In Pokémon GO, “spoofing” is always a big topic in the community. For this reason, we wanted to know from you whether you would cheat if you were sure not to get caught. We have summarized the surprising result here on MeinMMO.
What was the survey about? Although the developers of Pokémon GO rely on an honest way of playing, there are always trainers who want to gain an advantage in the game through so-called spoofing. This is how they change their GPS location and cheat themselves to a different location.
However, Niantic does not want this cheating and is punished at irregular intervals with various types of bans. But we wanted to know from you how you feel about spoofing and whether you would do it if you couldn’t be caught. Below you can see the result.
The result of our poll
This is how you made your decision: In our community poll of March 15, 2023, we asked you if you would cheat in Pokémon GO if you couldn’t be caught. Each reader could vote once in the poll. So far, 3,233 readers have taken part in our survey – with a surprising result (as of March 18, 2023 at 9:00 p.m.). How you voted:
According to this, around 66% of the participants (2,126 votes in total), i.e. the clear majority of the trainers, would be willing to cheat in Pokémon GO or at least try it out. 303 of them (approx. 9%) are already cheating.
Only 1,107 readers (about 34%) stated that cheating was out of the question for them, even if they couldn’t be caught. This means that just over a third of the participants would continue to play honestly.
Why is the result surprising? Usually, trainers who spoof in Pokémon GO are often criticized in the community. Especially cheaters who bring disadvantages to other players, for example, keep throwing them out of arenas, are a thorn in their side.
It is all the more surprising that the majority of you would be willing to cheat yourself. But there are also good reasons for this, as some participants have told us in the comments.
You can read here how I think about the topic of “spoofing”.
Therefore, players would be willing to cheat themselves
Some trainers who indicated in the survey that they would be willing to spoof themselves explained their decision in the comments under our post on MeinMMO as well as in our Facebook group.
It is clear that they would use this option primarily for content that Niantic is currently making difficult for them, such as swapping with friends in other parts of the world. But some would also be willing to travel digitally to other regions to complete their PokéDex or collect Vivillon.
Regional events also play a role in the decision. This is how you can read the following comments (via MeinMMO & Facebook):
Are you still missing Vivillon? We’ll show you from which regions you need friends:
Pokémon GO: Vivillon Map – You need friends from these regions
That’s why trainers would definitely not spoof
Spoofing spoils the fun: In the comments, however, numerous posts can also be found in which trainers explain that they would not spoof under any circumstances. From their point of view, there are also clear reasons for this (via MeinMMO & Facebook):
Trainer raises idea that might make spoofing uninteresting
So that as few players as possible cheat in Pokémon GO, Niantic could also establish one or the other function that makes spoofing less interesting. One possibility, from Pokehunter0815’s point of view, would be to allow long-distance trading. This is how he writes:
With the decision to implement regional Pokemon and events, Niantic was downright begging for spoofing. [… ] For example, if you could at least trade with best friends worldwide, what reason would there be for people who just want to get their PokéDex full to spoof? In addition, there would have to be a simple chat function directly in the game (that only works via Campfire if everyone would use Campfire, and the function there isn’t really good either). Fighting worldwide is also possible? Why not the same logic when swapping, including the pop-up window ‘Coach xxx wants to swap with you…’, I think that would be cool. In addition, a wish list of which Pokémon you would like to have and which you would like to give up would be perfect.
Pokehunter0815 via MyMMO
It remains to be seen whether Niantic will introduce this function at some point.
What is your opinion on spoofing? Are you surprised that so many Trainers would be willing to cheat in-game if they were sure not to get caught? And would you perhaps do it yourself? Or are you strictly against cheaters? Feel free to write it to us here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
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