Discussion Why does everyone hate Pokémon GO?

Lord Goomy

Got Goomies?
Member
It’s really not a bad game, so why does everyone hate it? The stupid song, perhaps? I don’t understand...

(If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go catch some more Larvitar.)
 

StarlightSearcher

The Blonde Brainiac
Forum Mod
Advanced Member
Member
It was a fad. Fads come and go. A fad can be the best thing since sliced bread one day, and the next day; nobody even wants to touch it, let alone look at it.

It's a never-ending cycle; Pokemon GO wasn't the first, and certainly won't be the last.
 

AuraJackle

Aspiring Trainer
Member
But it is a bad game that poorly imitates the game series as a whole. It is merely a phone game that entertains the player while they were out. When it first come out it had the same hype that all other phone games have but they are ultimately forgotten
 

GamePhoenix

Fellow Mortal
Member
It isn't a bad game in THEORY, but it was executed in a poor way. First and foremost, is Niantic's poor Pr with the game. They refuse to fix, or even acknowledge, most of the game's issues, instead, they just keep adding new "features", which are cool on paper but are poorly executed. For example, the EX raid battles. Also, the game by itself was never that great. It feeds off of peoples nostalgia to get big, and when that wore off the game had no legs to stand on. It was IMO never designed to become a great game, it was designed to get popular. But it became so popular that when they tried to give it some staying power, it backfired.
 

Lorde

♕ The Queen ♕
Member
Hot take, Pokémon GO is a bad game. Completely built from the ground as a money machine solely based around nostalgia. When the nostalgia-vision wore off, people saw the game for what it really was: a bug ridden, poorly planned, and repetitive boring game that was never actually any fun on its own, just easy to access due to it being on your phone, a device you already have (as opposed to a 3DS at the time).

First off is Niantic, and I could go off for so long on how poorly they run and manage this game. They blatantly ignore suggestions, and make additions to the game that are convoluted and difficult for many to understand. Even big public events, like the absolute disaster that was Go Fest.

On the technical side, I'm just as frustrated. The GPS tracker, after damn near 2 years, is still crazy inaccurate, the latency issues are ridiculous too. The amount of data that game sucks is unbearable and unpractical, and even though I have a current phone I'm still faced with ridiculous overheating. Trading, something promised before the game was even available on the App Store, has still not arrived in the game. Beyond disappointing.

Spoofing is just as rampant as ever, and I know that that's not an issue on the developer's part, so much as scummy people, but if Pokémon are being fed berries after I battle them and no ones in the area, then I will have issues with playing the game because it's simply not fair. You can literally buy high level stacked accounts for tons of money on different services too. Not only is that cheating but it's also proof of how boring the grind is, that this is actually a market people see worth it.

Lastly, the longevity of the game. Once you've figured out the basics of the game, nothing changes. You can't catch them all because of regional exclusives (which is one of the stupidest things implanted in the game by far). That advertised idea of catching them all is impossible unless you're wealthy enough to travel the globe all the time (which most likely you aren't). Once you've found most of the Pokémon available (which even now is not hard by any means), the game is consistent, nothing changes. The grind between levels is excruciatingly painful for a casual player, and finding basically no new Pokémon is a huge factor in why people get bored of it so easily and quit. It really isn't built to keep you playing, quite honestly, it's built to take money from those who don't know any better.

All in all, Pokémon Go is a bad game. But I play it, and despite its many, many flaws. I enjoy it, because some of my friends and family enjoy it and make the issues the game faces worth dealing with.
 

Lord Goomy

Got Goomies?
Member
Hot take, Pokémon GO is a bad game. Completely built from the ground as a money machine solely based around nostalgia. When the nostalgia-vision wore off, people saw the game for what it really was: a bug ridden, poorly planned, and repetitive boring game that was never actually any fun on its own, just easy to access due to it being on your phone, a device you already have (as opposed to a 3DS at the time).

First off is Niantic, and I could go off for so long on how poorly they run and manage this game. They blatantly ignore suggestions, and make additions to the game that are convoluted and difficult for many to understand. Even big public events, like the absolute disaster that was Go Fest.

On the technical side, I'm just as frustrated. The GPS tracker, after damn near 2 years, is still crazy inaccurate, the latency issues are ridiculous too. The amount of data that game sucks is unbearable and unpractical, and even though I have a current phone I'm still faced with ridiculous overheating. Trading, something promised before the game was even available on the App Store, has still not arrived in the game. Beyond disappointing.

Spoofing is just as rampant as ever, and I know that that's not an issue on the developer's part, so much as scummy people, but if Pokémon are being fed berries after I battle them and no ones in the area, then I will have issues with playing the game because it's simply not fair. You can literally buy high level stacked accounts for tons of money on different services too. Not only is that cheating but it's also proof of how boring the grind is, that this is actually a market people see worth it.

Lastly, the longevity of the game. Once you've figured out the basics of the game, nothing changes. You can't catch them all because of regional exclusives (which is one of the stupidest things implanted in the game by far). That advertised idea of catching them all is impossible unless you're wealthy enough to travel the globe all the time (which most likely you aren't). Once you've found most of the Pokémon available (which even now is not hard by any means), the game is consistent, nothing changes. The grind between levels is excruciatingly painful for a casual player, and finding basically no new Pokémon is a huge factor in why people get bored of it so easily and quit. It really isn't built to keep you playing, quite honestly, it's built to take money from those who don't know any better.

All in all, Pokémon Go is a bad game. But I play it, and despite its many, many flaws. I enjoy it, because some of my friends and family enjoy it and make the issues the game faces worth dealing with.
So basically, the hype wore off and people got bored?
That’s very understandable. Thank you.
 

Lorde

♕ The Queen ♕
Member
So basically, the hype wore off and people got bored?
That’s very understandable. Thank you.
That's a pretty big reason the game tanked in popularity, but even good games do that all the time. It's not why Pokémon GO is bad. I'm not gonna repeat myself, I think I said everything I needed to say about why people dislike Pokémon GO (and it has nothing to do with popularity).
 

FossilJockeyMG

Pokémon Paleontologist
Member
I don't necessarily dislike Pokémon GO as a game since I always assumed, given it is a mobile game, that it would be a shallow representation of pokémon games as a whole. I mean, look at all mobile games that draw from a well built franchise. The mobile versions are all shells of what the standard version of the game is. Fallout Shelter, Super Mario Run, Pocket Camp, etc. They are all pretty shallow, but they are all free to play. Sure, they do cost money if you want to invest that money for your play time, but it isn't required. I can't help but feel that has to have SOME kind of role in why these experiences are so shallow. At the very least, requiring people to pay for the game upfront requires the companies to make the games better... otherwise they'll make no cash. Free to play games hook you with the free part (potentially) and hope their game can hook you into dropping money for speed ups, etc. All mobile games are repetitive (at least in my experience) so it's like they milk you for $ so you can try to remove part of that repetitiveness. It's funny that I'm dinging a spin-off pokémon game for being repetitive, given how the core series is, but there you go. Being repetitive is a sin the core franchise falls into, but GO is by far a greater offender. That being said, I still play.

What I have personally come to dislike about Pokémon GO is, although I feel like it is a very casual experience, those who feel otherwise make the game too much of a burden. I personally only play GO when I'm already out for some other reason (excluding Community Day). I get extremely off put when I wander up to a raid and someone starts barking orders or demanding to know what team I am. I just want to fight the dang thing and possibility catch it. I've basically written off the possibility of filling my Dex long ago, thanks to regionals, but I do like that I can play SOMETHING pokémon related when I'm out. I just like pokémon, even if the pokémon offerings are sometimes less than ideal. Being free helped me make that decision, though. If it weren't for earning coins from gyms and Google Rewards cash for answering surveys, I probably would have quit a while ago. It is a time sink that is best utilized as something to do between point A and B. If someone plays Pokémon GO "competitively" they should re-evaluate their life choices.
 

FossilJockeyMG

Pokémon Paleontologist
Member
It was a fad. Fads come and go. A fad can be the best thing since sliced bread one day, and the next day; nobody even wants to touch it, let alone look at it.

It's a never-ending cycle; Pokemon GO wasn't the first, and certainly won't be the last.

That isn't so much a reason of why it is viewed as "bad" by most though. That is certainly why so many people latched on to it when it came out, but I don't think that is primarily why is has fallen from grace, specifically from the pokémon community. Being a fad certainly explains the drop off from randos, but I feel like if it were a good game overall more pokémon players would have continued to play it after those who just jumped in on a fad quit.

I mean, in the late 90's pokémon as a whole was just considered a fad. ;)
 

CrossBeau

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I think there's still a fairly large player base. I don't think many people "hate" the game, but rather, might not play it anymore.
 

King Arceus

Aspiring Trainer
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
Right now the biggest problems are stability related. Either not being able to log in or crashing at least once or twice an hour. Trading was poorly implemented due to needing to be within 100 meters of the person you are trading with in addition to IVs being rerolled. That completely devalues 100% Pokemon you have. Right now you are better off trading Pokemon with terrible IVs because they will most likely get better. There is also the issue that a Pokemon can only be traded one time so if you want the Pokemon back, you can't. I would've loved to be able to trade with people in Europe and other places to get regional exclusives. Luckily today I am going to the mall of America so I might be lucky and bump into someone with a regional I don't have.
 

pocketmonsterrealm

Fan since Crystal
Member
I wouldnt say alot of people hate Go. I still see alot of people of all ages playing it outside in small towns. I do have the game on my phone but I am only very casually playing it because I am not sure how big of a roll it will be in the Let's Go games that are coming out. And I just started it a week ago.
It isn't a great game compared to games on consoles simply because games on consoles have so much more to do and offer and way less bugs. I am also one of those who dont care too much for games on phones.
I think the general idea isnt gameing for Go, but rather something fun and casual that anyone can play that promotes exercise and is free. Phone games are just a different type of game.
 

BellBlitzKing

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I disagree----millions of people loved Pokemon GO. The numbers do not lie. They sold millions upon millions of dollars in digital content / micro-transactions. As a fad, they earned more money, popularity and audience access that many of the AAA year-round mobile & console titles.

So many people played the game, introduce their friends, got family hooked and made the national news. Also consider it's use in research areas and the huge boost in the social sciences studying this game. We can criticize some of the failures and false trailer promises in the core design-----I would even argue its a Toy not an actual game as it has no win-state / end-goal.

It is better off existing than not existing as if showcase the huge market potential of mobile games, while at the same time showcasing VR, plus how Real-life-connected adventure games can flow among a community. Trust me, it has more love than hate, it really proves itself. Fad die but doesn't mean the love is dead or people now hate it.
 

crystal_pidgeot

Bird Trainer *Vaporeon on PokeGym*
Member
@Lord Goomy I wanted to wait before I gave my view on this but here is what I think. I don't think its that people hate. I believe its just so different from the main game experience that tries to be like the main game experience that doesn't offer the basic "services" of the main game. If you look at Pokemon GO and say, Ultra Sun/Moon, what does GO offer? You catch Pokemon in GO but you can't trade them, something you can do in Ultra Sun. Yes I'm aware of the trade system being added but even then its a problem. If I want a Pidgey, it should be easy to get. "Hey, I have a Pidgey and I want your Spearow, let's trade!" It should be that easy but in this new GO trade system, you have to spend other resources and stuff to trade, something that shouldn't exist. Pokemon GO just stripes what you expect to be in a Pokemon game and then sells it to you and with the existence of Ultra Sun/Moon, I fail to see why this game continues to exist but I guess there is a market for this.

The other thing is this game fails to be a spinoff. The reason people like games like Pokemon Shuffle, Pokemon "Tactics", Pokemon Duel and other spinoff games like Pokemon MD is that the main Pokemon series experience is completely different than them. I love Pokemon MD because I get to see a Pokemon world without human interaction (although the series is a former shadow of itself), which really shines because I can appreciate a character like Grovyle despite not liking the Pokemon in any other media. Each of these spinoff games do something unique that you dont find in other games with Pokemon Duel being my current favorite competitive Pokemon game. Looking at Pokemon GO, it just stripes features you expect to find in a Pokemon game. A lot of people would rather play the 3DS games since it doesn't nickle and dime you for everything. You buy the game and get the complete experience.

The other thing is (at the time) the game was poorly optimized and didn't work, from crashing or not being able to long in. Some people couldn't even play the game for the first two weeks of release. I couldn't even get into the game and when I could, there was nothing around. Many areas simply don't have PokeStops and Gyms and for some (like me), I would have to walk 45 minutes to get in a area where I could play and when its 115 degrees outside, I never cared to go and play. Also, the game was a complete drain on the phone and would force you to recharge often. The game was just too much money to play. Not only did you have to buy coins, because you could only get like ten coins a day or something like that, but it also cost you gas to travel around and the cost of other hardware like battery packs and such, which is just too much for a mobile game. Now, its the fact the game will most likely force you to play GO just to do everything in Pokemon Let's GO Eevee, which has people sour because we don't know how Pokemon GO will affect the console game. We are already seeing the oversimplification of Pokemon Let's GO Eevee because of the GO fans.

Keep in mind that this affected a lot of new players who couldn't play when it came out. Despite TPC/i forcing it on people, they never used their resources to make sure these things didn't happen. Sure this is a cool idea and using the phones GPS to find Pokemon is unique because this is something the 3DS couldn't do but what does this game do that the 3DS games don't? I believe the hate comes from all these thing.
 
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