‘A new low’: Pokémon Go players baffled after getting banned for submitting PokéStops and Routes

Pokémon Go players are expressing frustration over the developer continuing to ban users for submitting PokéStops or Routes that weren’t approved.

A heated debate was sparked once again when a player shared two confusing emails they purportedly received from Niantic in a Reddit thread on Oct. 24. The first one, dating back to Sept. 21, informed them of a 30-day ban for submitting nominations “that do not meet [its] criteria.”

Seeing as they still couldn’t log in after that delay, the player reached out to support, which informed him of a typo in the first mail and that they were, in fact, banned for 90 days, which means they still have two months to wait. “This has to be a new low for Niantic,” the Reddit post reads.

The thread received immediate attention and users flocked to express frustration over Niantic’s response.

This is partly because suspensions and bans for submitting PokéStops and Routes that don’t get approved have been controversial since the addition of Routes in July.

This thread added fuel to the fire. Shortly after, a player shared a meme that highlights Niantic punishing players for trying to make the game better via Wayfarer submissions. “Trade offer: I receive free labor for my Geo-AR platform, you receive a 90-day ban,” the meme reads.

This post also garnered a lot of attention. In the comments, players complain of Niantic’s lack of transparency. “There are multiple, concurrent banwaves for multiple dubious reasons, without explanation or clarification of any of them from Niantic,” one user wrote.

They didn’t agree on which grounds Pokémon Go players were suspended exactly, and why this affected not only their Wayfarer account, which is used to make nominations, but also their game account.

Back in April, the developer said it was hardening its policy against abusive uses by expanding punishments to Pokémon Go accounts. But it’s not always the case.

This case of a 90-day suspension, if it’s true, is also confusing because players have only shared 30-day suspensions for nominations that don’t meet the criteria until now.

Since Sept. 15, Niantic has said it would lower punishments on that matter, with a new “Wayfarer abuse enforcement ladder” that issues warnings before suspensions and an appeal process.

The suspensions are all the more controversial that the review process to approve Routes, which released in July, is being questioned by players.

Many Routes that are dangerous due to being set on the highway, or simply consist of the same loop over kilometers, have been considered as meeting Niantic’s criteria although they’re of poor quality.

Overall, players seem frustrated by the lack of communication from Niantic. It’s unclear which criteria are checked to approve a Route or not. The developer has yet to reveal further information on the matter.