A Slowing Down for Pokémon Go?

Lately, there's been a few "signs" that some things are seemingly slowing down in Pokémon Go, certainly effected by its developer (Niantic) among other things. While they don't appear to be too concerning on the surface, the history of challenges faced by the game does make things somewhat suspect with the appearance of the "signs". As such, there seems to be the imperative to bring them up and address them in a discussion.

First, a couple of recently added Special Research sets have no "research guide" to them, indicated by the absence of the character icon on their headers. They just simply pop up with a device icon when obtained, and no remarks are given when completing each page. Timed Research sets having no guide (since they're essentially Special Research with an assigned time limit) have been the norm since the beginning, but full-fledged permanent Special Research sets having no guide does lead to the suspicion that "corners are being cut", in a way.

"Cutting corners" also seems to be suspiciously evident on the official blog for the game. Some of the more recent posts about events no longer include full Pokémon graphics where applicable, as well as icons that highlighted specific features. Granted, this could simply mean that they have made the posts into "lo-fi" versions that are better for viewing and loading on mobile devices (especially where Pokémon Go is played). Yet it still represents a reduced presentation effort from what it was previously.

Then, there are the items in the item boxes in the in-game shop. There has in fact been quite significant changes to the workings of these, but the details of that are best reserved for a fully separate post. What's important is the items, which are sometimes useful, other times useless, and often heavily discounted - with all of these having the qualitative keyword of "relative". So it is that the "relative" quality might not indicate too much of anything, but it seems that one cannot help but be observant of the quality as the items themselves are observed.

Supposedly, others and I probably shouldn't be "reading too much" into these apparently observed "signs" of things slowing down in Pokémon Go. Regardless, for those who notice them, like me, it's hard to not consider them as nagging indicators of further issues. Whether or not any of these is true or apparent as such, at the least, play can still continue, and that's still probably a primary concern for the game outside of its issues.

One year ago: Cosplay: Harusaki no Matsuri - COSMO's 9th Anniversary

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/21/2022

Three years ago: Anime with Mixed Language Content?

Four years ago: More Virulent Impacts

Five years ago: Respect for Rica Matsumoto

Six years ago: Throwing Poké Balls

Seven years ago: Cosplay: East and West