Pokemon GO developers have put a new focus on communication with players

Pokemon GO developers, in a recent blog post, pledged to make several improvements to their service, one of which was being more communicative with the player base.

Previously, the main forum that Niantic used to update players was the Known Issues page on their site. However, the latter still haven't had their app-related grievances addressed.

As a result, Niantic has made several measures to improve communication between developers and players.

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Pokemon GO creates developer diary to improve communication

The blog post where Niantic announced their new devotion to increased communication was written by Steven Wang, Executive Producer of the Pokemon GO team.

This announcement took place after four 30 minute roundtable sessions where the development team at Pokemon GO spoke with leaders in the community. They heard multiple complaints from these sessions, but chief among them was that communication was an issue for their patrons.

To address this grievance, Niantic will be posting a developer diary bimonthly. This diary will offer more detailed information on events, game mechanics, and components of that nature. This will be done in addition to further updating the Known Issues page to keep players up to date.

Communication was not the only issue addressed. Players of Pokemon GO have also complained about the interaction distance between PokeStops and Gyms. This was extended to 80 meters to limit walking during the pandemic, but was recently shortened to 40 meters.

After receiving feedback from the community, the developers of Pokemon GO reverted the PokeStop and Gym interaction radius back to 80 meters.

After addressing player concerns and offering cogent measures to deal with issues, Wang stated:

“We still believe in the importance of discovering interesting places and things in the real world, and we don’t want to lose sight of that.”

He further claimed:

“The team and I are eager to develop new ways that motivate and reward Trainers for exploring and exercising in the real world.”

Increased communication should be a welcome initiative to fans at this time. Several new events are coming with the Season of Mischief in its early days, and players will be eager to know which Pokemon will be in raids, dates for Community Days, etc.