By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
There is one aspect of the mentality of how Pokémon GO gamers (those who insist they do not want to spend money to buy coins in the game) play that I do not fully understand. While I get the idea behind driving to a new part of town to see what’s there to capture / find nesting grounds of other pocket monsters, when return trips are needed, that’s because the pickings are very good. Both are good reasons for investment in fuel (and less about time) well spent.
As for heading out to find out-of-the-way Poké Gyms to take down and power up for their respective teams is just odd. To drive around half the city to find such places costs more money in gas than money invested in the game just for a paltry 100 coin limit per day — especially if those gyms get taken down within 20 hours instead of sit for a few days. When the odds of those places being able to last for weeks, if not days, are variable for each location, is the time spent searching for them in a medium-sized town even worth it?
If a gym holds for more than two weeks, sure. When looking at the math: $20 in gas is enough to cover a reasonable area to locate and hit gyms. If the same amount was simply put straight in the game to buy those incubators, lures or whatever, I’m sure less money can be spent in total (after factoring in gas expenses). The screenshot (pictured right) of the purchase price will not doubt equal a partial or full tank of gas, depending on the mode of transportation used.
In order to obtain 1200 coins in the same length of time, ten gyms need to be occupied and held for 12 weeks. If real money gets invested instead, the cost is far cheaper than to run around after spending $50 for a full tank of gas (which can net 5200 and a bunch of incubators/lures) that may only last for a week just to keep those gyms constantly reinforced or defended against aggressors. For those mid-level players, I’ve been following the boards and see many saying fighting at rival gyms are not worth the effort.
To see more players in their cars to play this game, especially in this colder season, is to be expected. I really do not approve of this tactic. Those who are out to cover as much of their hometown as possible with their top twenty best pocket monsters is hardly commendable. There’s a handful who are out daily and I’m asking why? Is this game so good they must bank about much candy to power-up their little monsters? To echo William Shatner in that famous Saturday Night Live sketch about those Trekkies: Get a life! (and I’m not going to backpedal, because in that skit Shatner was reminded by the convention boss he was ‘contractually’ obligated to appease the fans)
