Pokemon Go: With footsteps gone and no PokeVision alternative, the phenomenon could soon be over

The game is currently missing a core gameplay element

PokéVision

Pokémon Go, an app so popular I know a lot of people using it more than Facebook right now, is at a very crucial moment in its development.

Last week saw Pokémon-locating live map PokéVision and its derivatives get taken down, services that pretty much everyone above a certain level was using by that point. It’s understandable that developer Niantic wouldn’t just let these unsanctioned, third-party helpers continue to alter how the game is played, but they offered a whole lot more than simply “cheating”.

With the footstep guides in the game being borderline useless, I was starting to lose interest in it, the search for increasingly rare Pokémon essentially amounting to a stab in the dark. PokéVision added some purpose, making the game less about blindly searching and more about timing, monitoring and how willing you are to walk for your rewards.

Admittedly yes, it made things a bit too easy, but it helped. Not only did Niantic kindly ask PokéVision to shut up shop though, but it removed the 3-step display at the same time and offered no immediate replacement.

“We have removed the ‘3-step’ display in order to improve upon the underlying design,” it wrote on Facebook today. “The original feature, although enjoyed by many, was also confusing and did not meet our underlying product goals. We will keep you posted as we strive to improve this feature.”

It better improve the feature, and fast, as once users start to tire of games like this they rarely come back.

One Reddit user came up with a pretty perfect solution to the gameplay problem today:

A compass system like this would provide a good balance of pointing you in the direction of Pokémon you need, without giving you their precise location.

With many players having already caught all the Pokémon currently out there using PokéVision, the damage may have already been done, but it might make more sense for this major issue to be prioritised over complete global rollout of the game. Listening to users would help too, who have been pretty diligent when it comes to reporting bugs and suggesting improvements.