Pokémon GO: Which Team should I join?

by JiaHer Teoh | Jul 13, 2016 | Gaming

Pokémon GO: Which Team should I join?

With Pokémon Go surging to the number 1 spot on the Google Play Store, surpassing even the daily active users on twitter and existing on more android phones than Tinder, Pokémon Go is on the verge of catching us all.

Pokémon Go is set to launch in Malaysia by the end of the month, and we felt that the inevitable boom in Malaysia should be complemented with some handy advice collated from users in the US, UK and New Zealand where Pokémon fever is in full swing.

When do I have to pick a team?

You’d be fooling yourself if you didn’t anticipate to reach level 5 in a heartbeat, but that’s exactly when you’ll have the opportunity to pick between three teams.

Upon entering a gym for the first time, Professor Willow will introduce you to the three team leaders – Instinct, Mystic and Valor. We’ll explain more about their differences below. Once you join a team, you represent and fight for that faction.

It is important to note that, at least for now, you won’t be able to change teams, so choose wisely.

What are the three teams?

Team Instinct

Lead by Spark, Team Instinct believes in, as the name suggests, following your instincts. They have the legendary bird Zapdos as their team crescent.

Team Mystic

Mystic is lead by Blanche who believes in brains over brawns. Their team crescent is the legendary bird Articuno.

Team Valor

Team Valor is headed by Candela, who places faith in training. Their sign is the legendary bird Moltres.

Which Team should I join?

Choosing one team over another won’t have any significant impact on your gameplay experience, you will still progress through the game as everyone else.

Having said that, word on the street seems to suggest that Team Mystic is set to gain the most members. So if you’re one to go with the flow, or one to go against the grain, you should either join or avoid Team Mystic. Another way to go help you decide is to check with your friends or your nearest “gym” and ensure that you join the group that is geographically advantageous to you.

Still can't decide?

Here’s a quick test to help you make a decision.

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Made up your mind?

Let us know.

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Pokémon GO: Are you letting a thief in?

by JiaHer Teoh | Jul 13, 2016 | Gaming, Tech

Pokémon GO: Are you letting a thief in?

You might want to know this before you go and catch ’em all.

In a blog post by security analyst, Adam Reeve, Reeve reported that users had inadvertently given Pokémon Go developers, Niantic, access to their google accounts in a rush to join the Pokémon Go bandwagon.

Checking permission settings, he noticed that “Pokémon Go has full access to your Google account.” Cautious, he checked the Google help page for indications on what “full access” meant and came across this: “When you grant full account access, the application can see and modify nearly all information in your Google Account” and “This “Full account access” privilege should only be granted to applications you fully trust, and which are installed on your personal computer, phone, or tablet.”

As many would induce, Reeve suggested that Pokémon Go and Niantic could now:

Read all your emails
Send email as you
Access all your google drive documents (including deleting them)
Look at your search history and your Maps navigation history
Access any private photos you may store in Google Photos
And a whole lot more

Niantic have since come out with a statement:

“We recently discovered that the Pokémon GO account creation process on iOS erroneously requests full access permission for the user’s Google account. However, Pokémon GO only accesses basic Google profile information (specifically, your User ID and email address) and no other Google account information is or has been accessed or collected. Once we became aware of this error, we began working on a client-side fix to request permission for only basic Google profile information, in line with the data that we actually access. Google has verified that no other information has been received or accessed by Pokémon GO or Niantic. Google will soon reduce Pokémon GO‘s permission to only the basic profile data that Pokémon GO needs, and users do not need to take any actions themselves.”