Good ol' two thousand and sixteen. What a simpler time it was. US citizens could still afford to be apathetic about politics. There wasn't a pesky virus forcing everyone to stay at home while also somehow being a political issue. Oh, and there was this amazing Pokémon mobile game that turned thaౠt year's summer into a memorable one. Do you remember what the su🌱mmer of 2016 was like for players?
The release of Pokémon GO managed to capture both nostalgia and discovery in one compact package. Both hardcore fans and people who only k❀now the original 151 were delighted to see familiar faces as little 3D friends on their phones. More importantly, the critters could appear anywher🧜e. This got people out walking and discovering new places. Sometimes running, if a rare spawn like Lapras or Dragonite happened to show up in the distance. If you asked a group of rushing passerby what the deal was, someone would breathlessly scream "There's a Dragonite!" Then you would join the herd.
Essentially, the Pokémon GO summer felt the way Coca-Cola commercials tell you summer is supposed to feel. We were all having fun basking in a familiar feeling while also excited for the next adventure. Pokémon GO isn't really like that anymore.
Niantic, Pokémon GO's developer, took away the ability for fully-evolved Pokémon to spawn after the Gen II release. That means no more surprise Dragonite or Charizard spawns for everyone to rush to. Finding rare Pokémon is still a core part of the game, but the latest updates have shown a shift towards event spawns. Dragonite came back, but only for a few days as part of a celebration of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mewtwo Strikes Back. Evolved Pokémon like T🦂yranitaur and powerful Legendaries tend to be relegated to raids or used as rewards for GO Battle League. And every so often a sought-after Pokémon gets a slightly higher chance of appearing in eggs. The problem with this status quo is that it often asks players to play on Niantic's time, not their own.
Almost every day of that 2016 summer felt like the first time stepping into the tall grass. You never knew what was waiting to pop up. The current structure instead asks players to play on certain days during certain hours to get specific Pokémon. It's now a routine instead of an adventure. Even more worrying is the rise of paid events. While there's never been a Pokémon straight-up locked behind a paywall, the idea of early ac🎃cess via paid passes is a far cry from the game's beginnings.
All of this said, Niantic deserves a lot of credit. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent stay-at-home orders dealt a blow to a game that's about going outside. Yet the developer has made some smart shifts to keep players batting and catching. They've offered packs of Pokéballs for practically free. They've moved raid and Community Day events, typically big group gatherings, to a format that can be played from home. Pokémon GO is still a revolutionary game, and Niantic has donඣe an admirable job keeping it fun despite years of 🔯shifts in the industry and the world at large.
I don't blame Niantic for coronavirus, or even the fact that a four-year-old g🦂ame has to get somewhat stale. In fact, I still play daily (a quick walk around the block with my mask on). But the emphasis on event Pokémon was beginning before the outbreak. And that is where the game strays from that magical 2016 summer. When stay-at home orders are revoked and I can go out, I'll go back to grinding eggs so I can finally maybe get a darned Darumaka. Then it'll be back home to grind through Battle League to get Rufflet candy, Arceus willing. If and when that happens, it won't be with the same energy I put into sprinting through Central Park to get my first Dragonair.
That Dragonair ran away, by the way. The disappointment made it sweeter when I evolved the Dratini I was walking weeks later. Niantic doesn't have to hand out rare Pokémon to make Pokémon GO joyful again. It just has to put some of those white whal📖es back in the wild.