Why we're writing so much about Pokémon Go

[tnt4]

Then what is? This game has quickly become a massive phenomenon, Android, iOS, meaningless... I don't think I've ever seen anything drop with this kind of explosive growth... A week ago it didn't exist, now it's reaching user levels not seen outside of Twitter, etc.

I see nothing wrong with the scope of coverage for something dominating the platform in a way we have never seen.

If you really don't see it after the comments above and the number of "articles" posted on the site over the past couple of days, then we'll likely disagree anyway and there's no real point in explaining it again.

 

[Ry]

Come for the Pokémon. Stay for the Android.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[j_grouchy]

It's kind of embarrassing to watch. It's as though every time someone "finds" something out about the game, they feel they are justified in writing a whole new article about it, posting yet another picture of that same kid, and devoting an entire post to something that ultimately ought to be rolled into a larger article or 'how-to' article. I don't even recall seeing this many mini-posts during CES!

This sort of "oh looky what I discovered" posting is the sort of thing one sees in a forum, not on a major Android blog. It's only really tangentially related to Android. It's a multi-platform game and, major trend or not, ought not be filling 50 to 75 percent of the home page. Honestly, it's beneath you folks to give over so much page real estate to this stuff. Even all the VR stuff, which doesn't really interest me right now, was at least relevant to what this site is supposed to be all about.

 

[Not Quite Right]

Let's look at things another way. If I didn't KNOW that people were reading this stuff, why would we be writing so much about it?

I don't know "click bait" comes to mind ...

 

[thatguy97]

Come for the Pokémon. Stay for the Android.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

And leave if you are a faithful reader is the message I and several others are getting

Posted via the Pokémon Central App

 

[Aquila]

And leave if you are faithful reader is the message I and several others are getting

Posted via the Pokémon Central App

Can you explain that a little? I haven't read all of the content on pokemon yet, I don't play it and there's a lot of it - but I haven't seen anyone saying AC isn't going to cover Android, just that this is a big topic this week. Is there something you can point me to that I'm missing?

 

[Ry]

And leave if you are faithful reader is the message I and several others are getting

Posted via the Pokémon Central App

We'd hate to see you go but if you don't like what's being written, by all means, stop reading the Pokemon Go articles. Pokemon Go, created by former Google Company Niantic, is a hot topic right now. Pokemon Go threads are trending in this very forum. It makes sense to write about this mobile phenomenon right now.

 

[thatguy97]

Can you explain that a little? I haven't read all of the content on pokemon yet, I don't play it and there's a lot of it - but I haven't seen anyone saying AC isn't going to cover Android, just that this is a big topic this week. Is there something you can point me to that I'm missing?

I can point you to several comments in all 26+ PGO articles. Talking about the subject isn't bad it's a android app after all but it's pretty excessive, can't deny that.

Posted via the Pokémon Central App

 

[zhris]

That's what I did. I'm watching this thread (and only this thread) to see if anything changes. until then, I'm getting my fix of Android news elsewhere.

~posted by zhris.

 

[Don Serrot]

I've been half way defending this up until now but it's getting harder to do. A lot of what has been posted so far could have been combined into more focused articles with less fluff. I mean, there have been multiple articles about what you can do with Pokeballs and how to get them that really don't need to be individual articles. Just make one big "Pokeballs 101" post with a table of contents and links to specific sections of the post. Right now it almost feels like y'all are just making a new post as a thought pops into your head and calling it good and that's really not a good thing. At this point there are so many different posts that someone looking for info would probably have a hard time finding what they were looking for in the sea of it all.

 

[thatguy97]

I've been half way defending this up until now but it's getting harder to do. A lot of what has been posted so far could have been combined into more focused articles with less fluff. I mean, there have been multiple articles about what you can do with Pokeballs and how to get them that really don't need to be individual articles. Just make one big "Pokeballs 101" post with a table of contents and links to specific sections of the post. Right now it almost feels like y'all are just making a new post as a thought pops into your head and calling it good and that's really not a good thing. At this point there are so many different posts that someone looking for info would probably have a hard time finding what they were looking for in the sea of it all.

That's what I was saying I kind of understand parsing it up for SEO but this was and still is a disgusting and excessive amount of articles for one subject and easily eclipses even devices in a single day.

Posted via the Pokémon Central App

 

[aegisys]

Is it done yet?

I follow via RSS, and it's completely un-readable right now. I can't find interesting articles because I need to scroll past all the Pokespam.

I totally get that you are cashing in on all the pageviews by creating articles based on common Pokemon-related google searches. Good for you, I sincerely hope that the extra ad revenue helps you produce more an better Android content. But seriously, how many sharks can you jump before you realize that you're destroying the reason most of us read this site? Create a Pokemon Central website, pool resources with iMore to generate content for people who care about Pokemon, and drive traffic to your other sites that way. Then get the spam off the Android Central website and let's get back to the stuff that used to make this a site worth visiting.

 

[DavidJ726]

This perhaps should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. There are a LOT of people playing Pokémon Go right now.

But it also runs on the Apple and Windows platforms, which makes it more of a game than an Android centric product. Are gaming sites better suited to cover the world of Pokemon? I have no issue with some article being written, but the coverage of it here at Android Central seems to be overdone.

PS... I just read the comments on the last two "blogs", "articles", or whatever we want to call it. Neither one of them had any positive / interactive discussion going on. 9 out of 10 subscribers here are complaining about the ridiculous amount of coverage that Pokemon is getting. So to say the articles are being read, is a little mis-leading. To say that a subscriber clicked on the article in order to write their opinion is probably more accurate.

 

[Fnord]

I get that the blog must cover the relevant topic of the day, but I think anyone would admit that it's getting a little out of control - just take a look at the sheer number of recent posts dedicated to the game.

I'm pretty sure the site can find a happy middle ground between maximizing impression from users interested in Pokemon and the faithful who are just looking for their daily Android updates. I fully get that it doesn't take much to skim past the GO posts, but I count over 50% of posts within the most recent 30 on the game - that's a little too much weeding for me to get through to make the site worth my while.

-Rant over!

 

[ahaxton]

Can't you just not read them? Pokemon was a little after my time, so I have little interest, but I find it easy to just skip the Pokemon articles and skip to the ones I want to read. It will die down probably in a week or two, tops. I honestly don't understand getting so aggrieved over it. I see the same thing every time a new flagship launches, just substitute Pokemon for Galaxy S7, or Moto Z, or HTC 10. It will die down. How does it harm you to skip over articles you don't want to read, and let others who DO want to read them enjoy them?

 

[DavidJ726]

Can't you just not read them? Pokemon was a little after my time, so I have little interest, but I find it easy to just skip the Pokemon articles and skip to the ones I want to read. It will die down probably in a week or two, tops. I honestly don't understand getting so aggrieved over it. I see the same thing every time a new flagship launches, just substitute Pokemon for Galaxy S7, or Moto Z, or HTC 10. It will die down. How does it harm you to skip over articles you don't want to read, and let others who DO want to read them enjoy them?

Because as Android "enthusiasts" we enjoy reading about Android products, that's why we like to frequent AC several ties during the day, to read about Android products, news, rumors, deals, and yes, even software. In fact, we expect to see multiple articles about Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc... Phones / Flagships / Phablets, and even the articles about competition. But AC has simply went over the top with the Pokemon coverage. Pokemon is not even in the same league with the these type of products.

 

[nikon120]

I could deal with AC's ridiculous adverts on the blog. After a while, the adverts became so over-the-top and intrusive when viewing/reading the blog that I removed AC from my ad blocker whitelist. There are times when the reader just knows a particular article or series of articles are click-bait, meant to generate revenue, and that is fine. However with Pokemon Go, the blog team has "gone plaid" (hopefully someone will appreciate that reference) with the volume of articles.

I'm giving my feedback in two forms:

1. Posting on this thread
2. Moving my revenue generating clicks to Android Police for my Android-based news

 

[ahaxton]

Because as Android "enthusiasts" we enjoy reading about Android products, that's why we like to frequent AC several ties during the day, to read about Android products, news, rumors, deals, and yes, even software. In fact, we expect to see multiple articles about Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc... Phones / Flagships / Phablets, and even the articles about competition. But AC has simply went over the top with the Pokemon coverage. Pokemon is not even in the same league with the these type of products.

To YOU it isn't in the same league, but to others it is. You apparently disagree, but to me, this falls well under the umbrella of Android news. It's a MAJOR game release that is released on the Android platform, so major that it is getting mainstream news coverage. In addition, up until very recently Niantic Labs was a Google subsidiary. To me, that makes it fair game to cover on an Android site. And, again, why can't you just skip the articles you don't want to read and move to the articles you do? I am doing that with the Pokemon articles, I do it with LG phone articles, as well as all of the articles touting the wonders of having an unlocked phone. I'm not interested, so I just skip to the articles that I am interested in. Do you know why? I understand the site is not written just for me and my interests. Let the Pokemon players have their fun. Let the writers here who are REALLY enthusiastic have fun writing their articles and sharing their joy and knowledge of the game. This too shall pass. And history teaches us anything, right now someone here is trying to convince whoever is in charge to buy the domain Pokemon Nation, and it will all go there.

 

[DavidJ726]

Ahaxton,

You have a well written argument. I disagree with you in several points, but I appreciate the cordiality of your response! Have a great day

 

[ahaxton]

Ahaxton,

You have a well written argument. I disagree with you in several points, but I appreciate the cordiality of your response! Have a great day

Fair enough, agree to disagree. Have a great day yourself!