Pokéman GO still popular a year in
Enthusiastic local group enjoying the thrill of the hunt
Pokémon GO quickly became one of the most popular mobile apps of the year after its 2016 release, giving people of all ages a new reason to go outside.
Recently, the game celebrated its one-year anniversary, and while the massive hype has settled down since its release, the player base behind it is still going strong.
“I think it’s still pretty popular,” said Khaisilyn Gania, a Pokémon GO player from Truro.
“Truro is small, but we were still able to get 20 random players together in less than an hour for a raid the other night. The community is smaller now, but it is more organized.”
Game developer Niantic recently released a new “Raid” feature for the game, allowing players to team up to fight rare, over-powered Pokémon at a local PokéGym for a chance to catch them and get special in-game items.
This new feature has made the game more inclusive, allowing players to team up with others, instead of playing alone.
“It’s not all that fun when you’re by yourself,” said Gania.
“With the way gyms were before, it was all about controlling the most gyms for your team. Since the new gym system came out, we’ve all joined forces.”
The game’s numbers may be down since its release, but it still has a large community around it, with Facebook pages and chat rooms dedicated to sharing locations of rare Pokémon and setting up raiding hook-ups.
For Truro, there are seven Facebook groups dedicated to the local Pokémon GO community, with the largest having over 500 members.
“I think the Pokémon Go community in Truro is actually quite unique,” said Natasha Power, another player from Truro.
“I haven’t really seen as much activity any other place as we have here. Everyone is willing to run to the aid of another player without even caring about who he or she is. We all just appreciate each other’s mutual love for the game.”
Power, along with her partner Derek, runs a Pokémon GO raid page on Facebook for Truro, which has amassed more than 40 members in the first two weeks and has
constant activity on the page.
While the community behind the game remains strong,
its popularity seems to come in waves, said Power.
“There is a strong group of avid
players that play all the time, and there is also the less interested players whose activity slows down during the colder months,” she said.
“When there are events and new Pokémon released into the game, you see all the dormant players get active for a while until the excitement cools down again, but there’s always a large community of avid players here.”
Although a lot of people have moved on to the next hot thing since the game’s release, other players aren’t letting go until they’ve reached their goal.
“I’ll stop playing once I
reach level 40, and catch every Pokémon,” said Gania.
“It has taken me a year to get to level 33, and I am still missing a few Pokémon, so I will probably still be playing for awhile yet.”
For Power, playing the game is not about end goals; instead it’s about enjoying the experience.
“I plan to play for as long as the game is still up,” she said.
“I personally just enjoy the game. It’s so dynamic; it keeps getting better and changing all the time. I don’t see a reason to stop, and I hope it’ll be around long enough for my son to grow up and play alongside me.”