POKEMON GO's High Frustration Levels and Lack of Content Is Killing The Game

How & Why I have decided to mostly move on from Pokemon GO.

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I've hit the 25th level of game play in Pokemon Go. It was a goal. A goal in wish I had not made, because once I set my mind to it, I chase a goal until one of us dies from trying. And so I did. But those last few levels were a bitch. And now that I ONLY NEED 190,000 points to get to level 26, I'm kind of getting over it and starting to "adult" more these days.

The problems is two-fold.  Or three-fold.

One, the game seems rigged to direct you to want to buy the "Pokemon Go Plus" Bluetooth device. Buying this gets you things that should have readily been a part of the app already. Automatic Poke Stop spinning. Accurate distance tracking. Step counting (I think I read that someone said that), operate the game while the screen is off. And a few other things.

Never mind that consumers have already dropped around $75 MILLION to buy game coins so they can get more incense, lucky eggs, incubators or what not.

The second is things like throwing multiple "Great Balls" at a 33 CP Pikachu and watching it laugh them off and bolt on you. (F*! you Niantic)

But there's this huge lack of engaging content in the game where I have nothing more than three things to keep me engaged or challenged in the game. For mental stimulus in the game, as pointed out by Pokemon Go Hub, we have...

• Gym Battles (Which net you near to nothing in XP even when you do good)
• Evolving Pokemon. (Which is taking forever)
• Trying to Capture all 142 of the catchable Pokemon.

And now I have to try and accumulate 190k more points at 50-150pts an interaction to get to level 26??? H* F* N*! I have a life to lead! I have to "adult up!"

Pokemon Merchandise on Amazon

If at least I got more points for doing the same things at level 25 that I did at level 5, well, then maybe. But nope. Instead, I find myself putting in 5 miles to clock in 2 kilometers, and tossing 10 Poke Balls at 75 CP monsters that get away still. W.T.F.?

And from some data around the web, it looks like folks are bailing on the game at around the same time I am, as they hit around the 25th level, then realizing how futile the game has become for the casual player.

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Personal Tirade/Experiences About Pokemon Go:

After finally achieving level 25 in Pokémon GO, I can now let go and enjoy my life once again.

To be honest, the early stages of Pokemon Go was a fun distraction that later became a fixation of sorts until I achieved this crazy 25th level. And now that I ONLY have to get 190000 points to get to the next level, my adult brain kicked in and said, whoa, it took 150k points to get from 24 to 25 and that was exhausting. And like many that I know, the game, as we get up there in the levels, is becoming discouraging.

The game is feeling pretty fixed towards "inspiring" you to spend money. And while some could get caught up in this fascination, other users are going berserk and doing stupid things to capture the little digital pocket monsters.

Now I can relax and start treating Pokemon Go as an aside, when I happen to think about it.

But what won't I miss in the game?

Well, for starters I already gave the professor 90% of my monsters, including all my Evees, despite having enough candy to evolve two of them. I am only keeping my most capable fighters for those rare moments that I give a shit about tackling a gym. Which is less than once a day, as I'm allowed to.


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No More Pokemon Go Escape Artists

No longer will I experience pocket monsters hoping over my capture shots at the very last second, wasting more balls needlessly.

No longer will I watch 100-300 CP mons mysteriously defy my attempts to catch them.

No longer will I make wild mons more pissed off and harder to catch by tossing out razz berries.

And why, Niantic, are you so stingy with giving out Ultra Balls from Poke stops? They only seem to work half the time any way!

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Looking Sane Once Again

No longer will I look berserk zigzagging all over the park, chasing the phone that I'm holding out in front of me. (The locator has always been working in the Bay Area. That's the region they've been testing it in.)

And no longer will I be riding my bike, holding my phone in one hand while 'driving' my bike with the other. Nor will I miss riding 7 to 10 miles to hatch 5 Km eggs.

Nor will I miss how slow the dim/brighten feature (doesn't) work (s) on my phone while this app is running.

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You're Not Getting Me to Buy Plus Or Anything Else

My Poke Balls Get Mysteriously Wasted but now I will no longer experience those mysterious poke ball throws that go into orbit. From conversations, many of my friends are experiencing the same thing, wasting our gear on weird but consistent user experiences like this. Seems curious? Then again, a few facets of the game do.

No longer will I ponder why this app does not work with my screen off, like all other apps can. Or why it doesn't record distances accurately like every other app on my phone does.

No longer will I be asking myself why I have to manually tap an egg to hatch it, or have to manually interact with the store to collect my hard earned coin. No, those things should be automated. But they're not for some reason.

No longer will I ponder why the app does not record steps, or automatically spin poke stops for me.

The way the game is designed, dropping a dollar or two here and there definitely helps. But that's how they have made millions, ($75M) off of those tiny, incremental things consumers have purchased.

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Wishful, Intelligent Pokemon Go Suggestions

No longer will I wish that when I pop open a gym, that my inventory should be automatically sorted by CP. (I can't tell you how many 100 CP mons I've left at gyms because I'm on a train and only have a few seconds to throw the first mon I come across in the gym.)

Nor will I miss battling a gym, kicking its ass, and having some freeloader take the gym out from under me because the programming of the game is total bullshit and allows bystanders to reap the rewards of your battles. Nope, that's not going to bug me any more!

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Nah, now I can enjoy the game. It may take me forever to accumulate the 190k points to get to the next level. But now when a 75 CP mon runs away in a cloud of dust after several ball tosses, I laugh, calling it inventory control. And I'd say it happens more than half the time of all my encounters.

Now after multiple excellent and great shots right between the eyes with Great and Ultra balls, and the 150 CP monster still escapes, I can laugh, "knowing" that this won't drive me to buy gear.

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Pokemon Go Does Feel Fixed

The other day I threw 30 balls (all three varieties) and 20 razz berries at an 800 CP monster that walked away. It was that day I realized this game has a "fix" in it. I just did not know why until the PLUS device was announced. To me, why not walk away after a shot or two? Or why jump over my shot at the very last split-second? Or why resist multiple excellent hits, after razz berries?

Now that I am semi-retired from the game I can join my dozen or so other "adult" friends who are only turning Pokémon GO on casually, to accumulate distance on eggs, and nothing more. Some are saying they're now sick of the game and they're done with it.

For me, it's once again nice to check email, listen to my music or read a Kindle book on my train public commute instead of trying to be tricky and tag poke stops that whiz by, just for poke ball supplies or mere 50 XP more.

It's nice to not burn through my battery in half the time it might take all my other apps combined.

It's nice not spending my last waking moments each day calculating out what to evolve and when. Hell, now I catch, appraise and release back to the professor.

Nah, it's nice to "adult up" once again with music, email and Facebook.

I'm not totally off this addiction. I'll be hatching eggs and leading off my capture attempts with Ultra balls,  because if an Ultra won't do the trick, there's no use wasting time and battery on mons, that by design, do not appear to be catchable.

And I still have my power-hitters like my Snorlax (2172), Vaporean (1938), Lapras (1918), Exeggutor (1906), Arcanine (1882), Snorlax (1744), and others. I'm keeping those!  I ain't no fool!!!

Nah, today I'm adding productivity back into my life while I like and hate cute and horrible things on Facebook.  LOL.

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wwg: plus-measures-distance-in-the-background

pokemongohub: pokemon-go-lack-of-content

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