When Pokémon GO launched in 2016, it seemed like everyone was playing it. While the craze died down, the ARG game still retains a dedicated player base. Pokémon GO has continued to evolve since it came out, and even survived the lockdowns stemming from COVID-19 last year, an impressive feat for a game that encourages players to get outside, often in populated areas. Such adaptability required gameplay changes to allow player to effectively toss Poké Balls from home among other things, and many of those changes are now being reverted to the detriment of Pokémon GO.
Part of the game's ability to survive the tumultuous pandemic was making these gameplay changes to ensure social distancing could be adhered to. Some of the changes made it easier to play Pokémon GO from home, but as the pandemic appears to be winding down (at least in the United States), developer Niantic has been rolling back many of the improvements made to the game last year. Many of these features are scheduled to be reverted in Pokémon GO in June 2021, but some of them were welcome changes to the game in the first place.
The coming changes to Pokémon GO are intended to revert the game back to its original experience - that is, get people back outside. In order to accomplish this, Niantic is taking away some pandemic features that gave free items, increased the effectiveness of Pokémon-attracting Incense, and made PokéStops and Gyms intractable from a greater distance. While the first two were nice to have, the increased interaction distance is something that greatly benefitted gameplay, and should be left in the game for various reasons.
Increased Interaction Distance Makes Pokémon GO Easier & Safer
Lowering the radius from which players can interact with PokéStops and Gyms is more of a deterrent to playing than anything else. The dedicated players of Pokémon GO are already getting out and walking, there's no need to force them into more specific areas. Pokémon GO claims to be promoting community and exploration, but most people will be playing in their neighborhoods or places they are familiar with. The larger interaction distances also helped when GPS tracking became spotty.
Pokémon GO works best in highly populated areas, where there are plenty of Pokéstops and Gyms, and reducing the interaction distance makes playing the game more dangerous. Not only is COVID-19 still a concern, but forcing players to get closer to points of interest poses other threats. Now players may have to cross busy streets, or navigate through large crowds. Any number of strange situations, like a gym being located in a defunct business, could potentially lead to situations easily avoided by keeping the changes. These features being reverted is unlikely to have any significant effect on Pokémon GO, but it's disappointing to see Niantic reverting a change that actually significantly improved the gameplay.