Monday, August 29, 2016

Pokemon Go at Level 10

This post has been updated.

I didn't play Niantic's previous game, Ingress. I haven't played much Pokemon either, probably spent the most time with Emerald. Most importantly, I didn't start playing Pokemon Go until August 12th, more than five weeks after launch.

I'm seeing a different game than early adopters did — I'm level 10, but gyms are controlled by people in the level 20-30 range. Fighting over gyms is an important part of the game, but I'm unlikely to catch up with the leading edge of players, especially without paying to win.

Despite fighting's importance, it has implementation problems that push me away from it. With no Pokemon Centers to heal pokemon for free, expendable potions are the only means of healing — discouraging risky fighting. The pace of fights is such that I don't always have as much time as I would like to consider and execute my next move, especially when switching pokemon. There's no quick reference for which types are strong against others.

Players in Pokemon games have been pokemon trainers, but with Pokemon Go, I'm hearing people talk about being pokemon hunters. A lot of the training aspects are gone — you don't control which moves a pokemon learns, you don't see useful pokemon stats directly, you don't breed pokemon, and you have less power over when pokemon can evolve or level up (CP+ in Go terms). With fighting also difficult to get into, that leaves catching pokemon.

Catching pokemon is the most important source of experience points, which level up the player rather than their pokemon. Player level determines the range of pokemon that can be randomly encountered. Catching a new kind of pokemon gives a lot of experience, but if your level is low you're not eligible to find most pokemon.

The game's biggest problem is that unlike previous Pokemon games, where I can go particular places to have a better chance of catching particular pokemon, in Go I'm stuck with what the servers and my level agree on. A trip to a new zone for a pokemon I haven't got yet won't make a difference. Niantic even suppresses attempts to map where pokemon are at the moment. (And I'm surprised they don't offer a first-party map of stops and gyms.)

Introducing zones sounds good, and it would add depth to the catching-centric "pokemon hunter" aspect of the game, but it would be a problem for players whose ability to go from zone to zone is limited. A kid who can only play in the local park would be out of luck trying to get other pokemon. Maybe the solution is items that selectively alter encounter rates, like an incense variant that boosts one type only.

Pokestops are boring and often unhelpful; gyms are interesting and varied, but effectively closed off. Pokestops could be reinvented as micro-gyms, guarded by the last victorious pokemon, but limited by a "weight class" that serves as an upper bound on the CP of challenging pokemon, perhaps leagues of <100, <500, and <1000. This would breathe life into the game for players below the levels dominant at gyms.

More interaction between trainers would be nice. I'd like to be able to challenge other players directly, without the need for gyms. The ability to trade items and pokemon would also be welcome. But I suspect that player interaction is limited by design due to the general idea of "stranger danger" that influences games with an intended audience that includes young children.

Ultimately I'm not the person they're designing for. Every free to play/pay to win game has two audiences, the F2P and the P2W. Since revenue comes from the P2Ws, milking them will always come before improving the F2P experience. These doldrum levels locked out of the meat of the game may be a deliberate attempt to frustrate newcomers, goading them into either quitting or paying.

No comments:

Post a Comment