Multiple Accounts and potential Wayfarer abuse - read to the end.

I'd like to do some opinion gathering.

Which might help me decide if I should stop putting effort in anything related to Niantic.


Since the initial release of PoGo myself and a lot of other PoGo-Players in my area stopped playing because of one Trainer.

A quite shameless cheater which does said cheating for multiple years now. Niantic never really did something even though there were lot's of reports over the years.

About two months ago I've decided to start playing again to build a proper Wayspot route for future trainers and agents. While doing so I've noticed that the very same cheater which caused me and a bunch of others to stop playing, still is playing.

It doesn't play with 12 accounts anymore, but still with 5 accounts in two different teams. Which clearly is against the Terms of Service. I keep reporting the cheater everytime it places more than one account into a gym but besides automated responses by Niantic nothing else happens. I'm talking daily reports for about two months now.

The general ingame behavoir of the cheater looks like this:

Approaches a blue gym with already 4 Trainers inside. Cheater knows that it cannot place all of it's 3 blue accounts into gym. Cheater takes down gym with it's red accounts, waits for a while and then places it's own 3 blue accounts into the gym. Same goes for red gyms. Srsly.. ****? Just decide for one team, one account and stick with it.

How do I know that it is one person playing with multiple accounts? Well I can watch it as it cheats.

We have a somewhat rural area here and some of the gyms are far away from buildings and other humans. I can recall one day about 2 weeks back where I walked up to a gym in the middle of nowhere, the cheater was sitting there in it's car smashing 5 phones with it's cheaty fingers doing a Mega-Pinsir raid "solo".

I can clear one of the local "double-gyms" and leave them empty, wait for a while and watch the cheater drivin up in it's car, just one person in the car, but still the empty gyms get filled with a total of 5 accounts on two different teams in an instant.

There are days where the cheater seems to be in a bad mood and if another trainer starts to attack one of the cheaters gyms, the cheater then drives up in his car, feeding it's own Pokemon with it's almost infinite amount of Golden Raspberrys until a attacking trainer is out of resources.

It is a 60+ year old human being, driving it's car all day, doing high lvl raids solo with it's multiple accounts on multiple phones.

Chapaux to it's determination at this age but I do not think that's how the game is inteded to be played. This seems to be quite toxic behavoir, creating a really unfair and unwelcoming environment for every honest Wayfarer.

If it wouldn't be cheating I would even think of asking to team up for building a proper route.

But it is a cheater.

I do not like humans which cheat in videogames and also abuse the advantage they have because of the cheating.

It has a lvl 45, a lvl 49, a lvl 41, a lvl 36 and a lvl 34 account. Which gets me to the point of naming a potential Wayfarer abuse.

I've started to create a route and one of those Wayspot was a beautifully drawn mural. Which was not a Wayspot in PoGo or any other Niantic game yet. I double checked, there was no marker at this very location by the time of my nomination. The wayspot was a properly eligible Landmark and got declined for "mismatched location" and "not historically or culturally significant".

It wasn't a mismatched location and it is culturally significant. See below for reference.

It is a public accesible village tavern, in a village where people farm grapes and produce wine. On top of that the building with the mural which clearly refers to the local culture is also a gather spot for the local theatre club. Meaning to say, it is a piece of art placed on a historical building in which locals pracatice another form of art. Proper Wayspot.

It is possible that this is just a coincidence but ever since I assume Wayfarer which are not from this area would accept above wayspot I'm lead to believe that said cheater abuses its 3 Wayfarer accounts to up or downvote local Wayspots as it sees fit.

I'm curious, Wayfarer-Community, what do you folks think of this? Maybe any suggestions on what I could do that Niantic takes this actually seriously? Oh yeah, and below a screenshot of Niantics "ToS".

Now, have a good time.

Tagged:

Comments

  • 29andCounting-PGO29andCounting-PGO Posts: 2,435 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Lots of perfectly eligible nominations get denied all the time. Just read through the forums a bit. If you don’t want locals to vote on your nominations, you can upgrade them. It’s also possible to improve the nominations themselves. There’s also the appeal button. I doubt your so called cheater reviews for hours on end just to deny local nominations.

  • patsufredo-PGOpatsufredo-PGO Posts: 4,215 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You should report those accounts to Pokemon GO in-game support. Also if you feel rejection of your nomination is incorrenct and unfair, you can tag @NianticAaron or @NianticLC to give 'education' to the reviewers rejected your nomination with incorrect reason.

    However keep at mind that some foreign reviewers who are obviously not the part of the cheaters might got 'education' from Niantic too.

  • Elijustrying-INGElijustrying-ING Posts: 5,482 Ambassador
    edited May 2023

    Hello and welcome @octaphel-PGO

    Thanks for sharing your frustration at your situation, it is very understandable and a lot of people will relate to it.

    With regards to Wayfarer it is unlikely that this individual is the root cause of the rejection. The local review area is quite large. it is based on using the S2 cells and because of your location will be drawn from Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

    It is likely that there is something about your submission that has confused reviewers. On google streetview it is marked as a restaurant and to be honest that fits well with the vines. But you then refer to a theatre club. It is then not clear if it’s about the vines or the use of building. So I think it’s a case of improving the nomination keep it focused and bear in mind that wider range of reviewers. Sometimes you just have to keep trying. People in here will be happy to help and reviewers from that area I particular may be able to make suggestions.

    So there is very little likelihood that your problematic player is affecting wayfarer. You have to accept that if you are going to submit wayspots everyone can benefit.

    I know you have been through the Pokémon Go “help” system, and trust me I know how ineffective that can be, but that is the place they are breaking the terms of service and that is the place to address those issues.

    Post edited by Elijustrying-ING on
  • 26thDoctor-PGO26thDoctor-PGO Posts: 4,914 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have never seen Niantic do anything for someone just having multi accounts @octaphel-PGO

    I think it may be a frustrating and fruitless experience if you try to fight against it unfortunately for you.

  • Godstar0-INGGodstar0-ING Posts: 39 ✭✭
    edited May 2023

    @octaphel-PGO Usually players like that person don't do wayfarer much. And yes its a big problem everywhere.


    Your candidate is one of those which will usually be a 1* for the fast clickers, as it looks a bit like a PRP entrance.

    Could have better pictures and description. For example on the 2nd pic is a good overview, but the inscription " Landgasthof Linde" is only barely readable.

    As its a restaurant with a website, that usually can help ;)

    Maybe you want to join the Swiss Wayfarer Group on TG? Pm me on there or on Campfire if you like

  • SeaprincessHNB-PGOSeaprincessHNB-PGO Posts: 1,607 Ambassador
  • octaphel-PGOoctaphel-PGO Posts: 9 ✭✭
    edited May 2023

    thank you all for your replies, opinions, insights and general comments.


    @29andCounting-PGO Agree, it is unlikely that the trainer which is not just a "so called" but instead, according to the "ToS" an "in fact" cheater denys local wayspots with it's 3 wayfarer accounts. possibly just an odd coincidence.

    @patsufredo-PGO I've been reporting the cheating trainer daily everytime it places more than one account into a gym, for two months straight. Besides automated replys from Remy the Chatbot which state that "Niantic does not tolerate cheaters" nothing really happens.

    Thanks for the input with tagging @NianticAaron and @NianticLC for wrongly rejected nominations, I'll keep that in mind.

    @Elijustrying-ING Agree, most likely it was just a badly made nomination. Next time I'm going to add the information about it being a restaurant which serves as the local theatre club's HQ. That might just work out. Thanks.

    @The26thDoctor-PGO The cheating trainer does not just play with multiple accounts, the cheating trainer activly abuses the advantage of playing with 5+ accounts. Disagree, it won't be frustrating at all, doing such a report takes about a minute of time, and reporting a fraud is something quite satisfying. You never know, eventually, once there are enough reports, someone will look closer into it and something will happen. Hopefully a ban of at least 4 of the 5 known and reported accounts.

    @SeaprincessHNB-PGO Thank you for you psychological analysis and assumption of my mental state towards an unfair player. Disagree on "unhealthy obsession", agree on "cannot control what others do".

    If you've read carefully you might have noticed that I just stopped playing in the past because of the cheater, more than once. I just return to the game from time to time to see if the cheater's gone and the game fun to play again. Placing wayspots is more fun and rewarding anyway than farming the same reel of poket monsters for weeks.

    Yeah I am aware that creating more Wayspots would also create more gyms, where the person with the cheaty behavoir could behave even worse, but more gyms means that this person has to spend more money on gas to drive through all the gyms.

    Thank you for your insight on the "vines", I'll consider your intel within the next nomination.

    @Godstar0-ING Thanks, I did not know that it is allowed to place websites in the additional information.

    I did not find any TG (I assume telegram) group which is called Swiss Wayfarer Group on the web. Furthermore, I had a look at Niantics Campfire, I tried to sign in there but I've been prompted with a message that I need to be invited by a friend. Meaning to say, nevermind.


    enjoy your wayfaring, ingressing and pogoing y'all

    Post edited by octaphel-PGO on
  • NianticLCNianticLC Posts: 4,495 admin

    We have reviewed the report and have taken action on the reviewers in accordance with our policies. Thanks for helping us maintain the quality of the Wayspots.

  • DTrain2002-PGODTrain2002-PGO Posts: 575 ✭✭✭✭

    Wow, did it really have to take over half a year for these cheating/abuse issues to be resolved?

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