"What the appraisal system suggests about the development direction of the game."

#PokemonGO: The appraisal system seems to be meeting with mixed opinions just after release. I haven't seen anyone comment on the fact that this seems to be a system directly derived from user actions.The user-base has adopted hunting for superior IV pokemon in a big way; you only need to check the various subs and community pages for evidence of this, as well of the existence of various websites and apps. IV ratings have added an extra layer of depth to the game which many people have been actively engaging with.I feel that the addition of the appraisal system is Niantic throwing us a bone. This is obviously a fairly minor feature which diverted someone's time away from working on another aspect of the game. The only reason for the company to divert resources towards this (especially when the to do list must already be pretty massive) is to actively engage with the players who are making the most of the content that is available.I think that speaks of good things to come in future - it's evidence that the company are willing to develop with the fans in mind, which is by all accounts a turn around from their ingress model. It also shows that however sparse the communications coming out from Niantic are, there are some people there who are keeping their finger on the pulse of what is actually happening out in the wild.TlDr: It may not be a huge feature, but the appraisal system suggests that the developers are trying to develop with the community in mind. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2bBuIi8