I have just received a one day warning on my Niantic account for unspecified breach of T&C’s, despite trying to contact and explain that I have no idea what this is about, Niantic seem to not read or care about these matters which seems to be entirely automated.
That last email I got basically said we have already looked at this matter and any more email regarding it will be ignored! HOW RUDE!
Edit: It turns out that when I edited my own pokestop location because the building had merged with another so its location had changed slightly, they deemed this as malicious relocation WTF!!
It’s the last time I try and keep the game map up to date, or submit nominations or edits for any Niantic games, the system really does not encourage people contribute, because an automated algorithm determines if something falls foul of theirs T&C’s and issues a strike.
No way l’m risking my account by editing or submitting again
Is this a regular thing and has anyone actually been able to contact a real person at Niantic and get one of these “Warnings” reversed and their strike count reset to O??
Have you had an email to confirm it was for that edit?
You can see the Wayfarer Abuse Enforcement Ladder here which details what they define as abuse and what actions they’ll take.
Is it possible you moved the location to make it appear in another game (if it didn’t show up on Pokémon GO, and the location was already correct for example, and the move would make it appear)? As that can fall under abuse also.
To add:
This is incorrect and misinformation. The suspensions/bans are issued by actual people, Wayfarer staff.
I see that you had reached to Pokémon GO Ban appeal channel for an appeal that originated in Wayfarer. Now that you have created an appeal with the correct team, I can assure you that your appeal will be handled as per our policies.
Yes I’ve had an email specifying that it was this edit that caused the problem, the original location was showing in Pokemon Go and Ingress so there was no gain for me gameplay wise to edit it , I was just being thorough. I only said that the response was automated as another trainer I know had a warning for something different and got the exact same reply parrot fashion.
Anyway I have now had a more detailed reply from a human , who wants a geo tagged photo of the location the waypoint is currently at, so it seems I am at least getting somewhere.
This is a great point to bring up, even if it wasn’t the case here. The help statement defines edit abuse this way: Niantic Wayfarer
Invalid location edits:
Attempts to move the Wayspot to a location away from the object with which it’s associated (for example, moving the Wayspot to a different city/country) [Italics mine]
I did not understand for a long time that moving to an equally correct position is also considered abuse, I assume as game manipulation.
Thanks for replying back. Makes sense that you may think it was automated, and others in the community sometimes drive that untrue statement too.
Please do share with others that it isn’t all automated and is actual people doing this, as it then helps quiet those who are saying the incorrect thing. People can use templated responses, and they save a lot of time, so I don’t see the harm in that.
Glad to see you’ve raised it in the right channels now.
Many Thanks , I’m just about to go and take a geotagged photo of the location so hopefully it will explain why I issued the edit in the first place.
Nice to know Niantic do have humans working for them as well , I would be gutted if I was to lose my account and be lumped in with the cheating spoofer types
Yep I stand 100% corrected , I had an email from a guy called Aaron who seems very human , so I’m just about to submit a photo and hopefully it will explain why I made the edit in the first place.
Also when I submitted the stops , the phone I was using wasn’t that great GPS wise , so I thought revisiting them was a good idea , lesson learnt , if it’s not broke , don’t fix it!
Uploaded where? In game wouldn’t help your case. I hope you meant to the conversation you’re having with whoever asked for geotagged pics (chat, DM, email).
Si a mi también me sale esa advertencia, y es por una pokestop que solicite, realizaron una senda peatonal en la calle en la que vivo y parece que es por eso que incumpli . Chau Niantic , no juego mas , metanse las pokestop donde mas les guste .
, so I’m just about to submit a photo and hopefully it will explain why I made the edit in the first place.
