(Warning! The following article pertains to ongoing Rumours that Niantic are on the lookout for anyone who is playing Pokémon GO when it has yet released in their designated territories and intend to issue bans to those users. There has yet to be any solid proof that this is true, but at the same time there isn’t any solid proof to say it is false as Niantic have yet to make an announcement regarding this “issue.” Therefore take only what you will from the article below:)
Pokémon GO continues to be a huge success, as both the app’s popularity and Nintendo’s share price is blasting off at the speed of light, but all is not well because according to a ton of rumours and YouTube videos, Niantic are not happy.
If you have been playing it today you may have noticed that the servers are down, well that is due to the fact that according to the rumours, Niantic are cracking down on users who are playing the app, when it has not yet released in their region. If you have downloaded the APK file for Pokémon GO, even if you are in America where Pokémon GO has officially released, you “could still stand to be penalised” for downloading the APK file in the first place and the punishment for such a crime is looking to be a “life-long ban” from the game, so if you are an illegal user, you might want to uninstall Pokémon GO while you still can, but even then, it may even be already too late. Regardless of this rumour being true or not, ask yourself if it is worth the risk?
Alternatively though, Niantic have admitted that the reason why the app has only released where it has, is because the servers are not yet full ready for a global release. Even the territories where the app is available, are currently overwhelming the servers as it is, so this could very well be the cause why the servers are down, but should the rumours are in fact true then it is also due to Nintendo and Niantic are cracking down on illegal users, so if you do find actually yourself being banned now you know why. Still it may not be the worst thing in the world, because say the ban is not “life-long” but more a month-long, at least it will give the developers time to sort out the current long list of bugs.
For more factual Pokémon GO related news and a forthcoming review, be sure to visit our site again, as we will be supplying fairly regular updates pertaining to all aspects of the app. Now given the “negativity” of our articles relating to Pokémon GO, we promise we’ll be posting a more positive article very soon.
Source: SourceFedNERD (YouTube)
Fuck the rules, i am downloading it
No game in history has ever tured away a consumer only because they “weren’t suppose to” have access to the game. If they were doing something actually illegal like hacking then sure.
Although this article is click bait, like the other person earlier said. You’re turning away more consumers and doing more damage to the game and developer than any good. Unless of course there is proven fact that someone actually got banned and Niantic would’ve put up an official warning before doing so.
However I did hear from a friend that SEA has been hard coded to region block the area from users to actually get back into the game but no one has been banned yet.
Turning people away because they don’t have access – that’s the point behind region-locking games. This has been going on since the NES/SNES era, maybe even earlier. It happens in the nintendo online store. The updates for the wii, wiiu, and 3ds. It happens in the playstation store. The point is people are trying to get access to things they’re not supposed to – that’s the point of hacking. Do you play games at all?
Niantic runs ingress and they won’t blink twice about banning people.
https://plus.google.com/communities/109504194485246856888
Pokemon Go is being run by the same company, so they have full control of who gets banned or not. There may not be some info behind pokemon go users being banned yet, but if they easily do it on Ingress, it’s not that far of a stretch for pokemon go.
And for the love of God, it clearly says in the title of the article: “(Rumour)” . Take it as it is. While it’s a rumour, it’s a very plausible one, so take it into consideration. If you already downloaded it, good for you, don’t listen to it. You’ll either get a ban or not. At worst, it’s telling undecided people to WAIT FOR THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.
Whether this is click bait or not, that depends on the true intention of the author.
Sorry to have to break this to you, but they wont ban users for this for three main reasons. One, the only reason they are slowing the launch is to reduce server burden, so they are successful in slowing the launch, regardless of the few that are bypassing the blocks. Two, the ones bypassing are spending money on the app too, so they are making money from some of those users, they wont bite the hand that is feeding them. Granted, yes not all users will spend, even if 2% do, they are making money from some, and they wont stop that income flow because that is still income coming in. and THREE if they banned a user “for life” all a user would have to do is buy a new phone and create a new account and email, and they would be worked around the “lifelong ban” so it would be a COMPLETE waste of time for them to ban someone for simply downloading their app. HOWEVER, the rumor you are spreading is hurting their app and their developers by causing people to panic unnecessarily. Since this rumor was NOT said by the developers, you should make it VERY clear to everyone that this is NOT the views of the developers of the APP NOR Pokemon Go, rather your own views.
Counterpoint:
1) banning will reduce the stress on the server by reducing the number of people on it, while be it temporary. If anything, that’s a reason to actually implement bans.
2) this is Niantic and Nintendo. Niantic has banned people who have put money in ingress. Nintendo on the other hand has a strong stance against piracy and illegal/unofficial copies of their games. If it were other companies, maybe, but these are two of the strictest companies when it comes to enforcing protectionism for their software.
3) if you have money to burn, that’s fine, but buying a new smartphone isn’t something to be taken lightly. Shelling out $300-$1000 for a new phone as a workaround isn’t something most people consider “easy” .
While it is a rumour, it’s not too far fetched to be true. The writer is doing you a favour by advising you of possible repercussions. They even clearly said it’s a rumour. They did NOT publish it as fact. You want to ignore it – that’s fine, that’s your prerogative. But there are other people who are more cautious and are still deciding if they should jump the gun or just wait til the official release. And quite frankly, why should the writer get hate if they’re providing reasons to actually FOLLOW the intended release date schedule?
Counterpoint:
1) banning will reduce the stress on the server by reducing the number of people on it, while be it temporary. If anything, that’s a reason to actually implement bans.
2) this is Niantic and Nintendo. Niantic has banned people who have put money in ingress. Nintendo on the other hand has a strong stance against piracy and illegal/unofficial copies of their games. If it were other companies, maybe, but these are two of the strictest companies when it comes to enforcing protectionism for their software.
3) if you have money to burn, that’s fine, but buying a new smartphone isn’t something to be taken lightly. Shelling out $300-$1000 for a new phone as a workaround isn’t something most people consider “easy” .
While it is a rumour, it’s not too far fetched to be true. The writer is doing you a favour by advising you of possible repercussions. They even clearly said it’s a rumour. They did NOT publish it as fact. You want to ignore it – that’s fine, that’s your prerogative. But there are other people who are more cautious and are still deciding if they should jump the gun or just wait til the official release. And quite frankly, why should the writer get hate if they’re providing reasons to actually FOLLOW the intended release date schedule?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/142193189538946/
lol stop propagating bullshit… as long as the developers don’t release a statement, you guys capitalise on spreading fears of banning for more views..
Not at all, we don’t wish to spread fear or post just to increase views. We believe our readers deserve to know as much of the facts as possible (including rumours) so that they have as much information as possible that can aid them with appropriate decision making. There are two sides to every story and everyone has a right to know both. Thank you for commenting 🙂