Pokemon Go - Pet Peeves concerning Whiners and Cheaters

So I haven't posted about Pokemon Go for awhile, not since November (last post was about Pokemon Spawn Locations in Toronto, which keeps shifting every few weeks).

Above: Example of a map used for hacking the game.

#1. Map Cheaters

One of the things I have noticed (and has been annoying me for awhile) is people who complain and whine about the game, and the things that they complain about is how Niantic (the makers of Pokemon Go) keep cracking down on cheating.

A common way for cheaters to cheat is by using 3rd party GPS apps / websites to see where various rare Pokemon are located, how much time they will be there, etc.

Various in-game features made it easy for people to hack the game and cheat that way, so over time Niantic changed those features to make cheating less likely.

eg. A recent change in April 2017 is that Pokemon no longer have their stats predetermined when they appear, and instead now have random stats at the moment a player first clicks on them.

Thus 3rd party GPS apps can no longer tell what the particular stats of a particular Pokemon is until someone clicks on it. It is just random now. This hasn't stopped people from cheating however, as they continue to use the GPS apps to locate rare Pokemon.

Thus, the only people complaining about those changes are the people who are cheating in the first place.

Other less common ways of cheating include GPS location spoofing (so you don't have to walk, it just does it for you).

#2. Quitters and Whiners

Another thing that annoys me is the people who quit playing the game because they thought it was:

• Too much exercise.
• Too cold outside during the winter.
• Events are too few and too far in-between.
• Whining about how Legendaries still have not been released.
• Not at popular as it once was.
• General Whining, Etc.

At which point I should point out the following:

1. Pokemon Go is effectively a competitive sport. You are SUPPOSED to exercise to play the game.
2. I played outside during the Winter, I was simply smart about and wore thermal underwear and multiple layers.
3. Events are supposed to rare and special. Duh.
4. They will be released eventually, during an event.
5. The people who quit playing are probably also the people who never spent a cent playing the actual game, so those quitters don't really effect Niantic's profits, do they?
6. Sheesh, these people complain about everything. You cannot make them happy.

The #5 point is really important because I think these players who quit really just could not handle it. Many of them, this is just a hunch, probably could not stand all the walking that is involved - and thus quitters don't just quit for 1 reason, they quit for multiple reasons, of which #1 is probably a common complaint that many of these lazy quitters just don't want to admit to.

After all, nobody ever wants to admit that they are lazy.

Speaking for myself, I did not quit - I just kept playing despite the weather, whether there was an event on or no event, and I stockpiled my candy between events so that when the recent Easter Egg Event did happen, I used up a lot of my stockpiled candy to evolve approx. 400 Pokemon and gain approx. 800,000 XP from getting 2,000 XP per evolution.

So I am sitting happy with the results of my efforts and I am now stockpiling candy for the next event that involves Double XP, which according to rumour will be sometime during the summer and involve the release of Generation I Legendaries.

I have a hunch candies might be handy whenever they release Legendaries, so it is also good to start stockpiling for that purpose. If it turns out I am wrong, oh well, just use them during a double XP event instead.

#3. Unspoken Ceasefires

Often what happens with Pokegyms these days is that they will become a level 10 blue gym or level 10 red gym, and it will just stay there for weeks or even months, meanwhile other "enemy gyms" are set up only a short distance away and do the exact same thing.

I am personally okay with this ceasefire. I really don't mind logging in once every 21 hours and collecting my coins.

Some people however see this unspoken ceasefire as a problem, and go out of their way to disrupt the status quo. It takes about 30-40 minutes to solo take down a gym.

Thus when I look around my neighbourhood at the gyms, I really don't care about the status of those gyms as long as my gyms are well protected and I am continuously gaining coins from them every 21 hours. I am quite happy with ceasefires.

What annoys me is when my gyms (effectively "my territory") get taken down and I have to go recapture them and reclaim my position protecting them. However this rarely happens these days.

So What Am I Worried About?

Not a lot actually. Obviously I would still like to see the following:

• Player Vs Player Combat (PVP) - just so I can play against family members/etc.
• More Things To Do in the Game - like going on quests perhaps.
• Tiered Gyms - so that less experienced players can still collect coins, as the more experienced players currently dominate the gyms and make that aspect of the game pointless for low level players.
• Legendaries, eventually - I am in no rush to get this.

A few weeks ago I finally got all of the 1st Generation Pokemon (ignoring regionals, Dodrio was tricky to finally get) so my current goal is to finish getting all of the 2nd Generation. So getting the Legendaries in a hurry is not a big deal to me as I still haven't got all the 2nd Gens that are available.

Otherwise I am stockpiling candy for the next Double XP event, stockpiling coins (for the next sale) and leveling up my biggest Dragons and Tyrants. I am quite happy and content with the way things are going.

And I should note, I am not by any means a "pro player". I play less than an hour per day usually. Sometimes more if I am downtown or have spare time to go for a walk I might play for several hours, but most days it is a more of a "get a few pokestops, catch a few pokemon and then just go home" kind of day.

I currently have 4.33 million XP (level 33, 58.2% of the way to level 34) and have a long way to go to reach level 40 (20 million XP).

I have been playing for 9 months, so at the current rate of XP (481,000 per month) it would take me another 2 years and 8.5 months to reach level 40.

Reach means my son would be born, will two years old and will be celebrating his 3rd Christmas by then. And I can pretty much guarantee that I won't have as much time to play this game after he is born - so expect a delay on that ever happening.

It is after all, just a game. There are other things more precious in life.

Hit Point Creep in Dungeons and Dragons

Over the years a number of Dungeons and Dragons people who have spoken out on the issue of Level Creep (the gradual evolution of Dungeons and Dragons so that more and more levels were available).

Tim Kask speaks in the video below on the topic:



So in the video Tim Kask describes how in the early days of D&D the level cap was 10th level and when PCs got to that level they usually retired, built a keep and they made new characters.

When 1st Edition AD&D came along the upper level was considered to be 20, but in theory people could just keep going up levels.

In 2nd Edition AD&D, it was still 20, and again in theory PCs could go beyond that, but few did.

In 3rd Edition D&D, 4th Edition, 5th Edition, still 20...

Meanwhile other competing games, including online games, just went nuts with level creep.

eg. World of Warcraft started with a max of 60. The Burning Crusade raised the cap to 70, Wrath of the Lich King raised it to 80, Pandaria raised it to 90. Eventually it was raised to 100.

So while other games have gone nuts with level creep, D&D has stuck to the whole "level 20" is the normal maximum - possibly because of the role dice play in the game and the symbolism of d20 dice. 20 just seems like a nice perfect round number and it has become tradition to stick with that.

Thus level creep really isn't a problem for D&D. It has stayed at level 20 for decades and will likely continue to do so just for tradition and the symbolism of d20 dice.

So what about Hit Point Creep?

So this is a thing that as both a DM and as a player, well, it rather annoys me. I shall explain why later, but first let me illustrate what Hit Point Creep does.

Here is the average hit points for a wizard with a 14 Constitution in 1st/2nd Edition AD&D at levels 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20:

4, 16, 29, 34, 39.

Now here is the average hit points for a wizard with a 14 Constitution in 3rd/3.5 at the same levels:

6, 24, 47, 70, 93.

And finally, here is the average hit points for a wizard with a 14 Constitution in 5th Edition, same levels:

8, 32, 62, 92, 122.

Now I chose wizard and gave him/her a 14 Constitution for a reason, because it perfectly demonstrates the effects of Hit Point Creep while highlighting some of the fundamental changes in the rules in various editions with respect to hit points. Here are some observations:

• Between 1st Edition and 5th Edition, the hit points at 1st level effectively doubled. This is due to the effect of 14 Constitution granting more hit points in 3rd/4th/5th editions, but also because wizards in 5th Edition get d6s instead of d4s for hit dice.
• The hit point increase from 1st/2nd to 3rd/3.5 effectively increased by 50% at lower levels, but more than doubled at higher levels. This is because wizards now gained d4 HD plus their Con bonus at higher levels, whereas in 1st/2nd they only gained a single hit point when they went up a level - it was designed that way originally to keep wizards squishy even at higher levels.
• The difference between 1st/2nd and 5th sees hit points doubled at the lower levels, and roughly tripled at the higher levels. Part of this is because in 5th Edition, so-called "average hit points" are rounded up and not a true average. On a d6, the true average is 3.5, but in 5th Edition that isn't normally rolled - you just take 4 instead.

So what effect does this have?

Well, wizards are supposed to be weaklings of the party. They are meant to be squishy and are supposed to:

• Avoid direct combat / melee.
• Be careful about traps and let others go first.
• Play smart / carefully in order to stay alive.

 Having more hit points effectively does the following:

• Allows wizards to go into melee, becoming more like fighters.
• Charge through traps.
• Can do lots of stupid things that would normally get a wizard killed.

 So what you end up with is players doing things with their wizard that makes them behave more like a fighter, like a careless barbarian, and various unrealistic things for a character that is meant to be squishy.

And this annoys me both as a player and as a DM, because I know wizards are meant to be played in a careful and cautious way. So seeing players having their wizard charge into danger, as a DM, I don't pull my punches like other DMs might do. Instead I just have them roll their saving throws as normal and they take damage as normal.

But inside my head I am thinking: "Ha! That will teach them!"

And as a player, when I am playing my necromancer Soljargon I play him properly. Like a wizard should be played. Smart. Carefully. With the expectation that he could get injured or die if he makes the wrong move.

And other old school players and DMs recognize that playing style - and new players presumably learn from example, learning how to play a wizard in a smart way.

Hit Point Creep doesn't just effect wizards however... It has effected all the classes, and monsters too.

Damage, in some cases, has also gone up over time too, with spells and weapons, so to some extent it is all relative. But in some cases damage has remained a constant, which is a problem by itself.

Lets take the classic Fireball spell for example.

1st Edition - Fireball was a 10' radius, 1d6 per level, with no maximum.

2nd Edition - Fireball was a 20' radius, 1d6 per level, to a maximum of 10d6.

3rd Edition - Fireball, as 2nd Edition, but with metamagic feats that allows wizards and sorceror's to increase the damage.

4th Edition - Is blasphemy. Lets not even discuss it.

5th Edition - Fireball deals 8d6 damage to a 20' radius, but the PC has the option to increase damage by using higher level spell slots to cast the spell.

So with Fireball, what you see here over time is that the spell has actually gone DOWN in damage, not up. In 1st Edition it was an awesome damage dealing spell, even though it had a small radius. In 2nd Edition it was made bigger in terms of area of effect, but they capped the damage at 10d6. 3rd and 5th Edition allow the possibility of increasing the damage, but ultimately by 5th Edition the standard spell has been reduced to 8d6 (normal cap) with the option to increase.

Now take the effect on enemy wizards... say a wizard duel between level 15 wizards.

In 1st Edition, the 15d6 Fireball deals an average of 52.5 points of fire damage. 26.25 on a successful saving throw. Based on the 34 hit points a Wizard with 14 Con would have, they would die if they failed their saving throw - and more than likely live if they succeeded. (Note - Wizards had very good saves vs spells in 1st/2nd Edition.)

In 2nd Edition, the 10d6 Fireball deals an average of 35.0 points of fire damage. 17.5 on a successful saving throw. The same wizard could survive a direct hit if the damage is below average, but would be burning to death if it is higher. On a successful saving throw they would be looking pretty good

In 3rd Edition, the 10d6 Fireball still only deals 35 / 17.5 fire damage, but the 15th level Wizard with 14 Con now has a pool of 70 hit points. They could get hit for max damage of 60 and still survive. With average damage they could take the hits twice, and still only be at exactly zero hit points. With successful saving throws they could possibly take 4 hits before they go down.

In 5th Edition, the 8d6 Fireball deals less damage, 28 on a failed save, 14 on a successful. The 15th level Wizard with 14 Con now has 92 hit points however. Three average hits still would not take them down, or it would take 7 Fireballs at half damage to take them down. Even if someone did up the damage using higher level Fireballs, the extra hit points basically guarantees that the wizard will be able to teleport out of danger before the final killing blow is made.

Understanding this, you might think "Oh, well, they have just made Fireball weaker over time." And while this is partially true, the biggest effect on this shift in power has been the increase in hit points.

During this time there has also been a big shift in the number of spells wizards get in general.

2nd Edition - At 15th level a Wizard gets 5 level three spells. The wizard gains that cap of 5 at level 13.

5th Edition - At 15th level a Wizard gets 3 level three spells. The wizard gains that cap of 3 at level 6 and it never increases beyond 3 level three spells.

So in the space of 4 editions, wizards went from being squishy with lots of spells (the way they are meant to be) to being either twice or thrice as tough, less spells, and their spells effectively do less damage.

Are you familiar with the term NERF?

It comes from a company named NERF that makes toys covered in foam so that little kids cannot hurt each other.

It basically sums up what has happened over time with D&D. Spells do less damage (relative to hit points), wizards (and other spellcasters) now get less spells, and hit points have increased so much that the spells are effectively NERFed.

Part of the problem I think is also resting.

In 1st/2nd Edition, characters didn't usually rest unless they actually needed to because they were really low on spells. In later editions, 3rd Edition to a lesser extent and significantly more so in 5th Edition, resting became more commonplace when PCs are down a few spells.

In 5th Edition there is now short rests and long rests, which have different effects. Both allow PCs to heal significantly, and may also allow them to get back spells / abilities during a short rest, and get back everything (all hit points, all abilities, all spells) during a long rest.

Resting therefore becomes problematic when it is used frequently, and in combination with the higher hit points and NERFed spells, it means PCs rarely get into a situation where things get tense, they are sitting on the edge of their seat because there is a real threat characters could die, etc. It happens so rarely, that as a DM it makes it difficult to make things interesting.

As a DM we can do some trickery (aka DM shenanigans) to whittle down the hit points of PCs, and if the game is balanced then it should not be too difficult to do that, in an effort to make battles more exciting.

These days when you whittle down hit points however you have to do it lots, and there is always the potential the party decides to take a short rest before fighting a big boss monster - which means all of your efforts to whittle them down were wasted.

DM Tip - Give them an opportunity to fight the boss monster solo, but with the party injured. If they wait too long however then add lots of mid-level minions (guards, mounts, extra monsters) to make the final fight more balanced and interesting. Done correctly, the PCs should take the risk of trying to take down the boss when they are injured, knowing that if they wait the boss might have allies later on. (Also, if they decided not to fight the boss and rested first instead, give the boss an escape route. Then when the fight is over and the party decides to rest, have the boss return (with full hit points) and attack them while they are resting. This way they hopefully learn their lesson, and when the next time they have an opportunity to fight a boss alone with no guards, they will take that option instead of having to go through all that nonsense.)

In my games (both my Monday Night 5th Edition game and my Friday Night 2nd Edition Game) I make an effort to keep stats balanced and lower, partially so that hit points don't become ridiculous. I have even recently given though to using the Adventurers League rules for stats, which is a relatively low point buy and I find it is very balanced. In the 2nd Edition game I find it is extremely balanced, but in 5th Edition I can definitely throw bigger traps / bigger monsters at the party and they do quite well against them.

What the 5th Edition players don't do well against is more old school traps where they don't seem to realize that it could be overcome using rope / 10 foot poles / chickens / etc. But they are learning, so that is a good sign.

eg. Last Monday one of the PCs picked up a coin. The coin burst into flames, igniting him on fire. I asked him if he lets go of the coin and he decided not to, so it burned a hole right through the palm of his hand and burnt a hole into the stone floor. His character now has a coin sized hole permanently drilled through the palm of his left hand.

So yeah. More Hit Points = Unbalancing the Game and NERFing it. But there is a solution. Just double the damage of traps at lower levels or triple the damage of traps at higher levels. ;)

When Goblins bring gifts...

I didn't write this. I found this on the blog: http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com.

This is similar to last month's post, "When Elves bring gifts..."

Bonus - The goblin brings you a skull of one of its ancestors. It would be an insult not to accept it.

01 Dandelion wine
02 Gourd of honey
03 River stone beads on strings
04 Pointy mushroom like cap
05 Acorn bread loaf wrapped in oakleaves
06 Small pointy toed boots
07 Bushel of field mushrooms
08 Bushel or wild berries
09 Hag Spittle
10 Spiderweb shawl
11 Scream in a bottle
12 Small bottle holds d6 gallons of fresh rat milk
13 Sick with minor spirit bound inside
14 Gremlin in a bottle
15 Wand with 2d10 charges of a cantrip
16 Fetish idol with green eyes - all chaoic beings save or crave it
17 Turnip with carved face summons a scare crow
18 Purse with d600 copper coins but weighs as 10cp (holds copper only)
19 Outlandish coloured troll wig +1 CHA when worn
20 Terrorbird Egg
21 Arousing mushrooms d6 doses
22 Screaming baby mushroom in pot
23 Addictive spore dust 2d6 doses d6 hour high
24 Explosive toadstool d6 damage over 1 " square
25 Glowing mushroom as candle but lasts for years
26 Prophetic dream mushroom d6 hour trip one Y/N crisis
27 Magic mushroom allows user to commune with spirits d6 hours
28 Tiny adorable mushroom person fits in pocket
29 Sovereign mushrooms, 3d6 days food with no weight
30 Chaos Mushroom, eater gets a lesser mostly cosmetic mutation
31 Ball of lizard tails +d6 HP when carried
32 Lucky ogre tooth - +1 saving throws
33 Gold nose ring
34 Nose Bone - +2 poison save
35 Necklace of teeth 2d6 each summons a kobold who obeys for a turn
36 Dungeon Magic Pie
37 Healing Potion d6
38 Basket with live snake
39 Best quality licking toad or newt
40 Bag with pipe and quality swamp goblin tobacco
41 Obedient zombie rat in a box
42 Dire Wolf Pup
43 Large bejeweled beetle worth d6x10gp gems
44 Stirge in a box
45 Colourful magic fish in bucket with magical effect if eaten
46 Baby goblin wrapped in leaves or huge pea pod
47 Hand size rat eating spider
48 Baby vampire cave squid
49 Baby goblin riding bat
50 Footlong baby purple grub or carrion crawler
51 Dried Beans - cast Entangle d4 times
52 Wasp Hive - casts swarm once
53 Whistle - summons a wandering monster d6 times
54 Dried Beans - cause d6 months of flatulence if eaten, serve d3
55 Spider Web in bag allows one to cast web spell once
56 Bark Ointment casts bark skin d4 times
57 Bear Paw can cast strength spell d3 times
58 Set of goat or ram horns may attach to head, increases headbutt to d6
59 Goat Hoof Shoes fuse to feet permanently if worn +d6 MOV
60 Kelpie Membrane, stretch over face to cast water breathing d4 times
61 Tree Seed, acorn or pine cone grows adult tree over night d6 per set
62 Goblin Chewing Stick a potent drug, +d3 MOV +1 DEX lasts 1 hour, d6 doses
63 Wizard Hood, dried skin bag from newborn baby wizard face, +1 INT if carried
64 Goblin Shaman Chunder if eaten grants ability to cast a random cantrip daily
65 Goblin Priest Chunder if eaten will turn into a zombie on death
66 Goblin Goat Bagpipes can be used to attract goats, even better for bard
67 Bat riders Crop, +2 to ride bat ability and +2 to bat morale and understand bats
68 Wolfmasters Bow, compact composite shortbow with base damage of d8 per arrow
69 Goblin Arrows, warped willow shafts twist in the air ignore cover and range penalties
70 Goblin Lord Dagger, spider venom on first stab every day
71 Goblin Spider Fetish, atracts bugs and spideres that spread cobwebs everywhere
72 Goblin Worm Fetish, dig under it if left overnight find 1d6 meals worth of grubs
73 Goblin Fertility Fetish, any births in house get a goblin baby extra in any birth
74 Goblin Mushroom Fetish, attracts fungus to grow in 1" square area double speed
75 Goblin Goat Fetish makes goats produce a extra kid each birth if kept in stall
76 Goblin Love Fetish increases holders CHA +1 if held in both hands visible to all
77 Goblin Bug Fetish increases growth rate of arthropod and or shelled invertebrates
78 Goblin Plant Fetish makes garden in 1" square grows twice as fast
79 Goblin Demon Fetish allows demons to observe area through idols eyes
80 Goblin Ancestor Fetish allows user to cast speak with dead once per week
81 Cauldron cooks battlefield meat into spicy stew, can cast animate dead once a month
82 Sickle of silver if used to cut mushrooms preserves them fresh twice as long
83 Sword of Goblin Metal, shortsword, any wounds save or -1STR 1Turn, non cumulative
84 Goblin Javelin, bursts in air into a d4 separate javelins and roll each to hit, only once
85 Goblin Pot, can be used as a d6 club, a +1AC helmet and makes food taste better
86 Goblin Bong, ceramic water pipe, pack of goblin weed, +1 HP, -d3" MOV for an hour
87 Goblin Trap Tools includes quick snare trap, dose of poison, d3 rabbit rabbit traps
88 Goblin Inflatable Goat Boat, folds from a one man coracle to a 10lb pack
89 Goblin Scroll with a random wizard or priest spell with d3 Level power on leather
90 Goblin Tinderbox with a bottle of flammable oil, handful of gunpowder, d3 signal rockets
91 Goblin Potion makes drinker turn into a goblin
92 Smoked Goblin Ham +1 STR permanent if you can eat and keep down in one sitting
93 Holy Loaf has spores on wheat that causes eater of loaf to be able to see invisible spirits
94 Goblin Skin Ointment gives user rubbery flesh of a goblin +1AC permanently
95 Chaos Crystal if cracked raw ether inflicts a major mutation on whoever broke it
96 Goblin Scepter holder translates common into goblin speech and vice versa
97 Trained Wolf, can guard or track or attack, very loyal to good
98 Trained Giant Riding bat can carry a small humanoid or child
99 Four trained giant tracking rats, loyal to who feeds and cares for them
100 A highly trained Goblin Dancing Girl (also concubine, spy and assassin)