch, Niantic introduced the concept of ‘Regionals.’ These are select Pokémon, each available exclusively in a certain real-world region. For example, Gen one’s regional Pokémon are Tauros, Mr. Mime, Farfetch’d, and Kangaskhan. These Pokémon can be found solely in the US/Canada, Europe, certain parts of Eastern Asia, and most parts of Australia, respectively. Niantic has continued this pattern with every generation of Pokémon so far, and is now carrying the archaic concept over to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The latest event, ‘Day Of The Dragons’ was held on September 11th and introduced, you guessed it, Dragons as regional exclusives.
Some would come to the developer’s defense, stating that regionals are Niantic’s way of encouraging travel and real-life experiences. But the lengths they have gone to are too extreme. Getting people off of the couch and out into the community is one thing, but a plane ticket is something else entirely (one dragon is only available in Oceania, for Merlin’s sake!). Barring in-game progress to this extent is absurd. Especially when you consider regionals were implicated to force players into the developers’ idealogic style of gameplay, regardless of the artificial gating that profits neither developer or gamer.
If Niantic was looking to encourage travel, they should’ve and could’ve implicated something on a smaller scale. In fact, they already have in the form of GoFest and Wizard Unite’s Fan Festival. Hosting a series of localized events, where attendees gain access to exclusive Pokémon or Foundables is a far better way to get people out and interacting within their communities.
Both games are doing fine on their own, without the inconvenience of regionals. Pokémon Go has made leaps and bounds since it’s trailblazing – but, rocky – launch several years ago. Since then, it has produced multitudes of other incentives to keep playing, including raids, shinies, and various in-game events. Wizards Unite is also a solid game as is. For many, it provides a nostalgic fan-service. It offers in-depth gameplay as well, with battling features and skill-building (not seen in Pokémon Go). Wizards Unite also incorporates a slew of mini-game-like mechanics, including growing or gathering ingredients and brewing potions. It suffices to say, both games contain their own organic progress and have outgrown any need for gating content – especially behind the geographical location.
Niantic should trust that its games are stable now and are able to stand alone, without the help of unattainably constructed goals. Both Pokémon Go and Wizards Unite are making money in better, more simple, and direct ways. They come in the form of micro-transactions, but unlike some games, these small transactions of in-game coin hold higher value, helping with in-game progress significantly. For Pokemon Trainers, these include items like Egg Incubators, Lures, Raid Passes, and Bag upgrades. For witches and wizards, the payoffs come in the form of Portmanteau Keys, Dark Detectors, Potion bundles, and Vault extensions. With so many local financial gains, it’s just not beneficial to send players galavanting around the entire world in search of a few white whales.
It was a nice idea to try and motivate people into more worldly travel, but it’s just not everyone’s cup of tea. The idea itself has been successful on a smaller scale, drawing hordes of players to central locations for various community events; there is no longer a need for such physical gating like region exclusives. Both Pokémon Go and Wizards Unite have flourished on their own and have quickly outgrown this long-outdated mechanic. If there is a need to keep certain Pokémon or Foundables less accessible, then by all means, apply a higher rarity to them or a lower catch rate, but do not sanction them off.
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