Okay, Some of these Research Tasks are Godawful

With so many events in Pokemon GO, it’s hard to remember where tasks come from. Now, normal research tasks are orange, daily free tasks are green and event tasks are bronze, with the word “event” underneath them. However, some of these research tasks are so dreadful. Like, genuinely bad tasks. Why are they even here?

What spurred me to write this article was one such awful task. During the Team Rocket Takeover event, which overlapped with the Ditto event, there were some event-related research tasks. Two of them were easy to ignore. Most people don’t want to catch 10 Pokemon and get some pokeballs in return. You can get that by spinning a Pokestop a few times, or by opening gifts. However, the research task I got was “Catch 3 Dittos”. Considering how random Ditto is, catching three of those, even during a Ditto event, can be quite tricky.

Luckily, it didn’t take me very long, because I was catching any and all Pokemon that I saw. It took me about an hour to catch three Dittos, which I don’t think is too bad. Mostly because the spawns where I live now aren’t very good. My reward? A Pansear. One of those dumb, regional monkey Pokemon. The one that spawns around here all the time outside of events. I didn’t even get a green or blue monkey, which I normally can’t get. Understandably, I was a bit pissed off. All that time catching things and THAT’S the reward? I got a Meltan for catching three of those monkeys and a single Ditto, so why does catching three Dittos give such a bad reward?

This got me thinking about other research tasks. One I’ve seen a few times regularly is “Make an Excellent Throw.” The reward? 2 ultra balls. Which, again, I could have obtained by simply spinning a Pokestop or two. It’s an easy task, but it’s getting in the way of better tasks. For example, the rare task “Make Three Excellent Throws in a Row” which rewards a Gible. There are quite a few research tasks that give berries and Pokeballs, but few of them are worth it. Why make several curveball throws in a row for one Pinap, when your green daily research task gives you FIVE Pinaps for catching five Pokemon? Heck, opening gifts is an easier way to get Pinaps.

And then there’s the mysterious component, the thing you need 6 of to make a Rocket Radar. During the Team Rocket Takeover event, there is a research task which gives you one mysterious component for beating two grunts. Technically, this is value for money – doing two of this research task means you can get a Rocket Radar 30% faster than normal. But if you already have a Rocket Radar, the one single component just doesn’t really seem worth it. But it’s also the only way to work towards a new Rocket Radar when you already have one.

If anything, research tasks that don’t reward you with Pokemon encounters generally tend to suck. The exception is the daily research task, which does actually give out some nice, easy tasks and rewards. Catching five Pokemon for five Pinaps, using three berries to get five berries back, and transferring Pokemon for Pokeballs is pretty neat as a daily task. But the non-event normal tasks that have similar rewards just aren’t worth them.

On top of this though, it seems that event research tasks are following the same path as normal research tasks. Which makes no sense. Event tasks are supposed to be at least half-decent, but they’re not.

Sadly, this has been an ongoing problem with research tasks. Most of them have mediocre rewards. Yet we still do them, in order to reach research breakthroughs. Breakthroughs that can also be completely underwhelming too. You just can’t win.