Pokémon GO Fest Plagued By Mile-Long Lines And Connectivity Issues In Chicago [Update]

Niantic

Pokemon GO Fest in Chicago

Update: All attendees are getting refunds and $100 in Pokecoins as recompense for the connectivity issues. Additionally, everyone with passes will be getting a free Legendary, Lugia. The global unlock for Legendaries will still begin over the next 24 hours.

It seemed unlikely that Niantic’s first major Pokémon GO event would go off without a hitch, and so far, it appears to be drowning in them.

Seemingly endless lines and connectivity issues are currently plaguing the event and the game. Called away by an unavoidable family vacation, I’m not actually at GO Fest which is taking place in my home city, but I bequeathed my hastily-purchased pass to my friend, Bret Fortuna, who is providing me with live updates from the ground. Our own Dave Thier is also there, and will be reporting in with his own account shortly.

The friend I’ve sent to attend was using a regular pass I purchased, not a press pass, and as such he had to wait over three hours in line just to get into Grant Park, and just got in at 1 PM local time, well past the point when the event was supposed to have started inside. Organization for getting people with scannable wristbands inside does not seem to be remotely efficient, despite the fact that there are concerts all over this area normally without similar issues.

But it’s not just the waiting, the game itself is under siege by so many players trying to play at once. All day so far, the game has been plagued with connectivity issues, which reminds me of exactly a year ago when an unofficial Pokémon GO event in Chicago’s Millennium Park I was at was shut down for server issues and the technical problems forced everyone to head home.

Niantic warned players not to livestream their time at GO Fest in order to avoid these kinds of issues, but apparently that wasn’t enough, and the game is overloading the local Verzion/Sprint/ATT networks.

These issues are starting to turn the event ugly. This happened before my friend was inside, but John Hanke took to the stage to address connectivity issues was reportedly loudly booed with players shouting “We can’t play!” on repeat. And there are plenty of folks to taking to social media to express their displeasure that they still are waiting outside and not even able to get into the malfunctioning event.

Bret Fortuna

Pokemon GO Fest

There are supposed to be timed catching events to unlock bonuses throughout the day like extra XP and candy for all players globally, but many players are unable to participate either left outside or with the game not working at all. Pokémon GO Fest is supposed to culminate with a grand fight against Legendary Pokémon to unlock them globally later tonight, but it’s hard to know if things are on pace to even get that far. As I write this, my friend just told me that everyone just tried to band together for a Snorlax raid that no one could connect to at all. We are reportedly just a few hours away from Legendary spawns.

This is an event that many players flew in for and have reserved hotels, meaning the cost is far beyond the $20 wristbands in terms of both dollars and time. If these issues persist, Niantic may have to end up issuing refunds or some other form of recompense.

Right now we’re only halfway through the event, and there’s still time to turn things around before the Legendary battle this evening, but not much. If there’s one tiny glimmer of hope, my friend just texted to tell me he caught a Heracross.

Stay tuned to see how this all plays out.

Update: Bret tells me that Niantic is issuing refunds and giving out $100 in Pokecoins to attendees. A nice gesture but again, many people probably paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend this event if traveling from out of the state or country.

Update 2: Bret: “There is a 20 minute line to leave.” I’m sorry but I’m almost crying laughing at that one. Condolences to attendees, truly. This is turning into the Fyre Festival of the gaming world.

Update 3: Hearing rumblings that Niantic may be extending Grant Park-specific stuff out into the city itself, given that it could help with network congestion. Given that the event has been refunded, that could work, but anyone who paid big bucks for aftermarket tickets will be out of luck if aspects of the event open up to non-attendees.

Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook. Pick up my sci-fi novel series, The Earthborn Trilogy, which is now in print, online and on audiobook.

Share and Enjoy

Netflix Unveils New ‘Stranger Things’ Trailer at Comic-Con

The cast and creators of “Stranger Things” arrived in Hall H, the biggest Comic-Con venue of all, on Saturday, and cracked up the assembled crowd for most of the hourlong panel. They also unveiled a new trailer. 

Executive producers Shawn Levy, Matt Duffer, and Ross Duffer, as well as cast members Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, David Harbour, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer, Sadie Sink, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, and Dacre Montgomery were all on hand.

The new trailer is scored to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” using the creepy narration of Vincent Price. It starts out with the kids at a video arcade, playing Dragon’s Lair. Will sees a vision of the Upside Down outside the arcade, complete with a red, stormy, supernatural sky. Later, he says, “I saw something. I felt it everywhere.”

Related

Barb From ‘Stranger Things’ Scores Unexpected Emmy Nomination

Eleven is glimpsed in the almost black-and-white Upside Down, and then puts her hand through back into a hallway in Hawkins, In.

But before that, the boys — wearing “Ghostbusters” costumes — have the same kind of trap that the Ghostbusters used, and something is clearly within it.

Earlier, asked what the genesis of the show was, Matt Duffer said, “We’re big movie nerds — that’s what we wanted to do. We started to get into television as it became more cinematic.”

The brothers said they thought about “what would be the ultimate long movie — Spielberg directing a big, fat Stephen King book. That was the dream, that was the ambition,” Ross Duffer said.

Levy said he became aware of the project when an executive he works with said he had to drop everything and read the “Stranger Things” script. Levy said he was immediately into it. “We didn’t know if anyone was going to let us make it and we definitely didn’t know if anyone was going to watch it,” but he wanted to do all he could to get “Stranger Things” on screen. 

Moderator Patton Oswalt asked the Duffers and Levy about the show’s distinctive music, and also praised the show’s logo.

“Once I saw the font of the title, I was in,” Oswalt said.

Related

‘Stranger Things’ Creators Duffer Brothers: Season 2 Is ‘Bigger, Darker, Scarier’

“We wanted it to look like one of those Stephen King books that we devoured,” Ross said. Though the cast was tight-lipped when it came to Season 2 spoilers, there were a few fun facts scattered through the panel:

1. Millie Bobby Brown did not like crying. Playing Eleven “was difficult because obviously, I had very few lines. I had to express everything with my face which is very hard. But it gets easier when you feel more comfortable with your character. The first two episodes — I just fell in love with Eleven and Eleven was me. The only thing that was hard was crying. I feel like I’m a happy person so that when I’m crying I would need five minutes to get in the zone. It’s hard to keep a straight face with teen boys, because they play pranks and tell a lot of jokes when I’m doing an emotional scene.”

2. Caleb McLaughlin needed help with slingshot training. “I realized that I did it wrong. I held it weird in the beginning and then I had to learn how to [do it]. The day I was supposed to be slingshotting the Demogorgon, I was shooting it at the camera and everyone else around there,” McLaughlin said.

3. Sheriff Hopper won’t strip in Season 2. In Season 1, David Harbour said, Hopper got to “go on such a classic hero’s journey. He plays such a jerk [in Season 1,] then by around episode four, you’re like, ‘This guy is super-awesome and if he dies I’m suing Netflix!’ The journey was so satisfying to see him come to life. That breath [Hopper] takes when he revives Will, [Hopper] sort of wakes up. You can’t do that again, you can’t wake up again.” But in Season 2, “there is a psychology of a heroic action and whether or not [a person] can live up to that in their daily life… there are perils of a savior complex.” But don’t look for another shirtless scene for Harbour. “Nobody needs to see that,” Harbour said with a laugh. “That was the one hatemail we got.” He left it to the audience to decide whether he was serious when he said that “Hopper gets to do some very thrilling, sexy things in Season 2.”

4. Paul Reiser plays an authority figure trying to deal with the crisis in Hawkins. “I come in to clean up” the situation, Reiser said.

5. Sadie Sink plays a character who joins the group of friends. We don’t know much about her aside from the fact that she moves from California to Hawkins.

6. Shannon Purser — Barb — remains a fan favorite. She came to the microphone to ask a fan question. She was invited up to the main stage, where she asked her question: Is Barb going to be in Season 2? No, but “there will be justice for Barb. Barb will be avenged,” Harbour said.

7. The Dungeons and Dragons scene was one the first things the younger cast filmed. The actors in that scene said it was one of their favorite experiences of Season 1. “That was the first scene I shot and also the first scene in the show,” Wolfhard said. “I remember going in blind and we started laughing at nothing. It was hard to get anything done. It was really fun.” “That’s where we all learned [about] each other,” Schapp added. “Gaten kept making funny faces and making me laugh.”

Share and Enjoy