The makers of 'Pokemon GO' are ruining one of the best parts of the game
"Pokémon GO" received a huge update over the weekend, and people aren't happy about it. Most importantly, Niantic Labs - the company that makes "Pokémon GO" - also sent a number of cease and desist letters to the creators of third-party sites like Pokévision, which show players exactly where Pokémon are located in their area.
We had a feeling something like this might happen, because Niantic CEO John Hanke previously stated that he's not a fan of these sites, essentially equating them to a form of cheating.
"Yeah, I don't really like [sites like Pokévision]. Not a fan ... People are only hurting themselves because it takes some fun out of the game," Hanke told Forbes. "People are hacking around trying to take data out of our system and that's against our terms of service."
The reality is that Niantic's policing of its own remarkably vibrant community is killing the best part of the game.
Is it cheating? If so, so what?
One of the main arguments against sites like Pokévision is that it's a form of cheating. Though Hanke doesn't specifically use those words, his sentiment seems to be that people are using the game's data to exploit certain parts of the game, and he doesn't like it.
We're taught that cheating is bad because it gives you an unfair advantage. It hurts people. If I use Pokévision, see that there's a Jigglypuff two streets over, and walk directly there to catch it, who did I hurt by doing that? (The Jigglypuff, maybe?)
If I love "Pokémon GO," but don't have unlimited time to wander around my neighborhood aimlessly, these tools actually improve my experience and make the game more fun! But if you like the act of hunting around and exploring, you can still do that. These tools are optional!
Really, this isn't "cheating" in the traditional sense of the word, but just an exploit of the game that gives certain people a new way to play if they choose to use it.
In practice, tools like Pokévision are not unlike the exploits speedrunners use to complete massive games in just a few short minutes. For example, in order to speedrun "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night," players have to exploit a bug in the game that allows them to bypass a point at which they would normally lose their best items.
But, much like those who use Pokévision, the people who use these speedrunning exploits are not devious or insidious players; in fact, they're the games' biggest champions. And Niantic actually needs them, because they serve a need that the game itself has failed to address.
These tools make the game better, not worse
It's no secret that "Pokémon GO" is riddled with bugs and annoyances: Most notably, the menu within the game that's supposed to indicate how close you are to specific Pokémon was completely broken. As a temporary fix (and hopefully not a permanent solution), the game no longer has any indication of how close you are to nearby Pokémon.
Hanke's main argument is that services like Pokévision "takes some fun" out of the act of playing "Pokémon GO," but in fact, these tools are exactly what made the game bearable for many users - especially now, in light of the game's most recent update.
Unfortunately, Niantic seems to have a history of banning players for improving its games on its behalf - some players of Niantic's last game, "Ingress," said that they were banned for installing the user-created "Broot mod," which improved the game's performance for on older devices.
The Pokémon community's crowdsourced solutions to the game's problems are actually a completely normal feature of PC gaming, where "modding" - user-created modifications that anyone can install - has an entire community around it. These mods can make a game better, they get players to continue using the game long after a company has stopped releasing updates for it, and allow players to be active participants in the game-making process. And, like Pokévision, these mods are totally optional.
Pokévision is not your enemy
Niantic fails to see that those who are modding their game and creating third-party tools for it are actually among their most valuable customers. For Niantic to view sites like Pokévision as antagonists is flat-out wrong. In an interview with Tech Insider, the creator of Pokévision continually re-iterated their love for "Pokémon GO," saying the following:
"We were obsessed with 'Pokémon GO' when it came out and played it non-stop, going places near our town that we didn't even know existed. Unfortunately, around two weeks ago, the Niantic 'Pokémon Go' in-game tracker began bugging out, known as the 'three footsteps glitch,' where all Pokémon displayed [were shown as] super far away.
We love the game, of course, but this bug really deterred us and many of our friends from playing since it resulted in us mindlessly running in circles (literally) and still failing to find the Pokémon listed as nearby in game. We built this tracker ourselves along with big help from the various contributions of the 'Pokémon GO' development community."
Really, these tools are born out of an affection for the game, and out of a desire for it to constantly improve. Niantic is squashing its biggest fans, and by extension, the very thing that makes the game so great.