Need Some Help, Niantic?

If last year I posed that Game Freak as the epicenter developer of Pokémon may be in need of some help, now it seems I have to pose the same for Niantic as the developer of the mobile installment of Pokémon Go. This is especially after the debacle caused by the not-so-well-received changes to remote raids, and furthermore, this is compounded by a few other problems that have come to light. As such, the rhetorical question has to be posed once again for a different subject - Niantic, in this case.

Since those changes were implemented, Niantic experienced a major dip in profits, which is expected whether or not players (Trainers) had protested. Perhaps as a response, discount offerings on raid passes were implemented as item boxes, particularly on Raid Hour Wednesdays when more people are likely to raid. It may be that in order to restore at least some revenue, this discount may have to be implemented on a more regular basis, permanently if necessary. Yet it seems that this may require money to talk to show what's happening, likely if Niantic sees that the situation I mentioned continues to happen.

Then there are the other problems. Lately, there have been reports that the AR scanning feature is causing a great deal of problems, from those who rarely use it to those who use it frequently. It appears that some scans, even with honest efforts to make them as properly as possible, are regarded as improper, and based on this, Niantic has been handing out suspensions. While it may be appropriate to flag down some improper scans, if even proper scans are improper, then this feature may be considered to have too much of a "fudge factor" and it continues to affirm a stance I took a couple of years ago. It's just not worth the risk, with current and past problems and possibly more in the future.

"Risky" also describes the next problem. Niantic has recently come out with an original virtual AR pet game (Peridot), and it has a dark side to it: deleting the server data for that game also deletes the associated Niantic account and along with it progress for other games, including Pokémon Go. Scary stories of people losing progress as high as level 50 have been reported, and that's not good. The situation has been stated to be an "accident", but even so, it's a pretty big "oopsie". While I'm not interested in the game, there are others who are; yet if they lose interest in it and decide to "purge" its traces, then this is a huge problem just waiting to happen - or in fact, it already has... so it is, fait accompli.

With all of the above, the rhetorical question is practically demanded for the situation. Niantic seems to be bombarded with one problem after another for Pokémon Go, some of which may be considered the results of their own doing. There is no "industry pressure" involved as with Game Freak, but there is "technical pressure" to rectify the errors. As with the previous discussion, supposing that the rhetorical question isn't as such and Niantic does need help, it may have to be for quality control and some more openness, which are things that are present at times and absent in other times.

For a game that has become such an integral part of the franchise, Niantic nowadays seems to be more interested in driving Pokémon Go to the ground by the parts that make up its whole, if the above problems are of any indication. It is then no wonder that some have begun to leave the game for other (Pokémon) games, at least less problematic ones. While the question I posed above is rhetorical as I did for Game Freak, it has perhaps become a reality that Niantic may need to affirm and act on rather than deny and ignore.

One year ago: Bits and Pieces of Pokémon Merchandise

Two years ago: The Hum of (Pokémon) Life

Three years ago: Better for the World

Four years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/19/2019

Five years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/19/2018

Six years ago: On the Mystery of Dungeons