Pokemon GO Party Play already has a potential problem with cheaters
There's ain't no party like a Pokemon GO party, as Niantic's mobile giant has finally added a fan-favourite feature. Well, it only took you seven years to do it. Although the surprise was spoiled ahead of time, we're still over the Moon that cooperative play for you and your friends is here.
Pokemon Go Party Play is a local co-op feature that's poised to turn you and three other pals into a raid-crushing squad. The problem is, the fact it's local is already causing a few problems and concerns about its usefulness and potential exploits from real-life Team Rocket recruits.
Pokemon GO Party Play is a cheater's dream
As reported by Eurogamer, Pokemon GO Party Play needs you to stick together for the feature to work. The proximity you can be away from the battle is apparently about the interaction radius of a Pokestop, meaning you'll want to be glued to your teammates like a huddle of Dugtrio.
Although you'll be warned if you stray too far apart, it's not exactly the all-encompassing feature many had hoped for. If that wasn't enough, players have spotted some potential problems with cheaters.
When Niantic announced Pokemon GO Party Play, the immediate response was a worry about cheaters potentially using multiple accounts to reap multiple rewards. This might sound ridiculous because it would require multiple phones, but looking at the comments, it's clear it's not that far-fetched.
When one concerned Pokefan raised the issue, someone else wrote, "I already know players boasting about how their multiple accounts can get straight on this! So your 100% right!" Another added, "There will be ppl using multi-accounts with 4 other phones to get the extra rewards that way so not really the best feature."
A third concluded, "Most of the people I used to play with stopped playing a long time ago, if they lock a pokemon behind this feature like they've done with postcards and routes then the only way I'll get it is with another account. I don't like it but that's the way this game is now."
Pokemon GO Party Play promises to iron out the kinks
Click to enlargeAccording to Eurogamer, Party Play is set to evolve over time, with Senior Producer Tim Nguyen promising the team has something planned with Party Play for the (currently) announced season finale event. Still, it seems impossible to police those who want to try and use multiple accounts to obliterate a raid.
Some think that letting cheaters create multiple accounts is actually a win for Niantic, explaining, "New account....new microtransactions for buffs on new account....new storage space transactions on said account. If anything this is a solid win for Niantic if everyone had 4 accounts. So....."
Pokemon GO has had it tough recently, with Niantic struggling to escape the drama surrounding Remote Raid Passes. Whether Pokemon GO Party Play will be a win or another feature that falls short of players' high expectations, we imagine it'll sadly be the latter - at least to start with.
