For a moment, I ask you to take a deep breath and reflect on the unsolved mysteries of the games industry. Where is Half Life 3? Who is Wario, really? Why won’t Pokemon GO‘s developers actually add the features the game so desperately needs?
Chansey
OK, it is a little maddening. In the last day, all four of YouTube’s major Pokemon GO channels have complained that the game’s lack of content could mean the end of their channels. And Pokemon GO‘s new, cutesy Valentine’s Day event isn’t adding much fuel to the mobile game’s already plucked-out fire.
Today, Pokemon GO is “spreading the love” with its new and transcendentally uninspired event: “Players will receive double the amount of Candy when catching, hatching and transferring Pokemon, while Buddy Pokemon will find Candy twice as fast for their Trainers.” Oh, goodie! A new update that isn’t the addition of trading or full second generation Pokemon. It also isn’t any of the things trainers have been asking for since its July release, like a working tracker or a more developed gym system or a PvP mode. And not one Pokemon is getting a hat!
Also, pink Pokemon like Chansey, Clefable and Porygon (who is not even that pink) will have increased spawn rates during the event. Lures will work for six hours instead of 30 minutes because hearts and glitter and love, a feeling this game hasn’t inspired in me since its winter 2016 wave of mind-control.
Honestly, at this point, each piece of news from this game is increasingly disappointing. Pokemon GO, you are a mystery. With each broken tracker, each server issue, each half-arsed introduction of new content or corporate sponsorships or some insipid event, I wonder, how does a viral, free-to-play, nostalgia bank of a game continue to miss the mark so dramatically? We were all here for it, but it wasn’t, and apparently still isn’t, here for us.
I’d love a resurgence in this game’s popularity. Winter 2016 brought random, joyous encounters with strangers and a newfound awareness of my childhood and local neighbourhoods. I finally shared a video game with my non-gaming friends. It was really special. Why, then, aren’t we getting the sort of features and events that could truly reinvigorate it — or at least sate its frustrated player base?
Comments
10 responses to “Pokemon GO’s Valentine’s Event Isn’t What The Game Needs”
The game has been broken since release and yet most of you players still give money to the developers. No wonder they take advantage of you
I have always said this. People need to hit Niantic in the hip pocket and then maybe they’ll listen. Just maybe.
Does Jigglypuff also have increased spawn rates. I love that pokemon not that I play this steamy pile.
Jigglypuff indeed have an increased spawn during the event (logging into the app reveals 4 on the tracker).
Great, will be able to track down some more Chansey and Porygon with the working tracker, the last few I need more candy for before Gen2 hits. This is great news for everyone in the same boat which will be most people. Gen 2 will severely dilute the chances of gettings these when it hits.
The new tracker works fine, pokemon has never been a game of go exactly to this point and you will find this pokemon, it puts you in the area and you hunt for them.
I have no issue finding the pokemon that is on my sightings tab based on the pokestop, although I can understand the frustration for those in more rural areas.
Time to hatch some eggs, have some 10km eggs I’ve been sitting on expecting a double candy event for V day.
Who knows, I might even get a chansey, I’m missing a penicl pig from my pokedex
People are still upset about this game?
They could have charged you $15 just to download it, pay to play features such as needing to wait 4 hours for a Pokéball and the like.
But no, they gave you a game where you can go outside and catch Pokémon. Go to another part of the world and catch a different one. All for free.
Nah, screw that. I need to be given all the info on which precise location has which precise Pokémon so I can drive by slowly in a car with my mum to catch it.
The features you’re requesting won’t do what you want them to. No amount of trading, battling, tracking or new Pokémon are going to make you feel the way the game did when it launched.
The game you enjoyed, the Pokémon Go craze, was never going to last more than a few months. That game is over. The game that remains however is pretty fun if you’re into that sort of game.
Given the title of the article, I assumed the update did something to make the game materially worse. But looking at the actual announcement (which hasn’t been linked in the article), it seems pretty similar to the previous Christmas and Thanksgiving events:
http://pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/en/post/valentines2017
That’s not to say the game is perfect as it is. Someone starting the game fresh today is probably going to take a lot longer to reach a point where they can start attacking gyms compared to people who started six months ago. The daily bonuses help speed things up a bit but the established players are also earning them, which drags things out again (the ever increasing XP requirements to level should allow them to catch up eventually though).
So is this why I was able to catch 10 Porygons during my quick walk around the shopping centre block after my gym sesh