"Ideas to resurrect AR mode"

#PokemonGO: Given the recent excitement about Apple’s ARKit and its effect on Pokemon Go, I thought I would share an idea I’ve been toying with for a while now.It seems to me that one of the most under-used aspects of PoGo has got to be the AR camera mode. Remember when the game was first released? The internet was full of people taking selfies with their favorite Pokemon or snapping pics of wild Pokemon in beautiful and majestic scenery. I still have the photo of my very first Eevee frolicking in my backyard. It was unbelievably exciting to see “live” Pokemon in the real world. But that died pretty quickly, didn’t it? There are a few major reasons why AR mode didn’t stay popular, and I have a few ideas about how Niantic can bring it back.Basically, there are two main reasons why AR mode isn’t widely used. The first is technology related. This tech limitation could be circumvented with a few simple changes to the AR interface and allow for basic interaction from even the cheapest smartphone. The second, and far more difficult thing to counter, is that AR mode is just plain useless. Far from providing any kind of bonus, using AR catch mode actually makes the game more difficult! However, with just a few changes, I believe Niantic could reenergize the PoGo player base and encourage millions of players to bring back the magic of AR. These AR changes could even be a way to give real players the advantage over bots and spoofers. I believe that if Niantic were to implement one or more of these suggestions, it would benefit both the PoGo community and the entire AR gaming industry at large.The first major hurdle in the utilization of AR mode is technological. Simply put, many people with budget smartphones don’t have the gyroscope necessary to orient the game’s AR camera. This is especially true of many low-cost provider phones such as the StraightTalk-branded phones sold at Walmart. A quick search of GSMArena.com for the basic PoGo requirements (2GB+ RAM, Android 4.4+/iOS 8+, GPS, and a camera) shows that nearly half of all phones capable of running PoGo don’t have a gyroscope. While there isn’t much Niantic can do about this lack of hardware support, small changes to the AR interface would allow more players to interact with AR mode. Essentially, for phones without the necessary gyro, Niantic could simply overlay the Pokemon sprite onto the center of the screen. This would allow everyone to participate in the AR experience to one degree or another. This is basically all the AR mode does anyway; why not just default to a basic sprite overlay? Fixing the sprite in place should be a very simple change that would improve the QoL for approximately half of the PoGo player base. Given the way the system currently works, this wouldn’t even provide a benefit that could be taken advantage of. It simply lets a larger number of players get involved in a major aspect of the game: Augmenting their reality.The second major obstacle for the popularity of AR mode is the lack of benefit it provides. Personally, I know that my interest in catching or battling in AR mode died off pretty early. Not only did it require a sensor that half of current smartphones don’t have, it burned through my battery, drew attention to me in embarrassing ways, and ultimately made it harder to capture Pokemon. In my opinion, other than taking photos for first-time catches, AR mode served absolutely no purpose. I think these reasons played a large part of why the rest of the player base abandoned AR mode pretty quickly after release. I know that at a certain point, people realized AR mode could be used to reset a Pokemon set too far away, or for getting an insta-catch Great shot, but other than for exploits, AR was dead. This lack of benefit is the basis behind my idea to revive AR mode.What I propose are just a few alterations to the AR capture mode. First, Niantic should implement a 1.75 catch bonus for using AR mode during a Pokemon encounter. This would provide enough of an incentive to get players to use one of the most unique aspects of Pokemon Go and allow Niantic to continue developing its AR gaming platform. I feel that 1.75 would be an adequate benefit for players, given the difficulty of making a good throw while keeping the camera centered on the Pokemon requires far more effort than feeding a razzberry (1.5 bonus) or spinning a ball (1.7 bonus). Nearly doubling the chance of catching a rare or elusive ‘mon would encourage Pokemon Go players to use AR mode more often, which I feel was designed to be a much more integral part of the game. This idea alone might be enough to recapture the excitement we felt 11 months ago when we used AR for the first time.Combined with the AR bonus to captures, Niantic needs to listen to its player base and incorporate a Pokemon-Amie feature into the game. By allowing players to use the AR technology of PoGo to interact with their Pokemon, they would be providing a much-needed content boost to the game. Numerous players have asked for this option, and many more have asked for a more general “something to do when I’m at home” option. Pokemon AR interaction would provide both groups with something they desperately want. In addition to being relatively simple to create, this option doesn’t need to provide any tangible in-game bonus, though that certainly could be added. To start, Niantic should simply give its players the option of bonding with their Pokemon. If it proves popular, friendship bonuses (CP, HP, new moves, etc) could be added at any future time. This solution is simple to understand, easy to implement, and has no downside. Why haven’t they done this yet?Finally, I think it would be amazing if Niantic introduced a new type of Pokemon spawn: the AR spawn. Essentially, have spawn points randomly spawn Pokemon that don’t appear on the avatar map. Instead, players need to actively open AR mode and look for spawns periodically. This would beautifully recreate the Pikachu search we saw in the original trailer and provide an incredible sense of realism to the world’s most popular Augmented Reality game. Unfortunately, this would likely require a functioning gyroscope to work accurately, which would prevent a large amount of players from using the feature. However, it may also serve to combat bots and spoofers by providing yet another source of data Niantic could use to detect fake locations. I’ve been told that some GPS spoofing apps fail to adjust elevation, which allows developers to recognize that some players occasionally dip underground or fly through the sky. If that is true, then adding gyroscope orientation might allow Niantic to identify bots whose gyro is always upright at a perfect 90 degrees or other such telltale signs. While I believe that AR spawns would be an amazing addition to the game, I’m willing to admit it is extremely unlikely to be implemented. Still, a guy can dream, can’t he?As always, these are rough ideas. If anyone has suggestions, changes, support, or arguments, let’s hear them. We know for a fact that Niantic listens to us here, so the more we support and refine ideas for the game, the more likely they’ll actually use them!TL:DR Bring back AR excitement! Simplify AR mode for phones without gyroscopes, add Pokemon-Amie feature, give 1.75 capture bonus for using AR mode, and create AR-only spawns not visible on the overhead map.Edit: Formatting changes via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2sBfrCp