According to NeoGAF, there are “lots of stories online” of Pokestops in Pokemon GO being removed. The thread included an example, which was a public library that had 4 Pokestops in the app. According to the library, “players started gathering on our front lawn during all hours of the day and night catching Pokémon, trading stories and coming together as a community. The game and its players brought an incredible amount of energy to the library”. However, the library experienced “unexpected costs and increased problems” and requested the Pokestops being removed. The request was granted on August 2nd.
The library explains the problems, too. They said that “some of our concerns were minor: increased wear on our grass; an increase in our building’s power consumption; a dramatic increase in the amount of trash brought to the property. Other behaviors were more concerning: we witnessed people selling food and other items—like our electricity—without a permit; we witnessed many players frustrated when their cars were locked in our underground parking overnight; we’ve had complaints about noise levels and activity from surrounding properties. Parking for library events and activities became difficult as event attendees had to park blocks away from the library. Alcohol consumption on the library grounds was also reported. Most concerning were the injuries that occurred on property while playing Pokémon Go that could not be ignored by the library”.
Crickey, that must suck for the librarians of the building. All that trash, the increased violence, and their power being wasted.
I guess Niantic are seriously taking action on pressing manners like this.
We have this nice thing and people just can’t control themselves and be respectful. They’re going to ruin it for everyone.
Sometimes I think the world is not ready for things like Pokemon Go. The fact that there is private property invasion, sudden stops while driving and things avoidable by using the common sense, even deaths, make me feel that way.
Common sense is as common as a 1st edition base set charizard
Valid reasoning, acceptable…
Yet here I am hoping for more Pokestops to be added. What with only one being “near” me, and in a gated community no less. No gyms either.
I know the power bill for them is very high.
my guess is that people will whine at Niantic for doing the right thing yet they also whine when they don’t take action.
Leave it to bad apples ruining it for everyone. Good for Niantic for heeding their request.
And hey, I guess this means less stress on the servers? :P
While I understand and agree with them, I’m also really bummed. I’m out of town and saw this article, thinking it sounded familiar. It is in fact my favorite spot, where I live, in Provo, Utah. Many nights I would get there at midnight and there would be 150-200 people there. It was a fabulous time. I’d bring a camping chair, a soda, and catch pokes for a few hours. A blast while it latest, quite sad though.
Yeah, I live two blocks away from Provo Library and if I zoom out I can see it on my screen. Right as I read this article I got on Pokemon go and saw they had been removed. Guess I’ll just have to do more center street runs…
I’m out of town, but I’ve heard the new place to go is the shops at Riverwoods (near the entrance to Provo canyon). They said some people have been there until 2 AM. Definitely checking it out when I’m back. I hope it’s true, I’d love a new place to go.
I’ll have to check there. I work in West Valley and my hours are long so I’m not a huge fan of travelling when I get home. :P I live on 200 east so it was nice being able to walk 2 blocks and catch tons on Pokemon.
I think most common sense has been lost with the excitement of this game.
Huh. This might be one of the few times I agree with Niantic’s decisions. If you’re going to hang around a place and mindlessly litter, or sell something that isn’t yours, that’s incredibly rude and you deserve torture and having your ability to breed taken away.
I can say that about 90% of humans today, honestly, and not just from these examples.
Actually, when I went there I never saw trash or litter. Everyone was pretty clean and used the trash receptacles provided. Obviously I wasn’t there 24/7 but I did go there often enough over the past few weeks to see the majority of what was going on.
It really wasn’t ever that bad there. Nobody littered and the library even set out extra trash cans. Some people definitely were too loud though and there was a cop there when somebody was selling food but didn’t do anything about it (so i assumed they had a permit, though I still didn’t like it). That’s about it though. It was a handful of people that ruined it for hundreds (maybe even a thousand+).
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