One of the most controversial topics in Pokémon GO is spoofing. We at MeinMMO have taken a look at why opinions on this issue are so divided, and our author Franzi Korittke explains to you why she doesn’t think it’s that bad.
What is spoofing anyway? Spoofing is a particular form of cheating in the game. Here, players manipulate their GPS using external software, allowing them to move anywhere in the world without actually traveling to that location.
This manipulation is prohibited by the game’s terms of use, which is why Niantic regularly takes action against trainers who do not adhere to them. If such software is detected by Pokémon GO, the cheating players are warned and receive a ban.
Niantic has also attempted to take action in the past against the companies behind such software. They were successful in this regard. For example, the cheat provider Global++ was ordered by a court to pay 5 million dollars to Niantic and is prohibited from selling programs based on Niantic’s games code.
Why is spoofing a problem for many?
By changing their location, spoofers can benefit from certain advantages in the game. We have summarized these for you below:
Regional monsters: One way trainers can benefit from spoofing is by catching regional monsters, for which honest players would have to travel abroad.
Quick location changes: Spoofers can move quickly from one location to another. This gives them a time advantage, especially with reports of special Pokémon with high IV. While honest players must first walk to the corresponding location to have a chance at this monster, spoofers can change locations in seconds.
This also allows these trainers to catch more rare monsters and consequently acquire more (XL) candies, which are important for leveling up Pokémon. Further effects of the rapid location change can be seen in the recoloring of gyms. This enables these trainers to recolor multiple gyms in a short time.
If these opportunities are exploited by spoofers, it inevitably leads to disadvantages for other honest trainers. These trainers struggle to compete with the recoloring of gyms by spoofers. By the time they have walked to the next gym, the first one has already been recolored. This can have serious impacts on daily coins as well.
What the community says about spoofing
This topic comes up regularly on social networks. Players often complain that they have disadvantages in Pokémon GO because of spoofers. For example, reddit user Lone_Trombone21 writes that there are several spoofers in his area who constantly take over gyms, which is very frustrating (via reddit.com).
Other users report problems in various threads. For instance, true battles arise over gyms controlled by spoofers, in which only regional monsters are placed. Players find this demotivating.
However, not all trainers share this opinion. Some do not think it is that bad that others cheat in the game. This was also shown by a survey conducted by MeinMMO in April 2021 among our readers. In this survey, users could choose between the following three answers to the question “What do you think about cheating in Pokémon GO?”:
- I think cheaters are good – they even help in raids!
- I don’t care – I’m not affected by cheaters
- Cheating is bad and should be punished
As you can see in the previous graphic, a total of 3,474 people participated in this survey until September 6, 2021. Of these, 47 % (1,637 votes) said they don’t care. Conversely, 1,180 people voted that cheating is bad. This corresponds to about 34 %. The remaining 19 % (657 participants) think cheaters are even good.
I have also engaged with the topic and the arguments of both sides. Below, I will explain to you why I don’t think spoofing is that bad.
“Spoofing is not that bad!”
At first, I couldn’t understand why other trainers manipulate their GPS just to play from their couch at another location. However, my opinion has changed today. A central question I keep asking myself is: “What disadvantages do I have when others cheat?”
This led me primarily to the issue around the recoloring of gyms. That is indeed annoying. However, one should also consider that not all spoofers travel the world to annoy other trainers and constantly attack gyms. It is only a small fraction of spoofers who behave that way in the game.
In addition, my own experience shows that there are also honest trainers who cause considerable unrest among others. They regularly attack gyms and recolor them, even though they have already collected their coins for the day, taking away the chance for other players to collect them. Especially in rural areas with few gyms, this often leads to frustration.
For me, I couldn’t find any further disadvantages caused by the cheating of others. The fact that these trainers can get rare or regional Pokémon by altering their GPS is not that important to me. Players who live in these regions or travel there honestly also have that opportunity.
Due to the introduction of remote raid passes, trainers can now officially participate in raids anywhere in the world without needing to spoof there. Therefore, for me, cheaters have no advantage here either. I have even had positive experiences with raids because certain monsters like Selfe and Tobutz can only be caught in foreign raids.
Thanks to spoofers, I received corresponding raid invitations without needing to add players abroad. Moreover, by staying in a less-visited gym, they have already helped me and finally returned my monster after a long time.
My conclusion on spoofing: For the reasons mentioned above, spoofing is not a problem for me and I do not mind if others do it. Ultimately, they cheat for themselves. And there will always be trainers who want to annoy others, whether they are spoofers or not.
Personally, I find it much more interesting to discover special places in reality. For this reason, cheating is also not an issue for my Pokémon GO account. The risk of being banned would be too great for me. However, that decision is up to each individual.
What do you think about trainers spoofing in Pokémon GO? Does it bother you or do you not care? Feel free to share your opinion on this topic in the comments here and exchange ideas with other players on MeinMMO.
By the way, we asked a spoofer why he does it. We show you his answers and explain how he got into spoofing.
