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The campaign urging Niantic to re-implement Pokémon Go bonuses and concessions made for social distancing and the COVID-19 pandemic gained new momentum on Thursday with an open letter, written by the game’s biggest players and influencers, and supported by their large audience on social media.
The letter, published this morning on the Pokémon subtitle The Silph Road, is signed by 28 players with a total number of Twitter followers of 1.18 million. All signatories, including four to have a wider audience more than 100,000, posted the letter to their feeds at 11 a.m. EDT under the hashtag #HearUsNiantic. It was Twitter’s sixth highest trending tag in the United States at the time of publication.
The letter lists nine ways players have been helped by Pokémon GoPandemic accommodations from, which made it easier for players to reach Pokéstops and Gyms, and from further afield. Those gameplay bonuses ended with an update earlier this week. the Pokémon Go The community was already concerned and organized by that time, as Niantic’s announcement of the dismantling in June faced an immediate setback.
Pokémon Go, an immediate global sensation when it launched in the summer of 2016, is played by visiting real-life locations and interacting with Pokémon and virtual locations displayed on a player’s mobile device. Last week’s reversion halved the distance players could spin Pokéstops. Before the change, some had been able to run gyms without leaving their homes.
Thursday’s open letter listed ways the pandemic changes have been helpful to the community, not just a way to make augmented reality gaming easier or more convenient.
“Many Disabled Trainers could now interact with places that previously excluded them from the Pokémon Go community, ”the organizers wrote. “Trainers with autism and sensory disabilities could engage with the community at a more accommodating distance.”
“By allowing them to play with the community without being overwhelmed by large crowds or trigger places,” they added.
In turn, the changes have fostered “greater courtesy and respect for [non-players] in the community by avoiding overcrowding or blocking the entrance to businesses, private property, playgrounds, emergency services, places of worship or memorials, ”the organizers wrote.
The letter also noted that a November blog post from Niantic left Pokémon Go players with the impression that “this increased Pokéstop interaction radius would be made permanent”.
“Removing this feature will and negatively impact the community in countless ways,” the players wrote in the letter. “We ask that the increased radius of interaction remains a permanent change in the quality of life in Pokémon Go. “The letter requested a response from Niantic by the end of the day on August 9.
In June, Niantic made a statement defending flashbacks, saying it was doing so “where it makes sense to help restore the game’s focus on exploration and discovery.”
Since June, however, the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the difficulty public health organizations have had in getting 42% of the American population to vaccinate have renewed advisories to wear a mask in public and to practice distancing. social. Niantic did not acknowledge that these changes could affect the way Pokémon Go is played. The game’s social media accounts did not respond to the hashtag campaign.
Two other hashtags, #BoycottNiantic and # PokémonNoDay posted on Twitter on Wednesday, with users urging others not to open or play the game, or spend money on Pokémon Go shop.
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