During the usual drive to work there are about 5 – 7 Poke Stops (Yes, yes, it’s light but that’s what living in the country is like) that have always consistency provided Poke balls, Poke eggs, and the usual goodies. This is puttering through town doing no more than 30-35MPH in lazy small town traffic, not doing 60+ down a highway.
Over the last two days the same stops are spinning but giving a “Try again later” message. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Did Niantic introduce a change to limit the ability to drive and benefit from Poke Stops? Safe driving and responsible Pokemon Go gaming should be common sense by now. Don’t be reckless nor distracted but having to come to a full stop or drive well under 25 MPH seems like it could cause more issues.
During testing going as low as 25 MPH still produces the error so it looks like this may be the case. Twitter is also chirping about users complaining of the same thing.
Why would Niantic do this? After a quick google of “Pokemon Go deaths” there’s some recent stories that may be pressing on the conscious of the developers. Not to mention heading off any legal liabilities Niantic could very well be doing this to limit any further personal or legal concerns.
- Japanese government ask for more game restrictions after death
- Japanese parents ask for more restrictions after son’s death bringing the Japanese death toll for Pokemon Go related deaths to 3.
- Detroit Pokemon Go death
While these are largely stories about the concerns in Japan it’s only a matter of time before we see more and more pressures to hamstring the game and sadly restricting the PokeStops while driving is likely the first in many potential unwanted game changes.