Pokemon Go Thread #28: Careless Whismur.

[DoctorTwo]

Shiny new thread.

Our local group had our first socially distant raid t'other day, there were 11 in the lobby and only 3 of us were physically at the gym. The bantz on the message group afterwards was funny though after I introduced them to a new word.

That's the negative side of lockdown, many players are too worried to get within 10m of another. There are some friends I haven't seen in months, and just a few I have seen to have a socially distant chat. Still, mustn't grumble.

@ignatiusjreilly if you click on the gym, it might tell you that there are already X people in the lobby. If so, this means it’s a public raid, so feel free to jump in, the more the merrier. The lobby is open for 120 seconds to allow others to join. You don’t need to speak to anyone! If there is no one in the lobby, the raid is either over, in progress or hasn’t started yet. If it hasn’t started, you can hang around to see if the lobby number starts increasing, and if so jump in as above. They might be doing a private raid in which case they won’t want strangers joining but I only really see this when there are big groups.

To clarify on the private raid, you won’t be able to see this unless they give you the code so there is no danger of gatecrashing. If you see them in the lobby, it’s public.

Ash, @Blueroses99 I have wondered what the raid code thing is for. I see it when I do raids - three little Pokémon characters.

We only jump out and do a private raid if a spoofer appears in the lobby. My group hate spoofers. As opposed to two towns over where they'll post in their raid group "We're a man short. Can anyone spoof over and help?".
If we're halfway through a raid and someone else turns up, even a complete stranger, we'll jump out and restart so they can join in. Or do it a second time on our other accounts.

Thanks @Blueroses99 that’s really useful. Next time we’ll try and join!

@BaronessBomburst what’s a spoofer?

Someone who uses a fake location app and is doing a raid in San Francisco whilst sitting at home on their settee in Southampton.
People use them to get Pokémon specific to certain regions, or to join in raids etc, or to rack up defending hours on obscure gyms.

they'll post in their raid group

Where is this sort of thing hosted?

Asking as it'd be fun to try and start one locally! Or see if there's a group I could join.

Ah I see, so someone turns up in the lobby who’s not actually there in real life. Thanks for explaining.

@TheMShip Apparently there are usually local Facebook groups, but I’m not on Facebook so I can’t see them.

It's against the rules and you'll get a soft ban, and eventually your account blocked, if you get caught.
One of DS friends spoofed regularly in San Francisco and used to trade all kinds of regionals to the other kids, which was his undoing as he kept flipping between the two locations too quickly and it got picked up.
Then there's a spoofer in another county who had an argument with a local player and kept turning our gyms grey. That was a pain in the backside as no-one could earn coins for weeks.
Then there's a dad who spoofs with his young daughter but keeps to the village and surrounding area. The anti-spoofing brigade leave them alone.

We joined the local group by keep running into other players. I recommend hanging around town centre gyms during raid hour or special events. Trouble is, remote raid passes mean less players on the street now. I'm often the only one actually at the gym in a group of five or six.

I found a group by searching Facebook. It's not hugely active but usually on a Wednesday there might be a message asking if anyone wants to raid. It's how I've managed to get my reshiram, darkrai and virizion...
I might actually ask if anyone wants to do this Wednesday so I have a chance at doing the task - I'd love a zekrom but I think this week they have changed to Ho-oh which I got a few weeks back as a reward...

They are all level 40's but if it's just 2 of them then even a 35 like me can help so I think they were happy I turned up!!!

[quote ignatiusjreilly]@TheMShip Apparently there are usually local Facebook groups, but I’m not on Facebook so I can’t see them.[/quote]
Thanks! I've just requested to join one local group and have found the Silph Road discord thing too. Think it'll be quite fun to try raiding with some other folks. I picked up a 2nd cheap phone for my birthday and will be able to play both accounts at the same time as soon as the SIM card gets here. I have one account for each kid to customize their avatar, but it's been hard to keep them levelling up at roughly the same pace and the little one's way behind and getting jealous!

My trainer codes are 9124 0419 4668 and 8848 2024 2176.

Anyone else think Lotads are annoying?? I have had so much trouble catching them and they're everywhere with this rain!

How do you know if someone is spoofing? I see regulars around in my local gyms but I wouldn't pick up on someone from elsewhere.

And how do you turn a gym grey? I see them sometimes as I can see 6 from home but I assume it's someone who attacked while on the bus or something

I've seen people selling rare pokemon on ebay. They make friends then spoof over to trade.

Wow, I had no idea that you could spoof your location! So much still to learn. I bought some remote raid passes but have run out now. They're good for when you can't get there in person.

Nooooo! Don't spoof your location. You'll get your account suspended.

Tomorrow's lesson will be on all the various cheats you can do using airplane mode.....
🙊

How do you know someone is spoofing and not using a remote raid? I love these new remote raids, they are the main thing I spend my coins on. Luckily I can see approx 10 gyms from my house, although unfortunately I'm not actually close enough to reach one without a remote pass.

Don't worry Baroness, I won't, I wouldn't dare try it in case I couldn't change it back.
Can anyone confirm for me that an Aerodactyl doesn't count as a Legendary Pokémon? I've got one as a reward for completing a field task and I want to save catching it for later - unless it counts as a Legendary. Which I need for a different task...

Wow @BaronessBomburst I've still so much to learn.
Thanks to everyone on here I've learned loads and have loads of PoGo friends

@SoulofanAggron I'm good to put an egg anytime, whatever suits.

Don't catch the aerodactyl. Save it for later along with any kabutos, omanytes, lilleeps, and anoriths you might get. Then you'll have them ready for the Meltan research.

Oh, and it's not a legendary. Sorry.

Thanks Baroness, that's really helpful.