It's not a desperately needed service, it isn't mandatory, it's definitely optional. You're entirely correct. So why is everyone acting like this is the end of the world?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
'Pokémon GO' Cuts Off Access To Pokévision And Other Creature-Finding Apps
- Thread starter charlequin
- Start date
It's not a desperately needed service, it isn't mandatory, it's definitely optional. You're entirely correct. So why is everyone acting like this is the end of the world?
Did you play the game when it first came out? The footsteps led you right to the Pokemon. It was obvious how it worked in that the less footprints the closer you were getting. I always ended up finding the Pokemon because of it.
This idea that the game was originally meant to be players just running around looking for random Pokemon is not supported in anyway. The trailers even go against that mentality as does the nearby tracker.
The Pokemon will likely despawn before you can whittle down from 3 steps. Heck, that's probably a reason for them decreasing the scanning area.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
If you look at the trailers, people were given the exact direction and exact distance (but not time remaining, admittedly).
If you look at the beta, people could establish the exact direction using trig and approximate distance was given to the nearest 20m.
If you look at the initial release, people could establish the exact direction using trig and the approximate distance was given to within one of four ranges.
If you look at the current release, people cannot establish anything at all.
The story of the game has been one of them continuously removing the key feature that made the game enjoyable.
Yes I did. And I also found my way to Psyduck (GOAT Pokémon) because of the footprints. But it was nothing like Pokevision, now you're just lying to justify those trackers. Footprints were "I see the grass moving and it's the nearest to me so it must be the Pokémon with one footprint". Not "let's check this browser and see the exact location of this Pikachu".
Don't bend the gameplay idea to justify your usage of those trackers to me or to yourself. You can do whatever you want and I don't even mind those trackers to begin with. I just never cared about them and I never used them.
The trailer showed a lot of things. Maybe they'll sell an item that shows you the exact location at some point, who knows. But I'm sure the footprints will come back.
blankempathy
Member
Like I said before, people are just really starting to get fed up with Niantic. People have run out of ideas on how to get Niantic to listen. Guess they're trying the anger approach. Sure its optional but that doesn't mean people aren't going to be passionate about it either. People being passionate in a overly negative or positive way isn't nothing new. We had all these awesome stories of the community coming together and being happy. Now that people are mad we're going to see the community be upset and complain. It wasn't something that happened over night though.
Marmaladefire
Member
So this game really is now completely unplayable outside of large cities. Cool
Lying?
Pokemon that are extremely close don't have a footprint, it disappears to show that they're right near you. The tracker was always intended to lead you right to the Pokemon on it and you're completely in the wrong to think otherwise.
Yeah.
Good game Niantec.You just killed your game in a little over 3 weeks. Nice.
The removal of said feature is a dumb move. Not only that, but having sites like PokeVision etc close down because "it removes the fun of the game" is insane.
Sure, lets walk 10 kilometers because there MIGHT be a PokeMon (a rare one) nearby. Don't know for sure though because the other one could be further or closer. The game is fun ... but the lack of communication or rare Pokemon in cities .. meh. Might just stop playing all together. I've been in 3 cities now, catching only Pidgeys, Ratata's and that's about it. Withouth PokeVision (or a fucking decent radar) it is IMPOSSIBLE to actually CATCH something else besides the shit load of shit PokeMons.
R.I.P PokemonGo.
Good game Niantec.You just killed your game in a little over 3 weeks. Nice.
The removal of said feature is a dumb move. Not only that, but having sites like PokeVision etc close down because "it removes the fun of the game" is insane.
Sure, lets walk 10 kilometers because there MIGHT be a PokeMon (a rare one) nearby. Don't know for sure though because the other one could be further or closer. The game is fun ... but the lack of communication or rare Pokemon in cities .. meh. Might just stop playing all together. I've been in 3 cities now, catching only Pidgeys, Ratata's and that's about it. Withouth PokeVision (or a fucking decent radar) it is IMPOSSIBLE to actually CATCH something else besides the shit load of shit PokeMons.
R.I.P PokemonGo.
I don't even understand your point anymore. I'm not saying the footprints weren't there to lead you to the Pokémon but it was nothing like Pokevision at all.
PSFan
Member
Update 1.1.1 of what?
Saying it's nothing like Pokevision is ridiculous. The nearby tracker is intended to lead you right to where the Pokemon is. Vision just made it way easier.
Now had the tracker been working normally I can see why Vision would need to be shut down as it's not necessary when the game has a properly working tracker but because the system was broken Vision helped do what the tracker was failing to and that's tell you what Pokemon are in the area and where to find them.
Also you and others in this thread are mistaking people defending Vision just so they can do everything easily when in reality it's because finding rare Pokemon was imbossible with the broken tracker. I played for a solid week or so before the tracker was broken and only tried Vision when everything was down. It allowed me to continue how I was playing originally and that was the same with every other player on my street. A lot of people want to bring up Vision as some big form of cheating when all it was is a way to substitute finding new Pokemon until the tracker was fixed.
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
Idiots. That's the end of me playing then
I don't know what to tell you. I'm not even mad at people using trackers, I don't mind. I'm playing this game since day one and I never got frustrated looking for Pokémon even if they ran away in the end. That's just part of the game design for me and Pokevision in its core is getting rid of said frustration. If that frustration is too big for some to play without Pokevision than fine, stop playing. The game right now without footprints is broken because you can't hunt for specific Pokémon, that's obvious. That's why I'm sure they will come back after they figure other server related stuff out. But Pokevision just goes too far, for me at least.
Gotta bump down those 0.31.0 reviews somehow.
PuppetMaster
Member
I'm on team legit!
And cheaters quitting the game is a win for the rest of us. They won't be missed.
And cheaters quitting the game is a win for the rest of us. They won't be missed.
shocking news,cheaters can still spoof GPS and go to central park and do what ever they want.
PSFan
Member
Well, I have Android version and it's currently at 0.31.0. It didn't seem like it was for the game since it's a pretty big jump. No new update for android currently either.
yah,i checked apkmirror it's not there too.
apkmirror leaked 0.31.0. several hours before it was released.
PSFan
Member
Is there some rumor going around that if you white knight Niantic, they'll give you free items or something? And using trackers is not cheating.
I don't know how people can have any interest in it in a competitive way after simply comparing people living or working by like 3 pokestop, while other people would need to take a ride to see one.
Cheaters are those that spoofed their gps, not those that wanted to chase pokemon after they removed that ability.
And catching pokemon is not in any way competitive. Gyms are, but you don't lose anything if another person catches it before you.
Cheating is still very much possible. And this move by Niantec just ensured that a shitload more will join 'em. Trust me.
I was so happy to have been proven wrong by GO. With the tracking, it was ridiculous fun.
Now, with this patch, they have just ballsed everything up. Tracking is gone. Pokémon run a lot more often than they should (Had more yesterday than I had combined since launch), and aren't captured. Experience boosts are removed.
They've essentially made the game what I feared it would be, ridiculously bad, unfair mechanics to encourage purchasing of items.
They took the enthusiasm I had gained after being massively sceptical and have completely trashed it. I'm not having fun.
If they don't bring back tracking and sort the flee rates out, then this game will die off, and it will deserve it.
Now, with this patch, they have just ballsed everything up. Tracking is gone. Pokémon run a lot more often than they should (Had more yesterday than I had combined since launch), and aren't captured. Experience boosts are removed.
They've essentially made the game what I feared it would be, ridiculously bad, unfair mechanics to encourage purchasing of items.
They took the enthusiasm I had gained after being massively sceptical and have completely trashed it. I'm not having fun.
If they don't bring back tracking and sort the flee rates out, then this game will die off, and it will deserve it.
It definitely did blow up overnight. People poked fun at the service issues before, it got turned into funny parody videos and became a meme. This situation is like way over the top compared to that.
But that's 100% subjective experience Joe. It's not a fact at this point.
Plus, really? You're taking the microtransaction conspiracy route? I'm surprised.
Waluigilicious
Member
I can't believe my eyes! You're 100% spot on.
Which is a shame, because with a little better management it could have kept all of its momentum. Instead they decided to keep launching in countries when their infrastructure was all there, and remove features instead of improving the (already barebones) game.
I'm on vacation right now and for whatever reason Venice Italy has 0 Pokemon. When I get back I'll give the game a fair chance but i fear that this great thing that was making me exercise and walk more will now die a sad, but deserved, death.
Ravensmash
Member
So what's the best way to play this now? Has anyone come up with an alternative?
MrCookiepants
Member
I would much rather have a game that crashes every now and then as opposed to a game that isn't worth playing at all.
How can the most essential feature of the game be broken for 2 weeks straight? It's an absolute joke. Niantic should be thanking the Pokevision guys for buying them time, not cutting that time short.
How can the most essential feature of the game be broken for 2 weeks straight? It's an absolute joke. Niantic should be thanking the Pokevision guys for buying them time, not cutting that time short.
In my position in the community, I can tell when things are being overblown or not and from what I have seen, it is clearly happening.
And yes, I'm taking that route because why the hell would they do it. It's ridiculous.
blankempathy
Member
It didn't though. Sure people may joke about the issues and still are but plenty of people voiced frustration about the issues before this newest one. You could check the pokemon go OT around mid day and read plenty of posts of people angry about server issues. One of the underlying issue has been that tracking is broken. Not just the footsteps but other issues like it not updating forcing players to have to restart the app to refresh the list. It has been broken for a while now. If they had fixed tracking and banned the tracker sites/apps then I know that less people would have been upset. However they didn't fix it and on top of that removed a method that still kept the game interesting for a lot of people. Which is being able to actually find and catch pokemon around you. Now with both options out the window we're essentially stuck with wandering around and sitting at pokestops. On top of that apparently pokemon are running away more and harder to catch. Which was already an issue for higher level players due to the poor scaling mechanics. Wasting pokeballs on crappy rattattas and pidgeys you just want for candies but are a pain to catch because catching difficulty doesn't scale properly. So no it did not just happen over night. Niantic has let these issues continue to pile up and people are getting sick of it.
For the record I like the game and I'm not one of the people emailing Niantic or trying to get them in trouble but you'd have to be blind or in denial to not see the amount of issues the game has or the people upset about them or how the outrage has reached this point. The writing was on the wall.
But it's not happening to everyone though, and coincidences don't equate to a legit thing actually happening. A higher amount of people paying attention to their ball count and having a few bad catches on one day doesn't make it fact.
But basic Pokeballs don't catch Pokemon very well. Unless Niantic expects people to just suddenly start buying hundreds, that makes no sense. Assuming malice from the get go isn't a good thing to do.
Some people were frustrated, but in the overall more people were having a fun time despite the issues. Now all that positive discussion has disappeared. Anyone actually having fun gets shot down if they say they had fun in the wrong thread. That didn't happen before, even with the servers being borked from time to time there wasn't all this seething hate about it. It was an annoyance but that was about it.
i can't even catch a zubat without wasting at least 5 balls and some berry.
lol
I hate Zubat.
blankempathy
Member
People are willing to overlook flaws until they become too obvious and start interfering with their fun. For a lot of people its reached that point. You probably didn't see my edit so I'll say it again here. I like the game but you'd have to be blind or in denial to not see the issues this game has or how frustrated the fanbase has started to get. The writting was on the wall. Niantic hasn't fixed the issues. Hell if anything they've taken steps that make them appear like they don't care about player satisfaction. We can only speculate because again, no communication.
Chuckie
Member
i can't even catch a zubat without wasting at least 5 balls and some berry.
Lol. So true. Once I got a Golbat I just quit trying for the Zubats
It is happening to me though. Also anecdotal of course, but I think I had like 3 Pokemon run in two weeks time and now I have 7 in 1,5 day time.
I really hope you are right and it is a mere coincidence, but seeing others noticing the same thing gives me a bad feeling.
I didn't catch (lol) your edit, no.
I'm not blind to the issues the game has had. The crashes and freezing did annoy me, but I'd still laugh when someone posted a server issue meme or something like that on Twitter. But my experience with the fandom is not a ball of frustration. The community was nice, accommodating, speculating theories and hanging out together.
There have been people on Reddit complaining about the game since it released. Sure. But it wasn't a frustration actually pent up by the entire community. If you go on Reddit now you'll see people legit sad because the community has turned suddenly to making fun of people who still enjoy the game only a day after the update landed. A day.
And for me it's the opposite. I'd have a few Pokemon get away from me pretty much every time I walked, but last night and today I've only had 1 Weedle run from me total. I've even caught some things in 1-2 throws. Either I have incredible luck, or it's all just coincidences.
is it cheating when using the pokedex to find out what route a pokemon is on in the handheld games?
Because you know what wouldn't have been fun, when trying to catch them all and having no idea where to find em.
From meeting many people yesterday with the same issues, seeing it across the community, it is far from anecdotal and there is clear evidence of it.
Camp Freddie
Member
The NeoGAF tracker was perfect for me.
It said where the pokemon were, without explicitly pointing to it on a map.
It kept the exploration feel, and added the fun of "5 minutes to get 300 meters NNW for a charmander, can I make it?"
They need to put a working tracker in the game, and IMO it should be more fine-grained than the 3 steps. A 5 or 10-step hotter/colder gauge would be ideal.
It said where the pokemon were, without explicitly pointing to it on a map.
It kept the exploration feel, and added the fun of "5 minutes to get 300 meters NNW for a charmander, can I make it?"
They need to put a working tracker in the game, and IMO it should be more fine-grained than the 3 steps. A 5 or 10-step hotter/colder gauge would be ideal.
blankempathy
Member
Thats because the way reddit works is that the major consensus is voted into viability and everyone else has their comments buried. And well people are pissed lol. Neogaf doesn't operate like that. However that doesn't mean you don't see people upset here either. It'll balance out eventually over there unless Niantic continues to screw up. Like I've said before though this was kinda the straw that broke the camels back. Lots more people pissed off than before thats for sure.
That sounds pretty cool.
Just to add to the anecdotal evidence, the last three or so days the Pokémon are way harder to catch for me for some reason. I'm lvl 17 now and a 60 CP Pidgey can give me a bad time lol.
Are you really sure it's not just a case of people actually being hyper aware of how the game is actually going down now? There's the controversy, there's the new way to throw curve balls, and there's no nice/great/excellent bonus. Things were altered in that way for sure. When you're having fun you might not notice your balls whittling away, or care about Pokemon escaping as much. But now it's a big deal.
I won't accept it as fact until there is actual evidence of this. People now actively talking about their ball usage and flee rate because it's a hot topic doesn't really prove anything. It's all anecdotal.
Pokemon are harder to catch at a higher level anyway.
Even before the patch, the escape rate increase dramatically for me after I hit 15. it somehow managed to seem even worse yesterday when I went out(I'm 20 now). I've ran out of pokeballs because of it, down to like 7. I won't be going near many pokestops either for the time being, so that means I only bother with good stuff with the great/ultras I do still have some of.
friskykillface
Banned
I bet they are developing their own pokevision to sell to people
You guys forget that the main objective is $$$$$$$$$$
Shame too because I also went to different places to walk for new Pokemon but oh well
The game is pretty broken with infinite different pokemon found in downtown X city areas compared to suburbs , wild Pokemon wouldn't live in cities except rats and birds , rigged
You guys forget that the main objective is $$$$$$$$$$
Shame too because I also went to different places to walk for new Pokemon but oh well
The game is pretty broken with infinite different pokemon found in downtown X city areas compared to suburbs , wild Pokemon wouldn't live in cities except rats and birds , rigged
Niantic just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Pokemon culture (I'm an expert), but minmaxing and cheating are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in Mountain View where you can become successful by being a glasshole. If you screw someone over with an update you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is communicating and repentance.
What this means is the Pokemon Go players, after hearing about this, they're not going to want to purchase any microtransactions anymore for either system, nor will they purchase any of Nintendo and Google's other stuff. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Niantic has alienated an entire market with this move.
Niantic, publicly apologize and reinstate my favorite cheating script or you can kiss your business goodbye.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Pokemon culture (I'm an expert), but minmaxing and cheating are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in Mountain View where you can become successful by being a glasshole. If you screw someone over with an update you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is communicating and repentance.
What this means is the Pokemon Go players, after hearing about this, they're not going to want to purchase any microtransactions anymore for either system, nor will they purchase any of Nintendo and Google's other stuff. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Niantic has alienated an entire market with this move.
Niantic, publicly apologize and reinstate my favorite cheating script or you can kiss your business goodbye.
I think there could be some cool opportunities here to make some big changes to the game:
- Offer a map that shows were some Pokémon are located at, like in the games but not so detailed like Pokevision. I could picture a family going to the mountains or something to catch an Onyx. Stuff like that. And also keep random rare Pokémon spawns. They're fun.
- Offer a compass to hunt Pokémon better.
- Offer a global goal. Think about all the Pidgey you're catching, why not make a global goal out of them. If in 24h so and so many Pidgey are caught all the players get some kind of reward. Coins, Balls, a rare Pokémon. Something cool.
- Offer a map that shows were some Pokémon are located at, like in the games but not so detailed like Pokevision. I could picture a family going to the mountains or something to catch an Onyx. Stuff like that. And also keep random rare Pokémon spawns. They're fun.
- Offer a compass to hunt Pokémon better.
- Offer a global goal. Think about all the Pidgey you're catching, why not make a global goal out of them. If in 24h so and so many Pidgey are caught all the players get some kind of reward. Coins, Balls, a rare Pokémon. Something cool.