The director of Pokémon GO has responded to backlash and explained the reasoning behind the latest changes made to the game’s Incense feature. Developer Niantic had a challenging time adjusting Pokémon GO when the pandemic hit and countries started restricting people from moving around, which is one of the core mechanics of the game, but the studio was able to find ways to still allow people to enjoy the game from the safety of their homes. One of these solutions was to increase the effectiveness and duration of Pokémon GO’s Incense.
However, with many countries now loosening up pandemic restrictions, Niantic has also begun instituting changes that encourage Pokémon GO players to once again go out and move around to play the game. Starting in the middle of last year, the studio began rolling back some of the changes implemented during the pandemic, as well as introducing in-motion bonuses to incentivize players who go out and explore. While some of those changes also received backlash from Pokémon GO’s community and led Niantic to change its plans, many of them have stuck around.
Pokémon GO Director Michael Steranka spoke with Kotaku about the community’s outrage over Pokémon GO’s Incense changes, which now only creates one encounter every five minutes instead of every one, and explained why Niantic chose to make them. Steranka first clarified that the change was not to make more revenue on Incense, as reducing the item’s usefulness will actually lead to fewer people purchasing it. He goes on to explain that reducing the effectiveness of Incense is meant to encourage people to go out and move around again instead of fully playing the game at home, referencing the game’s pillars of exploration and exercise. Steranka does concede that balancing the usefulness of Incense and the bonus granted by moving around is tricky. He adds that the studio also reduced the distance a player would need to move to trigger the game’s in-motion bonus to further increase the benefits of going out.
The recent change to Pokémon GO Community Day events has also received backlash from the game’s players. The change, which reduces the event duration to just three hours from the previous six, has been called restrictive and grindy by some members of the community. While Niantic has responded by explaining that most players only participate in Community Day events for around three hours anyway, the change takes away a lot of the freedom of players to choose when they’d like to participate during the event window.
While the reasoning behind Niantic’s change to Pokémon GO’s Incense feature is understandable, it does take away opportunities from players who are from regions that are struggling with pandemic, those who are choosing to stay at home for their safety, and disabled players. Hopefully Niantic rethinks its decision and finds another way to encourage people to play, just like it did with Pokémon GO's PokéStop distance controversy.
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