Pokemon Go players are refusing to complete “horrible grind” research task

Jessica Filby
Pokemon Go Mateo and Ash

Pokemon Go players are slamming Routes so much that they’re now refusing to complete their research tasks, labelling it a “horrible grind.”

For better or for worse, Niantic is constantly adding new features to Pokemon Go. Whether it’s a new NPC, Routes, Raids, or events, there’s always something new happening in the popular Pokemon game – but fans aren’t always thrilled to see them arrive.

In fact, when both Routes and Party Play arrived in Pokemon Go, fans were quick to criticize their implementation, highlighting bugs and just slamming the research tasks that went with them. Now, they’re completely ignoring the tasks, calling them a “horrible grind.”

Pokemon Go players are ignoring key research task

“Who else isn’t gonna beat these” posted one frustrated Pokemon Go fan, sharing an image of the A Route to New Friendships special research. Left unticked was the task asking the player to ‘Exchange a gift with Mateo at the end of a Route’ which rewarded one incense.

Giving their reasoning, the user explained: “I have the friends and location to do it, I just don’t care enough about Routes or Party play to do so.”

Other fans took to the comments to agree with the player, with one stating that you need “100 total to finish off the research” going on to explain how they “got tired of looking at the research and blazed through it in like a week. It was a horrible grind.”

“Honestly, I love routes and already got it” explained one fan, going on to note how despite the Routes, Party Play “kinda sucks.”

It’s clear the community is feeling pretty let down by the new features, and this special research is a summary of their frustrations, especially given the notion that the fans thing “the rewards are dumb as hell.” After all, what’s the point in engaging with something you don’t enjoy for a single Incense, 1,000 Stardust, and 1,000 XP?

About The Author

Based in Cumbria, England, Jessica is a Senior Games Writer who joined Dexerto after stints at Game Rant and The Gamer. You can find her covering everything from Minecraft, CoD, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Pokemon Go and more. You can contact Jessica at jessica.filby@dexerto.com