Niantic’s rejection of a popular Pokémon Go Route has sparked outrage among players, who are now calling for the developers to address the issue. The moderation process has come under scrutiny, with players questioning the reasons behind the rejection and demanding a resolution.
In a Reddit thread on September 10th, a player shared their frustration after their submitted Route, which had been used over 90,000 times, was suddenly rejected for being in an “inaccessible area.” Speculation arose that these unexpected rejections may be a result of abusive reports made by disgruntled users.
One player suggested, “Most likely someone reported it since they didn’t get a Zygarde cell and got upset… we have a local player who does that here, and she keeps getting Routes removed. This situation is making us hesitant to create more Routes, as we fear being banned or accused of abusing the feature.”
Similar reports emerged on Pokémon Go’s community forum, where players revealed that their Routes had been rejected for the same reason, despite having been completed by numerous players since their initial approval.
Players are frustrated by their inability to combat abusive reports and uncertain if they are the true cause of the rejections. Furthermore, there is currently no avenue for appealing a rejected Route other than contacting the game’s support team.
“The Routes feature is poorly designed and managed, and I see no point in investing more effort into creating them if this is how it’s going to be,” lamented one player.
These complaints add to the growing list of issues surrounding the Routes feature. Introduced in July, Routes allow players to create customized paths, which are then reviewed and approved or rejected by the developers. The intention is to encourage players to explore interesting locations near them.
However, the feature has been plagued by bugs. Some unsafe Routes, such as those featuring paths on highways, have been approved, while others have been rejected for reasons that players find unclear.
To compound matters, some players have been unable to collect the highlighted reward for completing Routes—Zygarde cells—as they disappear before they can be obtained.
Despite pleas from players for a resolution, Niantic has remained silent on the matter.
Source: DOTESPORTS
