Pokemon GO Anti-Cheat Measure Blocks Rare Pokemon

Niantic continues their crack down on “cheaters” and bot accounts. The latest anti-cheat measure introduced blocks already-flagged accounts from seeing rare Pokemon. This comes on the heels of the wave ban that targeted bots, spoofers and accounts that used third-party trackers and similar software.

Almost since it launched, Pokemon GO has had a problem with various types of cheaters. People making bot accounts that play the game on autopilot. Spoofers that trick the GPS to teleport around. Others using third-party trackers and other software that gives them the edge over other trainers. Some even sell those artificially-leveled accounts to players that just want the “prestige” without actually playing. Niantic has been doing everything in their power to curb these people, with some level of success.

The latest anti-cheat measure, that trainers are calling “shadowban”, blocks offending accounts from seeing rare Pokemon. They’re stuck catching Pidgeys, Rattatas and other run-of-the-mill monsters. As Pokemon GO Hub reports, only accounts that have previously been “flagged as malicious”.

However, much like with the last ban wave in Pokemon GO, some players have reported getting falsely flagged. Fortunately, they could file complaints, and things sorted themselves out fairly quickly. Hopefully, the same will hold true this time around.

We’ll see just how effective this new measure will be. Usually, people that do break the rules and get a legitimate ban work around it pretty quickly. All they need to do is simply create a new account (or several) and start over again. For them, it ends up being a minor nuisance. Still, bans like these seem necessary to curb this kind of behavior at least slightly. After all, using third-party trackers is against the Pokemon GO Terms of Service.

What’s your take on spoofers and others that use unfair methods to get the advantage? Share your thoughts in the comments!