In Pokémon GO raids are one of the most important features. To organize them optimally, communication between trainers is particularly important. But now Niantic punishes players for harmless chats in their own app. We at MeinMMO show you what exactly happened.
Which app is it about? For many years, Pokémon GO trainers have wished for a way to finally chat with each other. This feature is especially important for organizing raids, but also for coordinating level-ups and lucky trades with trainer friends.
In summer 2022, Niantic finally wanted to remedy this and released its own app called Campfire. In this app, trainers can not only connect directly with each other or form special groups but also temporarily chat at gyms with other trainers to arrange raids.
However, it is precisely for these harmless chats that trainers were now punished in the app. What exactly happened is summarized below.
How does Campfire punish trainers?
What does the app do? As Reddit user lusankya_very_much explains in his post, he wanted to coordinate a raid with other trainers through Campfire – the Niantic app specifically designed for that purpose. However, his post was deemed critical and therefore went for review to the developers.
So he received a message (via reddit.com): “Niantic believes that this message may violate our community guidelines. It is currently under review.” However, the message was completely harmless, as he shows in an image, he merely wrote “We’re walking over now”. In the app, the message was marked accordingly.
What happens when messages are classified as critical?
Messages are marked: If the app recognizes a message as critical, it will be marked accordingly. According to reports from some trainers, messages in the chat can still be read through a workaround by clicking “View Message” under the message.
This works even if it has been classified as critical by Niantic. However, such messages are then also marked for other users.
As Reddit user GigsGilgamesh (via reddit.com) writes: “The best part is that you can still read it, so it’s just a pointless aggravation, and even worse if they actually assign a bot or, God forbid, a normal employee to review all these sneaky, terrible remarks like ‘here’ and ‘on the way’.”
Blocking of users: Niantic does seem to actually review these messages and, in cases of repeated offenses, may also impose bans, as Reddit user ReginInSpuds explains in the comments (via reddit.com): “I was permanently banned because I am a 37-year-old with a foul mouth. A friend received a two-week ban. They definitely have someone looking at the crap.”
Whether Niantic will fix this problem soon is currently unknown. If there are any new updates, you will definitely find out about it at MeinMMO.
Community experiences similar situations
Trainer almost misses a raid: Other trainers also report similar experiences in the comments. They understand that it is important to take such measures for child and youth protection, but find it excessive that even harmless agreements are flagged. In the comments on Reddit, you can read the following:
- Impressive-Mousse225: “Yes, that really annoyed me. I sent a message that said: ‘I’m on my way’, and the same thing happened. I almost missed a raid, and I was walking.”
- DaniD10: “In one of our chats, every single text was marked. We were five and whatever we wrote was flagged. Quite annoying.”
- EggoGF: “I saw the same message over the weekend. The message from a stranger was something harmless like ‘I’ll be there in a few minutes.’ As a software developer, I can understand the importance of a language filter in a children’s app, but please!”
- Phoenix1Rising: “YES!!! So many messages have been hidden this way, and it took me a while to figure out that people can still click on them (haha, I know…), so I rephrased them two or three times before they were somehow considered acceptable enough. Your AI bot is garbage.”
Why is this a problem? Depending on how much time is left in a raid, it may be urgently necessary to communicate quickly. Trainers may want to join a raid and therefore ask for a delay in the start.
This is especially important when it comes to raids that can only be played on-site and are too difficult to complete alone, as with the Crypto raids on weekends.
It is all the more frustrating when messages are flagged as critical and can only be read through workarounds. This can rightly lead to other players not seeing information in time, and as a result, one might not be able to join the raid with that group.
Do you actually use Campfire for your coordination in Pokémon GO? Have you also been banned for such harmless messages? If so, what did you write? And were you punished for it? Let us know in the comments and exchange views with other trainers.
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