Furthermore, Pokémon GO is currently struggling with several bugs, which Daniel Schilling also addresses in his Twitter post:
The only somewhat authentic tool for communication – the developer diary – is now being used as Campfire marketing with delays since June and has now been completely forgotten. Shinies are regularly disabled, regional Pokémon are missing, stickers for Kapuno and the Season of Light are gone.
Daniel Schilling via twitter.com
Recently, there have been frequent instances where announced content is either missing or has been delayed in the game, such as regional Pokémon and shinies, the developer diary, which was supposed to be released monthly according to Pokémon GO, but also special event stickers (via pokemongolive.com).
The stickers for the current Season of Light, which started on September 1st, were supposed to be available as usual in gifts or by spinning PokéStops for free.
However, as trainers have now communicated under the event announcement from Pokémon GO on Twitter, these stickers are still not available there, but can only be purchased for a fee in the in-game shop.
And even for the start of the Psychic Spectacle, players in the first time zones, such as New Zealand, were at a disadvantage because, as evidenced by a Reddit post from finchyNZ, the announced Mega-Alakazam in the mega raids was activated only with a few hours delay.
Last-minute event and raid announcements
Moreover, Niantic has been significantly delayed with event announcements and new raid bosses in recent weeks. Today, on September 13, 2022, at 10:00 AM local time, two new Ultra Beasts have entered the Level 5 raids.
Although the new raid bosses had already been suspected through the findings of the PokeMiners, a group of data miners, the official announcement from Pokémon GO on Twitter only came on the night of September 13, after they had already been active in the first time zones.
Many players, such as user dm_stp under Pokémon GO’s official Twitter post, have expressed a desire for better transparency (via twitter.com): “If you wanted to surprise us with the next raid bosses, you should have at least made small hints in the past few days, maybe even some of those cool found-footage videos to let us know you have something planned…”
These late announcements have also been increasingly observed by Spieletrend in recent weeks, and he sees it not as a deliberate surprise effect but rather evidence of the developers being overwhelmed, as he explains in his post:
Raids and events are not announced until the very last moment. And don’t get me wrong, the surprise effect can be fun, and I have nothing against that. But it currently does not seem like an intentional surprise.
Clearly, Niantic is currently maximally overwhelmed. As a community, we would surely be more lenient with all these bugs if there was communication about what is going on. However, it seems that not much has changed since the ban of a former official Niantic partner.
Daniel Schilling via twitter.com
Do you agree with Spieletrend’s harsh criticism?
We at MeinMMO also want to know your opinion on this. Do you agree with the harsh criticism from Daniel “Spieletrend” Schilling and parts of the community, or do you see no problems in the current handling of players?
Please feel free to participate anonymously in our following survey:
What do other trainers think about the current situation?
Looking at the likes and comments under Schilling’s Twitter post, it quickly becomes clear that he seems to speak for many players with his harsh criticism. The international posts from the Reddit community reflect this picture as well.
Many trainers are also frustrated with the ongoing bugs in the GO Battle League, which, as a video from a participant shows, did not spare the Pokémon World Championship and caused issues there.
Moreover, the announcement of various new games by Niantic, such as the basketball game NBA World, is also a red flag for many in this context. Some also find it incomprehensible why 8% of Niantic’s employees were laid off in June 2022 amidst these ongoing problems. Therefore, Twitter user jmeier92 sarcastically comments:
Why there are indeed so many problems in the game right now and why Niantic is increasingly changing the contents of the boxes cannot be said. However, the posts from Spieletrend and other trainers show that the current situation in the game is causing significant frustration.
Whether Niantic will address this officially, as it did last year, and make concessions in the interest of the community remains to be seen. If there is new information on this, you will definitely hear about it from us at MeinMMO.
What is your opinion on the current approach in the game? Do you also find that the constant changes are unacceptable and hope for more communication from the developers? Or do you see it all as just hot air and cannot understand the criticism at all? Let us know here at MeinMMO in the comments and discuss with other trainers.
The criticism raised by Spieletrend is, however, not the only issue in the Pokémon GO community. Niantic shows the breakthroughs for the upcoming months, and trainers ask: “Why am I doing this at all?”
The YouTuber Spieletrend has spoken out on social media regarding the current situation in Pokémon GO and speaks to the soul of many players with his harsh criticism. We at MeinMMO have looked into what it is all about and want to know your opinion on the topic.
What is happening in Pokémon GO right now? Niantic is currently facing significant backlash from social media, as the criticism of the current situation and allegations regarding their handling of Pokémon GO trainers seem never-ending.
After the contents of the weekly boxes in Pokémon GO have changed significantly over the past months and have become less interesting for many trainers, Niantic ultimately removed the 1-Coin box completely from the game two weeks ago.
But that was not the only change that negatively affected the trainers’ mood. The German-speaking YouTuber Daniel “Spieletrend” Schilling expressed himself in his Twitter post from September 12, 2022, regarding the current developments in the game, not holding back his words.
Spieletrend, whose real name is Daniel Schilling, is the most successful German-speaking Pokémon GO YouTuber. He was briefly employed as a “sponsored content creator” for Niantic but ended his partnership in July 2021 due to the support’s handling of a prior ban.
“This is what I feared back during #HearUsNiantic”
What does Schilling criticize? As can be seen from his current Twitter post, Spieletrend is mainly frustrated with the poor communication between Niantic and the players. Back in 2021, there was a large campaign called “HearUsNiantic”, where trainers demanded more acknowledgment from the developers.
The trigger for this was the planned removal of the home bonuses introduced during the Corona pandemic and a related deterioration in the reach to PokéStops and gyms. Niantic finally conceded to the community’s pressure and kept the increased reach permanently. Additionally, the developers now assured players that they would also improve communication.
However, there has been relatively little evidence of this in Pokémon GO in recent weeks. Initially, there were regular short updates in the form of developer diaries that were supposed to give players some insight into Niantic’s work, but it has become quieter again. Schilling agrees.
He feels that with #HearUsNiantic, it was all just about the reach of PokéStops and gyms, and no one is talking about any other concessions anymore. One can read the following on Twitter:
Trainers find “Boxes contradict Niantic’s philosophy”
Critique of the boxes: The lack of communication is not the only thing causing tension between the developers and the community. The constant, sometimes secretive changes in the game consistently frustrate players.
Besides the weekly box, which Niantic removed from the shop without any further statement, in recent days the contents of the other boxes have also been quietly changed, and interesting items like raid passes or incubators have been replaced with less interesting balls, making them no longer worth the investment in the eyes of many players.
Schilling also criticizes this and writes in his post:
Boxes switch anonymously multiple times a week between junk and trash, raid boxes are randomly removed right before raid days, treating paying customers as brazenly as lab rats, trying to mislead with bizarre prices.
Daniel Schilling via twitter.com
What do other trainers say about it? The YouTuber is currently not alone in this opinion. A recent Reddit post by lewymd also addresses this topic and has received strong support within the community with currently over 3,200 upvotes (as of 23.09.2022 14:00).
He posts pictures of the current boxes, like the bronze box, through which trainers can acquire 20 Pokéballs, 10 Great Balls, 5 Ultra Balls, and a smoke for 150 coins, and writes (via reddit.com): “The latest boxes in Pokémon GO are bad for players, consumer unfriendly, and contradict Niantic’s own philosophy.”
Here too, the missing raid passes in the boxes, especially before the raid day with Deoxys that took place on Sunday, are heavily criticized.
Why does it contradict Niantic’s philosophy? Unlike other Pokémon games, Pokémon GO is intended to encourage trainers to go outside, explore their surroundings, and make new contacts.
For several months, Niantic has been attempting to reinforce this concept again, providing players with various features and bonuses, like the daily adventure smoke, to incentivize going outside. This way, players are also encouraged to raid on-site again.
At the same time, however, Niantic is removing the raid passes from the boxes, as well as from the adventure box, which previously contained many incubators, replacing them with items like balls, which can be obtained freely through numerous other means in the game.
Missing and delayed content in the game
Furthermore, Pokémon GO is currently struggling with several bugs, which Daniel Schilling also addresses in his Twitter post:
The only somewhat authentic tool for communication – the developer diary – is now being used as Campfire marketing with delays since June and has now been completely forgotten. Shinies are regularly disabled, regional Pokémon are missing, stickers for Kapuno and the Season of Light are gone.
Daniel Schilling via twitter.com
Recently, there have been frequent instances where announced content is either missing or has been delayed in the game, such as regional Pokémon and shinies, the developer diary, which was supposed to be released monthly according to Pokémon GO, but also special event stickers (via pokemongolive.com).
The stickers for the current Season of Light, which started on September 1st, were supposed to be available as usual in gifts or by spinning PokéStops for free.
However, as trainers have now communicated under the event announcement from Pokémon GO on Twitter, these stickers are still not available there, but can only be purchased for a fee in the in-game shop.
And even for the start of the Psychic Spectacle, players in the first time zones, such as New Zealand, were at a disadvantage because, as evidenced by a Reddit post from finchyNZ, the announced Mega-Alakazam in the mega raids was activated only with a few hours delay.
Last-minute event and raid announcements
Moreover, Niantic has been significantly delayed with event announcements and new raid bosses in recent weeks. Today, on September 13, 2022, at 10:00 AM local time, two new Ultra Beasts have entered the Level 5 raids.
Although the new raid bosses had already been suspected through the findings of the PokeMiners, a group of data miners, the official announcement from Pokémon GO on Twitter only came on the night of September 13, after they had already been active in the first time zones.
Many players, such as user dm_stp under Pokémon GO’s official Twitter post, have expressed a desire for better transparency (via twitter.com): “If you wanted to surprise us with the next raid bosses, you should have at least made small hints in the past few days, maybe even some of those cool found-footage videos to let us know you have something planned…”
These late announcements have also been increasingly observed by Spieletrend in recent weeks, and he sees it not as a deliberate surprise effect but rather evidence of the developers being overwhelmed, as he explains in his post:
Raids and events are not announced until the very last moment. And don’t get me wrong, the surprise effect can be fun, and I have nothing against that. But it currently does not seem like an intentional surprise.
Clearly, Niantic is currently maximally overwhelmed. As a community, we would surely be more lenient with all these bugs if there was communication about what is going on. However, it seems that not much has changed since the ban of a former official Niantic partner.
Daniel Schilling via twitter.com
Do you agree with Spieletrend’s harsh criticism?
We at MeinMMO also want to know your opinion on this. Do you agree with the harsh criticism from Daniel “Spieletrend” Schilling and parts of the community, or do you see no problems in the current handling of players?
Please feel free to participate anonymously in our following survey:
What do other trainers think about the current situation?
Looking at the likes and comments under Schilling’s Twitter post, it quickly becomes clear that he seems to speak for many players with his harsh criticism. The international posts from the Reddit community reflect this picture as well.
Many trainers are also frustrated with the ongoing bugs in the GO Battle League, which, as a video from a participant shows, did not spare the Pokémon World Championship and caused issues there.
Moreover, the announcement of various new games by Niantic, such as the basketball game NBA World, is also a red flag for many in this context. Some also find it incomprehensible why 8% of Niantic’s employees were laid off in June 2022 amidst these ongoing problems. Therefore, Twitter user jmeier92 sarcastically comments:
Why there are indeed so many problems in the game right now and why Niantic is increasingly changing the contents of the boxes cannot be said. However, the posts from Spieletrend and other trainers show that the current situation in the game is causing significant frustration.
Whether Niantic will address this officially, as it did last year, and make concessions in the interest of the community remains to be seen. If there is new information on this, you will definitely hear about it from us at MeinMMO.
What is your opinion on the current approach in the game? Do you also find that the constant changes are unacceptable and hope for more communication from the developers? Or do you see it all as just hot air and cannot understand the criticism at all? Let us know here at MeinMMO in the comments and discuss with other trainers.
The criticism raised by Spieletrend is, however, not the only issue in the Pokémon GO community. Niantic shows the breakthroughs for the upcoming months, and trainers ask: “Why am I doing this at all?”
