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December 1, 2016 6:06 AM   Subscribe

Our long Pokemon nightmare is over! The much talked around in-game tracker is now live in all of the continental United States and spreading to the UK, just in time for the eighth migration.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (128 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hm. I don't find the footprints thing very useful. I know how to get to all the pokestops in my neighborhood and I don't travel a lot! I like having the pokestops shown, though. Can plan my route walking home after dropping the kiddo at school to maximize catching them all.
posted by gaspode at 6:42 AM on December 1, 2016


Is there an easy way to transfer your account between two Google accounts? I signed up using a secondary gmail, but have switched to a Pixel that's locked in under my main. Swapping profiles just to play the game (and not being able to listen to podcasts/Spotify/etc) is a huge drag.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:47 AM on December 1, 2016


Hmm. Less than a week after I deleted the app because I finally accepted that I was done with it. Maybe this will finally get me back into it? Is this too little, too late?
posted by explosion at 6:51 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Pokemon Go taps in to the "gotta catch them all" subconcious collector instinct, ruthlessly exploits the sunk cost fallacy and also happens to be a heap of fun when everything aligns just right. So... we keep playing. But that doesn't mean we aren't going to complain while we do it. Complain and grumble and moan while we keep giving them out time and money.

So, here I go. The new "tracker" is not a tracker. It is an alerting system to tell you what mons are near to your local Pokestops. If you are playing somewhere with a high density of Pokestops this sort of makes sense, although it removes a lot of gameplay potential in its implementation. If you live somewhere with a low density of Pokestops then it's a total pain.

It seems likely they have done this in response to complaints about players going into prohibited / dangerous places when trying to trace a straight line to a mon using the distance tools of the old tracker(s). Because all Pokestops are user sourced (from Ingress) and known to be publicly accessible they can remove a potential liability by only sending players to those places and then showing the mon on a map. The user then has to find safe/legal route between the pokestop and mon, which they can do using the in-game map. I'm not convinced by this as a legal argument but in the absence of any communication from niantic (and there is rarely any) it's the best story I've heard.

So I doubt this "tracker" is here to make the game more fun to play. It might for people in a subset of cities, but it is worse for everyone else. At the very least is should have been in parallel with a "local" tracker. It seems like a design driven by fear rather than a design goal.

Example - I live about 500m from a Pokestop. There are no others for approx 5km. My house is on a circular road and I can walk around it in about 15 minutes, there are usually spawns. The circle means a lot of road is covered by the "nearby" radius from my house. Because of the road layout it is about 35 minutes to walk to the Pokestop. The most fun I've had with the game recently was about 2 weeks ago when a Lickitung (which I had never caught) showed on my local sightings. I went out and walked around, it disappeared, I walked back, it reappeared. Etc Etc. Eventually I found it. It felt rewarding. At least once a day some worthwhile catch will appear on the list (I leave it open on my desk while working) and thats my cue to take a break and get some fresh air. All very good and healthy.

Now the ONLY mons on my sightings are the ones a 35 minute walk away (ie not happening). There could be a Dragonite outside my front door and I wouldn't know. The only way I can complete my dex is by driving to somewhere with lots of Pokestops (an hour or more), wandering around aimlessly for hours per day (not happening) or by using a 3rd party tracker (anecdotally this is what ALL local players I've met do) which is a ban-able cheat.

So yeah, not happy. I've spent a lot of money on the game buying balls to make up for the lack of stops locally. It has really been good for my mind while working because it gets me to take breaks in the fresh air at least daily. Seemed like a win-win for me and the developer. But now the carrot that got me to walk out the door has been removed.

It's something of a trope for players of this game to bitterly complain about changes while still playing. If you dare to venture onto boards like reddit's /r/pokemongo you'll see this in full bloom today as all us suburban players sound off into the dark.
posted by samworm at 6:52 AM on December 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


Eh, I'm still getting random pokemon out on a walk this morning (7 day streak!), I suspect the tracker is just directing me towards one stop or another in a "this Eevee is towards the Ronald McDonald statue, the Ratatta is towards the Center Park sign" so you're not _completely_ blind. I don't think it's "you only get pokemon at the pokestops", anyway.
posted by Kyol at 6:58 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


It's still not as good as the original tracker.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 7:24 AM on December 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


I live in a beta test place and have had the new tracker for awhile. It is a little helpful in terms of saving time.
I assume at this point in the game, many people are only willing to stray off their normal path for a pokemon they need.

So Niantic introduced ditto to get people to go for pidgeys and other likely ignored pokemon.
They've also introduced much higher CPs on cool but boring pokemon like jinx and tauros.

In the Facebook pokemon groups I'm in it seems that rural players are pissed regardless.
posted by k8t at 7:25 AM on December 1, 2016


I have the same problem as samworm. There are no pokestops on my street, so all the pokemon that show up in the new 'tracker' are a good bit away. Meanwhile, a dragonite could be sitting on my doorstep and I wouldn't know.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:48 AM on December 1, 2016


Is there an easy way to transfer your account between two Google accounts?

Ingress players have been begging for a way to transfer/change the email associated with an account for years. The fact that Niantic hasn't implemented this in either game has lead many to believe that it's a deliberate omission on their part to try to combat third-party account selling.
posted by radwolf76 at 7:48 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


What's the point of finding them if they're so ridiculously easy to catch?! The whole point of Pokemon is to fight 'em against each other! Harrumph. Still not re-downloading the app.
posted by Mooseli at 7:58 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


I've had the new system for a few weeks and it's a significant downgrade for me. Like tofu_crouton and samworm, my nearby pokestops are not easily walkable.

I used to have fun spotting things nearby throughout the day, and popping outside for a bit of a walk to find them. Now I just open the app maybe once or twice a day (or not at all) to see if something has spawned right on top of me, then close it again.
posted by isthmus at 8:18 AM on December 1, 2016


IMHO PokemonGo is peak cluelessness caused by having so much application development concentrated in a tiny geographic area (Bay Area). I heard the tracker is perfect there. It's not bad in other cities like Chicago where I like, but anywhere outside of this it's not a good solution.
posted by melissam at 8:46 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Are the plants cute like an Oddish?
posted by giraffe at 9:03 AM on December 1, 2016 [16 favorites]


Been using the new tracker in Seattle. It's a mixed bag. It's great if something rare pops up and you know exactly where the Pokestop is that is being referenced. It's lacking for just general "in the vicinity' Pokemon not related to a stop. Where I live it is a 15 minute pokewalk to a Pokestop, another five minutes to the next one. So on my tracker at night at home I see generally two circles (we'll call them PokePortals) showing me who is hanging out at those two stops. If I walk up my street or over a block however, I am guaranteed to run into 2 -3 mon not on any tracker.

I work near lots of stops and commute through dense urban areas with lots of stops. In those cases my tracker is full of nine nearby PokePortal views at all times. But again, you are only seeing things that are close to Pokestops, which is only a small view of what might be out there.

For a few days during the beta there was kind of a mixed-view tracker that showed some of the PokePortals and some in the traditional "nearby" view. This seemed the best to me, but apparently that isn't what shipped.
posted by butternsugar at 9:52 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


You can also participate in at BugGuide (my contributions). For me my childhood interest in bug collecting is why I was so excited to get the original Pokemon games when I was 10. Bug collecting is even more of a childhood pastime is Japan and was the inspiration for the games. Sadly it's not really a hobby you can do in the winter, Pokemon fills that niche for me then. If anything maybe Pokemon Go will get people to pick up the current 3DS games, which I think are really quite fun.
posted by melissam at 10:03 AM on December 1, 2016


Yeah, I liked that combo version. The portal version is still pretty good for me, but then I live in downtown San Jose next to the university. I have extremely finegrained portals to say the least.
posted by tavella at 10:03 AM on December 1, 2016


The new tracker makes you aware of Pokemon you can't walk quickly to, so it unexpectedly makes the argument for driving around to stops.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:43 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm enjoying it where I work, since the latest migration brought Kabutos to my area, and now I have more candies to power up my Kabutop. I can see where they all pop up! Where I live though it's the same story as the complaints above, but I don't really play at home much anymore since the diversity there is super low.

Oh hey Brandon I got a Aerodactyl from a 10K egg :)
posted by numaner at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2016


Oh hey Brandon I got a Aerodactyl from a 10K egg :)

1. That's nice :)

2. I imagine that we talk to each other just like Seinfield and Numan.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:39 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'd like to think I'm more like Gary myself
posted by numaner at 11:55 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


The new tracker is also incomplete. I'm pretty familiar with the spawn spots around here since I played around with the unofficial mapping apps back at release, and I can guarantee there are more than 2 Pokemon within ~1km of me (1km is the approx distance to the farthest away Pokestop shown on the Nearby screen)
posted by ymgve at 12:51 PM on December 1, 2016


Is there an easy way to transfer your account between two Google accounts? I signed up using a secondary gmail, but have switched to a Pixel that's locked in under my main. Swapping profiles just to play the game (and not being able to listen to podcasts/Spotify/etc) is a huge drag.

Does the Pixel not allow you to sign into multiple accounts under the same profile? I'm logged in to three google accounts on my phone (under settings/accounts), and when I launched the app the first time, it brought up the standard Google account selector, and I can pick my secondary account from the list.
posted by yuwtze at 2:18 PM on December 1, 2016


Yeah, it's not a tracker so much as a "What pokemon is near each of your nearest pokestops."

I liked the original tracker (before they crippled it to the point of uselessness to compensate for the server load) better.

I occasionally drive to one of the stops based on the new tracker, but as yet another rural / suburban user there's no way I'm walking to them.
posted by mmoncur at 3:54 PM on December 1, 2016


Totally used this today to catch my first Dragonite - yeah!!
posted by soakimbo at 4:43 PM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


You caught an actual Dragonite in the wild? Now I'm officially jelly.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:33 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Y'know, now that millions have stopped playing, I'm sure the server loads are much less of a problem, they should bring that original tracker back.

Somehow the latest migration brought me Magikarps in addition to Kabutos. I should be happy that I'm getting closer to my Gyarados, but all of these are going to be crap quality.
posted by numaner at 9:03 AM on December 2, 2016


Wish list: you can trade candies of one type for candies of another, I'll even accept some ridiculous exchange rates for rarer types. Because these 347 candies for Tauros are pretty damn useless.
posted by numaner at 9:05 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Huh? You should find a decent Magikarp to power up among the 400 you need.

Though it never made much sense with Garados needed 400, as it's not Snorlax/Dragonite level of power.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:53 AM on December 2, 2016


I almost never get any that are the best or second best quality (from the Appraisals) in these migrations. If I do they're also usually pretty low in CP so you have to spend the candies and stardust to get them up to snuff if you want to battle at all. Since they've fixed up the gyms I've been getting into them more now, just so I can get the coins for my precious incubators.
posted by numaner at 11:46 AM on December 2, 2016


Pretty sure Team Mystic doesn't need to waste coins on incubators, they don't work right or something. Just get Lures and Eggs!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:33 PM on December 2, 2016


But hatching seems to be the best bet at this point to filling out my pokedex unless I take another vacation or something.
posted by numaner at 12:39 PM on December 2, 2016


That was joke! Egg hatching is pretty efficient, though there's a price!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:42 PM on December 2, 2016


see i thought you were serious because we're not the hatching team, we're the evolving team.
posted by numaner at 12:45 PM on December 2, 2016


Official note for all you "rural" folks:
Trainers, there was an unintended bug which limited Pokémon from appearing in the recently expanded Nearby Pokémon feature. This primarily affected users in rural areas and has now been fixed. We will keep you updated on changes to this feature and as always we value your feedback.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:07 PM on December 2, 2016


The GPS shift in my office just "walked" my egg 4.7 km and got me another Snorlax candy today while I was sitting at my desk. I just needed to share that with someone.
posted by gingerbeer at 9:52 PM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


My wife and I still talk about that one night where GPS shifted us to the PokeStop behind our house that's jussssst outof reach. It put us there for hours, as we spun the stop and cackled like bandits.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:06 PM on December 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


And I just needed to share that with my last 10km egg hatch, I finally got an Aerodactyl and now have all the Pokemon I can get in N America. Yay! (Way behind a bunch of my friends, and my frustration at not getting an Aerodactyl has been growing... heh)
posted by gaspode at 2:15 PM on December 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


Rural update: It's not that it's broken. It's just that, because it's based on Pokestops, the distances are too great for walking.

I spent a couple of hours at a park with 6 Pokestops in it today and it worked great there. It says there's a Squirtle, I walk to the Pokestop in the picture, I catch a Squirtle.

At home, though, of the 9 things on the radar, 8 of them are over a mile to walk. There are a few spots within 2-3 blocks of here where I always catch something, but the radar doesn't ever show what's there because they aren't Pokestops.
posted by mmoncur at 8:25 PM on December 4, 2016


Here in the suburbs, the new tracker is handy for me because it tells me how promising the one park within walking distance is at any given moment. Nothing is guaranteed within the amount of time I can get there, but it makes it a little more likely I'll drop by.

I've just discovered that my mother's memorial bench in a neighboring suburb is a pokestop, designated by her name like many similar pokestops. I'd been wondering, every time I passed one, how it would feel to be memorialized that way.
posted by BibiRose at 4:47 AM on December 5, 2016 [8 favorites]


Official announcements of things, here's the gist:
Details to come about more Pokemon on Dec 12th, while Sprint, Boost Mobile and Sprint at Radioshack stores to become PokeStops and Gyms and feature charging stations. No word on Starbuck locations or that Muk flavored frappuccino you've been waiting for.
Also new update rolling out:
Trainers, Pokémon GO is in the process of being updated to version 0.49.1 for Android and 1.19.1 for iOS devices. Below are some release notes and comments from our development team.
- Trainers will be able to transfer multiple Pokémon at a time to Professor Willow. To use this function, press and hold on a Pokémon.
- Pokémon type icons have been added to the Gym battle approach and Gym battle screen.
- The total Candy count for your Buddy Pokémon has been added to the buddy information screen.
- The total kilometers a buddy has walked has been added to the information screen of each Pokémon that has ever been your buddy.
- Minor text fixes.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:34 AM on December 7, 2016


- The total Candy count for your Buddy Pokémon has been added to the buddy information screen.
- The total kilometers a buddy has walked has been added to the information screen of each Pokémon that has ever been your buddy.


i don't care about anything else but these two things
posted by numaner at 8:54 AM on December 7, 2016


But "minor text fixes"..!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:44 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


these Tauroses are getting out of control
posted by numaner at 2:34 PM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]




so the starbucks next to my job is now a pokestop, per that announcement. The stop itself is a promotion for a "Pokemon GO Frappuccino", which tastes suspiciously like raspberry and vanilla, but it's quite tasty. That starbucks was already next to another pokestop which is the historical restaurant two doors down from it, so if I wanted to take a long break from work I could sit in there and get two stops every 5 min!
posted by numaner at 12:59 PM on December 8, 2016


oh god, is the Frappuncciono where PoGo candy goes?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:10 PM on December 8, 2016


they taste like the tears of the transferred Pokemon deemed too weak to exist. salty, salty sweet tears.
posted by numaner at 1:16 PM on December 8, 2016


Finally, a use for Spearow!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:20 PM on December 8, 2016


I tried it. Surprising bland, needs alcohol, which evidently Starbucks doesn't do.

I should have spent that money on incubators.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 PM on December 8, 2016


oh god, is the Frappuncciono where PoGo candy goes?!

It's where the leftover....material....goes after you make the candy. Scraped from the bottom of the grinder instead of wasted, with the same reverence for using every bit of the animal as the buffalo.
posted by blue suede stockings at 7:13 AM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


needs alcohol, which evidently Starbucks doesn't do

select Starbucks in my area serves beer and wine. I think a nice Cab or Pinot would mix well.
posted by numaner at 8:34 AM on December 9, 2016


got the update today and the charge moves bars are now PURPLE.

WHAT THE HELL NIANTIC YOU SAID "MINOR TEXT FIXES" YOU DIDN'T SAY SHIT ABOUT CHANGING MY BELOVED BLUE CHARGE MOVES BARS.
posted by numaner at 8:35 AM on December 9, 2016


Seriously (No, SERIOUSLY), that's a terrible change, they look butt ugly. Between this and the blandly purple Frappuncion at Starbucks, y'all are doing a slow descent to mediocrity.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:42 AM on December 9, 2016


So new issue: my phone has been randomly vibrating while the game is out, but nothing is happening on screen. Did they add a new notification feature? I thought it might be when your buddy has walked a Km, but I've been checking and it doesn't seem to be the case. I rely on these vibrations for when a Pokemon pops up in the wild so these random ones are bugging the hell out of me when there's nothing on screen.

Also, ran into a Aerodactyl in the wild today, 1700+. It has the same annoying flying animation as Zubats so I missed with like 5 Ultra balls before landing one, then it popped out and fled. Gah.
posted by numaner at 12:27 PM on December 9, 2016


I've seen lots of reports of random vibrations, so probably a bug.

I bet if you hadn't teased me the other day about having two Aero's when you thought I had none, it probably would have stayed. Probably.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:25 PM on December 9, 2016


that wasn't a tease! I wanted you know we're in the Aero club together now!
posted by numaner at 3:17 PM on December 9, 2016


It may be time to quit when you hatch your 12th Lapras and become angry and frustrated about this.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:57 PM on December 9, 2016


It's vibrating every time the "Nearby" changes or updates. It's maddening. I hope they change that soon.
posted by gladly at 8:27 PM on December 9, 2016


Pokemon GO official update from about 1:30am EST:

Pokémon GO
6 hrs ·
We are aware of and actively working on a fix for a bug that causes incorrect vibration notifications related to the Nearby Pokémon feature.

posted by blue suede stockings at 4:37 AM on December 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


translation: we thought it'd be cool to let you know when Nearby updates, but we neglected to tell you that's what's happening or give you an option to turn that off.
posted by numaner at 6:45 AM on December 12, 2016


You're going too fast!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:06 AM on December 12, 2016


Which is always a lie because relative to where I'm sitting I'm perfectly still.
posted by numaner at 7:08 AM on December 12, 2016


Have a bland and overly sugary frappuccino!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:12 AM on December 12, 2016


How could you not love a Lapras? Even if it doesn't have good stats, it gives you more candy to power up your good Lapras. I should name my favorite one Dragonite-Killer, 'cause that's what it does. Ha ha silly person you think your arena is safe with that 3500 Dragonite...
posted by tavella at 8:28 AM on December 12, 2016


What's with the Dragonite worship?! Some people around here have like six or seven, all high IVs that they actively "raised" to get said IVs. I'm like "Yeah, but Lapras!"

Which until Joelton got buffed were damn hard to kill. But Dragonite has a double weakness to ice and there's 13 Pokemon able to use ice moves, you're just asking for trouble to be relying on Dragonites to hold a gym.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:35 AM on December 12, 2016


I actually regularly take down Lapras with my Vaporeons. Their ice damage doesn't hurt, and because they're half ice half water, they only get half the protection from Vaporeon's water guns. I spam that like crazy while just needing to avoid their charge attack.
posted by numaner at 9:05 AM on December 12, 2016


Numaner hates Lapras!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:27 AM on December 12, 2016


The official announcement about new Pokemon:
Trainers,

Professor Willow has discovered Togepi and Pichu hatching from Eggs! Starting later today, Trainers will have the opportunity to hatch these and several other Pokémon that were originally discovered in the Johto Region in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games. These are the first of more Pokémon coming to Pokémon GO over the next few months. Be sure to use the hashtag #PokemonGO on Twitter to share your experiences as you explore your local neighborhoods with family and friends, walk to hatch these Pokémon from Eggs, and register them to your collection this holiday season. We can’t wait to see what Pokémon you’ve hatched!

We also have another special treat for you. Starting later today through December 29, 2016, 10:00 A.M. PST, you’ll find limited edition Pikachu all over the world. These Pikachu will be wearing a festive hat to celebrate the season! Use the Pokémon GO AR camera when you encounter them in the wild to take their picture and share it with us using #HolidayPikachu.


—The Pokémon GO team
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:31 AM on December 12, 2016


Holiday Event news:
Trainers,

Professor Willow has discovered Togepi and Pichu hatching from Eggs! Starting later today, Trainers will have the opportunity to hatch these and several other Pokémon that were originally discovered in the Johto Region in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games. These are the first of more Pokémon coming to Pokémon GO over the next few months. Be sure to use the hashtag #PokemonGO on Twitter to share your experiences as you explore your local neighborhoods with family and friends, walk to hatch these Pokémon from Eggs, and register them to your collection this holiday season. We can’t wait to see what Pokémon you’ve hatched!

We also have another special treat for you. Starting later today through December 29, 2016, 10:00 A.M. PST, you’ll find limited edition Pikachu all over the world. These Pikachu will be wearing a festive hat to celebrate the season! Use the Pokémon GO AR camera when you encounter them in the wild to take their picture and share it with us using #HolidayPikachu.

—The Pokémon GO team
Okay, Santa-hat Pikachu is adorable, but I was hoping for more candy or XP in the event too.
posted by gladly at 10:32 AM on December 12, 2016


I'VE ONLY EVER CAUGHT ONE PIKACHU AND NOW THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE HATS AND IF I CAN'T CATCH ONE I WILL KILL THE GAME.
posted by numaner at 10:51 AM on December 12, 2016


Numaner hates Lapras!

I can't love what I don't have!
posted by numaner at 10:52 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


This announcement is pretty lame. We're in America, damnit, and Christmas we get STUFF. NO STUFF, NO HOLIDAY SPIRTS, festive hats or no.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:49 AM on December 12, 2016


I am unreasonably excited to have caught myself a holiday Pikachu in a Santa hat! It's only 30 CP, but I'm not transferring this one to that creepy Professor!
posted by gingerbeer at 12:56 PM on December 12, 2016


I do want to put it in a gym, though. I mean, who would beat up on a cute little Pikachu in a Santa hat?
posted by gingerbeer at 12:57 PM on December 12, 2016


I do enjoy the new splash screen though
posted by numaner at 1:04 PM on December 12, 2016


I do want to put it in a gym, though. I mean, who would beat up on a cute little Pikachu in a Santa hat?

Will I get XP for doing it?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:12 PM on December 12, 2016


not enough XP to be worth the negative Karma
posted by numaner at 1:18 PM on December 12, 2016


My Lapras disagrees with you! Who should I believe?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:28 PM on December 12, 2016


Clearly this is the true War on Christmas: battling a Pikachu in a Santa hat with a turtle/dinosaur/sea monster.
posted by gingerbeer at 1:57 PM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


but is the santa hat persistent across evolutions this is important information
posted by ckape at 2:42 PM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


Well, I just caught another holiday Pikachu. Only 10 more to catch and I'll let you know!
posted by gingerbeer at 3:13 PM on December 12, 2016


I went around this evening, haven't caught any. Am remarkably ok with that. It'll happen when it happens. Just like that time in college.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:33 PM on December 12, 2016


I like the new holiday load screen. I don't like that all the pokestops near my work have terrible Pokemon, and my house is still a barren, holiday-Pikachu free wasteland.
posted by PearlRose at 9:20 AM on December 13, 2016


but is the santa hat persistent across evolutions this is important information

I just saw a picture of an evolved santa hat raichu on facebook.
posted by BibiRose at 9:40 AM on December 13, 2016


it's totes adorbs
posted by numaner at 9:51 AM on December 13, 2016


I caught one in my apartment! It's not any good except to look at, which I do.
posted by gladly at 5:20 PM on December 13, 2016


I hatched a Cleffa from a 2-km egg today. It's hard to get excited about new pokemon when they're just less evolved versions of the same pokemon you already have.
posted by ckape at 6:17 PM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


The new loading screen is hellua fun and festive! Just wish the game live up to that. Would love to see Santa hat on Grimer, Gengar and Snorlax, among others.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:12 AM on December 14, 2016


I can tell you there is at least one person in my area who would beat up a Pikachu in a Santa hat.
posted by ckape at 9:02 PM on December 14, 2016


I've thought of putting the one baby I have, Smoochum, in a gym, but it just feels so wrong. But it's an imaginary creation, yet...!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:54 AM on December 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm in Orlando. There's nothing interesting here, Pokemon wise. But this Hilton has two stops and two gyms, so there's that.
posted by numaner at 10:44 PM on December 15, 2016


In the distance is perhaps the most dedicated team Instinct dude I've ever seen.
posted by numaner at 10:52 PM on December 15, 2016


"Committed" is the word I think. Even if they haven't formally been checked into an institution yet.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:36 AM on December 16, 2016


Huh, what makes him committed?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:25 AM on December 16, 2016


It's a level 7 gym, with only him...
posted by numaner at 5:32 AM on December 16, 2016


...

Isn't that how everyone works?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:46 PM on December 16, 2016


I guess we know what Brandon gets up to by himself!
posted by numaner at 5:10 PM on December 16, 2016


Do you wonderful people have any tips for catching difficult Pokemon? I just wasted ten balls on a huge Victreebell in the wild. I just could not seem to connect with the orange circle-- after the first time, when I hit him and he broke out. This happens to me a lot with the bats too.
posted by BibiRose at 7:14 AM on December 18, 2016


Well, a Victreebell is going to be difficult to catch anyway

Are you throwing curve balls? That definitely helps. But sometimes repeatedly using an Ultraball, with a razzberry and curveball still won't do the trick and things will still run away. There's a bit of a chance element with all of this.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'll work on the curveballs. I seem to have the most consistent success with going up over the character, but I haven't tried going to the side and around like some people seem to do.
posted by BibiRose at 8:27 AM on December 18, 2016


Basically, you need every tool to catch the big stuff. So an Ultra Ball, with a razzbery, great throw and curve ball all build on each to ensure the 'Mon is captured.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF CATCHING POKÉMON IN POKÉMON GO

HOW TO THROW THE PERFECT CURVEBALL IN POKÉMON GO
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:39 AM on December 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


Someone has put a Santa Pikachu in the gym near my house and I may have to go knock it over this afternoon. If it lasts that long.
posted by gingerbeer at 9:41 AM on December 18, 2016


For the record, I did evolve a Santa hat Pikachu into a Santa hat Raichu. As with a regular Raichu, it is more powerful but not as adorable as the Pikachu.
posted by ckape at 12:30 PM on December 18, 2016


I also evolved a Santa Pikachu into a Raichu. It's still pretty cute. Electric Santa!
posted by gingerbeer at 3:52 PM on December 18, 2016


I finally got a Santachu that's stronger than my one regular Pikachu. Now to get more! Also apparently all the Pokemon I need are down in Tampa, and I was only there for half a day and couldn't use my phone much...
posted by numaner at 5:25 PM on December 18, 2016


I found a gym today that had nothing but a Santa Pikachu in it, so I added my Santa Raichu, for an all-Santa gym! Of course, it didn't last more than 30 minutes, proving that people will indeed take down Santa.
posted by gingerbeer at 9:17 PM on December 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Found a Ditto with amazing IVs this morning, now I need to find a Santachu for him to impersonate!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:44 AM on December 21, 2016


the cold weather is reducing gym activity. unfortunately for me that means the gyms around here are all lvl 10 Mystics and I can't get in. Even if I could they're all 2500CP+ so my measly 2300 Vapys would get knocked out by other teams first. Waaaaaaaaah
posted by numaner at 7:58 AM on December 21, 2016


Oh numaner, are you doing crazy stuff like having a life outside of PoGo? That might be problem right there.

Yeah, in my neck of the woods, Valor rules and the level 10 gyms everywhere have returned. This morning was strange for me 'cause I literally had to get out of bed of go place myself in a single gym in order to collect the 10 gym bonus. Most mornings I just hit the button while in bed, then roll around town to build in a buffer for me sacred 10.

I preferred the previous, where it was easy to tear down a gym, that way there was a lot more gym turnover and even Valor had to fight to make things happen. Hopefully they'll tweak things a bit more.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:49 AM on December 21, 2016


It's actually easy to fight gyms now, I just wish the other teams would step it up around here. But as I'm typing this I think I can get in one of the gyms that just went down to level 9. Yay lunch hour!

Also, yes, life outside of PoGO is interfering more than I'd like.
posted by numaner at 9:55 AM on December 21, 2016


Yes, life is a Pidgey.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:21 PM on December 21, 2016 [1 favorite]


Here's the event:
Trainers,
As the year draws to a close, we want to give you a great way to celebrate the end of the year with Pokémon GO. For the next couple of weeks, you’ll have even more reason to explore the world with your friends and family while you enjoy our year-end event.
Don’t miss out on an increased chance to hatch a Togepi (and other Pokémon)! Starting the morning of December 25, 2016, and through the afternoon of January 3, 2017 (PST), PokéStops will award one single-use Incubator each day after your first Photo Disc spin. As you visit PokéStops during this time period, there will be a greater chance of finding Eggs that hatch Togepi, Pichu, and several other recently found Pokémon, originally discovered in the Johto region. Special Pikachu wearing festive hats will also be staying around a bit longer! You are more likely to find these limited-edition Pikachu during the time period of this celebration.
In addition, from the afternoon of December 30, 2016, through the afternoon of January 8, 2017 (PST), the first partner Pokémon and their Evolutions, originally discovered in the Kanto region, are more likely to be encountered. This means a greater chance to catch Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur, as well as Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard, plus Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise! As a way to increase your chance to encounter one of these Pokémon, Lure Modules will also last for 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
Get up and go!
—The Pokémon GO team
Meh.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:51 AM on December 23, 2016


I'm pretty excited about the event because my pokedex needs Charmeleon, Charizard, and Blastoise. Plus, I haven't hatched a single new pokemon. I could use more stardust, but I'll take filling out the pokedex as a nice present.
posted by gladly at 8:50 AM on December 24, 2016


no words about the gifts in the store and how long they'll last? I've only 580 coins and I don't think at my rate I can get that big box of 1500 before it's gone.
posted by numaner at 9:18 AM on December 27, 2016


Check the contents before you buy the big box; unless you use a lot of incense, I don't think it's worth it.
posted by tavella at 11:20 AM on December 27, 2016


I could use the incense if I had any left! But I also want more Ultra Balls.
posted by numaner at 11:30 AM on December 27, 2016


Once they're bought, they're yours.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:39 PM on December 27, 2016


I just hatched some adorable thing called a Smoochum, which is apparently the baby-form of Jynx. It came out of a 10k egg and is almost too cute to evolve.
posted by angeline at 6:55 PM on December 27, 2016


did every fucking pokemon just got like 10 times harder to catch?
posted by numaner at 2:05 PM on December 28, 2016


Oh good, it's not just me.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:00 PM on December 28, 2016


Also, NEST CHANGE! We got a Jynx one, so whoot!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:31 PM on December 28, 2016


there's been no nest change here that i can tell, or it just changed to some pokemon that i already have hundreds off.

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
posted by numaner at 7:25 AM on December 29, 2016


Everyone needs more Pidgey!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:26 AM on December 29, 2016


Hm. I set a Cleffa as my buddy for walking after I evolved my Clefairy, and i don't think the new babies are set up right. It doesn't seem to be registering any distance I walk.
posted by angeline at 8:29 AM on December 29, 2016


Well never mind. As soon as I carped about it Cleffa started to earn me candy.
posted by angeline at 10:27 AM on December 29, 2016


So I was still at only 25 candies for Omanyte, randomly ran into a 1909CP Omastar today and got it! No other Omanytes have been spawning, no lures were used on the nearby stop, nothing. Weirdest thing.
posted by numaner at 12:41 PM on December 29, 2016


It happens, always great when it does. Have encountered a Flareon in the wild, Vapereon too! There was a Muk, but I couldn't find the $&@# on the football field he was hiding on.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:27 PM on December 29, 2016


Before this thread closes, I gotta say how I've loved it. My phone never actually shows me the update messages, so I come here to see them, but I stay for the wit and charm.

Also wtf, I'm level 27 and still don't have an Aerodactyl or a Lapras. But being in Europe, I do catch a ton of those creepy mimes. And I have an ARMY of adorable Santachu who used up all my Ultra Balls. The sacrifices we make for cuteness!
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:34 AM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


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