On July 30, the massive hit game ‘Pokémon Go’ rolled out its biggest update to date for both Android and iOS. It includes some fixes and new features that shake up a little the mechanics of the game.
The augmented reality app received its latest update yet as early as late Saturday night, version 0.31.0 for Android devices and 1.1.0 for iOS. “Pokémon Go” now gives the users more options to customize their avatars, and the developing team fixed internal performance issues like location animations, maps, and memory use as well.
Regarding the starring creatures of the game, the Pokémon details screen is now updated. Calculation for battle damage has been revised, and some battle moves now have different damage values. Other fixes include Pokémon encounters in the wild, text displays and in-game menus like the achievement medals screen.
However, the community is heavily criticizing the latest feature because it failed to address one of its primary issues properly, the three-step tracker bug.
Niantic is known for ignoring fanbase feedback
While Niantic Inc., a Google subsidiary until late 2015, has been more than revolutionary in the field of mobile gaming and augmented reality, the company has a history of ignoring its users.
The game developer’s previous game, “Ingress,” was a cult hit globally, and it was critically acclaimed as an innovative combination of cutting-edge technology with exciting in-game mechanics that made a playground out of the real world. However, as the user base increasingly grew, players found that their beloved game had some bugs that needed urgent fixing, but Niantic politely neglected to address these issues for end users.
Naturally, players started figuring out solutions to the game’s problems on their own, but Niantic quickly issued a statement telling them to stop doing independent modifications because they could end disrupting the gaming experience for everyone. It is 2016, and the developer still faces the same criticism, so it would seem like Niantic hasn’t changed its ways.
A bug plagued ‘Pokémon Go’ nearly ten days after its initial launch on July 6, and it affected the app’s inner system responsible for alerting players about wild Pokémon’s whereabouts.
Players need to use their cellphones to tell where Pokémon are. When there is one around, a silhouette or the actual picture of the creature will appear on the screen, that depends on whether the user has seen it before. Under the image, there will be up to three sets of footprints. The more there are, the closer the Pokémon is. However, a lot of users are having problems with this mechanism. It seems like the Pokédex will show them three sets of footprints regardless the distance which can make hunting a little frustrating.
With Niantic’s latest update rolling out the feature was not fixed but removed altogether; a move that some have considered controversial as it makes it harder to find Pokémon in the wild.
Niantic claims Pokévision was hurting the game’s mechanics
However, most of the outrage stemmed from the fact that the update was available the same day in which Pokévision went officially down for good.
Pokévision is a third-party site developed by fans to address the three-step tracker bug by providing players with an in-detail tracking system that specified where and for how long exactly would Pokémon spawn in the near vicinities. However, Niantic claimed it tampered with the mechanics of the game.
Clearly, in violation of “Pokémon Go” terms of service, the site was put to a halt. Still, the company hasn’t solved the problem yet, and players are growing restless.
Source: TechCrunch