Theory: Kids have better luck with RNG
I need to stress here that this just a theory and If it's true I'm not upset about it and actually think it's kinda cool on Niantic's part.
Based on totally anecdotal evidence, the kids that raid in our group that play with a real kid's account seem to get better catch rates, find more shinys, and get better loot at the end of the raid. Just better RNG luck in general.
I'm wondering if there is anything to this or if anyone has noticed anything similar. Again, if true I have absolutely no problem with it given that kids are at a distinct disadvantage
Answers
I don't think this is true, but I would not mind it being so.
I've played with quite a few kids and I think their catch rate is about the same as the adults.
Although, I guess one has to take into consideration the quality of the throws. I can't remember seeing a kid use the "ring lock" trick (or whatever it's called). And they don't often use curve balls (though many adults don't care about it either).
As for shinies I'm sure that adults in my area have more than any kid. On the other hand, if you were to make a list of who play the most and catch the most Pokemon, I doubt any kid would make it into the top 10 or even 20, so naturally playing and catching more will increase the chance of more shinies.
However, when it comes to catching Mewtwo, I actually think that more adults have failed to catch it than kids, but on the other hand, seeing as there's like 1 kid to 8-10 adults, that doesn't really mean much.
But as I said, I wouldn't mind it if kids had some extra luck in the game (it always breaks my heart when a kid fails to catch a Legendary or Mewtwo and start crying).
They have more restrictions than adults, so giving them some extra fortune is okay with me. But if rural players can't get any help, then kids probably wont.
Likewise I would not mind if it were true but I think it's still unlikely. I have also anecdotally noticed kids sometimes having ridiculous luck (apparently one of the owners of most shinies in my city is a 10-year old), but I have also seen numerous kids in tears after failing to catch a legendary and whatnot. Needs a proper study with multiple child accounts if we want conclusive proof.
Heh, some people in my local raid group had this exact same conversation earlier today. We did a total of six Lugia raids, resulting in four shinies in total. 3 of the 4 shinies were on kid's accounts. One of them was a 98 and the other a 100.
I'm sure it's all anecdotal evidence and RNG, but it's happened often enough that our group has dubbed the term "little kid good luck" as a thing.
Counter Anecdotal Evidence: My daughter's account gets what I want from Raids, and I get what she needs. I WANT CTM's and Rare Candies. She NEEDS Revives. So what do I get? Revives. What does she get? CTM's, FTM's and Rare Candies.
When it comes to catching, she MIGHT have better RNG when it comes to Legendaries; when we were at raids together, and she was trying to catch the Raid Boss (instead of handing the phone to me to try), she caught Rayquaza MORE often than I did. Without using Curveballs. (She doesn't find curveballs to be fun to try) Without getting anything other than Nice bonuses. (She loves to just fling the ball at the Pokémon without trying to aim at all.) And she caught more Rayquaza than I did, even when I was hitting them with Golden Razz, Curveballs and Excellent throws. (which wasn't very often; more often than not the Rayquaza was glitched and simply too far away for me to hit, no matter what. After catching 23,000 Pokémon... yeah, I know how to throw long.)
Non-legedaries, including non-legendary raid bosses? Nope. I use her account regularly to keep it fun for her (like catching her some decent Pokémon, or keeping her bag full of Pokeballs), and it's about equal on hers as on mine.
For Shinies? We both got a Shiny Lugia at the same raid. On Dratini day, she got less Shiny's than I or my Wife did. She hasn't got a Shiny Pikachu (we didn't bother with the Pikachu day since those little electric rats are a waste of balls and berries) though I lucked into one. My wife has more non-event Shiny's than either of us (1 Swablu; I consider the Lugia to be an Event Shiny).
So as far as I can tell, it's RNG all the way down. Niantic's definition for R, however, might not actually be found in any dictionaries outside of Niantic HQ.
I've done a proper scientific study by considering 100% of the children on this forum. Unfortunately for your theory, there's conflicting evidence.
harrytipper2: comes out of retirement for 5 minutes per month and catches some sort of supreme beast every time.
Luck rating: "unbelievable"
Mr-ex777: even the pidgeys flee from this one.
Luck rating: "embarrassing"
