Trainers, enjoy the candy
October 26, 2016 6:24 AM   Subscribe

While speculation continues on how Pokemon GO will handle the coming winter, the game has begun its first global event with a Halloween treat.

Specifically, you only have to walk your buddy a fourth of the distance to get a candy (instead of 5Km, now only 1.25Km), transferring gives you two candies instead of one and wild catches equals six candies instead of three.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (254 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hatching an egg also gives much more candy than previously! And to go with the Halloween theme there's a massively increased number of "scary" Pokemon around - specifically Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Cubone, Marowak, and Meowth.

There's a fair bit of discussion about this at The Silph Road's thread.

Personally I've just invested in some incubators but I'm stuck indoors for the next few days; very frustrating!
posted by Stark at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


I've played Ingress for two winters just fine.
posted by josher71 at 6:38 AM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


This is an incredibly unique situation, and one that I genuinely can’t remember ever seeing before in the industry. Handheld and mobile games are almost never tied to outdoor activity

Someone hasn't heard of Ingress - just a little game with seven million players that served as the foundation for Pokemon Go. Ingress players would share reports of which gloves with conductive fingertips worked best to operate the phone when it was freezing out. Problem was usually that the electrically conductive portion would also conduct heat. I ended up switching hands periodically, warming one up in a pocket when it got too cold.
posted by exogenous at 6:40 AM on October 26, 2016 [7 favorites]


Funny, I'd almost totally forgotten about Pokemon Go after having obsessed about it for months. It's been awhile since I've seen anyone else playing either.
posted by octothorpe at 6:44 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Oh man I'm so glad there's a reason I suddenly saw a bazilion Cubones and Ghastlys and Drowzees and Meowths yesterday on my way home from work. And also why points and candies seemed a little off. I assumed that the recent update was just really buggy. (Especially since my attempts to battle at a gym near my bus stop caused the game to freeze three times, sigh) I wanted to tweet about all the weirdness but I was so worried I was like the only person still playing it.
posted by olinerd at 6:47 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Hatching an egg also gives much more candy than previously!

Oh yeah, 42 candies.

Hello Ingress players!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:51 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Welcome to my Haunter Army, each named David Booie.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:55 AM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]


Just FINALLY evolved my wondrous little Cubone into a Marowak, my Meowth is up next, and I can start powering up my Lapras walking buddy again.

Amazing, I hadn't really bothered to touch the game in weeks because it had become a boring grind.
posted by angeline at 6:59 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Glad to see things like Cubone and Meowth added to the Halloween mix. At first, it was announced that it would be extra zubats and drowzees and gastlies aka the pokemon who already spawn at my house.
posted by thecjm at 7:01 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


I was looking forward to this immensely only to discover this morning that all my regular pokeballs (more than 100) disappeared overnight. It appears to be a relatively common glitch with no way to recover the pokeballs. The timing couldn't be more inconvenient as many more pokemon are spawning in my area than usual.

I have wondered if it's deliberate, to get me to buy pokeballs, but no one else seems to be reporting the same issue today. Certainly I'm discouraged from making in-game purchases if items can just disappear like that. Mostly I'm just bummed that I can't fully partake in the Halloween treat (don't want to waste my ultra- and greatballs on 200 CP pokemon) until I've visited a ton of pokestops.
posted by frantumaglia at 7:03 AM on October 26, 2016


My neighborhood already has way too many Drowzees, but I was happy to see the extra Cubones and Meowths. I also noticed a few Exeggcutes this morning when they were previously rare. Maybe so you can throw them at a house that gives crappy candy?
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:03 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


*opens app*

*nothing near my house but rats, pigeons and an occasional eevie*

Still nope.
posted by delfin at 7:04 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


I have a friend using Pokemon Go in his class to explore community ecology. You can contribute to his data set through October 31! Get that candy and pocket monsters! For science!
posted by ChuraChura at 7:05 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


While speculation continues on how Pokemon GO will handle the coming winter,

One assumes that the wise and hardworking Durant will survive on his stores of food, while the foolish Nincada will regret having spent the summer singing.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:09 AM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


I saw the special Halloween load screen when I fired up the game yesterday evening, and that was exciting. Then I caught a Meowth and leveled up my Ghastly into a Howler, so all in all, I'm pleased. I wish the Halloween event lasted longer, though--it's just enough for me to like the boost, but not enough time for me to actually do much with it.
posted by PearlRose at 7:14 AM on October 26, 2016


Truly commuted players will invest in those mini bobcats and offer to plow all the sidewalks in town.
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:17 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Maybe they will finally add fun Pokemon battles (or at least peer-to-peer battles). Peer-to-peer trading of Pokemon too.

Of course, some of us live in southern California, so the whole "winter" point is pretty much moot.
posted by 3j0hn at 7:37 AM on October 26, 2016


More specific 'Mon is a nice proof of concept/change of pace, but it's the walking buddy changes that's a game changer.

I honestly hate Meowth and can't understand why the hell its in the game. They probably should have included Gloom, Grimer and Muk in all this, but I can understand why they didn't, even as I resent. Drownzee and Hypno are odd to include, but they're sort of fun, vaudeville types so they sorta work.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:40 AM on October 26, 2016


Amazing, I hadn't really bothered to touch the game in weeks because it had become a boring grind.

Same here. My last straw was when two 10K eggs in a row hatched Eevees.

FUCK
YOU
EE
VEE
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:36 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


When I first started the game my room was somehow a lure and I caught a bunch of Pokémon without having to move more than a foot. Two months later and there's nothing in my neighborhood anymore, perhaps because I live in a retirement community and the grouchy as hell HOA nuked all the Poke Stops that everyone's grandkids had set up when the game first came out. :( Hope I get a chance to get near the beach soon so the game starts being fun again.
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:49 AM on October 26, 2016


My last 10k eggs:

Jynx
Eevee
Onix
Magmar
Onix
Onix

I am now mostly grudge-playing the game until I get the Lapras that I am rightfully owed.
posted by Catseye at 8:51 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


You haven't lived until you've got Eevee, Scyther and Pinsir in a row from 10Km eggs.

Can't complain too much though, have gotten six Lapras and four Snorlax from 10K eggs too, among other things. Seems to be a numbers game, with the more you incubate, the better the chances of getting something good.

Though I've never gotten an Aerodactyl or Hitmanchan.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:06 AM on October 26, 2016


Also, my eggs are all orange.
posted by soelo at 9:13 AM on October 26, 2016


Brandon Blatcher: "Drownzee and Hypno are odd to include, but they're sort of fun, vaudeville types so they sorta work."

Nothing odd about them. Read the Pokedex entries. Drowzee is basically Freddy Krueger.
posted by charred husk at 9:25 AM on October 26, 2016


At this point I rarely see other people playing, most of the gyms around me are locked in with 10 Pokémon at level 2000 and above, and getting to each new level is a grind. But I'm still stupidly, persistently drawn in because dammit, I will at least get myself a chansey and a porygon before I give up.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:29 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Thanks Brandon, my lazy ass was putting off making a new post...

I'm enjoying all the ghost types around here, and even Meowth and Drowzees!
posted by numaner at 10:00 AM on October 26, 2016


Well I guess I'm going to have to walk my Magikarp EVERYWHERE
posted by ckape at 10:02 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm a casual player, but I thought I noticed some better things today. What has changed for me lately is that all of a sudden the game no longer gets a GPS signal at work. Which sucks because there are two pokestops and a gym right where I work and I used to be able to grab some goodies whenever I had a free minute or two. I'm pretty sure it is the game that is the problem, as GPS works fine with maps and other apps in the same location. ActionPopulated is right about the gyms; it will be hard to get new players invested in the game when all they can do is collect Pokémon because there is no way they will be able to battle or train without getting soundly defeated. The weather thing on the other hand is probably overblown. While it gets unbearably cold up north, it is finally cool enough to walk around without drowning in sweat here in the south. Not to mention the Southern Hemisphere.
posted by TedW at 10:07 AM on October 26, 2016


I'm pretty sure it is the game that is the problem, as GPS works fine with maps and other apps in the same location

Yeah after the most recent update I've been getting more GPS problems with the game too. Hopefully that gets fixed soon, right now I have to wait till I get outdoors to do much.

it will be hard to get new players invested in the game when all they can do is collect Pokémon because there is no way they will be able to battle or train without getting soundly defeated

New players can get into same team gyms now, you get to use 6 pokemon to train just like battling a rival gym, and the CP for the ones in the gym are lowered to your maximum CP.
posted by numaner at 10:30 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


At this point I rarely see other people playing, most of the gyms around me are locked in with 10 Pokémon at level 2000 and above, and getting to each new level is a grind.

Check to see if there's a Facebook group for Pokemon in your area. Also check to see if there's a group for your specific group.

The idea that the game is dying doesn't sound right to me. Here in Savannah, it's fairly regular that one team will demolish a 10 level gym, only to lose it a few days or weeks later.

As to cold weather, meh. Around here the heat and humidity is fierce for 4-6 months out of the year and most of just sat in cars when the AC while battling at gyms. Eventually we'll switch to sitting in cars with the heat on.

The game was always going to shrink in terms of its userbase. What matters now is what Niantic does with the dedicated fans. While I'm not hopeful that the company will be awesome, events like this are definitely a huge step in the right direction. 1.25Km for Dratini or Snorlax or Lapars candy is bound to get people energized!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:44 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


New players can get into same team gyms now, you get to use 6 pokemon to train just like battling a rival gym, and the CP for the ones in the gym are lowered to your maximum CP.

this is kinda bullshit. Level 10 gyms all over the damn place now
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:52 AM on October 26, 2016


Yeah that's the current problem I'm having too, but at least they get taken over every few days.
posted by numaner at 10:54 AM on October 26, 2016


> This is an incredibly unique situation, and one that I genuinely can’t remember ever seeing before in the industry. Handheld and mobile games are almost never tied to outdoor activity.

Umm, I think you forgot about someone.
posted by Tevin at 11:14 AM on October 26, 2016


I just opened the app for the first time in a few weeks. What is the symbol that pops up on the capture screen? It looks like it may have something to do with the Pokemon type? It disappears pretty quickly.
posted by domo at 11:53 AM on October 26, 2016


We have been pretty faithful players. All three generations in the household share one account, and it's been a nice bonding experience. Over breakfast, my mom would tell my daughter how many pokestops she swiped during her morning walk, and on the way to preschool my daughter captures the occasional pikachu (her favorite) or eevee as my mom looks on.

But recently my gripes have been piling up. The biggest one is the blocking of 3rd party pokemon trackers. I get Niantic's reason intellectually, but in practice it's just so frustrating knowing there's a dratini nearby and not finding it after ten minutes of tracking back and forth blindly. The second one is the scarcity of incubators. We don't spend enough money to keep two going at the same time at all times -- is that what one needs to do to get decent chances at 10k egg hatches?

Anyhow, this Halloween event is a nice gift, and you bet we would be walking our prized dragonite as much as possible. (We got it with two great ball throws, as ultra balls weren't even available to us back then.)
posted by of strange foe at 1:19 PM on October 26, 2016


Yes it is type, and I can now see that on the details page for each pokemon, but that didn't happen until this most recent update. At first it was just some popups and then nothing in the profile to match them.
posted by soelo at 1:20 PM on October 26, 2016


This event seems pretty great until you realize that you're not actually going to see any of the rare monsters. In fact, you're not really going to see any of the usual ones. It's all Cubones and Meowths, all the time.
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:43 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Those symbols are from like 3 updates ago. They changed the capture mechanic a bit so that your "medals" for capturing specific types will give you a boost towards capturing more of that type. Pokemon of multiple types get an average of its medals' boosts. I have notice capturing got a little easier, and the run away rate has dropped. What has also disappointingly dropped is getting Pokemon that are more appropriate to my level. I've been transferring so many low level ones it's kind of annoying because if I get inundated with the same ones, I'd rather get high level ones.
posted by numaner at 1:44 PM on October 26, 2016


But hey, at least my Magicarp is getting out and about.
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:44 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Just took a pokewalk break from work and caught like 6 Ghastlies. I've noticed that sometimes you can land a hit from somewhere either behind or close enough that the ball is obscured the smoke, and it looks like the Ghastly is sucked up from its butt!
posted by numaner at 1:45 PM on October 26, 2016


I haven't fired Pokemon Go up in ages. Just brought it up when I saw this. There was a Gastly right there. Broke free from 2 Pokeballs, threw it a raspberry, broke free from 2 more pokeballs, then a great ball, threw it another raspberry, broke free from 2 more great balls.

Fuck Pokemon Go forever.
posted by IanMorr at 1:47 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Just took a pokewalk break from work and caught like 6 Ghastlies.

i hate my neighborhood.
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:47 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


I walk my Evee for the most impractical of reasons - it looks freaking adorable on my shoulder.

Anyways, I'm appreciating the update. I didn't have any Cubones or Marowaks and my I haven't been able to get any Ghastly candy for my Haunter since I caught him that first week up in the UP.
posted by charred husk at 1:48 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh yeah, I forgot to add re: easier capturing. I've been making sure to wait for the inner circle to get as small as it can. That actually helps more than I expected. You don't even have to hit inside it (but if you do you get an Excellent! bonus, so try anyway) for the supposed capturing chance increase.

IanMorr what was the color of the circle? If you switched to a Great Ball and it's still dark red I would just give up immediately rather than wasting your balls.
posted by numaner at 2:05 PM on October 26, 2016


Not to mention the Southern Hemisphere.

Someone remembered us!

I'm walking my charmander, 0.75 km a candy is pretty satisfying, even if I have to walk another 57 km by November to get my coveted chazwazza.
posted by misfish at 3:43 PM on October 26, 2016


The real reason why I am surrounded by nothing but level 10 gyms filled with 2000+ CP pokemon is because I've been getting basically no revives from pokestops ever.
posted by ckape at 3:49 PM on October 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


I've played Ingress for two winters just fine.

This will be my fourth. I'm reminded of one time in at the end of 2013 (or maybe 2014) after a newish player commented during the season's first harsh cold snap that he expected that the fields he'd just thrown were going to stay up for a while because no one was going to come out in the frigid weather.

Another player of the same vintage as me replied with "Oh, you think cold is your ally. But you merely adopted the snow; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see temperatures above 40 until I was already Level 6, by then it was nothing to me but a chance for my phone to overheat sooner!"
posted by radwolf76 at 4:00 PM on October 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


This new update has been great. I may finally get my Gyarados! There's still a pretty strong contingent of players in my neighborhood - and being in southern California means I don't have to change my habits to keep playing in the winter :)
posted by Arbac at 4:39 PM on October 26, 2016


It was yellow and tiny. I dunno, it shouldn't be that frustrating. It seems random.
posted by IanMorr at 6:15 PM on October 26, 2016


I've still been playing (30 minute walk to work and back) but my group of friends have been fading, especially since all of the 3rd party trackers were killed off (in Japan, that just happened a couple weeks ago). I'm hoping they roll back the gym update, it's become almost impossible to get into a gym held by my team (yellow, and they're all level 10), and it takes ridiculously long to break down a level 10 gym held by another gym. And yeah, there's almost no turnover, it's the same players with the same Mon for days, or weeks, at a time. That part is getting really frustrating. I used to be able to guarantee at least 10 or 20 coins a day on my way home just by spending five or ten minutes, but to go at it for half an hour and come away with nothing is really disheartening.

I was really excited when I heard about the Halloween update, but I didn't realize that pretty much all the non-holiday mon are on vacation until next week. I went from having only a single haunter and a couple ghastlies to having more than 350 candies, and four or five gengars, and a strong desire never to see any of them again.

My charmeleon, though... I've only ever caught two Charmanders, managed to buddy walk one of them to a Charmeleon, and then got him up to 83 candies. Then this update came out, and I should be able to evolve him by tomorrow. The question is, do I buddy up with my Lapras to get candies, or do I buddy up with my Dragonair, and start working towards my Dragonite? Decisions, decisions.

Yes, I have a Lapras, but still don't have a Dragonite. I miss trackers.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:13 PM on October 26, 2016


Same comment about the gyms - they're all stuck at level 9 or 10 around here and it's been ages since I've been able to put one of my critters up on a big floating pedestal. Kind of frustrating! I still like having a little incentive to get off my butt and walk around, but I hope Niantic updates the game mechanics to make the gyms easier to turn over. (I tried at one today but the CP of the defenders were way above my squad's CP, so it doesn't seem like Niantic is lowering the CP of all defenders at all gyms. Grar.)
posted by Quietgal at 8:17 PM on October 26, 2016


Man, I can't even get 10 km eggs. I am lucky if I get 5 km eggs. It has been a slog getting non common types aka the pidgie problem.
posted by jadepearl at 8:33 PM on October 26, 2016


It's still a thing in our group. Last weekend I took my wife, friend and nephew (3 people, not setting up a joke) to SF to basically hunt all day (and eat, and take some photos). On an earlier trip my nephew caught a Dragonite 1 block off Geary -- "This is the best day of my life!" he said, and he meant it. (There will be better days ahead still :-)

SF has the enhanced map thingy (beta testing area? or just favoring SF?) and they're always happy when we cross into the good map area.

On the way back, my nephew gave his assessment of every gym we passed: what level, which pokemons, what their points were. (Thank you for subscribing to Pokemon Facts!)
posted by kurumi at 10:06 PM on October 26, 2016


I managed to catch a Drowsy with exactly 420 CP, and immediately resolved to never evolve, power up, or transfer it.
posted by ckape at 11:41 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]


Speaking as somebody who spent all of July in a rehab hospital and August and September stuck at home on crutches and a wheelchair. I'm glad they are giving me a way to play and accomplish something without so much walking. It sucks that they don't make any provision in their game for people who simply aren't capable of walking the distance they ask for.
posted by Megafly at 11:54 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Yeah, if y'all are having fun or are frustrated, find a local group on Facebook to bring out the social elements of the game. Taking down a gym with 2-4 people can be downright fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:17 AM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


SF has the enhanced map thingy (beta testing area? or just favoring SF?)

Oooh, I don't know about this, what enhancements?

During this event I've been trying to find a Magikarp nest, with no luck yet. Still, just walking around near a local pond netted about 40 Magikarp candy (I've got one as my buddy too). Evolving it feels like it could happen!

Gyms around here are locked up too, but I've also got three Mon placed in gyms that have lasted for a couple weeks. It's nice to have the regular income, but I'm not getting XP from fighting because it seems silly to take on a level 8-10 gym on my own. But talk to other people? Strangers? Horror!
posted by gladly at 7:22 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


If it really got too cold for Ingress (and it hardly every gets too cold for me, due to a combination of my metabolism and local climate), I just wore gloves and used a stylus, which worked fine for regular hacking/deploying and the glyph game. I honestly don't know how ball throwing and gym battles would be affected by using a stylus instead of a finger. I guess I'll have to test that out at some point. Sadly one of the Android updates messed up my Samsung "smart" pen - phooey!

I'll be honest - I get a lot of my "walking" miles by taking advantage of GPS drift. There's no gym or portal near my office (I was too honest an ingress player to submit a fake one conveniently located), but being in the center of a building means I get the building wifi but a really unreliable GPS signal. So I can leave my phone plugged in running PoGo and ignore it all day and my avatar gets exercise running around trying to find the One True Location. Sometimes I just have to click that I'm a passenger because she's going too fast. It's drips and drabs but it all adds up.
posted by Karmakaze at 8:10 AM on October 27, 2016


I'm excited to evolve my Magnemite, just because no one else around here seems to have one.

The gym issue is strange to me. Albuquerque must have a very high number of dedicated players because all the gyms I know of are constantly turning over, even the ones in relatively untraveled areas. They'll get up to level 10 and then be back down within a few hours at most. I've never had a pokemon stay in a gym long. My main issue with the gyms is getting enough revives.
posted by Missense Mutation at 9:12 AM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oooh, I don't know about this, what enhancements?

Some areas are getting a better in-game tracker. Instead of "Sightings" with just a useless list of pokemon around you, you get a "Near By" list with pokemon and specific Pokestops or Gym that they are near. Not sure how that works for wastelands with neither, but supposedly it's easier to find Pokemon on the list if you're in one of these test areas.
posted by numaner at 3:30 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]




this morning, I had a moment
posted by numaner at 10:21 AM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]


"Oh. That's right," he said, voice becoming distant and cool. "You're Mystic. "
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:50 PM on October 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


Okay, I finally got my 400 Magikarp candy and evolved -- this event really helped. I guess I was hoping for more? My guy is impressive, but I was really hoping to get my first CP over 2K Mon.
posted by gladly at 6:33 PM on October 29, 2016


Are Cubones supposed to be part of this event? Because I've been getting a lot of Cubones.

And I can't just let them go without at least trying to catch them, because they've had tough lives already and it gets so lonely out in the wild.
posted by ckape at 10:29 PM on October 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yes, Cubones are part of the event, along with Marowhaks. Because they're both wearing a mask, which happens to be the skull of their dead mother. They also carry around a bone to hit people with. I wonder where that bone came from.

I wish Gloom, Grimer, Scyther, Pinsir had been part of the event, for that extra creepy feeling.

Also hoping they do another event soon, say in a month or two. Maybe Ice mons for a week in winter? Or fire types. Would love to see all the Pink mons for Valentines!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:26 AM on October 30, 2016


Also, I wonder if something legendary will happen on Halloween or the night of. That could be really great fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:30 PM on October 30, 2016


Or Ditto would make a lot of sense for Halloween.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:41 PM on October 30, 2016


Is Ditto in the game? I haven't heard that it is. I would've liked Grimer to be in the event too, since they're super rare here and I want that Muk.

Yeah I think special events like this would really help keep players interested. And international events too where we can get pokemon from other countries.
posted by numaner at 11:22 AM on October 31, 2016


The CEO of Niantic vaguely hinted that Ditto is in the game, but no one has found him.
Question: One last question: How the hell do I find Ditto?

Hanke: I’m convinced that you’re a hardcore player. I can’t tell you how to find Ditto, because then it wouldn’t be any fun when you found him. But it’ll happen. I promise.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:29 AM on October 31, 2016


!!!!!!!!!!! motherfucker like I needed another videogame related life goal
posted by numaner at 12:16 PM on October 31, 2016


I evolved my Drowzee into a Hypno - Wal-Mart near my office is a Drowzee festival, which feels unsurprising - but hot shit, I want a Ditto.
posted by angeline at 3:23 PM on October 31, 2016


Ditto is out there numaner, just waiting to be found. Are you determined enough to do it?

ARE YOU?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:13 AM on November 1, 2016


I'm going to be the very best!
posted by numaner at 6:51 AM on November 1, 2016


Still no Lapras, but my latest 10K egg gave me a Kabuto! And with the current Halloween boost, I immediately got 52 candies and evolved it immediately to a Kabutops. ^_^

So we had to update the game for the Halloween bonuses, soooo does that mean if we don't update again we'll be keeping them? I'm loving the 1/4 distance for candies for my Dratini.
posted by numaner at 6:53 AM on November 1, 2016


So we had to update the game for the Halloween bonuses, soooo does that mean if we don't update again we'll be keeping them?

If Niantic handles it like they do with Ingress, those kind of changes are done server-side, and can be toggled by them at any time. The initial update might have been needed if what they were changing server side was a new thing that the app wasn't previously designed to account for (Old version: fixed candy rate; New version: variable candy rate determined by server response), but from there on out, it's just another dial for them to tweak.

And even if it wasn't a server-side change, you couldn't go too long by disabling auto-updates -- they usually lock older versions of the app out of connecting to the server once the new updates reach a certain saturation percentage across the userbase.
posted by radwolf76 at 7:51 AM on November 1, 2016


gotcha. brb gonna go run my legs off for a Dragonite.
posted by numaner at 9:17 AM on November 1, 2016


If the CEO of Niantic is Team Instinct, my team should get special privileges!
posted by gladly at 1:23 PM on November 1, 2016


What if you've already caught a Ditto, but it's disguised? What if you've only ever caught Dittos?

Did I just blow your mind?
posted by ckape at 4:08 PM on November 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Still no Lapras...

I have eight. What gyms do you have Mon in? Just curious.

There's a local guy who has seven Dragonites. But sadly, he's Team Instinct, so I question his life decisions.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:35 PM on November 1, 2016


I went from being in 3 Gyms on Monday down to 1 today. Two of them are by the big train station here and enough people pass through that it has a super high turnover rate.

The one gym I managed to stay in is a church. It's a level 10 and I was the 3rd from the top, feeling pretty safe, today I'm 5th and it's down to level 9, so...
posted by numaner at 7:20 AM on November 2, 2016


Looks like you were right, radwolf76, the ghosts and ghouls are gone and all the usual suspects are back, and this Eggxecute just gave me only 3 candies. My current distance goal for the Dratini is still 1.25 KM, but we'll see how that changes when I finish this distance, currently at 1 KM.
posted by numaner at 2:10 PM on November 2, 2016


The halloween event was really fun! I walked a crazy amount for me (38km), almost all in the last three nights, making me enough eggsecute candy to evolve my lovely group of eggs and power it up over 2400 cp.

But the best part was that at the very end of the event, after hoping for it on every single 5k egg I hatched (at least 15-20, since all my gym money goes to incubators), I finally hatched a grimer!! And with the double candy, it got me to exactly 50 candies. :D :D

Just missing 2 kabutos now to fill out my dex. There's supposedly a nest in my city so I'll try to go check it out soon!
posted by randomnity at 5:14 PM on November 2, 2016


I haven't gotten enough Grimers to evolve, but I kind of don't want to. Grimer just looks so happy, so adorable, and Muk just doesn't. Every time I look at Grimer, just sitting there, smiling that big dopey smile, it's cheers me up.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:58 PM on November 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


Nests changed last evening. One of the local ones spawns Cubones now.

I may take a break.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:30 AM on November 3, 2016


I didn't even get far before that 1.25 changed to 5... Oh well. I guess back to regular grinding for me.

So a result of the easier gym training is that all of these gyms around me are now high levels, and in many cases they're all 10s. And what they are usually stocked with are Pokemon way higher level than I am. The best I've ever done was 3rd, and that was lucky, but that lasted like a week before that gym got attention and then I was 8th and then 9th and then gone in a span of a few hours. The issue, obviously, is that even if they lower the levels for you to train, high level people just camp in there because they can. And if you manage to get yours in, you're at the bottom, most vulnerable to getting kicked out.

A better system would be to sort the Pokemon in a gym by time spent in it, but in descending order, so that the newest ones are at the top. That would ensure much more competition.
posted by numaner at 8:21 AM on November 3, 2016


And what they are usually stocked with are Pokemon way higher level than I am.

For friendly gyms that's an advantage to you! You can beat higher CP mon even if you're operating only at half their CP, see this Trainer Tips video.

For enemy gyms, I just plow through those, only bothering to dodge the first two attack moves of the new opposing mon. Then I just attack, attack, attack, which charges the Charging Power like crazy and then you unleash that and keep going. Crush Your Enemies, See Them Driven from Gym!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:34 AM on November 3, 2016


Hm. Since they took out the Halloween setting, I'm noticing more interesting Pokeys around my apartment, gym and office - I caught a Sandshrew today, and have seen more Drowzees and Poliwags. They used to be blue moon Pokeys! Maybe they still are, maybe it's just coincidence...but whatever the case, I have a Poliwrath now so I'm happy.
posted by angeline at 10:15 AM on November 3, 2016


A friend of mine says FastPokeMap.se is working pretty well these days for finding Mons in a way that won't get you banned, but I haven't really checked in the past five minutes, so who knows?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:32 AM on November 3, 2016


I meant that because they're stocked with high levels, even my highest go in at the bottom, and usually doesn't last long in the level 10 gym, because passing rivals will spend just enough time to hurt a few thousands prestige, enough to knock me out, but will give up on the rest of the gym.

And the other teams' gyms are the same with the crazy high levels, and I usually don't use my strongest pokemon because they're either in a gym or I want them ready to go in when I take down a gym (I've had enough sniping by other teammates to know not to spend time healing before putting one in a gym). So my set are usually ~1500 against these ~2300 pokemon, and at that difference they'll straight up murder my team if I don't dodge.
posted by numaner at 11:41 AM on November 3, 2016


All the usual ones around here are back, but I did run into two Abras back to back this morning, which is super rare, as in I've only ever seen 1 Abra around here.
posted by numaner at 11:43 AM on November 3, 2016


From the official Twitter account:
Professor Willow has discovered that Pidgey & Rattata no longer hatch from Eggs. He also found that Eevee now hatches from 5 km Eggs only.
and
Professor Willow has discovered that you may encounter other Pokémon where Pidgey, Rattata, and Zubat were previously more commonly found.
posted by purpleclover at 5:36 PM on November 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


My last 10k egg was an Eevee, so I think this is a good change.
posted by purpleclover at 5:37 PM on November 3, 2016


This is a great change.

Is Niantic ok, has their account been hacked?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:37 PM on November 3, 2016


I hope the whole game has been hacked and everything gets fixed.
posted by numaner at 7:28 AM on November 4, 2016


My ongoing gym issues continue... I got in 3 gyms after work yesterday and got my bonus, and now they're all either high level rival gyms or I got kicked out because I was at the bottom and it's full again.

Came across a guy furiously tapping his phone at the nearest same-team level 10 gym, I hope he kicks that last guy out and that spot will be open enough for me to get in during my afternoon break.
posted by numaner at 7:30 AM on November 4, 2016


wow Numaner, that sounds intense, wish it wasn't quite so difficult for you and others to get into gyms. The game definitely needs some rebalancing. Not sure what would work though!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:03 AM on November 7, 2016


Yeah, I'm finding nothing but l10 gyms. Clearly I need to find the local Mystic players making them and ask to come along during their sweeps.
posted by Karmakaze at 5:46 AM on November 7, 2016


Oh, well:
"Nov 5st Update: Niantic did it, they changed a lot of their internal algorithm rendering our past 3 months useless. It's been real fun guys and I hope FastPokeMap gave you some kind of pleasure in the last months. Sadly this adventure is over for the time being. Look out for future projects."
posted by Karmakaze at 5:48 AM on November 7, 2016


I did not know about these daily quests! That's a good chunk of XP! I got the First Catch of the Day bonus today and had no idea when that started.
posted by numaner at 6:53 AM on November 7, 2016


I must have been constantly getting these and not realize it. No wonder I've been leveling faster than I expected.
posted by numaner at 6:55 AM on November 7, 2016


It started with the latest update, so probably just in a last day or two. But do that for seven days in a row and you'll get a bigger bonus on the seventh day!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:57 AM on November 7, 2016


It actually makes me wanna keep playing more because I really only care about catching pokemon, and have been using the coins for incubators. And higher levels = easier catching (at least when they're like 300 CP or less). I can live with just the one incubator anyway, all these gym rats can have 'em.
posted by numaner at 7:08 AM on November 7, 2016


That's a really good point. There's a lot of messy angst when battling, which seems opposite what the game should be. I think I'd prefer having Display Places, in addition to gyms, to show off what Mon you've captured.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:29 AM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


soooooooo not entirely sure what kind of bug the game has but my phone did one of those things where it restarts the game because it ran out of RAM, and then I got the bonus for first catch of the day and first pokestop of the day, again!
posted by numaner at 12:45 PM on November 7, 2016


The update makes it easier to tear gyms down, FYI.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:14 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


You mean it lowers the gym members' XP too?? That's great! I'll have to give those gyms near my house a go later.

On my walk to the train today I noticed that every single pokestop was spitting out a lot more items than usual, like at least 6 things each.

Also, Pokemon are popping up at a much higher rate, ever since the Halloween event. I wonder if that's permanent.

For once I'm not complaining!
posted by numaner at 3:34 PM on November 7, 2016


Yeah, I got surprised by the massive haul of Pokeballs I got on my afternoon stop. I thought the game just felt sorry for me because I used my last ball - an Ultra Ball - on a puny Bellsprout that poofed on me.

Sad how that seemed somehow more plausible than Niantic updating stuff.
posted by angeline at 4:02 PM on November 7, 2016


You mean it lowers the gym members' XP too?? That's great! I'll have to give those gyms near my house a go later.

No, they've doubled the amount of Prestige that a gym loses when attacking it, while halving the amount it gets when a person is training in it. So in theory level 10 should turn over more quickly.

In practice, I'm betting it won't change much. The dedicated are truly dedicated!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:57 PM on November 7, 2016


Ah I see, I did notice I wasn't getting that much prestige this morning when I tried to get into a level 7. It took quite a bit of training.
posted by numaner at 6:24 PM on November 7, 2016


Trainers,

We are excited to let you know that the new daily bonus feature is rolling out right now. The daily bonuses reward you with XP and Stardust for your first catch of the day, and XP and extra items for your first Photo Disc spin of the day at a PokéStop. You’ll get an even bigger bonus if you complete these actions seven days in a row!

To celebrate this feature, from November 7th to November 11th, you’ll find more Pokémon out in the world. Moreover, PokéStops will grant more items! Yes — this means more Great Balls, and for Trainers that are level 20 and above — more Ultra Balls!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:38 PM on November 7, 2016


Oh! That makes sense. I was getting 6-8 items at every stop this afternoon.
posted by purpleclover at 7:00 PM on November 7, 2016


Yes, I have noticed a bit more Pokémon. (And that's after I caught or chased away three others to get that picture.)
posted by ckape at 10:01 PM on November 7, 2016


So I just got the update today. All those changes we just discussed are listed. They must be able to do a lot of this server side and the only real change to the app was probably "minor text changes"
posted by numaner at 8:57 AM on November 8, 2016


One thing that I keep forgetting to add: a Pinsir with all bugs attacks is a great offense against high level Exeggcutor (and other grass pokemon too if they don't have strong anti-bug attacks) if you practice dodging. My 1521 Pinsir can take on ones that are over 1000 CP higher. Grass attacks tend to be slow and easily dodged, while bug attacks that you control can be very very quick, especially if you have X-Scissor. The only thing you really have to watch out for is Solar Beam, because if you don't dodge it and you don't have a lot of HP to begin with it can wipe you out in one hit if they're that much higher CP than you.
posted by numaner at 10:35 AM on November 8, 2016


I went to lunch and Taco Cabana is a-swarm with Pokeys.
posted by angeline at 1:35 PM on November 8, 2016


yeah with all the high spawn rates I might be able to evolve an Abra!
posted by numaner at 6:41 AM on November 9, 2016


Spoons!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:15 AM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


SPOOOOOOOOONS
posted by numaner at 8:17 AM on November 9, 2016


oh yeah every time somebody talk about spoons I think of this horror movie
posted by numaner at 8:18 AM on November 9, 2016


Good news: I've been seeing a lot more Abras.
Bad news: No matter what pokeball I use they all escape and run away on the first try.
posted by ckape at 11:40 AM on November 9, 2016


for better or for worse, the Gym at the Capitol today has been blue so far.
posted by numaner at 11:41 AM on November 9, 2016


Bad news: No matter what pokeball I use they all escape and run away on the first try.

That happened a bunch of times to me too. They're even worse than Squirtles.
posted by numaner at 11:45 AM on November 9, 2016


Regarding Abra, yeah it's not just you. That sleepy mofo high tails it way too often.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:07 PM on November 9, 2016


can I just say that focusing on this game today has done wonders for my mental health? ‘Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes and Pokemon GO

finally got enough for a Nidoking!
posted by numaner at 1:33 PM on November 9, 2016


Yay, Nidoking!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:49 PM on November 9, 2016


Yesterday caught a Lickitung and today a Jynx, which is awesome, but the longer you play the harder it is to find the buggers you don't have yet and that's so frustrating. Looking forward to the next nest/spawns turnover. I loved the Halloween and current extra goodies events. It's pretty dull now to play without them.
posted by soakimbo at 5:20 PM on November 9, 2016


Yeah, i only have two left to find and it looks impossible, because there's no real path to get them, other than hanging out in certain spots for hours and days. Not fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:29 PM on November 9, 2016


Our Magikarp nest appears kaput. Boooo. But I got enough baby Nidorans for a Nidoqueen, so heeeeey.
posted by angeline at 7:10 PM on November 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


What are you still missing, Brandon?

I just evolved an Alakazam, and I'm currently walking my Machoke to try to get to a Machamp. After this, I'll walk my Grimer for 12 more candy, but then I'm basically dependent on 10k eggs to fill out my 'dex (Lapras, Chansey, Aerodactyl; never seen any on Sightings).

Having fun with the increased spawn rate, which is helping slightly with election grief.
posted by purpleclover at 1:51 AM on November 10, 2016


Oh if you'll didn't know there's only 142 Pokemon one can currently get, assuming you stay in your region, despite there being slots for 151. The various legendarys haven't even been seen in the game by anyone, so they're not active. and then there's Ditto.

I need an Aerodactyl and Hitmonchan to finish out my 142. Others in my area have hatched or caught an Aero at a particular part of the local beach. But that part is now closed off because it's where debris from Hurricane Matthew is being stored as its collected from the islands.

I've hatched close to 900 eggs (what, don't look at me like that) and still haven't got a 'Chan or Aero, as other locals have. But I do have nine Lapras, so I can't complain too much (though I will). This does point out a serious weakness of the game, where the chanciness of things can really screw you up and there's nothing you can do as player to fix it. Even if the beach was open, I'd to hit it up several times a week, which isn't practical. Plus returning to the same spot over and over in a short amount of time isn't exactly fun.

I hatched a 10k egg the other day and got like my sixth Magmar. I have FIVE Chansey's, over a dozen Snorlax and similar amounts of Exeggutors, ridiculous amounts of candy for most things. At a certain point shouldn't the "game" just be like "I can see you're workin' it, imma give you one of these last two" rather than giving you something you have half a dozen up when you hatch a 10Km egg?

Only two Dragonites though, because I don't see their point. They have a double weakness to ice, so they can be easily defeated, even at 3000+CP.

Being able to trade, even with only local people, would fix my problems, as people on the local Facebook group are reserving one of their multiple Aero's to trade for one of my Lapras.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:49 AM on November 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


We became addicted to this as a way of coping with election anxiety. The recent double points special was great and the current one, with more items at each Pokestop, is pretty good too. The only problem is, when a special ends there is a letdown. Only getting three candies per catch seems like a drag now.
posted by BibiRose at 8:30 AM on November 10, 2016


I don't have any Lapras, Aeros, Hitmonlees or that robot dog looking one. Everything else I can walk to evolve, but man that's a pain. The diversity around here is not that great, even with the migrations. It took a bit of traveling (to another country too!) for me to find stuff...

I wouldn't mind trading either, but sadly I don't think I have anything good to trade, unless people want all these Tauroses and Pinsirs.
posted by numaner at 8:38 AM on November 10, 2016


Yeah, I've seen 144 in my Pokédex (only missing Mr. Mime), but I'm kinda annoyed at the idea that I'm going to go to Japan to get a Farfetch'd or whatever.

I just looked up the list; I hadn't realized there were so many legendaries. I'm closer than I thought.
posted by purpleclover at 8:40 AM on November 10, 2016


Numaner, I've been looking for an Amazing (or I think it's Wonderous for Mystic) Taurous. I don't know why, I just want one.

Parks are good for, uh, 'walking' buddies.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:22 AM on November 10, 2016


I have 1 of those, 1201 CP with Zen Headbutt and Earthquake. The rest are the 2nd best description (Mystic: "caught my attention").
posted by numaner at 9:32 AM on November 10, 2016


I'd totally trade you that for a Hitmonlee or Larpas!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:36 AM on November 10, 2016


Lapras please! At least I've seen Hitmonlee in my nearby.
posted by numaner at 9:41 AM on November 10, 2016


Theoretically, trading will eventually be brought into the game. Once that happens, we should see geo specific mons getting traded.
posted by Karmakaze at 10:40 AM on November 10, 2016


Oh sure, but when, WHEN?! Impatience rules!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:51 AM on November 10, 2016


I just hatched my second ever Pikachu out of a 2K egg! I caught my first a few houses away from my own back in the summer.
posted by soelo at 12:39 PM on November 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


oh yeah, I STILL DON'T HAVE A GODDAMN PIKACHU.
posted by numaner at 12:44 PM on November 10, 2016


I'll trade ya one for something!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:43 PM on November 10, 2016


I bought an extra incubator for pokecoins, and I was all "I'm only gonna use this for 10k eggs" and it's been sitting unused for weeks now after the first use.
posted by ckape at 2:03 PM on November 10, 2016


Hatched an Electabuzz from a 10k egg this morning. Sweet.
posted by angeline at 2:11 PM on November 10, 2016


Brandon I also have an abundance of water Pokemon. Poliwag, Horsea, Staryu, you name it I got it! (except for a Gyarados...)
posted by numaner at 2:16 PM on November 10, 2016


Gary requires too many Magikarp for so little power.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:09 PM on November 10, 2016


I like Gyrados as attackers when I'm taking a gym down. Especially the one with dragon breath (although I understand we won't be getting more of those anymore ...)
posted by purpleclover at 7:39 AM on November 11, 2016


Wait, huh? I thought all Gyrados had Bite and then were assigned various charge moves. Are you saying you got one with Dragon Breath instead of Bite?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:10 AM on November 11, 2016


Yes, my very first one had dragon breath. But in August Niantic changed the possible movesets. (My dream of a dragon/dragon Gyrados was dashed.)
posted by purpleclover at 8:22 AM on November 11, 2016


Didn't know that, you lucky trainer!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:29 AM on November 11, 2016


welp, no more easy street, pokemon spawn rates and pokestop item amounts are back to normal today :-/
posted by numaner at 7:48 AM on November 14, 2016




ALL THE CURSE WORDS
posted by numaner at 8:04 AM on November 14, 2016


I have enjoyed the streak rewards but I have not been able to even try to catch a single creature all day. I see the grey dot and the white circles coming from the spot but nothing shows up to select. There are plenty in my nearby section. This happens both on and off wifi. "Try again later," is also a much more common occurrence than it used to be and it doesn't mean I got my items now.
posted by soelo at 11:27 AM on November 15, 2016


It's usually because of weak signal. I normally have to disable the wifi if I'm picking up one that's just weak. Otherwise just try restarting the game, that usually fixes it.
posted by numaner at 11:36 AM on November 15, 2016


If you're hitting Pokestops from a moving vehicle, Niantic seems to have throttled the stops to not give out if you're traveling over a certain speed.
posted by angeline at 3:40 PM on November 15, 2016


Yeah, they snuck that in the last update: "Look, we're giving you daily bonuses and stuff!". Absolutely no mention of the speed barrier, which seems to be around 25-30mph. You can click "I'm a passenger" all you want, ain't nuthin' gonna happen.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:15 PM on November 15, 2016


Oh I noticed that too and thought it was just my connection. Goddammit.
posted by numaner at 12:14 PM on November 16, 2016


new definition of foolish persistence: wasting a dozen ultra balls to catch a 926CP Dodrio that's "not likely to be much in battle"
posted by numaner at 6:57 AM on November 17, 2016


How many razberrys?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:41 AM on November 17, 2016


On a related note, Niantic's other game Ingress is inching closer to bringing back a system for submitting real world locations to be included in the game.

All of Pokemon Go's Gym and Pokestop locations were drawn from the database of Ingress's Portals, the bulk of which were player-submitted. The previous location submission system became unworkably backlogged due to Niantic not realizing the consequences of rewarding approved submissions with an in-game achievement badge, that at its highest level, needed a player to have 5,000 approved submissions to achieve.

The resulting flood of submissions from the playerbase lead to months long waiting periods to even find out if the suggested location had been denied. Of course, this made the problem even worse, because without feedback on what gets approved and what gets denied, the players typically erred on the side of quantity and not quality, sending in all sorts of locations that didn't even come close to meeting the submission guidelines. Also exacerbating the situation was the fact that those guidelines often changed, and whatever outsourcing that Niantic did to try to clear the backlog had quality control problems of its own, often approving locations that clearly did NOT meet the guidelines, thus encouraging the players who were submitting crap in bulk, because they felt that the odds were good on taking a gamble that by the time their location got to the top of the pile, the approver would be having a bad day and let theirs slip through.

(One particularly infamous category of "joke portals" that would often slip through the cracks of the approval system would be the round red parking lot bollards at Target stores. Ironically, when portals were converted to gyms and pokestops, some Targets caught wind that they had a gym labeled something like "Historical Red Sphere Sculpture" and actually went out and painted the bollard to look like a pokeball.)

Location Submissions were closed in September of 2015, and since then, there's been no avenue for new portals to be added to Ingress (aside from a brief testing period where submissions were reopened in Japan, that co-coincided with the development period for PoGO, perhaps they felt they didn't have enough locations there to convert to gyms and stops). The new system mentioned in the article I linked to above offloads the approval process to the playerbase, and will only be used against their existing backlog at first. Presumably, if it works, they're going to re-open for submissions. There's little detail on how they intend to prevent players from abusing the process (there's going to be a behind the scenes weighting system that evaluates how good the player is at rating portals for approval but the in-game reasons for wanting a location to be a portal don't always align with what Niantic says is portalworthy, and it's not clear how the system would deal with a majority of the players saying yes when the answer should be no), but it's Niantic. They never give details on what they do to prevent abuse (even when they ban players for abuse.

The new system will only be piloted in San Francisco and Tokyo, but they did mention Brazil as a likely place for it to be rolled out next, specifically because Niantic feels that country needs more locations for both Ingress and Pokemon GO. That specific line of the article makes it clear that while this is an Ingress system for now, they'll continue to mine Ingress locations (even newly created ones) for reuse as Gyms and Stops.
posted by radwolf76 at 11:59 AM on November 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


How many razberrys?

4!
posted by numaner at 12:54 PM on November 17, 2016


Nests changed! Mine have turned pretty "so-so" to "what the hell, that sucks" (Onix, Paras, Sandshrew, ZUBAT, etc), how about you?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:24 AM on November 18, 2016


Gargh! When they switched off the extra number of items at pokestops, they limited them to even less than how they used to be. I used to get anywhere from 3 to 6 items, averaging about 4 per stop, now it's almost always 3, rarely 4. WTF.
posted by numaner at 9:26 AM on November 18, 2016


not sure if nests here are changed yet but I still need more Abras for the final evo.
posted by numaner at 9:27 AM on November 18, 2016


YEAH, it's not just you on the 3 items per stop. That's really annoying.

We had a crazy good Abra nest here last time, two or three would show up at a time.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:46 AM on November 18, 2016


Supposedly (grains of salt people) there will be a big gen two rollout in conjunction with Starbucks around the beginning of December.

I'm not sure how interested I am. Due to an inexplicable lucky egg misfire, and making gyms almost indefensible, I've got no eggs for my weekly evolve all the things on the train to work festival. I've got about 320 coins, and just the thought of needing to grind at 10 or 20 coins a day to save up 500 for the egg pack makes me question if I'm still having fun. Unfortunately there's that hour of walking to and from work every day, and needing to find a replacement if I do quit the game.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:13 PM on November 18, 2016


ugh I haven't even gotten a pikachu yet.
posted by numaner at 3:21 PM on November 18, 2016


I hope Gen 2 holds off until early next year. But before that, there's a Christmas event to that makes the rarer ones a little less rare so people can work on their pokedex before Gen 2.

Or a fucking decent tracker.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:16 AM on November 19, 2016


The Drowzee nest outside my house is now an Eevee nest, and the local Drowzee infestation we've had since July seems to be finally over, woo. I haven't seen a Drowzee since Halloween.

Has anyone filled out their Pokedex yet, apart from the region-locked Pokemon? I'm at 130 caught. Still no Lapras...
posted by Catseye at 2:24 AM on November 20, 2016


The most you can catch at at this point is 142. I'm at 141, just looking for Hitmonchan (the boxer).

All the others are regionals or stuff they haven't released yet.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:42 AM on November 20, 2016


Just finished mine Fri, thanks to a kabuto nest popping up downtown!

Looking forward to gen 2. They'll all be new to me so that should be fun.
posted by randomnity at 7:58 PM on November 20, 2016


A Celebration to Say Thank You
Trainers,

It has been an incredible experience since we launched Pokémon GO a few short months ago in July. We are passionate about creating experiences that encourage exploration and promote exercise. We are humbled that hundreds of millions of you around the world have joined us on this journey. So we would like to say thank you - and what better way to say thank you than to celebrate our community.

So, starting November 23rd at 00:00 UTC and going through November 30th 00:00 UTC, we will double the amount of XP and Stardust you receive when completing in-game actions.
posted by purpleclover at 6:27 AM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]


YAY, a valid reason to spend less time arguing at Thanksgiving!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:28 AM on November 21, 2016


I'm still missing Aerodactyl, Chansey, Lapras, Muk, and Machamp.
posted by purpleclover at 6:31 AM on November 21, 2016


I spent 15 minutes searching for a Muk that came up on the "radar," but it was in a big open field, so no luck. Have him already, just wanted another one 'cause it was there.

GIMMEEE A DECENT TRACKER NIANTIC.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:33 AM on November 21, 2016


that's awesome news!

now can any Ingress people recommend some touch-screen capable gloves that would be good for this game?
posted by numaner at 9:37 AM on November 21, 2016


Dang it, now I'm going to be negotiating to leave Thanksgiving with my nephews and go catch Pokemon at the park down the street from my parents house. Their house is a total dead zone! I can't spend all day there during an event!
posted by gladly at 10:10 AM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]


now can any Ingress people recommend some touch-screen capable gloves that would be good for this game?

If I really needed it, I tended to just use a stylus. Any of the touch-screen gloves are basically a stylus glued to your fingertips anyway.
posted by Karmakaze at 10:31 AM on November 21, 2016


I think the lack a more-helpful tracker has to be deliberate. I have a theory about why: Niantic doesn't have enough data to reliably prevent Pokémon from spawning on private property or other places that players shouldn't go. They know that some players won't be able to resist climbing that barbed wire fence if they know for sure that a Pikachu is just on the other side. But if the tracker is vague enough, players don't know exactly where to go, and fewer of them will take foolish risks because the reward will always be uncertain.
posted by mbrubeck at 10:32 AM on November 21, 2016


That's ridiculous theory! No would climb barbed wire for a Pikachu at this point. A Lapras, sure, but not sparkymouse.

Ooh sure, the lack of an actual tracker is totally deliberate. But I'd say it's because Pokemon Go isn't really a game. It's an experience, with game elements overlaid on it. Niantic wants people to meet up, wander around and socialize, not so much catch them all. Hence selling sponsored stops where people will eventually be able to go to meet up, wander around and socialize. We're not the customer, we're the product.

Come back steps, I miss you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:56 AM on November 21, 2016


No more hitting Pokestops with a full bag to collect XP really hurts though. On the other hand, I guess I can just keep catching Mons and grinding them up to make room.
posted by gladly at 11:02 AM on November 21, 2016


wait what? a full bag doesn't give you XP anymore??
posted by numaner at 12:06 PM on November 21, 2016


Also, I just noticed all my pokemon CP are different today. Looks like some kind of rebalancing happened after the latest update, which said nothing about touching the CP. My highest used to be a 2216 Exeggcutor, and after that a 2101 Vaporeon, now it's 2172 and 2257, respectively.

Looks like the following types, in all their evolutions, are "downgraded":
Bellsprout
Bulbasaur
Charmander
Dratini
Exeggcute
Growlithe
Jigglypuff
Magikarp
Oddish
Poliwag
Squirtle

These seemed to have been "upgraded":
Abra
Caterpie
Chansey
Eevee
Gastly
Geodude
Horsea
Jynx
Krabby
Mankey
Pinsir
Rattata
Sandshrew
Scyther
Tangela
Tauros
Voltorb
Weedle

The rest seems to have either stayed the same or not changed noticeably enough, and yes I got those lists because I obsessively review my Pokemon deck all the time. Seems like they wanted to make the ones that are constantly dominating the gyms to be weaker, like Dragonite, Gyarados, Exeggcutor, the three starters, and Arcanine. Which is surprising because Vaporeon is prevalent in gyms here but they just got a boost. Although I guess in their system they can't make Flareon and Jolteon stronger without also boosting Vaporeon, perhaps the mechanics involved a set of numbers for the first level of all evolutions and the data for higher forms are extrapolated from there.
posted by numaner at 12:20 PM on November 21, 2016


My one 2000+ pokemon got downgraded below 2000, and my 420 Drowzees are now 388, which completely ruins the joke.
posted by ckape at 12:53 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


hey Brandon that Tauros I told you about earlier is now 1623!
posted by numaner at 1:21 PM on November 21, 2016


My dragonite seems have been slightly increased, while the snorlax were majorly increased, like by 200-300 points. Gyrados, Vaperon, Rhydon, Gengar and Clansey went up big time.

Still, I'm not happy about Niantic making these changes, especially since I spent stardust powering up a few things this morning. That's effort I spent on the game that just wound up disappearing.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:29 PM on November 21, 2016


huh, that's strange that Dratini and Dragonair would go down while Dragonite goes up, same with Magikarp and Gyarados
posted by numaner at 1:41 PM on November 21, 2016


wait what? a full bag doesn't give you XP anymore??

Nope, they stay blue once you get the message that your bag is full. No more easy +50 XP for hitting the same pokestop over and over while you have coffee in one place!

WHOA! I didn't have a single pokemon over 2000 CP and now I have 5. My Gyrados was just over 1900 CP and now it's 2383!
posted by gladly at 1:47 PM on November 21, 2016


I don't like this monkeying around my stuff after I've spent time and effort on it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:00 PM on November 21, 2016


yeah my top Pinsir went from 1610 to 2106
posted by numaner at 2:01 PM on November 21, 2016


I can't even...even though I came out this pretty well, there's little incentive to do anything with the game at the moment, since stats can be changed by the company on a whim.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:29 PM on November 21, 2016


Also not loving this change.
posted by purpleclover at 3:31 PM on November 21, 2016


here's a list of all the CP changes. they did in fact not keep it consistent for the same evolutionary line.
posted by numaner at 3:37 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]


I honestly don't have a whole lot of issues with this, aside from wasted candies powering up some pokemon, and that's technically irrelevant since however much you powered them up then, they would have the same increase/decrease in CP due to this change.

I think it's good that they're balancing out the CP and increasing the diversity of which Pokemon can battle. Already I'm seeing ones that used to be weaksauce appearing in gyms around me.

Other developers do this for their games too, rebalancing stats when some characters are overpowered. I think the only ones that usually gets mad are the ones that spent the time taking advantage of the imbalance, but if they like the game then they'd stick with it and learn the new balance.
posted by numaner at 3:41 PM on November 21, 2016


Yeah, that's sounds like something from team Mystic would say!

I came out pretty good with the change, 'cause I built a diverse team. But I really dislike the idea of this happening with no warning.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:35 PM on November 21, 2016


My disappointment is not actually with dudes I put a lot of stardust into (although I would not have built up a Clefable, sigh), but with dudes I transferred. I just got rid of a bunch of ~1000 Sandslash, Jynx, Magneton, and Pinsir. Which would have apparently become up to ~1800 or ~1900. (Sandslash! Who would have guessed they'd be important?)

My Pokemon box is at 350 to keep it manageable, but it means I've culled a lot of 'mon that would have been useful now, which I find frustrating.
posted by purpleclover at 6:39 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]


I like the idea of changing CP balances in theory, since it'd be nice to see a change from the same half-dozen Pokemon types sitting on top of every gym here. But since lots of those are the ones that just got boosted - Gyarados, Snorlax, Dragonite, Vaporeon. And I'm sad that my Victreebell got nerfed.

OTOH, my 46CP Dragonite is now a 47CP Dragonite, so there's that.
posted by Catseye at 3:07 AM on November 22, 2016


All of a sudden Pinsirs are dominating in gyms around here. I guess people just noticed their CP shot way up. They're my main fighters against grass and psychic types since bugs are strong against both (without having an extra type like flying or poison).

This not getting pokestops while traveling fast is such bullshit. My avatar regularly runs all over the place at my desk at work, and I get that damn warning all the time. And now it actually affects me getting the pokestop at work. I have to wait a little while for it to notice I'm not traveling at the speed of light before I can do anything.
posted by numaner at 8:32 AM on November 22, 2016


I love Pinsirs! Those and Tangelas are like secret weapons. Paras too, against Exegguctors!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:24 AM on November 22, 2016


I've barely gotten any strong Tangelas, and for the hundreds of Paras I've gotten, none have evolved into a strong enough Parasect.
posted by numaner at 9:33 AM on November 22, 2016




I don't really even know what Ditto is, but that's very exciting!
posted by purpleclover at 4:28 PM on November 22, 2016


Hilariously, MatPat from Game Theory just posted a theory that places Pokemon GO before the Gen 1 games in Pokemon's overall timeline, which was based on the lack of Ditto in the game. Oops.
posted by radwolf76 at 5:54 PM on November 22, 2016


How are y'all liking the new in-game tracking feature? I'm glad I can finally approximate the location based on the pokestop pics.
posted by domo at 5:58 PM on November 22, 2016


I'm east of the Mississippi, so no tracker for me just yet!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:17 PM on November 22, 2016


But now i have two Dittos, so wheeeee!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:18 PM on November 22, 2016


i hate you brandon, with the hatred of all the donald supporters combined
posted by numaner at 7:00 AM on November 23, 2016


also, DOUBLE XP TIME! evolve all them pokemaans!
posted by numaner at 7:02 AM on November 23, 2016


How'd you manage to catch the Dittos--did they just show up? So many questions!
posted by PearlRose at 7:26 AM on November 23, 2016


so they appear as another pokemon and you won't know it's ditto until you catch it?
posted by numaner at 7:26 AM on November 23, 2016


i hate you brandon, with the hatred of all the donald supporters combined

1. I paid for it, my pedometer says I walked 7.5 miles yesterday, most it between 7-10pm. My feet are complaining like crazy today.

2. YASSSS release your Mystic anger, come over the Valor side!

Yeah, I thought I was just catching a Pidgey, 'cause I've been hoarding them to to do a mass evolve with the double XP and stardust event. I went out a little early to hopefully get a head start on the event, saw a Pidgey and caught it. But rather than "Gotcha" appear above the ball, "oh?" appeared instead, then some funky purple screen stuff and then DITTO. There's video of the transformation on the web at this point, but I'm not linking to it, 'cause seeing in the first time is too much fun.

I've heard of it being found in Rattata, Pidgey and Magikarp from local people. Here's the official announcement from Niantic:
Trainers,
Professor Willow has finally discovered Ditto! Trainers all over the world have been reporting its appearance.
Ditto has been known to disguise itself as other Pokémon, so keep an eye out, some Pokémon may actually be Ditto, and when you capture them, there’s a chance that Ditto will reveal itself. If you do encounter a Pokémon that is Ditto in disguise, the Pokémon in that specific encounter will also reveal itself as Ditto for other Trainers.
Ditto is also a unique Pokémon when you interact with Gyms. When training or battling at a Gym, Ditto will copy the appearance, types, and moves of the first Pokémon it sees, and it will stay that way through the remainder of those Gym battles.
The Pokémon GO team
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:34 AM on November 23, 2016


To be clear, there's no visible difference in a regular Mon and one Ditto is hiding in. You'll only found out if it is Ditto after you've successfully caught the Mon.

In Gym battles, Ditto automatically transforms against the Mon it's facing, usually at a slightly higher CP. So yeah, the 488 Ditto I caught turned into a 2500 Alakazam when facing a 2400 Akakazam, copying its moveset. But the DittoAlkazam seemed pretty weak for a 2500 Mon and was kinda easily defeated. I don't know if I was doing something wrong.

Ditto vs Ditto is like a MagicKarp vs MagicKarp, with each Ditto stretching and twisting while using "Struggle".
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:42 AM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


Also, special note just numaner:

Caught my two Dittos almost at the same spot, one as I began the night, the other as I ended it. The 2nd was literally just across the street from where the first one was.

*Sits back and waits for the sweet Mystic rage storm :)*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:15 AM on November 23, 2016


General note about the Lapras Event in Japan: The local government paid about 150K US dollars for Niantic to bring that event to the area.

So go to that council meeting and suggest ways for bringing in some revenue
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:16 AM on November 23, 2016


Dammit, Brandon, I have four out-of-town relatives coming for Thanksgiving, arriving in a few hours, and I'm going to try to find Ditto right now.

I hope you're happy. :)

(And have a wonderful holiday, all of you.)
posted by purpleclover at 8:33 AM on November 23, 2016


Walking around with a Lucky Egg gets one 4x the XP points during the double event, just FYI.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:47 AM on November 23, 2016


No we mystics do not rage we silently fume with our precision fuming and then we take over your gyms while you're sleeping
posted by numaner at 8:49 AM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yeah that's pretty accurate about Mystics, actually.
posted by angeline at 8:52 AM on November 23, 2016


Actually, Instinct does this my city. Mystic runs hits throughout the day.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:26 AM on November 23, 2016


Found Ditto!
posted by purpleclover at 10:38 AM on November 23, 2016


Yay! What was it in, a Pidgey? Rat?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:07 AM on November 23, 2016


I'm running low on pokeballs to run around and catch everything for Ditto :(
posted by numaner at 11:14 AM on November 23, 2016


Having the same problem! Thinking of actually buying some to keep up.

I UNDERSTAND YOUR PLAN NOW NIANTIC.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:16 AM on November 23, 2016


I'm also low on coins because I've been buying incubators as soon as I get enough :-/
posted by numaner at 11:20 AM on November 23, 2016


TREAT YO SELF.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:22 AM on November 23, 2016


My Ditto was a rat!
posted by purpleclover at 11:39 AM on November 23, 2016


ok goddammit I just spend so many balls on a wild Pidgeot because ANYTHING CAN BE A DITTO and it was just a goddamn 600~ Pidgeot that somehow defied like 6 ultra, 7 great, and 3 regular before finally got in a regular ball. Good thing I have tons of Razberries because those are definitely waaaaay more important than more balls, Niantic.
posted by numaner at 12:55 PM on November 23, 2016


Nononono, I've only heard of Ditto being in a rat, pidgey or magikarp. I wouldn't waste balls on anything else for it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:08 PM on November 23, 2016


From what I've heard, Ditto only appears as Pidgey, Rattata, Zubat and Magikarp. Nothing that someone would get upset about turning into something else. So, yeah, don't waste your resources on bigger catches.
posted by team lowkey at 1:10 PM on November 23, 2016


Unless you're on Mystic, then I heard it could be anything, anywhere! Best to ignore gyms for a while as you concentrate on Ditto! :)
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:13 PM on November 23, 2016


oh goddammit. well there's suddenly a lot of pidgeys around here too, but all of them are pidgeys so far.

I need a don't catch anything pokestop run before I leave work. Thank god for the dozen stops around here. (except for things I need to evolve and Ditto things, obvs).

Also, you're right Brandon, coffee break time is Mystic gym time. 💪
posted by numaner at 1:16 PM on November 23, 2016


I haven't caught a Ditto, but I did beat one up.

It turns out I've been hoarding more evolutions than I can actually get through in 30 minutes, but it's OK because I just leveled up and got another lucky egg. I'm going to try to schedule it so that I'm using a lucky egg when my streaks come in on Sunday.

I also just finally got enough geoduck candies to evolve my gravlax into whatever it is gravlaxes evolve into.
posted by ckape at 2:26 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


I also just finally got enough geoduck candies to evolve my gravlax into whatever it is gravlaxes evolve into.

Hello, I would like to give you all my favorites.
posted by purpleclover at 2:43 PM on November 23, 2016


Geodude -> Graveler -> Golem

that's some crazy autocorrect there.

A Geoduck Pokemon would be awesome though
posted by numaner at 2:45 PM on November 23, 2016


Gravlax evolves into Smörgåsbord, right?
posted by angeline at 2:51 PM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


I would love an exchange system where you can trade 75 unused goddamn potions for some pokeballs k thnx
posted by numaner at 3:01 PM on November 23, 2016 [3 favorites]


Yeah right, "autocorrect".
posted by ckape at 3:01 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


oh yeah ckape right now if you catch a pokemon with an Excellent and Curve Ball throw the double XP gives you 420 XP. that should be some compensation for your Drowzee
posted by numaner at 3:04 PM on November 23, 2016


I GOT A DITTO!!!!

So I'm coming to the metro to leave work and I had the game out, getting the couple of pokestops here at the station. A Bulbasaur popped up, and I need more of them (for the coming evolvathon). Took a couple of my depleting great balls but I got it, thinking I'm done for the night. I made it down the escalators and my train is approaching. I was about to turn the game off since when the train gets into the tunnels between stations I lose cell service; all of a sudden a wild Pidgey appears! A decent CP one too, 320+, but I had a gut feeling, and quickly tossed a regular pokeball as I'm running into the train. As the doors are closing it busted out of the ball! If the train gets too far into the tunnel I'd lose service and the Pidgey, so I quickly toss a Razberry, switched to one of a half dozen great balls I have left and just spin it wild not even bothering to wait for the circle to tighten. It's yellowish though, and about half way down, so I had a good feeling. It landed way out, hitting the bird in the head, but it stuck! 3 shakes and I got it! Then the "Oh?" appeared and I lost my shit on the train, as it's pulling away from the station into the tunnel. It was goddamn down to the wire and literally made my day.
posted by numaner at 3:50 PM on November 23, 2016 [5 favorites]


I just got a Ditto, and I'm extra glad because I would've felt pretty silly if I had ended up using those ultraballs on a Pidgy.
posted by ckape at 5:09 PM on November 23, 2016


Gravlax evolves into Smörgåsbord, right?

I'm pretty sure it evolves into hákarl, then surströmming, at least IRL.
posted by TedW at 5:18 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


So Ditto showed up in my room twice in the last two hours (once as a Rattata, once as a Zubat, both a little underwhelming at CP 320 and CP 47 and lukewarm assessments). This is literally the only good luck I've had in weeks. It's almost disappointingly anticlimactic. I don't know when I'll get out to a gym next to test drive WHAT I'M EVEN SUPPOSED TO EXPECT THESE THINGS TO DO so looking forward to more reports from the field on this.

Also please tell me when you have an IV calculator that works again after the CP changes and which one, since Poke Genie still seems borked.**

**EDIT: Poke Genie literally just showed up as a possible update in the app store, BRB
posted by blue suede stockings at 6:31 PM on November 23, 2016


I have a Ditto! It's an okay one. I would have tested it in a gym but it's pretty brisk out by the lake, when my nose went numb I poofed like an uppity Bellsprout.
posted by angeline at 6:35 PM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


It was goddamn down to the wire and literally made my day.

Yeah numaner, glad you got it! Quite a rush wasn't it?

For me, I had no idea Ditto was even in the wild and I find it in alley I NEVER walked in before. So exciting!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:31 PM on November 23, 2016


I baked a lovely chocolate bundt cake. Which I promptly broke. So I went to the store for Cool Whip because now I'm bringing a trifle to Thanksgiving.

Stopped at my usual gym that I take over in the middle of the night and, well. Took it over. Then I caught another Ditto! I took it right back to my new gym and battled with it. I'd put a 2200+ Vaporeon with Hydro Pump in there, the Ditto morphed into a 1200+ one with Hydro Pump. It still won, somehow - I don't really understand how gyms work at this point, whatever - so that was a nice and fun little experiment.
posted by angeline at 10:30 PM on November 23, 2016


A 1200 Vaporeon can easily take on one with 2200 because of the damage rate from Water Gun. I dunno if Ditto added anything but I wouldn't be surprised.

I got a not good Ditto, but I'm looking forward to hitting the gyms around here to test it out!
posted by numaner at 12:15 AM on November 24, 2016


Crack a Lucky Egg before cashing out. 'Cause that 3K Stardust (from six gyms) becomes 6k with the double event and 12k with a Lucky Egg.

And stay outta Red Gyms, you're not allowed there!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:35 AM on November 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Too late! It was a red gym when I flattened it.

Actually it's interesting. The gym is located in a community theater. I like to think the team that primarily runs the gym at any given time correlates to whatever play they're doing. In October it was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the gym was Instinct most of the month. This month they're doing Scrooged, and the gym is generally Valor.

I wonder what play or musical would turn it blue most days.
posted by angeline at 10:53 AM on November 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Cats
posted by numaner at 12:59 PM on November 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I finally got a Pikachu!
posted by numaner at 11:14 AM on November 25, 2016 [2 favorites]


Okay I live east of the Mississippi in Minnesota, but both of my Thanksgiving parties were on the west side. I caught two 'mon at the first one, but I did not notice the fancy new tracking feature there. It was running at the second one, though. Now today back at home, it is gone again. I have read "all states" and "all areas" west and it appears to be all areas.
posted by soelo at 11:35 AM on November 25, 2016


I caught two Dittos today! One's a best of the best sort, and the other is high CP but appraises as worst. Don't care, it was very exciting! Even better, I let my nephew sign into his account on my phone right after I caught the best one, so he could catch it too.
posted by gladly at 9:56 PM on November 25, 2016


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