Niantic released information about the new Gym System!http://pokemongolive.com/en/post/raidsGyms will also act as Pokestops.I like this idea. There are some areas that have maybe one or two gyms, but no Pokestops, so this will definitely be handy
Gyms can only hold six Pokemon.Seriously?! I know it's more like the Nintendo games, but, as if it wasn't hard enough to get a Pokemon in a Gym with 10 slots.
Each Gym can only hold one of each Pokemon type.I like this idea. It might force people to think of more creative strong Pokemon that Blissey, Dragonite, and Tyranitar.
When a Pokémon is assigned to a Gym, a motivation meter will be displayed. Pokémon assigned to defend a Gym lose motivation over time and as they are defeated in battle. As a Pokémon loses motivation, its CP will temporarily decrease, making it easier for opposing teams to defeat. To help keep the Pokémon motivated and in tip-top shape for their next battle, Trainers can treat their team’s Pokémon to some Berries, which restore their motivation. If a Pokémon loses all motivation, it will leave the Gym and return to its Trainer the next time it loses a battle, so you’ll want to keep your team’s Pokémon motivated by giving them Berries frequently!
Now this part is really interesting, and I love it. This is a lot more like how portals work in Ingress. Basically, if the Gym is full and you never got to put one of your own Pokemon inside, you can still contribute by keeping up the motivation of the Pokemon. Sort of like how each portal can only hold so many resonators, but it doesn't matter if one of the resonators isn't yours, because you can help charge them anyway. This also means that Gyms are less likely to go stale, because they will need frequent upkeep or else the Pokemon will leave the Gym, even if nobody fought them. The idea of Pokemon having a CP decrease with low motivation is also handy for new players to get a chance at battling.
You get a Badge for the Gyms you interact with, and you can level up the Badge by interacting with the Gym more.This is a great idea! Now we actually have a reason to battle Gyms as often as we can.
All around the world, you’ll soon be able to participate in the new Raid Battle feature at Gyms. A Raid Battle is a cooperative gameplay experience that encourages you to work with other Trainers to defeat an extremely powerful Pokémon known as the Raid Boss. Before a Raid Battle begins, all Pokémon assigned to the Gym will return to their Trainers, and a large Egg will appear atop the Gym. When the countdown above the Egg reaches zero, the Raid Boss will be revealed.
Before you can battle the Raid Boss, you’ll need a Raid Pass. You can get one free Raid Pass per day by visiting a Gym, but you can only hold one at a time. You can also get Premium Raid Passes from the in-game shop. Upon using your pass to join the battle, you and up to 20 other Trainers work together to defeat the Raid Boss. If you successfully defeat the Raid Boss within the five-minute time limit, you’ll have the chance to catch an extra powerful Pokémon of your own!
Just, yes. So much yes here. ;-;
This sounds like a pretty exciting feature. There's finally a new way to get powerful and rare Pokemon, and it sounds like it'd be a lot of fun planning to go to the Gym when the timer hits 0. My only concern is the limit of 20 players.
New items!Rare candy, a candy item that you can turn into any Pokemon candy you like. Useful!
TMs! This is a big one! We can finally have an influence over our Pokemon's moves. What this means is that we should stop throwing out high CP Pokemon because of their moveset, because it looks like we'll be able to change the moves afterall. Moves are possibly no longer a priority when it comes to thinking about which Pokemon you should power up with candies.
Golden Razz Berries, work the same way as Razz Berries, but better.
All in all I think this sounds like a freaking fantastic update... I feel that same excitement I felt when the game was first coming out.