Pokémon Go Community Day, 2/24/2018

Today was the day of the February Community Day event of Pokémon Go. There had been a lot of things promised for the event, and they all were realized, perhaps more than we all bargained for. It seems many also put in a good effort as well, which helps in that regard. I myself reaped the rewards of the event, as did many in my raid group, and that has to be a good thing, especially considering what exactly happened.

First is the downsides of today's event. Unlike last month, there wasn't a clear agreement among my group as to where we should meet, so we ended up having separate gatherings at three locations, which isn't exactly the point of this event. Another thing is that there were some connection issues early on, but they weren't on our part, rather on the game's part. And if that wasn't enough, in my locale there was rain, not (just) in the game, but in real life - all morning and all afternoon, and just when you thought the rain had stopped, it started again. These issues really threw all of us for a loop.

Now, the upsides. Because the connection issues were on the game's part, we all (and other players) received compensation: the event was extended to six hours, twice its original length of three hours. This situation is akin to what happened when Shuffle got bugged. That is why I also mentioned "afternoon" previously, because we all spent not just the morning, but the afternoon playing for the event. The upside of not gathering at a specific place was that I could choose which gathering I wanted to participate in, and I chose the one nearest to me, for which I didn't have to expend for transportation and it provided the opportunity to partake in the event with the first person I met from my raid group on one fateful night. And rain or no rain, we were all just eager to play.

Here's the breakdown of what happened on my part. I and my friend participated in the area densely packed with PokéStops; he spread Lure Modules among many of the PokéStops in the area so that we (and others who play) can take advantage of them all and continue to move around to capture Pokémon. In fact, I did meet one person who wasn't in my group that did so - he was an out-of-town player looking to take advantage of the event, and we unwittingly yet graciously provided the opportunity. Of course, the rain put a bit of a damper on this effort, though the end result was very much impressive: in all, I caught 100 out of 112 Dratini I encountered, four of which were Shiny, and I evolved two of the best ones (plus the strongest Shiny) to Dragonite to obtain the exclusive Draco Meteor move. Many of the others had similar successes.

After missing the first one, I intended to make this Community Day a success, and that was what happened. I went outside, met friends and fellows that play the game, and did all the things that made this edition what it is. And this was despite all the troubles that occurred for or concerning the event; they were surmounted and everything worked out very well. Based on this, I'd say things were overall quite successful for me and everyone involved. It makes us eager for the next edition of the event so that we can do it all over again.

One year ago: Memories of Johto