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

Post by calsy » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 9:41 PM UTC

nathankleyn wrote: post #40

cheald wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is on the money. Niantic made it harder and more frustrating to play their game, and people stopped playing it. They have utterly failed to understand what their playerbase wants, and people are falling off. The maps really drove it into overdrive, especially with the presence of "nests", because it allowed people to figure out where they needed to be, and would then congregate there. By taking out the maps, Nia…

It's particularly aggravating playing it in a large city (for us London) where, without the maps as a guide, you're stuck wasting balls on common Pokémon incessantly because that's the only thing around. Add to that the fact that they made it, with a recent update, insanely likely for anything half-decent to simply run or be impossible to catch, and you have a recipe for declining interest in playing and paying to be…

Post by Gargoyle » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 9:42 PM UTC

wott wrote: post #63

120bits wrote: post #20

This is what I have noticed in just my friend circle. I was never an active Pokemon Go player, but few of my friends were really into the game. Every Friday we would go out for a walk, in near by park and they will have their phone out and be catching Pokemons. I guess it was just how much more I can catch thing. They always wanted to get the rares ones. Who doesn't right? Last 2 weekends I have noticed 2 of my frien…

> I was never > Every Friday we would > They always wanted > Last 2 weekends I have noticed 2 of my friends didn't care much. And, slowly, the interest faded away. "Every", "always", "slowly", and the overall feeling of a long tradition. Er... guys... can you remind us how long this fad lasted? When was it introduced? 6 years ago? 6 months ago? No, that's 6 weeks ago, men! So, 2 weeks ago was just 4 weeks after the b…

Post by jmcdiesel » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 9:44 PM UTC

hkmurakami wrote: post #53

No matter what happens to Pokemon Go, Nintendo has proved to the world that its IP is immensely powerful and valuable in the mobile age. That's a nice weapon to have to shut up "analysts" who always want them to take the path to short term gains. I remain bearish on Pokemon go and bullish on Nintendo.

Post by khedoros » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 9:45 PM UTC

derefr wrote: post #95

khedoros wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don't quite understand the impulse to "fix" the game, though. As much as it's a commercial product, it's also a piece of art. Would you "fix" a movie? Or would you just avoid seeing it? Or—if you happen to be in film yourself—would you get some people together and make your own? I'm serious on that last one: the people who made the pokemon mapping apps could all get together and have enough pooled mobile-fronted an…

Post by zeveb » Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 9:46 PM UTC

wvenable wrote: post #5

Semiapies wrote: post #2

Some of it is undoubtedly a craze shedding the least-engaged, but I wonder how much of that could be due to it being August and people not wanting to traipse around in the height of summer. I got interested in the game, but I decided to wait a bit as daily high temperatures hovered at the century mark.

In other places, August is a comfortable time to traipse around compared to the rest of the year. You want get outdoors when the sun is out and it's warm.