Weird. I logout and back in all the time. When I sign out I tap the Google button and type whatever google account I want to log into. My daughter has her own account that she plays on my phone so we switch off and on.
Is it just me or does anyone think that in the meeting for this update they said "well how do we fix this footstep problem?" And somebody came out with the amazing idea "hey I know lets just remove the footsteps!" Genius idea seriously.
I could not care less about the footsteps. There's an enouncement when the game starts up about trespassing and most of the articles where people complain about Pokemon players revolve around them weaving around in one general area, eyes fixed on their phones. That's fine in a big open park, but otherwise, the haters have a point. I play to cover distance and am usually just holding my phone, only looking periodically in response to vibrations and swiping pokestops. So, the removal of the battery saver is the big deal. I can't walk three hours at a time with the game open without it. It kills the physical activity aspect.
When the game first released and had semi-working tracking, I played mostly by walking around on my own or with a friend and trying to track Pokemon. When the tracking broke, I realized it makes more sense to hang out in crowded areas like Central Park, because it means there are a ton of eyes in the area to spot a rare Pokemon. If their goal is to break up those huge groups, this is not how to do it.
It's more a matter of disruptive pedestrian habits like abrupt stopping, change of direction, entering office building lobbies, walking into people. That's all derivative of knowing what direction a Pokemon is in and acting on that knowledge. A big park group is different; that's not a problem. Also, I'm not saying it was that big a problem and I'd use the feature to a responsible extent if it came back, just seems like a douchey thing to be that sad about losing. It's like if they took teabagging out of a FPS. And it obfuscates the much bigger issue of the battery saver, which affects players who are actually alert to the world around them.
I'd argue that it's silly to even have a list of nearby Pokemon if the game doesn't give you any way to figure out where they are. They disappear after 15 min. How are you possibly going to find them without a group of other players? Yes, you can get lucky that you happen to walk in the right direction, but that would have happened whether you saw it on the list or not. I would think a single person walking around tracking a Pokemon would be less disruptive than a whole group of people running around the same area without any idea where to look. And I don't think the cops are too thrilled with the huge groups hanging around the park 24/7. But this is the only way to play now. I don't see how it's a douchey thing to be upset about losing it. At least when the tracking sites still worked, there was an alternative besides seeing a rare Pokemon show up and being f**k I'll never find that. I have very few Charmanders (and neither evolution yet). Saw one show up in my nearby list, but didn't even bother trying to look for it. It's not worth the frustration.
You really don't seem to get it. If you're looking for a specific, rare Pokemon, and it appears on your nearby page, there is now no way to track and find it, which removes a key component of gameplay. If you are happy to walk aimlessly and catch pidgeys, good for you, but don't relate people wanting to be able to effectively capture Pokemon (without the use of 3rd party websites) to teabagging. That really makes no sense.
Royce, you might appreciate this little video I made with the help of Weepinbell. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
I'd agree with your argument. Even when it worked though, it wasn't very useful. It's like training wheels that don't support actual weight. Forget the ring; the Schwartz is in you. You're supposed to travel and play the odds or go the social route and trip over your friends in the park. Groups of people aren't what non-players are complaining about; stop bring up how hypothetically disruptive that would be. It is irrelevant. What's douchey is that it detracts from conversation about the battery saver which worked and didn't have a downside. It only doesn't matter to people who constantly stare at their phones, walk into people, etc. I.E. The players that bug people. So yeah, it's putting the teabagging above the gameplay and it's lame to focus on it.
I get it, but I have a different opinion on how well that feature ever worked. Besides, the feature didn't work before or after this update. In contrast, people taking an athletic approach to the game actually lost something more than a feature that already didn't work.
The battery had a down side. Since the previous update, it constantly froze the game. I think it's also arguable how much of a battery saver it was on iOS. If they couldn't make it work properly, I'm imagining that's why they got rid of it. Claiming battery saver is more important than the tracker is a really weird argument. Both losses suck -- I used both -- but one affects battery while the other affects the entire experience. And the tracker at least had an alternative until now. Everyone would be less upset about the in-game tracking being removed if they let the websites continue. And are you really telling me that you never look at your phone while walking? The only way you play is with the game in your pocket and then you pull it out, move politely to the side to catch a Pokemon, then put it back in your pocket until it buzzes again?
It caused the game to freeze up and crash for many people which is why it was removed. I would assume it is temporary while they figure out how to make it work better but who knows considering the way they've handled things so far.
The saver never froze the game for me. If it did, I simply would not use it. Removing it doesn't improve anything. Look, forget about whether or not I ever found the stupid tracker useful or about how you're never far from a power source. It didn't work before or after this update so you stare-at-phone people lost nothing, period. The saver is a loss for every highly mobile player who could live with the crashes or didn't have them. It was a toggle anyway.
