Pokémon Go: When the developers want to force the players to their “luck”.

At the beginning of March, the developers of Pokémon Go dared to take an unpopular step. As part of the start of the Alola season, they have the Effectiveness of the Smoke consumable Adjusted to only attract a Pokemon every five minutes while the player avatar is still. From Niantic’s point of view, this decision may make sense, because Pokémon Go is also based on the game goal that players move around in the real world to find pocket monsters and benefit from bonuses.

The smoke

However, the fans of Pokémon Go could not understand this step of the developers. In particular, players in rural areas, in an environment that doesn’t really allow going out, or those among the coaches who suffer from physical limitations now felt disadvantaged. None of the Pokémon Go players understood why the way smoke worked had to be adjusted back to pre-corona standards. And Niantic might be amazed that rules set at launch are now being questioned… after players have had a reasonable amount of time to experience and appreciate a different game reality.

The community day

Next, in an attempt to reconnect Pokémon Go players with more like-minded people in the cities for the monthly Community Day event, Niantic reversed the lengthening of the event’s duration. Six hours turned into three again … and a greater degree of flexibility for the players became a tight corset of less self-determination.

In the hot summer months in particular, Pokémon Go fans were pleased that the six-hour event duration gave them more freedom to choose when to play. Possibly not just the hottest time of the day. Niantic’s justification this time: They want to bring the players together again in a more targeted manner.

All well and good, in a world where there are no highly contagious viruses. Niantic tries to declare Corona as “past” (many others as well), although Corona is still absolutely present – and in some countries much more present than in the Pokémon Go home country USA. The fact that Corona no longer plays a role for Niantic can also be seen from Community Day meetups, safari zones and three Pokémon Go festivals that take place live. So.