Let’s Talk: The Current State of Pokémon GO

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*DISCLAIMER*
This article has been written to gain knowledge about the current issues within Pokémon GO. The intention behind it is to list each known issue and bug to discuss possible solutions. We at the Pokémon GO Hub do NOT condone bullying in any shape or form whether to one another or Niantic. 

To put it simply, Pokémon GO has seen better days. Patch 0.211.0 introduced a plethora of new bugs and glitches that negatively affected the game and the community as a whole.

Thankfully, Niantic decided to take down the troublesome patch 0.211 from the Google Play Store and instead, players can now download patch 0.209.0 as the most recent version of the game which negates a lot of these issues.

While this did fix some of the more major issues that patch 0.211 put in place, players on social media have been expressing their opinions on the current state of the game which we’re going to discuss.

The community has been demanding that these issues alongside other controversial problems including game-breaking bugs and also Niantic’s recent decision to revert the in-game Pokéstop/gym radius back to its original state. Although this is a separate issue to in-game bugs, there has been a lot of talk surrounding this topic including an online petition to reconsider this decision.

Many players around the world are still unable to leave their house and go outside. Players feel as though this is not an appropriate decision considering that we are still in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

As mentioned above, some of the issues that patch 0.211 introduced have been sorted due to the patch revert. If you’re unaware of the main issues that the patch has brought upon us, I’ll be diving into each of these problems to educate those unaware of these matters and the steps that Niantic has done to solve some of them.

I played my part in taking to social media to ask the Pokémon GO community which issues they were/still are facing in the game so that these large and also the smaller issues can be listed and addressed in order to hopefully aid in sorting them out. Original thread here.

I’ll be listing each issue that was discussed over social media starting with the most prominent and making my way down to the more smaller issues. Thankfully Niantic is aware of most of these issues and is in the process of fixing them, however, this is a way of listing each problem and voicing our opinion as a means of getting our voice heard.

I’ll start off by listing the main issues that caused outrage with patch 0.211 and then discussing previous issues/concerns players have been facing for some time now that are still in dire need of solving.

Patch 0.211 Bugs & Issues

Bright Flashing White Light Bug

The most notable one was the infamous bright flashing light that occurred when tapping on a Pokémon. Not only is this annoying but a handful of players have reported that it can be problematic for anyone who suffers from photosensitivity. Patch 0.209.0 fixed this issue, however, players agree that this should have been fixed a lot sooner due to these negative effects caused on players.

Raid Rewards Fast Skipping Removed

This issue involves the ‘fast skipping’ method which seemed to not work anymore with patch 0.211. This QoL feature was used to quickly scroll past your raid rewards. Being unable to tap your screen in order to skip seeing which rewards you get after a raid is obviously an annoyance that wastes time. This has had a negative effect on most players especially hardcore/speed raiders as it wastes time while having a Lucky Egg on which can mean that you’ll be missing out on bonus XP because of it.

Lag & Game Crashes

I’m sure we’ve all experienced this before, as infuriating as it can be, patch 0.211 only made things worse. This certain type of lag caused the game to hiccup randomly which made it extremely hard to aim your throw on a wild Pokémon encounter and more so made playing in the GO Battle League an unrelenting struggle. Trying to hit the Attack Bubbles was almost impossible at times to get an Excellent which can be the defining factor between a win and a loss in some cases.

These are the main 3 issues that were introduced from patch 0.211. It was reported that android users suffered the most with this update. Players were proclaiming that they were also having issues with the Sleep Mode function, sound issues, and some features being missing altogether.

Now then, let’s cover other known issues that are currently in the game which the community has been facing so that they can be addressed on a more widespread scale with the intention of helping to fix these issues. Yes, GO Battle League will be talked about, a lot.


Other Known Issues

  • Clicking a Pokémon as it despawns freezes the game.
  • Lobby population not updating when people leave a raid.
  • Notification not being shown when you hit Best Buddy with your Pokémon when battling.
  • “Walk closer to interact with this gym” error message while on top of a gym.
  • Timer ending early during raids.
  • Catch screen appearing from previous GO Battle League encounter reward at the start of a battle.
  • ‘Fainted’ Pokémon still showing on-screen after being taken down in raids.
  • Costume Pokémon losing costume after being traded.
  • AR Mode Freezing game entirely.
  • Buddy animations missing in AR mode.
  • Ongoing lag and game crashing issues.

These issues were all submitted to me via social media from the Pokémon GO community. As we can see there are quite a few issues separate to GO Battle League which should hopefully not be too hard to fix. Fingers crossed that with the help of the community and this article that we can gain more attention to these problems and ultimately get our voices heard in order for Niantic to solve these issues.


GO Battle League Issues

GO Battle League remarkably has a lot of potential to become bigger and better. Unfortunately, the main thing holding it back is a multitude of bugs that can occur during games. Niantic is aware of a few of these bugs as mentioned here on their ‘known issues’ page, however, these only discuss a few. In reality, there are a lot more bugs that are not listed which we will be talking about to gain attention.

Pokemon GO Battle League Season 8 Guide
Popular PvP influencer, ThoTechtical released a video on his YouTube channel where he points out current issues surrounding GO Battle League. He does a good job informing his viewers about the main issues and displaying visuals of these bugs/errors occurring.

I’ll be listing the issues he talks about alongside problems the community has been having in GO Battle League as well.

Server-side lag issues

Lag is a big part of any online game, it happens to everyone at times whether it be due to our connection or a server-side issue. The problem is when these issues become a common occurrence. GO Battle League can come down to a single move when lag comes into play, we are sometimes unable to attack as our inputs do not register.

A big example of this which is unfair to players is when you are not able to attack your opponent, however, it seems as though the lag is not having an effect on your opponent who is freely attacking you and gaining energy.

Fast Move Denial

Another incredibly annoying issue is when you’re going to use a Charge Move and suddenly you notice that your opponent has snuck in a fast attack. Why is this so bad? Your opponent is now at an advantage over you, as soon as your charge move has finished its animation, that move that your opponent snuck through will do damage to you and they will also gain energy for that move. It’s extremely inconsistent and can, in some cases mean that a mirror match will be won by whoever can sneak in a move.

Desync

This is another form of lag where you and you can miss out on a fast move due to the game not registering your move randomly. It mainly happens at the start of a game due to either you or your opponent loading into the game slightly later than one another, or after a charge move where your Pokémon will look as if it’s just standing there and not attacking.

CMP Inconsistency 

Firstly, CMP stands for Charge Move Priority. It refers to how the game determines which of you will get the advantage to fire first in the event of that tie. CMP is calculated by the Pokémon that has the higher attack stat. But what happens when a Pokémon with a higher attack loses to one with a lower attack? Doesn’t make sense right? It’s not that the game can’t work out who has the higher attack quick enough, it boils down to a lag issue which can be crucial in matches especially if you’re aware of that for a win condition.

Frame Rate Drops

This mainly happens to Android users, where your game will all of a sudden shift to a state which makes everything seem choppy. This has a major effect on attempting to hit the attack bubbles. It’s assumed that this happens when your phone heats up due to a memory issue from having Pokémon GO on for too long.

Charge Move Button not registering

This issue is where you gain enough energy to use a charge move and the button doesn’t seem to work. It’s almost as if the game is still registering your fast move even after the animation and energy has gone through.

Game Crashes

This doesn’t necessarily relate to GO Battle League in particular, however, having a random app crash mid-game is pretty much guaranteed a loss unless you can load back in fast enough.

Pidgeot

Rest in Peace.


Until these issues get resolved, the best we can do is to report these bugs and issues via the Niantic support page. We urge our readers to do this and to follow proper procedures and protocol when it comes to bug submission.

Niantic’s engineers are absolutely hammered with priority fixes and I think we can give them a hand with this if we provide solid bug reports and feedback.


The Decision to Revert “Pandemic Changes”

Niantic recently made an announcement that they will be reverting some of the changes they’ve implemented due to the pandemic including the interaction distance with Pokéstops and Gyms. The community was not happy with this decision and for fair reason as there are many countries still in lockdown and are unable to leave their house safely.

As the pandemic began, Niantic made the decision to turn Pokémon GO from a purely outdoor experience to what we know now as an in-home online mobile game.

What’s staying:

  • Incense duration will remain at 60 minutes
  • No walking requirement for GO Battle League
  • You can challenge any Trainer remotely with a QR Code, and the requirement to battle with friends remotely has been lowered to Good Friends
  • The maximum number of Gifts you can carry in your Item Bag at a time will remain at 20
  • Trainers will be able to open up to 30 Gifts per day, up from the previous 20
  • You will continue to receive three times the Stardust and XP for your first Pokémon catch of the day

Thankfully, we’re not losing all the bonuses, however, the main issue here is that if the radius reverts back to how it is, many players around the world will not be able to spin Pokéstops and gyms safely which may discourage people from playing the game.

XP King, BrandonTan91 uploaded a video on his YouTube channel where he talks about his views and opinions on the matter. Brandon agrees that these changes be reconsidered for the longevity of the game.


Community Backlash

As we know, the community did not take lightly to this decision. There has been some toxic behaviour from some people online that have been directly messaging Niantic employees with threats and other abusive messages due to this decision.

Anadactyl on Twitter summed it up well with her Tweet saying:


Regardless of if you agree or disagree with this decision, it’s never okay to harass anyone under any circumstances, especially over a game. Global Community Manager, Liz George has been a victim of harassment over social media. She since has closed her Twitter account due to the childish behaviour of a few individuals.

The #LoveForLiz movement took place over Twitter after the community found out about her decision to close her account. Players have been changing their in-game buddy to Vaporeon which is her favourite Pokémon and naming it with the hashtag to show respect to Liz.

On the bright side, the majority of the community has been exceptionally supportive towards Liz sending positive messages and cute doggo pics with the hashtag to show their appreciation towards her.


Parting Words

We hope that this article can shed light on issues that Niantic may not be fully aware of. Despite the bugs, glitches, and issues within Pokémon GO, Niantic seems to be working towards fixing a lot of these issues. Although these may be dark times within the game, we as a community can make our voices heard.

Are there any other issues that you have encountered while playing Pokémon GO? If so, feel free to comment below.

Until next time Trainers,
Stay safe and happy hunting!

Adam ‘Avrip’

Author & tags

avrip
avrip
Writer/Editor for the Pokémon GO Hub. PvP enthusiast. 2023 Perth Regional Champion. 9th at Yokohama World Championship. Collector and enthusiast of rare Pokémon retro memorabilia. GBL Legend Multiple Seasons. Sold my soul to Niantic on 07/07/2016.

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