>> Pokémon GO - TO SPOOF OR NOT TO SPOOF (part 1)

A hot topic of discussion amongst high profile Pokémon players - should it be allowed?

I started playing Pokémon GO on the 14th July, 2016 - just around the time it was released in Sweden. I was in an isolated region in the north of Sweden where my first impressions were limited - no Pokémon, no Pokéstops and no gyms. I tinkered for a while, marvelled at the augmented-reality application, then lost interest and got back to mid-summer celebrations (drinking beer). Once I got back to a populated area; I saw the attraction of the game and played - but, it got boring - I needed more. GPS spoofing - what a change it makes to the game.

After about six months in; playing like the authors wished everyone would play - I had learnt all about individual values, what ideal move sets are, how the gym system works and got on a few planes to catch these elusive regional Pokémon. I also walked ages to hatch all those eggs.

I had reached the peak of the game, well - so I thought. I was level thirty one, had six perfect Pokémon (100% IV) and a complex 'Kanto' pokedex. I had used a non-invasive IV checker (GoIV) to filter out the junk Pokémon and end up with a strong arsenal of Pokémon with IV's of 80% or more. I kept the strongest of each stage of evolution. I thought I was such a Poké nerd.

One of my proud catches - the second 'Tauros' I stumbled across in New York:

Then Niantic released the 'baby' Pokémon - that could only be hatched from eggs, it was a great commercial ploy to get everyone to buy incubators. Following that; the 'Johto' pokedex was released - in total bringing around ninety new Pokémon to the game. There were some new families completely - but there were also extended evolutions and brank off evolutions to the existing set. It threw a spanner into the works - like putting a brick in a washing machine.

Two new regional Pokémon introduced, 'Heracross' and 'Corsola' - meaning more flying around required - it gets a little more crazy when you hear about the special Pokémon called 'Unown' - which is super-super rare and comes in twenty six variations (representing the alphabet). Some estimated it would take over ten years to catch them all legitimately based on how they appear.

So what does a die-hard Pokémon GO fan do with all these changes?

In the next entry - I will cover what you can do and how it completely changes the way you play and see Pokémon GO. In all honesty; while I agree Niantic should go after cheaters that use bots, gym sniping tools and other things that ruin the game - what I propose still requires you to play the game. You even get to venture into places you would never be able to normally.