As Pokemon Unite inches closer to its one month anniversary, players are discovering more of its features and secrets. However, not all of it is good. While many are praising the actual gameplay, this has been a week of complaining about new features that are slowly being better understood by players.
Here are all the big stories from Pokemon Unite this week.
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Players Aren’t Happy With The Respawn Times
As many have noticed, Pokemon Unite’s respawn times seem to have no consistency. Coming back after a kill can take anywhere between 5 to 50 seconds, seemingly depending on how many kills you got yourself, and how long the match has been going on for. However, this means top performing players can miss out on a whole bunch of the final two minutes if they’re knocked out, and many think this is unfair.
On the flip side, some also feel that they can’t capitalize on team kills, because the enemy players will be back too soon. To mitigate this, fans suggest making the gap between respawns less severe, or even adding a goal shield upon getting a kill.
Is The Battle Pass Actually Worth It?
Microtransactions in Pokemon Unite have proven controversial to those trying to avoid them, but what is it like for those actually taking the plunge? Our own Eric Switzer bought the battle pass (one of the many forms of microtransactions in the game), and his assessment wasn’t great.
He criticised how there are only two Pokemon skins available in the pass, and how unimaginative the cosmetics for the trainers are. Outside of a Pikachu hoodie, Eric says the clothing has “no imagination whatsoever”.
With any luck, the offerings will be a little better next season. You can read his full thoughts on the pass here.
Master Cup Players Are Accused Of Trolling
Being a more kid-friendly competitive game, Pokemon Unite is full of little quirks that make it a bit less punishing. One of those features is that if you climb all the way to the Master Cup, you won’t fall back to Ultra. Unfortunately, some fans think that Master players are taking advantage of this.
Numerous users of r/PokemonUnite are complaining that they can’t climb out of Ultra because of the Master players they’re being paired with. Almost universally, fans are sharing stories of Master players instalocking characters, not communicating, and just overall trolling.
The Bots Are Stealing Our Names
Remember how last week we talked about all of those bots roaming around in the game? Well, it turns out the names they use likely aren’t randomly generated as once assumed – because one player found one using theirs.
Reddit user Iago_Bra shared that a friend was playing with them in a match… when they weren’t even online. The bot using their name was also playing as a Pokemon they didn’t own. Luckily, however, the bot’s performance isn’t reflected in your stats, so you won’t see your win/lose ratio affected by their actions.
…And They’re Not Very Good At The Game Either
But this is the major downside – as you read this very article, it’s possible that a bot is out there, dragging your name through the mud.
As word of Pokemon Unite’s bot problem spreads, they’re getting increasingly easy to spot (even without checking their trainer cards before a match). As it turns out, they’re not very good at the game they were literally programmed to play. Despite going to the effort to give them real gamertags, they don’t blend into the match well at all, and can often be seen walking back and forth aimlessly, not too fussed about scoring any goals.
If you’re up against a team of bots, do whatever the hell you want really. It’s a guaranteed victory.
Next: 2021 Isn’t A Bad Year For Games, You’re Just Not Playing The Right Ones
