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Pokemon Go’s Honeymoon Phase is Over?

"One month later and the biggest mobile game of the year is already becoming a fad?"
We're almost a month into Pokemon Go worldwide and it has a been quite a roller coaster ride. From server issues, Nintendo's stocks going up and down and a recent update, the honeymoon phase might be over. The biggest mobile game this year is still being played at major cities, but fans are starting to lose interest. Recent decisions by Niantic with the latest update and the some of the changes are irking fans the wrong way. pokemon-go-cp-1200x675 Battle System is Slowly Getting Better At Least Pokemon Go's battle system is a lite version of what we seen from the main games. Swiping for basic attacks, dodging when the chance and charging for special attacks is basically the gameplay. As more research into the CP and IVs system happened, the depth has been improving. Players have been looking more for specific Pokemon with certain attacks than trying to catch 'em all. Before the recent update came out, certain Pokemon (Vaporeon one of them) dominated the gyms. Now the damage numbers have been changed to where special attacks are worth it to use when ready. Instead of just mashing your phone to deal quick damage, the special attacks now deal more damage than they used to. As a result, some Pokemon were nerfed while others are shining now. Once players are able to catch all the possible Pokemon they can in their region, the battling and gyms are gonna be the game's legs till more generations of Pokemon get released. Fortunately Niantic is able to respond quickly to the battle system's flaws unlike the many other issues Pokemon Go has now. pokemon-go-map-gotta-catc-em-all-100671824-large The Rise and Fall of Trackers Back when the game launched, the in-game tracker system was working when finding wild Pokemon within your vicinity. Then the three step bug happened a week later where you can't tell where the creatures are at. The solution was using a third-party tracker site that uses the same API the app is using to find Pokemon. Players used Pokevision, PokeRadar and similar sites to find hotspots and nests where specific Pokemon hang out at. As more players got aware of them, the nests started to migrate. For example, Dratini nests became Eevee nests, so those trying to grind up on candies weren't cool with that. I was late to the party using these sites finding rare Pokemon such as Electabuzz and Lickitung not far from where I live. Niantic weren't fans of these third-party trackers saying it's considered cheating. According to them, it was taking out the element of surprise where you never know when a rare Pokemon is there to get caught. It was also a violation of API usage and they took immediate action right away. With the recent update last weekend, Pokevision and other trackers were shut down. The developers' solution to the three step bug however in this update? Take out the steps entirely until a proper fix is in place. Basically, players look at the nearby Pokemon section and have to walk in blind hopefully to find what they want. This has caused an outrage by fans as if Niantic are taking the fun out of the game. For completionists wanting to the catch 'em all in their specific region, this is a major blow to them. I understand why Niantic chose to shut down these trackers, but their own solution made things worst for fans. This is the major reason why the developers' relationships with the community and the fanbase is not being eye to eye now. Niantic seems to be on their own agenda on how to improve the game compared to fans' perspectives. They said that server stability is still their biggest priority before fixing the tracker issue. The lack of communication is a big no-no in today's world of gaming and arguably the biggest no-no of them all considering how popular the game still is. Last night Niantic finally broke their silence about the latest update for Pokemon Go. Their response to the removal of the three step bug was vague. They did claim that third party services were harming their "quality of service." At least they released an official statement about the recent events, which is a start to something but still not enough for many. pokemon-go-nick_statt-screenshots-1.0 Weaker Pokemon Are Becoming Harder to Catch Last weekend's update to Pokemon Go also made weaker CP Pokemon harder to catch. Sub 100 CP Pidgeys and Rattatas are taking multiple balls to catch for some. In addition, more Pokemon are fleeing than in the past even after one berry and ball thrown. Sure, the higher your level is at, the more chances of a higher CP Pokemon can be seen especially at lures. Even higher level players are wasting numerous Pokeballs on lower level Pokemon. This might be another of Niantic's solutions to make this more of a game now, but even for me it's getting more frustrating. 1469827842426 The Honeymoon Phase Might Be Over for Some, But Still a Great Social Game While some fans are having kneejerk reactions to the recent changes to Pokemon Go, others still enjoy it as a great social game. It's still fun to hang out with friends going on Pokemon hunts at hotspots. However, Niantic needs to turn things around quickly. If they can't, the honeymoon phase might be over for even casual players. The lack of communication on their end is the biggest issue because we never know what these updates have till they're out. The shutting down of third-party trackers is also a problem especially with Niantic's own solution is having no tracking at all. Are you guys still going to keep playing Pokemon Go after last weekend's changes? Let us know in the comments below.

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