Same with maps, they are third-party tools used to shortcut success. Yes, the tracking sucks in game (im sure it will improve soon), but that doesn't justify having tools that say 'rare pokemon over here' without performing the actual hunting aspect of the game. That is no different to bots. What's the fun in everyone having rare pokemon without earning them.
I'm not dissing maps, Niantic might even make their own official version in the future. But when people cry foul when their preferred method of 'bending the rules' is removed, I don't have much pity for them.
"But when people cry foul when their preferred method of 'following the rules' is removed, I don't have much pity for them."
...via 10M players leaving the game and putting the entire ecosystem at risk.
The thing is, you're looking at this activity like 'success' is measurable within the game's rules rather than how satisfied people feel about playing the game in real life.
This is a big difference between adults and children, by the way. All that prefrontal cortex development tends to push people into taking the value of their time into consideration even when they are playing games. They are not wrong to do so.
The most reasonable explanation for the drop in users is simply a tapering off after one of the most hyped game releases of all time. Correct me if im wrong, but i'm pretty sure there are still some 30M+ users active in the game.
There's also:
-no way to get banned for using the cheat.
-a very very low barrier to entry.
-the cheat is directly replacing a bugged out, missing game mechanic.
-the PvP advantage is minimal, only affecting a small portion of the game.
Basically none of the classic problems with cheating are present here.
"this is a make believe world with arbitrary rules - bend them as much as you can, because why not"
>No one gets to bend the rules of a game because of their circumstance
Again, I come to the opposite conclusion, that _because the rules are there_ they are fun to push, modify, bend, break.
If you and I were having a conversation in just about any other context, most likely we would find so many areas in which we agree, and might even really enjoy the time spent.
So, it's so funny to me that we might disagree so completely on something so foundational as rule-following behavior.
Cheers!