Pokemon People Qutting Pokemon Go en Mass following Update

[Professor Palutena]

This is all over social media right now. Reddit in particular has lost its mind over the app. We're talking over half a million people

In response to removing the tracking feature from the app, thousands of Pokemon fans are pledging to quit the game until the feature gets removed. Citing a lack of communication from Niantic as a primary reason (and Niantic is currently breaking Google Play and iOS App Store by ignoring customer emails, which is grounds for removing the app from the store), players are getting refunds for their microtransactions, which is reducing Niantic's profit. The goal is to get an official response from Niantic over why they refuse to communicate with players. Google's call centers were overwhelmed by calls today that they are completely unable to take more, and are directing players to contact Niantic directly about their complaints. Needless to say, this isn't working as Niantic has not made any effort to communicate with their players. iOS users are also stricken with a new issue following the update - some users are reporting their accounts being deleted. Battery saver mode is also removed in the iOS version.

Beyond calling or emailing Google/Apple, players are taking other forms of protest to get the company's attention. The app's review scores have plummeted over one day.

Third party tracking websites like PokeVision are being shut down by the company as well. This is further complicated by the removal of the tracking feature, leaving players without any idea of where the Pokemon can be found (tracking websites were very accurate means of finding Pokemon when the three-step feature was glitched).

While I feel like there is a big over-reaction happening here, I think they have every reaction to be upset. Catching Pokemon is at least half the point of the app and the tracking feature is absolutely essential to catching Pokemon; how do you know what Pokemon you can catch when you don't know where you can catch them. You're encouraging players to wander around mindlessly with the app, which wastes their valuable time. I know I probably won't be playing Pokemon Go for a while due to this feature being removed. As one of the creators of PokeVision said, "You don't create Marco Polo, teach 80 million people how to play it, then remove Polo from the game", which I think is a fairly accurate analogy.

What are your thoughts on the update?

 

[Athena]

I can definitely understand how people who are more serious about the game would be upset, especially about the lack of communication from Niantic. It's pretty clear that they weren't expecting as popular of a response as they got and they have no idea how to handle it.

Personally, though, it doesn't affect me in the slightest. I'm just too casual about the game. I don't go out with the intention to catch Pokémon; instead, I just bring my phone with me when I'm going out anyway and see what I capture. I've used PokéVision a couple times to see where Pokémon on my "nearby" list were located, but it was more of a curiosity for me than anything else, and I think I only went out based on its information once when there was a Dratini a half block away. I'm more disappointed in the lack of communication and how it will affect the game's long-term longevity.

 

[Professor Palutena]

I'm in the same boat. I'm super casual. I didn't realize there was a Pokemon Go meta until I saw "VAPOREON NERFS" everywhere online.

The lack of communication is very frustrating. They haven't said why they took out the tracking feature and so the community is devolving into a giant conspiracy theory ("They promised to bring it back", "They killed it to shut down PokeVision", "They want to make safer play").

 

[bbninjas]

It may be just coincidental, but the Pokemon franchise seems to be stricken with lack of communication recently. In fact Nintendo in general seems to be very silent with a lot of things. For Pokemon in particular, I'm thinking about the sudden graphics change on PTCGO (and the removal of animations) that induced outrage, and now this sudden removal in Go. While [I think] Niantic and TCPi aren't working together, I'm growing quite disappointed with the franchise with spin-off games in recent times... I do hope this mass outrage makes Nintendo and Niantic rethink.

As for the update in general, the removal of the tracking feature sounds pretty sucky. While I haven't played the game since a week or so, I enjoyed knowing what Pokemon were in my vicinity. Just Pidgy and Rattata? Then I may as well do something else and/or chat with some fellow Pokemon Goers. But if something of interest appeared, then I'd actually have an incentive to waste my battery.

 

[King Xerneas]

"They want to make safer play".

So let's just make them wander around aimlessly, that solves the problem.

I'm not super bummed since I live in suburbia which there was never many Pokemon to begin with, but it's sad to see such a fascinating trend die so quickly and messily.

 

[The Binder Guy]

While I'm not considering leaving the game, I AM considering following in the footsteps of other players and asking the App Store to refund purchases I made in the app.

Another thing that players are reporting is that Pokemon they catch will occasionally turn into different Pokemon when they view 'em in their collection. Reddit has also confirmed that this is a LEGITIMATE addition to the game to combat tracking websites/apps like Pokevision.

While I won't say that I know anything about law, I will say that if Niantic ends up in hot water over this I'll be laughing until my sides burst.

 

[Professor Palutena]

The worst kind of legal trouble Niantic could get into would be the removal of their apps from the mobile stores, which isn't even hot water.

 

[surge914]

I think people are reacting as they should. Niantic released and unfinished game and the worst thing you can do is try to keep your fan based from using the feature they liked most which was pokemon tracking. Their own tracking system was broken so naturally people turned elsewhere and instead of waiting to fix tracking before shutting down sites like pokevision they instead shut out everything that has to do with tracking all together. Not to mention the lack of features promised and haven't been delivered. However that game is still new and Niantic can comeback from this and they will.

 

[Lorde]

I think people are reacting as they should. Niantic released and unfinished game and the worst thing you can do is try to keep your fan based from using the feature they liked most which was pokemon tracking. Their own tracking system was broken so naturally people turned elsewhere and instead of waiting to fix tracking before shutting down sites like pokevision they instead shut out everything that has to do with tracking all together. Not to mention the lack of features promised and haven't been delivered. However that game is still new and Niantic can comeback from this and they will.

I completely agree. While I think people are overreacting a bit, people have every reason to be mad at Niantic, especially over tracking and lack of communication.

Tracking was essential in Pokemon Go, and I think it's ridiculous that they decided to remove it all together. They wanted to make safer play by REMOVING the tracker? Ok. Let's make the game safer by letting people walk around into even worse areas than before! Yeah, that's smart Niantic. Not to mention they shut down the tracking websites such as Pokevision, which were immensely helpful (but on the other hand, I found an app that works better than Pokevision ever did). So congratulations Niantic.

When Niantic can't even communicate to people who have complaints over the game is when you know they don't care. I mean really, you leave Google and the iOS App Store to your pile of complaints, then what kind of company are you? Not to mention they've ignored customer complaint calls which has infuriated thousands. However, what makes me mad most for communication is that they have made no announcements as to why they got rid of the trackers., and the tracking in game. It was better before they removed all of it.

And the most dreaded errors in game. Deleting accounts, and changing Pokemon. Now I haven't had my account deleted, however my friend has. He was a little lower than me, at about level 23, and his account was gone on August 1st. But we've both dealt with Pokemon changing on us once we've caught them. I encountered a wild Omanyte around the same time, and it was gone, with a Rattata in its place. Something similar happened to him. He saw a Shellder, caught it, and it was gone and replaced by a Caterpie.

Now if you ask me, I think Niantic played their cards poorly, and Pokemon Go will die off very quickly. They have to act very fast if they want to regain the momentum they had in the beginning.

 

[The Binder Guy]

Well it appears that one of the more accessible and customizable bot programs was shut down recently, so there's a win for Niantic.

I completely agree. While I think people are overreacting a bit, people have every reason to be mad at Niantic, especially over tracking and lack of communication.

Tracking was essential in Pokemon Go, and I think it's ridiculous that they decided to remove it all together. They wanted to make safer play by REMOVING the tracker? Ok. Let's make the game safer by letting people walk around into even worse areas than before! Yeah, that's smart Niantic. Not to mention they shut down the tracking websites such as Pokevision, which were immensely helpful (but on the other hand, I found an app that works better than Pokevision ever did). So congratulations Niantic.

When Niantic can't even communicate to people who have complaints over the game is when you know they don't care. I mean really, you leave Google and the iOS App Store to your pile of complaints, then what kind of company are you? Not to mention they've ignored customer complaint calls which has infuriated thousands. However, what makes me mad most for communication is that they have made no announcements as to why they got rid of the trackers., and the tracking in game. It was better before they removed all of it.

And the most dreaded errors in game. Deleting accounts, and changing Pokemon. Now I haven't had my account deleted, however my friend has. He was a little lower than me, at about level 23, and his account was gone on August 1st. But we've both dealt with Pokemon changing on us once we've caught them. I encountered a wild Omanyte around the same time, and it was gone, with a Rattata in its place. Something similar happened to him. He saw a Shellder, caught it, and it was gone and replaced by a Caterpie.

Now if you ask me, I think Niantic played their cards poorly, and Pokemon Go will die off very quickly. They have to act very fast if they want to regain the momentum they had in the beginning.

One of the rumors as to why tracking was shut down was due to the feature putting the servers under an unexpected amount of stress, which is somewhat believable.