Tag: Niantic Labs

[Victoria, BC] Pokémon Go “3rd Saturday” Event To Expand Next Month

pokemon

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Approximately 130 people attended Fev Games‘ and Vancouver Island Pokémon Go Syndicate‘s “Third Saturday” event at Beacon Hill Park in the City of Victoria, British Columbia, on August 20th. This city was one of six selected to test the waters for a regular event for enthusiasts of this mobile game to engage in and players of various experience levels arrived to test their mettle. This product swept parts of the world by storm, and in who showed up, the hardcore was here trying to catch them all. Another hotspot had its casual players mulling about but for those who want to see their hometown shine, they were at this nesting zone for waterfowl and Pokémon alike.

Other cities included Chicago, Illinois; Melbourne, Australia; Ottawa, Ontario; Riverside, California and Townsville, Australia. The Press Enterprise reported online that “more than 1,200 players took to the streets near City Hall” in Riverside and numbers will no doubt vary, depending on the size of a city’s population.

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Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals — Don’t Poké Park and Drive

pokemonBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

One of the many purposes of Pokémon Go is to get players out of the house, enjoy the weather and make new friends. The release of this game could not be any better. It arrived in the dog days of summer and for the most part, fans of this game have come out of their shelters to enjoy this product. One issue that bugs me are those who behave like Kakunas — they lock themselves in their vehicle and play the game there during the evening hours. I think there’s something wrong with those folks. Chances are hit and miss to chat with those walking around (I’ve seen some wearing headphones, indicating they want to tune out the real world), but for the most part, everyone has been friendly — even during Poké Gym battles.

In the past two weeks, I’ve literally knocked at the window of those players’ vehicles (thankfully they were parked safely on the side of the street) and said hi. A few are surprised by my move — especially when they are playing beside my home next to a park, where a Poké Gym is — and at other places, it’s all about fellow gamers chillin’ and having a good time. Up on Mt. Tolmie, we tried to figure out where that Charizard appeared for one player. Either he had an incense going or that was pure luck. That group also set up the lure there, so I went to do the friendly thing and thanked them.

I’m just a player who wants to socialize and not hide behind a screen. Some gamers do enough of that at home with certain video games, and this habit should not be repeated outdoors.

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Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals — What Needs to Be Fixed and How I think It Should Be Done

maxresdefaultBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

I have been playing Pokémon GO for more than two weeks now, and I really have to curb my appetite to catch them all. After filling the Pokedex with a little more than half of the known original 150 pocket monsters, the effort to find and catalogue the rest can fall into any of three options:

a) Simply evolving the set I have now by farming the locally known hotspots of specific Pokémon.
b) Wait for a working minimalist radar to at least point me in the right direction when I’m nearby and the game is running.
c) Travelling off island or venturing into territory to find the elusive types.

The latter is not likely to happen because I do not travel that much. For me, do I really want to be the next Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter or great Detective Holmes? Receiving a clue is needed to at least point me in the right direction. I like to know what I’m encountering and if its close or nearby by 15 feet or 30. Yes, I miss the feature that worked for beta testers and like everyone else, do not like how the feature works now. I feel like I’ve been bitten by an Arbok. Not everyone was enthused at the various changes in the latest update. The only good thing I thought was a change of Pokémon spawning pits.

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