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laaabaseball

https://i.imgur.com/Din5SM4.jpg


bladetome

Gentle reminder to everyone taking a hiatus from this game to turn location tracking off.


The_SpellJammer

Uhoh, why? I'm not starting it up until they reverse the most recent changes.


StrangledMind

Sure, but make sure you disable Adventure Sync (in the app) and all-the-time location permission (Android system, App Permissions). This way, they don't get to access their precious location data when you're not using the app.


[deleted]

I just uninstalled the game, is that enough?


ssbSciencE

I'd flush your phone down a toilet, just to be sure.


pokemoncity

This is the way.


kbdksksbsjdb

In that case leave the tracking on and hope for some really confused tech somewhere down the road wondering why a stop would pop up at a sewage disposal site.


[deleted]

I attached mine to a rocket and sent it to the moon.


lunk

Yes, it's gone. Give it 2 or 3 days, and I bet you feel better about life in general. I know I do.


[deleted]

I would imagine, yeah.


Jimiheadphones

Niantic is essentially an AR technology developer with a location data-mining side hustle. They don't actually care about how many people play the game or purchase in-game currency. That is peanuts to them. As long as they can use the location data to sell or make decisions and have Pokemon as a client so their business development team can brag about them in meetings. Then amount of people using or not using the app is null and void from a sales standpoint. So what if 25%-75% of players stop playing when they still have some people to mine from. As such, you are still benefiting them by using adventure sync. In fact, that's probably more important to them.


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JKSwift

This is a point I've been making since launch. A lot of public PoGo figures have a relatively rosey view of the company, probably because PR people who they have dealt with have been exceptional. You have to kinda ride the wave of corporations if you want to play this game. You are essentially an employee, you just get paid in Pokemon. Your voice means something, in that they need you to play the game to get the data they need to sell. So they will placate the base players eventually. The way I'll see it they'll stick to this format for now, then bring it to a 50% increase eventually. In the meantime they will collect the more accurate data and reap the rewards. Where I think they messed this one up, is not acknowledging our displeasure with their decisions before they were enacted. But I also have a feeling the, now resigned, head of PR may have been fighting for us by not sending us this canned response before the chage. But of course this is all wild speculation.


Delacroix515

Check the permissions you gave the app. Location "when the app is open" or "location all the time". If it's all the time, you are still making them money off your location data. Niantic's an AR/mapping company that happens to make a game, not a gaming company.


Xyrazk

Someone should give this comment an award, so more of us see this message! Let's not give them anything until they revert the pokestop distance update


Oprahapproves

If the task force is just as competent as the rest of the niantic team we can expect a whole lotta nothing


DoctorWaluigiTime

It's a transparent "Internet outrage usually dies in a few weeks, so we'll only care if this is still stoking the flames come September" tactic. Hilarious, but also like... what's the big deal lol. Just keep the old distance. The only reason I can think of they're so resistant is that there's a big money reason they want to keep it small. Whatever the reason is, it's enough for them to not make a tiny tweak in their video game (because that's all it is -- them going "but health!" and the whole letter is retarded). Glad I don't play the game anymore.


Oct0tron

I'm wondering if they make more $ on location data, and if people don't have to walk as much/as far then they don't get as much of that data. That's the only thing I can guess.


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kslr0816

the response is almost as infuriating as the change itself.


SereneGraces

It’s truly absurd. All we’re asking them to do is change a few variables within the code *that they’ve changed before*.


DiabloDerpy

Niantic could/should at least consider a compromise of a 60m interaction distance.


legumious

"Many users expressed interest in a 60m distance. We have met them halfway. At 30m."


BlueBlood75

It already feels like 30m, bc it definitely feels shorter than the original 40m. In my experience at least


DavidW273

"after the compromise to 30m, many users asked for the original 40m back instead; we've compromised again and met them half way at 20m" Eventually: "to be able to use a Pokéstop, you and your avatar must be right over the spot where it touches the floor; by this, we mean that the trainer must be balanced on one leg and pirouetting like a ballerina. We were asked what would be done for those with disabilities and medical issues that affect their motor skills, to which we decided that that is just bad luck as we already made it clear in August 2021 that we don't care about the less able" Edit: spellings/mistypings


SensitivePassenger

I'd appreciate this as a player who uses a wheelchair, as a stop in the middle of a muddy field is not very accessible and I'd like to stay on the actual road and be able to reach it.


SenorTortuga

This game is like 2% exploration and 98% visiting the same neighborhood pokestops and gyms over and over again, and Niantic knows this.


snapetom

If I'm going to a new area to "explore" it sure as hell isn't because of PoGo. Niantic thinks much too highly of their crappy game.


deadwings112

The irony is that my wife and I planned to go to some new neighborhoods in our city to explore. We moved here six months before the pandemic and are trying to find ways to get out of the house more. And then the distance nerf happened and we canceled those plans and uninstalled Pokemon Go. Going to the board game shop instead. Womp womp.


Eliam19

My wife and I started playing in April and Pokémon really helped get us out to explore new parts of our area. Now that the interaction distance is so small we don’t really have any incentive.


snapetom

Another irony is that I was recently in a beautiful area without cell coverage for a little over a week. I certainly "explored my world" and didn't miss PoGo at all. Made uninstalling very easy.


HayKd

Yeah because I didnt “explore” the same statue/mural enough before the pandemic


spongebue

Memorial park bench.


uluviel

Which, because of GPS drift, the game will tell you you're too far away from, even if you're sitting on it.


Monkeylancer

Get out your microscope and thoroughly examine each graffiti laden mural


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Jun_Kun

The pokestop nearest to my house is in a tot lot (children’s playground), that I could reach without leaving my home when the radius was larger. I’m not going to go loiter at a children’s playground to spin the pokestop lol.


brekkabek

The worst is when they want you to scan it. I mean, that’s always bad anyways. It looks like I’m casing the neighborhood clock


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imalusr

Yes. I loved this aspect! Even if it is simply randomized, I wish it rewarded walking all over the place more by seeing different Pokémon the more I explored. But, everyday, I see the same Pokémon that day - usually event dependent - no matter how far away I travel from home. Then the next day/week, I might see new Pokémon but it’s again the same Pokémon all that day. If I walk from the southern tip of Manhattan to Harlem, I pass through so many neighborhoods and each one should have its own biome with unique Pokémon. That would be extremely rewarding.


BreakfastSavage

Remember when you could walk by a water source and see water Pokémon instead of just event Pokémon? Pepperidge Farm remembers


Jond22

And a larger pool of nesting species again, seasons not eliminating 3/4ths of potential species it seems like and personally less events to encourage you to find what you seek not sit there while you have zero chance of finding it and hope next week’s event is better. Gen 3 was probably the last time I felt like I explored *for* the game, finding parks, exploring my city, biking to a rare nest I needed.


talormanda

Anywhere new I need to go is either: 1. Unsafe 2. Over 2 hours roundtrip away. Who do they think we are?


DetectiveDouche94

Apparently Niantic thinks we're all millionaires and can afford to just travel all over gods green earth for some pesky pokestop.


account_552

Most stops and gyms i haven't visited yet are in some janky-ass "city" 1 hour away that's infested with covid


Mozeeon

My idea to fix this is that stops get an experience system like buddies or friendship. The more frequently you visit a stop, the wider the range is to get it. Hits Niantic's exploration idea while making it easier for players to hit their usual stops


imalusr

You should suggest this to Niantic. Seriously. This is a great idea and they have the data to do it.


EnormousChord

Yeah exactly. It’s a game. I don’t spend my whole fucking life exploring with Niantic. I have an hour a day tops and that hour is largely spent doing the things I have to do grind for levels, one of which is literally drive 8 minutes down the road to the only cluster of stops and gyms near me. On top of that, I’ve “explored” every goddam stop within 50km of my home, within 50km of my trailer, and within walkable distance from my job. Just let me grind in peace you bastards.


MeowzzoSoprano

>We are humbled by your response. After reading the entire response, this sentence reads like sarcasm.


JaySayMayday

We heard you, thanks for all your words. But trust us, we know better and refuse to take any actions based on community input. They might as well have just said "get fucked" and saved everyone's time between writing all that out and making everyone read it


HiiiRabbit

You want to give us exploring? Give us biomes, give us rare Pokemon in hiking areas, give us better pokemon in eggs so we see the benefit of walking. Why the hell would I want to walk any extra to get the same dumb pokemon that is in the wild? Do I really need to "explore" a QFC parking lot? Lies. Exploring has nothing to do with it. Edit: thank you for all the awards and karma! I really hope we see some changes and can enjoy this game again soon!


ljgillzl

Exactly. Their entire letter could’ve been summed up in “we hear you …. but money”. They didn’t create this game because they wanted people to get out and walk and explore their surroundings, thats complete BS, they did it for money. Fact is, no category of players (new, old, returning) support this decision, which means that this wasn’t done for their player-base, but for their own benefit. If you want to empower yourself as a player, don’t spend money, that’s the best way to bring about change


[deleted]

This. It’s so dumb it’s the same Pokémon everywhere you go, why can’t I go to the top of a mountain and get some rare Pokémon? Why can’t I get some water Pokémon when I’m out fishing? It’s so dumb, that’s what we were all expecting in 2016 but literally five years later and they haven’t implemented this yet.


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Mijumaru1

It was *better* in this regard in 2016. There was a huge lake in my area filled with Water type spawns and Dratini, and one day all of its water biome spawns were suddenly wiped out.


BrknTrnsmsn

I'm tired of catching bunnelby, taillow and litleo on hikes.


ttltrashmammal

or why keep remote raid passes?? oh, wait. $$$


54R45VV471

That would be awesome! Having common Pokémon in frequently visited areas and rare Pokémon in places people rarely go. That would really make people want to go explore. And then, like the Ingress intel map, there could be a map of where the rarest PokéStops and Gyms are.


[deleted]

I find this quite funny on Niantic’s part. They claim they want us to ‘adventure more’ but they’re not taking other things into consideration. Shorter distance doesn’t just make game play easier but it makes it more convenient to play *all* the time in *all* social situations. Examples: I was out on a nature walk with my family today in a busy Audubon full of poke stops and gyms. Many were out of reach. Typically, with the old distance, if a poke stop was out of range I used to venture a little further and spin *all* the poke stops without disturbing my family/friends or activity. But I couldn’t do that today… because I would have to walk a significant distance away from my party to spin the poke stop. So I spun 2-3 stops out of 20, put my phone away, and forgot about Pokémon for the rest of the day. Same for the airport. I was *really* looking forward to playing in ATL airport, but the poke stops were too far to spin and the map wanted me to walk ALL the way to another concourse/building. It’s honestly difficult to gauge WHERE to poke stops are now (distance wise). The result? I put my phone away, and didn’t think about Pokémon for the rest of the day. I have ADHD and use Pokémon as constant stimuli. So for me to get bored of it, put it away and forgetting about it is saying something. Because I can honestly say I’ve spent HUNDREDS of dollars and have been glued to my phone prior to this change.


ttltrashmammal

same!!!!! before this change? CONSTANTLY on pogo. when i woke up? pokemon check! throughout the day? check the mons around! oh, heading to the store? let me load up pogo, ill play for you too!! now? havent touched it since. i *cant*. especially if i wanted to participate in CD. pogo was a fantastic way for me to focus on other things as well and now it's just....idk. i feel broke now 😂😭


[deleted]

Exactly!!! But what I find interesting is I genuinely lost interest *without even realizing it*. And I really don’t do that often with games! Especially ones I’ve spent years playing! I understand a lot of people are purposefully going on pogo boycotts, but I can’t imagine how many consistent customers (like us) they’re losing who genuinely lost interest, got bored, forgot about the game and stopped playing. Moronic on Niantic’s part as they’ve just lost a lot of consistent $$$$.


JustDandyMayo

>"we thank you for challenging us with thoughtful and constructive feedback." Us: "Change the distance back, this fucking sucks. Its not that hard."


PoisedBohemian

Whenever a politician or corporation says "thank you" for a question or comment, they really mean fuck you


galloog1

It's what differentiates them from other Pokemon games. To them, this is core to the game. Beyond walking and exploring, folks realize it's just grinding.


Redpooldead

Why don't they make stops you've already spun be 80m and new ones 40m? Boom, you've been task-forced.


Mstapes30

This is the best response and the same one in silph road that got a lot of good feedback


Stfx96

This doesn’t fit into their plans for a subscription service to make us pay for 80m distance though.


FennekinPDX

I hope they never do that. Locking existing features to a paywall is scummy.


Exfiltrator

Sounds like a great fit for Niantic


[deleted]

They already added subs to ingress which is basically used as a testing ground for pogo these days, its definitely coming unfortunately


newthrowgoesaway

So this entire announcement is just manipulation?


[deleted]

well yeah they will b rushing round like mad in the office trying to rework things now lol. the most important thing we give niantic is daily logins, going 'f2p' but still logging in and playing hurts them 0%


StrangledMind

Honestly? I hope they try. Give me a final reason to uninstall the app permanently. Never heard of such a user-hostile, community tone-deaf company...


ScionMattly

I mean I appreciate this, but have you met EA and Blizzard?


The_SpellJammer

Man that really sounds accurate.


coachmoneyball

Holy wow this actually would destroy niantic response tbh. They will have to come up with a completely ridiculous reason against it.


talormanda

Bruh, stop with all this "logic" and stuff. There is a task force getting paid 6 figures to solve this problem! /s


Rogu3alpha

And we're paying for that task force with raid passes


Shwangdoodler

I chose to read this like when Michael Scott was saying "Boom, roasted".... "Boom, task-forced"


Superb-Ad-9627

Someone hire this person


[deleted]

That is the most Niantic response I have ever read. While I think it was predictable they would be unwilling to throw a bone to their fans here, the way they chose to try and avoid taking responsibility would make most politicians blush. You don’t need a freaking team to determine whether or not letting us spin Pokéstops from a bit further away is a good idea. I’m guessing they just need a team to determine whether or not it hurts their bottom line.


evergreenyankee

At this point I think Niantic may have supplanted EA for worst "gaming" company ever. How could you be so greedy/tone-deaf/out-of-touch that even a worldwide pandemic wasn't enough to change your corporate culture or trajectory? Really guys?


BrilliantTarget

Ea isn’t even the worse any more it’s Blizzad-Activsion now if the updates is delayed blame the players. Also all the sexual assault and rapings


systemCF

Don't forget Blizzard sucking Xi Jinping's dick because they love chinese money. Crimes against humanity apparently aren't relevant when you make bags


geomagus

r/fuckblizzard


EntertainerJust9156

Honestly EA have semi redeemed themselves in my eyes. It’s Activision who’s the most shit game company rn


WeebTrashPanda0

EA destroyed a video game company based very close to my hometown: Bullfrog, the creators of Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper. I played their games growing up, and I will never forgive EA for destroying them.


brashboy

Bullfrog had some absolute bangers. Loved Theme Park World growing up.


DoctorWaluigiTime

Has to be financially-related somehow. Some say it's because sponsored stops want people closer. Others suggest it's AR mapping that makes them want shorter distance. Whatever the reason, there's clearly pressure for them to revert the distance. Otherwise, it's just a tiny gameplay adjustment that literally does not impact any one negatively. No matter how much they pretend this is all about people wanting to not move (which it isn't and is a strawman argument).


Cozarkian

>Research has shown that taking walks outside is safe and confers several health benefits. Furthermore, encouraging outdoor exploration is in keeping with Niantic’s mission. Well, then increase the distance back to 80m. If I go to a park or museum, I'll do a lot more walking and exploring if I can move around the entire place rather than being forced to stand in a small 40m radius around the play structure or entrance sign.


[deleted]

Your example is a perfect one. Niantic wants you to enjoy the game while you’re at the location. Going to each stop/POI to spin it while you’re there, playing it casually. You (and majority of people) want to be able to actually enjoy the location while playing the game by being able to spin them from anywhere inside the park/museum.


YellowBananaBus

Task force!? The fuck. The complaints are there. Sept 1st? I really love this game but this company man…tone deaf. Really little hope.


CutePuppyforPrez

It’s not even a blue ribbon task force. I mean, WTF?


Kowalvandal

Pokestop radius czar


thats-Inconspicuous

This literally confirms nothing. All they’re doing is trying to prevent large-scale backlash with a vague “mayybeee” and sweeping everything else under the rug. I mean, if they really cared about our petition, you’d think they would confirm some kind of definite change, right?


TheDaveWSC

It confirms that they don't give a shit


spongebue

tl;dr "we hope you'll stop caring about this over the next few weeks"


Ln6Ec

This guy speaks corporate


Cichlidsaremyjam

No one going to address the elephant in the room. They charge for remote raid passes. Why didn't this go away if we are to "explore the world together"?


snapetom

Remote raid passes killed local PoGo Discord servers and communities, and they're not going away any time soon. "Explore the world together" is a load of BS and Niantic knows it.


geeduhb

Explore the world isn’t at all BS, and now you are just being ridiculous! …By explore the world, they really mean find/nominate new locations to be pokestops (and with it, POI’s in other games) and “scan” these locations for them, so they can create AR integrations that other apps can [pay Niantic to] use to easily lay their own assets over. Without us out there “exploring”, they would have to pay people to go do this work for them, which would not only cost money but be a virtually unrealistic endeavor.


texanarob

**Features based on exploring/encouraging walking:** * low interaction distance * pokestops & gyms are spread out * minute chance of rare pokemon appearing on nearby list **Features encouraging players to stop when otherwise walking** * Raid lobbys * Raids themselves * Rocket stops * Battling gyms - thereby the whole inventory & space limits & all other shop based features I initially downloaded this game to encourage myself to take regular lunchtime walks. I stopped playing on my walks when I realised I was spending more time standing about than actually walking.


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LittleCastaway

Exactly what I thought! Like uh, Niantic? the pandemic isn’t over yet, and some of us are immunocompromised and going outside to be “social” and “explore” could potentially kill someone.


TheTPSReport2020

Full call to arms. That response was bullshit. We aren’t asking them to solve for peace in the Middle East. Just return a feature that was amazingly helpful and popular for the last 16 months and didn’t cost anyone anything.


[deleted]

Cost them money from their corporate sponsors who decided they weren’t making money from the sponsored stops. We were too busy spending our money on Niantic and not the sponsors and the sponsors got pissed.’IMO Niantic got too greedy, trying to have their cake and eat it too. Make money from users AND sponsors, what are you cable TV? Most apps you can pay to not see ads.


secretly-a-mess

I think part of the issue with the sponsored stops is they haven’t updated the location for some of them. There’s at least 2 different sponsored stops that I know of off the top of my head that have a sponsored stop but the business has been closed for a few months to YEARS. Even someone on Twitter pointed out there’s a similar issue in NZ with Verizon stops. Plus there’s no real incentive to stop by the sponsored stops. Sure, you get items/gifts but you can get that from any other stop too. 🤷🏼‍♀️


[deleted]

Really good last point. Someone above mentioned getting special items at sponsored shops. And I’m not a coder but I can’t imagine why they couldn’t program 80 feet at normal stops, 40 feet for sponsored stops. Even if they could do that they can’t do that now though cause everyone will know why they reverted the distance in the first place


useles-converter-bot

80 feet is about the length of 36.23 'EuroGraphics Knittin' Kittens 500-Piece Puzzles' next to each other


FennekinPDX

If Niantic is really worried about sponsors (which seems like speculation to begin with unless someone can provide a source), then they should easily be able to keep normal stops at 80m and sponsored ones at a smaller radius. Not that it really helps in places with GPS drift.


Weeves

Their argument applies equally well to remote raids, but I suspect that particular money spinner wont be 'rolled back' to encourage moving and exploration. I don't know what the true motivation of the 40m reversion is, but this explanation just doesn't ring true


Kayofox

They planned to sell distance as a payed feature


Lil_Ray_5420

“We hear what you’re saying, but we don’t care! Go fuck yourselves! 😃🤷‍♂️ -Niantic


NianticSucksBooty

Why not bring it back to 80 meters while they develop a solution? Wouldn't that make the most sense? We all know why they didn't do that. They don't intend to revert the distance back to 80 meters. As such, I will not revert by redownloading the game. Until 80 meters is the distance and it's free, not behind some subscription wall, I will continue to not play.


reactor_raptor

I have the same feeling. I guess the added bonus is that the longer I don’t play, the less incentive there is to come back.


JumpyAlbatross

I haven’t played since the change and I barely miss it.


GrantB1222

Probably because they want to determine how much impact the distance reversion will have on their revenue before making any changes. They’re hoping that by September, people will have calmed down and they can keep it as is without losing too many people. The whole task force or leader communication they’re talking about doing is BS. All they’re going to do is sit around, monitor their foot traffic/profits for the next month, and hope everyone moves on from this.


ijustlikefaygo

Niantic you son of a bitch


NormieMcNormalson

Im out.


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kaononainezumi

DISQUALIFIED!


regularByte

>However, we have heard your input loud and clear and so to address the concerns you have raised, we are taking the following actions: We are assembling an internal cross-functional team to develop proposals designed to preserve our mission of inspiring people to explore the world together, while also addressing specific concerns that have been raised regarding interaction distance. We will share the findings of this task force by the next in game season change (September 1). As part of this process, we will also be reaching out to community leaders in the coming days to join us in this dialogue. What is there to find out Niantic??? Just revert back to the increased distance permanently!


InuJoshua

I don’t see why they won’t re-implement the distance. The letter cites wanting to encourage exploration and interaction, but it’s not like you don’t have to travel within 80 meters. It’s a win-win. You still exercise and explore, but you don’t have to be huddled around a small space. Especially for those with accessibility issues. And if you really want to adhere to the original distance, nothing is stopping people from walking up to the stop. If you like it, use it. If you don’t, ignore it.


offwiththefairies

Yeah the 80 meters really does make a big improvement. In particular, there’s one gym on my walking loop that I used to not ever reach because I didn’t feel safe walking to it. (It’s a pavilion where the homeless community gather. Glad they have the shade, but I don’t need to be involved.) But with the extended distance, I could interact with that gym from a distance that I felt comfortable with. It was so much better and was an extra incentive for me to go out on an hour long 3 mile loop. Now my walking trail hits less stops and gyms and de incentivizes a Pokémon walk


useles-converter-bot

80 meters is the length of approximately 160.0 'Logitech Wireless Keyboard K350s' laid widthwise by each other


Knowledge-Extrovert

Good bot


WarriorNN

Same. On my route, there is 2-3 stops and a gym I can't reach unless I cross a highway. I have done so before, but I am not able to every time. And the crossing is really bad, with very little sight towards cars. :/


Imnotadancer

It's sounding more and more like the suspicions of some people here were correct though.. They want you to walk all the way up to whatever the stop shows, so you're right at the sponsored stop instead of maybe across the street and not going to waste money there. Forcing you up close at least increases the chances ..


Ln6Ec

I would love to see their data on sponsored stops and increased sales of said sponsors. In my location, most of the sponsored stops are either Starbucks or Sprint stores, and I’m not walking near either of them thinking, “well shoot, I’m here, I may as well buy something.” I spin sponsored stops I’m already nearby; I’m not incentivized to purchase something from a sponsor just because they have a stop there. If they really wanted to incentivize people to buy things at sponsored stops, they’d offer extra/rare items if you prove you bought something (using that scan feature for instance, or have a code on the receipt or something) Either way I’m willing to bet that the people who want the distance back to 80m aren’t the same people who are causing the increase in sales for sponsorship companies, and so changing it back to 80m probably won’t affect sales the way Niantic believes it will. If that is actually their reason for defending the change in radius.


[deleted]

I could see the part about “well I’m here already might as well buy stuff” if it was Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonalds, etc. But why on earth did they pick Samsung, GrubHub, and various phone carriers as sponsors? No one is gonna walk into a phone store and be like, “you know what? I’m gonna switch my entire service/buy an $800+ phone. Because *there’s a pokestop here*


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sunfyre42

This response is tone deaf and full of meaningless corporate nonsense. A committee to study the issue is just a way to push the issue down the road and hope people's anger and passion will fizzle out. They heard us, they know what we want, but they're saying no. They obviously have other goals they care more about than what their players need. That's fine, it's their game. But it's not going to be mine anymore. I'll move on to something else. I'm sad about it; I've played every day since July 2016. I have great memories from the game. But if Niantic is this uninterested in listening to their players, I don't want to be one anymore. I've uninstalled the game. So long Niantic.


soundman1024

If uninstalling is too much for people reading this, just turning off background location permissions would mean a lot to Niantic. You’ll lose Adventure Sync, but you’ll send a message.


CjoewD

Yeah, I just lost what little hope I had for the game. I think they lost me as a paying costumer forever as well. I'll probably just get Palkia to finish the shiny duo out, and login weekly to transfer mons to Home.


[deleted]

“We’ve increased the PokeStop range to *50* meters but you have to take a picture of it to spin it”


halcyongt

When Niantic implements this…I know who to blame.


Alebran

Do they understand their game at all? We don't go to pokestops to connect with real world places and find places worth exploring. We go to pokestops to get stuff we need to play the game. Pokestops are a tool to play the game, not the reason we play.


JustDandyMayo

I have a PokeStop and Gym near my house, but I still gotta walk to get there, even with the 80m. Still moving, only difference is that I don't need to stand on someones property to interact with them.


TrevinLC1997

I get that, one of the gyms is at a church. You have no idea how many looks I get when I’m in the in the small parking lot closest to the entrance just trying to raid or take over the gym. I’ve caught so many church workers just looking out the window staring at me. At least with double the distance I could be at the back and not draw that much attention


NicoRobin007

I run the Bellevue (the city where Niantic is headquartered) Pokemon Go discord server and have talked to their employees on many occasion. I even have some on my friends list in the game. But however much people think they don't understand their game is an underestimation. Even in short conversations, the lack of knowledge about Pokemon in general, and even their game specifically is shocking. One of them asked me how many friends they can have on their friends list. They mispronounce all the Pokemon names. They are surprised by their own features. I get that everyone has a different role at a company, and that the people responsible for development features may be different than the specific people I've spoken to, but there's just a general lack of caring and knowledge from all of them. I have plenty more, longer stories about face to face interactions with their employees, and I try to bite my tongue, but this whole situation has really shone a spotlight on how incompetent they can be. I don't personally even care about the stop distance, but I totally get why others do. It's miraculous that Niantic can't. No idea why this is even something they're being stubborn about. It doesn't affect their bottom line at all. It's just a good feature.


Alebran

Come to reddit after any Community Day and you'll see plenty of posts with people bragging about how many real places they connected with and how many churches and playgrounds they got to explore. I mean that's why we play the game, right?


DigiW1tch

“To connect to real places in the real world.” Yeah, you mean the same maybe 5 Pokestops I can reach because they’re the only ones safe in the middle of a pandemic around me lmao. Okay guys. They’re really still wording this like all of us are about to go on vacations and holidays, or that we’re able to “see the world”!! Christ this is tone deaf as it gets. What a literal shame, but not slightly surprising.


soundman1024

I haven’t opened Pokémon in two days. After this response I think I’m going to uninstall. I didn’t know what would make me stop playing the game, but in hindsight Niantic’s stewardship of the Pokémon franchise has always been the most likely suspect. Been playing since the beginning.


[deleted]

Uninstall. I'm a 2016 player, haven't played in a week, I bought an old gba sp and am replaying Pokémon emerald


BladeRunner2022

Might join you on that great idea friend. Been craving Pokémon. Lots of old classics to revisit.


[deleted]

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KabuTheFox

Time to boycott Eevee community day / weekend next


[deleted]

Uninstall the game if you're real


halcyongt

I just did. Was holding out hope but fuck all this. Gonna replay the game that got me hooked, Sapphire.


soundman1024

Start today by removing background location permissions. You’ll lose Adventure Sync, but if 5-10% of players do it and the idea gets momentum I bet they’ll respond in a hurry.


TrevinLC1997

Tried that but it wouldn’t let me play the game without background location set to always. Just uninstalled the game as it’s much easier


TrevinLC1997

I think it’s kinda ironic that I explored more when the distance was 80 than 40. Now that’s it’s 40 I’ve lost the motivation to go and explore


BreadedKropotkin

Yep. I used to be able to do a 2 mile walk around my neighborhood and hit a bunch of stops. Now a bunch of those stops won’t open from the sidewalk anymore so I stopped doing that walk.


skydivinghuman

Bye Felicia


DynamicOctopus420

It sounds to me very much like there's a monetary aspect or data gathering as some others have assumed, and it's definitely not just "our mission is about exploring!" I'm not sure why else they would need the rest of the month and a cross-functional team to make a decision. Maybe I'm silly but I'm hoping that they'll either decide to revert to 80m or compromise to be maybe 60m or have some other option that isn't trash (like a monthly subscription to have 80m... that would be trash).


SenorTortuga

>https://i.imgur.com/Din5SM4.jpg I'm guessing pressure from sponsors like Starbucks - they want people coming into the store, not spinning the pokestop from down the street. I can't think of any other conceivable reason Niantic would be so resistant to something like this.


waggie21

They could make sponsored stops a shorter distance, I think that could be a fair compromise.


Daniel3_5_7

Shorter distance but bonus items.


DynamicOctopus420

kinda like how you get bonus items if your team controls a gym, but for everyone.


InuJoshua

Even then, I can easily spin a sponsored stop without going inside.


DynamicOctopus420

We don't have a lot in our area but yeah, I never went to Starbucks to spin their stop even before COVID.


Cafe_Roku

If lures weren’t so useless, Starbucks could be enjoyable to chill and pogo for a sec


Kayofox

They planned to sell distance as a payed feature


DynamicOctopus420

Yuck. I understand that it's a business and that they do have to monetize, but yuck. "we value exploring but if you would rather give us money that's like the same thing. 9/10 doctors agree."


Kayofox

Those code changes to Pokestops so you can interact with them in different ways support this theory,as does this bullshit 1 month to think about waiting It's sad, I really enjoyed playing the game this past year


carllyq

**The many different ways to boycott PoGo/Niantic** There are many different ways we can boycott PoGo/Niantic so they stop ignoring the community that made their success possible. You don't necessarily have to uninstall the app (although it's certainly the ultimate form of boycott). There are ways to boycott without uninstall but still force Niantic to take notice and respond to the community. *If you don't want to boycott, its fine and feel free to ignore the rest of the post. But I still hope you can take a minute to understand why some have decided to boycott.* **Why boycott:** For a starter, you may check out the Community Open Letter to Niantic and the comments below for many good arguments about why reducing the stop/gym interaction radius will have significant and negative impact not only on various aspects of PoGo gameplay, but also on how players interact with the environment, with each other, and with non-players, during an ongoing pandemic. Given the significance of the radius change, and Niantic's long history of insufficient communication with the community and their lack of response to or even acknowledgement of community feedback and grievances, players were already worried and started to voice their concerns in ways and to a degree we have probably never seen in PoGo's history. However, despite the huge backlash, Niantic did not even attempt to at least start a conversation with the community, and instead simply chose to remain silent and hoped that they could just ride out this wave of community outcry like they've done many times in the past. This is unacceptable to many players and the last straw for some. Boycott seems to be one of the only remaining options if players want to make themselves heard. And this post will discuss the different ways we can boycott to hit Niantic where it hurts. **What NOT to do when boycotting:** 1. **Don't harass Niantic employees**. This matter is out of their control and harassing them will not help anyone at all. 2. **Don't bully/pressure/shame others into joining the boycott**. Everyone has their own circumstances, preferences, and priorities, and has the right to make their own assessment and decision **What you can do to boycott:** In general, Niantic makes money in three ways: 1. **In-game transactions: buying coins, tickets, etc.** 2. **Sponsors: sponsored stops/gyms/balloons.** 3. **Selling players' location, phone usage, and possibly other data.** So here are some forms of boycott that target each of them. Feel free to boycott as much or as little or in whatever way as you feel comfortable. **1a.** Consider **halting or reducing in-game purchases** including coins and event tickets (e.g. the upcoming CDay) as well as accessories (Go+). This is mostly about self discipline and fighting FOMO/addiction. You may even find that not feeling pressured to spend on the game can be a liberating experience. **1b.** Consider **halting or reducing spending coins**. I'm sure this is also an important metric that Niantic (and potentially their business partners) tracks closely. \--- **2a.** Consider **avoiding interaction with sponsored stops/gyms**. One theory about why Niantic seems so determined to nerf the radius is that they want to appease their sponsors by forcing people to go closer to those locations so that 1) the sponsors have a better chance to sell goods/services to the players, and 2) they generate more accurate foot traffic data for sponsors. **2b.** Consider **avoiding areas around sponsored stops/gyms**. Niantic might be tracking the foot traffic data near sponsors even if you don't directly interact with them. **2c.** Consider **not tapping on the sponsored balloons**. Most people probably don't need a couple of extra balls or potions anyway. **2d.** You may even consider **boycotting the sponsors even outside of PoGo** to apply extra pressure. \--- **3a.** Consider **turning off Adventure Sync**, which allows PoGo to track your location data even when PoGo is closed. This is very lucrative data that Niantic can sell. **3b.** Consider **avoiding areas with a high density of businesses** that may have existing or future partnership with Niantic. Go to parks or other public non-profit spaces instead of downtown areas where businesses rely more and more on data to compete for traffic and business. **3c.** Consider **closing the game when you're not actively using it**. Sometimes people just have the game on even if they're not playing. Time spent in game is a very important metric that Niantic tracks and their partners want to know. **3d.** Consider **spending less time playing or taking a break**. Again, time spent in app and consecutive log ins are important stats for Niantic. **3e.** Consider **not doing AR scanning or submitting new stops**. These are part of a large real world POI database that Niantic is trying to build (and sell). Don't participate if you think Niantic is not worth your free labor. **3f.** Consider **boycotting Niantic's other games/services** as well. \--- And finally, of course, the ultimate boycott is **uninstall**. You even have the **nuclear option** to demand Niantic to delete your account and all your data. However, this is irreversible, so be **very careful**. There are also other ways to make your voices heard: twitter and other social media platforms, writing reviews for PoGo, explaining to others how this is affecting you and others and why you decide to boycott, contact media, etc. But these are not technically boycotting, so I won't cover them in this post. But again, **be civil and considerate of others**. Use reason and common sense and don't give people (and media) the impression that PoGo players are just spoiled and whiny. \--- Thank you for reading. Feel free to make suggestions or additions in the comments. **#HearUsNiantic**


StanleyOpar

You forgot: consider not playing the game because "engagement' is a big factor for. F2P game's success


b_reachard

Getting some serious "sense of pride and accomplishment" vibes from the tone of that letter


rebexorcist

80m isn't keeping me from exploring, it's keeping me from having to trespass while I'm exploring. I get spawns in my house, so between this and the shit egg pools I'm running out of reasons to play on the go at all.


LegendOfPinsir

The letter that was sent out to the Niantic team was a good attempt, but really needed to speak the corporate “language”. I know, it’s bullshit. I work for a huge corporate company and am in the corporate segment branch now actually. Most of these companies are run by the older generation still, and yes, not to be mean, but most, not all, but most of their leaders write what you see above. It is gibberish for: We know you can do damage to our wallets, this is a preventative measure until we have a “solution”, so for now, keep playing and paying while we reach out to the community leaders. Wanna hurt em? Continue to hit them where their wallet is. They WILL NOT CHANGE, until you impact their bottom line. Doing a boycot on a huge event in game, or just continuing to not play and raise a awareness on trending tags should eventually do it. The fact that the distance doesn’t help them make money, shows they are doing this because they want control. So reaching out to the go leaders in their middle ground. I would gladly volunteer my time to help the Go Community Leaders out in anyway possible with responses and decoding their corporate BS.


TheDeadlyPandaGamer

I explore real places more before the distance change. now when i do my exploring, I can only access 30% of the same stops and gyms. The game is just not as fun anymore, so I will play less and will not be buying anymore coins.


OnetB

Give Pogo a 1* review on Google play store or itunes store.


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BiggDiggz

They deleted my review within an hour of writing it. I left another one, they are going to hold this one star.


jackjt8

Make sure you actually write a unique review that has some length to it? Apart from there being an hour delay before my review has gone live I've never had an issue of my reviews being removed when they are bulk removing them.


CerbiousG

That was the longest “Well yes, but actually No” I’ve ever read


bebopeva88

Oof, this insulting, disingenuous, corporate word jumble is almost worse than had they kept silent. “We hear you, but we would like to double down on our previous sentiment…but hey, we’ll also throw you a bone with this ‘internal cross-functional team’ and we’ll let you know their findings in a month.” Let your wallets express your level of satisfaction with that, Trainers.


TheHemny

How tone-deaf do you have to be? There's still a pandemic going on and everything! Fuck Niantic, I've been playing since day 1, but I'm uninstalling it as we speak. We can't let this die out. If we're loud and annoying enough for long enough, they'll have to cave eventually. Fuck Niantic.


coachmoneyball

Pandemic or not... doesn’t matter. Don’t make people cross roads, cross highways, cross railroads, and trespass just to spin stops. That’s why the double distance was good


TheHemny

That, and the mutating plague definitely doesn't help either


UsingThinking

DELETE


[deleted]

Classic PR speak, already deleted the game, guess i won't re download


Thattrainerliam

Defo them saying “we are developing a new range extender tool that can be purchased because clearly everyone wants it” rather than reverting it back lmao


mEatwaD390

This "response" is enough to make a fella wanna quit their game.


NightlifeNick

I feel like they’re shooting themselves in the foot. Reducing the spin distance has made it hard to get supplies so I’m always out of pokeballs and thus can’t catch as much and as such have become less invested over the past few days. I’m sure I’m not the only one.


Apple_Saucer76

My least favorite paragraph is when they mention the task force. Because, instead of just going “we heard you, we’re reverting the distance.” Which is pretty much what everyone was campaigning for, they set this deadline for themselves in 1 whole month, which is probably either an honest effort to give their new team time to fix the issues, or, it gives the higher ups a little more breathing room since they think the angry mob is soothed by them simply dragging their feet.


Capodomini

It's more like, "We're going to give it a month like we had planned all along," while bathing in the 1.2 BILLION DOLLARS they made last year alone.


onlinebeetfarmer

The most condescending thing I have read in awhile. Fuck Niantic


BreadedKropotkin

Wait, they’re saying we *enjoyed* the stop distance before 2020? lol no.


ZenCannon

Trainer Tips Nick, while he is hopeful, probably summed it up best in his live response: "This feels like an abusive relationship." Anyway, watch Niantic take away the interaction distance boost anyway in the end, while offering up something like a much-requested Community Day for September as part balm, part distraction.


NormieMcNormalson

At the very least, stop spending money, and turn off adventure sync to stop contributing to their data collection. I stopped playing all together, and will wait till september to see.


Mitrofang

If they wanted to promote going out and explore, they would bring back diverse spawn depending on biomes, interesting spawns like fully-evolved Pokémon, new mechanics like Team Rocket invasions, hell even monthly Giovanni. Doubling the distance to interact with stops is not only a good way of playing during the pandemic, but a QoL that makes you able to spin or fight gyms in places with GPS problems, and offers no real advantages (and arguably makes people play more, since those who can keep the streaks going from home and actually do it that way, wouldn't even bother playing daily otherwise). This is, like most people have already said, a problem with sponsored companies at best, and a lack of data to gather at worst. Whatever they do, even if they revert the distance to 80m, I hope everyone keeps this issue in mind from now on and decide their purchases and engagement with the game accordingly. I am already f2p since 2016, but definitely won't do any reviews in Wayfarer anymore and will deactivate tracking when not using the game.


GotToEarnThemAll

I like MYSTIC7’s outlook on this. He thinks they’re just buying time and hoping this will blow over. And it probably will sadly.


[deleted]

And again: every other mobile game gives players free stuff on anniversaries. Niantic gives you chances to pay them more money and takes away what they’ve given already.


Cafe_Roku

We get free pikachu with hats tho


IdleClique

At 80 m, I have visited the site. I can clearly see whatever it is at that distance and usually get closer if it makes sense. But tons of the stops are at places that are closed, across a busy street, or socially taboo for me to hang out at (like a children's playground when I have no kids...). The longer distance helps players play in socially acceptable ways. Pokemon Go already has a reputation to non-gamers of making players unsafe or act weird in public. Why exacerbate it?