Pokemon GO! Pokemon GO! GO Pokemon, GO!!!

[Toddzilla]

Anyone else playing this? I walked around my block, caught 3 rats, came home and may never pick it up again. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[wustin]

If you live out in the suburbs, game probably wouldn't be too fun to play.

[MrBug708]

Totally buggy on my phone

[Julio Riddols]

Loving the hell out of it, but its a beta and the servers are overloaded constantly.. Hopefully they address that. Other than that, I had a great time taking my son out on pokemon hunts around town today, which is way better than just playing video games at home. I've caught a bunch of pokemon around my house and at work, but haven't had a good chance to really explore. I need to find a gym to take over.

[JonInMiddleGA]

"There was a Bulbosaur in our living room. You know, that thing with vines growing out of its ass"

-- my child, about ten minutes ago

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

"There was a Bulbosaur in our living room. You know, that thing with vines growing out of its ass"

-- my child, about ten minutes ago

I had one in my living room too, then I realized the cat had puked.

[Toddzilla]

I walk around my neighborhood for 30 minutes and all I get are 15 Ratatas and a Pidgey. My coworker turns his on for the first time and there are 2 Pikachus in his goddamned kitchen.

[Thomkal]

Pokémon Go Is Helping Players' Mental Health

[nol]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Pokémon Go Is Helping Players' Mental Health

Before reading it, gonna guess it's because it has performed the miracle of actually getting hardcore gamers outside?

[Julio Riddols]

Its really remarkable how much this makes me want to explore my area more.

[cuervo72]

I had to drop my son off for a school function this morning and decided to walk around while he was there rather than sit at home (done this before, not related to Pokemon for me). His school is near a park and a small downtown shopping area. It was hilarious how many people were out seemingly just to search for Pokemon (groups of teens, nerdy millenial couples, etc). People walking, but staring at their phones like they're some sort of divining rods. The park clock tower had a half dozen people hanging around it. Son says it was a gym.

Doesn't work so well in cars though. My driving apparently outdistanced quite a few found Pokemon. Hopefully drivers realize this.

edit: not the first time the game has tried to get folks to be more active though. I remember my kids having pedometers which would help you level up.

[Julio Riddols]

I could see this being either a major problem or a major benefit to society, probably both.

[AlexB]

Seriously?

Within its first two days of release, Pokémon GO raised safety concerns among players. On launch day, a Northern Territory police station in Australia reminded players that they do not need to enter the Darwin Police Station in order to catch a Sandshrew, and also to "look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street." The same day, a player in Wyoming stumbled across a dead body floating in a river while using the app. Multiple people suffered minor injuries from falling while playing the game due to being distracted

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by nol

Before reading it, gonna guess it's because it has performed the miracle of actually getting hardcore gamers outside?

you got it

[bhlloy]

Over under on the first person to drive into a tree while doing this? Or the first person shot for trespassing?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Over under on the first person to drive into a tree while doing this? Or the first person shot for trespassing?

Both scenarios came up very quickly in our conversations here last night.

We saw them pop up in restricted areas on the UGA campus (though, best I can tell, you don't have to physically get THAT close to "catch" one), and several at very busy intersections.

I'll add another over/under too: stops for at least suspicious behavior while waiting to reload (or whatever you call it) at Pokestops. Not sure it's the best idea for a bank to be a Pokestop, there were three cars at one last night close to midnight ... everybody swiping at their phone & looking kinda sheepish.

[SackAttack]

I don't go on private property, nor do I play while driving.

OTOH, there are probably 20 pokestops within walking distance (defined as from my apartment to Lambeau Field), so, sure, I'll go collect stuff from those, and Pokemon I find along the way are fair game.

I WILL say I've had more complete strangers speak to me because they're also playing in the last two days than have spoken to me at any time combined in the last 7 1/2 years since I moved here.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Both scenarios came up very quickly in our conversations here last night.

We saw them pop up in restricted areas on the UGA campus (though, best I can tell, you don't have to physically get THAT close to "catch" one), and several at very busy intersections.

I'll add another over/under too: stops for at least suspicious behavior while waiting to reload (or whatever you call it) at Pokestops. Not sure it's the best idea for a bank to be a Pokestop, there were three cars at one last night close to midnight ... everybody swiping at their phone & looking kinda sheepish.

The refresh seems to be about 15 minutes or so. I hit Lambeau Field and then walked around the block picking up the ones at the statues/restaurants/practice field nearby, and by the time I got around the block, Lambeau was ready to go again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

They've done something I thought was interesting/fun/cute here locally, I imagine it's similar in other places.

Around Athens there are a fair number of theme-costumed Bulldog statues (it's Athens, of course there are). They were created as part of a local arts contest several years ago, then sold off for charity to whomever would buy them. Since the pricetags got up to several thousand dollars each, most were bought by local business that have displayed them out front. Every one of those we drove past last night had a character waiting to be caught.

I assume these things are weighted toward locations that have been Googlemapped/geo-tagged/whatevertheword.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

The refresh seems to be about 15 minutes or so. I hit Lambeau Field and then walked around the block picking up the ones at the statues/restaurants/practice field nearby, and by the time I got around the block, Lambeau was ready to go again.

I asked my son about respawn/refresh for that -- he grabbed some pokeballs as we passed by a church and I wondered if he had to find other stops or if he could periodically hit that one up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I asked my son about respawn/refresh for that -- he grabbed some pokeballs as we passed by a church and I wondered if he had to find other stops or if he could periodically hit that one up.

Interesting. We only found two 'stops last night -- the bank one & a church one. I wonder if that's a strong indicator for locations or if it's just anecdotal coincidence.

[cuervo72]

I've been wondering how things have been tagged or how its algorithms work. It seems like some schools are gyms, but then so is the Schifferstadt Museum. Not somewhere a lot of kids are going to be hanging out, but it's near public walking paths and is a place of note. Like the clock tower I mentioned. But he also picked up some building that looked like an auto-body shop or something off the highway. No idea if it was specifically denoted on a map.

I'll have to ask about other stops. Seemed like he was picking up plenty, and that was just driving by. In the case of the church, we weren't even that close to the actual building (big parking lot).

edit: the MVA building did not appear to be anything, and that's both on the map and oft-visited.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

They've done something I thought was interesting/fun/cute here locally, I imagine it's similar in other places.

Around Athens there are a fair number of theme-costumed Bulldog statues (it's Athens, of course there are). They were created as part of a local arts contest several years ago, then sold off for charity to whomever would buy them. Since the pricetags got up to several thousand dollars each, most were bought by local business that have displayed them out front. Every one of those we drove past last night had a character waiting to be caught.

I assume these things are weighted toward locations that have been Googlemapped/geo-tagged/whatevertheword.

Landmarks have a higher likelihood of being Pokeshops, yeah. Not always. A tiny little hole in the wall Baptist church out here is one, I discovered earlier. Not a place you'd ever notice from the street unless you went looking.

OTOH, the Packer-themed statues by Lambeau, literally every one along Lombardi is. The "Packer Fence" across the street from Lambeau is. The Brett Favre "4" statue outside his restaurant is. Lambeau itself is. So it goes.

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I asked my son about respawn/refresh for that -- he grabbed some pokeballs as we passed by a church and I wondered if he had to find other stops or if he could periodically hit that one up.

You can periodically hit it up. I'm not positive what the exact refresh time is, but as I said the other day, I'd guess it's in the 15 minute range. I know for sure that when I walked to Lambeau the other day and hit all the pokestops down by the stadium, on my way home I was able to tap all of the ones I had visited a second time.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting. We only found two 'stops last night -- the bank one & a church one. I wonder if that's a strong indicator for locations or if it's just anecdotal coincidence.

A friend commented to me that given Nintendo's paranoia about child safety (see: the Friend Code system with the DS where you couldn't 'friend' someone unless you knew their friend code, and couldn't chat with people you had friended) that it's highly likely that whatever algorithm they used for determining pokestop/gym locations is slanted towards "safe" locations. He thinks that's why so many churches end up being pokestops. Places kids can go to get items that's a reasonably safe space.

[thesloppy]

[Toddzilla]

The game was creted by the same company that produced Ingress so they used a lot of the work already done by the players in that game for determining good places for Poke-stops, Gyms, etc.

[Thomkal]

Pokemon Go players targeted in series of armed robberies, police say - CNET

[EagleFan]

A Wyoming woman says she found a dead body while searching for a Pokemon in water. Local police say there are no suspicious circumstances.

If dead bodies in the water are not suspicious in Wyoming I have one question... what the hell is going on in that state that this is a normal thing?

[JonInMiddleGA]

So, anecdotally.

The kid made another sweep around Athens, this time getting outside the downtown area & into (what passes for) our 'burbs.

After two days play, he has 83 Pokemon captured & about 112 pokeballs stored.

Pokestops, scarce on the first night out, were in ridiculous abundance last night apparently.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

So, anecdotally.

The kid made another sweep around Athens, this time getting outside the downtown area & into (what passes for) our 'burbs.

After two days play, he has 83 Pokemon captured & about 112 pokeballs stored.

Pokestops, scarce on the first night out, were in ridiculous abundance last night apparently.

If you hit a clump of Pokestops, the balls drop like candy.

My question: are the 83 he's captured unique, or several of the same type?

If you turn 'extra' Pokemon in to the professor, you get the candies you use to power up the ones you keep.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

If you hit a clump of Pokestops, the balls drop like candy.

My question: are the 83 he's captured unique, or several of the same type?

If you turn 'extra' Pokemon in to the professor, you get the candies you use to power up the ones you keep.

That 83 counted duplicates, it was just the number I heard last night when he got home & it stuck in my head.

He was going to consolidate & train up ... once he got them spreadsheeted

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

If you hit a clump of Pokestops, the balls drop like candy.

My question: are the 83 he's captured unique, or several of the same type?

If you turn 'extra' Pokemon in to the professor, you get the candies you use to power up the ones you keep.

Yeah, I have 8 stops where one of the stores are located and a training center is "in" my store. I think I watched 4-5 people walk in trying to get close to it (not even sure if that matters, I just thought it was funny to walk to the back corner of the store and stare at the corner of the wall).

[Julio Riddols]

I've managed to snag 45 unique pokemon thus far, saw a 46th but was out of pokeballs when it happened because I spend most of the day leeching off one pokestop and there are an abundance of pokemon around my work.

What I haven't had the chance to do yet is walk through downtown and find gyms. I'm on level 10 at the moment, and my top pokemon have CP in the 700's, so I would like to think I could make a run at a couple if I find them.. but then again, I don't know about how powerful I would expect a gym to be.

How powerful are your top pokemon?

[The Jackal]

I am.. intrigued by this but have no Pokemon background. Probably not for me?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

How powerful are your top pokemon?

Here's a Tweeted pic of Boogie2988 (aka "Francis") current squad. 861 CP to 256 CP across his top dozen

Spoiler

edit: above photo spoiler tagged due to large size

Using it as reference, my son said the worst card shown there was still considerably more powerful than his best one.

Yet, son was within one dropped connection of taking control of a gym last night.

My guess is that gym strengths vary wildly, at least this early on

[RainMaker]

How does the game determine where to put the Pokemon? I know nothing about the game but see everyone playing it.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

I am.. intrigued by this but have no Pokemon background. Probably not for me?

I have no clue what im doing but i have some lion looking thing worth over 300 which has my kid freaking out.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

How does the game determine where to put the Pokemon? I know nothing about the game but see everyone playing it.

Mostly "biome" from what I understand - you're more likely to see water Pokemon if you live near water, grass near prairie, etc. But supposedly they can all be caught anywhere. It's just that water Pokemon are gonna be more rare in Utah, say.

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

I have no clue what im doing but i have some lion looking thing worth over 300 which has my kid freaking out.

I hatched a 500+ from one of my eggs today. It's now 600 and I need to level up before I can max it out.

[SackAttack]

So I caught 9 or 10 I didn't have already while walking around Lambeau earlier. That was nice.

I also noticed that a couple locations which had previously been Pokestops are now gyms, so I wonder if that's a thing that rotates.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Mostly "biome" from what I understand - you're more likely to see water Pokemon if you live near water, grass near prairie, etc. But supposedly they can all be caught anywhere. It's just that water Pokemon are gonna be more rare in Utah, say.

I mean does it pick just public properties? Is it population based? I am clueless to how this works.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I mean does it pick just public properties? Is it population based? I am clueless to how this works.

The Pokemon can spawn basically anywhere from what I've seen. The Gyms and Pokeshops seem to stick to landmarks identified through Google Maps or whatever. I haven't seen any Pokeshops/Gyms on private property. They've all been things like public murals, memorials, businesses (and you don't even have to go inside the businesses to tap the Pokeshop).

In theory Pokemon themselves, like the shops, are taggable without entering the buildings, but it depends on where they spawn and how close the spawn point is to your little radar doohickey.

I've only had one catch so far that required me to enter a business. The other 44 I've been able to snag either in my own apartment (while they spawn outside of it - the radar doohickey reaches them) or walking around.

[Julio Riddols]

Seems fairly random to me, One of the pokestops here is an abandoned restaurant and the two gyms are a Walgreens and a pizza place.

[tarcone]

clerk at the gas station plays. He said he was driving next to a person who he saw was playing at a stop. He then saw that car get into an accident.

People get excited about stuff, dont they?

[Coffee Warlord]

Heh. There's a pokestop at the little patio my building uses for their smoking lounge.

[ISiddiqui]

So this is basically just Ingress with Pokemon, right?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

So this is basically just Ingress with Pokemon, right?

Best I've pieced together is that it's more like the ... concept/workings of Ingress but with some differences in gameplay.

*I'd never even heard of Ingress prior to the release of Go but my reading of stuff about it is that Ingress is a little more "team" based (or global objective based) while Go is more individual stuff, just with similar mechanics.

[Coffee Warlord]

Also somewhat ironic. There's a jewish deli by my office. Also a pokestop, and I caught 4 rats there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Also somewhat ironic. There's a jewish deli by my office. Also a pokestop, and I caught 4 rats there.

Ditto with rats at restaurants. Child noted that happening at least twice this weekend.

[JeeberD]

My office has a globe sculpture out front that is a gym...and there's a park about 50 yards away that has *five* Poke stops in it. Looks like we're in prime real estate here.

[Thomkal]

Which Pokémon GO Team Do You Belong In? | Geek and Sundry

[nol]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

My office has a globe sculpture out front that is a gym...

This didn't work so well the last time...