"Debunking the "Don't press OK" exploit"

#PokemonGO: tl;dr the trick is completely fake and based on a misunderstanding of RNG and the mechanics of the gameIt all started with rumours that the server decides who will catch a raid boss and who won't before the catch phase has even started. "Research" had found that only 20-30% of participants could catch the boss and everyone else would have a 0% chance no matter how well they threw. This is just RNG.Then the theory evolved. The new theory was that once a certain number of people had caught it the server would then prevent anyone else from catching it no matter how well they threw. However, a simple explanation to the observation is that it takes longer to fail all your throws than to catch it (which takes fewer balls since you catch it before using all your balls).The "logic" behind the trick is that by not pressing okay, the client never sends the network call to the server to say that the client has caught the raid boss. The idea being that if nobody let's the server know they've caught the raid boss they can trick it into letting everyone catch it.Unfortunately, the game doesn't work that way. The server knows you've caught a pokemon long before the client does and certainly well before the ok button is displayed. In addition, for the trick to work the ok button would have to lead to a server call that informs the server that it has been pressed. This server call does not exist. If it did it would have been spotted by network sniffers. In fact it's easy to disprove yourself. Whenever the app makes a network call there is a white, spinning pokeball icon. That icon does not appear as a result of tapping ok.The main reason this trick caught on is that the catch rate for zapdos has been significantly higher in general. There are many factors such as having an extra ball, Zapdos being easier to hit and just being generally more experienced at legendary raids that contribute to this result. They really do have a better catch rate since starting to use the trick but it wasn't because of the trick. It was just coincidental timing.When doing this kind of research, one always needs a control group. Rather than the whole group using the trick. Have one group try it and one very similar group (in terms of experience, skill, etc.) try catching the boss at the same time without the trick. If they had done this they'd have seen that both groups had an increased catch rate and would have been able to deduce that there were other factors causing the increase, not the trick.Sorry for the long post but as always, do your research and stay informed. I hope you all have a fantastic day :-) via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2i1TSK3