Last summer, we reported that an alarming number of iPhone users were receiving bans on Pokémon GO despite following the app’s rules. At the time, “thousands” of accounts were thought to have been affected, prompting developer Niantic to acknowledge and investigate claims that their systems were malfunctioning.
The infamous first strike ban.
Now, it seems that a similar problem is occurring once again. In recent weeks, more and more cases of players receiving a ‘First Strike’ ban have started to appear on social media platforms such as Reddit, where players, specifically on iPhone, report that these bans are being distributed to them despite of not having done anything. wrong. In some cases, they report getting banned from First Strike over and over again, leading them to believe that there is some kind of bug affecting Niantic’s cheat detection system.
“I got a [first] ban the strike last week, “explains a Reddit user.” I tried to appeal without success. For whatever reason, I feel like the Niantic support people had no interest in helping me, or it was just a bunch of bots … This morning was supposed to be the end of my ban and I was very excited to start catching Pokémon again. . My ban was lifted for about an hour, UNTIL I got to work, opened the app and saw that it had ANOTHER First Strike Ban.
Responses to these online threads suggest that many gamers are experiencing similar problems, with many accusing Niantic’s customer support of being “useless” or “useless” when they have asked for their case to be reviewed. One player who managed to escape these ongoing bans was @whyldegamer, a prominent Pokémon GO player who was contacted by Niantic directly after pressure from his community.
What is this ?! @NianticHelp I didn’t do anything ???? right before broadcasting as well. Please help! pic.twitter.com/KgnBXOUAr0— ???????????????????????? (@WhyldeGamer) March 26, 2021
Thanks to everyone who helped make noise about my ban. I hate spamming and doing this kind of thing, but after 3 weeks of bans and no responses, I was desperate.
Fortunately, someone from Niantic has reached out and is being very kind to find me. Hopefully we can get a result soon ????
– ???????????????????????? (@WhyldeGamer) April 4, 2021
The First Strike ban is intended for players who use modified or third-party software to cheat in the game, and while this is important to keep players on a level playing field and to punish those who violate the terms of the application . , certainly something must be done if innocent players are unfairly excluded from the game. We hope Niantic responds to player concerns soon.
Thanks to Zabdiel for reaching out to us!
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