PokeGo Fest!

[inkstone]

So the first anniversary of PokeGo is coming up fast and Niantic is celebrating in multiple ways.

• The Solstice Event kicks off on June 13. More fire and ice pokémon (nice that they acknowledge both hemispheres!), XP bonuses, and discounted lucky eggs.


• A forthcoming update that focuses on collaborative group gameplay. In preparation for this change, gyms will temporarily be disabled. (Sounds like they're changing the gym mechanic!!)


• Various PokeGo events in Chicago, Yokohama, and across Europe.

The official announcement is here. I'll try my best to keep the community updated as these events go live, but if any of you see it before me, feel free to let your fellow trainers know!

Comments

[catness]

I have to say that I dread the "collaborative group gameplay" update. Currently gyms are my favourite feature, but if I won't be able to play solo anymore, I'll be forced to quit. Oh well... it was fun while it lasted.

[shanaqui]

Has anyone actually found anything that says you have to play collaboratively in future, or is this catastrophising? (Not sure what I'd think of that, I mostly use it as a way to channel my obsessiveness into walking via collecting more and better pokemon. But I would prefer to be able to do gyms solo still.)

[inkstone]

No, there's nothing that says whether you MUST play collaboratively in the future. Just translations that say the gyms will be going down on June 16 (not 100% confirmed but that's what translations are saying) and that when they go back up, all gyms will be starting from a blank slate.

A data mine revealed new code referring to "raids" but it's unsure if this pertains to gym or some other new form of gameplay.

[yuuago]

Oooh, that Solstice event sounds exactly like what I need. :D
Thanks for letting us know about this! o7

Hmm, I wonder how they will be changing the gyms... this will be interesting.

[kirin]

Yeah, they haven't said anything definite about how the new gym systems will operate; I suspect we'll find out when they go live or shortly before if they put out an announcement.

Speaking of collaborative, though, I really wish I could find a way to hook up with the local Valor players in my town. There's a set of high-level folks I see on gyms a lot but I've never run into any of 'em in person. I've poked around online a bit and there's some Reddit/facebook groups for PokeGO in the area in general, but mostly focused on the city half and hour away (Raleigh) than my particular neck of the woods, so I doubt I'll run into them there either.

Hoping I can finally catch a good-stat Swinub (and get a bunch more candy) with the ice in this event.

[lilacsigil]

There's no specific group for my (tiny) town either, so the players are on groups for the city an hour away. It might be worth checking there anyway!

[upanddisappear]

Yay!