Since the arrival of the 'Memories in Motion' season, Pokémon Go has largely rejigged the event structure with a one week on, one week off approach. It's meant we've seen busy event weeks with new spawns, research and a Go Pass to complete, followed by quiet periods in-between with much less to do.
It seems Niantic has plans to address this by testing a new "evergreen weeks" feature. During non-event weeks, branching research will allow players to "choose your own way to play", according to an announcement shared with Community Ambassadors, which has been shared on reddit and verified by One More Catch as being authentic.
There will be three options based on 'exploration', 'skill' or 'battling', with challenges and rewards to match. For example, 'exploration' will focus on walking with bonus XP for spinning PokéStops, while 'battling' will be around raids, giving players additional raid XP.
While the exact challenges and rewards will change week-to-week, according to the announcement, those three branching paths will remain the focus during each "evergreen week".
The test will start during the month of May, which going by the upcoming event schedule, means we'll likely the first of these as soon as next week.
The post to Community Ambassadors reads as follows:
Hi, all!
For the month of May we'll be testing a new addition to the live game. During "evergreen weeks," where there's no events and you can just find the seasonal spawns, we will be offering a branching research to allow you to choose your own way to play for the week.
Each week, you'll get a different option for three branches based on exploration, skill, or battling. Based on the branch you select, you'll get a different bonus for gameplay as well as research to complete.
Some examples are:
Exploration: Spin stops and walk. Bonus: Additional XP from spinning stops.
Skill: Landing throws. Bonus: Additional candy from catches.
Battle: Raiding. Bonus: Additional XP from raids.
The specific focus and bonus of the branch may change week by week, but the branches of Exploration, Skill, and Battle will remain the same.
We look forward to seeing where your adventure takes you!
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