Pokémon Go: the End is already come

It's quite clear that Pokémon GO (the new mobile MMO-game, based on augmented reality) is a super popular game – even backward from life grandma on the bench is now not greeting get out of the bushes people with the traditional "Addicts cursed!", they say – "I bet you catch a Pokemon?". The main question is: Will there be someone to play the game in a month? And six months later? Now the most people are happy on run around in search of Pikachu with the phone and the additional battery, but the players more often complain that the game has exhausted itself, and leave it. Why and how is it possible to improve the situation? Let's try to understand, and look some memes.

The main problems for players are:

• No way of interaction with the developers;

• No way find any goals or meaning in a game.

Also there are some small problems but they lead to the main problems. Now look at them in detail.

Main problem № 1: indifference the developers to the project

Users of Ingress (previous games from the same developers of Niantic Company) say that Niantic is indifference to the request of the players, adding functional on request, and troubleshooting detected them, including critical. So, the developers spent a year on add the number items in the inventory of Ingress display.

Minor text fixes

Example: after release Pokémon Go the developers were criticized, and after some time release "Minor Text Fixes".

Since then [for two weeks from the time of this writing] was no update anymore. There is an ironic joke:

«I suggested a minor text fix and I got it. I dunno what you guys are complaining about.»

/r/NoBullet

Three footstep bug

Also in Pokémon Go for the two weeks is disabled track of the pokemons, and developers not say when they will be connect it. Anyway, the track is an important part in the catch of pokemons - it shows how close the player is one or the other character that allows you to track down and find this animal. Now, all pokemons are at a maximum distance of three steps, it because this bug called «Three Footstep Bug». So the players have no choice and need use maps like pokevision.com or pokeswag.ru. That is not only cheating, but kills all the ardor of hunting.

Disable the tracker of pokemons

Update: at the time of writing this article released a new version of a game, which accepted even worse. Niantic repaired some bugs and wrote some warnings in addition to the existing «Remember to be alert at all times. Stay aware of your surroundings », the developers just turned off the tracker of pokemons. Now, from the hunt the game became a hide and seek, where pokemasters need about 15 minutes scour the square kilometer, in which hiding pokemons.

Why disabling this function? There are two factors:

Firstly, each continuous updating of the target distance demanded server resources costs. Questions from users about why they cannot send the exact location of pokemon directly in your phone, without calculations of the directions on the server side, still unanswered, traditionally.

Secondly, pokemons was placed by the game automatically, sometimes in dangerous and inaccessible places, and Pokémon Go encouraged this risk. When Niantic disabled tracker, they actually removed all responsibility.

Closing of the pokevision.com and public uproar

At the same time developers are forced to shut down the site with with pokemon’s appearance map –pokevision.com, giving reason that he is not honest and kills the interest of the game. «What in this terrible?» – ask you. Walking by the city, sooner or later the pokemons themselves will appear on the way. But many people lives in the small towns, where are no lots of pokestops (locations in the real world, when visitors give in-game items). American’s community of gamers (by the way, one of the first three countries where was released Pokémon Go) rebelling, because now need moves many kilometers to the nearest pokemons, even unclear in which direction. And it was really killed the interest in a game, especially in players from villages and little towns, which is a significant source of profit due to the fact that a small number of pokestops forcing them to buy pokebols. CEO Niantic John Hanke reacted in typical manner for the company: "Just travel there, where more pokestops", that means they not carry about the users outside of large cities. One of the decisions to them is the use of half-hour’s Incense and Lure Module, like as baits for pokemons... that are also paid.

Instability work

And now we say no about the constantly falling servers, which practically do impossible a game’s p to play. We say about other things, because now this problem occurs more rarely. But people, who have visited at the recent Comic-Con, have an impression that the position of Niantic – «all to burn in hell, we ride in money, like as cheese in butter; the main thing that the servers didn’t fall». If we take note of the popularity of a game, and the volume of revenues of a company, this impression may be the truth. Also maybe reason is in inexperience of the developers (there are only20-30 people), which «mind blown» by fallen upon them succeed, and they have no idea what to do next.

Anyway, about the inexperienced company. Niantic understands that if they will continue ignore the users, they are crashing. So a company looking for a community manager. Why it vacancy still free before start of the project? Unknown. Maybe when this man comes to work, it will be too late. Now in a work with the public is a complete silence: the company does not kindle interest of the public by their plans, new screenshots, and interviews. As a result, the community is in the dark, feeling so alone and worried, worried, worried...

Main problem № 2: absence of any goals or meaning in a game

With technology of augmented reality Niantic moved to "Pokémon Go" the mechanics of Ingress also. It means that players not finding and not training pokemons, not cultivating attachment to them, not development of their characteristics (as in the earlier parts of the series - games for the GameBoy), the player has no choice – he stupidly to farm the same pokemons in the same places . What for? Well, because we need...

At the same time farming process takes a maximum sadly: run through pokestops and catch five Pidgey / Weedle / Caterpie on the way, evolved one, get 500 XP,, repeat. Caught the new pokemon? Well, you cannot grow it, because at first you need to gather more species of the same kinds.

But most importantly, that training does not make sense, because the pokemons are not needed for anything, except for the collection - when you fought them the last time? Anyway, is it the battle? Really? It is just nervous touching a screen in a competition «someone who do it faster». As a result, PvP in the game not only bad realized, it is non-existent on practice. Gyms constantly moving from hand to hand, but nobody pay attention, because they may not influence for anything. Of course, there is some people that train their pets in gyms, with a calculator in hands counting, for some reason hidden from prying characteristics of pokemons (one more stone in the garden of developers), but, again, this manipulation have no practical use. Perhaps they hope that someday Niantic introduce PvP (battles with other players), and strong Pokemon will be use not only for bragging rights, but now we have no news about it.
The central theme in the original games has been uniting with their pokemons for win the tournament (not only in games, even in the cartoon, which all looked at the school). Instead, in Pokémon Go made mainly vain bustle of the city for the collection and mechanical levels up due to behavior with a pokemons like as consumable item.

In fact, in a game there is no actual gameplay - there is only gathering.

As a result, people who have found all of pokemons and grow them up to the maximum levels, with sadness state that the game is over for them. Someone understand it already at low levels and go away, stating, however, that they would return when a game makes sense. So, at the moment we have there is only a big dummy instead of a full game.

Nowadays, the current state of the game is described screenshots of one of the previous parts, there is no trade (which promise), and no battles.

Perspectives

They are very cool to its players, as we wrote earlier, so it is difficult to give any forecasts. But close your eyes to the excitement around a game. Remember that a game was released less than a month ago. Perhaps, today Niantic hurries patch all the holes; reduces the memory and battery consumption, raises the server capacity, improves balance and adds new functions. Perhaps, but not exactly. And now the players continue suffer from bugs, lack pokestops (and, relatively, pokebols) in their districts, ambiguity in the release of the second generation of pokemons (there are rumors that it will happen in December), and many other troubles.

A game flawed and it look like as the developers accidentally released a beta-version in Australia, and after the rest of the world is found it, a game had quickly release in other countries.

One of the key problems of decisions can be the transfer of a game to more experienced companies, for example, Nintendo Game Freak, who developed or participated in the development of all the previous games of pokemons. Another option is stop trying to establish contact with the Niantic and turn to their owners and shareholders – Nintendo, Alphabet and The Pokémon Company. Even if the Niantic do not care about the destiny of the project, the above-mentioned companies are not interested in slandering of the popular franchise and reputation.

Ways of development

But despite all the hopelessness, players offer their own versions of the game changes, which will make it more convenient and enjoyable.

Besides the obvious fixes like as improves balance, select several pokemons together for sell them or add experience and / or new clothes that given when receiving medals (now the achievements are not rewarded), there are some really interesting suggestions for innovations.

One of the most attractive idea is increase the use of augmented reality (augmented reality, AR). For example, display the traces of the pokemons in the camera or the addition of the possibility for a walk with your pokemon, making selfie with him etc. Such extension – Pokémon-Amie – have already been realized in the «Pokémon X and Y», where you can use the touch screen consoles in order to feed your pokemon, play with him, mimicking his movements through the camera. Also pokemons have the characteristics of "affection", "satiety" and "satisfied". High values of them allow evading most attacks and inflicting critical hits.

Even if don’t do visible of pokemons in AR-mode, anyway, would be interesting to take them on walks for give any bonuses depending on its type. For example, the fire would have accelerated to the incubation and the eggs hatched faster, electrical would have "charged" pokestops, allowing you to use them more often, etc. So that life does not seem to be a bowl of cherries, change of the companion can be done one time per day.

Incidentally, in the battery saving mode can also could be streamlined for easier map rendering.

Second logical step seems to add battles with wild pokemons. Now you can immediately throw a pokebol in them, and they need to climb into your device without hesitation. More realistic would be to first exhaustion of a pokemon, and after that catches it. At the same time, your pokemon that conducts battle for catch other pokemon, raise its skills. It would be more believable and would justify the longer process of time-consuming. Also, hurrying people can just catch pokemons (like as now), but don’t get any bonuses. However, commentators have noticed that the current model with discarding and buying lot of pokebols is profitable to developers, and they are unlikely to slow down the gameplay, even if it will improve the quality of a game.

This is just a part of list, and users are offered more good ideas like the possibility set destination of a home for restocking there once a day (that especially can help to the people from small towns), but I already tired to write, as you read, so it's time to summing results.

Conclusions

Now the Pokémon Go is more raw, unfinished, with primitive mechanics that more motivates quit a game than to continue it, and a positive trend of the project development cannot be traced. But even in this condition it does a lot of noise, show the world a new face of technology and, above all, give pleasure of the findings and make friends with a lot of strangers, which, I hope, continue good relationships after a game will be out of fashion and forgotten.