Pokémon GO developer Niantic is making it easier (and safer) for trainers to continue playing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Niantic is following a myriad of other businesses and organizations that have canceled or postponed events to achieve social distancing. In most cases, such as the cancellation of E3, these changes are a disruption to business as usual. However, in this instance, Niantic should consider making these changes permanent.

In a blog post released Thursday, Niantic announced the following changes. Incense, an item used to attract Pokémon to the user's location, will now last an hour instead of 30 minutes. A bundle of 30 incense is also available for a one-time purchase of one PokéCoin. Incubators are now twice as effective, meaning that players will only have to walk half the distance to hatch a Pokémon from an egg. PokéStops will drop gifts more frequently when spun, so friends can send virtual care packages to their self-isolating buddies. Finally, Pokémon will not be practicing social distancing, and instead, will appear in the wild more frequently. This means that trainers will be able to catch more pocket monsters from the comfort of their couches.

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In addition, the Abra Community Day has been postponed. Niantic is also cancelling Safari Zone St. Louis, which was scheduled to take place from March 27 to March 29, and is offering full refunds to those who bought tickets.

For people in densely populated urban areas, these gameplay changes mean they can continue playing and making progress despite the pandemic. It's a nice gesture by Niantic to make the game accessible during an anxious and uncertain time. However, for people in rural areas, these changes might finally make the game playable.

Since its release in 2016, Pokémon GO has been criticized for seemingly punishing people in rural and remote areas. City streets are teeming with Pokémon, PokéStops, and fully-stocked gyms. In certain areas, finding a group for a five-star raid is as easy as tossing in a raid pass. But it's the exact opposite for those trying to play the game away from population centers. In the country, Pokémon and PokéStops are few and far between, meaning rural players often struggle to keep their bags stocked. Five-star raids are virtually impossible without a lot of pre-planning and coordination.

Niantic has taken steps toward helping rural players in the last year. In October, Niantic announced that it would be "tailoring raid levels to fit the communities where the raids appear." Additionally, PokéStops in rural areas began dropping more items. A December 2019 update roughly doubled the number of locations where Pokémon could be found in the wild and added the ability for trainers to review nominations for PokéStops and gyms. Finally, the recently introduced Go Battle League has made certain Legendary Pokémon available to players who were previously unable to catch them.

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These initiatives certainly make the game better for rural players than it was at release, but there's still a discrepancy between how the game functions for different people based on where they live. Rural users on the Pokémon GO subreddit still lament that they cannot do five-star raids unless they drive to the city. Rural players now have the option of grinding in the Go Battle League for a chance at a Legendary, but those only come at the end of a season, and there's still a great deal of luck involved. That's also assuming these rural players can connect to battles with a stable connection, since internet speeds in remote areas are often much slower.

Keeping these changes to the game even after COVID-19 concerns have abated would be a small but welcome step toward leveling the playing field for rural players. Further increasing drop rates from PokéStops would help players who don't have constant access to them avoid running out of PokéBalls and berries. Plus, making these new habitats permanent would help smaller, quieter communities feel more active.

Niantic has done well on its promise to help rural players so far, but there's still so much more to be done. Keeping these changes is just another step toward improving the experience for all players.

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