He has been playing Pokémon GO since day one and had a “special” name. Now a player has been reported and forced by Niantic to change the name.
Since its release in July 2016, a lot has changed for the better in Pokémon GO. Now there are big raids that you can participate in with other players. At the end of the battle, individual players are highlighted for their performance – with trainer names. Apparently, this feature has now become a downfall for one player.
On reddit, player Specter017 writes that he had to change his name now. The new name also didn’t please the developers, and they are serious: If the next name is also offensive, they will ban him.
Affected player “can’t believe it”
What does the trainer say? On reddit, Specter017 shows three screenshots. The first shows his name “CoktimusPrime”, which is a sexually offensive variation of the name Optimus Prime. In one of his screenshots, you can see a raid award “the biggest” displayed next to his username. The award was given to the trainer for bringing the biggest Pokémon into the raid battle.
In another screenshot, you can see Professor Willow saying: “Hi Trainer. There seems to be a problem with your nickname. Please choose a new one.”
And in the third image, you can see the input field for a new nickname. We embed the reddit post with the images here.
The trainer explains: “I can’t believe it. After almost 6 years, someone finally reported me. I have been playing since day one and had to change my name. It was going well.”
He explains that he was initially angry about being reported. The first name change to “ImCoktimusPrime” initially worked, but then the trainer received an email from Niantic. They warned him and explained that he should change his name again. If this new name is again offensive, he would be permanently banned.
How do trainers react? Some find the pun funny and congratulate the player for not being reported for so long. A major topic on the other hand is why it took so long for someone to report the sexually offensive name.
Some trainers in the comments don’t even know how to report a player.
How to report another player? If you see a player whose nickname violates Pokémon GO guidelines, you can report them.
- Tap on the Pokéball and open the menu
- Select “Settings” at the top right
- Scroll down and select “Get Help”
- iOS players tap on “Contact us”, Android players select the speech bubble icon
- Then describe the problem and select “Report a player”
According to Niantic, a nickname is inappropriate if it has the following characteristics:
- sexual or pornographic references,
- obscenities or derogatory words,
- words that promote illegal activities,
- words that constitute hate speech against members of a protected group,
- or words intended to insult or harass other players
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