Raid Time Length Change

It seems that (the rest of) this week will be a Pokémon Go week, so I might as well continue to discuss things about the game, and there have been quite a bit of things that are of interest. One such thing is a recent change in raid time lengths, as in the progression of each individual raid and not the overall daily span, of which the latter had its own change four months ago. It's a change that is beneficial for some raids, but may be reconsidered for others, even in entirety.

Previously, raid eggs appeared one hour (60 minutes) before the start of the raid, and the actual raid itself lasted for 45 minutes. Now, raid eggs appear 15 minutes before its start, and the actual raid is 90 minutes (one and a half hours) long. The time length of any raid in total is still the same in both cases in general, being 105 minutes from egg appearance to completion. Thus, the waiting time before a raid is cut by three-fourths, while the raid itself lasts twice as long. In either case, this applies for all raids unquestioned.

The good thing about this change is that the wait before a raid is less agonizing, as the raid boss can be known in less time, which is especially helpful for certain raid levels that have multiple possibilities for raid bosses. This helps to make decisions quicker about what to raid and could allow more players to participate within the length of the raid. One downside is that with longer raids, Gyms are unavailable normally for longer, though this may not be such a problem for those pursuing raids rather than Gym battles. Even so, the extended time length may not be suitable for all raid levels.

And yet, the 15-minute wait time remains appropriate for any raid at any level; it's not too long and leaves more time for the raid itself. The time length of the raid itself then becomes the issue. It would be expected that higher-level raids generate more interest, so they should be longer. Accordingly, perhaps it would be best to have, for example, 45 minutes for Levels 1 and 2 (as before), 60 minutes for Level 3, 75 minutes for Level 4, and 90 minutes for Level 5 (as is the current case). This would be a deviation from the 105-minute length total, but given that anything may happen with raids, this could seem more reasonable.

There is at least something to be welcomed about this change to raid time lengths. It means a greater focus on the raid itself rather than anxiously waiting for a raid boss that may or may not draw the interest of players. It's not completely perfect, as the 90-minute raid may seem like an eternity for certain raids, but it's a good change for other specific raids. For now, it works quite well, and future changes ought to only improve on this progression.

One year ago: Competitive Stages in Shuffle