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Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

arstechnica.com

41–50 of 76 posts

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#41
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should the game be inherently fair? Part of the fun is rewarding exploration over time as a life-long pokemon trainer trying to catch them all. You gotta go to all the regions to accomplish that. Maybe it'll take a long time!

> Should the game be inherently fair? No, but the fairness should be based on skills and engagement, not the size of your wallet.

[deleted]

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#42
post #2

I gotta give props to the players for their clever hacks. But also this brings up a good point -- the game is inherently unfair to people who don't have the means to travel. Someone in the middle of the country can't legitimately travel to a beach area. And there are some Pokemon that are restricted to a particular continent. Which means you either have to be rich or have a rich friend who can go to those places and…

I know a guy who plays Ingress, the Pokemon Go precursor where different teams claim locatios. There's one valuable location on an island fort (Pampus) that's closed in winter, so every autumn there was always a flurry of players trying to be the last to claim it before the winter.

But this guy has a pilot license, so he just flies a sports plane over the island to claim it just after it closed.

There's travel privilege, and then there's renting an actual plane for a game.

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#43
post #3

There are devices that you can buy that you can connect to your phone and will auto catch pokemon for you. Between auto catchers and changing map data, what is the point of "playing" the game?

It's very nakedly a skinner box game. The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims.

Throwaway for obvious reasons, but I've worked for Niantic on Pokemon Go, and this is a rather accurate portrayal of the company's relationship with a large part of the userbase.

Pokemon Go is basically a world-scale slot machine, and Niantic's entire business model revolves around preying on users' addictions to steer them into in-game purchases.

They are absolutely aware that a huge number of theirs users are addicted to the game, and they employ as many dark patterns as possible to extract every last dollar from these people.

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#44
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should the game be inherently fair? Part of the fun is rewarding exploration over time as a life-long pokemon trainer trying to catch them all. You gotta go to all the regions to accomplish that. Maybe it'll take a long time!

It depends on how the game is setup. If it's "almost possible" to get them all, then it kind of feels like you have to get them all, even if that involves some serious work. This can be compounded if certain "best of breed" types can only be obtained in certain areas, or at certain times. However, if it's setup so that it's basically impossible to get them all, but you can get many or any, then it doesn't feel as bad…

It feels like you have to get them all? why?

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#45
post #2

I gotta give props to the players for their clever hacks. But also this brings up a good point -- the game is inherently unfair to people who don't have the means to travel. Someone in the middle of the country can't legitimately travel to a beach area. And there are some Pokemon that are restricted to a particular continent. Which means you either have to be rich or have a rich friend who can go to those places and…

The point of a game, which maps the real world to a fictional world, is exactly that. A game like that can't be fair and it shouldn't be, part of the fun is that it isn't.

After all it is just a game, it's not an injustice for a game to not be fair.

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#46
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very nakedly a skinner box game. The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims.

What are they addicted to, controlling a gym near their home?

If you ever had to deal with people playing games where you had to "defend" something in real time (clash of clans, Rust, EVE online, etc.) you would have experienced concerning behavior on their part

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very nakedly a skinner box game. The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims.

> The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims. Where does that line get drawn?

When a grindfest game starts to offer you to spend some money (or something that can be monetized) on in-game items or perks that allow you to skip some of the grind?

Basically, when a "pay to win" option comes up.

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#48
post #2

I gotta give props to the players for their clever hacks. But also this brings up a good point -- the game is inherently unfair to people who don't have the means to travel. Someone in the middle of the country can't legitimately travel to a beach area. And there are some Pokemon that are restricted to a particular continent. Which means you either have to be rich or have a rich friend who can go to those places and…

Should the game be inherently fair? Part of the fun is rewarding exploration over time as a life-long pokemon trainer trying to catch them all. You gotta go to all the regions to accomplish that. Maybe it'll take a long time!

It’s a personal decision. There are so many Pokémon that hacking is a long and tedious process. You might as well download saves but them you’re not playing the game. I think it’s fun catching real Pokémon fairly but don’t mind if people hack.

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#49
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are they addicted to, controlling a gym near their home?

Probably some are, but the addictive aspect is more in the collecting of rare tokens with specific aspect. It requires a staggering amount of grinding to get these prized tokens, which forces players to spend an inordinate amount of time and constantly face prompts where they can pay to increase the chances of getting something. The chance aspect is critical, as the addicts aren't paying for a specific result but at…

> Probably some are, but the addictive aspect is more in the collecting of rare tokens with specific aspect.

Once you have collected a rare token with specific aspect, then what? Can you show it off to your peers, sell it, trade it, win battles easier?

Re: Pokémon Go players are altering public map data to catch rare Pokémon

#50
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably some are, but the addictive aspect is more in the collecting of rare tokens with specific aspect. It requires a staggering amount of grinding to get these prized tokens, which forces players to spend an inordinate amount of time and constantly face prompts where they can pay to increase the chances of getting something. The chance aspect is critical, as the addicts aren't paying for a specific result but at…

> Probably some are, but the addictive aspect is more in the collecting of rare tokens with specific aspect. Once you have collected a rare token with specific aspect, then what? Can you show it off to your peers, sell it, trade it, win battles easier?

Yes, specifically those things. edit: Maybe not the selling, it's probably not a big factor for most people.
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