Pokémon Go's new event receives mixed response from fans

Pokémon Go's latest in-game event - the first of a new type - took place around the world this weekend to a generally mixed response.

Feebas Day gave players a three-hour window to complete as many in-game research tasks as possible, with the chance of a new shiny Feebas as a reward.

It was a good concept - one which required a different set of tactics to simply hoovering up every Pokémon in sight (community days) or battling the same Pokémon over and over (raid days).

Players were rewarded for a mixture of catching, hatching and walking goals (catching was probably easiest, and stacking these ones gave the best result) which you could choose to pick up or ditch depending on your preference.

But the tasks were too time-consuming. As a result, most players managed to only complete a few dozen tasks within the time limit. Consequently, this lowered the number of rewards given, and with it the number of shiny rewards players received.

Sure, developer Niantic never guaranteed anyone a Shiny Pokémon as a reward. But previous events have set an expectation among players for what they're likely to receive in exchange for three hours of their time outdoors on a wet and blustery January morning.

Fans were split over Shiny rewards not being locked to particular PokéStops (as they were on Squirtle community day). On the one hand it added RNG to rewards, but it also meant you could prioritise the tasks you wanted to complete while binning others. And with more straightforward tasks, and therefore a higher number completed, this would have been far less of an issue.

It feels like there's a good concept here - even if Niantic didn't perfect it first time around.

I'd certainly like Niantic to give the format another go with a tweaked set of tasks - ones which can be churned through quicker. How's about a Porygon one next?