‘Pokemon Go:’ Niantic Rewards Concerned Player With 30 New Pokestops
Niantic’s support team rewarded a concerned Pokémon GO player with 30 new Pokéstops after the gamer filed a complaint with the software development company.
According to The Silph Road, a popular subreddit, a player with the username vibrunazo turned to Reddit when various portals from Ingress did not turn into Pokéstops for Pokémon GO. Overall, vibrunazo, with the help of some friends, counted 35 new portals that were not converted into Pokéstops.
Vibrunazo is based in Brazil and turned to The Silph Road for answers. The player found that many people were experiencing the same problems. The Redditor did not mention if these same Pokémon GO players were in the same country or around the world.
Vibrunazo was discouraged from contacting Niantic about the game’s glitch. Many argued that the development company probably didn’t mean to turn those portals into Pokéstops. A few more told virbunazo that there was nothing that he/she could do about the issue.
Despite all the discouragement, the player felt that the unconverted portals were an unintended mistake by Niantic. So, vibrunazo filled out a support form and turned it into Niantic. The Redditor’s efforts were rewarded when a member of the company’s support team, Lionel, replied asking for further details about the portals.
Vibrunazo was very helpful and gave the names and coordinates of two portals. Within a day, 30 new Pokéstops and gyms appeared the gamer’s area, all of which came from his/her compiled list of 35 portals with glitches.
Some have commended Niantic for its quick reply and efforts to correct the issue. However, it appears that the same issue has appeared in multiple countries worldwide. Vibrunazo’s case seems to be the first one Niantic responded to and the only instance the company fixed the problem.
Tons of GameStops are Turning Into Pokemon Go PokeStops and Gyms: https://t.co/U6MwLAR1h0 pic.twitter.com/UV5PJl7jGz
— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) November 9, 2017
Since Vibrunazo shared his/her experience with Niantic and the bugged portals, many more Pokémon GO players have come forward who are experiencing the same issues with the Reddit thread. Most of the other gamers received very different reactions from Niantic.
“Sent a ticket about the same issue earlier, got a similar response back, asking for coordinates, etc. I replied to the mail with coordinates in it,” commented Nahkatakki on vibrunazo’s Reddit post.
Unfortunately for Nahkatakki, Niantic dismissed his/her support ticket. According to the Redditor’s comments, Juan from Niantic support advised the gamer to find other Pokéstops and gyms in the surrounding area.
Other players received similar responses from various Niantic support employees.
“Over a week ago I tried the same but didn’t get anything new,” wrote ReBootYourMind.
Vibrunazo advised that gamers file a complaint about portals that are actually bugged, adding that portals that didn’t convert because of distance will not be fixed.
“Please don’t spread this misinformation. You just live in Brazil. Everywhere else, this trick doesn’t work. There are still 30 stops in my town that have not become stops for more than a month,” replied Chrossom to Vibrunazo’s advice on how to file a support ticket to fix the problem.
Based on the comments on Vibrunazo’s Reddit post, Niantic’s support crew doesn’t seem to be responding to the issue in a uniform fashion. Pokémon GO players are already worried that Niantic’s new ambition for a Harry Potter AR game may leave them with little to no support, reported Forbes.
With glitches like the one Vibrunazo found going unchecked, Pokémon GO fans may be right. Niantic may need to double or even triple its assist teams to fully support gamers on Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
[Featured Image by Kin Cheung/AP Images]
