What do visitors say about the Pokémon GO Safari Zone in Dortmund? There were many problems, but also good solutions from Niantic.
The Safari Zone: Last weekend, the Safari Zone took place in Pokémon GO. Niantic chose Westfalenpark in Dortmund as the venue. However, activities around the park also took place for the event. Rare Pokémon, which normally do not appear in Germany, made a special appearance over the weekend. This attracted thousands of trainers from all over the world.
Problems: On the first day of the event, problems arose quickly. Server overloads and mobile network breakdowns caused frustration among players. The issues persisted until late Saturday afternoon. During that time, playing was impossible for most trainers in the park.
Nevertheless, positive reports: Many trainers draw their conclusions from the problems and evaluate the event negatively. Others, however, praise how Niantic dealt with the issues and state that they still had a great weekend.
The problems of the Safari Zone in Dortmund
Many players in Dortmund: Shortly before the start of the Safari Zone, Niantic CEO John Hanke posted a photo on Twitter showing the queue before the event.
The problems started early: At 9:00 a.m. the Safari Zone started and about 1.5 hours later, the problems began. “Game data cannot be retrieved from the server” was the message on the smartphones of many Pokémon trainers in Westfalenpark. Niantic quickly tried to address the issues and kept trainers informed via social media.
Apps crashed: Eventually, trainers were warned not to use the item “Incense”. Using it could lead to trainers being temporarily banned from the game.
Frustrated trainers: Many trainers in Dortmund were annoyed by these problems. They traveled hundreds of kilometers for this special event. They wanted to catch rare Pokémon that are usually not found in Germany. When it became impossible to play in the park, they were upset.
Niantic quickly had solutions
Niantic was also aware of the frustrated trainers. After all, it was not in the developers’ interests to present players with a negative experience.
More monsters in the city: Since the reception in Westfalenpark had mostly collapsed, an alternative was needed. Niantic therefore quickly increased the spawns of rare monsters outside of Westfalenpark. This was around 11:30 a.m. – approximately one hour after the problems began.
Also special eggs in the area: The special 2KM eggs that were supposed to be available in Westfalenpark now also appeared from PokéStops in the surrounding area of the park. Niantic’s team therefore tried to offer trainers the most important things that brought them to the event in the first place: special Pokémon and a great group experience.
As the screenshot from trainer Derausmwaldkam shows, there were many special monsters to catch in the City Center of Dortmund:
Day 2 went without problems
Niantic followed up: At the end of the first day of the Safari Zone, Niantic explained that they would now pay close attention to ensuring that the second day went smoothly. And that was indeed the case. The server issues from the previous day did not occur and players could comfortably play. Also, many chose to head to the city and avoid the park due to the mess.
Event as compensation
Europe-wide event coming: On Twitter, the Pokémon GO team announced that a Europe-wide event will start during the week. This can be seen as an apology for the problems at the Safari Zone. Detailed information should follow soon.
This type of compensation pleases many trainers. Although it is still unclear what the rewards or bonuses will be.
What visitors say
What is the mood in the community now? There are now many players in the community who are annoyed because of the issues in Dortmund. Many remember the GO Fest from 2017, which became a legendary mess. They accuse Niantic of not learning from their mistakes.
Others are still satisfied: Despite the many problems, trainers are happy to have been part of this event. They were pleased that Niantic “outsourced” the monsters and were able to continue enjoying their event. We summarize the comments from social media for you here.
Positive voices from the community:
- Things didn’t go well in the park at first, but in the city center, it went great
- It was nice to see so many Pokémon players at one event
- Sunday everything was fine, which comforted over the problems on Saturday
- Great weather created a good atmosphere
- The park was beautiful, and there was plenty to see besides Pokémon
Negative voices from the community:
- Frustration because the event on Saturday did not meet expectations
- For some trainers, it was the last event; they are disappointed
- Saturday was a disaster
- There are now negative outlooks for the GO Fest in July. Similar problems are expected
Pictures and videos of the Safari Zone
Were you present at the Safari Zone in Dortmund? What are your experiences?
Next, expect many bonus XP and the Articuno Day in Pokémon GO!
