Pokémon GO Fest Endures Problematic Weekend But Legendaries Arrive Globally

I'll leave this here. (contains strong language!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFm8SJ0VOaA

It was pretty unfortunate, hampered by bad planning on the part of Niantic, with horribly long lines and not thinking that having 21,000 people using mobile data may be problematic. From what I saw on the live stream and pictures shared on Twitter, it looks like the event had a nice visual appeal to it, with real life Pokestops and stuff. I know a lot of people were really excited for this event and it's sad it ended up so awful. I'm not going to say that I am happy it was a sh*tshow because a lot of people paid a lot of money to go to it. Maybe getting the booing and stuff at the event will clue people at Niantic that things still need to be worked out. Seeing online complaints is one thing, but havig your CEO booed off the stage is completely different.

Conversely, it did get some people out to play the game again. I saw groups of people out and about playing - not nearly at the level of last summer, but they were having fun and enjoying it, and that was good to see. I think the people who played outside of Chicago had a much better time. And with the legendaries coming out, I saw a good number of crowds out at raid sites this morning.

Despite its problems yesterday, Pokemon GO shot back up to No. 1 in the App store last night, so it is still being played.

Well, what with Pokéstops being stingy as [insert whichever swear word you like the most here], I think this is nothing more than karma.
Of course there would be problems with traffic, what was Niantic even thinking?!
That said, these few days' worth of doubled goodies are patching things up: I finally own a few over-1000 CP Pokémon.

A few questions for fellow Pokémon GO-ers:

1) Is the "10 different Pokéstops streak" a real thing?
2) What's a trainer's level cap?
3) What's a Pokémon's CP cap?
4) Is anyone else having trouble distance-feeding berries to a Pokémon of his/hers in a faraway gym?
5) A Pokémon returned from a gym after staying there for four days, and all I got was a measly 50 Pokécoins. Is it a problem related to the then-upcoming summer update or is really all players can get after four days' worth of gym defense?

lol, after a year the thing is still having issues.

Server issues? Thats how it was a year ago, nice they kept it as tradition!

It's so weird to me how upset people got over the game during the fest. It's not like some huge competitive title, it's a casual work out app with a Pokémon skin on it. If they want to play Pokémon just go play any of the several titles that have come out the past 20 years.

@RazorThin I read you had to pay quite some money to get a ticket. And black market prices were through the roof. So i can understand it somewhat.
If you take money for an event, you have to deliver the goods.

@AlexSora89
1: Apparently, yes. It'll usually give me around 7 to 10 items instead of the usual 3-ish.
2: Level 40 is the level cap but XP can still be gained after that. However, the higher you get the more XP you'll need for the next level. Level ups gain some rewards, with some premium rewards after each 5 levels.
3: A Pokémon's CP is based on it's species and IV values that differ between each catch. Hatched Pokémon have a higher chance to get good IV's. The amount to Power Ups you can apply to a mon's CP is based on your trainer level, with level 40 gaining you the max.
4: I can't distance feed any of my Pokémon, so this is definitely a glitch in the current version. Also, one of my mon's is in a gym for 11 days before the update came out and I can't see anything on it's status screen or visit it's gym from there.
5: Unfortunately, 50 Pokécoins a day is the max. You get 1 coin per 10 minutes of defense, and will get it automatically when a Mon is kicked out of a gym. It's somewhat easier for more people to get coins now, but this restriction also means that if 2 Pokémon get kicked out of a gym the same day, you won't ever get 100 coins, while you would've got the other 50 if the 2nd mon got kicked out a day later. It's 50 a day max, no matter what.

PR disaster. It's even been on the regular news. They should have known better. Maybe this is the kick up the arse they needed though. Network provider problems are one thing, but that could have been mitigated with free WiFi hotspots. And server issues!? Still!? That should have been the first thing they prepared against.
And it's not just about the ticket price. What about travel costs? Some would have paid hundreds in travel to get there before hotel and ticket prices.
People are rightly angry.

And this is why directly wired connections with properly handled bandwidth or electrical limits will continue being better than mobile wireless bands for gaming...

Amazing: thousands of people descend on an American Pokemon Go event in Chicago and the infrastructure collapses.

Thousands of people descend on a Pokemon Go UK event in Chester and have no issues at all.

Is this Niantics’ fault? Or the crappy American cellphone networks?

Well, this was expected...

To be a (little fair) on Niantic, there was a fair amount of blame on the mobile companies & their inability to hold any spare bandwidth. A lot of my US friends have shared stores about how poor networks are over there. All the failed logistics and 3 mile lines around the block - all Niantic.

On the upside - legendaries have been working silky smooth (here in my area of the UK anyway).

@Incarta "People are rightly angry"

Yeah, at themselves, for being naive and trusting Niantic with their money and time on an app that is notorious for server and connection issues!

I've given the game a try again for the legendaries and it is pretty tough. Impossible to take one down without over 10 people. Which I sguess is their point, but I know 3 other people that play. Now I know that millions do, I'm saying I personally know 3. So what we are supposed to do is coordinate as 4 adults to be free all the time to see when a legendary is available, and then also hope a random 6+ other people are there to help, and pray there are no connection issues?

OR, we could stop making this game so gym focused, and work on making gen PVP content and trading.

@Rumncoke25 I personally know three other people that play... but I have also joined facebook groups & have got to know the faces of a lot more players in the towns around where I live. It's not easy to arrange people to be there... but it's not in anyway impossible either. I've also seen an Articuno taken down by 6 players.

However, I do agree that we need PVP and trading - once Niantic finally finish the "pokémon spawn & you catch them" bit of the game, they can start on the next key mechanics.

Honestly the current model for the Legendaries kind of sucks. Should be free raid battles for the duration of the event (unrealistic) OR defeating one should be instant capture. I thought that was going to be the case based on the way the trailer portrayed it.

I'm saying that despite managing to comfortably catch both Legendaries. There are far too many glitches (balls go flying over their head without the utmost gentle throw and it's like that for all flyers it seems), lag wastes the few premier balls you earn, and in some places it's not that easy to join a raid. One friend of mine lives in a rural town where there isn't much opportunity within such an event.

This whole event has been an utter piss-take... they were clearly not ready for something like this... even without the server problems, the game has been plagued with bugs since the new gyms went live.

Now they're too busy cleaning up their mess to actually respond to the questions that need answering... most importantly, how long will the legendaries will be available for?
Different people seem to have interpreted the initial announcement they gave at the event differently... some think it meant they would only be available for 48 hours, while others think they'll be available permanently... and further announcements haven't referred to how long they will be available.
If they are available permanently, that's fine... but if they are only available for a limited time, then that really sucks, given how hard they are to catch and all the bugs that are getting in the way... they need to clarify this.

@Slaz
Thank you thank you thank you for all the replies, this is gold to me.

We've enjoyed the launch of legendaries in our town — with my 5 kids, we joined large crowds of people in Keller, TX who were fighting off legendaries. I caught both on my second ball and stayed humbly quiet as few other people did. Very lucky on my part - now I'm committed to helping my kids find some more legendary raids

For what its worth, in my town, Pokemon Go! has not been as alive as this since it launched. The best aspect of the game is getting out, going to places you'd usually not go, discovering more things about your town with friends or family, and gawking as mini vans unload full of kids and moms and dads all playing together. It's always surprising.

I can’t speak for everyone but the current double XP/double candy bonuses have been most welcome.
I discovered on Saturday the Sheffield botanical gardens are an Eevee nest and I had 30+ Pinaps saved up.

My son and I went around today evolving Eevee’s after catching only 2 at a time. We got through 10 evolutions in the space of 2 hours.

I made an attempt at an Articuno raid battle just yesterday. My team didn't even stand a chance, and neither did the other player that joined. It seems like I have some leveling to do.