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Pokemon GO is about to release a host of new features in the upcoming week. Starting from May 22, 2023, the all-powerful Master Ball, which has the power to catch any creature, will be available in Niantic's mobile title. For now, it will be available as a reward for completing Special Research starting from 10 am local time on the day of release until 10 am local time on June 1, 2023.
As per usual, the playerbase has started speculating about the exact mechanics of the Master Ball in Pokemon GO. The community is brimming with predictions on how players will be able to acquire it at later stages, the optimal time to use these Balls, and other implications of this new mechanic.
Pokemon GO community predictions as they prepare for Master Ball release on May 22, 2023
The release of the Master Ball has brought out a flurry of reactions from Pokemon GO players worldwide. The community has become widely skeptical of developer, Niantic, after its unilateral decision to limit the use of Remote Raids and subsequent cold shoulder toward the community.
The distrust is glaring from the community's take on the latest mechanics. Regarding the Master Ball, many reckon that the developers will bait players in with one free Ball and subsequently ask them to cough up exorbitant amounts for copies of the item. Here are some of the opinions plucked from a Reddit post by u/chemicalism:
With widespread anxiety over what Niantic will do to heighten difficulty for players, many even concocted satirical versions of a few lines from Professor Willow's in-game character.
Such concerns aren't baseless, however. According to some of the comments, datamining specialists have recently discovered that the catch rates of powerful Legendary Pokemon have been reduced in the recent past. These figures have been relegated to the back-end code of Pokemon GO, making it inaccessible to further datamining attempts. Coupled with that, this speculation has been backed up by anecdotal sources.
Other players pondered the consequences of using the Master Ball on the wrong creature, missing their throw, or the Ball getting swatted by the creature. Some of the other more enlightened members responded with their interpretations of how exactly the Master Ball would work in Pokemon GO.
While players still continue to play the game widely, this growing opacity on Niantic's terms of policies and refusal to engage with feedback has left players quite disgruntled, potentially jeopardizing the game's health in the future. That aside, it will be interesting to see how the Master Ball mechanic pans out and how it impacts other aspects.
