Pokémon "Go Inside" -- What Winter Will Bring

[Afterglow Ampharos]

It's only fall now, but it still feels really dang cold.

I have a discussion topic: How will Pokémon Go fare in the cold season?

It's possible that we might see the death of the app's popularity, for one simple reason:
You can't play the game with gloves on.

It's already too cold to be outdoors with gloves where I live, and many of you are soon to follow.

I estimate that most of us won't be able to play outdoors during the cold season, that most of us can't play indoors (not all of us are lucky enough to live on a spawn point AND a Pokéstop), so traveling somewhere to go indoors and Pokéhunt is the only remaining option. I'm not sure if that remaining option is going to be on people's minds enough to practice it regularly if the game is not in their head already from their outdoor use of it.

And once a game like this dies in popularity for a whole season, it's very difficult to resurrect it with the same power once it warms up outdoors again.

 

[UltimateUmbreon]

You raise an interesting and valid point. I don't know how much I think it'll change though. I think the end of summer when students went back to school was kind of the big ultimate test if you will for the game.

The reason I feel that way is because everyone who just played the game because it was a fad hasn't been playing for a while and any students who no longer play because they are back in school are also gone already. Anyone who has been gutting it out thus far will continue to do so in my opinion. Maybe they won't play as much every day, but I assume and hope they'll still be playing. They can hide out in the car, find a place indoors near a pokestop, etc. Plus, aren't there gloves out there that you can wear while using your phone?

In reality I think there will be some effect, I just hope it won't be too drastic.

 

[VisualJae]

Don't underestimate hardcore gamers.

I've played in a horrific thunderstorm before and I was by far not the only one in the area doing so. At least I had an umbrella. There were countless others who stood their ground getting soaked.

I don't expect winter to change anything. Numbers will dwindle, obviously, but people will still play. All it takes is some bundling up. It won't affect me, personally, unless it's totally unbearable, which is rare.

 

[Benermerut]

The dropping temperatures already mean that my dog walks, which is when I used to do most of my catching, is now just for hatching eggs and collecting buddy candies.

I do have two different pairs of touchscreen gloves, one thinner and one thicker, but neither are ideal for something that requires precision, like throwing a pokéball. The touchscreen-capable material on the lighter pair is pretty unreliable. It's fine for tapping, but when swiping it doesn't work so well for whatever reason. And the heavier gloves are just too big to be precise with.

So yeah, I'm definitely scaling back. No pokémon is worth frostbite to me.

 

[jjc927]

There are touchscreen gloves for both cold and really cold weather and many stores sell them. The ones I have are good enough to use for the swiping necessary. I don't go walking much when it's cold but when I'm outside I'll probably still play in the winter.

 

[ichiDad]

Many pokestops and gyms here can be accessed in a car. In gym battles, I use a stylus anyway, and I imagine with gloves would still work fine with a stylus.

Around here, weather doesn't stop the bikers and joggers, a foot of snow is nothing to them. I imagine Pokefanatics will also likewise be undeterred. I could even see a spike of activity taking over gyms before a big storm is forecast to hit, because people know it may stay longer.

 

[Afterglow Ampharos]

I think the end of summer when students went back to school was kind of the big ultimate test if you will for the game.

The reason I feel that way is because everyone who just played the game because it was a fad hasn't been playing for a while and any students who no longer play because they are back in school are also gone already. Anyone who has been gutting it out thus far will continue to do so in my opinion.

I don't think so, myself. Students could still play during breaks or non-school hours. And many people who don't go to school are playing the game. That's not a fanbase crasher in of itself.

Numbers will dwindle, obviously, but people will still play.

That is what meant, though. Numbers dwindling, the "crash" of its popularity, the burst of its bubble.

 

[Neltharion83]

To withstand winter, they really need generation 2. NOW.

In Munich, Germany, the stagnation has cut the player-pool down to the hardcore addicts. The crowds of casuals vanished, There is some resilience because the hardcore players got organized and banded together into threema and facebook groups. Even worse weather, with snow instead of cold weather and rain, will slow it down even more.

All the hardcore players agree: Niantic is fucking this up, and if the failure continues, it will be diffcult to save the player base.

 

[VisualJae]

Playerbases will come and go for any game, especially an online one. I'm not sure what people are so surprised/concerned about. It's absolutely normal. The times you'd see a game truly die is if the game had little substance to begin with and the developers put the game to set and forget mode (release the game and be done with it). Usually players can see this early on.

If I were a developer, I would personally want the hype-players or bandwagoners to jump ship early so I could get a better gauge of who the dedicated players are and what they're looking for, then take the time to implement the updates when they're ready.

I'm more interested at this point in how Niantic is handling their community management. At least they're slightly improving on that front.

 

[tjumper78]

i usually have the game on while im driving so that i can squeeze out every single meter. with snow, driving slow is a must of course, so i think i'll actually hatch eggs faster. lol

 

[Iceman3k]

Factoring that I'm 6 Pokémon away from finishing the NA portion of the Dex, I'll still keep at it until I'm done. If it means going to a park in the snow, then I guess that's what it'll come to.

Throw Gen 2 into the mix and I'll probably let my fingers freeze. On a plus, with the colder weather, I probably wouldn't have to worry about the phone overheating, heheh.

 

[Lunar]

Yeah I had a perfect example of this today where my dog walk (my main chance of getting out and playing Go) was spoiled by heavy rain so I just turned on battery saver and left my phone in my pocket to get distance for my eggs. I think this is gonna be something that happens to me throughout winter and I think it'll ruin the experience of Go for me :(

 

[VisualJae]

Factoring that I'm 6 Pokémon away from finishing the NA portion of the Dex, I'll still keep at it until I'm done. If it means going to a park in the snow, then I guess that's what it'll come to.

Throw Gen 2 into the mix and I'll probably let my fingers freeze. On a plus, with the colder weather, I probably wouldn't have to worry about the phone overheating, heheh.

Good luck with the final stretch! It's a tough battle between frustrations and thrills, but 100% worth it in the end, in my opinion.

And I definitely can relate to the hot phone {XD} ...I actually end up missing throws when the frame rate collapsed on me due to the phone's performance drop.

 

[Altairis]

I don't think there will be any less players due to the cold; if anything, it'll be due to the amount of time it's been out and the playerbase slowly getting smaller. After all, people can still play it in cars, and it's still pretty popular in restaurants that have Pokestops and on campus, where I can access 3 Pokestops from my dorm room :p

 

[Maserati777]

This is why I'm trying to get the Pokémon I can before winter, because I won't be going outside to hatch eggs or find candies once it starts snowing.


I can still get Pokestops since we drive by them on the way to work. And I can play inside at my job, there's usually some new Pokémon that spawn there.


The things I won't be able to do as much is hatching eggs, and walking to get candies, I can't leave my phone on at work because it will be dead in a couple hours. And I don't walk in straight lines much at work either.


I have a feeling I won't be able to complete the Pokedex before Gen 2 is released and I don't mean the continent exclusives, but rather the ones that spawn once in a blue moon or not at all. Like Vulpix is pretty much dead in the water unless I can hatch one or find a Ninetales in the wild.


Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and fully evolved Pokémon will randomly spawn in my living room...