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5 Ways POKÉMON GO is Majorly Changing the Way it Works

Has anyone else noticed all these Pokémon Go updates have been, uh, kind of changing the entire game and in turn, spinning our lives upside-down? The studio behind the app, Niantic, has been doing their best to update the app regular, and while they’ve fixed the major server issues that plagued users in the beginning, they’ve deleted or otherwise majorly messed with the features on which fans have grown to rely.

So what happened?

First of all, Niantic killed in-app tracking, as well as all tracking in general! So that handy 1 to 3 step display on the ‘nearby’ section of your app that recently glitched out—showing 3-steps for all Pokémon—just got worse. They’ve removed the entire display, so players now only know which pokémon are, sort of, somewhat, kind of nearby, without any sense of how far away they’ll be traveling to catch, say, another useless Pidgey.

It wouldn’t have been the total end of the game/world, though, if they hadn’t disabled all tracking. So now sites like Pokévision.com, which mapped out your local pokémon by zip code—and told you exactly how far away each pocket monster was hiding, and how long they’d be there—are gone! Just like our hopes for the future of this app. I’m never gonna get my Clefable at this rate. I’m gonna be stuck with another dozen Pidgeys, again.

Speaking of useless, many trainers have begun to realize even common sky trash like Pidgeys have gotten waaaaay harder to catch since the update. It’s taking multiple pokéballs to catch a sub-100 CP Rattata. This seems to be a major cash-grab move, forcing users to shell out dozens of pokéballs for a weak-ass Zubat, only to have it run away? Leaving us with zero balls when we finally encounter that sweet, sweet Clefable? Sadists. You’re sadists, Niantic.

And then they have the nerve to “accidentally” release an Articuno to a trainer in Ohio, only to renege completely and take the legendary pokémon back, as it wasn’t meant to be released yet? So now we’re back to zero legendaries, Pidgeys that take 100 pokéballs and 10 Razz Berries to catch… Is Niantic trying to wipe out all of our hopes and dreams at once? Because it’s working!

But it doesn’t stop there, folks, they wanted to really put the nail in the Koffing when they doubled the refresh time on the apps scanning feature. So instead of five seconds between updates on nearby pokémon, now users have to wait ten seconds. What this boils down to is, bicyclists and bus riders are having an even harder time catching ’em all on their commutes—and I’m never gonna get that Clefable, am I?

What do you guys think? Is this the beginning of the end for the most popular app in the world? Will you keep playing even though Rattatas, Pidgeys, and even Weedles are close to impossible to catch? Has Team Rocket infiltrated Niantic? Where the heck is a Clefable nest around here? Let’s discuss!

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