PokeStop

There are a lot of changes, so just go read the entire post!

In a nutshell:

• You'll be able to get items from gyms like you can pokestops.


• Each gym defender must be unique. (i.e. No stacking Blisseys).


• Gyms will now only have 6 defenders!


• Gym defenders must be kept motivated via berries or they'll return to their trainers. (I think this is a way to let more people interact with gyms even when all slots are filled?)


• We'll earn gym badges.


• The Collaborative Feature: Raid Battles - Basically, from time to time, a Raid Boss will take over gyms -- kicking out all current defenders -- and trainers will have to work together to beat the Raid Boss.

Gyms are going to be disabled in a few hours, so get your bonuses ASAP if you haven't already. ETA 12:41 PM EDT: Gyms have been disabled.

And here are the official patch notes:

• You’ll earn bonuses for the first Pokémon catch and PokéStop visit each day. You’ll receive a larger bonus when you do this seven days in a row. (note: this was a server-side update because I started getting the bonus yesterday whereas the game update hit my Android this afternoon.)


• When you defeat the Gym Leader at a rival Gym, there will be a brief period of time where only you will be able to place a Pokémon in the open Gym. (read: no more gym sniping!)


• The amount of Prestige a rival Gym loses when you defeat a regular Gym member has increased. The amount of Prestige gained by training at a friendly Gym has been lowered. (note: the prestige amounts are basically doubled and halved for fighting rival gyms and training friendly gyms, respectively.)


• Minor text fixes. (note: I don't know if it's just me but I don't like the new text fixes, which seem to involve making the font face smaller.)

Other changes:

• Pokestops are now speed-locked! I'm not sure what the limits are, but I suspect they're similar to speed limits for spawning?


• On the other hand, pokestops are now dropping A LOT more items. I don't know if it's linked to the daily quests or if it's random. I will tell you that the pokestop outside of my neighborhood gave me TWELVE ITEMS when I spun it. ETA: Actually, this seems to be an event that Niantic is hosting to celebrate the daily bonuses! More info!

What do we think about the update?

Niantic rolled out a minor update with the patch note: "minor bug fixes." I don't know what those bugs were, but if your app updates, don't be surprised.

As for the tip: nest pokemon and water spawns are not affected by the Halloween shake-up. So take advantage of the doubled candies if you're working on, say, a gyarados and have water biomes near you!

News was pretty light this week -- aside from numerous complaints from disgruntled PokeGo players -- so it's another combo post.

In terms of the game itself, here are some newsbits that might be of interest:

• Nests have migrated again.

• Pokémon no longer spawn if you're going over 30mph. While this is meant to deter playing while driving, it also inadvertantly penalizes people who play while riding as passengers or take public transportation. I believe you can still spin pokestops, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Aside from that...



How was your week in PokeGo?!

Sorry, yesterday got away from me so it's a news + free chat combo post this week. Unlike the past couple round-ups, a lot happened this week. I'm going to try to organize things to make them easier to parse, so here we go.

Game Updates
• PokeGo has launched in over 40 new countries. Due to the number, I'm not going to list them individually but you can see the full lists here and here. Sorry, India and South Korea are not among the new launch territories. I know they've been waiting a while.

• Niantic added a server side update where new-to-you pokémon sighted in gyms are now registered as being seen in your pokedex. So if you're like me and still don't have a dragonite but your local gym meta is dominated by the orange Barney, you will see its silhouette in your pokedex.

• Look alive! Nests have migrated again!

• In a future update, the medals you've earned will now make a difference! More specifically, the medals you earn for catching specific types of pokémon will make catching future pokémon from that category easier. For example, earning a gold medal in catching pidgeys will make it easier to catch gyarados. (more details)

• Also in a forthcoming update, the way you train friendly gyms will change. You will be able to bring 6 pokémon (like if you were attacking a rival gym) and the CP of defenders will adjust to your level, which will allow lower level trainers to participate in the gym scene. (more details)

• Niantic continues its efforts to block third-party apps. (source)

( more highlights from this week )

That's it for this week!

Any thoughts about the latest in-game updates? What about the other newsbits? And how was your week in PokeGo?

Let's talk about it here.