Like the well-nigh 20,000 other meeter , I was thrilled about the prospect ofPokémon Go Fest . I ’ve covered the game extensively for Macworldsince before its releaselast summertime , but more importantly , I ’ve been playing it for fun — sometimes solo , or with my wife and son . All told , I ’ve spent oodles of hour charm thousands of Pokémon , make thousands of PokéStop visits , and hatching loads of digital eggs .
Pokémon Go Fest promised the ability to take hold of uncommon monsters , team up up with lots of other players to tackle the new Raid Battles , and the chance to unlock and captivate top - level fabled lusus naturae , which would finally be added to the game for the occasion .
Instead , the game collapsed under the weight of all of the role player demand — and cellular networks likewise give way to accommodate the thousands of coinciding connections come from Grant Park in business district Chicago . As more and more people swamp the ballpark , the situation just got worse , and fans became expectedly upset and very outspoken about it . In my case , my most significant finds were a gnarled burn and a wasted day full of defeat .
Early promise
Pokémon Go Fest get off to a solid - enough start before the vast majority of people were let into the park . As a penis of the culture medium , I was allowed in with an early great deal of attendant , and we had a prospect to experience the Fest before it was in full cut — before technical upshot all lame the fun .
Well , this count promising .
Once inside the Fest , you ’d ask to take the air up to any of the special PokéStops on the map and spin the disk , which then prompted you to scan the QR code that Niantic provided alongside your NFC chip shot - compact watchstrap . After that , you were enrolled in the Fest ’s digital activities , which meant your Pokémon capture would be tallied and added to the aggregate needed to bit by bit unlock the fabled monsters during the three challenge windows , plus slews of Pokémon on the spur of the moment appear on the mathematical function . effective start .
Before 10:00 ante meridiem hit and more people were permit in , I start out walk the especial nerve tract created within the fest , which spanned a number of marked PokéStops that would award special 2 kilometer testicle to hatch . I figured I ’d probably walk that way several time throughout the day , and had spent about $ 10 to buy several extra incubators to ensure I could hatch a load of them before the Fest ’s destruction .
By the time I reached the # 6 stop on the map , I ladder into a problem . The secret plan was n’t responding , so I close up the app and tried opening it again — and it would n’t allow me sign in . I tried again and again with no result . At this tip , I was on the far outskirts of the fest , so I adjudicate to guide back towards the main phase surface area , and see if I could login using the Wi - Fi near the media area .
After about 15 hour offline , I in the end got back in right as the crowds begin build inside of the Mungo Park . Phew . Just a small hitch , right ?
The backlash begins
Nope . As attendees began flooding the park , the expert issues became more pronounced and widespread . As Niantic CEO John Hanke took the stage at around 11:00 a.m. , the crowd viciously boo him and yell obscenities , as chant of “ Fix the waiter , fix the secret plan ! ” began echoing throughout . Hanke seemed unquiet at the response , and urged fan to be patient , reminding them that children were present . In fact , Hanke ’s vernal Word was with him at the event .
Some of that frustration was clearly pent up and had been held in for a longsighted time . Pokémon Go was splendidly half - broken for its early calendar week of existence : it became an overnight phenomenon , and Niantic could n’t keep up with the demand . waiter crashed and stay down for long stretch , and glitches and crash plagued substance abuser during gaming . Some of that smoothed out over prison term , but reappeared here and there follow big game update .
Hanke took a lot of flak from disgruntled fan , and this was still very early on .
On top of that , fans journey from far and wide to attend Pokémon Go Fest . masses drove in from nearby states or flew out from other areas of the United States , not to remark other countries . And in some compositor’s case , they expect for hours to get in , as line enfold around the ballpark . Some people could n’t get into the Fest until a duet hours after it unfold , simply due to the blanket seam and slow process of scanning wristband .
That does n’t excuse some of the ruder remarks splurge at Hanke and other onstage endowment over the course of the day , but the defeat and irritation were absolutely tangible . These people drop their hard - earn time and money to hail play this social secret plan at its reckon elevation , and instead spent hours grimace at their telephone , ineffective to finish canonical game tasks .
From bad to worse
It was pretty terrible . At multiple points throughout the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , I could n’t even lumber into the app . When I could get in , there was no guarantee that I ’d be able to do anything , countenance alone finish any process that I begin . PokéStops often would n’t stretch , meaning I could n’t spin them to find items and XP . bug Pokémon on the function would often trigger a connection error , or simply cause to freeze out up in some interminable loading cycle .
The squad mill about thankfully had charging stations for our overtaxed phones .
Every so often , you ’d see a group of people run in a sealed direction of the park because a rare Pokémon — like an Unown or Heracross — was spawning in that area , or because new Raid Battles had just begun at a Gym . However , when you ’d get to that area , the game would more often than not become unresponsive due to the mass of joining petition in that outer space . After a while , I started steer in theoppositedirection of crowds , simply hop for a chance to play .
And then issue forth the full - on plot clangoring . At multiple points , I was able to complete a Raid Battle and take down the Pokémon with a lot of other players — but then when it fare time to try and capture that Pokémon , the secret plan crash and I miss my chance . In other instances , especially by and by in the Clarence Day , the biz would crash but from trying to catch a common Pokémon or load up a PokéStop .
Partway through the day , the organizers announce that there were three bang issues chevy the drama experience . The first bite of blame was put on cellular networks , with Niantic claim that supplier were slammed with requests and could n’t keep up .
The particular PokéStop lead ended up being pretty useless .
Well , of coursethey were . Have you ever been to a music fete or baseball game and scramble to freshen Twitter , or spent 20 minutes waiting for a photo to post to a friend ? It ’s the same situation here with 20,000 people all trying to habituate their earphone at once . How could Niantic not have seen that one come and tried to work with provider to boost response in the area ? Surely there ’s a solution for that . And if not , then why on worldly concern are you inviting 20,000 people to waste their fourth dimension in an impossible situation ?
Niantic possess the other issues , however , saying that connection demand was crushing the game ’s servers , and that a germ in the code was do the secret plan break up . They promised that study was being done to palliate all of the event , but there was no tangible signaling of relief throughout the sidereal day . The servers seemed a bit more responsive as people pass away the Fest in the last few hour before it end , but the clank linger and it all still seemed pretty superfluous .
Ending with a whimper
Ultimately , Niantic emerge a mea culpa and announce that it would repay the leverage price on every just the ticket , as well as provide $ 100 worth of in - secret plan Pokémon coins for each attendee . They also expanded the wheel spoke for in - game result to two naut mi stretching out from Grant Park , allowing attendees to seek out better receipt while still see to it special Pokémon and getting perquisite , and extended the drama period until Monday break of day .
what is more , they unveil that the first Legendary Pokémon in the game — Lugia — would eventually be mechanically cede to anyone at the Fest . But there was a match : while everyone expected to be capable to catch Legendary behemoth at the fete , they would n’t in reality be available until afterwards . Lugia and Articuno were supply on Saturday dark about an hour after Pokémon Go Fest conclude .
Frustrated fans begin taking flags out of the earth and carrying them around .
It felt like a bait and switch . Theofficial web log postannouncing the fabled monsters said , “ If the Trainers in Chicago come after in shoot down the Legendary Pokémon , that Pokémon will start come out in Raid Battles around the world , after Pokémon Go Fest . ” But we did n’t have a chance to shoot down a Legendary Pokémonatthe Fest . Shortly before 5:00 p.m. on Saturday , ahead of the 7:00 p.m. near , Niantic announced that the monsters would be add within 48 minute after the Fest ended . That ’s when people begin lead in droves .
As mentioned , they actually came somewhat quickly after the consequence — and grouping of masses still lingering around downtown Chicago were capable to track down both of the Legendary monsters , quiver them in Raid Battles , and assay to trance them thereafter . I ’m glad it work out for them , and I altogether admire their perseverance and endurance after the long , hot day in the Chicago Dominicus .
Me ? I packed it in right after the promulgation , and get out Grant Park around 5:00 p.m. to retreat home , take a much - needed rain shower , and nurse some wounds .
Lasting impact
It was a disappointing day , to say the least . Despite the many , manycrashes and restarts , it was n’t a thoroughgoing loss in term of gameplay . I did manage to capture both Heracross and Unown , and concoct a few more Pokémon that I did n’t have in my Pokédex — and should have Lugia at some point . However , with so many of the PokéStops being non - operational , I really fare away with far fewer PokéBalls than I had going into the day . I did n’t see that one coming .
And there were a couple of bright spots in the day that did n’t involve playing the game or staring at my iPhone projection screen . For good example , I set about this Orcinus orca photo with Pikachu :
At least I ’ll always have this .
Even better was seeing the enthusiasm of the attendees , many with their own customs duty - made Pokémon Go tetraiodothyronine - shirt represent their regions or team , as well as mass in cosplay offering their own rendering of the various monster and human characters from the gum anime series . The instrumentalist pool may be minuscule than at launch , but there ’s no dearth of passion . It was also refined to see the broad cross - part of player , including older couples , pregnant women , and menage . I ’d often come across a kid tethered to a parent by a file transmission line , which was plugged into an external barrage fire inner circle in the mom or dad ’s pocket .
Will that be me and my ( currently four - class - sure-enough ) boy in a couple years ? Will they withstand another Pokémon Go Fest again , and if so , would I bother attending ? Wouldanyonebother after what happened this past weekend ?
Pokémon Go could n’t keep up once the gates opened .
Pokémon Go Fest is an excellent approximation , and while I think we were a bit duped with the hope of Legendaries at the effect , it would ’ve been a bam had the technology go up to Niantic ’s plans . That ’s on both sides of the equation , too , but I do n’t think it ’s fair to throw most of the blame on companies like Verizon and AT&T. It should ’ve been up to Niantic to check that they could cede a solid experience with those meshing partners . Besides , the game itself was a pickle . One of those technological problems would have diminished the 24-hour interval , but with all of them in play , it was effectively ruined .
I ’m not the sorting to be cynical about biz developers , and honestly , I was taken aback by the booing and the loud expletives being hurtle at Niantic ’s chief executive officer and other onstage natural endowment during the day . Niantic educate a game — afreegame , for that matter — that has enamor these player for potentially hours and hours apiece , and that kind of entitled attitude is one of the regretful part about video game culture . as luck would have it , the screamed abuse were few and far between .
The booing , on the other mitt , was widespread — and while I did n’t join in on the chorus line , I totally get the thwarting . I only took a wagon train to get to Pokémon Go Fest , but for anyone who drove hours or paid for a escape and hotel , the letdown must have been amplified dramatically . There ’s no glaze it : the event was a full loser .
Will it be enough to kill hardcore interest in the plot ? We ’ll have to see . In my casing , I ’m still playing — I was back at it the next 24-hour interval , taking advantage of the special boosts that attendees unlocked for all world-wide player . But while I had shrugged off the earlier technical hitch of Pokémon Go , and always cave in Niantic the welfare of the doubt towards the countless problems , the experience has sadly unlocked some cynicism towards the secret plan .
After Pokémon Go Fest , it ’s hard not to believe that Niantic lack the ability to action on its noble-minded ambition , and that the plot may never live up to its full potency as a massively societal nomadic experience . And that realization will twinge long after the sunburn subsides .
