This is about the people who play Pokemon Go. Specifically, the people you wouldn’t expect to be thoroughly enjoying the game.
For those of us that are internet savvy with Facebook groups and Reddit, we’ve all seen one continuous message about the state of the game: it’s an unplayable, broken, and useless pile of crap that should be put out to pasture. This story isn’t about those people, though. It’s about everybody else.
It’s about the couple in gym clothes, walking their dog on a pleasant Sunday evening as they collect items from Pokestops. It’s about the family in camouflage hats and tank tops, sitting down near a cluster of fully lured Pokestops as they catch Pokemon, have a drink, relax, and make new friends. It’s about the father and his two sons and how he reminds them to make sure if they see a Pokemon they don’t have to do their best to catch it instead of wasting valuable resources on the ones they already have. It’s about all the people who drive to Fairfield, Ohio (myself included) to stand around a grocery store (a pretty amazing grocery store, to be fair) on a Sunday night in the middle of August just for the sake of catching Pokemon. Do you know what all of these people have in common? They’re all enjoying the game. They’re having a blast. They’re having the time of their life.
Yes, the game is imperfect in its current form. Tracking has been sacrificed for the stability of the game’s servers as Niantic continues to launch the app around the world. Yes, there are still issues to be found, but at the end of the day, we’re still outside in the real world in search of virtual Pokemon. We’re still enjoying it. We’re interacting with people we otherwise wouldn’t, going to places we’ve always wanted to check out. The game is called Pokemon Go and these people that I’ve talked about, the ones from all different backgrounds and walks of life, are using the “go” part of the title to the fullest.
We should learn a thing or two from them. What’s the point of blasting the developer online? What’s to gain from typing in all caps “IF THE TRACKER WAS WORKING I WOULD HAVE CAUGHT IT?” Why should we be so negative? Surely we remember what it was like whenever an MMO launched; it was rough, it was rocky, but we still persevered. Let’s focus on the new friendships we’ve made, the new memories we’ve created, and the new sights we’ve explored. Let’s do what we can to enjoy it now because when everything is up and running at full capacity, it’ll all be so worth it.
A world of dreams and adventures with Pokemon awaits. Let’s go!
