Random banhammers everywhere!

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Comments

  • Other agent receive reply ticket and Niantics confirm the ban.

    Is impossible, many agent are respect tos and don't cheat or use multiaccount.

    If possible is relation with share account Pokémon ? Many player share account for raid or exchange Pokémon.

  • CliffMCliffM ✭✭✭✭✭

    Are you really a Niantic employee? Why don't you have Niantic "flair" in the forum/community?

  • HuntHunt ✭✭

    Having worked in large organisations that have had whole engineering teams focused on tackling abuse, I can honestly say it's an arms race…

    There are two approaches (skermishing and analytical strategic battles). The reporting system (e.g. with trusted reviewers) is very much dealing on a skermishing level whereas Brian's update suggests that Niantic have been doing a detailed analysis of behaviour that breaks TOS. That work takes time and the behaviours "codified" and verified.

    Once a specific behaviour is detectable, future infractions can be dealt with quickly. Organisations often backdate the detection (if they have data available) and take action on past infractions too.

    I suspect that given the current wave of bans, the latter has happened.

    One last thing, the #1 rule of dealing with platform abuse is to not give out any information about why a ban was instated. If the TOS-violating behaviour was a result of a specific tool being used, behaviour being done, the onus is on the userplayer to review their actions / behaviours for "legality issues". If the exact reason is given by the platform, the player / tool developers may just tweak their behaviour to avoid detection as opposed to stopping the TOS-violating behaviour. Just becomes a tit-for-tat battle which sucks up time and money for both parties.

  • HuntHunt ✭✭

    Having worked in large organisations that have had whole engineering teams focused on tackling abuse, I can honestly say it's an arms race…

    There are two approaches (skermishing and analytical strategic battles). The reporting system (e.g. with trusted reviewers) is very much dealing on a skermishing level whereas Brian's update suggests that Niantic have been doing a detailed analysis of behaviour that breaks TOS. That work takes time and the behaviours "codified" and verified.

    Once a specific behaviour is detectable, future infractions can be dealt with quickly. Organisations often backdate the detection (if they have data available) and take action on past infractions too.

    I suspect that given the current wave of bans, the latter has happened.

  • HuntHunt ✭✭

    One last thing, the # 1 rule of dealing with platform abuse is to not give out any information about why a ban was instated. If the TOS-violating behaviour was a result of a specific tool being used, behaviour being done, the onus is on the userplayer to review their actions / behaviours for "legality issues". If the exact reason is given by the platform, the player / tool developers may just tweak their behaviour to avoid detection as opposed to stopping the TOS-violating behaviour. Just becomes a tit-for-tat battle which sucks up time and money for both parties.

  • CliffMCliffM ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have been told it is likely Brian Rose, since he made a similar message on Reddit. I am excited about Brian Rose coming back. I just hope Ingress can make it through the next couple of months so we can see some of his work.

  • I haven't seen a single successful appeal, which is sad. And it makes me afraid for my own account, given my international travel recently (musical sim cards and devices for sure...traversing eight countries and still having to have my regular phone number for 2FA makes for an interesting situation).

  • @NianticBrian Then why does no one ever tell you what you actually did wrong?! The support page just says thast your ban is final and permanent, how useless can it be??? How in the world are we supposed to know what went wrong!?

    I mean, like @sonicrx said, it really makes us afraid if we're getting a banhammer again. Its still a lot of hard work you guys are destroying here!

  • Its the same for the forum, I have a warning on the forum, but why?! What happened?! No one tells you. That's so great about NIA. They dont give you any info what-so-ever :)

  • @NianticBrian Exactly, as hitting someone right in the face is not always the right response. If you know what I mean 😜

  • @NianticBrian you absolutely terminated “MasterTurts” in error. I had to spend the last 10 minutes explaining how to forward an email to her. She simply does not have the basic technical skills to do anything you have accused her of. Niantic screwed up, and now you need to fix it. Or I will organize a boycott.

  • Not in this user’s case. The user is very occasional / casual and pretty much only plays with me, our friends and her husband. She would have no motivation to buy gear, and as she is surrounded by people who are in community moderator or mentoring positions she would have been warned off clicking any links in COMM. No, the user absolutely did nothing to deserve a ban, Niantic is 100% wrong.

  • starwortstarwort ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don't buy that. If you're guilty, you know what you've done and Niantic saying "it's for falsifying your location" is not going to add anything to help you avoid a rightful ban next time. Whereas if you are innocent, the complete silence from Niantic about what you're accused of leaves you no way to defend yourself.

    If you're a cheat-tool author, the very fact that Niantic has banned you is enough incentive to tweak the tool for next time.

  • @Azhreia that is unhelpful. We have appealed repeatedly. Niantic will not budge, and they are wrong. If she was cheating, then Niantic might as well ban me too. I cannot possibly fathom the user violating TOS. Someone at Niantic is too vain or stubborn to admit they effed up.

  • Thank you for the reversal.

  • GlenuendoGlenuendo ✭✭✭✭

    @Pongolyn , yes and no. Niantic could easily provide the data and still an agent could just claim they were banned unjustly. Only way that would be avoided is to make it public and no one is willing for that to happen.

  • This is directed at @NianticBrian or any other agent. I am definitely worried about these bans. A fellow agent I would swap gear with was just banned. So now I have to worry about being banned because of swapping gear?! I mean I haven't spoken to him about it but now I'm wondering. Can I report him to you guys so I don't have to worry?!

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