Pokemon Go is a positive influence on mental health

[PickelledEggs]

Now... I don't think this is necessarily a "study", but we already know the positive effects that going and being outside has on your mood and mental health. This game had gotten more people out of the house than I've ever seen. Even I have left the house to go ride my skateboard and catch pokemon (now that the servers aren't absolute shit)

Leave it to an app to motivate thousands upon thousands of people of all ages to get out of the house and be active. Kudos, Pokemon... kudos.

http://www.attn.com/stories/9779/pokemon-go-affecting-players-mental-health

[Hydra009]

Bah, I remember when we used to go outside to catch actual animals.  :P

Also, the news is acting like this is the first augmented reality game to make a splash.  Anyone remember Ingress?

I'm glad people are going out and about, though gamers should still observe basic safety.  No playing while driving or trespassing or anything like that.  And stay away from police stations and area 51.  I don't care if there's an Arceus in there.  There isn't of course, just a captive alien that looks an awful lot like an Arceus.

[PickelledEggs]

Bah, I remember when we used to go outside to catch actual animals.  :P

Also, the news is acting like this is the first augmented reality game to make a splash.  Anyone remember Ingress?

I'm glad people are going out and about, though gamers should still observe basic safety.  No playing while driving or trespassing or anything like that.  And stay away from police stations and area 51.  I don't care if there's an Arceus in there.  There isn't of course, just a captive alien that looks an awful lot like an Arceus.

I do remember ingress. I never got in to it, but it was really fun and has a huge following. I think it still does, unless the Pokemon Go community stole all their players lol

The thing is, you don't need to go in to a person's yard to get the pokemon or use the pokestop. I was across the street from a few pokemon and pokestops and it still works. People will (hopefully) catch on.

[stromboli]

Lol. Been "outdoorsing" it for 50+ years. I don't know how the Pokemon GO thing works, but if it is similar to geocaching I can throw a wrench in the works by giving coordinates where there is no wifi. Largely because that is where I camp. 

[doorknob]

I can't play because

I CANT AFFORD A SMART PHONE WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I know I'm such a freak of nature!

[PickelledEggs]

Lol. Been "outdoorsing" it for 50+ years. I don't know how the Pokemon GO thing works, but if it is similar to geocaching I can throw a wrench in the works by giving coordinates where there is no wifi. Largely because that is where I camp. 

I dunno if you're familiar with Pokemon in general, but it's essentially (originally) a role playing game based on the idea of collecting bugs. Pokemon Go is an app, very similar to geocaching, but it adds in the theme of going around and collecting the characters from the Pokemon universe... making it super close to how all of us imagined what it would be like to actually be the character we all played on our gameboys

[Hydra009]

I dunno if you're familiar with Pokemon in general, but it's essentially (originally) a role playing game based on the idea of collecting bugs cockfighting

:P

[PickelledEggs]

:P

Actually. The funny thing is... the christian church wanted this banned from the US so bad. And they probably could have done it if they used the position that it promotes dog-fighting and cockfighting. Too bad they said it was because it's demons lololo.l Dumbasses.

[Hydra009]

They tried the demon angle on MTG, too.  Now demons are a mainstay.  :)

[doorknob]

Yeah The good old church, Hears about something new. They get scared threaten that it's demons. Every one laughs. Life goes on and no demons appear.

[PickelledEggs]

Yeah The good old church, Hears about something new. They get scared threaten that it's demons. Every one laughs. Life goes on and no demons appear.

lol

[Hydra009]

Pokemon Go almost as popular as twitter on smart phones

[PickelledEggs]

Pokemon Go almost as popular as twitter on smart phones

Once the servers start behaving like they aren't powered by a 3rd grader's potato battery experiment, I'm sure it will surpass it by a long-shot

[Hydra009]

Once the servers start behaving like they aren't powered by a 3rd grader's potato battery experiment, I'm sure it will surpass it by a long-shot

I kinda hate the servers = potatoes comparison whenever a service isn't working.  Most of the time, it's because of unexpectedly massive demand.

Let's use fast food as a metaphor.  You're opening a barbecue place that you predict will be decently successful.  You build it to handle 200 people at a time, including drive-thru.  Opening day and its packed.  We're talking about 1-2 hour wait times.  Then the news hails it as the best BBQ place on the planet.  The next day, it's the goddamn night of the living dead out there.  And what does every everyone say?  "The service is too slow.  They're slower than granny trying to program in Malbolge.  It took me three hours to get my brunswick stew."  Well, of course it did!  Have you seen the parking lot?  When we start breaking ground and opening more locations, it'll be a lot better, but until then, dealing with crazy demand is nigh impossible.

[PickelledEggs]

I think they expected a lot, but didn't think the load on the server would be as big from it just being a phone app. I get what you're saying. and I know the servers aren't actually weak, but they sure felt that way