The “new format” of Community Day is causing a real outcry among Pokémon GO players. This time again, after the traditional festival which was this time centered on Gobou, many fans rose up against Niantic, to show their anger. In question : Incense duration reduction, and the event itself.
Quarter of an hour
While the effective duration of Community Days had increased to 6 hours during the pandemic, Niantic has since backpedaled, and the time frame has returned to 3 hours. For many players, it’s a real punishment that makes the event difficult to profit from. Some are held at work or at some activity, and it is enough that this occupation encroaches on the thin 3-hour period of Community Day for the event to pass under the noses of those concerned. According to them, 6 hours of delay allowed at least a partial participation for everyone.
It smells of fir
The colossal nerf applied to Incense (from 90 minutes to 60 minutes of duration of use, with less attraction to Pokémon) drives the point home even further. It becomes really difficult to have a good Community Day session taking into account these parameters.
Several boycott hashtags had been launched on social networks at the time of this policy change, such as #HearUsNiantic or #NianticDidntHearUs. The publisher replied that the exploration of new places had to remain at the center of the game, and that continuously baiting Pokémon from home was not the purpose of the event. Additionally, Niantic had specified at the time of shortening the length of Community Day that only 5% of players used the full festival length when it was 6 hours.
The showdown between a non-negligible fringe of the community and the publisher could therefore well continue.