Pokemon Go Update Makes It Harder to Catch Pokemon; Niantic Responds

Niantic released an update to the worldwide phenomenon that is Pokemon Go, but it seems that it had some unannounced changes. Players around the world are complaining that they are finding it tougher to catch Pokemon.

“I can understand why Niantic removed the tracking since it was buggy but c’mon the catch rate is so bad. Now I have to waste 3-4 pokeballs for under 100 Pidgey. This is clearly Niantic wanting people to buy pokeballs. And I live in the suburbs where there isn’t many pokestops so this is breaking the game for me,” said one gamer on Reddit.

(Also see: Niantic Explains Pokemon Go Update and Delay in India Release Date)

Update: Niantic responded to the situation in a tweet on the Pokemon Go handle on Friday, saying, “Trainers, a new bug affecting throw accuracy increases the odds of escape and omits the XP bonus. We are working on a fix, stay tuned…”

This sentiment seems to be echoed by plenty playing the game. Capturing Pokemon has required more Pokeballs even when you’re up against those with low combat points and that they run away easily too. It gets worse the higher level you are.

If this wasn’t enough, it seems that Niantic has also changed how frequently Pokemon Go scans for monsters. Earlier it used to do so every five seconds but it now does so every 10 seconds. It might not seem like much but the impact is severe. Reason being, you won’t be able to catch as many Pokemon as you would if you were in a car, on a bike, or using public transportation.

“A few hours ago Niantic increased the scan refresh time on their API from 5 seconds to 10 seconds, doubling the time required to scan for new Pokemon in the area. This slows down 3rd party tracking apps, and breaks any that do not update to this new standard (the apps miss Pokemon if they scan on a smaller timescale),” reports another player. “Even at moderate biking speeds, 10 second refreshes have the potential to entirely miss Pokemon located towards the outer half of your ‘detection circle.’ Now, if you bike and hope to catch Pokemon, you will catch fewer.”

(Also see: Pokemon Go Needs These 6 Features for Continued Success in India and Elsewhere)

It will be interesting to see if Niantic plans to change any of this after user feedback. At the time of writing this, Pokemon Go’s current version has 29,829 two star ratings on the US App Store with Google Play’s ratings mirroring similar views.

And it doesn’t help matters that Niantic has removed legendary Pokemon – rare, powerful monsters in the game from trainer accounts such as the likes of Articuno.

“We recently noticed that a few Legendary Pokemon got into a few accounts when they shouldn’t have, To preserve the game’s integrity and as a measure of fairness, we have rectified the situation and revoked the legendary Pokemon from the Trainers’ accounts,” Niantic said in a statement to IGN.

(Also see: Meet India’s Pokemon Go Players Who Gotta Catch ‘Em All)

Are you playing Pokemon Go? What’s your take on the latest update to the game? Let us know in the comments.