It is no coincidence that Pokémon GO is doing quite well right now. The developers at Niantic are really stepping up and polishing the game to a shine.
Our author Patrick believes that Pokémon GO has evolved significantly. Initially just a game plagued with many problems, the developers have now made important adjustments. You can see what changes have improved Pokémon GO here.
Pokémon GO had to initiate rescue measures
Before Pokémon GO was released in early July 2016, no one could have predicted the incredible hype it would generate. Masses of players were practically catapulted onto the streets. Everywhere you looked, you saw people of all ages walking through the streets staring at their smartphones – like zombies. Just nicer.
Problems caused frustration: Just a few days after launch, it became clear that the developers at Niantic were overwhelmed with managing the masses of Pokémon trainers. Crashes, login problems, lags, and error messages were the norm, not the exception. This led to players quickly stopping playing Pokémon GO.
The frustration regarding the game not running smoothly and not meeting player expectations was simply too great.
Google interest in the release month: Shortly after release, interest waned rapidly by the end of July 2016. This is clearly visible in Google’s interest:
Google interest after new features: Since March 2018, interest in Pokémon GO has remarkably increased again. This is due to several new features in Pokémon GO and actions initiated by the Pokémon GO team. Interest on Google is rising sharply once more, but it is still far from the highs of 2016. Specifically, in March 2018, the research (quests) began in Pokémon GO. In the graph, you can see how interest suddenly spiked after the announcement of the quests.
We will shed light on what the increased interest among gamers is attributed to in this article.
New features that Pokémon GO so badly needed
Why new features took so long: In the first weeks and months after the release of Pokémon GO, the developers had to focus on existing issues. They needed larger servers capable of handling the number of players. Bugs had to be fixed. The small team at Niantic had little time to look for new features.
Raids were the first important sign: In the summer of 2017, a fresh wind blew through the arenas of Pokémon GO. Revamped gym battles and raids have now become a permanent part of Pokémon GO. In raids, players come together as groups and fight even legendary bosses. As a reward, they receive experience points, items, stardust, and the chance to catch these powerful gym bosses and add them to their collection.
Rare Mewtwo in special raids: In EX-Raids, players could face Mewtwo. But only if they were invited. You qualify for this by participating in raids. Another incentive for trainers to regularly utilize the new raid feature. Now the Pokémon Deoxys in EX-Raids. It replaced Mewtwo after a year.
In 2018, Niantic increased the pace and volume of new features – Now Pokémon GO was taken to the next level. Compared to the launch in 2016, Pokémon GO currently offers much more entertainment for players. If you return to 2016 now, you will experience a completely new, much better Pokémon GO. Nevertheless, it is not perfect.
Community Days – Super Incentive once a month
In January 2018, Niantic unexpectedly announced the Community Days.
What is it? A Community Day in Pokémon GO is an event where a special Pokémon appears more frequently worldwide for a few hours. If you catch the special Pokémon of the event during this Community Day, it can learn a special attack, or its evolution can learn one. Additionally, XP, candy, or stardust bonuses are activated. There is also a chance to catch the shiny variant of this Pokémon during the event.
How has it helped Pokémon GO? These Community Days are, as the name suggests, an important aid in supporting the communities. This greatly helps Pokémon GO because when players meet other trainers at such an event and form friendships, they are instantly more motivated to play together more often.
Additionally, Niantic lures players with sometimes rare Pokémon that can even appear in their shiny form. Although such an event usually lasts only 3 hours, it is an incentive for players every month to go outside and hunt with other trainers.
In January 2019, the Community Day starts with this Pokémon and these bonuses.
Regularly new shinies in Pokémon GO
What is that? Shinies are the glittering forms of Pokémon. They differ visually from the normal forms and are therefore attractive to collectors.
How has Pokémon GO helped? The regular release of these shinies is important for Pokémon GO. These rare monsters enhance events and are a strong incentive for some trainers to play for several hours and go shin hunting. With this probability, you can get shinies in Pokémon GO.
Update for EX-Raids that finally welcome more players
The EX-Raids were particularly criticized in the early days. In these special raids, trainers are invited to battle against special monsters that can only be found in these fights. They are exclusive there. However, it didn’t go smoothly at first; only extremely few trainers were selected, which is why Niantic released an EX-Raid update.
What is that? The EX-Raid update improved the selection of trainers and gyms approved for EX-Raids. This led to more trainers being invited to EX-Raids.
How has it helped Pokémon GO? Through the changes, the quality of these battles improved because trainers with a high arena rank were preferentially invited. The chances of a win against Mewtwo increased, meaning more trainers got a chance to add this rare monster to their collection. The atmosphere in the community improved. Even if EX-Raids are canceled, players can be pleased.
Research – Quests – Something everyone has been waiting for
Since March 2018, Pokémon GO has featured special research projects that reward trainers with items or Pokémon encounters.
What is that? The research projects can also be described as “quests”. These are tasks you can collect at PokéStops. They assign short missions like “Hatch 1 Egg” or “Battle in a Raid”. If you complete the task, you receive Poké Balls, revives, potions, or encounters with Pokémon. You can solve as many tasks per day as you like.
You get a stamp for this once a day. After you have collected 7 stamps, you get a research breakthrough that rewards you with a rare Pokémon. And these can even be legendary.
Special quests for Mew and Celebi: The special researches are another part of the new quests and are the same for all trainers. They are divided into several chapters. Some tasks are harder than the field researches, but they also reward you with very special Pokémon. For example, you can catch Mew, Celebi or catch Meltan.
How has it helped Pokémon GO? These quests were extremely important for Pokémon GO. The incentive to play daily was hardly present before. The 7-day bonuses for spinning PokéStops or catching Pokémon had become irrelevant over time. Trainers had long had enough of the evolution items. The new research breakthroughs reward trainers with legendary Pokémon like Entei and give trainers reasons to regularly complete the quests.
This quest system has given players new incentives to log in daily and earn at least one research stamp. The tasks are often linked to other activities like raids or gym battles. This keeps players motivated and may lead them to start a longer session instead of just quickly completing the task and ending Pokémon GO. This variety was sorely needed by Pokémon GO – players gratefully accept it.
Summer Tour 2018 – Many Events and Team Tasks
Summer is the most important season for Pokémon GO, as high temperatures easily lure people outside. If interesting Pokémon events are also taking place in the real world, it is a good combination.
What is it? The Summer Tour is a combination of 3 real-life events linked to a global catch challenge. Events took place in Dortmund, Chicago, and Yokosuka. The events occurred on different days with several weeks in between. They attracted visitors with a huge community and special Pokémon on site.
Trainers who could not travel to the events also had the chance to participate in the global catch challenge. This would unlock EXP, candy, and stardust bonuses. Together, they worked towards the Ultra Bonus.
How has it helped Pokémon GO? The events attracted players with rare Pokémon and special bonuses. For many, it was not just “any event” in the summer, but finally an incentive to travel to a large meeting with many trainers.
Numbers show that the Summer Tour 2018 was truly successful. The Safari Zone in Dortmund, the GO Fest in Chicago, and the Safari Zone in Yokosuka attracted a total of about 400,000 players. From May 2018 to September 2018, the player base increased by 35%, Niantic reported.
The Summer Tour was an event for many trainers that strengthened the bond of the community. Together, they completed many field tasks and fought with the entire community to unlock all bonuses. In the end, there was a happy ending – A huge Ultra Bonus was unlocked.
Gifts, Friends for the social component
What is it? With the friends feature, there is now finally an improved “togetherness” for Pokémon trainers. Before this feature was unlocked, they could team up outside of Pokémon GO, but had nothing in the game. Now players have friend codes in Pokémon GO that they can exchange with others. After this, players are on a friends list.
You can send gifts to players on this friends list that you receive by spinning PokéStops. This allows you to send a friend a gift daily, containing items ranging from Poké Balls to stardust to 7 km eggs.
How has it helped Pokémon GO?
A friends feature was important for Pokémon GO so that the sense of community with friends arises in the game. And not only during raids. The different levels of friends gradually unlock bonuses that help players in battles.
Players in rural areas particularly appreciate the gifts feature. If they had few PokéStops and gyms there, they struggled to obtain items like Poké Balls or Potions. Now, with gifts from friends, they have easier access to the coveted items in Pokémon GO.
Events becoming more regular
What is it? In the early days of Pokémon GO, events were still a rarity. Early trainers may remember when the first event in Pokémon GO started during Halloween 2016. Double experience points and stardust made such ingame events appealing to trainers. Since then, Niantic has ramped up and started such events more regularly.
How has it helped Pokémon GO? The frequent events are healthy for Pokémon GO, as players repeatedly receive new incentives to log in and play. Niantic also tailors some events to a specific target group. For example, in the summer of 2018, this event attracted many new players to Pokémon GO.
Finally PvP – Battles between players
What is it? The most significant recent change in Pokémon GO is the PvP system. These are trainer battles where players can battle against other players or the team leaders in Pokémon battles. Players have desired such a PvP (Player vs. Player) system since the start of Pokémon GO. Finally, in December 2018, the feature was unlocked in Pokémon GO.
How has it helped Pokémon GO? Many players missed battling against other trainers. Now they have an additional reason to play daily and earn these rewards in PvP. It has helped the game that Niantic showed they listen to the community. Even if it took a long time, players can finally battle against other “real” opponents instead of just attacking raid bosses or gym defenders.
Conclusion: Record year 2018 – Top numbers
In summary, 2018 was a record year for Niantic and Pokémon GO and its community. Many innovations were introduced that greatly benefited Pokémon GO. The game became more popular among many trainers in the community.
The quest feature and the friends function elevated Pokémon GO to the next level. Trainers see even more potential in these features and hope they will receive even more love from the developers in the future.
If Niantic continues in 2019 with this momentum and comes up with more exciting things, an exciting year awaits us.
What was your highlight from Pokémon GO in 2018?
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