Apparently, the developers of Pokémon GO have now found a final solution to keep snipers away from the game.
In recent weeks and months, we have increasingly dealt with the topic of cheating in Pokémon GO. More specifically, we focused on measures against spoofing and sniping that Niantic integrated into the game. Recent information shows that the developers have reportedly completely disabled sniping. This would greatly enhance the game quality for honest players and ensure more fun in the digital Pokémon world.
Softbans during the Plant Event
Initial hints about changes in the game appeared last night when the Plant Event started. At around 10:30 PM, the event began, which increased the spawn rate of plant Pokémon. At the same time as the increased occurrence of these creatures, Niantic changed the duration of lure modules to six hours. This seemingly created a problem, as players who activated these modules received a softban.
A softban temporarily prevents players from catching Pokémon and obtaining items from PokéStops. Only after spinning a PokéStop 40 times can one participate in the game again. Automated bots often have problems with this and are thus prevented from botting. Apparently, the system recognized lure module users as bots and accidentally banned them. The problem with the lure modules has now been resolved. It may have just been a side effect of a much larger measure that is now supposed to finally remove snipers from the game.
What is Sniping anyway?
Sniping is a form of spoofing in Pokémon GO: Until now, it was possible to click on any location on a map and start a Pokémon encounter there. Then you would quickly teleport back to your actual location and ultimately catch the Pokémon there. The game assumed, “Alright, he caught the Pokémon at his location, so he didn’t teleport.” Players could thus catch Pokémon all over the map without moving in the real world. But that is supposed to end now.
Sniping in Pokémon GO – Is it now over?
Due to the recent changes, snipers in Pokémon GO are likely to have problems with cheating, as Niantic has adjusted the system. On Reddit, user apemyteddy reports that these changes in the game were noticed in a developer Discord. It was mentioned:
Sniping has been officially banned by Niantic.
- Previously, players could teleport to the GPS coordinates of Pokémon
- Start the encounter there
- Teleport back to their original location during the fight
- And finally catch the Pokémon there.
- With this trick, players bypassed softbans and speed restrictions, as the game assumed that the trainers were at home and not moving.
Today, this function has officially been blocked by Niantic. According to initial findings, the game now identifies the location where the encounter with the Pokémon starts and not just the location where the monster was caught. This means that snipers cannot cover large distances between different Pokémon without facing consequences. Snipers who continue to cheat with this method will now receive an immediate softban and their accounts will be flagged. This way, Niantic can punish bot users without targeting the live maps.
In the Pokémon GO sniper forums, users are already complaining that users of popular maps are constantly getting softbans and can no longer “play” as they are used to. The anti-cheat measure is already bearing its first fruits.
Important notice for the “fair” players among you
Due to the new function against snipers, “normal” players can also be excluded from the game. The reason for this is GPS drift. You may know it when your GPS position in Pokémon GO “acts up” and only catches after a few seconds to then display the “correct” location. Do not catch Pokémon during GPS drift and do not use PokéStops. This way, you avoid accidental softbans where the game thinks you have intentionally teleported.
Patrick says: While there is still no official statement from Niantic regarding the anti-cheat measure, we hope that this change stays permanently in the game and that snipers will be excluded. Of course, this problem has not been completely solved yet, as arenas are still full of cheaters. But it is a huge step in the right direction and hopefully leads to a cheater-free future.
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