In Pokémon GO, many trainers are upset after the remote raid changes, but now a Twitter user has clearly gone too far and insulted the family of a developer. We at MeinMMO show you how the community and Michael Steranka are reacting to this action.
Why is there frustration among many players? In Pokémon GO, developers introduced popular remote raid passes during the Corona pandemic, allowing trainers to participate in raids anywhere in the world by being invited. However, Niantic is now focusing on playing together on-site again and has restricted remote raids.
Currently, trainers can only do a maximum of 5 of these raids a day and have to accept much higher costs when purchasing. For this reason, the change has not been well received in the community. This was followed by a “HearUsNiantic” protest wave with a petition and an open letter that aimed to encourage the developers to rethink. However, these changes have not affected anything, which is why many players are angry and even want to boycott the game.
Now a Twitter user has gone way overboard and has let their frustration out through personal hate messages against Michael Steranka, game director of Pokémon GO, and his family. We have summarized below what exactly happened and how the developer and other trainers are reacting.
Trainer insults wife and newborn
What happened? It is not unusual for there to be some criticism in social networks after the remote raid changes, often also marking the private accounts of the developers. Michael Steranka is especially known for sometimes directly engaging with players, as was the case in 2022 during the controversial C-Day change.
However, Steranka had to block another Twitter account for the first time. The trainer behind the username “NickHerrInParis” has started under the #HearUsNiantic to insult the developer and especially his family in the worst possible way. He makes Steranka’s private life, including his wife and newborn, responsible for developments in the game, as can be seen in Steranka’s tweet images.
Developer’s statement: Instead of just quietly blocking the account, the developer goes public with this incident and explains his decision. He states: ”
I decided today for the first time to block an account. I normally take pride in never blocking anyone, even when some people say pretty hurtful things about me. I truly believe it is important to read conflicting viewpoints and not be trapped in an echo chamber.
But this account, which was created just this month, seems to have been created with the sole intention of harassing me and insulting my family. I hope we all agree that this is unacceptable and that we should ban such behavior from the community.
Michael Steranka via twitter.com
Following his statement, he briefly addresses the general mood in the community. He explains that he is temporarily back from parental leave and hopes for stronger exchanges with players again:
I know that many of you are frustrated with some of our recent decisions, but you should know that we are listening to the feedback and thinking about ways to address many of the valid concerns without sacrificing our mission and vision for Pokémon GO.
Anyway, now that I am temporarily back from parental leave, I hope to chat with more players around the world to gather feedback and better communicate what we are planning and why. You might see me here and there, and when you do, don’t hesitate to say hello!
.
Michael Steranka via twitter.com
Community condemns posts: “Embarrassing and not representative”
The community is also not pleased with this behavior at all. They understand that one can be upset about changes in the game and let off steam, but insulting a family member of an employee like that is simply unacceptable.
The comments in the various social networks make it clear that trainers distance themselves from such behavior and that this kind of treatment is not part of the “HearUsNiantic” protest wave. They want to critique decisions in a constructive manner. One can read the following comments (via reddit.com):
- TheRoyale27: “God, what is written there is absolutely disgusting. Who cares how bad this game is, we will just move on to the next. There is absolutely no reason to talk to someone like that.”
- Cerborealis: “Wow, that’s terrible. If a game makes you so angry that you create accounts to insult company employees and their families, maybe you should just put the game down and do something else. Niantic is self-satisfied, annoying, and insincere at its best days, but shooting the messenger helps no one.”
- Kevsterific: “I don’t care who he is or what he has done, this kind of attack is never acceptable.”
The trainer theverybest5000 also speaks well of Steranka and summarizes the community’s sentiment as follows:
These comments and harassment from this person are EMBARRASSING and are NOT representative of those of us who express legitimate criticism and frustration about Niantic in general and your words in particular.
We do not claim this person as part of our movement to be heard, and we absolutely do not tolerate such behavior. I sincerely regret that you have to deal with this, I can’t even begin to imagine what a terrible experience this must be.
Congratulations on your baby, your family is beautiful!
theverybest5000 via twitter.com
However, Michael Steranka is not the first developer to fall victim to hate messages. This behavior from some players is repeatedly a significant issue in other games and sometimes even causes those affected to stop communicating with the community.
How disgusting and cruel players can be in MMORPGs is illustrated by a veteran developer.
