Pokémon Go does have a competitive element to it (or you could say it's possible to play it competitively).

You can compete over who can fill up their Pokédex first (okay, just the 145 that are currently available). You can play the game for longer to catch more Pokémon. You can go out of your way to catch rare Pokémon. Even when you and a friend are in the same place catching the same Pokémon, you're not guaranteed to catch it — you can use Razz Berries and choose which Poké Ball to throw.

There's also Gyms. You can compete over who can control the most Gyms. If you're on opposing teams, you can compete over who will take control over a Gym. Or who will be Gym Leader.

There are many different aspects to this game. Whilst one particular aspect (Pokémon not disappearing when caught) may not be competitive, that doesn't mean the game as a whole can't be.

Fair points. I'll clarify: I don't play in a competitive way. I have no idea how many Pokemon any of my friends have caught. I don't know their levels. I've never tried to hold a gym. Honestly, I was never a heavy map user, either (I discovered them late, and my home apparently doesn't have many nests around it, so there wasn't anything interesting to see).

It seems like a philosophical debate: If I'm playing a game where players can optionally compete (but I don't), while using a tool that gives me a theoretical edge (even if I'm using it ineffectively), have I ruined someone else's game just by the perception that I could have?

> have I ruined someone else's game just by the perception that I could have?

You probably aren't ruining anyones game if you aren't competing, but you are still cheating.

...and? Sometimes the best part of a game is finding the most entertaining ways to break it, and if that doesn't directly harm someone else's enjoyment, then I frankly don't care what you wish to call it. Cheating without benefit against someone else just doesn't have the ethical zing that unfairly grinding someone into the mud would.

Oh, of course. Cheating at solitaire is not an ethical violation. But to say "I'm not cheating when I look at hidden cards in solitaire" is incorrect.

However, plenty of players that have cheated by using the map tools do place Pokemon in gyms. That is also unethical (even though I would consider it a pretty minor violation as far as ethics goes).

> Again, what competitive play? I'm not competing against you or anyone else, by any reasonable metric.

You are competing for valuable pokemon, which IS the point of the game.

Why do you think there's a competition for valuable pokemon? When a pokemon spawns in an area, it spawns for everyone in that area and everyone who stops by can catch it. You're not competing with everyone else to get there first.

> When a pokemon spawns in an area, it spawns for everyone in that area and everyone who stops by can catch it.

Well, until someone catches it. Then it disappears.

Have you actually played the game? There is no competition for catching Pokemon. They spawn and disappears after a certain amount of time, which mapping apps by the way used to show you. Other people catching Pokemon has zero influence on your ability to catch the same Pokemon.

Uh no. It doesn't disappear because it was caught.

> You are competing for valuable pokemon, which IS the point of the game.

I'm not. The coworker next to me and I routinely catch the same Pokemon at the same time. Watching it on the map made it clear: if someone catches it, it doesn't just disappear. It's there for a set amount of time. When the time is up, that's when it can't be caught by someone else.

Too bad I can't coordinate with every single person in my city to catch the pokemon I want in the same 30 second timeframe. I've been so silly trying to spend my time hunting down the pokemon I want just to see it vanish!

If you've had fun, it's not silly. If you've just been aggravated by it, that would be silly. Personally, I'd just be aggravated...so I avoid trying to hunt down specific Pokemon, now.