If you haven't heard about it already, Pokemon Go is the newest mobile fad that has taken the world by storm. While still new and relatively undeveloped, it has become one of the most used and popular apps on the market. Even though news about the app can be found just about anywhere these days, there are still some things most people don't know. Here are 30 awesome facts you probably haven't heard about Pokemon Go. Enjoy!
3/30. Chances are, after you've visited a handful of PokStops (the blue floating cubes) around the world, you'll end up with a number of 'Eggs', to be hatched by walking two, five or 10 kilometres. What's inside them first appeared to be random, but is actually tiered, with greater distanced eggs having a higher chance of rewarding you with a rarer and more powerful Pokmon. The game seems to have an element of randomness, so although a 10km trek can occasionally result in a bog-standard Eevee, you may also end up with something like an Electabuzz in a shorter distanced egg.
4/30. Many landmarks and monuments have been turned into PokStops, but as you look over the game world, you'll spy a number of them are randomly covered in pink petals. These 'petals' are actually tiny love hearts, and they come from a 'Lure Module' being dropped at the Stop in question. Dropping a module lets all PoGo players in the surrounding area know that they have a far higher chance of catching Pokmon, should they venture across to its vicinity, so if you're in need of a few hundred extra friends, drop a module and wait for them to show up.
5/30. The world first learned of Pokmon Go from the Pokmon games first-ever Super Bowl ad in January 2016. It was designed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Pokmon games for the Nintendo Game Boy.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
6/30. You can run, you can jog, you can even sprint - just don't speed up past 25mph, as that's the cut-off point in terms of how fast the game can track you. This mostly comes down to Niantic's servers needing to keep track of you at all times, and some relative balancing in terms of how frequently you can acquire the creatures themselves. If you could hop in your car and do laps around the block to hatch the most powerful monsters in minutes, and that just wouldn't fair.
7/30. Pokmon isnt actually owned by Nintendo itself the copyright is technically jointly owned by The Pokmon Company, a joint venture between Nintendo, original game developer Game Freak, and toy-maker Creatures. It was actually The Pokmon Company, not Nintendo, who spearheaded Pokmon Go.
8/30. Pokmon Go is the newest reason for the entire population to stare down at their phones. To put into perspective the enormity that is Pokmon Go, you just have to look at the numbers.Five percent of all Android users in the US have downloaded the app, which is more than the amount of people that use the dating app Tinder. And 60% of those that downloaded it use it every day, which means is more than Twitter. The app is also used an average of 43 minutes a day, which is more than WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Snapchat.
9/30. Since Pokmon Gos release, many beneficial uses have been uncovered. For one thing, it helps players get exercise. The app is allowing many people to be more social than ever before and is bringing Pokmon back in a big way. But theres one use for Pokmon Go that no one expected: its ability to solve missing persons cases and scare the crap out of teenagers. When one player in Wyoming was searching the nearby river for water Pokmon she stumbled across something unlike the other 50 Pokmon that she had found earlier. Thats because rather than a Pokmon she found a dead body, lying face down in the water just a few feet from where she was walking.
10/30. For players who caught all 151 Pokmon in Google Maps in 2014, Google had a sweet bonus: A set of custom-made Pokmon Master business cards.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
11/30. The roots of Pokmon Go trace back to 1995, and the launch of Meridian 59. This was the first three-dimensional online roleplaying game, setting the tone for World of Warcraft almost a decade later. It was also the first game made under the leadership of John Hanke, who would go on to form Pokmon Go developer Niantic.
12/30. You can now take an uber to catch Pokemon. In the wake of the global "Pokemon Go" obsession, all sorts of business ventures have popped up seeking to capitalize on the game's success. It is now possible for committed players to hire a driver specifically to take them from Pokestop to Pokestop, canvassing cities such as New York and Portland, for about $25 an hour. If you feel your game needs work, hire a high level real-life Pokemon trainer. You can relax at home, and let them walk around and catch those pesky pokes for you for a mere $20 an hour.
13/30. With the wave of intellectual property nostalgia that is sweeping our blockbusters, why hasn't there been a major motion Pokmon film? Well, as it turns out Hollywood has always had plans to get into the Pokmon business. Word is that Legendary Pictures is working on getting the rights in order to make a live-action Pokemon film that would have a similar feel to "Angry Birds" or "Pixels." And while this sounds like an exciting prospect in the world of video-games-turned-movies, who knows if by the time the film is made the worlds population wont be too consumed in one big Pokmon hunt to care.
14/30. One of the more go aspects of Pokmon GO is the fact that you have to walk around to hatch incubated eggs that will turn into Pokmon that probably are not in your area. The game tracks your movement using GPS, not a pedometer, so walking on a treadmill does nothing to hatch eggs.
15/30. You may wonder what the point of holding gyms is other than bragging rights, but there is actually a tangible benefit to it. For every gym you either lead or support you will get a daily package of a pretty significant amount of currency. Ingress players have said that turnover happens often, and not to get attached to your gym because you will be losing it all time. Thats most of the fun of the competitive aspect of games like this.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
16/30. If you download the game map you can extend your battery life. There's a lot of disagreement going on about this particular trick. On the one hand, a bunch of players have experienced better battery life, whilst on the other, an actual Google technician stated the 'hack' didn't work. So, the theory goes that Pokmon GO actually uses Google Maps' API (the offline guts of the app itself) to form the base of the game world. To make the most of battery life, many users are saying to pop into Google Maps' settings, hit 'offline areas', tap the plus symbol and add/download your own location. From here, the game should then use the offline map to process all data other than GPS tracking, saving your battery and hopefully extending how long you can play.
17/30. You may have noticed little prompts popping up stating you've 'Captured 3 Water Pokmon' or walked a certain distance, so if you're looking for optional things to do and track in between capturing and battling Pokmon, hop into your profile menu from the main gameplay screen, and then scroll down to see the list of optional medals. As the app runs less smoothly in densely populated areas, many of the scrolling options rarely work the first time you place your finger on the screen. Always be sure to explore the app in full, as Niantic have really dropped the ball when it comes to explaining all these features.
18/30. 'Pinch n' zoom' has been the norm for years on all smartphones, but Pokmon GO takes things one step further - or back, depending on what you make of this weird inclusion. You may have noticed that tapping on the game screen in random places causes a small blue disc to emanate from said area. So, if you tap and then quickly tap and hold again, moving your finger up and down will zoom the camera in and out.
19/30. You can tap Pokmon to hear their soundbites. Niantic are reportedly working on a fix to make it so the Pokmon themselves don't sound like they're communicating through a wall of foam. As it stands though, they'll yell at you when being caught and again during gym battles, but you can see what your team sound like at any time. Head into the Pokmon viewer and tap on the creature itself to hear their iconic noise, and you can also hold your finger down on them to rotate. Now you can fully admire your Charizard in all its splendour.
20/30. Pokmon Go isnt actually the first time you could play with Nintendo characters in so-called augmented reality. The Nintendo 3DS and its successors have a little-used augmented reality feature that lets you aim its camera at special cards, and have 3D characters appear on the screen, kind of like Pokmon Go.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
21/30. Although Pokmon Go hasnt been out very long up to this point, crazed Pokmon hunters are jonesing for more creatures to catch. And while its yet to be confirmed that anyone has caught em all, with 151 original Pokmon out there and capturable, according to the Pokmon Go Pokdex. But fear not, because its been reported that game developer Niantic is working on adding more Pokmon to the game. In the meantime, Niantic has confirmed that trading is definitely coming in a future update in order to really capture the original essence of the Pokmon of our youths. But with 721 official Pokmon created since Pokmons debut in 1995, theres a lot more characters that fans are going to want to see on Pokmon Go in the near future.
22/30. A Pokestop may be coming to a McDonald's near you, Gizmodo reports. If Reddit rumours prove true, a not-so-distant McDonald's sponsorship would mean you could be fighting most of your Pokemon gym battles under the golden arches with a mouth full of french fries.
23/30. Anyone whos ever played a video game will attest to the fact that no game is complete without a rare quest to find a hidden Easter Egg. And perhaps Pokmon Gos Easter Egg is the holy grail of the game, as some users have found hints in the games code alluding to Legendary Pokmon waiting to be captured. Just like the original Pokmon games, searches for its rarest creatures look to be among the most rewarding experiences. Though no one has located them yet, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo and Mew are among those listed in the files for the game.
24/30. Almost nothing tracks when the app is closed. This is one aspect of Pokmon GO that really seems to be a problem, and a huge cause of battery woes. The game will not alert you when Pokmon or PokStops are near unless the app is open. It will not count your steps. It will pretty much not do anything except drain the timer of your consumables. So you will literally have to be that guy or girl walking around with your phone in hand, or at least paying really close attention to sounds via headphones or buzzes while you have the app open in your pocket.
25/30. The gym system is a little confusing at first. As it turns out, you have to lower the gym rep all the way to zero in order to make it neutral and then you can station one of your Pokmon there. This involves beating a gym two, three or more times, unless you have some team members around to back you up. If you can heal after each fight, this is actually pretty easy to do depending on your CP levels, but the system is not terribly well explained in the game itself.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
26/30. You can evolve non-primary duplicates for XP. You quickly learn that you will be shoving lots of extra Pokmon into the meat grinder for candy, once you start amassing a lot of low level duplicates. Once you have a max evolution version of a Pokmon, it seems like youd want to just upgrade that and not look back. But, for some of the most common Pokmon near you, they can be a bonus source of significant XP. Say you evolved your Rattata into a Raticate but you keep finding eight zillion Rattatas. Well, save a few, and use all that candy (and zero stardust) to evolve them for 500 XP a pop. There are probably only a handful of Pokmon that you will find this often, but this is a great use of extra candy which costs you nothing of significance and will really help with levelling.
27/30. It seems that everyone is capitalizing on the success of Pokmon Go, from restaurants to churches and even criminals. Police have reported that criminals armed with a handgun in Missouri have been luring players to them using the app in an attempt to rob them. Although the suspects were caught and charged with felony robbery and are probably not great people, no one is talking about how they must have been expert Pokmon Go players, considering the level they would have needed to attain in order to track and lure their victims to a secluded place. According to police the robbers added a beacon to a Pokstop in an empty parking lot and were able to lure four Pokmon Go players to them at 2am.
28/30. You get daily bonuses by stationing Pokmon at gyms under your team's colour. Stroll up to one, and if it's the same colour as what you're signed up to, battle for the option to raise the gym's 'Prestige' - whereas if an opposing colour is stationed, you'll have to beat the guarding Pokmon before going any further. Once the gym is grey again, turn it your team's colour by placing a Pokmon there - now jump into the Shop menu and look to the top right. You'll have a number in the centre of the shield icon, which dictates how many Pokmon are assigned to gyms. Each is worth 10 gold coins and 500 Stardust. You can put up to 10 out in the wild for the rest of us to fight, and the bonuses will roll in once every 21 hours, depending on if they've been defeated and returned to your roster or not.
29/30. Going forward, Niantic should be looking into populating rural areas just as much as cityscapes and general suburbia, but as it stands if you're out in the sticks, there may only a handful of PokStops to activate. To remedy that, know they reset every five minutes, meaning you can do a quick walk around the block - catching Pokmon as you go - only to return and nab another set of items. There's no limit to how much you can cash in (other than your own sanity), so do yourself a favour - get a bit of exercise in by inventing new routes to and from your places of business, and trigger these Stops as much as possible.
30/30. There are some points on the map designated as gyms, that are far harder to reach than others. There are some gyms you literally couldn't get to without paying a fee, which was great, because the Pokmon who were stationed there had a CP level of around 700. You could tell, whoever these people were, they'd coughed up the cash to get into the area and stationed their Pokmon, knowing only those who also wanted to pay cash to take back a fictional gym would ever take it back. Next time you're rationing off which Pokmon will be guarding what, survey the environment and think: Which gym poses an actual challenge to seek out? It can only lead to more regular daily bonuses in the end.
SHARE these PoGo tidbits with your friends and "Catch 'em all!"
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.