Note: This is preliminary analysis just hours after the update
TLDR: Team Rocket rCPM scaling appears to have been changed in some manner. Previously player Lvl 40 rCPM looks to have been shifted to player Lvl 70, and we have one anomaly already to investigate. AKA Rocket members should be easier at Lvl 70 if you were previously Lvl 41-50.
With the introduction of Lvl 80, Niantic/Scoply did confirm that Pokemon CPM was not going to change and that holds true. However, one thing was unanswered before the release was how Team Rocket members were going to be handled as their rCPM scales with player's level and uses their own formula. Gathering some data on Team Rocket grunts/leaders at release was one of the first things we wanted to check.
The initial guess was that Rocket rCPMs would be capped at Lvl 50 like before (or Lvl 55 after the CPM additions in the GM) and remain the same up until Lvl 80. First tests did show that rCPMs have been adjusted in some way but different then we thought.
Below are the initial tests from myself and some other researchers and includes the CP of Rocket's S. Pokemon prior to and post the Lvl 80 update. It appears that what was the rCPM previously at player Lvl 40 is now the rCPM at player Lvl 70.
| Rocket | Pokemon | CP at P-Lvl 50 Pre-80 | CP at P-Lvl 70 Post-80 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grunt | Baltoy | 2807 | 2597 |
| Grunt | Drowzee | 3712 | 3435 |
| Grunt | Qwilfish | 7289 | 6745 |
| Grunt | Nidorino | 4959 | 4589 |
| Grunt | Weezing | 8165 | 7556 |
| Sierra | Feebas | 1078 | 997 |
| Sierra | Ferrothorn | 9123 | 8442 |
| Sierra | Houndoom | 10349 | 9577 |
| Sierra | Staraptor | 11100 | 10272 |
| Arlo | Wobbuffet | 4044 | 3742 |
| Arlo | Crobat | 10387 | 9612 |
| Arlo | Scizor | 11807 | 10926 |
| Grunt | GALLADE | 11038 | 10214 (-1) |
We double checked the CPs and screenshot/clips from pre-80 update to confirm there was a change and then confirmed the new CPs fit the previous player Lvl 40 rCPMs. These are just high level initial (and quick) tests.
However, the very first test did show an anomaly. Gallade with the previous Lvl 40 rCPM would have been a CP of 10215, but actual CP was 10214. For this to happen, this means there could be a change in rCPM values (like 1.2650205 to 1.265) or at least what would have been carried over.
Again, this is just hours after the update with a ton of things going on and there is a massive amount of research ahead to figure out what/how things changed. This was a huge undertaking from research years ago. Since most players jumped immediately to Lvl 70, that severely limits what data we can gather until we level up through 80 but still missing Lvls 8-69.
Hopefully there will be some updates in the months to come.
EDIT: Here is the latest Team Rocket research Google sheet for the community (still a work in progress): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bzvqxonUnsTJzfHz-whT1YcyqXIKs5BIQ-F7ALRIwiI/edit?usp=sharing
by eli5questions