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

arstechnica.com

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

#221

Post by Trundle »

khedoros wrote: post #218
Trundle wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see a problem with that. Different strokes for different folks. What I'm enjoying is available to you, but you've chosen to limit yourself to a constricted set of abilities, because you (apparently) enjoy the limitations. Would you hold the same sentiment for GPS spoofers? Who jump around from gym to gym with their Dragonites and Snorlax that are far higher level than even a heavy map user would have? Or peop…

Only to the degree that they don't damage other people's games. Jumping gym to gym isn't something I'd consider doing myself, but jumping to pokestops and avoiding gyms altogether? It's not my thing, but I don't see any harm. I think it's a difference in perception. I consider the location-locked nature of the game to be a central feature that contributes to the entertainment value of the game. I don't consider the l…

Well sure, these people could technically play the game without affecting others. What's the point though? As a single player game Go is lacking and as a social game it's the hottest thing around. I'd be surprised to learn that there's people cheating and then not interacting with other players.

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

#222

Post by khedoros »

duaneb wrote: post #152
khedoros wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are competing for valuable pokemon, which IS the point of the game. I'm not. The coworker next to me and I routinely catch the same Pokemon at the same time. Watching it on the map made it clear: if someone catches it, it doesn't just disappear. It's there for a set amount of time. When the time is up, that's when it can't be caught by someone else.

Too bad I can't coordinate with every single person in my city to catch the pokemon I want in the same 30 second timeframe. I've been so silly trying to spend my time hunting down the pokemon I want just to see it vanish!

If you've had fun, it's not silly. If you've just been aggravated by it, that would be silly. Personally, I'd just be aggravated...so I avoid trying to hunt down specific Pokemon, now.

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

#223

Post by vintermann »

bskap wrote: post #130
calsy wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you are supposed to catch common pokemon, that's the quickest way to level up.

Assuming your goal is to level up. A lot of people were playing for the collection aspect.

And it wasn't going fast enough for them?

But maybe they didn't want it to go fast. Maybe it was supposed to be unfeasible to get a full set in a reasonable amount of time. This doesn't seem too unlikely if they want to implement trading at some point.

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

#224

Post by calsy »

khedoros wrote: post #217
calsy wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not cheating anymore obviously, thats why they are complaining. What's this completely different other games within a game you are referring to. Is it the 'catch rare pokemon without hunting for them' game. Well yeah of course that's noncompetitive. You are aware this is a multiplayer game though, right? There are gyms where you have battles and those with rare pokemons with higher CP will take over gyms that…

> They're not cheating anymore obviously, thats why they are complaining. Personally, I'm complaining because the game is broken and no fun, and a method of fixing it has been disabled. I don't particularly care about any of the multiplayer aspects, except that it's sometimes fun to meet friends and run around playing it.

Im lvl 22 and don't use a map tool. I go for walks and catch pokemon with my wife. There are items such as incense and lures in game that help you catch more pokemon if you want. Common pokemon are easy to catch and quickly evolve into powerful pokemon. The tracking is working again (although not 3 steps).

How did I get to lvl 22 if the game is broken? How do 30 million people play if it is broken? Its not that the games broken, it just not the way you want to play it. Like it or not the games about grinding, as evident by the RPG lite gameplay mechanics, the 100s of pokeballs given to the player and high XP awarded for evolving common pokemon. You might want it to be a game simply about 'finding rare pokemon easy', but that's not the intend way of playing it.

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

#225

Post by vintermann »

tvanantwerp wrote: post #34
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.…

Before that move, half my office was playing. We'd often play together. Right after the banning of maps, I have only seen one person in the office play a single time. Interest died immediately.

Don't you think interest would have dropped off in any case? It doesn't really offer much in the way of captivating gameplay. Ingress at least had a social/LARP element.

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

#226

Post by MichaelMoser123 »

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…

maybe they want to start to sell more pokeballs? In the end most games makes their money off a small percentage of power users (aka heavy addicts) who are ready to shell out money for in game purchases - a game does not need a massive following, they need to hook a small circle of friends (015% according to [1]) who are ready to pay.

[1] http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/26/only-0-15-of-mobile-gamers...

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

#227

Post by michaelfindlay »

I must admit i played Pokemon Go a little bit, I am sure maybe they could add more elements as time goes, including player vs player tournaments and lobbies. Single player mode with a pokemon of your choice with story line gyms. They just need to re-engage players.

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

#228

Post by AndroidTim »

AOsborn wrote: post #214
AndroidTim wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see what you mean but that's partially true but not entirely correct. Yes maps were not part of the original design but neither was the current system. You see The beta users had a very good indication where Pokemon were. In fact they had a superior system to even the 3 step tracking. They had the distance away from a Pokemon displayed in METRES! That would have been amazing. So the audience Niantic designed and "p…

I agree with your point, but this isn't the forum for a post with a tone like that.

Your right-apologies The "wake up delusion" comment was not necessary. Does this forum have an edit function?

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

#229

Post by calsy »

myrion wrote: post #211
calsy wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is fun when those common pokemon evolve into high CP Pokemon.

They don't though. Evolving gives you, in my experience, +100, perhaps +200 CP. All my 10-50CP Pidgeys don't magically get useful by evolving. Though they do give nice XP.

Yes they do, my most powerful characters are all margikarp, psyduck, eevee, exeggcute evolutions. I have a 990 CP Pidgeot from pidgeys.

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

#230

Post by CM30 »

Makes me wonder if some of this was disillusionment after people realised how unbalanced the game was.

Because at the moment, it's a game that seems designed specifically to reward city dwellers and punish countryside and suburban folk. If you're in a city, lots of Pokemon seem to appear because it uses mobile signals to place them. In the country where you'd expect Pokemon? Nothing. You can have tall grass for miles, yet get less Pokemon than in a Walmart parking lot.

As a result, a lot of people spent ages wandering around and encountering nothing. Or maybe just common Pokemon.

The maps helped with this a bit, by giving these people the knowledge to find the few interesting Pokemon that would spawn before they vanish. But without them? There's not really a point for most people in these areas to keep playing. It's a lot of hassle for very little reward.

Niantic didn't seem to want to improve this either. They simply said something like 'well, you'll just have to move to where the Pokemon are'.

So I wonder if some of the drop may be people living in more remote regions saying 'sod this' and giving up on the game.

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