Pokemon Go players want simple Friend feature added to improve XP gain
Niantic/The Pokemon CompanyIf you ask any Pokemon Go player if they have some suggestions for the game, you’re sure to get a long answer. While the title gets ready to celebrate its 8th Anniversary, the features and changes like the recent avatar update also mean many issues among the fanbase, with some occasionally never addressed.
For some fans, one such issue is the inability to contact other players directly, especially those on your Friends list. Becoming buddies with another Go player and increasing your friendship level is a great way to earn some extra XP, as well as grab yourself some helpful Eggs and gifts along the way.
But not everyone can keep up with the list of friends, the constant requests, and all those gifts. So some players are calling for a return to the early days of Facebook, with a simple nudge function — something akin to the old Poke feature — to remind people that they have gifts left to open.
A Pokemon Go player explained their suggestion in a Reddit post, explaining how frustrating it is when “inconsiderate players” leave others on the edge of the next friendship bracket, and the XP rewards that go along with them.
Other players were quick to point out that many people might have a reason for not opening gifts from other Friends, with one comment saying the other player could have been waiting until the next Pokemon Go Community Day “to get 2x exp.”
However, this argument quickly vanished after a comment replied, saying, “I’ve had people stuck at this level for six months” before other frustrated comments added, “Same” and “Into the bin they go.”
Some of the more cutting suggestions included: “Delete them. I do after a month.” With another playing backing them up, as they added, “I’m less patient, it’s one week for me. The way I see it they are taking a spot of someone who could be interacting daily.”
A theory from several other Pokemon Go players is that the person not opening the eggs was waiting to open several at once, to use just one Lucky Egg and gain multiple of the XP bonus all in one go.
Pokemon Go added the quality of life feature that suggests using a Lucky Egg — to double XP — just before reaching a major Friendship goal and earning those massive XP rewards, so one comment suggests this, saying, “They are stacking so they can pop a lucky egg on several at once.”
Players will have to wait and see what updates Niantic has for Pokemon Go in the future, to see if this issue can be addressed. For now, however, you can check out our Pokemon Go Shared Skies guide to see the next few months of content, as well as the upcoming Pokemon Go Raid Bosses.