Pokemon Go

When Pokemon Go first came out, it was THE biggest thing. Everyone knew what it was and most people at least tried it.

Surprisingly enough, the game still has a very active player base. Even if you've already reached the max level and completed your pokedex (caught ever single pokemon) you can still aim for shiny pokemon. Shiny pokemon are just super rare pokemon with a different color palette than their common variants. Additionally you could also aim for pokemon with perfect IVs (stats). And after a while they'll just release a new series of pokemon which basically means you'd need to spend hundreds of hours to once again complete all your goals.

What I want to talk about is about how hardcore the current player base is. I've seen people ostracized for being on a different team (In pokemon go there are 3 different teams and it is really hard to change your team once you've picked one). And I need to specify that I'm not talking about children. Over the years, the player base has definitely shifted towards the older generations. Now pretty much each neighborhood with an active player base has their own chat groups.

Back to the problem with different team colors. Teams can capture so called gyms. If a gym is currently in the possession of your team, you can insert one of your pokemon to help defend it. Over time, you'll gain coins (a currency that can otherwise only be bought) until it reaches a maximum. To gain more coins from that gym, you'll need players of another team to capture that gym and thus kick out your pokemon.

I heard of a person who was basically banished from a group because he went for a late night jog and captured all the gyms. Sure those people won't gain a few coins for a single night, but so what. The game has been out for hundreds upon hundreds of days.

I don't know about how you guys feel, but I find that plain ridiculous that someone would be punished in real in life for doing something that is a normal part of a game. That is straight up cult like behavior.

It is really unbelievable how a simple game can cause adults to act like children. The amount of toxicity and hatred that the game has produced is unbelievable. Don't get me wrong, Pokemon Go is a great game. I've seen very unlikely friendships come to be due that game and I've also personally spent a decent amount time playing that game in the past.

I just wanted to remind everyone to not let a game influence you to hate a friend or another member of your community. I could slightly understand it if there was griefing or bets involved, but that just isn't possible with Pokemon Go.