A few positives here:
- I'm glad I don't have to walk Chancey anymore, with the obsessive focus only on getting as many Blisseys into safe (above shaver) zone.
- new system has finally got me on Facebook and Messenger, and I've had a blast meeting the familiar names I've known from shared gyms over the past year playing solo.
- new goals: solo Machamp! Started walking eevee (!) and my 3rd attempt today got me FS espeon which I think will be the edge I need (psychic espeons did not impress). I am L35, the DP Machamp I tried took me to the cleaners.
- TM's that will allow my strong mons (that took forever to grind) to be the best are great!
- I don't miss driving all over the place after gymhuntr research to find gyms that weren't already L10, to prestige (very stable gym situation here in suburbs - taking down an enemy L10 would not last)
- For the most part, I've stopped my OCD habit of checking appraisal on every PKM caught - who cares about IV's?
- I'm really REALLY glad I saved dust.... all these newer players with L20 great mons can't power them meaningfully - I will be able to take 15 PKM from L20 to L30 just with what I have. Of course Niantic might just put dust in the store.....
Yes there are aspects I don't like, eg interesting prestigers and most of PKM in my collection are now irrelevant. I also miss the incentive to walk. Of course I miss the easy coins and dust, although it's an interesting challenge to get 50 coins per day efficiently. I especially hate the perverse incentive of needing to lose your defenders in order to get rewards, something we have no control over (except alt accounts or trading with other teams...).
Still, I'm optimistic that Niantic will find some way to better balance the gym/reward system - remember they played with the prestiging/attacking formulas for a while before they got it right. I do wonder if some tweaks to the old system (1 species, maybe L9 gyms with 6 free spots and 3 prestiging spots, with top 3 spots open only to the trainers that prestige, etc) would have been better than this complete do-over, but at the end of the day they have to make money.
I hope those of you who are hating this new gameplay will find something that is worthwhile too.
I was optimistic too. I thought this event was going to be how Niantic started to fix the issues and right the wrongs...then they gave us a Pikachu with a hat and a rip-off of a "gift" box...
I am all for being optimistic, but there is a point when you lose faith. I don't believe they know or care what they are doing.
i think it is a mixed bag
good
enjoying the increased social side
enjoying walking larvitar instead of pink blobs
enjoying the raids esp when running them close (solo level 3 and small group level 4)
?
mixed new aim of gyms is gym badges rather then coins who cares if i get 50 cents anyway
bad
life span of game may be shortened
game has become even more cheater friendly then it was (esp gyms)
Gym reward system is perverse (get nothing for taking out a gym but rewards the opposing team esp. when there are bot/spoofers that retake their gyms on hourly fixed cycles.
game may have become more expensive as income has decreased; not an issue now but if PvP becomes a thing then the Pay2win (not to mention cheat to win) factor is more prominent then it was.
and OMG the bugs crashing on entering and exiting gyms. Broken landscapes. lost Pokemon
