Completing some quests in Pokémon GO can lead to a real disadvantage. Trainers report that stops disappear from their area just because quests were completed.
Update 21.12 at 9:00 AM: The developers at Niantic have addressed this issue. They stated in a discussion in their Wayfarer community that the claims of the trainers are not true.
Niantic states that a stop can only be removed if trainers have reported it beforehand. They also say: ‘If someone notices that a POI [PokéStop] has been removed, this is purely coincidental and has nothing to do with the AR scan feature.’
Which quests are involved? Referring here to the AR tasks. These have been in Pokémon GO for a few weeks and require you to record videos of specific PokéStops. Once you’ve completed that, you get items.
However, it seems that the system is now working against the trainers. If you complete such a task and your video recordings do not accurately confirm the existence of the stop, then the PokéStop could be removed.
At least that’s what trainers are reporting on reddit. A desperate player reached out to other trainers there and says that several stops have already disappeared from his community, specifically those that hosted such AR tasks.
AR tasks delete stops – Can this be true?
Is this really due to the AR tasks? These quests are intended for Niantic to see what is around the stop and whether the stop actually stands there. Of course, there is also a response if several videos show the exact opposite.
On reddit, there are several confirmations that cities have lost numerous PokéStops. The AR tasks are repeatedly cited as the reason. So it is definitely not an isolated case.
What is the reason for this? If you only want the items from the quest, you can quickly complete the task. Instead of filming the PokéStop, you quickly sweep the camera along the ground. The system does not recognize whether you are truly filming the stop or just the ground.
The problem is that such videos are then sent to Niantic. There they see the videos that do not show the PokéStop and the stop is deleted. After all, it seems that the PokéStop doesn’t really stand at that location.
Use this trick: The AR quests often block access to other quests, which is why many trainers simply complete the tasks. However, you do not have to do this.
You can simply carry one AR quest permanently. After that, you can collect 3 additional “normal” quests from other stops. You basically carry 4 tasks.
Even the PokéStops that are supposed to provide the AR tasks will then give you normal quests. You just need to consistently carry one AR task.
What you don’t need AR tasks for is the special research with Galar-Pantimos. We will show you all the steps here:
Pokémon GO: What is making that noise? – All steps for Galar-Pantimos
