Pokémon GO thrives on movement and discovering new places. However, there are also numerous cheaters who skip the movement aspect. We at MeinMMO spoke with a cheater who even uploads videos about it.
How cheating works in Pokémon GO: Normally, Pokémon GO involves going outside and discovering landmarks marked as PokéStops in the game and catching monsters everywhere. Only those who move catch many Pokémon. However, cheaters manipulate their GPS to make the game think they are moving while sitting at home.
Cheaters using manipulated GPS are called Spoofers. They essentially “spoon” themselves to locations where there is a lot going on, while fair players have to walk there.
Whom did we talk to? We at MeinMMO spoke with YouTuber “Ramses Der Dikke”. He uploads videos and livestreams about Pokémon GO daily. Sometimes he plays “fairly” and doesn’t cheat, but often he manipulates his location and can catch Pokémon in other areas.
We discussed Ramses’ decision to cheat and wanted to know why he cheats at all.
“Better a Spoofer with heart than a legit player without character”
How did Ramses start cheating? The YouTuber has very personal reasons for starting to cheat. He tells us that his community split, and he suddenly could no longer participate in raids.
As a result, Ramses created several accounts to complete legendary raids alone. However, as this became too cumbersome in the long run, he decided to cheat. “Multi-accounting is also prohibited,” Ramses explained, which made the step to spoofing easier.
Why do people cheat in Pokémon GO? In the conversation, Ramses repeatedly emphasized: “I also do this for my community.” He referred to his various formats that he hosts together with his viewers.
These include raid or spotlight hours, which he streams from home and interacts with his viewers through a live stream (via YouTube). Ramses also talks about his weekend projects: “We do this regularly on weekends, where we host raids for viewers. Completely selflessly, as I don’t participate in them myself.”
In our conversation, Ramses also explained that he started cheating due to boredom in the game. He lives in a small town where he simply doesn’t have the same opportunities as players in big cities. He would love to do unlimited raids as well, but can’t implement that in his small town. That’s why he resorts to spoofing, so he can do just that.
However, it becomes problematic in gym battles. Here, spoofers can fly from one gym to another within seconds and throw out Pokémon everywhere. As a fair player, you often can’t keep up.
Thus, there are countless reports from players in various communities that they can hardly hold gyms in their city. Spoofers come directly and throw them out.
Does he have no bad conscience at all? Ramses sees cheating from a positive perspective. He believes that he can help other players with it and that fair players can also play poorly. He says, “Better a Spoofer with heart than a legit player without character.”
The YouTuber reports that he has also been thrown out from gyms by fair players and was even pursued. He wouldn’t do that as a cheater and argues that such trainers can also be unhealthy for the community.
Ramses even claims that cheaters are good for the game and help fund it. For example, he says: “Someone who plays legit and does a 1-star raid once a week with a free pass doesn’t generate any revenue for Niantic. […] Sometimes spoofers might not be wrong in this regard, as they might complete 100 raids on the first evening.”
What is Pokémon GO’s stance on spoofing? The developers of the game officially prohibit spoofing. They have even sued large cheat providers for this. However, the reality is that not much has been done against cheaters so far.
As a trainer, you can report cheaters, but in most cases, there is no response from Niantic. Nevertheless, there are also repeated bans against cheaters who then can’t play for a while or, in rare cases, lose their account entirely.
What alternatives are there? Nowadays, there is also a good alternative for village players, at least in terms of raids: Remote Raids. This allows you to be invited to raids by friendly players regardless of where you are in the world.
So you can complete essentially unlimited raids without needing to cheat. There are even various apps that organize remote raids. We have provided you with some explanations here:
