In the face of waning popularity, developer Niantic recently announced a few updates to Pokémon Go that aim to make the game easier for players, with a focus on training at friendly Gyms and capturing wild Pokémon (via Engadget). The updates are for "trainers of all levels," but they appear to mostly benefit newcomers who might have given up on the game prior to the changes.
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The first update is a way to make it easier to catch rare Pokémon by incentivizing players to grind through common Pokémon. Through a "catch bonus," users will increase their chances of catching lesser-seen creatures every time they nab one that they've already caught a handful of times. These are tied to the game's existing medal system, so "for example, as you reach a higher tier for the Kindler Medal, your bonus to catch Fire-type Pokémon such as Charmander, Vulpix and Ponyta increases."
The second addition will focus on training at friendly Gyms, allowing players to bring a total of six Pokémon into training instead of the current limitation to one creature. The game will also temporarily adjust the CP of the opposing Pokémon to your level "to generally match your Pokémon’s battle capabilities," making it easier for low-level users to boost their team's prestige at a Gym.
Basically, this will make it possible for lower level players to train Pokémon and get them into gyms at all. Under the current system, casual players stuck at lower levels or are just starting off can't do much to get a Pokémon into a friendly gym or snag the free bonus coins that are available as a result. It doesn't make it any easier to take the fight to other teams, but now even if you're at a lower level than other players in your area, you will have a reason to actually stop at gyms again.
Niantic didn't confirm when the updates would roll out, but the company did say they will be "coming soon." In late September, Pokémon Go ended its reign as the highest grossing app in the United States App Store, which it held for 74 days. Other major updates have introduced a buddy system, but players are still waiting for trading, friend battling, a new generation of Pokémon, and the Apple Watch app announced at Apple's September 7 iPhone event.
Update: Pokémon GO version 1.11.2 is rolling out as of October 10.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)That's not what the game needs. Start monetizing the game.
Horrible idea! Just fix the tracker and make pokehunts fun. Announce when the first legendary will appear possibly too.-Show Ads on the bottom of the game, with a permanent ad footer banner.
-from the money you get, create real-world gift card winnings at random pokestops
-pokestops with "possible" gift cards in them could be special color/type (businesses can contribute if they want)
-each gift card needs to be at least $50 or equivalent to cost of living based on the country the pokestop is in
-a few hundred gift cards a day all over the world OR based on revenue from the permanent ad footer banner
-this will re-energize the community into a long-term gameplay
-I'll accept $150K for this idea. Enjoy.
-Show Ads on the bottom of the game, with a permanent ad footer banner.
No. Just no.Seriously.
NO.
Have noticed with the last release much of the glitchiness that was introduced with the "buddy" release was gone, now there are many more pokemon's popping up (including more rare ones) and I have to watch what I catch or I'd burn through my capture balls very quickly now which wasn't a problem prior to these last releases (which may be by design since they want to sell those to you).