6 Months of Pokémon Go
So I have now completed 6 months on Pokémon Go. Yes….I know that I joined late. This was because until six months ago the smart phone I had, even though it was an Android, I could not access Pokémon Go in the app store. It would never show up as downloadable. When I got my new phone last November it was the first app I looked for and I was very happy to finally see what everyone had been talking about. I had grown up with Pokémon and even remember standing outside of Toys R Us on black Friday to get the special card give away for the first specified amount of customers through the door. (Yes I do still have all of my old cards including these promo cards and even early Japanese cards I was able to pick up). This was back when stores used to give out good stuff on black Fridays and they were truly on Friday (none of this black Thursday that has become popular).
So far I have not been disappointed in my experience. Still early in my playing I stumbled upon the Pokémon Go Field Guide at the Dollar Tree on Mississippi and Chambers. It actually was very helpful and I would recommend it for any new players. I enjoy trying to get all the special event Pokémon and the shinnies. As with most games I refuse to spend money on the game. This has slowed me down a few times (since the way to get coins is by defending gyms). In the beginning it was really hard to store items or Pokémon and I had to save all my coins to expand my storage. I’m still having to save coin to increase these and have not had a chance to by any of the cool avatar items due to this. So my main message here is that it is possible to play for free, but it will hold you back.
Special Pokémon help keep playing interesting. There are everything
from shinnies to special event ones. I like all the Pikachus with the crazy
hats.
After a few days of starting the game, I had to go to Texas to help some friends and while there I noticed one thing that as I played more in Colorado was the same. There are huge areas that have no stops/gyms and that Pokémon do not spawn very often in these areas. Then some areas have way too many stops. Community College of Aurora’s main campus has tons of stops, but the Lowry Campus is lacking even though there are a few colleges there. I recently found out that at level 40 you can recommend that stops are added, but it seems like some areas are just missed even though they have heavy foot traffic of possible players. I’ve also noticed a few other issues. The weather is hardly ever right for me. I’ve gotten tired of reporting it. I know that Colorado’s weather is crazy, but you think that live time updates would at least be close. I know that this has impacted me getting certain types of Pokémon. Then there is the GPS tracking. I have never had issues with google maps on my phone, but Pokémon Go does weird things on a regular bases. For example at Flat Irons Mall I can be standing at the gym in the food court, but I can’t access it because it says I’m too far away. Then I go to the side of the food court by Old Navy and I can access the gym. I can also be sitting in one place and then my avatar takes off running and I get the error message that I’m moving too fast. I have heard that this can happen because of satellites moving or my phone signal bouncing around. Some people have learned to use this signal bouncing to their advantage when trying to get steps in for hatching eggs.
One of the negative things I have noticed is that the game eats up a lot of data and battery life. For the first one I found a cheap way around this. Play in places that have free Wi-Fi. A lot of these places are malls, libraries, colleges, Walmart’s (and other retail stores), and restaurants. Target is actually a great place to play and many also have a Pokémon stop if they have a Star Bucks in them. Many of these places also spawn a lot of Pokémon because of the amount of foot traffic they get of phone users. This makes a big difference in the amount of Pokémon you can find. So far for the battery life the only thing that seems to help a little is to turn VR part of the game. You lose seeing the Pokémon in the real world, but it helps the battery a little.
A good chunk of my time on Pokémon Go has been during the COVID lockdown. The game has been helpful to its players. One of the best things has been the 1 coin bundles they offered. This was a great way to get balls when you couldn’t get to stops. It would have been better if they would have allowed you to make more than one purchase a week. I will admit that before COVID I didn’t walk as much as I do now. When I walk with my mother I like to play as well. She has even taken an interest and wants to watch me catch and battle Pokémon. Sometimes I will also drive to a gym to battle from the safety of my car. I will admit that in some locations like Utah Park I have noticed people playing and not social distancing. Also recently on a Colorado Pokémon page one person was slammed for trying to get people to gather together for a raid. It is important to remember during this time that playing together is fine if you follow social distancing and stay safe (I’m a strong supporter of face masks and you can even find Pokémon fabric at local fabric stores).
The current features that I am enjoying the most is the trainer battles and how now you can save up to add a third attack to your Pokémon. At the same time, at present I am not lacking all the special days and many events they have going on. A lot of the things going on in the game right now require large amounts of balls, even in the battle section. During COVID it is hard to get balls and this has impacted my playing. There are lots of cool Pokémon out there to catch, but you need balls to do that…. There needs to be more ways to get balls. I will keep playing because I have to catch them all.
My 6 month mark stats are:
Level: 29
Pokémon Caught: 3,599 (or about 20 a day)
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