As Pokemon Go starts its second week in the US, it's seen two updates, front-page news stories, a number one slot in the Apple App Store, and… a lot of criticism. Overall, most old Pokemon fans and a surprisingly large amount of new ones find the app to be fun, addictive and highly original. Popular demands for future updates include: the ability to change teams, more avatar customization options, local trading and battling, removing defending Pokemon from gyms, and a Pokemon Amie feature.
In this article I'll give the top ups and downs that the game has seen so far, from my own experiences and observations.
Up: Micro-transactions aren’t necessary… and no ads!
Upon hearing that the app would be free, many Pokemon fans were disappointed. Great, this is going to be like every other free game where people that dump money into it and dominate, and the game constantly reminds you that the Beginners’ Pack is only $4.99 plus tax! I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no pressure to purchase the game’s currency, known as “Pokecoins,” and there’s a way to get these coins without spending money. On the top right corner of the “Shop” screen there is a 21 hour timer. If you have a Pokemon placed at a Gym (battle spot) when that timer runs out, you will receive 10 coins and 500 stardust for each gym, with a max of 100 coins and 5000 stardust per every cycle. Items can also be received by visiting “Pokespots,” which refresh every five minutes.
Down: Game Experience Varies with Population Size
A crude indicator of how often the Pokemon will spawn is population density. Cities, malls and tourist destinations have large numbers of them, while players in rural areas struggle. On the other hand, Gyms are easier to keep in rural areas because there is less competition, and players can use the coins they earn to buy incenses from the shop,to attract wild Pokemon.
Up: Release Date
About a month ago, representatives from Nintendo announced that the app would be released sometime in July… causing fans to speculate for July 31st. In many countries across the world, July aligns with vacationing and breaks from school, making it a prime time to release a very time-consuming game that rewards players for traveling.
Down: Release Process
The App released in the US at 9:00 p.m. EST, only hours after its original release in Japan/ Australia. The staggered release and nearly no official statements from Nintendo until the day after were designed to prevent problems caused by large quantities of downloads. Although Pokemon Go news flooded social media within hours, I found the “sneaky” release to be distasteful. Although the loading screen for the app reminds players to be alert to their surroundings, Ninantic and/or Nintendo could’ve done a way better job of providing safety warnings. The first day of release saw people storming into temples, police offices and restricted areas looking for Pokespots, not realizing you don’t have to be inside a building or on top of a monument to obtain its free items, just near it. Also, releasing a game that requires going outside at night time in most of the US was not good planning.
Down: BUGS and Server Issues
Pokemon Go was released in Beta, meaning that the game is an unfinished product and there are bound to be glitches and bugs. Server issues, though extremely annoying, are common with new very popular games, and most were fixed within a few days. The biggest complaint from both iPhone and Android users was not about the bugs themselves, but their frequency. When the game was first released, I would experience an issue that required restarting my app about 80 percent of the time when trying to battle a Gym, and heard similar reports from fellow players. The game was also prone to freezing during the egg hatching cut scene, resulting in the loss of the Pokemon inside it (this happened to me twice). Many players commented that they would’ve preferred the game to be released later if it meant the game’s features were less frustrating to use.
Up: Keeping Players Entertained for a Long Time
A positive result of releasing the game in Beta is that future updates will be providing exciting new features for a long time to come. Local trading and battling, as well as group battles against wild Pokemon have already been promised to players through trailers and official statements. Think you caught them all? Just wait until 700+ more creatures are added into the game, including the soon to be released 7th generation Pokemon.
Down: Privacy Issues
Have you been checking the email you used to sign up for Pokemon Go? My own password was stolen (Google sent me a suspicious attempted login email) and so were many others. Due to server issues and glitches, most users used their Gmail account instead of the Trainer ID to register for the app. Unfortunately, most of us did not realize that we had given permission for Ninantic to view and modify our Google accounts. Articles have emerged in the past few days cautioning players against using the app completely because of privacy issues associated with logging on through Google accounts. The problem is, most hardcore fans had already downloaded the game, so the damage to our Internet privacy had already been done and could only be fixed by restarting our games with a Trainer account (aka losing all of our Pokemon and data). This is another component of the game’s release that I believe Ninantic could have done better at explaining instead of hiding in the fine print.
