In Pokémon GO, trainers have been reporting accidental bans in the last few days. Now Niantic has apologized. We show you what happened and explain what demands the trainers are making.
What were these bans? In recent days, reports have been piling up on social networks that trainers have received a ban due to Pokémon GO. This includes the largest German-speaking YouTuber Spieletrend, who has now been excluded from the game for about 30 days.
Niantic justifies these decisions with violations of their terms of use. This includes the use of unauthorized third-party software that could be used by players for spoofing. However, some trainers insist that they have not committed any violations and do not have such software.
This is Niantic’s reaction
After numerous players have unsuccessfully contacted the support of Pokémon GO and this wave of bans has increasingly become a topic on social networks, Niantic has now spoken out via their Twitter account.
There, they apologize for the inconvenience and announce that they will review the bans. For players who have received an unjustified ban, it will be revoked. Furthermore, Niantic points out that this procedure is an automation that occurs regardless of whether the trainers contact support or not.
This is what the community demands
The community is glad that there has now been an apology from Niantic, and the trainers hope that this revocation of the bans will affect both the players who have already received a warning about them and those who are already actively affected. However, some reddit users like Tadanga2 have concerns that it only pertains to the warnings (via reddit.com).
For some time now, there have been repeated reports from players about unjustified bans. According to the reddit user milotic03, reports of bans from players had already surfaced publicly in April (via reddit.com). He is angry and criticizes that Niantic has ignored these reports and only now reacted to the wave of bans.
Better detection system for gameplay violations
A major point of criticism for some time has been Niantic’s detection system. This works automatically, and even when contacting support, often only a bot responds. For this reason, the trainers of Pokémon GO demand a change in this approach.
As Twitter user LuckyBunz writes: “You need to do better. Your detection system is not working properly, and the fact that you don’t even bother with appeals in 95% of cases is unacceptable. You need to hire real people for support, not bots.” (via twitter.com).
More freedom for all players
Other trainers, like the reddit user AwesomeTed, even go a step further with their opinion and demand: “This may be an unpopular opinion, but I would prefer if Niantic just lets cheaters do their thing if that’s the alternative to one legitimate player losing their account.” (via reddit.com).
Due to the current procedure, most players do not even know why they are being banned specifically. The automated response does not provide the reason, as reddit user semajames shows in his post (via reddit.com).
Whether Niantic will take this criticism into account and make changes to their detection system is not yet known. Should there be any official information on this, you can read it here on MeinMMO.
Are you also affected by the current wave of bans? Should Niantic adjust their approach or even allow spoofers to do as they please? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments and discuss the topic with other trainers.
Furthermore, trainers are demanding a reset of the name trick for Eevee for Community Day in Pokémon GO. We have looked into what this is about and summarized it for you.
