Mr. Steranka, you truly seem a good dude that would be to have a drink with & chat with for a while. I appreciate your enthusiasm for the game and interactions with the community.
But this is an astounding misinterpretation of data and community desires.
Where was this supposed player groundswell asking for a reversion back to 3 hours? I'm sorry, but I find that incredibly hard to believe.
And yes, of course many players didn't play 6 full hours. We played for 2-4 during the window available to us. Which we will miss terribly.
You are completely misreading the data... and the room. You're wrong, Mr. Steranka. The only 5% is likely the percentage of players that want only 3 hours to play with.
6 hours hurts nobody. It's better for players in groups or individually. Better for ALL players.
6 hours doesn't hamper your company's goals of getting us out in the world...it enhances them. Allows us to plan community events around weather & real world events. Makes it EASIER to "meet you out there".
6 hours allowed for players to squeeze in time for digital monster hunting around their other activities... around our actual LIVES. Many of us were playing for 2-4 hours sometime during that 6-hour time block and then carrying on with our lives with the rest of the time. 1/5
Some played from 11-2, some from 2-5, some from like 11-12 and then again from 3-5, depending on their availability. Niantic seems to want us to plan our day around Community Day and other events most every weekend. 2/5
This is just another sign of that: play during these three specific hours -- far less flexible -- or don't play at all, sucks to be you, get good lolz. This is yet another big slap in the face to the playerbase, more proof you do NOT #HearUsNiantic. 3/5