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Pokemon GO update removes footprints from nearby tracker

jax

Banned
Sorry if this news isn't thread worthy, but I think it kind of deserves its own thread. Via the patch notes:

– Avatars can now be re-customized from the Trainer profile screen
– Adjusted battle move damage values for some Pokémon
– Refined certain Gym animations
– Improved memory issues
– Removed footprints of nearby Pokémon
– Modified battle damage calculation
– Various bug fixes during wild Pokémon encounter
– Updated Pokémon details screen
– Updated achievement medal images
– Fixed issues with displaying certain map features
– Minor text fixes

So basically, they took the most fun aspect of the game and threw it away. pretty disappointed right now.
 
So basically, they took the most fun aspect of the game and threw it away. pretty disappointed right now.

You mean the most fun aspect of the game that wasn't working? I mean, if it wasn't working...they may as well remove it.

I mean, it all is still pretty silly.
 
Glad to see the game is actually making LESS progress as time goes on. I look forward to the September update, which will remove items, and the December update - which will just delete the app entirely.
 

Kyari

Member
Uh ... wow. That's not even a fix, that's straight up just removing the broken thing. :/

Guess we're all just going to have to keep using PokéVision.
 

jediyoshi

Member
It worked fine, until they turned it off to relieve server strain. It was assumed to be turned back on, not removed.

Hasn't it not been working longer than the amount of time it actually worked? You haven't been having fun with the game since?
 

jax

Banned
Glad to see the game is actually making LESS progress as time goes on. I look forward to the September update, which will remove items, and the December update - which will just delete the app entirely.
Why wait until December? After level 20 the game loses most of what made it fun, now it's just a grindfest.
 

jax

Banned
Hasn't it not been working longer than the amount of time it actually worked? You haven't been having fun with the game since?
When the game launched it was without a doubt the most fun ive ever had with a mobile game. It neared OG Pokémon levels of fun. The night they nerfed it the mood at local poke-events and parks changed. The game stopped being fun.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
Ummm...

Footprints needed to be FIXED.

They're what made the "hunt" fun. There was satisfaction in really knowing if you were getting closer or not. Now it just seems more random. I find the "nearby" tracker really unreliable.

More reason to consider dropping the game. It already almost feels pointless.
 

FZZ

Banned
I'm 99% sure it'll be added back once they figure out how to implement it and relieve server strain
 

The_Dama

Member
Wow
That's fucking stupid. It's the only way to find Pokemon you are looking for. They know it's broken but instead of fixing the issue, they remove it. Just leaving broken.
 

jax

Banned
I thought that system only worked in the Beta? It was never too accurate for me.


Oh, no doubt. I feel the same way.
It worked perfectly with a skateboard or a bike. 3 steps when Pokémon are in vicinity, dropping to 2 when it got closer, and then 1, then 0.. pop! There's oddish. Amazing experience all around.

Honestly I don't even see how the heck I'm supposed to find half these Pokémon now. You literally have to cheat to play the game right. This is a huge blow to the games core fun element IMO

I don't want to cheat. I also don't want to find a random rare while I'm walking around .. I want what the game already was. This sucks.
 

im_dany

Member
Atleast the game runs much faster after this update, atleast for me.

I think they still haven't decided how to calculate the steps. Client side is perfect for the servers but prone to cheating. Server side is better to avoid cheaters but kills the servers (unless they find a more efficient algorithm, which they haven't found yet).
 

Ambient80

Member
Ummm...

Footprints needed to be FIXED.

They're what made the "hunt" fun. There was satisfaction in really knowing if you were getting closer or not. Now it just seems more random. I find the "nearby" tracker really unreliable.

More reason to consider dropping the game. It already almost feels pointless.


I mean, maybe they are fixing it? No need keeping it in the game right now if it's not working.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
I'm 99% sure it'll be added back once they figure out how to implement it and relieve server strain

Ofcourse. Better to remove it temporarily than needlessly confuse everyone with an indication that every pokemon is very far away.

But the outrage was to be expected though.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
Honestly I don't even see how the heck I'm supposed to find half these Pokémon now. You literally have to cheat to play the game right. This is a huge blow to the games core fun element IMO
It feels like a shot in the dark a lot of the time.

I hope they're just working out the kinks and plan to re-implement the feature.
 

batfax

Member
I assume it was removed for the time being simply because it was confusing people. Probably still trying to fix it and re implement it later.

Still waiting on that no Pokemon in rural areas fix though.
 

jax

Banned
Ofcourse. Better to remove it temporarily than needlessly confuse everyone with an indication that every pokemon is very far away.

But the outrage was to be expected though.
The attitude from the Hall H panel indicates nothing about any kind of fix. The successful launches in other countries without it pretty much confirmed people will just continue playing it broken until they realize how boring it is without the tracker and uninstall the app.

The problem is the complete lack of Communication from them about the issues. If they just said "it's coming back later" it wouldn't be a big deal. But as it is now is like "??? What's a footprint lol"
 
Hopefully whatever they did to smooth out the game a few weeks ago can be done again. If that fix was the prior changes to footstep tracking, etc, hopefully throwing more servers at the problem can get us back the footsteps :p

Oh weird battery saver is gone too, guess they're fixing that as well?
 
It worked perfectly with a skateboard or a bike. 3 steps when Pokémon are in vicinity, dropping to 2 when it got closer, and then 1, then 0.. pop! There's oddish. Amazing experience all around.

Honestly I don't even see how the heck I'm supposed to find half these Pokémon now. You literally have to cheat to play the game right. This is a huge blow to the games core fun element IMO

I don't want to cheat. I also don't want to find a random rare while I'm walking around .. I want what the game already was. This sucks.

It's great in theory but most of them respawn in under 10 minutes, I've seen Pokemon in pokevision that are like 5 blocks away show up as 3 steps. Try to track a 5x5 (25 square block) grid in 10 minutes, good luck

Removing the footsteps isn't the answer but they definitely never worked
 

jax

Banned
It's great in theory but most of them respawn in under 10 minutes, I've seen Pokemon in pokevision that are like 5 blocks away show up as 3 steps. Try to track a 5x5 (25 square block) grid in 10 minutes, good luck
It's called a skateboard. It was extremely easy and very fun actually, made me buy a Wii-mote strap for my phone and everything.

They worked perfectly if you were fast enough.
 
It's called a skateboard. It was extremely easy and very fun actually.

I use one, it's still difficult and many people do not own one

Not to mention there's snow on the ground here 7 months of the year so that's not going to work come September/October

They need something that is still challenging but also accessible and functional for everyone
 
I walked 3 miles total today in 4 directons looking for a Chansey with 3 feets. It appeared all over my near by page but I never found it.

I want that Chansey!
:mad:
 
Hopefully they add them back SOON. The social and fun aspect of the game depends on it.

Nintendo should step in before these Niantic amateurs end up ruining the hype for the app due to their constant neglect.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
What did the footprints even do? I click on it, but was something supposed to happen?
They'd tell you if you were getting closer to a Pokemon. 1 step is close, 2 steps far, 3 steps really far. 0 Steps pretty much meant you were right on top of it. Though, server issues meant that Pokemon actually appearing was inconsistent.

"Tracking" Pokemon was the fun part. It felt like what you'd do if you were actually a Pokemon Trainer.

I agree that the game was most fun in the very beginning. It's quickly lost the appeal for me.
 

Hikami

Member
Yup, until they take it down because they see this as cheating or shit like that.

Yep, from John Hanke:

F: How do you feel about Poké Radar and things that tap into the code and show where Pokémon are spawning?

JH: Yeah, I don’t really like that. Not a fan.

We have priorities right now but they might find in the future that those things may not work. People are only hurting themselves because it takes some fun out of the game. People are hacking around trying to take data out of our system and that’s against our terms of service.
source

Only reason I'm using it anyways is because there's no other way to track the damn Pokemon..
 

Zee-Row

Banned
They need to fix low CP pokemon Escapng pokeballs at high levels. Making you waste pokeballs like that makes it more obvious that they are trying to bleed more money from you.
 

xzeldax3

Member
The footprints were my favorite part of the game since I only really care about filling my pokedex. I spent hours with friends while tracking down Pokemon at midnight. Last time we tried it, a charmander appeared but we couldn't ever find it due to the three footprint bug. I understand that it was probably disabled due to server strain, but I hope it comes back at some point.
 

hydruxo

Member
Well they can tell us how they feel about Pokevision all they want, but truth is until they reenable tracking so I don't aimlessly walk around wasting my time, then I will continue to use Pokevision.
 

jax

Banned
Well they can tell us how they feel about Pokevision all they want, but truth is until they reenable tracking so I don't aimlessly walk around wasting my time, then I will continue to use Pokevision.
And when Nintendo's lawyers shut that down, what then? Uninstall the app?
 
I never used it.

I just enjoy the randomness of going on a walk somewhere and seeing what happens. That's how the real Masters do it, yo!
 

Ydelnae

Member
I'm so sad that this game was launched in this state. This could have been in development and beta phase for some good 4 months more. The launch month has been embarrassing. Not just because the nearby feature, but the constant crashes, the messy servers, the lack of stuff to do outside a very populated area, the inexistent feedback confirmation, and a large etc.

This project was too ambitious for Niantic and I don't think they are handling it very well. The fact that this is the new popularity peak for my most beloved franchise makes me sad.
 

jax

Banned
I never used it.

I just enjoy the randomness of going on a walk somewhere and seeing what happens. That's how the real Masters do it, yo!
Most people literally never used it, because the game shipped broken to every country but the US. There really should be more of an outcry, but I guess people are content with cheating.
 

Mariolee

Member
Sorry if this news isn't thread worthy, but I think it kind of deserves its own thread. Via the patch notes:



So basically, they took the most fun aspect of the game and threw it away. pretty disappointed right now.

Are you serious? I would bet a hefty amount of money they took it out to fix it and will bring it back either fixed or completely revamped.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Well they can tell us how they feel about Pokevision all they want, but truth is until they reenable tracking so I don't aimlessly walk around wasting my time, then I will continue to use Pokevision.
Problem is it's not just the footsteps that are broken but the entire tracker itself. It regularly is incorrect and also displays far far out of date information.

Myself and my partner have seen a Pokemon hit their timer on pokevision but still display on the tracker for 3-4+ minutes after they've gone. When they only stick around for about 15 mins that makes the thing useless.
 
Remove something until it's fixed sounds like the right move. Right now turning on the tracker is gonna lead to servers dying daily again.

It's probably gonna get overhauled on the backend then re-implemented.
 

LordCanti

Member
I'd like to see them add a compass showing the direction of the pokemon that pops up when you select one in the nearby window. I don't know if that's strenuous on their servers or whatever, but that's the bare minimum for my enjoyment of the game without needing to use third party tools. If I can't have the fun of the 3-2-1 footprint system back, at least let me know which direction to go.

I walked 3 miles total today in 4 directons looking for a Chansey with 3 feets. It appeared all over my near by page but I never found it.

I want that Chansey!
:mad:

I had this experience with a Snorlax last week. I went North, I went South, I went as far as I could in the time he was spawned but I couldn't find him (in 100 degree heat). He finally spawned again a few days ago and this time I just found him on one of the map sites and then jogged the three or four blocks to get him. It's not ideal but they've kind of left me with no choice.
 

v1lla21

Member
Why are people complaining about them removing something that's broken. I'm sure once they fix it they'll add it back.
 

g11

Member
Meh, I was just using the python script + Google Maps stuff because it actually works. I'm kind of done with the game though. The battling sucks.
 
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