Pokémon GO
2023: Random Boxes in the Shop
I have been investigating the rotating in-game shop "box" offers that I have been seeing since February 2023. See my list of Random Boxes in the Shop in Pokemon GO and some discussion of possible causes.
How to Find More Elite Gym Locations
Use this Overpass query in a browser on a real computer (not a phone). On the left side where all the text is, change the first part of the date/time from "2016-07" to "2019-02". Zoom / scroll the map to the area of interest. Click the green RUN button in upper-left and wait about 2 minutes.
All of the blue regions are suitable for the purposes of being an EX/Elite raid gym location in Pokémon GO.
The center of a gym's Level 20 S2 cell must be inside the blue area. Across the street is not good enough. On the sidewalk three feet away from the edge of the blue won't work either.
To find the center of a gym's level 20 S2 cell, use the PoGoMap site to locate a gym. Zoom in to find where precisely the gym is. Select the "Tools" icon near the upper-right of the map. Select "S2 Cells & Parks". Next to "S2 Cells" choose "Level 20" from the first menu. Click "Save" and then "Close". Figure out which of the cells contains your gym and locate the cell's center. Compare that center location to the blue regions seen in the Overpass map.
If the gym's S2 cell's center is within a blue area, congratulations! you've found a gym that is EX/Elite eligible.
There is one notable exception: During the first year of EX raids, all around the world people found locations where a gym is in the middle of a traffic circle (rotary, roundabout) and would be eligible by the above criteria, has been raided frequently by lots of people, but has never had an EX raid (which at the time needed to be "triggered" by raid participation at the gym). In many cases these have been reported as traffic circles by Ingress players and are disabled for safety reasons (even when there is a traffic light and a crosswalk to allow people to get to the park or fountain in the centre). For more on this, see this Reddit thread.
Keeping in Touch With a Community
Folks who play in the Boston area (including residents and visitors) are encouraged to join a Discord server.
The Silph Road has a zoomable, scrollable map with links to Pokémon GO Communities:
Silph League Player Network Map
(Silph League map requires a browser with WebGL capability)
In general Discord servers are only for people actually physically located in a geographic area. For example the Boston Discord is for people who are actually physically located in Boston. Most Discord users want to meet face-to-face for raids, trading, etc. and most are not interested in playing with "spoofers".
List of Discords in Massachusetts
(Some of these don't work anymore.
many will require you to verify that you're on a specific team, etc.
There are Discord servers for Pokémon GO in nearly every geographic area. A Google search will usually find something for the city/area you're interested in.
For more widely spread out audiences, for example exchanging Trainer Codes for making friends in a distant time zone, look for Pokemon GO related groups on Reddit (such as the excellent Silph Road subreddit) or on Facebook.
Other Pokémon GO Pages
Poké GO Map : This was formerly an automated map, and now is actively updated by users. You can use it to spot most of the Pokéstops and gyms in an area and can report daily tasks (Field Research) at individual Pokéstops.
Pokémon GO Raid-Ladder Nuzlocke : A set of Nuzlocke rules that are suitable for the Pokémon GO gym raid system.
Pokémon GO Battle League Rating and Ranking System : Formulas for calculating your current ranking score ("ELO rating") in the randomly-matched PvP battle system.
Past Announcements
Late July/Early August 2018
Eevee Community Day August 11-12
I will be be in New York City during Eevee community day, and I'll be catching lots of New York Eevee to trade for distance when I get back.
This month I will not be available to do Silph Road check-ins.
However, you are encouraged to get the Silph App (beta version for iOS using Test Flight, or Android version via the Google Play Store) and go to Boston Common for check-ins. The Silph App also has a cool Nest Atlas feature.
Silph Checkin volunteers usually try to be at the George Washington statue in the Public Garden in advance (about 1/2 hour early) to do check-ins for people so that everyone can go wherever they want during the three hours of the event itself (which is from 2:00 - 5:00 EDT). They also usually try to be back at the same check-in locations at 5:00 PM for people to check-in after the 3-hour window is over.
This time we have Community Day on two days (both Saturday and Sunday) and you can check-in either day, you don't have to check-in twice. So play in Malden one day and go to the Public Garden the other day!
For more about Community Day itself, see this official Pokemon GO page.
For more about the Silph Travelers Card and badges, see this page on Silph Road. I recommend you use a normal computer for the account creation and initial setup. They have a good site with a lot of neat services including the Nest Atlas and a lot of articles about current events and the inner workings of the game.
Late June/Early July 2018
I have become one of the Silph Road. volunteers who do check-ins on Community Day (for getting the badge on your Silph Road Travelers Card). I have the beta version of the new Silph app and can use it to do checkins ("handshakes").
I will be doing in-person check-ins for the Silph Road on Community Day, 8th July 2018, at Bell Rock Park in Malden. This is the park that has the Malden Civil War Memorial gym and five Pokéstops. Google Maps Link I'll be up on the fort-like thing near the statue (which is the Civil War gym)
dronpes has told us that if you generate your code with the Silph App (Android only) you will get the Squirtle Squad badge, which features a Squirtle's face wearing sunglasses. If you use the website (Handshake button) to generate the code, you will get the Blastoise badge which is similar in design to earlier Community Day badges. A few iOS users like me have the Beta version of the Silph app, but it appears to not be available in the Apple App Store.
I believe they're trying to work out a backup plan for iOS people who want the Squirtle Squad badge. I'll know by tomorrow (probably by 12:00 noon, because that's when check-ins officially start). We've been told that each person can get only one badge, not both.
As usual I'll try to be there in advance (about 1/2 hour early) to do check-ins for people so that we can all go our separate ways during the three hours of the event itself (which is from 2:00 - 5:00 EDT). I myself might wander outside Bell Rock Park, but I'll be back again at 5:00 PM to do check-ins for anyone who didn't checkin the first time (you only need to checkin once per event).
For more about Community Day itself, see this official Pokemon GO page.
For more about the Silph Travelers Card and badges, see this page on Silph Road. I recommend you use a normal computer for the account creation and initial setup. They have a good site with a lot of neat services including the Nest Atlas and a lot of articles about current events and the inner workings of the game.
Android users can get a Play Store link to the Silph app from here: Silph App. (iOS not yet approved by Apple)
June 2018
New EX Raid Locations
After some discussion on Discord a few Malden folks have come to realize that there are two gyms in western Malden that could be EX raids but have not yet been "triggered". These locations are:
Sean Collins Memorial (Fellsway East in the Fellsmere Park)
World War Roll of Honor (Fellsway/Rte 28 in Devir Park)
I am suggesting that we get some Malden and Medford people together (maybe Everett too?) to do a raid crawl during the upcoming Zapdos Day event on July 21st. Five gyms including the two just mentioned, would make it easy to use the five free passes and will likely trigger at least one new EX raid.
February 2018
How to Trigger an EX Raid
The easiest way is to get lots of groups of people to do regular raids throughout a week-long period. Any level of raid from level 1 (Magikarp etc.) up through legendary (Regice, Lugia etc.) will work.
Sources:
Gamepress article about EX raid "triggering" (dead link, but I copied the article, ask me if you want to read it)