Pokemon GO
October 21, 2017 2:41 PM - Subscribe

Gen3 is creeping down the stairs in Pokemon GO! Several ghost types from Gen3 are being released with PoGo's Halloween event. Come on inside and tell us what you found!

FYI, this is experimental post for Pokemon Go, made with the mod's blessing. Since PoGo gets new content on a haphazard schedule, they suggested a FanFare Talk post so fans could discuss as need by.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (197 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Woo, thanks Brandon for plugging this in. It remains to be seen if we're the last two mefites that care about PoGo.
That said...
I'm enjoying the glut of candy mightily as I did last year.
This year, I went on a bit of poke-hiatus until (purely coincidentally) the bonus event this summer. Firing up the game to an abundance of unboring pokemons and a frenzy of hatchings made the return to the grindy everyday a bit of a drag. So much so that I was anticipating the halloween event very keenly. Niantic should have more and more regularly spaced events for those few, proud, super-casual trainers such as myself.

Most annoyingly, I just caught my first shiny magikarp, and had 400 candies on hand, but the damn thing had 12cp and was unlikely to make much headway in life or in battle. Further, the gyrados that I did evolve was nearly as disappointing as my first one... stupid twister mumble mumble.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:13 AM on October 22, 2017


I'm still bopping around the city with various people, catching the nth version of imaginary monsters, lol.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:03 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


I found this post! Hello! I am here! I am still playing.
posted by purpleclover at 9:46 AM on October 23, 2017


I was super-excited about the Halloween event, but it's really just whetted my appetite for the rest of Gen 3. I was bummed to realize that I had already caught all the new dudes on Friday (including a shiny Sableye (not to brag (also to brag))).

I need more monsters! (Also more stardust.)

What are your goals at this point? I feel like I have a pretty good stable of highish level Tyranitar/Rhydon/Gyrados. I caught a ton of Raikou, but have only bothered with a couple of Entei because I'm not really sure what to do with the legendaries. Do I power them up?

In personal news, I got an Ex Raid pass last month for a raid at my local Sprint store but wasn't able to play it because my kid's school event ran long. Perhaps I will never get MewTwo. (But, as a totally Pokemon-naive player, I don't really understand the deal with MewTwo anyway. :)
posted by purpleclover at 10:14 AM on October 23, 2017


I'm not totally sure of my goals. Niantic hasn't done the game justice in my opinion, but there tends to be enough there to keep playing, especially with the people I've met.

The PoGo scene here in Savannah is vibrant, though diminished from when the game started, of course. All the teams have respectable showings and there's a core intramural group that hangs out together.

Headed to my fourth EX Raid this Friday, really dislike the 12 noon time slot on a work/school day. A LOT of people are having someone else on their team or in their family play for them. This will only make account sharing seem more natural and I don't think Niantic really thought this aspect through. Or simply doesn't care.

I have a perfect MewTwo, caught it on my second EX Raid with only seven balls. The waves of jealousy from the other level 40 players was intense, lol.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:56 AM on October 23, 2017


Randomness:

We just got our area scanned and have one of those maps that show where all the Pokemon are, but more importantly it shows where all the Raids are. Niantic did an amazingly fantastic job of making Raids difficult to do/find.

This summer definitely saw a shift in the game with Raiding becoming so prominent. I'm not crazy about the change. Really wish there was some sort of daily or weekly Quest and would be ok with buying a Hunting pass to finish out the quests.

I love, love, LOVE the design and animation of so many of the monsters, just wish more could be done with them.

We had a local spoofing problem for the longest while, but with the gym revamp, that seems to have diminished greatly. Can't say that I'm fond of the gym revamp, but I understand the rationale. I was one of those people who had close to 20 gyms a day and as great as that was, it was strangling the game a bit. Oh well, onward to new things.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:11 PM on October 23, 2017


Yay, I missed these Pokemon Go talks! I'm still playing daily, but I'm mostly just grinding through the game. Legendary raids became possible when I joined a local FB group. I still feel weird showing up to an event that an early teen rides his bike to! This weekend, I'm going to an event in Philadelphia that's loosely affiliated with Pokemon Go -- no interesting spawns or special events.

At this point, most of my enjoyment comes from reading player reports on the silph road atlas when a previously great spawn area becomes something common.

I don't really know that I have any goals for still playing. I like the gym restructure, but I hate the coins. I get why Niantic did it, but I still miss my 100 coins/day.
posted by gladly at 12:17 PM on October 23, 2017


I really miss the 5K in stardust a day. Losing that truly sucked.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:32 PM on October 23, 2017


Really wish there was some sort of daily or weekly Quest and would be ok with buying a Hunting pass to finish out the quests.

Yes, totally agree. It's kind of touching how invested The Silph Road folks are in earning their, like, Steel or Dragon Medals—but at least it's a thing you can work toward. Which is a big thing the game is lacking.

It's been actually pretty fun to meet other people at legendary raids. Probably if you'd told me that last year I would have not believed you at all.
posted by purpleclover at 10:21 PM on October 23, 2017


I’m still playing! I am enjoying the Halloween event, but really at this point I am just using the game as an incentive to exercise- getting candy for my buddy and hatching eggs. I don’t actually have any friends who play anymore, so I don’t really do any fighting. I miss getting my coins to buy incubators.
posted by Missense Mutation at 5:47 AM on October 24, 2017


Fyi, you can probably take a gym by yourself in about 15 min or so. Keep it in for 8 and hours and boom, 50 coins!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:56 AM on October 24, 2017


Raids are easy to find here on a college campus, but I have yet to show up at the same time as enough other people to complete a single one.
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:10 AM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]


There was an update a few months back that messed with the little bluetooth clicker and its ability to keep the game awake (and thus counting steps) which pretty much murdered the game for me. Tried changing all the settings but after my third 5k walk with no eggs or buddy candy, I gave up. I still check in now and again, especially when the 7 year old needs an activity at a restaurant.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:10 AM on October 24, 2017


I still play daily (most days). I really liked the new gyms*, as I can now take gyms. I'm enjoying getting 50 coins most days. On the other hand, I'm hating the raids. I got signed into the local discord group in the summer when it started up, but never really could find raids that said five or more people were going. Finally went to a few anyways. One we marked that we were going, but when we showed up everyone else had already played. We tagged along with them to their next raid, won it, then found it how rare it is to catch the thing (didn't catch it). We tried a few more weekends, but never found that group again (or any other) to make legendaries possible. It's a bummer, because I've always taken "gotta catch 'em all" as my loose goal for the game. I'm hoping that they find some other way to get these legendaries into the game at some point -- 100k eggs, trading from players who somehow got tons, something.

Also, Halloween is fun. I like all my new ghosties and that I can continue to build them up and admire them without being distracted by the rest of gen 3. I wouldn't mind if they introduced the rest a few at a time, every few weeks.

*The funny thing is that my husband started playing again, with a new account on my team, because we thought it might make gyms more fun/possible. It is fun, but the gyms no longer make it necessary.
posted by Margalo Epps at 8:24 AM on October 25, 2017


We've been chugging along and grinding, picking up the new little ghosties. Purr got on discord to join local legendary raids, but I usually just hand him my phone because I hate meeting people IRL. Everyone says he's very gallant because he tries to catch my legendary first. He also has managed to catch a wild unknown, of which I am very jealous.

We had thought that Mewtwo was only a rumor right now, and haven't seen these RaidEX things? What's that deal?
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 12:31 PM on October 25, 2017


Niantic claims to be field testing EX Raids, so some cities get them, some don't.

We've had three in Savannah, about to have a fourth this Friday. No one has any idea why some people get them and others don't. But most of the players who Raid a lot have at least gotten one. But the #1 player in the world, who plays for 12 hours a day on 4-6 devices, hasn't gotten one.

So yeah, it's a bit of guessing game and that's pissed a lot of people off, with good reason.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:57 PM on October 25, 2017




I'm hoping that they find some other way to get these legendaries into the game at some point -- 100k eggs

This is another very excellent idea.
posted by purpleclover at 2:17 PM on October 25, 2017


I'm still playing! Only incentive is to get to level 40, which is about 3million XP away right now. Halloween event is helping a lot, because I'm getting to mass evolve every other day iwth a lucky egg.

Got an invite to an EX raid, but couldn't go, boo.

And I have only caught one legendary. I don't have time to go to raids, so it was completely random - I was standing in a subway station under a gym. Right place right time.
posted by gaspode at 5:49 AM on October 26, 2017


I'm also still playing! Mostly on my walks to and from subway rides to work or other errands, but it's still a nice bit of motivation to a few extra blocks. The Halloween event has been fun so far.

Wow, nice items, Brandon Blatcher! The only raids I've done have been low-level single player ones. I hope legendaries will be in 100K eggs eventually.
posted by wiskunde at 3:18 AM on October 27, 2017


New round of EX Raid Invites going out, looks mostly like the same people at the same location as today.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:46 PM on October 27, 2017


I'm still playing daily (at least to get the pokestop and catch bonuses) but have given up entirely on the legendary raids because it's too hard to co-ordinate to arrive with other groups of people. Very much hope that another mechanism for catching the ledges is introduced. The 100k egg idea is a great one!
posted by roolya_boolya at 3:20 AM on October 28, 2017


Hey folks! Checking in from New Zealand. I happen to live in a place with a pretty healthy community so can do a legendary raid or two just about every day. They also post any Unown sightings so managed to snag myself one of those. Plenty of level 40s here (only 32 myself) but the city still hasn't had an ex raid. Starting to get to know how the countryside players feel.

Got my first shiny karp before the event started (lucky number 301) but haven't managed any shiny ghosts yet.

Most of the hardcore players are now looking for perfect IV pokemon with medals a distant second. Although it was a savvy move introducing the legendary raid medal with a gold goal of 1000(!)

The Gengar spawns have been insane here lately and so I've got a stable of 6 2000+cp ones ready to knock over pesky normal pokemon in gyms. Team Instinct represent!

(Just quietly, did we get this post to stop us from spamming the front page)
posted by Start with Dessert at 9:29 PM on October 28, 2017


Am one of those lucky people that did an EX Raid this past Friday and got invited back to same location for another EX Raid hours after the first one ended.

Caveat: It's a location with terrible GPS that caused people to constantly drop out and we'd have to restart.

Yep, first world problems, but darkly humorous.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:44 AM on October 30, 2017


Suicune is out! I had the chance to catch six! Only got two! Not bitter at all, honest!!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:52 PM on October 31, 2017


Okay, now I have had I think 5 Pokemon in gyms for the past 8 or so days... I need someone to roll through town and defeat these gyms (1 per day, apparently, please)!
posted by Missense Mutation at 11:21 AM on November 1, 2017


I've had one in a gym for about 75 days now, lol. Hopefully it'll stay and break some record.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:43 AM on November 2, 2017


Did anyone else have precisely zero 10K eggs throughout the halloween event?

Also, just whiny shiny talk here, but I think they flipped the switch off a few minutes early, as I was waiting out some rain right before 2pm Pacific, and at 5 til, I stopped catching with bonus candy. I was also .2K away from hatching a 2k egg, and as the rain came back and the candy was gone, I went back inside... wherein I hatched a f'n spinorak with standard stupid amounts of stupid spinorak stupid candy.

probably I'm a bit sour because I also got my ass handed to me repeatedly trying to take down a single Blissey defender. Timing, it seems, is everything.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:55 PM on November 2, 2017


Did anyone else have precisely zero 10K eggs throughout the halloween event?

Oh no, I had at least two Sudowoodos hatch.
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:33 PM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Blisseys aren't as troublesome as they used to be but I still despise them.

I've been mostly playing just as an excuse to go for walks, so I haven't been doing any raiding (except some low-level ones I can beat on my own). I finally evolved a Blastoise over the weekend and now other than legendaries and region-locked pokemon, I've got all but Grimer and Polywraith from first gen.
posted by ckape at 11:17 PM on November 2, 2017


Did manage to get myself a shiny duskull the last day after grinding for a couple of hours.

Re: the 10k eggs have always been harder to get than the 5 and 2k eggs. Also, hatching Shuppet and Sableye in eggs was a bad idea. Nothing worse than hatching a non-shiny ghost from a 10k.

Having said that, my luck with 10ks was a bit better. Got 2 Porygons (with 120 candy!) And a Larvitar (with 56 candy!). At the end of the day - really happy with that.

Our city finally got ex raid passes today, so more good news, even if I missed out.
posted by Start with Dessert at 11:11 PM on November 3, 2017


10K eggs: I had a really good run for a while by saving up 10K eggs until I had nine. Then I'd only hatch 2 or 3 at time. Then, in a remarkably short amount of time, I'd wind up with more 10K eggs to fill those slots. The last double dust event seemed to break that, damn it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:37 AM on November 4, 2017


Niantic is going to release a Harry Potter mobile AR game next year, for real! Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. No details at all yet except this brief description:
Players will learn spells, explore their real world neighborhoods and cities to discover & fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:39 PM on November 8, 2017


Yes, I'm really going to enjoy that larger market having a fit when Niantic does one of its patented stupid movies.

Also enjoying the friends who slightly sneered at me for playing PoGo who are now eagerly "signing up" for Harry Potter And the Augmented Reality. There's four houses in HP though, so that'll make team dynamics particularly interesting, lol.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:26 AM on November 9, 2017


There's four houses in HP though, so that'll make team dynamics particularly interesting, lol.
In the books, there are four houses at one school and no named houses of two more schools. In the Potterverse there are eleven schools, not all with named houses. So 44 teams if all schools go for a four house split...
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:45 PM on November 9, 2017


Just found this post and I still play. I'm pretty close to level 34, mostly thanks to raids. We have a strong and active Facebook group of local players who regularly post raids, and I have the time during the day to take advantage. We'll see what happens as the weather gets colder. I have no shinies at all, but did manage to get an Unown recently, so there's that.
posted by booksherpa at 5:34 PM on November 13, 2017


I caught a shuckle... yah?
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:12 PM on November 14, 2017


The end of daylight saving time has messed with my raid opportunities. By the time I'm done work, there's maybe one round of raids left. I completely understand Niantic wanting to keep raids in the daylight hours, but that leaves me a weekend-only raider.
posted by gladly at 6:51 PM on November 15, 2017


Don’t fuckle shuckle.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:20 PM on November 15, 2017


I would probably still be playing if my app didn't crash every single time I opened it. It didn't always do that, but started behaving badly this summer. I got angry at the app and deleted it. (Also, my neighbourhood in London is currently being targeted by "moped gangs" of criminals who grab people's phones out of their hands, so police has advised everyone not to walk around with their phone visible. In other words, no Pokemon GO for me anymore...)
posted by easternblot at 2:10 AM on November 20, 2017


The end of daylight saving time has messed with my raid opportunities. By the time I'm done work, there's maybe one round of raids left. I completely understand Niantic wanting to keep raids in the daylight hours, but that leaves me a weekend-only raider.

You think that's bad? Most raids are finished here in New Zealand by 7pm and sunset is 8:30 and getting later by the day. They have been starting earlier, but who wants to do a raid at 6:30/7 in the morning?
posted by Start with Dessert at 2:34 AM on November 20, 2017


At the onset of the double XP giving event, I developed acute plantar fascitis... fml.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 4:45 PM on November 22, 2017


So I decided to take advantage of this event. So far I've grinded from level 33 to 34 and should be level 35 by tomorrow. Super-looking forward to getting a farfetch'd - my favourite.

Also, happy that they've finally outlined how to get an exclusive raid pass.
posted by Start with Dessert at 4:47 PM on November 23, 2017


Yeah, there's been a massive spike in gym turnover at local parks and sponsored gyms. Sadly, some of that is from known spoofers.

Which sucks, but also, whatever about gyms for the next week, it's double dust! That's the scarcest resource in the game.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:04 AM on November 24, 2017


FarFetch has been released globally until about Monday, November 27th 7:30 EST. It can be incensed!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:34 AM on November 26, 2017


Happy to have found the PoGo post :)

I enjoyed the last event a lot - caught my Farfetch'd, made it to Level 35, and did a bunch of legendary raids. There's a Discord chat that some players use in my city, but I happened upon most of these by chance, which makes it a little more fun (and less stressful, honestly) for me.
posted by invokeuse at 8:48 PM on December 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I like the daily count of progression during the contest, along with the various tiers of unlocking different rewards. Hopefully they'll do something similar from time to time.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:48 AM on December 3, 2017


So, the last event go me to level 40 (yay!) and now I don't know what to do with myself!
Getting out to legendary raids is a pain for me (I only have Entei) but at the moment, I guess that's the only novel thing I have going on.
posted by gaspode at 10:27 AM on December 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Whoot, congrats gaspode, that's so great!

As to what to do next, how are you badges looking? Finishing them out might be fun!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:49 AM on December 4, 2017


Does anyone know/want to speculate what the xmas event will be? Apart from cute hats, is it a candy or xp type give away... ( apart from the hatted pickachus, I don't remember what last year's was). I'm just trying to not be stupid (for once) about burning transfers, evolves and death marches of 10Ks.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:50 PM on December 4, 2017


Brandon Blatcher, oh good call. I just checked. I need to finish up my dragon badge and win 1000 raids (yes, that will take a while). I think, while I'm waiting for Gen 3, I'll just work on finding and maxing out 100iv pokemon. That will take a while.
posted by gaspode at 7:56 PM on December 4, 2017


Dang gaspode, congrats! What an achievement - especialy given you don't raid much. All the Level-40 grinders I know are strategic about timing their Lucky Eggs to maximize XP and don't even care about catching legendaries anymore - I ran into a guy who had over 140 Entei alone, and those were just the ones he kept.

I hope Delibird gets released for Christmas! It's perfectly themed.
posted by invokeuse at 9:42 PM on December 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Anyone know if the health potion/revive spawn rates have been lowered recently? We always had a big surplus of health potions but in the last few weeks they've run out and we only get a potion now once every ten Pokestops or so. I'm sure they were more common than that before. Is it to encourage more revive/potion purchases from the shop?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:57 AM on December 5, 2017


Lol, I don't count the "Win 1000" battles badge, 'cause really, that would take years to do and ain't nobody got time or even the desire for that.

Cold Lurkey, last year they dropped Gen 2 babies in eggs, had some special boxes available and increased spawn rates for gen 1 pokemon, and lure models were increased for an hour. Plus Pikachu wore a hat. Here's the December 23, 2016 announcement and the one for December 25, 2016. I expect something similar, ie no double candy, dust, or XP. Would LOVE to see hats on more Pokemon, that would be fun.

EndsofInvention, potion drops from stops were majorly nerfed a few weeks ago. Currently the only way to get bundles is by raiding. No idea when or if they'll change, but yeah it sucks.

In good news, if you have a Gotcha, there will be a firmware update to make it work again with iOS11. No timetable on that though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:10 AM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


EndsofInvention, potion drops from stops were majorly nerfed a few weeks ago

Ah, thanks. I wasn't sure if we were just doing a lot more gym battles now with the updated gyms and just using potions more often.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:19 AM on December 5, 2017


Some of gen3 dropping this week (no, they're not going to tell you when), along with new weather effects!

Watch this here video!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:45 AM on December 6, 2017


The Silph Road's take here. An album of images including weather/type interactions here.

I saw PRESENT in the list of new attacks! DELIBIRD IS ON ITS WAY!

I'm keen to see the weather effects, although I have to admit that one thing that was nice about PoGo was that it was always sunny in that world (winters where I live are rather dreary.)
posted by invokeuse at 7:52 PM on December 6, 2017


The speculation is that Gen 3 drops Thursday night at 7pm EST, 'cause Thursday is usually when they drop stuff and evidently the game checks in with the server everything at midnight in the UK.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


During the event I went from level 33 to level 36, and I told myself that I would pull back on the game for a bit until Gen 3 came out. Then Ho-oh came along and I've kind of run out of time to get a break. It feels like Niantic are really focused on keeping new content cycling into the game.

This is all great but I think I'm just going to slow-play Gen 3 and dial back for a bit. Gen 4 is the one with the awesome evolutions anyway.
posted by Start with Dessert at 3:25 AM on December 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm totally on board with the weather update, and it will be so nice to have new things to catch. I still need to earn my steel type badge, so let's see if they're around for the flurries we're due this Saturday. If only there was weather that brought fighting types out.
posted by gladly at 8:12 AM on December 8, 2017


Let's talk about the weather:
It is really gorgeous to have clouds scudding across the pokesky.
That little bit of variation (on my grocery run tonight it went from partly cloudy to cloudy) in ambient pokemon is, for now, really sweet and exciting. I can imagine how frustrating it is to go from a more extreme weather back to partly cloudy.
Also wind? is it supposed to be showing wind direction and strength? It's hard for me to gauge, because I'm pretty sure they pull the weather data from O'Hare, our official recording station for all of Chicago, and that is ~15 miles away and a world apart in terms of microclimate. Thus, the game told me it was partly cloudy with winds from the east north east in there while I was under a clear blue sky with westerly wind.
I'm sure it is an absolute data nightmare for them to do this in the first place, but next level shit would be to pull from the closest weather station for absolutely killer VR immersion.


someday.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:03 PM on December 8, 2017 [1 favorite]




If only there was weather that brought fighting types out.

According to my weather icon in PoGo, fairy, fighting, and poison types are increased during cloudy weather, which is what we have locally today.
posted by booksherpa at 7:00 PM on December 8, 2017


According to my weather icon in PoGo, fairy, fighting, and poison types are increased during cloudy weather, which is what we have locally today.

Yep, picked up a massive 2315cp Hariyama today. Really looking forward to finally getting my fighting medal gold.
posted by Start with Dessert at 3:08 AM on December 9, 2017


Some of these new raids are a bit too difficult imo
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:16 AM on December 9, 2017


Get a group together, you can do it!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:42 AM on December 9, 2017


My snowy Pokescape is beautiful this morning! Last night, I did have a cloudy evening and saw a lot of poison and fairy type mon, but alas, no fighting. I haven't had a chance to try the additional damage in a raid or gym fight, but I think that's a very cool addition.
posted by gladly at 9:01 AM on December 9, 2017


I'm really glad there are new Pokemon to catch. I was happy when they changed how gyms work, but it's clear that the drawback of being in one of the busiest cities is that it's hard to get into a gym, let alone defending.

Okay, now I have had I think 5 Pokemon in gyms for the past 8 or so days...

As far as finding gyms with an open slot, I have found exactly two since the change. There are there are raids happening everywhere, all the time, but I often get a message that it's a private group. On an early morning walk I defeated a gym on my own, but it was immediately flipped. Maybe I'm also doing it wrong.

For me, walking all over catching Pokemon is the real draw, but when I'm surrounded by the same handful of Pokemon it loses its appeal. Yesterday I caught a new-to-me Pokemon so I'm really looking forward to the smoke clearing so I can get back out and catch these new ones.

I've gotten to lvl 33 by staying in bed half the time. I have 171 ultra balls and just dumped 20 of my 70 Nanab Berrys to make room for more stuff, and my inventory doesn't even contain any potions since I hardly ever battle. I also have 12 Up-Grades for a Pokemon I've never seen, although the Pokedex says I have encountered one somewhere, which means 7-day streaks don't mean much. (Although I still try to remember!) I have no idea if that's in line with other players, but it's seems to me that before this release there just wasn't much for me to do unless I want another 500 Sandshrews.

None of this is a complaint, really, I'm just disappointed that I can't seem to keep up. Also, I think they need to take the speed limit down a scooch; I feel penalized for having to rely on public transportation.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:34 AM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Defeated a Ho-Oh today with 5 players - Rock attacks were boosted by the weather, which certainly helped.
Didn't catch it, though :(

I'm really enjoying Gen 3 so far, though - it's nice to have a little novelty in the game. I think Gulpin looks a bit like a Chikorita who's had waaaaay too much to drink.
posted by invokeuse at 4:59 PM on December 9, 2017


The weather thing is probably not going to be as interesting here in New Mexico: sunny days and clear nights forever. I haven’t even seen any clouds in the game.

The update did add a load more “parks” including along my normal running route, which is nice. Combined with the gen 3, it did mean I walked a lot more than usual on my “run” yesterday so I could catch Pokémon...
posted by Missense Mutation at 7:36 AM on December 10, 2017


The maps in the game switched to using Open Street Maps, which anyone can edit.

OSM has tips for PoGO players, i.e., please don't abuse it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:49 AM on December 10, 2017


I'm keen to see the weather effects, although I have to admit that one thing that was nice about PoGo was that it was always sunny in that world (winters where I live are rather dreary.)

So far I'm seeing the weather as an extension of the imaginary world of Pokemon. It said sunny today, when in fact the fog was so thick you could barely see a block. Last time it said partly sunny and it was overcast with no blue or sunshine visible. I'm just hoping it thinks it's snowing sometime, because that's something we don't get every year here, so I can't count on it actually happening.
posted by Margalo Epps at 3:56 PM on December 11, 2017


It's still too smoky outside to chase Pokemon, but I've caught one each of Torchic, Skitty, and Spoink. I had a Zigzagoon but accidentally hit the escape button and it didn't come back, and the Pokedex tells me I've seen a Zangoose.

I’m also exactly 6k away from having enough candy to evolve my pet Scyther. They’re pretty rare around here, but that’s just here. It says we walked 61.5k, which is pretty crazy for this one Pokemon.

I’m having fun with this part
posted by Room 641-A at 6:43 PM on December 11, 2017


I am really in love with the weather changes to the game. I did a raid last night while it was clear out, and my Exeggutor was super strong! This is one change to game play that I just wholeheartedly love.
posted by gladly at 1:57 PM on December 12, 2017


I love the weather too, but is anyone else seeing increased server issues and bouts of slowness? It could be my provider, but since the update, the server often hangs up when I try to do something as rudimentary as feed a berry to a gym guardian.

Still, I'm enjoying the excitement of catching new creatures again!
posted by Pallas Athena at 10:11 PM on December 14, 2017


I think there's something screwy with the GPS code.
I'm getting perpetual GPS lost (11) errors and even without that my location won't update evenly. I get locked in one spot and won't move, then move all at once and then get a "Passenger warning".
If I shut the app and reopen it then it works again for about 10 minutes, then breaks.

Still, I had already caught them all (for a reasonable approximation of them all) so it's nice to have a goal again.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:51 AM on December 15, 2017


Yesterday I took the first long walk since this update, and I’m not exactly sure what happened but I fought a whole gym and then caught the Porygon: it was early in the am so there weren’t a lot of people around, but there was definitely one person defending that gym and another red gym. I had a fun, productive time:

More new catches: Poocheyna, Mightyena, Zigzagoon, Plusle, Zangoose
New misses: Cascoon, Breloom, Slaking, Hariyama, Minun, Absol (some of these may have been a gym)

I'm not sure what indie right this time but I'll keep trying with these raids. Maybe when tourist season dies down next month it will get easier.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:56 AM on December 15, 2017


Room 641-A: Weather can boost or dull a raid boss (or any other Pokemon), so you might have getting a boost on that Porygon. Congrats!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:28 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Things today are different... there's a new pokestop on basically my block, and I also got a kingstone on a pokespin well into a 10k walk... not the first spin of a 7 day streak. Has anyone else seen this? (i look in on silph road and hadn't seen high level chatter to this effect)
That said, I'm on another 14 day streak with no 10k eggs. grumble rumble... however my 2ks are much less rare... and I hatched a tangelo out of a 5k, so, good?
posted by Cold Lurkey at 6:17 PM on December 19, 2017


Yeah, the special items are dropping radomly from any stop now.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:16 PM on December 19, 2017


Metafilter's closing in on us folks!
posted by Start with Dessert at 7:05 PM on January 2, 2018


What did everyone think of Community Day? I was stuck in a meeting for most of it but I enjoyed catching all the Surfin' Pikachu (luckily there was a Pokestop in range which I could lure up). No shiny ones for me, though.
posted by invokeuse at 10:40 PM on January 20, 2018


Pretty happy with it. Used my hard earned coins to buy some lucky eggs and pushed through to level 37. Got my first shiny pikachu... And my second... And third. I was a little disappointed that surf pikachu doesn't become surf Raichu but overall pretty happy. I didn't really get the community aspect though since I'm currently in a small town with no other resident players.

Also, I'm not a big fan of the update that now means the game remembers which ball you last used. More than once I began catching a trash mon with an ultra ball.
posted by Start with Dessert at 11:17 PM on January 20, 2018


I was initially critical of the three hour window for "Community Day," but I think it really forced people to focus, saw massive crowds of people out. Hell, about 20+ were standing on a corner battling a Kyogre, when a pizza delivery guy pulled and offered us 4 pizzas and and 20 wings! Great end to a really fun day!

Caught a bunch of Pikachus, but wound up deleting them all without checking to see if they have 'surf', so OOPS. Already had a shiny, so good on that front.

Doing this on a monthly basis will be good, definitely.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:18 AM on January 21, 2018


Huh, I wondered why I was suddenly surrounded by 6 Pikachu yesterday. No shiny ones but a few had Surf.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:40 AM on January 21, 2018


Got 2 shiny guys, so yay.
posted by gaspode at 4:49 PM on January 22, 2018 [1 favorite]


Apparently, the next community day will be February 24th and be Dratini based.
So I might finally get my dragon badge if I don't miss it like I did this last one.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:32 AM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Same 3 hour lures, plus 3X the stardust when catching. So they clearly want to catching ALL the Dratini, lol.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:04 AM on January 23, 2018


More new mons.
posted by Start with Dessert at 12:55 PM on January 23, 2018


Well, I didn't get my Dragon badge, but I did get a shiny Dragonite with Dragon Meteor.

Most of the nearby Gym's seem to have green Dragonite's in though so I assume there was a reasonable chance of shiny. In my case, I only had a short window of time available, and the very last Dratini I caught was shiny.

Dratini and Dragonair are so nice and then Dragonite just looks dumb. It's such an annoying evolution.
But then shiny Dratini and Shiny Dragonair are awesome hot pink and then shiny Dragonite is green! Bah!
Better than normal orange Dragonite I guess, but still not a patch on either shiny or non shiny Dratini or Dragonair.

I was tempted to keep mine as a nice pink Dragonair, but I wanted to get the exclusive move, so...
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:19 AM on February 27, 2018


Pink and gold Dragonair does look great.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:03 AM on February 27, 2018


I think I've used up all my luck for this year:

Day 1: shiny Swablu
Day 2: shiny Magikarp
Day 3: perfect shiny Dratini on community day
Day 4: woke up to my first ex-raid pass

There's been a fair amount of complaining around here that shiny Dratini and Dragonair look so awesome and shiny Dragonite looks like vomit.
posted by Start with Dessert at 12:56 PM on February 27, 2018


Ok, so given the weather outside where is my ice castform?

it's not cloudy, or windy or anything except a full on icestorm snowpocalypse. Why can't I have an ice castform?!
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 12:46 PM on February 28, 2018


True story, the ice castform will appear in fog too!

But yeah, the weather system isn't totally accurate, but it changes on the hour, so check back every hour!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:48 PM on February 28, 2018


Well, fog might be doable. But it's been snowing here solidly for three days and nothing.
Actually, PoGo knows it's snowing because it's snowing in the capture screen, but the overworld weather is still just cloudy.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 12:50 PM on February 28, 2018


Huh, that is weird, sounds like a bug, might have some luck reporting it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:54 PM on February 28, 2018


i think I was just being unlucky with timing. I'm seeing snow weather now finally, and just caught the last castform, so we can go back to sensible weather now.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:45 AM on March 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


Weather has been a bit of a bugbear around here. Following AccuWeather has been mostly useful, but it's often difficult to predict how the weather report will translate to weather in the game.

There's the snow example above, but also I don't think I've ever seen fog in the game and I think that's because it's often difficult to forecast. We've definitely had fog here but because it wasn't forecast it didn't arrive in game.

Rain is quite often difficult to predict as well. At one point, AccuWeather had 3% chance of precipitation and it started raining in game.

The worst is wind though. We haven't seen a single unown spawn since weather was introduced. The city I'm in is known for being quite windy (although it's been Summer) and while we've had windy days, wind does not always trigger in the game, or it gets overridden by other weather types, like cloudy or rainy.

Unfortunately I've been unable to find any research online on the trigger thresholds and rules for weather in the game. When you're also trying to coordinate for weather boosted legendaries it can make it very tough.
posted by Start with Dessert at 4:44 PM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]


Check the silphroad.com, there's several threads there about the weather system.

I just recently did a search on what qualifies as "windy," above 10-12mph seems to do it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:34 AM on March 5, 2018


Maybe my Google skills are failing me, but there isn't any solid data yet for weather trigger points and which weather gets priority. From my experience, rain mainly occurs when the chance of precipitation is above 50% but there have been weird outliers. Wind is hardest, at least for our city.

We've often had 14mph winds (with gusts to 27mph) without wind triggering in game. I started checking on the forecast when it did finally get windy in game and it was 14mph with gusts up to 37. So unfortunately it may not be as simple as a single trigger point and other weather types may take priority. Oh well.
posted by Start with Dessert at 12:55 PM on March 5, 2018


While out gorging ourselves with bulbasaurs (TOO MANY SHINY, Y U MAKE BAD POKEMON EMOTIONALLY DIFFICULT TO DISCARD?!) we were rewarded with the sight of the Loyola Basketball Cinderella Express motorcade barrelling through Rogers Park, complete with 8(!) police escort vehicles, of which Loyola PD made a minority. We waved as they passed, then rambled on to more catching. I, for one, am now bulbabloated and moderately saur.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:43 PM on March 25, 2018


It looks like quests will be here soon! I'm interested to see what kinds of tasks they have in store for us. The grind was starting to get to me a bit, and it'll be nice to shake things up a touch.

My Bulbasaur Community Day was average to middling - over 100 Bulbasaur caught, I think, but only two shiny ones. Hope y'all had better luck.
posted by invokeuse at 8:34 PM on March 26, 2018


You can earn one Stamp per day by completing at least one Field Research task, and when you obtain seven stamps, you can achieve a Research Breakthrough to receive even greater rewards! You may even have an encounter with a Legendary Pokémon!

Hmm, looks like this may be a way to catch legendaries without having to socialise with nerds?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:05 AM on March 27, 2018


Next Community Day is Mareep. Words fail me.

Hmm, looks like this may be a way to catch legendaries without having to socialise with nerds?

Oh thank god, if I have to wait for another time challenged person...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:50 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


So the first lot of field research yields a Moltres and the Special research yields a Mew.

No word yet on what happens if you do another week of field research. I'm hoping for more Legendaries, and it looks entirely probable.
There isn't a second set of Special research yet though.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:18 AM on April 5, 2018


Did an EX raid today and caught Mewtwo (my second). I've found them to be very pleasant affairs so far (the higher catch rate helps.) The local Discord group is very organized and we were done in about 15 minutes.

I am still looking for a Ditto and am trying to catch 4 more ghosts. I've soloed a Sableye and Misdreavus so far because I encounter them in the wild so rarely. -sigh- I hope there isn't a time limit on the Special Research quest!
posted by invokeuse at 4:59 PM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


I have the ditto. I need 9 more ghosts!
NINE!

I even went out last night looking for ghosts and found none.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:29 PM on April 8, 2018


Do you have 400 magikarp candies?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:38 AM on April 10, 2018


I was ready for that, and yes I do. Or rather, I did.
In fact, it's my very first Magikarp evolution since I started playing. Despite living literally on a boat I've had really bad luck with Magikarp spawns.

I'm currently working on 10 raids.
The nice thing is, you don't have to win 10 raids. You only need to battle in 10 raids.
So, if you do a raid and let it time out, you can do it again.

I just sat in a pub for half an hour doing 6 sableeye raids and there is a 1-star raid around the corner from me in 10 minutes to do the rest.

So, hopefully, I'll be back in about 40 minutes and ready to do set 7/8. The time-consuming bit of that will be to catch 50 Pokemon with berries.
I reckon I'll get my curved excellent throw during those 50 catches and I already have my gold Kanto medal. So, Mew tomorrow? Maybe?

I have to remember to have a starpiece going for the encounter to see if I can get 20000 stardust from it.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:29 AM on April 10, 2018


Yup, that all worked.
My 15 D Blissey was unconcerned by the Magikarp raid boss, and apart from a little annoying GPS drift, it was all fine.

An interesting note on the 50 berries challenge. You only have to spend 50 berries. If the pokemon escapes then you can spend another and they all count. So you can get a field research encounter and use pinap or nanab berries and low level balls. Field research encounter pokemon won't flee, so you can lots of berries used quite quickly.

A lot of the research tasks make it preferable to not traditionally succeed. Like, 3 Great throws in a row is much easier to do if you can just keep trying on the same guy, because you don't need to catch them for them to count, you just need to throw them. Same as the gym trick above. It's an interesting twist where I want the pokemon to break out.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:42 AM on April 10, 2018


Yeah, a friend did the raid trick, but didn't go private on it, so eventually someone jumped in and won the Raid. She noted that we've reached a point in the game where we don't want people to help.

Got Mew a few days ago, pretty meh about it, due to it being essentially meaningless in the game at this point. The Research is a good idea, but poorly done outta the gate, IMO. Still, something new is good, I guess.

Off to transfer a bunch Legendaries once the event starts.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:55 PM on April 10, 2018


So I finished the special research this week and have a few thoughts:
1. I never raided before this. It's okay, i guess, but I prefer to solo things and so it got a bit grindy. Then, right after I finished that step, I got an EX pass (for which I have a conflicting obligation, so thanks) and wonder if that was to keep us erstwhile non-raiders on the raidy train. I would raid more often if there was a much shorter wait time to start for low levels, as I calculated my raids not only on level and proximity, but also gym locations wherein i would feel overly awkward or unsafe standing, doing fuck all, for two minutes.
2. I am very bad at throwing curveballs. It took an embarrassingly long time to clear that final excellent hurdle. (the polliwag that I caught with it was immediately starred and will never be transferred because a. thank god that's over with and b. polliwag!)
3. When Mew 'disappears' in the final catch screen it has an uncomfortable resemblance to my migraine auras. I'd just had a ripsnorter of a migraine the day before so, again, thanks.

In summary, both this and the field research have succeeded in changing my poke-behavior in significant ways, however, I'm probably going to revert back to the old 'uns without further instigation. I like it.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:38 PM on April 28, 2018


Did my first EX raid today -- and the MewTwo got away.

What's the best way to make sure that this doesn't happen again, should I be so fortunate once more?
posted by PearlRose at 1:00 PM on May 14, 2018


Aww PearlRose, I'm really sorry to hear that! Assuming you've done a lot of Legendary Raids and are familiar with those mechanics, the key is to maximize the number of Premier Balls you get:

1) If possible, make sure the gym is controlled by your team to get the Gym Control bonus (up to +2). I can't remember if this is dependent on you, personally, having a Pokémon in the gym
2) If there are enough people, divide into teams sorted by colour to ensure you all get the Team Damage bonus (up to +3). Minimum size for a team is about 6, assuming everyone is Level 30+
3) Use strong counters (Tyranitar with Bite/Crunch) to get the Personal Damage bonus (up to +3)

At my last EX raid someone kinda sighed when I suggested splitting up ("it's an easy catch"), but agreed when I pointed out that this would be the first EX raid for a number of people.

As for getting another invite, target parks - there's a minimum activity level needed before a raid will trigger. It doesn't matter what level of raid you do, so hit those Level 1 and 2 eggs! (But don't raid too much - I've also heard that people who do more than 10 raids in a week get put into a different pool for EX raid pass eligibility). If there's a Discord server active for your area, you might look into joining that.

Good luck! I have another one next week.
posted by invokeuse at 4:50 PM on May 14, 2018


The good news is that MewTwo has a high catch rate, so if it runs from you one time, you have a pretty good chance of getting it the next.

On top of what invokeuse, definitely use Golden Berries, learn how to "lock the circle" on throws to better your chances and check out this quick video on how to catch MewTwo. You need to time your throw, but it's fairly simple once you see it.

I respectfully disagree with the "don't Raid too much" advice. I usually hit up about 8-12 E Raid eligible gyms each week at least once, sometimes twice. I've consistently gotten EX Raid passes, each wave, since March, am on my 13th MewTwo.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:01 AM on May 15, 2018


One thing I am fanatical about though is only doing Raids at EX Raid eligible gyms., so that might be a factor.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:03 AM on May 15, 2018


Thanks for the help! I'm kind of a rubbish thrower -- my first SIX Latios fled on me -- so I'm not wholly surprised MewTwo bolted (my hands shake when I get nervous, so then I can't throw at all. Half of my 11 balls went over MewTwo's head.)

There's an EX raid-eligible gym around the corner from my house, which means I raid there constantly, so I got the invite for it kind of by accident this time.

We had 20+ people at the raid yesterday (despite it being a Monday !!) and gym control (I didn't have a critter in the gym, but I did get gym bonus balls), so I think we're good there. I tend to raid only with my free passes, because I don't have enough coins saved yet for buying passes. I've only been raiding about a month, mostly for the Mew quests, then stuck with it because I like the community.

My team is less than adequate, and there's nothing I can do about that. I've got five Latios, three Latias, a Hounddoom with dark moves that is my new favorite, and a really nice Dragonair that I'm walking to get my first Dragonite out of. I started raiding late in the game, so there's not much I can do about the team for now.

However, my local group does have a list of EX-eligible gyms, and a discord that posts EX-raid invites, so I know the 12 or so that get passes regularly. I did a level-1 raid yesterday afterward at the gym I got my EX-pass for, so hopefully I've got a drop in there for the next cycle.

Otherwise, I guess I'll try again, focusing on doing raids at gyms that drop EX-passes reliably.

Follow-up question: Does anyone think the next set of invitations will go out for May 28 or May 29 for the US? I'm asking because I won't be in town on the 28, because of Memorial Day, and am trying to decide if I want to start the Get-a-Second-EX-pass Quest this week for next week or hold off and grab a Latias/Tyranitar/etc at a non-EX eligible gym because I won't be in town on EX raid day and should focus on making my team better instead. I know Niantic's gonna Niantic, but I also know PoGo players are overthinkers extraordinaire.
posted by PearlRose at 6:43 AM on May 15, 2018


I'd guess the 28th, for the next wave of EX invites. Irrelevant data point: Monday is a holiday in Canada and I've got an invite for the 21st.

I know Niantic is an American company, but they have a strong international playerbase. I also haven't observed them handling exceptions gracefully. See yesterday when the Fighting event ended and Lugia started appearing in raids again.
posted by invokeuse at 2:10 PM on May 15, 2018


I'd bet the 29th, because the past three have been for Monday, so they'll probably shit to another day now. I would not be surprised if it shifted to Sat or Sun either. 'Cause Niantic.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:19 PM on May 15, 2018


I would much prefer a weekend EX Raid. I got my very first EX Pass last Sunday for the round of EX Raids on Monday, May 14th. My nephews, who'd been with me over the weekend, were so sad that they couldn't go. I ended up not being able to go because of a work meeting that got scheduled over the time. So still waiting, and I'm definitely planning to go out this Saturday and raid at places I know are EX Pass generators.
posted by gladly at 2:59 PM on May 15, 2018


Yeah, the weekday EX Raids are huge buzzkills. I'm lucky enough to be able to make it work, but understandable how many can't. No idea what Niantic is thinking there, a user set preference would fix the problem.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:00 PM on May 15, 2018


So, to follow up, for my first EX-pass, the sucker broke the ball and fled. I received a second EX pass for Memorial Day, when I was out of town. Then, I was lucky enough to receive a third EX pass for June 5th... for a gym my friends and I did a three-person on in Atlanta.

I really wish there was just some way to turn invites off or opt out or set a region or something.

Um. Fourth try's the charm?
posted by PearlRose at 1:20 PM on June 1, 2018


Hello! If anyone here is interested in the very exciting friend feature my trainer code is 0272 2240 4874, if you post yours I’ll be happy to add you too.
posted by lepus at 3:20 PM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]




Also SolRock is about, which is cool.
I don't know if they're going to switch back after the solstice or if I have some time to catch one.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:39 AM on June 22, 2018


I think Solrock appears during the day (9 am to 9 pm). I would rank it as "uncommon". I'm guessing this means North America has Lunatone now?

That means my Europe trip in July will be all about getting Mr. Mime and Volbeat!
posted by invokeuse at 3:33 PM on June 22, 2018


I'm 8031 7994 4688 & will be adding friends from this list

You will know me by my fish hat :)
posted by pointystick at 5:38 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


???

Anyone else missing Pokémon returns?

I like the post card. Too bad we can’t keep them in a flipbook.
posted by tilde at 7:05 PM on June 23, 2018


Woo, My Trainer Code is 4408 2101 4795!
posted by PussKillian at 8:06 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thanks for pointing out this is open BB! I'm 3498 0672 2662
I caught a wild Rattata today, creepy and so cute.
posted by soakimbo at 9:29 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


I feel bad when people send me gifts and I don't have any to send back. I guess I need to farm lots of pokestops.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:44 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Huh. I can't seem to add this thread to My FanFare. I imagine that's why I forgot it was here!
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:17 PM on June 25, 2018


Does anyone know when the next double candy time is? I’ve got about 200 Magikarp I want to get rid of.
posted by tilde at 6:21 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


I think my GPS has been degrading so steadily that I didn't realise how bad it had gotten. I think basically I had no GPS at all and my phone was just using wifi towers. So 90% of the time in Pokemon I wouldn't have a location or it would disappear and I'd get Error 11.
This could be fixed by switching between maps and PoGo. I assume because Maps calculated my position based on towers, but PoGo doesn't.

Anyway, I cracked it open last night and cleaned some contacts and put in a little shim and suddenly GPS!
So I went out at midnight on a little tour of all the gyms and to hatch a bunch of eggs (because I could barely hatch eggs before now, since my position would jump when I switched apps, rather than move between them)

It's a much more fun game when your GPS works.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:10 AM on June 26, 2018


Tried some trading yesterday. So I traded two of my mefite provided eggs (one from Japan and one from Ohio) getting me 15k in trade distance and my bronze pilot badge right out the gate.

We also tried trading XL Magikarps to see if it helped the badge. It does.

For the most part trading seems very straightforward, but having 200 friends makes it a pain to find people to do the trade.
Oh also, I'd starred the magikarp that I wanted to trade and you can't trade starred pokemons (probably for the best) but also there is no way to unstar a pokemon from the trade menu so I had to cancel the trade, unstar the fish and then scroll through the friends list to re initiate the trade.

Minor issues, but even more indication that the game needs a top to bottom UI overhaul.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:23 AM on June 27, 2018


Does anyone know when the next double candy time is?

None have been announced yet but I strongly suspect they'll include bonus candy in the anniversary/summer event bonuses, since they did last year. They have been known to switch around the bonuses though, so nobody knows for sure yet.

I'm saving all my larvitars etc. Hoping that the next 2x candy event will affect the trading bonus candy as well, as I plan to trade them all with a friend before transferring for an extra candy (or 3).
posted by randomnity at 3:35 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


TIL: don’t have eggslots full if you want to be gifted eggs. #WTFUI
posted by tilde at 3:41 PM on June 27, 2018


hmm actually looking again I missed this somehow : https://pokemongolive.com/post/summergameplay2018/

So, catch and hatch candy bonuses coming in mid July, but no word on transfer/other activity candy bonuses...
posted by randomnity at 3:45 PM on June 27, 2018


TIL: don’t have eggslots full if you want to be gifted eggs. #WTFUI

Also don't hit up Pokestops before opening presents with an empty egg slot :( I know this and still keep forgetting!

I found a Go Plus accessory, though, finally! Online for regular price, and not marked up like all the other sources I looked for on the Japanese internet. I was near ready to buy one from Amazon US and have it shipped...
posted by lesser weasel at 10:25 PM on June 29, 2018


I'm a fairly serious player. I didn't know about this fanfare. Doh.
posted by k8t at 10:29 PM on June 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Well it’s been down for me in SE Florida for most of the day. Rebooted, reinstalled, etc. no joy.
posted by tilde at 5:05 PM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Guys, for reasons I'm not 100% sure about there are a bunch of Corsola appearing in London (I think in all of Europe?).

Ah, here is a heavily edited explanation:

"Early Saturday, some Trainers faced log-in and connectivity issues...throughout the city of Dortmund, ...
Although we were able to overcome the issues...we’ll be hosting a special Europe-wide event ... From 12:00 a.m. UTC on Tuesday, July 3 until 11:59 p.m. UTC on Wednesday, July 4, Pokémon such as Corsola and Roselia may appear throughout Europe"
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:38 AM on July 3, 2018


Anyone doing trading yet? I have but not enough ye to reliabily measure significant positive changes in hidden attributes.
posted by tilde at 5:49 PM on July 27, 2018


I've done a very small number of trades (in fact, I've done six trades*) but one of those trades resulted in a perfect IV Sceptile, which was traded purely for the candy.

So far as I can tell IVs are rerolled at random regardless of the original IV but there is a lower floor based on friend level. (i.e. at normal friends it's 0 0 0 but at Best friends the lowest level is 5 5 5 )

This was before Lucky Pokemon came out though.
I need to meet up with my very few actual friends in the vicinity who play PoGo to distribute some legendaries. So, maybe I'll do a bunch of trades then to see if we can spin up luckies.

*But because many of those trades were involving Alolan boys from 7k metafilter eggs I've got a trade distance of 25000 km!)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:30 PM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Cool, Just!

So I engineered my own fix here for the Postcard Problem

my Pinterest board of PoGo PoCards
posted by tilde at 9:17 AM on July 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


The new trading event is very lucrative if you have saved up larvitars or other valuable pokemon. I've been trading mine with my partner for all the far-away pokemon we've caught/hatched and saved for this purpose (trading larvitar for far away trash, then switch). 5-6 larvitar candy for 75 dust is pretty great!

It's a blanket +3 candy for trades right now (and lower dust cost) so it's well worth it even if you don't have far pokemon to trade.

Might be worth trading older pokemon for valuable pokemon too, for a higher lucky chance. FWIW we got 5/50 lucky, with all trades caught in 2018.
posted by randomnity at 7:18 AM on August 3, 2018


Ugh. A local friend who doesn’t play much wanted a good dog so I did a special trade of a super high IV poochyena. It was crap when they got it.
posted by tilde at 7:09 PM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


Ugh. A local friend who doesn’t play much wanted a good dog so I did a special trade of a super high IV poochyena. It was crap when they got it.

I was trading trash for distance when I got... a lucky Poochyena. I wish I could give it to your friend!

Other highlights include a lucky Rattata for my friend and a lucky Pidgey for myself. The dangers of trading random stuff for distance!
posted by PearlRose at 10:48 AM on August 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


My MeFi friends are getting me good distance trades! I didn't realize that I could trade a hatched 'mon from Tokyo, and it would count for distance. That's super cool.
posted by gladly at 2:55 PM on August 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


DM me if you need a friend code. The new req for special research asks you to make three new friends.
posted by tilde at 2:13 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thanks for all the continuing gifts! My partner has no friends; if you would like another, his code is 3940 0441 6965.
posted by BibiRose at 6:02 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


I can also provide friend codes by DM!
posted by roolya_boolya at 12:40 AM on August 21, 2018


The special research unlocked at 2100 here (that's the usual time for events to start/end)
But also raids stop spawning at 2100. So most people in the UK or further east will be delayed in completing task number 1.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:03 AM on August 21, 2018


I guess I never got around to giving out my friend code when the metatalk was open, but mine is 3294 8937 3444
posted by ckape at 2:35 PM on August 21, 2018


I also missed the boat in the initial metatalk thread for friend sharing, and now I need 3 friends to complete my special research! Mine code is 1741 4367 3855.
posted by joan cusack the second at 10:10 PM on August 21, 2018


I’m at 7469 3323 2266 for anyone who needs a friend!
posted by worstname at 10:24 AM on August 22, 2018


I've been travelling in England the last two weeks and I have to say I am impressed by the friendliness of PoGo players! I got to Regirock raids at hatch and looked for a circle of people with their phones out and this nearly always worked.

I even managed to make a few friends and was SO HAPPY that I could help a few people complete their collection of the first 151 with the Tauros I had stockpiled. Now to get rid of all these Mr. Mime....

Psssst you didn't hear it from me but if you're the type to keep your friends list small deleting and re-adding friends works. At least, it did two weeks ago. Your friendship will be the same as before the deletion.
posted by invokeuse at 6:41 PM on September 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


I love watching my friends list go on vacation! Suddenly I get postcards from a totally different place, and it's very cool.

I also discovered that you can lucky egg the XP from increasing friendships. I've got a few Ultra friends coming up, and I am ready to double that 50K.
posted by gladly at 8:22 AM on September 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


With this event I'm seeing and catching grimers and dratini in the wild for the first time in the two years or so I've been playing this game.
posted by ckape at 1:54 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


I got a dratini shiny from a raid finally
posted by tilde at 8:09 AM on September 21, 2018 [2 favorites]


I finally hatched a Kangaskhan recently, completing my Gen 1 Pokédex. I got it from an egg from one of the English friends I made while travelling, so I set it as my buddy with the nickname "Thanks ENG!" One of my English friends set the Tauros I had traded them as their buddy with the nickname "Thanks CAN!"

I've noticed a big resurgence in interest in the game; I know a few people who have come back to the game after setting it aside for a long time. Hooray!
posted by invokeuse at 8:18 PM on September 23, 2018


I had a friend come up to London from Brighton for community day, so we had a nice time wandering around catching stuff.

We did a MewTwo raid , which I managed to catch but my friends both missed, which was a shame because I had an Ex-Raid one whereas they did not.
Then we did some trading in a coffee shop, because they still had some 2016 pokemon and less than 10 luckies.

Then there was the intriguing ditto/nuthead mystery that happened straight after.

All in all, a lot of entertainment from a game that a year ago was a very different, much lesser game.

They're doing a great job adding features and events to keep everyone engaged.
Considering that on release there were no raids, no trades, no shinies or luckies, a far inferior gym system, no community days, no friends, no allolan eggs, no research tasks. (No berries even I think?)
It'll be interesting to see what the game is like in another 18 months.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:26 AM on September 24, 2018


I love the plethora of activities but am having to rein in my FOMO. I will probably miss community day next month, and that stings a bit because it's Beldum and people will certainly be out. On the other hand, there's always something else coming along.

Got my Mr. Mime finally, from an egg that came from Spain, so that has to be one of you guys. Thanks!
posted by BibiRose at 11:14 AM on September 25, 2018


In my neighborhood there is a vibrant Pokemon Go community, welcoming and diverse, but as of this past week, there is also a sociopathic killer. On Sunday morning last, a 73 year old man, not a pokemon trainer, was fatally shot in the head as he walked his dogs. The next day, after Shmini Atzeret services, a well known, liked, and admired trainer was likewise killed in a nearby park, presumably while playing the game. While the two murder victims are unrelated, both were slain by the same gun and likely the same killer. As a resident, this is deeply unsettling but as fellow player, who recognized him both IRL and in the game it is gutting.
The whole pokemon community continues to reel, somewhat, but the better minds in it organized a vigil, the night after Eliyahu was killed, yards away from the spot. It happens to be an Ex-eligible gym. This whole community knows it exactly.
The vigil is an awkward, beautiful thing. Red devotional candles burn, as Eliyahu was Team Valor, but in addition to the near hundred of pokemon community attending, there are another hundred more, who listen, somewhat bewildered, to the elegies of raiding, trading, and becoming"best friends" with someone just yesterday, and how there's now a gift they will never open.
I tried explaining this to aldermen and police adjacent people as I left the vigil, but there's this constant paradox: "so this is an online thing?" no, it's a layer on reality that is structured to get you out and about and requires interaction with other humans to do the most in the game.
That is why we know Eliyahu, that is why people love him and that is why every gym within a mile radius was valor, populated by togetic and togepi that night... and why to this day, all my local friends (40+ who have klicks to spare) are still, today, carrying togetic, with his name as the buddy name in memorium. This is what broke my heart, and why this virtual community is so much more vital than can really be enunciated. It was just beautiful, and uncoordinated and perfect. That tableau, of red gyms to the horizon, togepi in every one, is the image I want everyone reading this to internalize... that transition between real/AR and a game that requires you to acknowledge other humans, in addition to cartoon monsters, when all people can do is install the cartoon symbolizing compassion and friendship.
To anyone outside the game, it's too much to explain, but to any within it's just heartbreaking to see such a young, good soul lost to senseless homicide, and more heartbreaking still, to see a whole community of people who barely know each other, really, converge on symbolic cartoon monsters to try and say what they feel.
It's a very strange time, in my neighborhood. The normal mechanism of going out and raiding, fighting and catching is severely cramped by not wanting to be shot in the head by a determined sociopath. Likewise, if there's a gym that is still being defended by one of Eliyahu's pokemon, you can't take it down. Further complicating that is the fact that other people have his password and are playing with his account.
Finally, having to contend with the idea that someone might just shoot you in the head, if you're caught alone with them on the sidewalk at any hour of the day, is a real disincentive to ever leaving the house again, let alone play pokemon go, which, in the end, is utterly frivolous. As was seen at Eliyahu's vigil, however, this frivolousness is very meaningful for those friends you make along the way.
Therefore, we abide, keep our heads on a swivel, and keep on going.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:06 PM on October 6, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm also in the Chicago area, and a member of the Facebook group Chicago Pokemon Go - LEGIT NO SPOOF. I hope Eliyahu's family will find some of the response from that group-- songs written, group walks, donations made-- a comfort in the coming weeks. That's such an amazing collection of people that have formed over the past two years. I think they are really exceptional, but almost everywhere I go, players of this game seem to be remarkably welcoming.
posted by BibiRose at 6:45 AM on October 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


Thank you, Cold Lurkey, and BibiRose, for the touching tributes and telling us about your fallen comrade. I've been playing Pokemon Go since launch day, but I started really playing in earnest after my best friend moved to another state. It started as a way to fill a void, but I've met some really great people in my community through playing the game.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

.
posted by PearlRose at 6:53 AM on October 8, 2018 [2 favorites]


My condolences to Cold Lurkey, BibiRose, and the Chicago PoGo community. Eliyahu's story made it to our local Pokémon Go Facebook group a few days ago; a few people posted screenshots of Togepi nicknamed with his in-game name. I can imagine the type of player he was; we have those in my community, too. I know he will be missed.
posted by invokeuse at 9:15 AM on October 8, 2018 [3 favorites]


You all excited about this Community Day? I was just wandering around a bit and the game crashed a few times already.
posted by lauranesson at 4:24 PM on November 30, 2018


I'll be too busy today to catch the extra xp and stardust period. But I had a really nice time yesterday, briefly playing in a park and catching a Cresselia with people who stopped by and I wish I could be walking around one of the pokemon hubs doing a bunch of raids today. Events that are more diffuse than the regular community days are great for that.

Yes, more crashes and error messages than usual. Another reason I'm loving the three days to play with.
posted by BibiRose at 3:41 AM on December 1, 2018


It was really nice, the weekend CD, even though I'm kinda tired afterward now. I was able to evolve a couple of dratini, a few bulbasaurs, a surf pikachu (in a festive summer hat), and basically I felt like I caught up on some of the CDs I missed/underutilized back when I wasn't playing very much.

There was also the level up to 40 right before Thanksgiving, thanks to a very supportive community (and a whole lot of friendship bonuses, including a least a couple of you from this thread right here)!

Now I see that some of the PvP information has been released. I'm not terribly excited about it yet, but lots of others in my local community are, and it's fun seeing them get so geared up about it.
posted by PearlRose at 7:40 AM on December 4, 2018 [2 favorites]


Hung up my ballls after the fundraiser for Autism Speaks. Someone post if they ever change their tune and support actual useful charities and divorce themselves from AS completely and issue an apology to the community.
posted by tilde at 7:23 AM on December 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thanks, tilde, I hadn't heard about this. It's awful.
posted by BibiRose at 9:29 AM on December 11, 2018 [1 favorite]


Just out of curiosity, is color coördinating the defending pokemon a thing in your local gyms? Here in Chicago many trainers seem to place defenders in gyms based off the going color scheme of the existing pokemons, such that the gym will be all pink (most often, thanks blissy), blue or green pokemons (or others, it depends).
Is this done anywhere else?
posted by Cold Lurkey at 8:22 PM on May 20, 2019


Themed gyms are 100% a thing in my city. The popular ones here are Eevee-lutions, pink, and shinies.
It makes a nice change from the Blissey/Aggron/Slaking/Snorlaxgyms.
posted by invokeuse at 2:56 PM on May 22, 2019


I'm a fan of an eevee-lution gym. Especially now Glaceon and Leafeon are out.

I'm always annoyed when someone drops a blissey into the last slot of a nearly full eevee gym.

I've seen quite a few all pink ones, those are a bit less interesting because Blissey and Chansey are already the top 2 defenders so the folks who chuck a blissey into anywhere without thinking are less likely to spoil it.

I've occasionally seen an all shiny gym. But anything more complicated risks the theme not being evident.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:36 AM on May 23, 2019


Ah, I knew I forget one. Babies is also a relatively popular theme.

I also like the one where all the gym defenders have flying animations. I agree that it's not super obvious, but I call it "THE FLOOR IS LAVA" in my head.
posted by invokeuse at 7:25 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


Bumping because I just started playing -- I know, I know, but I only just now got a phone for job-hunting.

Anyone wanna friend up? 0209 4373 6012 ; playing as maisieblackcat.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:27 AM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]


Oh hello 2 new friends!

FWIW also for people who find this thread via search: the 2018 Pokemon Go MeTa has a lot of Mefites' friend codes, many of which are still valid and still actively playing.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:59 PM on July 13, 2019


Yes I am on the Pokemon go bandwagon as well. It's pretty fun and has definitely gotten me out more for walks. Glad to friend up with peeps, my name is jakethetabby and my code is 6173 5826 7186

What does it mean when one of your Pokemon has a blue aura around it?
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:39 PM on July 16, 2019 [1 favorite]


It means you caught it in the last 24 hours.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:42 AM on July 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


I never did get another 420 Drowzee, but I did get a 420 Slakoth, which is the second most stoned pokemon, so that's good. Also got a 666 Gastly.
posted by ckape at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2019 [2 favorites]


I'm quite liking these rocket stops.

It's nice to have a battle option with a reward for winning. I also like rescuing the poor shadow pokemon.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:17 AM on August 2, 2019


The gym closest to my apartment has disappeared. I can't really fault them, the mural it was supposed to represent has been gone for a while now. Still kind of annoying, and the first time I've actually noticed a location going away.
posted by ckape at 7:15 PM on August 2, 2019


I'm finding that the "recommended" battle groups for the Team Rocket stops are often *terrible*.

I suspect the trick to these is (a) learn to read the hints in the Grunts' taunts that tell you what class of Pokemon they're playing and (b) memorize what classes are most effective against them. This feels a bit too much like homework to me.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:15 AM on August 3, 2019 [1 favorite]


I am getting the same recommended pokemon for every Team Rocket fight. Looks like either it's picking strongest overall or strongest vs. Normal, which with my pokemon is pretty much the same thing.
posted by ckape at 10:02 AM on August 3, 2019


Is there any point in keeping the purified shadow Pokemon if they don't have high stats? Should they just go in the candy grinder like the rest of them?

memorize what classes are most effective against them

I have a browser tab permanently open on my phone to this page and just switch over to check if I can't remember.

I saw a Christmas-hat Pikachu the other day, not sure if it was a bug or it's just that time of year already...
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:34 AM on August 7, 2019


memorize what classes are most effective against them

Ah, now I see the problem - the team selection screen doesn't show types! So you have to look up the actual Pokemon's types as well as reference the matrix.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:41 AM on August 7, 2019


I saw a Christmas-hat Pikachu the other day, not sure if it was a bug or it's just that time of year already...

Party-hat Pikachus too.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:08 PM on August 7, 2019


And baseball-cap Pikachu. And tonight, witch-hat Pikachu. How many different hats are there?
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:58 PM on August 8, 2019


Christmas hat
Sun hat
Wide-brim sun hat + sunglasses
Ash's baseball cap
Witch hat
Party hat
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:19 AM on August 9, 2019 [1 favorite]


Just found a Detective Pikachu with deerstalker too.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:47 AM on August 23, 2019


Since the MeTa thread is dead do we post our trainer codes here?
posted by fiercekitten at 12:06 PM on September 2, 2019


Sure!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:31 AM on September 3, 2019


I get the feeling that the Team Rocket grunt who just challenged me to a fight while fielding a team of just magikarp is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
posted by ckape at 12:03 PM on September 15, 2019


"normal does not mean weak!"

oh, yeah.. wanna bet! Mr. Rocket grunt, as I prepare my maxxed out 100%IV machamp to stomp his rattatta.

Oh... a snorlax! Fair play Mr rocket grunt, fair play.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:45 AM on September 16, 2019


I wish I'd thought to start a Fanfare talk post before Go Fest started. I know some of you are still playing, because I got invited to a raid in Japan! (Not that I could do it since that feature isn't working.) I am still loving this game, especially with the concessions made for quarantine.
posted by gladly at 9:01 PM on July 25, 2020 [1 favorite]


So, after losing interest sometime in 2019 or so, all the cute bird pokemon have lured me back in. Of course, I still didn’t want to deal with my item and Pokémon hoarding problem that led to me losing interest so new account it is!
If you get a random friend request from BirbWatcher247, that’s me. 9588 4076 2530, if anyone wanders back in here at this late stage.
posted by ApathyGirl at 6:53 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


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