I second Zorastro's comment about screen graphics. I've been reading through the App Feedback so I wouldn't duplicate a post. It is very hard to see the graphics in the sunlight, I like the colors and the style but they are hard to see when I'm outside. I would also like the capability to zoom in, sometimes it is hard to read the text and it disappears before I can read it all when I am outside.
I also like the idea of a chat type option but understand the reason why it is problematic. Maybe if we could somehow message someone our ID on a game chat system. Or maybe have our game chat in our profile and we could determine who to share it with. I don't see an easy answer.
I'd like to see image sharing be an option via NFC or Bluetooth; that way there's no need for Niantic to keep the images on their servers or worry about things getting shared that shouldn't be. (COPPA)
Also, the multiple country achievement is definitely achievable--by having your phone experience different regions / language settings, while physically visiting other countries does nothing. "20 different spells," on the other hand, is not achievable...
I didn't think about local share only (NFC/BT). That would be a nice way to prevent cloud clutter and limit it to local players only. Though, it would take up more space on users' phones but one could have a toggle to allow or prevent it.
I would like to be able to share with my entire friends list (regardless of distance), but your idea is an interesting thought, @ThePaperwork
@Craeft even better would be to have the local share exchange something like an end-to-end encryption key, which would allow P2P chat and profile updates until the key changes.
Also a better stats screen. At the moment XP, power distance walked spell energy etc. are scattered around a lot. I'd like an at-a-glance screen with everything in one place.
While in fortress: I don't recall the name of the charm. It's the tier 0 "give stamina to other players" charm. It doesn't do anything when used. I acknowledge that it isn't a powerful one so I don't expect it to give a massive amount of stamina, but it literally doesn't give any. The 2-focus one works like.... well... like a charm.
As always, incredibly well articulated and crafted suggestions @Craeft!
I have to say though, regarding the portkeys, I'd rather have a way to use them, than an option to discard them, being one of those who can't use portkeys at all. I know I'm not missing out on much, but its a principle thing I think, making a game with some (free) aspects not available to all players, based on phone type, or whatever the difficulties with the portkeys stems from, just isn't a sustainable solution.
In game chats would make for a great addition! And/or potentially a way to see your friends on the map, or some indication of where they are.
And for the love of God, please Niantic, do something about the energy situation!
Is what I would like to say, but seeing as I'm currently in a rural area with nothing but an Inn and a greenhouse in walking distance and thus severely limited foundables, I don't really have a problem with expending too much energy too fast. Since there is nothing to expend it on... So please add more stuff to rural areas too.
I know this has been complained about already, but, adding my name to the list regarding the energy situation. Stop with the energy cash grab....
On top of that, I've found this game disgustingly imbalanced
Examples:
I'm a level 16. Most Foundables I come across are understandably low level. So please, tell me, why am I spending over 5 energy on repeated great & masterful casts only for them to bounce right off a low severity foundable?
I've spent over 12 energy on a medium foundable, including 4 solid casts from a potion that reduced the severity to low.
I've had great and masterful casts bounce off a low, medium, or brilliant foundable, only to collect it with a fair cast.
I'm a 20 minute drive from some pretty inn dense areas, but with the low drop rate, plus the timer, I'm basically spending hours replenishing energy just to waste it on unbalanced mechanics.
This has frustrated me enough that I don't play nearly as much as I did when I first installed the game.
Spellbooks
The drop rate of restricted section books is far too low for the amount it takes to upgrade a skill.
Challenges
There needs to be a matrix that correlates ruin level with rune level and type, leading to potential results. I'm just guessing and throwing runes in at random.
What's the point of 5 focus if anything you use before a fight costs you 3? That strikes me as a worthless tease.
I definitely agree that it would be much better if the portmanteau were usable rather than disposable, @Filuren . I was going with what I've seen requested by those who it effects but I definitely feel it should be fixed somehow to not require AR+.
And don't feel bad. I live in a city and don't have an inn or anything in walking distance. hehe...
Thanks for the additions, @Cyndrianna - I concur whole-heartedly.
As @Faeryniel mentioned in another thread (and this is something I didn't even know was a thing in the first place), allow us to take pictures of more (if not all) foundables once in the registry. As s/he put it, why can you only take a picture of the Gryffindor student and not the others (for example)?
Interesting thread. But have to consider that it's a free app and niantic needs to make some money somehow. Energy cap is annoying, but you can expand it without using real money. I've expanded it 5 times already just from in game rewards.
Energy potion is good. I would say you need to put in energy (eg 50 energy for 25% return) would be in niantics favour.
Enery bar should be on the front screen imo.
Inns should be accessible from far (it's magic! Accio butterbeer!) (like jurassic world alive)
Make rare foundables light up from far away, like jurassic world alive. But you have to go there to trace it.
Remove rank from family xp. There's no difference rank 12 and rank 50.
Marketplace, to trade items for gold, or gold for items. Of course with diminishing returns.
I understand it's a free app, but there's a much better balance to be had. They did fine with Ingress and Pokemon Go which were also free apps. They have corporate sponsors. And I'm not asking them to cease micro-transactions (though that would be nice), but to not make them game-breakingly necessary. In actuality, I'd rather pay $10 for the app and have zero micro-transactions (at least zero that assist with game progression - perhaps some that are cosmetic) but since that's not the model they're going for, there are many places they can lighten up a bit and still make their profits.
I don't see a need to have to put in energy as one of the ingredients for the potion concept. However, if that's the case, then I would recommend, instead, that it be a specialty potion and you have to cast (trace) to initiate its brewing process at 1 energy to cast with a possibility of failure to initiate. 50 for a 25% return is way too high.
I totally agree about the energy bar. As someone else put it (can't remember who right now), it could be as simple as having something where the "Level" indicator is right now (e.g. Level 15 ⚡️10/75). No matter the graphical option, an energy indicator should really be on the map screen.
I don't know if inns should be accessible from afar. That would kind of detract from the point of the game. But I do think there need to be more available. Taking your idea into account, though... perhaps a random chance to receive a special portmanteau from an inn that allows a one-time port back to that inn when you need it. With that method, perhaps a 15 minute timer of accessibility once you open the portal. After 15 minutes, it >>>POOF<<<s away returning you to your actual location and if you exit it before the timer is up, then that also triggers its departure (i.e. once you open it, you have to remain inside for the 15 minutes or you lose any remaining time). That would balance it in that you would only feasibly get 3 pulls from the inn (so maximum of 30 energy) but to do so, you have to remain IN the inn portal so you couldn't interact locally until you're done - look at it as "resting" in other MMOs.
I like the idea of distant rare indication. I'm not sure how that could be written in feasibly (considering that the whole point is that you FIND them - hence the term 'foundable") but it's definitely an interesting and possible concept.
The family ranking doesn't really bother me. There's really no difference, per se. But it does give a checkpoint to get runestones which naturally gets harder as you progress. I think what could be interesting (for those of us who are distant from fortresses) could be a branched system for those runestones. For example:
Rank 4: 3 level 1 runestones or 2 level 2 runestones or 1 level 4 runestones
etc.
With each tier being a choice for the wizard to make. That's just a rough idea that just came to me as I'm typing this at 3am so it could definitely use some balance work. But what it would do is allow those of us distant from fortresses have the option to get a few extra level 1s for when we head into a fortress the first few times.
I completely agree with the marketplace idea. And it could be a very simple system. 1 gold for easy to find items. 2 for more difficult. Nothing major but would allow for some sort of reward rather than just throwing them away. And then triple those numbers to purchase ingredients. To follow the MMO line of things, make these things sellable and purchaseable only at inns. Could do the same with seeds and water at greenhouses.
All in all, thanks for the feedback list, @Kreaturez - that's what this thread is about. Loving the ideas posted here and look forward to more.
bluetooth wand accessory. I would pay anything for this. Please take my money.
adventure sync is necessary and should have been included at launch. The fact that it was added to Pokémon go later just means they figured it out and should have learned from their mistakes
When we're getting new ingredients/elixirs from encounters/portkey and we're already at the top of capacity, the only option there is is to expand capacity for gold. Can we also have a possibility to ditch unwanted/more common stuff from the prompt screen? Many times I had to wave goodbye to Powdered Dragon Claw because I didn't realise I had 30+ Scurvygrass and couldn't get rid of it after exiting Portkeys
Also, in assignments, defeating higher tier enemies (imposing, dangerous) should count towards defeating lower tier ones (common, formidable). Yes, I'm thinking specifically about 10 Formidable Pixies. I've defeated 4 Imposing Pixies so far but the counter still indicates 0. Needless to say, I haven't yet seen any Formidable Pixie
@Craeft 'When entering a trace, indicate how many fragments are still required for that specific foundable."
This is at the top of my list. It drives me crazy that I cannot remember all of the foundables I'm done with and how many more I need in a specific family. I'm forever tapping the witch to leave so I can check the registry again and again. Energy is so precious that I want to save it for items I need.
Fully agree with the potion cast usage and walking speed (I walk down a hallway and it triggers sometimes). The fragment count would also be useful even if I'm still getting 7 I dont need for the daily assignment
It also makes no sense that the level gauge and counter is placed around and under the profile icon, but you have to go into the suitcase to see your actual XP to level count.
I have been thinking and comparing WU and POGO and the opening days of that game. I remembered being low on the resources (poke balls) only a few times, where as WU I am always budgeting energy. One of the major differences between the two games is that all interactive places (poke stops and gyms) can give resources, where as only 1.5 interactive places can give energy (I counted greenhouses as a 0.5 since it doesn't always give energy). The transition from Poke stops and Gyms is in no way directly proportional to inns and fortresses, in fact in my area most stops became fortresses and gyms became inns. This leaves a deficit of ability to easily get energy.
I think a possible interesting way to rectify this deficiency would be to make the fortresses a form of energy generators. The fortress would ping out energy equal to the highest level conquered in the last hour every 5 min or so. While this has the potential to be a lot of energy (20th chamber would be pumping out energy like crazy) I think most would maintain below fortress level 5 or 6. As the chambers get higher they definitely get harder and more potion/energy intense, and the reward v risk is questionable at best. This might be a nice incentive to hit those higher levels and use potions and energy etc. Story wise, it would explain why the fortress was set there in the first place (it is a nexus of power, sits on a ley line, etc).
While it would not solve all of the energy problems, it would help with them I think.
Soooo, uh, since all of y'all have been complaining about the lack of energy, I'm just wondering about your Inn situation. Like, how many inns are there where you play? Is this a problem that could be rectified with more inns or...?
And I'm saying this with all due respect to those of you who are having trouble playing because of the energy situation, but I just went home and there are basically 2 inns per foundable in my hometown. So I'm rather having a problem with not finding enough foundables, because some places may have also had a 4/1 Inn/foundable ratio...
On the screen after you defeat a foundable, there's the stag patronus. It would be cool if it were our personal patronus that runs down the screen, instead. Please add an option to select our own patronus and rework the XP screen with our personal selections. :)
Just noticed that my room mate's profile (when i go into it in friend's list) is saying that she has returned 0 foundables, has visited 0 inns/greenhouses, and has won 0 wizarding challenges. Also, her walk meter says only 11km. All of this is incorrect (she's level 14, there's no way that's accurate and I was with her).
One of the best features from Pokemon Go! is the trading of gifts collected at stops between friends with an accompanying postcard of the location.
There should be a similar feature that can be collected at inns or greenhouses to enhance the social aspect. Great for players to connect internationally.
It would be nice if each time you level you get full energy, and each time you level a particular registry you get some amount of energy.
It would be nice if the vault size increases with each level up.
There is no inn within walking distance of where I live so I have to drive if I wish to get more energy. I sent a thing about this and it was essentially shrugged off as something that sucks but there's nothing they can do about it. It would be nice to be able to a way to recharge at a specific location of the players choosing.
There's a inn right outside a very prominent veterinary clinic where I live and informed that very serious cases occur at the facility and that it should re/moved out of respect for patients and was told that unless the owner said something there was nothing that they could do. Thing is its a university teaching hospital so it would be hard to determine who has the proper authority to authorize its removal. This was an issue that occurred when PokemonGO came out.
That's all I have for now. Love the game and how there is a story and a purpose behind what you are doing.
Comments
I second Zorastro's comment about screen graphics. I've been reading through the App Feedback so I wouldn't duplicate a post. It is very hard to see the graphics in the sunlight, I like the colors and the style but they are hard to see when I'm outside. I would also like the capability to zoom in, sometimes it is hard to read the text and it disappears before I can read it all when I am outside.
I also like the idea of a chat type option but understand the reason why it is problematic. Maybe if we could somehow message someone our ID on a game chat system. Or maybe have our game chat in our profile and we could determine who to share it with. I don't see an easy answer.
I'd like to see image sharing be an option via NFC or Bluetooth; that way there's no need for Niantic to keep the images on their servers or worry about things getting shared that shouldn't be. (COPPA)
Also, the multiple country achievement is definitely achievable--by having your phone experience different regions / language settings, while physically visiting other countries does nothing. "20 different spells," on the other hand, is not achievable...
I didn't think about local share only (NFC/BT). That would be a nice way to prevent cloud clutter and limit it to local players only. Though, it would take up more space on users' phones but one could have a toggle to allow or prevent it.
I would like to be able to share with my entire friends list (regardless of distance), but your idea is an interesting thought, @ThePaperwork
@Craeft even better would be to have the local share exchange something like an end-to-end encryption key, which would allow P2P chat and profile updates until the key changes.
I'd like more mini games
Also a better stats screen. At the moment XP, power distance walked spell energy etc. are scattered around a lot. I'd like an at-a-glance screen with everything in one place.
Something to add to my original list:
Profession: Magizoologist.
While in fortress: I don't recall the name of the charm. It's the tier 0 "give stamina to other players" charm. It doesn't do anything when used. I acknowledge that it isn't a powerful one so I don't expect it to give a massive amount of stamina, but it literally doesn't give any. The 2-focus one works like.... well... like a charm.
As always, incredibly well articulated and crafted suggestions @Craeft!
I have to say though, regarding the portkeys, I'd rather have a way to use them, than an option to discard them, being one of those who can't use portkeys at all. I know I'm not missing out on much, but its a principle thing I think, making a game with some (free) aspects not available to all players, based on phone type, or whatever the difficulties with the portkeys stems from, just isn't a sustainable solution.
In game chats would make for a great addition! And/or potentially a way to see your friends on the map, or some indication of where they are.
And for the love of God, please Niantic, do something about the energy situation!
Is what I would like to say, but seeing as I'm currently in a rural area with nothing but an Inn and a greenhouse in walking distance and thus severely limited foundables, I don't really have a problem with expending too much energy too fast. Since there is nothing to expend it on... So please add more stuff to rural areas too.
Thank you!
I know this has been complained about already, but, adding my name to the list regarding the energy situation. Stop with the energy cash grab....
On top of that, I've found this game disgustingly imbalanced
Examples:
I'm a level 16. Most Foundables I come across are understandably low level. So please, tell me, why am I spending over 5 energy on repeated great & masterful casts only for them to bounce right off a low severity foundable?
I've spent over 12 energy on a medium foundable, including 4 solid casts from a potion that reduced the severity to low.
I've had great and masterful casts bounce off a low, medium, or brilliant foundable, only to collect it with a fair cast.
I'm a 20 minute drive from some pretty inn dense areas, but with the low drop rate, plus the timer, I'm basically spending hours replenishing energy just to waste it on unbalanced mechanics.
This has frustrated me enough that I don't play nearly as much as I did when I first installed the game.
Spellbooks
The drop rate of restricted section books is far too low for the amount it takes to upgrade a skill.
Challenges
There needs to be a matrix that correlates ruin level with rune level and type, leading to potential results. I'm just guessing and throwing runes in at random.
What's the point of 5 focus if anything you use before a fight costs you 3? That strikes me as a worthless tease.
That's all I've got for now.
I definitely agree that it would be much better if the portmanteau were usable rather than disposable, @Filuren . I was going with what I've seen requested by those who it effects but I definitely feel it should be fixed somehow to not require AR+.
And don't feel bad. I live in a city and don't have an inn or anything in walking distance. hehe...
Thanks for the additions, @Cyndrianna - I concur whole-heartedly.
As @Faeryniel mentioned in another thread (and this is something I didn't even know was a thing in the first place), allow us to take pictures of more (if not all) foundables once in the registry. As s/he put it, why can you only take a picture of the Gryffindor student and not the others (for example)?
Interesting thread. But have to consider that it's a free app and niantic needs to make some money somehow. Energy cap is annoying, but you can expand it without using real money. I've expanded it 5 times already just from in game rewards.
Energy potion is good. I would say you need to put in energy (eg 50 energy for 25% return) would be in niantics favour.
Enery bar should be on the front screen imo.
Inns should be accessible from far (it's magic! Accio butterbeer!) (like jurassic world alive)
Make rare foundables light up from far away, like jurassic world alive. But you have to go there to trace it.
Remove rank from family xp. There's no difference rank 12 and rank 50.
Marketplace, to trade items for gold, or gold for items. Of course with diminishing returns.
I understand it's a free app, but there's a much better balance to be had. They did fine with Ingress and Pokemon Go which were also free apps. They have corporate sponsors. And I'm not asking them to cease micro-transactions (though that would be nice), but to not make them game-breakingly necessary. In actuality, I'd rather pay $10 for the app and have zero micro-transactions (at least zero that assist with game progression - perhaps some that are cosmetic) but since that's not the model they're going for, there are many places they can lighten up a bit and still make their profits.
I don't see a need to have to put in energy as one of the ingredients for the potion concept. However, if that's the case, then I would recommend, instead, that it be a specialty potion and you have to cast (trace) to initiate its brewing process at 1 energy to cast with a possibility of failure to initiate. 50 for a 25% return is way too high.
I totally agree about the energy bar. As someone else put it (can't remember who right now), it could be as simple as having something where the "Level" indicator is right now (e.g. Level 15 ⚡️10/75). No matter the graphical option, an energy indicator should really be on the map screen.
I don't know if inns should be accessible from afar. That would kind of detract from the point of the game. But I do think there need to be more available. Taking your idea into account, though... perhaps a random chance to receive a special portmanteau from an inn that allows a one-time port back to that inn when you need it. With that method, perhaps a 15 minute timer of accessibility once you open the portal. After 15 minutes, it >>>POOF<<<s away returning you to your actual location and if you exit it before the timer is up, then that also triggers its departure (i.e. once you open it, you have to remain inside for the 15 minutes or you lose any remaining time). That would balance it in that you would only feasibly get 3 pulls from the inn (so maximum of 30 energy) but to do so, you have to remain IN the inn portal so you couldn't interact locally until you're done - look at it as "resting" in other MMOs.
I like the idea of distant rare indication. I'm not sure how that could be written in feasibly (considering that the whole point is that you FIND them - hence the term 'foundable") but it's definitely an interesting and possible concept.
The family ranking doesn't really bother me. There's really no difference, per se. But it does give a checkpoint to get runestones which naturally gets harder as you progress. I think what could be interesting (for those of us who are distant from fortresses) could be a branched system for those runestones. For example:
Rank 1: 1 level 1 runestone
Rank 2: 1 level 2 runestone
Rank 3: 2 level 1 runestones or 1 level 3 runestone
Rank 4: 3 level 1 runestones or 2 level 2 runestones or 1 level 4 runestones
etc.
With each tier being a choice for the wizard to make. That's just a rough idea that just came to me as I'm typing this at 3am so it could definitely use some balance work. But what it would do is allow those of us distant from fortresses have the option to get a few extra level 1s for when we head into a fortress the first few times.
I completely agree with the marketplace idea. And it could be a very simple system. 1 gold for easy to find items. 2 for more difficult. Nothing major but would allow for some sort of reward rather than just throwing them away. And then triple those numbers to purchase ingredients. To follow the MMO line of things, make these things sellable and purchaseable only at inns. Could do the same with seeds and water at greenhouses.
All in all, thanks for the feedback list, @Kreaturez - that's what this thread is about. Loving the ideas posted here and look forward to more.
Per a comment from @Cablaz in another thread:
Per post from @Barbareusz
When we're getting new ingredients/elixirs from encounters/portkey and we're already at the top of capacity, the only option there is is to expand capacity for gold. Can we also have a possibility to ditch unwanted/more common stuff from the prompt screen? Many times I had to wave goodbye to Powdered Dragon Claw because I didn't realise I had 30+ Scurvygrass and couldn't get rid of it after exiting Portkeys
Also, in assignments, defeating higher tier enemies (imposing, dangerous) should count towards defeating lower tier ones (common, formidable). Yes, I'm thinking specifically about 10 Formidable Pixies. I've defeated 4 Imposing Pixies so far but the counter still indicates 0. Needless to say, I haven't yet seen any Formidable Pixie
@Craeft 'When entering a trace, indicate how many fragments are still required for that specific foundable."
This is at the top of my list. It drives me crazy that I cannot remember all of the foundables I'm done with and how many more I need in a specific family. I'm forever tapping the witch to leave so I can check the registry again and again. Energy is so precious that I want to save it for items I need.
Fully agree with the potion cast usage and walking speed (I walk down a hallway and it triggers sometimes). The fragment count would also be useful even if I'm still getting 7 I dont need for the daily assignment
Just to note:
It also makes no sense that the level gauge and counter is placed around and under the profile icon, but you have to go into the suitcase to see your actual XP to level count.
Found something else that could use some love.
When in a friend's profile, allow us to tap on their achievement badge to see what the badge is.
I have been thinking and comparing WU and POGO and the opening days of that game. I remembered being low on the resources (poke balls) only a few times, where as WU I am always budgeting energy. One of the major differences between the two games is that all interactive places (poke stops and gyms) can give resources, where as only 1.5 interactive places can give energy (I counted greenhouses as a 0.5 since it doesn't always give energy). The transition from Poke stops and Gyms is in no way directly proportional to inns and fortresses, in fact in my area most stops became fortresses and gyms became inns. This leaves a deficit of ability to easily get energy.
I think a possible interesting way to rectify this deficiency would be to make the fortresses a form of energy generators. The fortress would ping out energy equal to the highest level conquered in the last hour every 5 min or so. While this has the potential to be a lot of energy (20th chamber would be pumping out energy like crazy) I think most would maintain below fortress level 5 or 6. As the chambers get higher they definitely get harder and more potion/energy intense, and the reward v risk is questionable at best. This might be a nice incentive to hit those higher levels and use potions and energy etc. Story wise, it would explain why the fortress was set there in the first place (it is a nexus of power, sits on a ley line, etc).
While it would not solve all of the energy problems, it would help with them I think.
I agree with all suggestions. Have some of my own, but just got off the road after 400+ miles (which the game only counted as 2 freaking kilometers!)
Diving doesn't count to your distance traveled. Walking speeds only.
Soooo, uh, since all of y'all have been complaining about the lack of energy, I'm just wondering about your Inn situation. Like, how many inns are there where you play? Is this a problem that could be rectified with more inns or...?
And I'm saying this with all due respect to those of you who are having trouble playing because of the energy situation, but I just went home and there are basically 2 inns per foundable in my hometown. So I'm rather having a problem with not finding enough foundables, because some places may have also had a 4/1 Inn/foundable ratio...
I'm not complaining about the amount of Inns, rather the lack of foundables! Juts in case someone misunderstood. Still can't edit posts.
Personally, I pass 19 inns going to work and back. So energy isn't that much of an issue for me. I'm having more issues with collecting enough runes.
On the screen after you defeat a foundable, there's the stag patronus. It would be cool if it were our personal patronus that runs down the screen, instead. Please add an option to select our own patronus and rework the XP screen with our personal selections. :)
Just noticed that my room mate's profile (when i go into it in friend's list) is saying that she has returned 0 foundables, has visited 0 inns/greenhouses, and has won 0 wizarding challenges. Also, her walk meter says only 11km. All of this is incorrect (she's level 14, there's no way that's accurate and I was with her).
Per your request:
One of the best features from Pokemon Go! is the trading of gifts collected at stops between friends with an accompanying postcard of the location.
There should be a similar feature that can be collected at inns or greenhouses to enhance the social aspect. Great for players to connect internationally.
@Craeft I am seeing this same thing on my friend’s list.
Per @LilyWeezly
That's all I have for now. Love the game and how there is a story and a purpose behind what you are doing.