Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users • Hacker News Board

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#71

Post by riskable » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:39 PM UTC

mjevans wrote: post #42

NDizzle wrote: post #28

They drastically changed some algorithms to (seemingly) make more money. They made the pokemon break free MUCH more often with the update about 10 days ago. You now have to use way more pokeballs to capture things. So much to the point that it's unfun. I don't live near a pokestop so I can't top up quickly. Another thing they did was make it so the pokemon disappear if a range check puts you far enough away from the…

The update also (at least on my Nexus 6P) made GPS related issues dramatically worse; it's like they don't comprehend that in a place with a lot of tall buildings or trees you're not going to get a 'solid' GPS lock a majority of the time. Combine that with a UI popup (mid capture interaction no less) that steels input focus (it stops your ball toss), telling the user something they LITERALLY have no control over fixi…

The GPS issues have nothing to do with getting a GPS fix. It's just a plain ol' bug. My GPS is spot-on when using any app other than Pokémon Go which pretty regularly states that the GPS isn't working when I'm holding my phone in my hands to an open sky with no clouds.

It doesn't matter what I'm doing or what device I'm using it always shows that GPS error message every 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#72

Post by weberc2 » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:39 PM UTC

calbear81 wrote: post #3

I am a semi-active Pokemon Go player in the SF Bay Area and I can tell it's definitely died down over the last few weeks. In the beginning, every Friday/Saturday/Sunday night, the whole downtown area would be lured up and people would be out mingling and catching pokemon in the local park. This past weekend, there were only a few lures and a few diehards milling around the park. There's a few dynamics at play based o…

I relate best with your third point, but more generally, the original Pokemon games were strategic--to win battles you had to pick a good moveset, understand the type system, and train your pokemon to high levels. In this game, battles are mostly just screen mashing, and leveling up is purely about catching (either by catching a high level or catching enough pokemon to have the stardust to level one up), and battles are still not a major component of the game. I've actually gone back to playing the original games for the first time in over a decade, and it's a lot more fun than Go. :/

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#73

Post by jtmcmc » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:43 PM UTC

jampa wrote: post #60

wcarss wrote: post #16

The loss and subsequent banning of maps and map users made nearly everyone I know stop playing, especially in the total absence of an official replacement or a compelling reason to continue. Hearing my map ding was enough cause to make me leap out of my chair and run to the nearby park at midnight to catch something I wanted, and there'd usually be the usual lure-users and a few map-users out there at the same time.…

I don't get why they don't make their own pokemon map, they hear a lot of feedback and still they choose to act against it. I made a map that scanned my whole city just for fun and leaning, released and showed to a couple of friends. The next day I was flooded with Facebook invites with people telling me how they got a rare pokemon or requesting for a expansion on their cities. People kept sending messages when it we…

I wouldn't be surprised if they were but it takes some time to actually release a game feature.

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#74

Post by Larrikin » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:48 PM UTC

riskable wrote: post #68

mjevans wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they need to do is make the 'hunting' system more 4th dimensional. If you 'hear' a Pokemon near by (maybe you don't know what it is, just that you haven't seen it before), you also know a vague direction it's in; maybe not distance but direction. That should stay on your map. You move to a different location so you can triangulate it. You hear it again and another slice lays on your map. You investigate, but it'…

Or how about actually using the augmented reality (AR) portion of the game in a way that isn't just a gimmick: Make it so I can pan around my area with the camera to see where the Pokémon are (or at least provide a "rustling leaves" styled hint if you're looking in that direction). That'd be a great use of AR and would make the game more fun than staring down at a map all day.

This would be a killer feature. Currently the game is enhanced by turning the AR off in all instances, because even though it looks cool it makes battling and catching Pokemon more difficult

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#75

Post by khedoros » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:54 PM UTC

duaneb wrote: post #49

wcarss wrote: post #16

The loss and subsequent banning of maps and map users made nearly everyone I know stop playing, especially in the total absence of an official replacement or a compelling reason to continue. Hearing my map ding was enough cause to make me leap out of my chair and run to the nearby park at midnight to catch something I wanted, and there'd usually be the usual lure-users and a few map-users out there at the same time.…

For those of us who didn't use maps--most everyone I know--it was this advantage others had that made it terribly non-fun to play. Why bother playing when everyone is cheating?

For those of us who did use maps--most everyone I know--we didn't consider it cheating. The original form of the game sucked, and the maps worked like a community-made patch to work around some of the shortcomings. Why bother playing when the entertaining part of the game is so diffuse?

With maps, I'd gather a few coworkers for a safari when something cool popped up. Now we sit at our desks, catching the occasional thing that spawns in the building, but not going anywhere, and not even really interacting with each other.

Why bother playing the way that Niantic wants you to when their way feels like a grind-y waste of time?

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#76

Post by Chronic9q » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:55 PM UTC

calbear81 wrote: post #62

SyneRyder wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'global event' is a really interesting idea to me - it's easier to meet & chat to new people when you've just had a shared experience, more so if it's co-op rather than competitive. Wow, if Niantic had an event on the waterfront, and they happened to get city permission so when the sea monster is defeated it triggers a local fireworks display, that could be really interesting - and newsworthy. And no doubt the lo…

These global events I think are key to keep things fresh. They just need background notifications to alert players who are in a specific area. The global events don't have to be a big new Pokemon monster but that would definitely be fun to show all the trainers who are currently battling the monster. There should be a time limit on when you have to defeat the monster to earn the prize which encourages people to get o…

Not everyone lives in SF.

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#77

Post by vlunkr » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:57 PM UTC

djsumdog wrote: post #23

I feel like this is a case, "No shit, what did you think would happen?" It is a free-to-play game after all. I'd suggest watching the developer of Braid talk about free-to-play games. He compares them to 90's syndicated TV shows, each one being independent and leaving you with a cliffhanger prior to each commercial break. When HBO started producing long running series that would eventually be released on VHS and DVD,…

While I mostly agree, I wouldn't say they are entirely a step backwards. Pokemon Go broke the mold and did something that would not really work on any past platform.

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#78

Post by abritinthebay » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:58 PM UTC

oneloop wrote: post #4

I've been saying that Pokemon Go is going to go the same way as the Kinect and the Wii. Fun for the novelty, but beyond that the fundamentals are very bad. Therefore, once the novelty starts to wear off....

The Kinect is goddamn amazing. Using a system without a Kinect makes me feel like Scotty in Star Trek 4.

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#79

Post by duaneb » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 8:59 PM UTC

khedoros wrote: post #75

duaneb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those of us who didn't use maps--most everyone I know--it was this advantage others had that made it terribly non-fun to play. Why bother playing when everyone is cheating?

For those of us who did use maps--most everyone I know--we didn't consider it cheating. The original form of the game sucked, and the maps worked like a community-made patch to work around some of the shortcomings. Why bother playing when the entertaining part of the game is so diffuse? With maps, I'd gather a few coworkers for a safari when something cool popped up. Now we sit at our desks, catching the occasional t…

Well if everyone is playing a different game, it's no wonder nobody is having any fun. There is certainly no way for me to interact with you in a fair way if you're cheating past the limitations I'm enjoying.

Re: Pokémon Go loses its luster, sheds more than 10M users

#80

Post by jamisteven » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 9:04 PM UTC

wcarss wrote: post #16

The loss and subsequent banning of maps and map users made nearly everyone I know stop playing, especially in the total absence of an official replacement or a compelling reason to continue. Hearing my map ding was enough cause to make me leap out of my chair and run to the nearby park at midnight to catch something I wanted, and there'd usually be the usual lure-users and a few map-users out there at the same time.…

this has nothing to do with 10m people stopping altogether, people are stopping because its a fad, and utterly retarded, this was predicted form its inception. Nintendo stock goes up, and now it will go down.