"They should remove elemental contests of a size": Pokemon GO player comments on latest PokeStop Showcase

Pokestop Showcases are a relatively new addition to Pokemon GO, allowing more casual players to earn some premium rewards if they do not wish to partake in the game's hardcore competitive Battle League. Recently, fans online have noticed some issues when it comes to the showcases involving more loose restrictions to their participants.

Specifically, showcases revolving around a creature's size and a given typing have been somewhat problematic for many players. This is due to the varying sizes among all Pokemon species.

One user on the Silph Road subreddit has brought up a valid point of criticism for the game's feature, saying:

"They should remove elemental contests of a size. I really do think elemental largest or smallest of a element just seem a bit pointless. Like take the water element we have atm. It may as well be called Wailord contest. It kind of defeats the purpose of entering anything."

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Comment byu/TheChaoticCrusader from discussion inTheSilphRoad

u/Whomstthedoode brought forth an interesting idea, saying that grading for these types of showcases should be determined by the size multipliers like XL, XXL, XS, and XXS compared to the average size of its species. Additionally, the creature's average size as reported in the main series Pokedex could determine a set number of points the species will have; only then will the score be impacted by the multipliers of these size bonuses.

With initial grading for these types of showcases in Pokemon GO awarding too many points for a creature's base size, a lot of more common creatures are beating rare monsters with even rarer size bonuses simply because their common creature is a larger species. This makes Pokestop Showcases incredibly unfair for players with more rare Pokemon.

Comment byu/TheChaoticCrusader from discussion inTheSilphRoad

Another user on the subreddit also had an idea to drum up more attention for Pokestop Showcases through the weekly Spotlight Hour event in Pokemon GO.

Spotlight Hours feature an increased spawn rate of a different monster once per week from around 5 PM to 6 PM. Showcases around these times during the event could be exclusive for creatures caught during the Spotlight Hour, giving everyone a fair chance at competing.

These species-specific showcases are present for Raid, Hatch, and Community Days, so it would be fitting to see some appear for this less-popular event as well.

Comment byu/TheChaoticCrusader from discussion inTheSilphRoad

Another interesting point presented by a user is that Pokemon GO has yet to feature a showcase where the smallest Pokemon wins. Every Pokestop Showcase in the game's history has determined the winner by which entry is the biggest, rather than any other metric.

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How Niantic should revitalize Pokemon GO's Pokestop Showcases

Pokestop Showcases are in desperate need of a new win condition (Image via Niantic)

The biggest gripe about the Pokestop Showcases in Pokemon GO is that they always grade a creature based on its size, with the largest being the victor. In regards to the showcases that encompass a whole element, the base amount of points any species receives is normally based on a specific creature of a given element that is not normally disclosed to the casual player.

As such, it would be nice to see Niantic branch out to other win conditions for Pokestop Showcases in Pokemon GO. This could include grading standards like the smallest contender being the winner, or have entry be permitted to other standards like Shiny Pokemon or those that can learn a specific move.