Pokemon Go players are angry that the exciting new Party Play option has a strict time limit, which many feel is pointless and undermines the purpose of the mode.
Pokemon Go has a brand-new Party Play feature, but it seems Niantic didn’t go to any cool kids’ parties growing up, as this new mode only lasts for an hour, leading fans to express their dismay at its limitations.
As the name suggests, Party Play lets Pokemon Go players form a party and go on adventures together. Once a group has been formed, players can complete special Party Challenges to unlock in-game rewards. Those who tackle a Raid can call on a Party Power, which doubles the damage of the next Charged Attack and charges with every Fast Attack.
Pokemon Go fans have been excited to take on these new challenges with their friends. Unfortunately, when Party Play was added to the game, it came with a restriction that’s ruined the fun for a lot of people.
Party Play In Pokemon Go has a strict one-hour time limit
Users on TheSilphRoad Reddit are furious about the Pokemon Go Party Play’s time limit, as a group can only stay active for one hour. This means that all tasks must be completed within a strict limit, so it’s impossible to stretch them out, depending on the schedule.
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What makes this so frustrating is that it’s possible to form another party with the same people immediately. Fans are stating that implementing the timer is just “pointless and arbitrary”, and will likely force players to rush through its content. Pokemon Go has been teasing this big co-op update, yet groups have to mess around to keep their party active.
Fans are now mocking Niantic for its interpretation of how long a party should last, as well as an error in the closure message stating, “A party can only last for 1 hours.” These combined mean that the vaunted Party Play option is off to a rocky start.
One theory for the time restriction that fans have shared involves a safety issue, as Party Play shows the exact location of a trainer on the map. “Party play basically turns your phone in a giant airtag. Having it set to an hour is probably due to security and privacy concerns.” wrote Redditor TheTjalian. This makes sense, but surely there are security features that could be implemented to counter this? As it stands, fans will have to rush through their Pokemon Go parties as quickly as possible before they’re booted from the mode.