Niantic’s COVID-19 Reactions so far: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I know I am invoking a classic “Spaghetti Western” in my title, but there have been some of all three so far.

The Good

• More Pokeballs in Gifts. I received upwards of 10 Red Pokeballs in some gifts.
• Cancellation/Postponement of some events that are geared more towards group gaming. Some have been reworked to solo gaming.
• The 99.9% sales (30 incenses and 100 Red Pokeballs for 1 coin)

The Bad

• Niantic is (at least in my view) quite REACTIVE and not adapting to the situation in a proactive manner. Everything seems to be a tooth pull to get the needed changes. It took how much to get the hike in Pokeballs? I am grateful, but it shouldn’t have to come to the players complaining for days. Niantic should have seen the writing on the wall.
• Personal experience: I got up to the catch 25 Electric Pokemon in the Drive to Investigate quest. I saw ZERO Electric Pokemon out yesterday. This is still the middle of the time that the quest is supposed to be active and the various needed Pokemon are out. I just hope that Ice Pokemon are plentiful in the next couple of weeks. It’s Spring and Winter here has been a complete dud so far as cold and snow around here. One lure will not do it.

The UGLY

Yes, I can do this by myself. However, I live in a Rural area. I see 3 Pokestops in a weekday. I have seen Rocket Grunts at these stops maybe a dozen times or so since the event started. There is no way that this is feasible for me to get without this being kept for a very long time. Add that New Jersey has banned unnecessary travel (and Pokemon is unnecessary at this point), this renders the research impossible and COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE until the COVID-19 situation is resolved. Niantic is once again showing that they do not understand the Rural player’s situation. And now this is two days in a row. 3/26’s Battle in a raid is not as bad, but having only 1 gym in my walkable area… on a major highway with no sidewalks makes this quite a monumental task. John McEnroe was right at Wimbledon all those years ago…

Yes, Niantic deserves Kudos for the good things and gets some Goodwill for this. However, their mistakes have erased a huge chunk of the Goodwill they got.