Pikachu is crazy. Or why Pokémon "conquered" the world so quickly. Ban in Pokemon GO - what to do

05/09/2016

Imperceptibly, without much noise, the computer game Pokemon Go, popular a month ago, went out of fashion, went into the past tense. True, the Russian version of the game has not yet been released, but they assure that this will not save her. City 812 tried to find out why people needed Pokémon and why our hunt for them ended as soon as we started.

O hunting features

Touch Instinct, a mobile application development company, employs mostly young guys. Average age 24-25 years old: programmers, designers and other IT specialists. Due to the duty of the profession, they could not pass by Pokemon Go. And they didn't pass.

I am engaged in mobile development as a programmer, so from this side I know better how it all works, - says Ilya Kurtov. - Pokémon set the record for downloads in the last eight years of the App Store's existence. In general, super popular. But now interest has diminished - including because of the monetization system.

The main source of income for Pokemon Go developers is the presence of in-game currency, for which the player must pay real money. With the money bought in the game, you can buy either pokeballs or special incubators where poke eggs hatch (for what it is - see Pokethesaurus).

At the lower levels of the game, - programmer Kurtov shares his experience, - such purchases are not really needed: I once bought an incubator for poke eggs. The intrigue is that you never know what will hatch from this egg: what if I have a unique Pokémon? And you walk around the city, walk kilometers, and your eggs hatch.

Eggs burst depending on the number of kilometers travelled? That is, if I stay at home, the eggs will remain intact?
- Yes, but it is necessary to walk with the application turned on. And with this there is quite a lot of trouble - the phone sits down instantly, somewhere in an hour. One incubator for three uses costs about 100 rubles. There is a package for 379 rubles, which contains approximately 450 coins of the in-game currency.

Ilya has friends in Manhattan. They say New York City's Central Park is teeming with Pokémon.
- There is such a thing in the game, it's called poke-stop. This is a special area where the player can get randomly dropped items - a pokeball or a potion to restore the health of a pokemon after a battle. You can activate lur at the poke-stop - this is an addition that attracts pokemon: in a specific place, when the lur is activated, pokemon from different places will converge on the player. And in this Central Park there are seven or ten such points with pokestops - in St. Petersburg, of course, there is no such thing. If we have one or two such sites, the crowd is already accumulating. But even there, across the ocean, the guys say that at some level the game dies, because almost nothing happens without an infusion of money. Level 20 is when the game gets boring and Pokémon hatching from eggs stop growing in power. This is the maximum level that Pokémon can be left on their own. At level 30, the perfection of the captured Pokémon reaches its maximum, no matter what the money.

Another Pokemon Go player must gain experience points, the only way in the world of Pokemon you can move up the career ladder - from level to level. “To get, for example, level 20 in the game, you need to have about 200,000 experience points,” says Ilya Kurtov. - For level 21, you need another 50,000 experience, that is, a quarter of what has already been completed. Level 22 - 75,000 experience, and so on. And this means that you need to walk for a very long time, pay and download. At the same time, the more Pokémon you catch, the fewer undiscovered creatures you get, and you get less and less experience points.

In general, it is clear how difficult it is to be a Pokémon hunter. And that is not all.

At different levels, the player is given different things-druks. And then these items drop out much less frequently.

When you level up a new level, interest appears: for example, at level 12, a player gets a great ball - this is a special ball that can catch stronger Pokemon. It's big, sleek and fun. And on the 20th there is an ultraball, they can catch super pokemon. Therefore, with each level you get something, but since the levels swing very slowly, the motivation to play further disappears: almost all Pokemon are collected, pumped, the only interest is to arrange poke fights. Or catch super rare Pokémon.

The main intrigue, it turns out, is not in catching Pokemon, but in the battles between them. It is not enough to find and neutralize a Pokemon - you need to invest in it, improve its skills, and train it. To then expose him to poker (or jim). Therefore, the player is not only a poke hunter, but also a poke promoter.

One of the most serious complaints about Pokemon Go is the limited possibilities of mass movement: for example, players are united with each other for a mass hunt or a collective Pokemon slaughter. Players cannot add each other as “friends”, exchange information, and most importantly, Pokémon can cripple each other only in Jims.

Hunting technologies

The Western success of Pokemon Go is a combination of two win-win elements - a well-known brand (so much so that the word "Pokemon" itself has become firmly established even in Russians) and the possibility of augmented reality.

The game uses two different experiences, says psychologist Konstantin Kunakh. - In one of them, the desire for hoarding is manifested, that is, the desire to possess. Here, like a raccoon, there is no specific instinct aimed at a single action - gathering or rinsing. All popular games have some kind of internal development system, getting new levels, bonuses, artifacts, and so on. The second is the symbolic satisfaction of the need to belong to a certain group - that is, to those people who will consider you theirs.

So the Pokémon craze is a disease we may have avoided?
- The game itself is a tool, it can be used in different ways. You can drink a glass of champagne on New Year's Eve, or you can become an alcoholic. So here - the game is not something destructive, but it can be brought to the scale of a serious addiction. True, this will not mean that the game has dragged on a person, but that he simply ran away from his life. And so - it's just fashion.

It is obvious that people play computer games to relax and let off steam. That is, to escape from the real world into the fictional one. Psychologist Konstantin Kunakh has a story on this topic.

In the 1970s, an experiment was conducted with rats. Scientists gave them serious drugs. The rat, hooked on it, licked the water in which the drug was dissolved, waited for a new portion to be brought until it died. No other animal was distracted by anything - the rat's search, play, and even sex-role behavior was dulled. And so she sat and until she died, consumed this drug. About thirty years later, Alexander Bruce, a professor of psychology from Vancouver, decided to repeat the experiment, but with different conditions: the rats were offered the same water with the drug dissolved in it, but otherwise the cage was not empty, as it was originally, but such a rat paradise was created - it was full of entertainment, food, relatives. And dependence on drugs from 100% in the first case fell by three quarters. That is, a little more than half of the rats sometimes ran up to drink to cheer themselves up, but they did not turn into addicts.

From the point of view of psychology - what should a modern mobile game be like in order to become successful?
- Any game should have a sense of progress and tools to clearly measure it. The latter is now used not only in games, but also, for example, in the world of business training. And this is aimed at one simple idea: when a person sees his progress, this, firstly, gives him the strength to go further, and secondly, there is a motivation to spend these forces, because the person already has experience showing that under certain efforts can get some results. And almost any gameplay that has a success measurement tool has a chance to become successful. Look at "Tetris" - even it has a score scale, although, if you think about it, this is complete nonsense. But even here there are sites with ratings, a desire to achieve more, some kind of special world is being built.

And in Pokemon Go, the psychologist Kunah does not see any special uniqueness.
- So you think that this game is somehow unique, and you are trying to isolate this uniqueness. And I offer you the idea that Pokemon Go is not unique. She only makes good use of common technology, that's all.

Why Pokemon have little chance in Russia

Due to the great popularity of Pokemon Go in the world, the servers of the developer company have already been covered. Therefore, many players simply cannot even enter this application, and the Russian version of the game is unlikely to correct the situation. If she shows up at all, considering how things are going.
And if you add to this a complicated way to monetize the application - the levels swing slowly, there are fewer and fewer Pokemon walking free, the game requires more and more money for development, and the phone runs out too quickly because of pokemons - then the prospects for Pokemon in the Russian Federation become ghostly.

So it remains only to wait for a new super game, in which we will be offered to catch Kolobok or arrange fights between the Right Sector and Vatniki.

pokethesaurus

pokemon go - a game made on the basis of Japanese cartoons about Pokemon. The meaning is the existence of touching monsters that you can put in your pocket (the name pokemon itself is short for pocket monster).
pokeball - a special device, which is a ball, with the help of which the player, having directed the pokeball at the monster, catches it.
Incubator - a special flask in which a poke egg is stored and hatched.
pokeegg - A fertilized egg of a Pokémon embryo in a hard shell.
PokeStop - a platform next to which the player can restock his inventory; five PokéStop artifacts are randomly dropped out to the player.
Lur - a special program, the launch of which attracts all the Pokémon of the district to the launch site of the lur.
Pokeradar - a system for detecting the presence of Pokemon.
Jim A place where Pokémon compete.
Pokedex - an option that contains information about all Pokémon.
Potion - a special ointment to restore the strength of Pokemon .

Vsevolod VORONOV

Today our material is dedicated to a very sad event - a game ban in Pokemon GO. Find out why you were banned and what you need to do to avoid getting banned.

So, many players use programs to create fake GPS and other applications to hack the game. In fact, with the use of these mods and scripts, the game becomes easier, but its meaning is completely lost. But lazy gamers cannot be convinced - so they use all sorts of detours, for which they get banned in the game or even worse, in the account.

Why get banned in Pokemon GO?

At the time of writing, most of the bans are for using programs with fake GPS. The use of such programs gives an advantage and allows you to stay at home and catch Pokemon. Many do not know how much they can be banned, but judging by the feedback from the victims, on average this figure is - from 30 min. up to 1 day.

If you are caught for using cheats not for the first time, you can completely block your account with all the achievements. There were also cases of the following ban - the player cannot move around the map, cannot catch a pokemon (the pokeball does not work, the animal just runs away), there is no access to poke-stops, you cannot fight.

In the last article, we described a script for easy, directly from the desktop of the computer. For the use of such scripts, an account can be blocked immediately and forever.

How to avoid being banned in Pokemon GO?

In order not to become a victim of the game's security system, you must follow some rules when using hacks:

1. When using fake geolocation, don't move too fast - "teleports" the game immediately fixes and bans. Don't fly to Amsterdam to catch Pikachu.
2. Fast moving is not counted by the game, and this applies even to "white" players.
3. When using the script described above, it is better create an additional account, under which you will search for Pokémon.
4. Read more about hacks and properly configure hacking applications.

Here's a short video that shows you how to properly set up and change your location without the threat of a ban.

Probably the most unpleasant thing is to get a ban on an account that has a lot of achievements and caught Pokemon. If you have fallen under the rink of the system and have been completely banned, then here are some tips that may (!) Correct the situation.

There are three types of account blocking:

1. Soft ban- an average of 3-4 hours.
2. Medium ban- permanent ban with the right to create a new account.
3. Phone lock- without the right to create new accounts on the specified device.

In the first case - you just need to wait. In the third case, you need to reset and change the settings of the phone itself, I don’t know the exact mechanism for locking the phone in Pokemon GO. But the most common is the middle ban. Here are some tips to help you save and withdraw your banned account:

1. Sign out of your account and create a new one;
2. Log out of the new account and delete the Pokemon GO game;
3. Wait a few hours, install the game, log into the old account.

And the second option:

1. Do everything as described in the previous method, but exclude the removal and reinstallation of the application;
2. Create a new account - find and catch a couple of Pokemon in it, then go back to the old one;
3. Wait patiently for 3 hours and play again.

conclusions

The creators of Pokémon GO are very worried about the large number of hacks and are already actively working on tightening measures for “not clean hands” players. For example, in the game Ingress (also produced by Niantic), any attempts of hack work are very severely suppressed and an eternal ban is introduced for changing the location. Pokémon GO players will soon feel the stricter measures.

What were you doing when you got banned? Write in the comments!

In contact with

Recently, developers have begun to ban dishonest players. In this article, we will figure out what a ban looks like in Pokemon GO, what they can ban for and what to do. Answers to these and other questions in the continuation of the article.

Why get banned in Pokemon GO?

For cheating, of course. The most common is the substitution of GPS coordinates. The essence of the game is that the player travels around the city and catches Pokemon that come across on the way. But not all trainers want to look for Pokemon around, some want to get rare creatures as soon as possible and then resort to the so-called GPS spoofing - replacing GPS coordinates in such a way that the game thinks that you are moving in space and are in another place. This is an obvious cheat and for this they will be banned.

Also banned for playing from multiple accounts. You can only have one Pokemon GO account. Selling accounts is also prohibited.

So, to summarize what is prohibited in Pokemon GO:

• using modified or unofficial software (in principle, you can be banned even for downloading and installing an apk file, even if it is identical to the original one)
• game from multiple accounts. Only one account per player
• transfer, exchange or sale of accounts to other players
• use of tools or technologies that allow location spoofing

What does a ban look like in Pokemon GO?

For breaking the rules in Pokemon GO, the player receives a temporary or permanent ban. How to distinguish a ban in Pokemon GO from an error and what does a ban in Pokemon GO look like? If Pokemon run away all the time, and PokeStops do not spin, then you have been given a ban. A temporary ban is given for 2-3 hours, a permanent (permanent) ban is forever, that is, you will never be able to play from your account. During a permanent ban, you will not be logged into your account.

The comments suggest that a temporary ban is also issued for sudden movements between cities and lasts no more than an hour in time.

If the Pokémon run away and the PokéStops don't spin, you've been banned!

Be careful not to break the rules while playing Pokemon GO and you won't get banned. Have a nice game!

When you see that a Pokemon has appeared on the map near you, then poke on it to start the battle mode. First of all, you need to turn off the AR mode. Although you can find a lot of funny photos with this mode on the network, it is still less convenient, and much faster. When you see that the Pokemon is in front of you, pinch your finger on the Pokeball, and then throw it. It is important to give momentum before the throw so that it flies in the right direction. When you hold your finger on a Poké Ball, a special white ring will appear around the Pokémon, as well as an inner colored ring that will move. By , you can determine the difficulty level of catching a particular Pokemon:

• Green - simple level;
• Yellow - medium;
• Red is heavy.

It is best to hit the Pokemon in the place where the inner ring closes. Moreover, the smaller the colored ring is in diameter, and the more accurate the throw with hitting the inside of the ring, the more likely you are to get an experience bonus (Nice, Great, Excellent).

Sometimes a creature can break out of a Poké Ball right after you catch it. Don't despair, you can catch him one more time, which will also increase the chances of getting a special throw. There are also times when a Pokémon can run away from you during a fight or after jumping out of a Poké Ball. The reasons and chances for such behavior of creatures are still unknown.

Try to catch Pokémon you haven't seen yet. This will bring 500 experience to the character, as well as additional points when making successful rolls. It is worth noting that Pokemon live in absolutely, a village or other settlements. Also, their location is affected by the time of day, landscape and other conditions. For example, in parks and areas with dense vegetation, forest creatures (butterflies, plants, worms, etc.) will be more common, and in the city - species corresponding to the area (rats, ghosts, birds, etc.). It is important to note that in sparsely populated areas where the game was rarely played, there will be fewer creatures. In crowded places, on the contrary, the number of Pokémon will be much larger than usual, therefore, first of all, you need to visit shopping centers, large stores and other places with a large crowd of people. A lot of screenshots have already been posted on reddit, where people met entire clusters of Pokemon in stores, gas stations and other similar objects.

In the lower right corner of the interface, there is a tracking menu. In it, you can see how far this or that Pokémon is located from you. Open the module, click on the desired creature and try to walk in the real world, keeping track of the number of tracks. Three tracks on the indicator mean that the creature is far away, and one - close. The players found out that each footprint is approximately equal to 40 meters.

Also, upon reaching level 12, you will receive Great Pokeball. It allows you to catch rare creatures with a higher probability. At level 20, the game will give you an even more powerful pokeball (Ultra Pokeball), with which you can find the most powerful creatures.

Remember how wildly popular this game was a couple of years ago? Then the enthusiasm faded, many played and quit. The site's experts offer you several reasons to come back: Pokémon has new interesting features.

Login with Facebook

Niantic now allows you to link Pokemon Go and Facebook accounts so that players can log in through the social network. If you signed up with an email that you don't have access to (from work or school), you will be able to sign in with Facebook. This simple change will allow players to stay in the game longer and not try to remember the password.

Update for iOS 11

The announced AR Plus for iOS 11 is an exciting addition to Pokemon Go, but unfortunately it won't work on Apple devices that can't update to the latest version of the operating system.

According to Niantic, the game update released on February 28th means that the new enhancements are not available on Apple devices that do not support iOS 11. They use the ARKit technology introduced in iOS 11.

What will participants receive? Better fixation of Pokemon on the ground: you can get closer and zoom in. A fixed location also means that the Pokémon is aware of the player's approach. Don't get too close to a wild Pokémon, if you want to catch it, it will run away. Wild Pokémon will have an "Awareness Score". If it reaches the limit, the Pokémon will run away.

If you hide well from a Pokemon, sneak up unnoticed and catch it, then the reward will be the Expert Handler bonus, which will allow you to get more XP and Stardust points. Keep in mind that AR+ mode will drain your battery faster than normal mode. You probably won't be able to play like this all day.

Weather

A significant novelty is the change of weather, reflecting the real situation on the street. Now some types of Pokemon will appear in those weather conditions that are more suitable for them. Is it pouring rain outside? Water Pokémon will come out of hiding, and Fire Pokémon will have reduced combat power.

GYM's

The concept of the gym (Gym) has changed. New items have arrived, and a new team play feature, Raid Battles, will be coming to the game soon. Now it's profitable to visit gyms more often, add spinning photodiscs like those already in Pokestops, get unique items and "Trainer Badges" ("Gym Badges"). These badges can serve as souvenirs, but they can be leveled up through further interaction with the gyms, which will allow you to receive bonus items.

Gyms have six permanent slots for Team Pokémon. Teams that wish to claim the Hall must battle these six Pokémon in the order in which they were placed in the Hall. All Pokémon in the gym must be different (Paired Digletts will not work).

One of the main problems with the gyms in Pokemon Go was that players would often dump a strong Pokemon and never come back. Now the motivation system has changed. The Pokemon defending the hall gradually loses motivation, and its combat strength decreases. Trainers on the Gym Team should feed the Gym-Defending Pokémon to keep them motivated.
There have been a number of changes to the functions of the gyms. Players will now be able to heal Pokémon left in the Gym, and health regenerates better if they visit the Gym instead of remotely feeding them.

There's also a handy way to check which Gym you've placed a Pokemon in in the stats window, and the log now shows how many Pokecoins a Pokemon has collected since you left the Gym.

New combat rules

The biggest new feature is Raid Battles. Its goal is to bring more collaborative and social dynamics to the game. Players will now be able to team up by finding nearby allies and work together to defeat powerful Pokémon called Raid Bosses.

Raid Battles are scheduled game events that take place in gyms. During the battle, the hall is inaccessible, and it has an icon with a timer. When the timer reaches zero, the raid boss comes out. Players can team up to win, earn new items, or catch a raid boss.

To join the battle, you need a pass - Raid Pass. One pass is given free each day if you visit the gym, or you can buy it.
Players will also be able to team up with friends in closed raid groups using an individual code system.

Exclusive Raids

In addition to regular raids, there are more exclusive ones (Exclusive Raids). These invite-only raids will soon be the only way to capture the legendary Mewtwo stadium-released Pokémon in Japan. To receive an invitation to an exclusive raid, you need to complete a regular raid in the gym, where an exclusive raid took place shortly before.

The latest changes to EX Raids mean that these events will likely take place in sponsored venues and in crowded public spaces such as parks to bring in as many participants as possible.

The more high-level Gym Badges you have and the more fights you win, the more likely you are to be invited to EX Raids. EX Raids will be scheduled at popular times in special halls to attract more players.