Anyone notice a decrease in potion drops after Adventure Week...and loving it?
There were some threads about a decrease in potion drops after Adventure Week ended on the silphroad...Has anyone notice this as well for themselves? (I do).
In my journal, when potion drops were fairly rare, I'd see like 6 potions in the 50 entries (mixed in with catches, hatches, etc...)...Right now, there are 3 potions...During Adventurer week, with the +1 item drop, I think I would see like 9-12 in my journal (yes, I know this is not scientific at all).
That said, I think my gyms have also been getting attacked a lot less so I think it's affecting others as well...I spin a lot of stops normally and think I am actually loving the lower potion drops...
Answers
Why am I so salty? Because I have gone to just playing casually at the park when I take my kids there because I can't get enough potions to keep with anything. I can't get enough potions to keep up with a local spoofer, let alone prestige up friendly gyms to open spots up for my pokemon or team members. In addition to that I can't take down rival gyms. I generally try to take down a level 10 gym every day or two. On top of all of that, I certainly can't test pokemon in battle if I can't even do the normal battling. So basically this game has come down to me catching more Pidgeys...excuse me for being salty over that.
I actually take down and prestige gyms everyday.
Sad that you don't spin enough stops to keep up...but unlike you, I don't waste time or potions taking down a rival level 10 gym every single day just for kicks when it will get rebuilt within 24 hours...Dominant areas are dominant because 10+ trainers go there to rebuild the gym so if you find it fun trying to fight that, have at it...(I don't)...and don't complain (or get salty) if you don't have enough resources to play regularly.
Also, fighting spoofers (and bots) are a losing battle so if you want to waste all your time and resources there, no need to get salty that you have no resources for non-spoofed gyms.
Maybe it's because I've already battled 4000+ times and don't find it that fun...but the lower drop rates ARE seeming to affect attackers which is a good thing IMO.
I play with my kids too and playing my way, we all still have 300+ potions/revives.
A decrease in potion/revive drops affects everyone equally if that's what's happening so if you aren't using it wisely, it's actually good game design if people have to play more strategically and choose their fights.
The game is brain dead easy as it is so requiring resource management is a good thing.
Sorry if you don't know or can't manage your resources effectively.
What an arrogant prick you are. You think I don't know how to manage my resources? I do still have my reserve of 150 max potions and 50 max revives. Those are my par numbers that I don't go under. I don't spin enough pokestops? Please, I have spun over 21,300, and that is taking off 3 months of playing. What is absurd is the amount of time it takes to refill on potions. I go to the Mall of America, the most pokestop dense area around, and in 2 hours I still only come away with 30 hyper/super potions, and that was when they were dropping more. I guess unlike you, I still have stuff to do, I can't spend hours dedicating myself to this game every day.
I can tell you are not on the minority team, because a lack of resources does affect people differently. I am a one man wrecking crew and my play does make a huge difference in our area. I know this because the players I do keep in touch with are on opposing teams. They told me how the area changed when I wasn't playing. They said as soon as I came back, half a dozen gyms switched back to my team's color.
In addition to that, attacking other teams gyms, in their dominate areas does make a huge difference. You know what happens when no one touches their gyms? They go on a raid and tear down 4 or 5 of our gyms. Everyone gets the same drops, right? So what do you think they spend their potions on? Keeping them rebuilding prevents them from using those resources against us. I can afford to do that because I am actually very good with my resources.
Fighting against spoofers may be a losing battle, but sometimes you simply have no choice. When a spoofer is going around taking down 6-7 gyms in his rotation there aren't always a lot of gyms to go around. Unless I want to partake in shaving to stick my pokemon back in gyms that I was shaved out of, 7 gyms is a lot for minority teams.
And things can be done about spoofers in our area. There was one that was real bad, and a guy I keep in contact with created a bot army to follow him around until he disappeared. I told him if they don't do something about this spoofer, I was going to start attacking their gyms. Knowing the influence I have, he was going to go to their chats and figure something out. Either eliminate the spoofer or swap territories, because contrary to what you think, attacking their gyms does make a big difference.
A lack of resources affects the minority teams a lot more, and that is just the reality. It affects legit players a lot more than spoofers, as they can sit there and spin pokestops from home. Stop acting as if you have everything figured out and enjoy collecting from your stagnant gyms.
I don't disagree with you being on the minority team has the biggest impact on anyone's play and it's unfortunate this is how the game is...I've said before that I actually think all gyms should be able to benefit any player and any team or simply eliminate teams all together since there is practically no skill in the game if you are 1 vs 20. A lot of team members also shave you off so it could be said that your own team members are your worst enemy.
It's also annoying that if you were to say, climb up Mt Everest and supposed there was a gym there, you can put something in, and instantly be knocked out...If you choose to spend an hour at the peak of Everest and prestige or what not, you should still be able to stay in that gym unless someone does more prestige or works harder, etc...
Everyone knows team imbalance is the number 1 thing why some teams have it easier than others...That said, if you choose to spend hours of your day still playing in your own area where your team is not dominant, that is still your time and your choice...Potion drops affect everyone the same way and if you want to use all your time to brute force maintain your area, that's still your choice.
I've said before that gyms are pretty much a measure on who wants to waste the most time, whether that's spinning stops or sitting tapping a screen, it's the same. There is very little skill in this mobile game and being all upset that you can't get potions so you can't spend hours attacking more easily now (remember, there is little/no skill to tear down gyms and any level 30 person can if they want), I think is a good thing...
Maybe I sound harsh, but I am glad that potion drops are rarer (if even true) since now, people have to choose their battles and if you want to maintain your vast area solo being on the minority team as well, then it should be harder for you and that's just tough.
You can always choose to find your dominant team areas since there are Instinct (if you're on that team) areas.
Calling me a prick and you deciding to spend hours every day to tear down rivals means if anything, you have MORE time to waste than me and simply care more about a "game" and territory than most people do. I certainly haven't spun 21k+ stops and don't even have the "denses" pokestop in America so having that is already unfair for a lot of folks (rural)...
I work and have kids like you so if for a little while you can't attack as much, (like everyone possibly now), maybe that's a good thing so you can do something else with your time.
It's too bad you feel even with your vast Pokestops area, you feel that potions should drop endlessly.
TL;DR: Sorry you are on the minority team...but it's your choice to spend your time attacking the majority team in your area and if potions are dropping less, I think that's a good thing since people have to be more selective in gyms they do want to defend...
You say to go to an area where my team is dominate, you also call the game mindless...so now you want me to travel to play a mindless game?
On the minority team bit...as I kind of explained in my previous post, I have had a huge influence in the area just myself. Half a dozen gyms flip to my color just because of my presence. On top of that, I put the most annoying defenders possible in friendly gyms and keep the other gym occupied rebuilding their gyms. We are clearly the minority in terms of numbers, but there are times when it doesn't have that appearance. I have been in over 20 gyms, a lot of that due to there simply not being enough people to fill gyms up...they sit at level 7 or 8 for days. That also doesn't include the gyms I am shaved out of, and the higher traffic ones that I either didn't get a chance to get into, or chose to stay out of for other players.
What happens when we have these potion shortages? I lost 10 of my gyms in 2 days (those aren't including ones in our area that I was not in.) Sure, some gyms are stagnant, but players from other teams are not stupid, they know what gyms to hit and which ones can't be built back up due to lack of players and lack of resources. It hurts us a lot more because our stagnant gyms are the ones getting attacked, not the other way around.
And on the game being mindless...that is actually one of the things I like about it. A part of my life is extremely mentally draining and exhausting, especially with the current political, social, and economic issues happening in this country. The last thing I want to do is spend my free time with a mental challenge. On top of that, PoGo has always been about fitness for me. Last year, shortly after the game came out, I ruptured my pectoral tendon while working out. After surgery the only thing I could do was walk and tap a screen. Even the motion of spinning a pokeball was exhausting on my shoulder. For months while I was recovering, walking playing this game was my fitness and I lost 30 lbs doing it. Aside from my weight training, PoGo is still a huge part of my fitness. I always walk to hit pokestops, not circle around in cars like most of the other players do. You know how I mentioned I like to take down a level 10 gym every day? That is part of my fitness. I bike or run to these gyms, take them down, and then go back. I run as far as 2 miles one way, and bike 7 miles one way, to take down gyms, spend my time taking them down, and then run or bike back. So actually half of the time I spend is actually playing pokemon.
So you see, playing this game isn't just a mindless blowing of my time. It is how I workout and unwind. I am busy with work and kids from 7am until 10pm, heaven forbid that I spend a couple hours a day doing this. I suppose I could sit around and watch reality tv instead...
Finally, you suggest I want potions to endlessly drop. Certainly not...but even you have to admit that the drop rate is ridiculously low. I can start hitting pokestops with 600 items in my inventory and when I get back up to 1000, I have only added 30-40 hyper/super/max) potions, and that is with tossing pokeballs and berries out? Potions are extremely rare compared to other items, and they essentially cut that in half. There is a huge difference between "endlessly dropping" and the current situation...
Thanks for the reply and not resulting to name calling.,..It's great you are in better shape and enjoy the battling, but I don't know if you play other games, but compared to everything else I play, there really is little to no skill currently in this game. I think a lot of people would agree that it's pretty simple. If you can do things like swap in a Wobboffet and send a Hyperbeam back to the Blissey or mix things up with sticking in a Chansey to heal, or what not, then more skill can be said/used ... but to me, it is a bit mindless and easy. I've always said I'd rather have a more challenging game or more things to do and everyone is different in this regard, but to me, it's still mindless tapping and unlike you, I want to think and strategise in this game since in general, I like strategic games. At times, I don't even bother dodging to save time. Dodge lag is also a problem and may make PvP hard to do.
The highest level people (maybe some people equate that to skill) are people who can simply play a lot (time) and it's not a matter of how skilled you are. That's my gripe...Sorta like if someone can simply play more, are they a better player? This isn't true for sports or even e-games since some people just are better players...
It's nice you are getting all the health benefits and all that. I was never overweight and have a dog so I walk regularly and watch my diet, etc etc.
LIke you, I battles gyms/prestige every day, but I don't go out of my way since I simply don't need to exercise that much or have that much time for it.
I never had a weight issue so...I don't have to walk miles and if anything, I am too skinny or losing too much weight as it is. I'm sure everyone is busy with work and kids, but if there is a decreased potion drop, I just think people need to incorporate that change in their play...
My original message was to that effect and even though it sounds negative to have less potions, my point was that I think it's actually a positive. Even in your stagnant gyms in your area, the rival team would have trouble keeping up with those gyms if you prestige it up...and it sounds like you have more potions/revives than most folks.
Most people just don't care enough or want to waste their time tearing down your gyms if they were level 10 towers. Simply put, most people don't care enough to tear down a gym constantly if you keep building it up.
Also, I keep stressing that potion drops affect everyone and I agree that 1 person can make a difference, but that is also an inherent flaw in the game...
I NEVER let my local gyms get built up by rival teams, but is that a good game design that 1 single trainer can ruin it for 10 or 50 other trainers? You are the same case in your area.
Even though you maybe helping out your teammates because you are more hardcore than the dominant team casual gamer, but is this a good thing when 1 of you, can block out 50 other players on the dominant team?
The minority team problem is well known and I agree with it, but still, potion drops affect me as well and from my journal right now, I got 4 potions total (including my daily streak) so yeah, I get less and from what it sounds, I get TONS of Pokestops less than you so it's probably affecting you less than me since it sounds like you have more potions/revives than me already.
I assume you are level 36+ or 38+ or higher? (I could never sit in 20 gyms) I just don't think the decreased potion drop is a bad thing since people will now have to manage another limited resources and pick their battles.
Maybe Niantic thinks some (a very few) hardcore people are ruining the gym experience for a ton of players so are limiting potion drops to see how it plays out...don't know, can't say...
FWIW I am level 37, but I did have that big break in playing or I would be 38. But like you said, I don't think that equals how good I am, rather how much time I spend, or choose to use my time. I think the little skill that is involved is selecting pokemon to put in gyms, and where you place them. Sure, it is only a speed bump, but being annoying is really all you can do (other than dropping high level Blisseys in there.) I have had multiple people from opposing teams comment on my play style. I don't just stick the highest cp pokemon in there, but the BEST pokemon in there. There is a little strategy involved, but gym shaving wrecks that.
I have had a lot of pokemon in gyms, it's not because I have a bunch of high cp pokemon. In fact, if you look at other people's pokemon on this site, you will see that my team is really the least impressive. I only have 4 pokemon over 3000 cp that I stick in gyms. That is the one good thing about being on a minority team...gym shaving and gym placement hasn't been as big of an issue as in other places. As I mentioned, I only put pokemon in some gyms because they simply do not fill up.
As far as fitness, I used to be very fit, I was actually a personal trainer. I did put on weight when life got real busy. Lifting weights has never been an issue, it was finding time to do cardio stuff, especially since it bores me to tears. PoGo has been the first thing that has allowed me to combine cardio with entertainment. It was also the only thing I could really do with that injury.
I'm also not a huge gamer, but when I play games I do like creation of things, teams, players, stuff like that, and I do like strategy a lot. I was pretty well-known in a game I used to play online, but that was years ago. I have also played the other pokemon games, and am currently playing Alpha Sapphire. I know if you want a challenge, competitive battle on Sun and Moon...
The truth of the matter is that I'm not looking for games that are mentally challenging. Not that I want to get into it, but one of my jobs is a mental game in itself. I am the co-founder of a non-profit that deals with politics, and takes a centrist location. The biggest part of my job is articulating things in a way that sound appealing to people of both extremes. That means wording things in a way to get people to agree with things that they are actually opposed to, or vice versa. My hobby (more on hold now) is dealing with debates regarding atheism vs religion. Again, it is very mentally intensive to present an argument on one side, especially when you may not agree with it yourself. It is generally a lose-lose scenario...On top of all of that I work and take care of my kids...So sometimes I just want to go for a walk or bike ride and spam-tap my screen...
It's possible Niantic has a plan...but I have no idea what that is...The single most damaging thing in this game is spoofers, and they have failed to get rid of our most common spoofers in the area. Low potion drops only benefits them, in that they can sit there and spin stops, maximizing the amount of potions they can get.
If they are trying to cater to lower level players, they have it backwards. We have an account for my wife and kids. It's level 24 or 25. Especially with the grass event, it is more than capable of taking down level 10 gyms (using 3 Exeggutors, the Eeveelutions, a Lapras, and a couple Usarings.) The problem is that it is very resource intensive compared to my account. Provided a gym doesn't have more than a couple of Blisseys, I can take gyms down using as few as 3 or 4 max potions (the rest revives.) What hurts me is spoofers repeated sticking 2 3000 cp+ Blisseys in gyms over and over again. But I digress...if Niantic really wanted to help lower level players, they would drop more potions, as it is more resource intensive for them to battle gyms. All it did for me was piss me off to the point that I decided not to drop $100 on the game again, and instead buy Alpha Sapphire. But hey, who am I to question their business model?
I find it annoying and especially bad timing. I just finally found a group of local teammates recently, and we went on a group attack a week ago to finally knock down all those level 10 red gyms that have been taking up the whole town for months. Pretty much everyone used up all our potions in the process, and none of us have managed to resupply since then. I checked my journal one time and had 3 potions out of 26 stops, and only 1 potion out of 16 another time.
Those red players were undoubtedly sitting on heaps of potions, though, since they had it easy for so long. So they were able to leisurely reclaim every gym in town, and there's nothing we can even do about it, because we haven't even come close to building up enough supplies to fight back yet. I've thrown out hundreds of pokeballs in the last week, yet I still only have a handful of potions.
When the teams are so imbalanced that one team can just streamroll the others, the stupidly low potion rate just makes it even worse.
I agree with team imbalance being a bad game design choice, but again, should it be "fair" that 1 person on 1 team could always destroy any Level 10 gym with level 40 players easily (or 38/36, etc...)?
Also, if you're attacking in a decent sized group, you practically use little/no potions since any Pokemon in the gym will be knocked out in 5-10 seconds...(saw the Trainer Tips video and thought it was against the Pokemon spirit of shows ganging up on a defender 16 vs 1).
To keep gyms from being built up again, you need to knock it down every day, sometimes multiple times a day (or at least weaken it) and never, ever let them claim coins without going back...This is a waste of time/gas/resources and why I think gyms are pretty much a pissing match on who wants to waste more of it. I don't even bother maintaining, defending further away gyms.
I did have less potions earlier (prob less than 30), but have been on conserve mode for a long long time now (maybe 6 months?) (don't get in gyms or randomly attack unnecessarily). Also use throwaway attackers/prestigers, regularly, etc...
Similar to people who blow all their stardust powering everything just to get a gym spot early, I think potions should just be another resource that should be carefully managed...Having it drop endlessly makes an easier game, even easier...
Team imbalance is an issue they need to figure out...
16 vs 1? More like groups of 3 or 4. Try taking out 7 or 8 level 10 gyms, then prestiging most them back up to level 10, and tell me you won't use any potions.
And yes, that's exactly my point, to keep them from rebuilding, we have to keep at it consistently, which is exactly what we can't do when potions are so rare. Potion management was already part of the game as it was, but now it's just a complete hindrance to even being able to play that part of the game at all.
When one team constantly claims every single gym in town, the only options are to fight back, which is impossible when resources are so hard to collect, or to spend half the day driving 50 miles or more searching for one or two rare gyms that might last a few days, if you're lucky. So no, that does not make the game better.
Honestly, I just think it's a losing battle to battle people in a dominant area...I don't do it and can understand people may be upset and I agree with all that, but like a war, if you have 4 people and the other guys have 20, why should the 4 people win? I used to take down a rival gym I pass, but it's a total waste of time/potions/resources...
My work also takes me to a place where there is a gym and no matter what team is there, I always take it down...It could be level 3 (usually at best) or level 10, I still take it down...I go there every day so it's simply impossible for a rival team to take it over. I HAVE to go there so it's not any extra gas, work, whatever.
That being the case, my team also (I assume) go/pass there daily as well since it's level 10 quickly and I actually started the game later than most folks so it was already like that prior to me having mons which were gym CP worthy.
The way dominant areas are built is because either people who live there or work there or drive past there go there every single day and play. This is why I past by a rival gym on my errands, work, but don't bother anymore because I'd have to stop for 5-15 minutes every single time when 10-15 other people will spend their time prestiging and it always eventually goes back to the dominant team and I just move on and live with that (my guess is someone on that team works there).
If you're trying to carve a spot and you even have to drive or walk a little farther, then you are already at a disadvantage...
Trying to turn a stagnant level 10 gym from 10 or 20 other players when you are a team of 4 I think is simply impossible. Unless you want to spend your life/tons of time trying to do it and even then, you will lose I feel.
I suppose my point goes back to "WHY" do you think you should be able to turn back the dominant team to begin with? If 20 people on the same team past by that area every single day or multiple times a day, and you have 4, I don't see why/how the minority team should be able to win.
Yes, I agree team imbalance is a problem and a big one at that, but making it so 4 players of the minor team completely dominant or beat 20 players doesn't make any sense to me neither.
I have seen areas change and built up, but you have to get a lot of people together and pretty much build things to level 10 constantly...start with 1 gym, move from there and it works...Trying to do 7 or 8 is unnecessary I feel and the wrong strategy. Start with 1 and if you truly are on the minority team, everyone saves their Blisseys and prestiges up to Level 10, stick the stack of Blisseys in there. Wait, rebuild...repeat. Why focus on 7 or 8 gyms?
All that said, I go back to my belief that making gyms NOT ALL or NONE would be a positive meaning if you are also on the dominant team with no spots, you're screwed...if you're on the minority team, you're also screwed...I'd rather have gyms benefits people who are the most skilled or some other metric so actually, every team, people can benefit...
Having more potions drop doesn't help the end game since the dominant team will ALSO have more potions and will also take back all your gyms you took too so it's a zero sum game. I only defend a few daily gyms and those have never been built up...
I think it'd be easier to coordinate and just work on 1 gym at a time...
