Pokémon Go’s EX Raids are now even more confusing (update)

A new wave of invitations to Pokémon Go’s next exclusive (or EX) Raid battle, which pits players against the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo, went out yesterday. But even those included on the guest list are left stumped as to why they received an invite — as it appears that Niantic has shaken up the already convoluted participation requirements entirely.

Players reported on Tuesday night that they received a heads-up about the game’s next EX Raid battle, which is set for this weekend. These players, however, said that the locations of these high-level fights don’t line up with the norm for EX Raids, which typically take place at gyms they’ve fought at a previous, recent time. Instead, the invites are sending them to go fight at gyms that may be far away, which could be inconvenient. Players may not have ever visited some of these gyms, which means they have to do some recon to find the EX Raid’s location.

Pokémon Go Hub, one of the biggest community sites for the game, speculated that Niantic changed the range of how far players need to go to participate in an EX Raid battle, as they are set at predetermined locations. By the site’s estimation, however, this is a positive change.

Expanding the area where EX Raids are set “will force urban players to diversify their raiding area and it will make it easier for rural players to come together and complete EX Raids,” according to the community site.

On The Silph Road fan forum, however, players are expressing frustration with the revamped process.

“I’ve finally received my first EX-raid pass,” wrote user Cooleach. “Bad news: it’s for the raid I probably did (I’m not even sure) in Greece in August during my summer vacation. And I’m from Moscow, Russia. WTF, Niantic? Feels like a worst joke ever.”’

“I just got an Ex-Raid pass from a gym in Manchester-By-The-Sea, Massachusetts,” TimeshipTacoTaco wrote. “I travelled through there on vacation in October and spun the disc. I live in Los Angeles ... “

As usual, there are also hardcore players that have once again been left out of the selection process. Coupled with the bizarre new EX Raid invite criteria, Pokémon Go’s biggest fans again feel left in the lurch.

“650 Raids completed, an insane amount of money spent in game, and still can’t get an EX pass,” said Pokeyourmom420. “I tried incredibly hard this round. I did 7 raids at gyms that are always picked for EX raids. I traveled 20 mins each way to go there each and every time.”

Pokémon Go is now in its second year on the market, but it’s still experiencing growing pains. Perhaps the rumored daily quests feature, found in a recent datamine, will shake things up for the better.

Update: Niantic has since issued a blog post clarifying that the EX Raid confusion was due to a “bug.” The studio also detailed intentional changes coming to the feature.