Highlights
- A fan has proposed a way for Niantic to improve Pokemon GO Routes, addressing complaints about their visibility and functionality.
- The proposal suggests making nearby Routes visible from PokeStops and Gyms on the game's overworld map.
- While Niantic has not indicated any plans to revamp Routes, the suggestion has gained support from dedicated players on the r/TheSilphRoad subreddit.
A fan has suggested a way for Niantic to improve Pokemon GO Routes, mere days after the feature made its way into the game. The proposal surfaced at the tail end of the latest Pokemon GO event which debuted a new legendary Pokemon.
Launched on July 21, Pokemon GO Routes are the latest addition to the hit mobile game and allow players to share their favorite walking courses with the community. The feature is meant to help facilitate exploration and discovery of unique locations throughout the world, at least in theory. In practice, many players have so far complained that Routes are both buggy and scarce, arguing that both of those issues impacted their enjoyment of the latest Pokemon GO event, which was intended to showcase this functionality.
Following up on that criticism, Reddit user Byotan has recently authored a proposal for how Niantic could improve the feature, suggesting that the developer make nearby Routes visible from overlapping PokeStops and Gyms on the game's overworld map. The fan argued that doing so would help boost the visibility of these community-created courses, all the while improving the flow of the core gameplay loop that took a hit following the debut of the latest Pokemon GO feature. For context, Routes are currently only visible from the Nearby Pokemon screen, requiring players to frequently check that menu or risk missing out.
While the proposal wouldn't necessarily address all the reasons why Pokemon GO players are unhappy about Routes, it would be a good first step in the right direction, its author opined. The suggestion promptly hit the front page of the r/TheSilphRoad subreddit, implying some of the game's most dedicated players support the idea.
Niantic has yet to give any indication that it intends to revamp Routes in the future. While doing so wouldn't be out of the ordinary for the developer, the studio's handling of player feedback has historically been inconsistent, with Niantic sometimes being rather stubborn about sticking with certain design choices. The latest example of such behavior was a wave of extremely unpopular changes that inhibited players' ability to participate in Remote Raids in late March; despite significant fan pushback that even resulted in some boycotts, all of those changes are still live as of summer 2023.
Routes aren't the only aspect of the hit mobile game that faced fan criticism in recent weeks. Back in early July, some Pokemon GO players were left frustrated by high creature escape rates during the game's seventh anniversary event.
Pokemon GO is available on Mobile.