Rural 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Go fans have it rough. You log into the app, there’s ওnot a PokeStop for miles. PokeStops are linked to Pokemon spawns, so usually there are very few Pokemon in this Pokemon game either. Before the Season of Alola, there was one option to remedy this: Incense. Now that’s not on the cards either.
If you haven’t played Pokemon Go before, first of all where were you in 2016? Secondly, Incense is like the opposite of a Repel in the main series games; it attracts Pokemon to your location. Obviously this would be terrible in Rock Tunnel or Mt. Moon, but in Pokemon Go where you have to click on Pokemon to encounter them, it’s great. Or rather, it was great.
Niantic made changes to Incense, buffing its effectiveness during the pandemic so players could more ꦚeasily play from home. However, the developer suddenly reversed the changes ahead of the Season of Alola, nerfing Incense and further marginalising rural players in one fell swoop. Rural players already struggle to beat Raid Bosses and trade with friends, so why do they need Pokemon spawns either?
Of course, the Incense changes impact everybody, but they are most noticeable in rural areas. I played 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Go Tour: Johto in a city centre (pre-changes), and in comparison hitting an hour of Sandshrew Community Day in my suburb was barren꧙. I wouldn’t consider my spot rural by any means🦋 - I have plenty of PokeStops and a train station. I was on the move running errands for most of my time playing, but when I sat down to grab a cuppa, everything stopped.
That being said, I think that Incense spawns while you’re stationary deserved a nerf, albeit maybe not one this drastic. Pokemon Go is about exploring, after all, and if you want to play a Pokemಌon gam💮e while sat on your couch, there are like 30 other Pokemon games where you can do that. Buy 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Legends: Arceus, it’s great. But this nerf? It makes Incense practically useless.
Niantic has its own spots to rest and recharge at events these days. They’re largely a gathering of benches next to wooden cutouts of the team leaders and one dude handing out paper Pikachu hats to children, but they’re a rest spot to take a break at. How do they combat the Incense ineffectiveness here? They add a shitload of temporary PokeStops. The place is crawling with spawns, to the point where it’s difficult to select the correct Pokemon. And therein lies your answer for nerfing non-exploratory play while not leaving rural players in the mud: they need more contentꦏ.
Content in Pokemon Go is pretty much reduced to new additions like Oricorio and the Alolan starters, and Community Day events. However, Niantic needs to think about impl𝓀ementing basic content for every player. Why don&rsqu♎o;t rural communities have PokeStops? Why is exploring limited to big cities? Sure, there’s better infrastructure in cities so connections are better and the game is more playable, but rural communities have by definition fewer players. Pokemon Go has long overtaken Niantic’s previous game, Ingress, and shouldn’t be relying on its structure almost six years after launch.
We need more PokeStops and the spawns that come with them. We need to have a cool tree be eligible for nomination as a stop, or a legendary local chippy that makes the best salt and pepper chips. Many of my local PokeStops are post boxes, so what’s the difference? Adding more stops in rural areas would help players get more items as well as more spawns, and encourage them to play the game more. It would also encourage city-based players to actually explore instead of simply stroll between the three sponsored McDonald&rsqu🐠o;s, Stabucks, and EE storefront PokeStops in their local city centre to maximise their spawns and shiny checks.
There’s clearly an issue with Niantic’s system for adding player-submitted PokeStops, too, otherwis🅠e rural players would have populated their respective local areas by now. Of course there needs to be some moderation, but the largely opaque process seems limited at present.
Money obviously comes into it. Pulling players to city centres encourages brands to pay for sponsored stops and Niantic makes more money. Your local Forest Association will not do that. But ignoring natural PokeStops and putting roadblocks in the way of playing the game outside of cities misses the entire point of exploring, and ruins the fun for thousands of rural Pokemon Go plꦍayers.
Incense should work better when you’re actively exploring and moving, but reverting the recent nerf is not the long-term answer to improving rural players’ experiences. Once again, it comes down to capitalism and Niantic leaning more heavily into the areas of the game that are more profitable. Pokemon exclusive to raids and eggs are obvious areas where Niantic encourages you to buy Battle Passes or Incubators, but rural areas being devoid of PokeStops seemingly because there are fewer opportunities for sponsorships is limiting the physical areas of the world where players can effectively play the game. Pokemon Go’s basic infrastructure needs to be implemented and more evenly d♓istributed across the whole world, not just in the money-spinning city centres.