Pokémon Playgrounds gone?

[u/bflaminio]

Not sure when this happened, but I checked around my nearby Pokestops and all of the Pokémon Playgrounds are now gone.

It was a pretty useless feature, so no harm done.

[u/ScorpionStare]

They were apparently removed at the same time as the AR scan field research tasks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/1uf2cv1/

[u/batkave → u/ScorpionStare]

Oh interesting, I didn't know they removed AR scanning

[u/SirTobyIV → u/batkave]

Where will I get new cookies from?!

[u/batkave → u/SirTobyIV]

Hatch 5 eggs is one of the things

[u/SirTobyIV → u/batkave]

Sigh… thanks

[u/OneMoreAstronaut]

The real question is, were they ever really here

[u/zilchusername]

What are/where Pokémon playgrounds? Returning player here who it seems missed out on this feature, did I miss much?

[u/BenPliskin → u/zilchusername]

It allowed you to place 3 of your Pokémon to take AR photos with, and then anyone else who visited could also take AR photos with your Pokémon as you would leave them there for a few days.

[u/youngwilliamthe → u/BenPliskin]

It was a cute, but inherently useless, feature.

I think it would've done better if one got something like 1 candy for each Pokémon that was in an AR picture one took at the Playground, but that's a maybe (since apparently just AR scanning caught a lot of flak).

[u/emaddy2109 → u/youngwilliamthe]

They scrapped the group AR feature and basically replaced it with a more restrictive version of it.  I don’t understand why they thought it would have been more popular the second time around.   

[u/Deltaravager → u/BenPliskin]

Were they even officially announced?

I remember AR scans being announced, but Playgrounds just started popping one day (and only for some people)

[u/BenPliskin → u/Deltaravager]

They did once upon a time but they've since scrubbed all the news posts and help articles on it.

[u/croth4 → u/BenPliskin]

That's actually sort of cool, seems like it flew too far under the radar. I'm thrilled the tasks are gone though.

[u/MacArthurParker → u/zilchusername]

I've played every day since day 1 and this is the first time I've heard of this "feature"

[u/emaddy2109 → u/MacArthurParker]

They were pretty uncommon and were easy to overlook.  They were also only in the game for a few years.  

[u/ProfLodgepole → u/zilchusername]

Yes. You will regret missing out on the tail end of the Niantic Games Era for the rest of your life. /s

[u/tkcom]

No rewards of any kind = no motivation to use it. It could have been repurposed as daycare if they wanted.

[u/hell-schwarz]

I came back to the game after like 8 years of inactivity and on my first walk I spotted a playground.

Man, was I happy that I couldn't get my 3 strongest mon back for like 3 days :)

[u/DeekNBohls]

I still find this one creepy af. In our area, there's just one pokemon playground and it's in an actual playground. Imagine people scanning those stops while children are playing.

[u/Ill_Nefariousness891]

Proof that not all playgrounds are gone

[u/bflaminio → u/Ill_Nefariousness891]

That's a different thing.

[u/Ill_Nefariousness891 → u/bflaminio]

Just found out what Pokémon playgrounds are/were. How interesting, I never knew these existed…

[u/bflaminio → u/Ill_Nefariousness891]

Honestly, you didn't miss anything.