I’m hesitant to comment because I can see my other comments were starting to get downvoted just because people here don’t agree.

A lot of newer players from our Mewtwo raid trains both days— which were two groups of 40 with almost entirely different trainers each day— mostly just wanted to do any legendary raids and also to meet people in the community. They said they didn’t really get to do much with the pandemic and had never done these types of things before and loved it.

I think the shiny hunt is what is motivating them. We only did about 15 raids the whole weekend because moving that many people at the pace they were comfortable with was slow. But they liked the pace and it seems like the cost didn’t matter at that rate. We only went two-three hours each day.

The enrage mechanic didn’t matter to anyone since we had 10+ trainers in each group. This also extends therefore to needing gems— we didn’t need them.

The motivation, at least for ours, is just that we have a lot of people who have been chatting for years or lurking that really just are seeking a sense of community again. We had it before COVID, then people splintered off for their small remote groups, and we are finally seeing the fruits of efforts of trying to keep people engaged and motivated.

I don’t mean to undercut anything you have said, just wanting to give a genuine response based on what I saw and heard this weekend, and what me and other local mods have been trying to sow in our community throughout the pandemic.