While today’s big news with Pokemon GO was in our previous article about the new tracking system that is available to players in San Francisco, and soon everyone worldwide, that isn’t the only news regarding the popular game. In fact there are a few other tidbits that are fairly important as well.
Iran say No to Pokemon GO
It was bound to happen, that some countries would ban the Pokemon catching Augmented Reality game. The first one to officially do it as of today is Iran. Anyone living in, or visiting, Iran won’t be able to play Pokemon GO. The decision came down from The High Council of Virtual Spaces (yes, this is a real thing). The reason? Some vague security concerns.
The ban is about “unspecified security concerns” after “reports last month said Iranian authorities were waiting to see to what extent the game’s creators would co-operate with them before making a decision on banning it”. While Iran is the first to ban the game, they are not the first to express concern over it. Russia fears Pokemon GO is actually a CIA Psyop that is designed to destabilize the country. So playing Pokemon GO can land you in jail now.
Website Referenced: Destructoid
PokeAdvisor Ceases Advising
Since the fall of the original in-game Pokemon tracking system, a number of 3rd party services popped up to fill the void, helping players find Pokemon a little better than running around aimlessly because every Pokemon was being shown as the farthest distance away. The most popular 3rd party service, PokeVision, along with several others, ended up getting ‘shutdown’ after last week’s update.
Today PokeAdvisor has also been shutdown. Unlike the other sites, PokeAdvisor didn’t really focus on finding Pokemon as it did displaying IV (which are the hidden stats of your Pokemon). This means you could figure out which Pokemon would have the highest stats at any given level of evolution and powering up. It also helped in a few other ways as well. Obviously this is more geared towards the competitive players.
So Niantic has blocked PokeAdvisor from accessing its servers/network, which means it can’t update the stats for any Pokemon now, rendering it pretty useless. This really isn’t a bad thing though, since this can be used to give players the upper hand against others.
Twitch Bans The Cheaters
Twitch has also jumped onto the Ban-wagon (see what I did there?) with the whole banning thing. The company has begun banning live streamers who are participating in any sort of ‘cheating’ with regards to Pokemon GO. Here’s what Twitch cited for the banning:
“…using modified or unofficial software; playing with multiple accounts (one account per player, please); sharing accounts; using tools or techniques to alter or falsify your location; or selling/trading accounts.“ – Twitch
Website Referenced: VG 24/7
