“all these people are playing Pokemon.”

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by Prince Of Petworth September 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm 27 Comments

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Pokemon – still pretty popular despite the perils and other accusations.

Thanks to Heidi for sending:

“9 pm on a Friday night at the FDR memorial (along the Tidal Basin): all these people are playing Pokemon.”

pokemon

Woodridge

That is so wrong.
- Neighbor
  
  Meh. I was out there the other week. Most of them look like shut-ins. It’s good that they get some sun.
  - FridayGirl
    
    “Most of them look like shut-ins. It’s good that they get some sun.”
    .
    Wow, that’s a little harsh. I proudly still play because it gets some of my co-workers and I out of the building at lunchtime, and it’s a great bonding activity as opposed to sitting at your desk and work-eating. Who are you to judge?
  - LittleBluePenguin
    
    It’s nighttime. I don’t think they’re getting much sun in these pics.
  - justinbc
    
    Actually it looks mostly like kids, many of whom look under 10. I got up to lvl 30 or so and owned gyms all over town and after collecting everything but like 5 from the index realized there was just nothing to do once you hit the “end-game” and sold my account on eBay to some kid. The only people I actively see playing it now are the kids on the bus who scream in unison every time they pass a rare catch. I still have a few friends who play, but they stopped posting about it and wanting to meet up weeks ago. I think regulating, or judging, what others do for fun in a city full of nearly limitless options is frankly kind of sad. These “shut-ins” are probably out more than you if they’re still into this game.
    - mcd
      
      Haha- nice. How much did you get for your account if you don’t mind me asking? I think I subsidized my pizzas in college selling rare in-game items in Diablo 2 on ebay.
      - justinbc
        
        Yeah, D2, UO, and EQ all paid for a wealth of dorm parties that my suite mates could never comprehend… I got just shy of $150 for the Pokemon account. Likely would have gone for a lot more if I had waited to sell after they banned all the botters.
      - Tsar of Truxton
        
        How do you even sell an account? You just promise to change the email and password to something they want after getting paid?
      - Anonamom
        
        Pseudo-stepson creates Instagram and Musically accounts, gets a ton of followers, and then sells the accounts for $10-$50. Apparently it’s the new version of entrepreneurship in high school.
      - justinbc
        
        Yeah you just sign up for these types of games with a throwaway email address that you don’t mind signing over to someone else. Most phones now track game progress to a universal account, so for mobile games you have to make that as unique as possible.
    - Tsar of Truxton
      
      Level 30? Dayum. I played a fair amount and did not even get close to that!
  - Anonamom
    
    My kids love this game. They’re actually the same age as most of the kids I see in this picture. They are definitely not shut-ins, as the stank emanating from them after a full afternoon/evening of playing outside (you know, like we used to do in the olden days) will attest.
    Could we please move on from nerd shaming? This isn’t high school, it isn’t cool anymore (not that it was then).
    - FridayGirl
      
      +1. Thank you.
    - womp
      
      yes!!!! +100
    - eggs
      
      +100
    - s.patrillo
      
      “nerd-shaming”..kind of dramatic there. The “shut-in” comment was a j.o.k.e, I’m sure. People need to CTFD.
  - womp
    
    FDR is a great place to find rares, or at least it was a month ago. It’s not wrong; it gets people out and exploring, particularly those who never felt motivation to do so before. I was at FDR a while back on a Wednesday night with my SO and what seemed like half the DC population, and while FDR is one of my favorite memorials, I overheard from many people while we were all hanging out playing that they had never been there before. It was actually a fun night hanging out with and trading tricks, secrets, and tips with people I’d never met.
  - dcgator
    
    More importantly, most of them look like teens?
- MR. CRANKYPANTS
  
  IF I CAN’T HAVE FUN NO ONE CAN
  - eggs
    
    lol
urbanengineer

These are not the teens to be worrying about.
- Anonamom
  
  +1!
  Sees a group of teens walking down the street – rushes to the other side of the street.
  Sees a group of teens hanging out – loiterers, must be up to no good.
  Sees a group of teens playing Pokemon Go – Neeeeeerds!
  Can they do anything at all right?
  - Bloomy
    
    +1
- spookiness
  
  Exactly. This is the least of worries.
Commentator

I don’t see why it’s an issue. People are busy and not everyone is obsessive or dedicated themselves 24/7 to playing right at launch, so for some it’s just a continuing fun activity. It’s also much harder to play outside of urban areas, so if people are here visiting then it makes sense why they might spend some time in an evening catching Pokemon with the kids after the museums have closed.
Gumball

I saw them at this memorial a couple of Saturdays ago during the day. It’s so creepy when you happen upon them. You’re just walking along and then all of a sudden tons of people just staring at their phones in the middle of one of the coolest memorials.
- Gumball
  
  these appear to be kids. The group I encountered was about 80% adults. whatever floats your boat, though.

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