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Pokemon Go Unbans Some Players, But Warns of Additional Future Bans
Pokemon Go developer Niantic has made their position on tracking apps very clear, shutting them down and even banning players who have used them. Now, Niantic has released an update on the bans, saying it's granted some users access to their accounts again, though they could still be banned if they continue to use add-on map applications.
"Some players may not have realized that some add-on map apps do more than just show you nearby Pokemon," Niantic said in a statement released on the Pokemon Go website. "Each end-user app can be used as a collection tool by the app creator, invisibly collecting and forwarding data to the app creator with or without the knowledge of the end user.
"These apps can have an effect similar to DDoS attacks on our servers. Because of this we have had to ban some accounts associated with using these add-on map tools, leading to confusion by some users about why they were banned. This is a small subset of the accounts banned."
Niantic added that "[a]s a result of some changes made to [its] infrastructure," it can unban these accounts. However, it noted that it would not unban a number of accounts that used apps to commit more devious acts such as playing the game remotely or scraping data.
"Accounts whose sole purpose was to scrape data are not being unbanned," Niantic stated. "Accounts which used apps or websites to remotely capture Pokemon, battle or deploy on Gyms, or harvest resources from PokeStops are also not being unbanned.
"Our main priority is to provide a fair, fun, and legitimate experience for all players, so, aggressive banning will continue to occur for players who engage in these kinds of activities."
In other Pokemon Go-related news, one person is creating a version of the augmented-reality game that runs on the Sega Dreamcast's handheld VMU device. It doesn't feature a camera or GPS, so you can imagine it will be a little different.
For more stories from the world of Pokemon Go, check out GameSpot's news roundup.
More...
"Some players may not have realized that some add-on map apps do more than just show you nearby Pokemon," Niantic said in a statement released on the Pokemon Go website. "Each end-user app can be used as a collection tool by the app creator, invisibly collecting and forwarding data to the app creator with or without the knowledge of the end user.
"These apps can have an effect similar to DDoS attacks on our servers. Because of this we have had to ban some accounts associated with using these add-on map tools, leading to confusion by some users about why they were banned. This is a small subset of the accounts banned."
Niantic added that "[a]s a result of some changes made to [its] infrastructure," it can unban these accounts. However, it noted that it would not unban a number of accounts that used apps to commit more devious acts such as playing the game remotely or scraping data.
"Accounts whose sole purpose was to scrape data are not being unbanned," Niantic stated. "Accounts which used apps or websites to remotely capture Pokemon, battle or deploy on Gyms, or harvest resources from PokeStops are also not being unbanned.
"Our main priority is to provide a fair, fun, and legitimate experience for all players, so, aggressive banning will continue to occur for players who engage in these kinds of activities."
In other Pokemon Go-related news, one person is creating a version of the augmented-reality game that runs on the Sega Dreamcast's handheld VMU device. It doesn't feature a camera or GPS, so you can imagine it will be a little different.
For more stories from the world of Pokemon Go, check out GameSpot's news roundup.
More...