Niantic explains blocking PokéVision and other third-party tools

[Phoenixstarz]

I'm glad they released that information, it was accepted that pokevision was increasing server stress but I didn't realise quite how much. I would like them to come out and give some guide to how long the tracker will take to fix, more transparency will help everyone

 

[EmraldFox]

I actually applauded this decision. I dont like gimmics like this thatll give players who dont work for the achievements that they make in game and try to get an edge over players like me who would do the best at legwork and research of where to hunt. This is what pokemon go was designed for and guys that like to cheat by using programs like this just try and ruin it for the erst of us

 

[Blueredemption]

I knew there was some reasoning behind it, glad to know it was a rational decision after all. I never used the websites, but I can see that they give an unfair advantage.

The fact that it had a significant server impact doesn't surprise me in the slightest either. I just wish they would put numbers on that graph, I am always wary of data when it's not described properly...

 

[Desert Stream~]

I dont use pokevision, but if the servers are more stable then I'm good with the changes :)

 

[Squirrel]

This is more than fair enough, just very unfortunate timing for Niantic. It's one thing to not release a press statement about this when it first happened but doing it after just having removed the footstep tracking altogether, again with no real statement of fixing it, is a very silly move on their part. Times like these make it feel quite obvious that Niantic still need a lot more experience before being ready to handle a game of this magnitude but at least they did do it - can't complain too much! One thing I'm curious to see is if they end up reverting this ban once the servers are fully stable and could handle it or if Niantic have a fundamental problem with the services they offer.

 

[Kip]

I won't deny the game has worked a lot better since PokéVision and other sites were shut down. I've been getting connections most of the time, and the infamous Schrödinger's Pokéball glitch has now only happened once in the last week, when before it was a regular occurrence.

Doubtless though, PokéVision made the game fun. But if making the game fun was inadvertently causing issues with it to the point where they couldn't even release it in Latin America, then maybe it's for the best. Idk, it'd be up to the community to decide that.

In the meantime, there's PokéRadar (search on the App Store yo) - this is a community-sourced Pokémon mapping service. Once you encounter a Pokémon, switch to PokéRadar and plot it on your location. Other trainers can then use the map to find that Pokémon. It's actually quite fun in an explorer kind of way, like you're charting a map. If we can get more people on board, we can have as-good-as PokéVision without disrupting the game.

 

[Jefries]

In the meantime, there's PokéRadar (search on the App Store yo) - this is a community-sourced Pokémon mapping service. Once you encounter a Pokémon, switch to PokéRadar and plot it on your location. Other trainers can then use the map to find that Pokémon. It's actually quite fun in an explorer kind of way, like you're charting a map. If we can get more people on board, we can have as-good-as PokéVision without disrupting the game.

I think it would be better to stop using those things they might also cause problems. Although I know that it has the point where did you find this pokemon. But still I think Pokevision also had that so either way if it reliefs the developers so that they can work faster in bringing trading then that will be better.

Now talking about the sentence of hacks. I definitely think they are talking about poodlecorp. They have been hacking a lot of companies and stuff. They post on twitter when they hack someone. The most recent one is PH(I didn't write it full since it has something that I think will get me in kind of trouble it is a +18 site anyways). Their acts seriously infuriate me and the fact that none of the big companies or anything has taken act into tracking them down and stopping them from anymore hacks.

 

[Mister Coffee]

In the meantime, there's PokéRadar (search on the App Store yo) - this is a community-sourced Pokémon mapping service. Once you encounter a Pokémon, switch to PokéRadar and plot it on your location. Other trainers can then use the map to find that Pokémon. It's actually quite fun in an explorer kind of way, like you're charting a map. If we can get more people on board, we can have as-good-as PokéVision without disrupting the game.

I actually just downloaded the PokeRadar app, and although I had never used the pokemon track websites previously, I am definitely interested in recording various pokemon spawn points around my town. I probably wont use the tracker for actually hunting pokemon my self (especially considering that's not how I want to play the game), but I don't mind contributing to building it into a more useful app for others around my area.

 

[Melody]

I think this is probably a good thing that they've blocked scraping. It forces players to play Legitimately and actually go out and search for Pokemon, not be able to travel straight to the spot with the most desirable Pokemon. This also has the good effect of also being useful to blocking cheating/hacking tools.

HOWEVER, I do believe that Niantic should open up an API; accessible only through the legitimate Pokemon GO client application that should allow some third party tools to obtain some data about nearby Pokemon. This way your queries are being fed through the legitimate application, and your location cannot be spoofed; you can only get a map of pokemon that are within your range on the app. This could allow and promote development of companion applications that can query the GO Client app and maybe notify the user if a desired Pokemon is nearby, or if an owned gym is in danger or a Pokestop is in-range.

Of course these features can also be integrated into the Pokemon Go App itself as well.

 

[Desert Stream~]

An API could be cool, although it could be hard to make one with such restrictions. IDK though, never really deal with them, although I've seen a few have troubles.

 

[EmraldFox]

I would agree with this decision %110

It ruins the experience for others like me who would want to work for there achievemmnts and get th real trainer experience out of the game.

Now if only they would do something about GPS hackers you see hacking on twitch and around towns