I still play Pokémon Go.
No shame. I often ask myself on what’s going to hit 40 first between my age and my level in the game, it’s gotten to the point where the XP requirements for the next one are that gargantuan. It’s literally taken me nearly ten full months to go from level 34 to 35, but I’m also not in the middle of an actual city where I can play to my heart’s content. But the fact of the matter is that I still play, even if mythical gf and all my other friends who once played, don’t.
Turns out my brother has picked up the game, as introduced to him by his wife. Although he is at pleeb level 25 compared to his wife and I, it was all I needed to know that I could have some actual human beings to play along with while I was down in Texas last weekend. And as would have it, one of the days we had some time would be one of the game’s newer monthly featured modes, known as a Community Day, where a particular Pikachu would spawn like crazy for three hours, so it would be the perfect opportunity to stock up on them if a player’s had some difficulty in catching them in the first place. Also XP gain rates are boosted during the time, to sweeten the deal for those less enthused about the featured Pikachu.
So we headed over to a still-in-existence mall, where we could have plenty of space to roam, Pika stops to spin, and most importantly, the air conditioning to not be walking around in a hot Texas summer day, and I was going to take part in my first Community Day.
At first, I was doing my usual thing of trying to be discreet about playing Pokémon Go, displaying my mastery of clandestinely throwing curveballs with one hand. But then it became very apparent that all throughout the halls of the mall, especially as the clock started ticking closer to the official start of the event, that the vast majority of people milling about, were all also playing Pokémon Go. So there was no more need for pretenses, and it was off to enjoy the game with the community.
I tell you, it was almost like it was the first month of playing Pokémon Go all over again, except the fact that just about everyone could actually connect to the servers. Everyone around was playing, they were enthusiastic about playing, and it was a glimpse of back when the game was the hottest shit on the planet all over again. Strangers were speaking to one another when it came to coming together to challenge raids, a feature not a part of the game two years ago, and the camaraderie of victory when 8-15 people took down a legendary Pikachu with like 50,000 hit points.
It was actually really cool and nice to see again, and it made me think of all of the potential that Niantic has left on the table, by virtue of maintaining the game at a snail’s pace. Really the only people who are still playing are tryhards like myself with OCD tendencies that can’t give the game up, or account farmers who go around with 1-3 mobile devices playing at a robotic pace in order to possibly sell high-leveled accounts. But if Niantic rolled out features and events at even a third of the pace that Intelligent Systems and Nintendo does for Fire Emblem: Heroes, then perhaps the game wouldn’t have suffered the ratings drop off a cliff as they’ve progressively continued to fall down over the last two years.
Regardless, I had a really fun time playing with actual friends, around people who were still engaged and into the game as much as I am. I think Community Days are a great idea and thing to continue to do, but I can’t help but feel that aside for long-time players like myself, it’s too little too late in order for the game to bring in new players and have the opportunity to hook them like it did for many in the past.
