"[Discussion] Open Letter to Niantic"

#PokemonGO: Dear Niantic,we know that the original tracker, first the 40m/80m/120m version, then the three steps tracker, both worked, but you removed them because it "did not meet your underlying product goals" (FB, Aug 2, 2016). Common sense says that you enjoyed the old tracker and the decision to remove it was based on incidents like trespassing, accidents or people staring at their phones while moving in public, possibly getting into dangerous situations, and you (or more likely The Pokémon Company) can't have that.Third party trackers "were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon GO to users around the world," as you originally said to explain them being shut out from the game, and we understand that. But the real reason for them being banned now is obviously that any tracker that makes it possible to hunt Pokémon in possibly dangerous places is not welcome as you (or more likely The Pokémon Company) don't want the Pokémon brand to be associated with "unsafe" or "accidents."The Nearby tracker now all but eliminated the idea of hunting or chasing Pokémon in the wild, it basically just leads you to a nearby Pokéstop where you will just find that Pokémon when you make it in time. No risk of trespassing, no need to stare at your phone to check if you are walking in the right direction.The speed limits that were introduced for both wild Pokémon spawns and Pokéstops soon after must have that same goal: make the game bulletproof and avoid headlines that connect Pokémon, Niantic or The Pokémon Company with accidents. Casualties like commuters, runners, passengers or bikers were to be accepted to achieve your "underlying product goal."While I don't particularly like any of these changes, I can accept them even though I believe that every company should trust its customers to use its products in a responsible and safe way. Up to a certain point at least, and it's important to strike a balance between safety precautions and customer's common sense.No new Pokémon that spawn in the wild were added to the game since launch, even though you know that the majority of your core player base - those that made you more than one billion dollars in revenue - have completed their Pokédex for weeks if not months. Sure, Ditto was added in November, but that one can not be tracked/hunted, and the baby Gen2 Pokémon that were introduced on December 12th do not spawn in the wild, so no risk of trespassing or accidents with those.It's been eight weeks now since you've added any new content to the game, and let's be honest... hatching eggs doesn't really contribute much to gameplay. You must know that the majority of your player base has nothing to do in the game and you must be eager to change that. Instead your developers spend their valuable time with changing Ditto's catch animation and enlarging the beacons above gyms. Your Twitter feed asks players to "share screenshots of our favorite Gym to train at," and the last bunch of app updates added only very minor tweaks, mostly for the Apple Watch.It surely looks like you are on hold! The game is all set for new content (Gen2) to be added since early December, the players surely are waiting for it, and you, Niantic, must be eager to breathe new life into Pokémon Go. It's time for a serious update from your side, and give us a bit more than "We are still working hard on several new and exciting features to come in the future of Pokémon GO" (August 23, 2016), but even that would be appreciated. Reassure us that the focus of the game will be an AR adventure to "catch them all" in the wild. Give us an idea of what your basic plans are for 2017.And in the Trump age... if you for some reason can't talk about any of this but you think we deserve some honest information, I would be perfectly fine with reading this on @AltPokemonGoApp via /r/pokemongo http://ift.tt/2k2GXnE