I’d like to start a discussion regarding GPS spoofing and the toxic behavior that often comes with it in our community.
Pikmin Bloom is a game meant to encourage us to walk and interact with the physical world. However, it’s frustrating to see people using third-party apps to plant flowers or join mushroom battles without actually being there.
What’s even more disturbing is that some “hardcore” spoofers are claiming certain areas or mushrooms as their personal “territory.” I’ve seen cases where regular players, who are just playing fairly, get labeled as “intruders” and are publicly shamed or harassed on social media by these spoofers.
This behavior completely ruins the spirit of the game and creates a toxic environment. I’m curious to know the official stance on this. Are there any plans to take more aggressive action against spoofers to protect the legitimate player base?
I sincerely look forward to hearing an official response or some clarity from the development team on this matter.
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strongly agree with your point.
I live in a small town on an offshore island in Australia. Because the population here is small, the local Pikmin Bloom players more or less all know each other.
Since April 30, the only large park in our town has been continuously filled with cherry blossoms by someone using GPS spoofing, 24 hours a day. This has affected a total of 45 big flowers, making it practically impossible for legitimate local players to obtain the event materials.
Among our group, there are also two elderly women with limited mobility, and that park is part of their daily routine and one of the few places where they can comfortably play. Because of this situation, they are no longer able to enjoy the game.
We have been documenting and reporting this issue to support every day for the past seven days, yet we have only received automated responses so far. This feels extremely unfair to us as legitimate players.
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I’m really sorry to hear this actually effecting legitimate players and do think this has to stop. Commenting and hoping this post would get more traction.
This is becoming a serious problem because spoofers know Niantic does not punish them. I’ve been seeing many posts regarding this “toxic territory” behavior, especially from Taiwanese spoofers and they are not shy about it either. It really sucks to be a local genuine player where your neighborhood is infested by these cheaters. They also proudly brag and share the location with people on the internet and teaming up with other spoofers to bloom their desire flowers.
Below are just a few posts from threads, one of the most popular Taiwanese social platforms, where spoofers share their locations and showing off their personal “territories” (they call it their flower farms) and these are just a small part of it. (Removing the last 2 links since I can only attach 2)
\https://www.threads.com/@pikmin.moonlight/post/DYf5yfQH8dn
\https://www.threads.com/@suderpanda/post/DYgfiAuiUMB
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True. They’re proud of their cheating behaviours. I had seen may of these posts on thread.
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So they are location spoofing to bloom big flowers? I can’t imagine it would take very much work from Niantic to stop this.
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Niantic’s terms of service prohibit GPS spoofing, having multiple accounts, and playing through proxies, but they have no measures in place to crack down on these violations.
However, Pokémon GO does have a countermeasure against GPS spoofing. If a player travels a long distance in a short period of time, they will be unable to play the game. This is activated automatically and is lifted after about 30 minutes.
By applying this function, it’s possible to automatically address the issue with a program alone, without requiring any effort from the operating side.
For example, the first time, the suspension is about 30 minutes, but the second time it could be 1 hour, the third time 2 hours, and so on, gradually increasing the duration of the ban. Similarly, the period for lifting the location spoofing flag could be increased from 3 days initially, to 5 days the second time, to 10 days the third time, eventually making it impossible to play not only the location being spoofed but the game itself. Since these can be implemented with a program alone, it requires no effort from the operating side.
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Exactly, they use the coordinates to create paths and have the spoofing app walks it while planting flowers, thus creating those “connecting dots paths” on the map that goes straight to all the big flowers and through buildings or rivers, blooming every big flower in the area within minutes. It’s almost impossible for genuine players to compete with them. (“almost” because using petals to bloom a flower is a little faster depending how many of them are planting at once)
Just a few hours ago, one of them shared this “perfect example” explaining how it’s done…
It’s definitely an easy thing to spot for Niantic, especially when they’re being so loud and braggy. Some have shown their usernames in older posts, too.
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You’re right. Those spoofing “farmers” even posted their methods as planting instrustion on social media.
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Oh wow, first those spoofers stealing shrooms and now they’re blooming our flowers, too??
I’ve been seeing those weirdly long and straight flower paths long time ago, and guessed they need to get their 60 coins of the day. Sure, whatever… but now targeting and blooming big flowers? that’s just so f*cked up.
I live in a decent size city and we got a good amount of players here, too. Last week, saw a thick flower trail that goes through the hospital and even across the cemetery blooming several off-season flowers(think it was Moth orchids or something) And based on the timestamps from the flowers, they were bloomed like around 5 or 6 in the morning. Now after knowing what’s going on, this really pisses me off. I’m lucky enough that I can take a different route and plant somewhere else but I can’t imagine running into this kind of shenanigans in a small town…
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Dear Niantic Team,
I would like to draw attention to a problem that is increasingly causing resentment in the Pikmin Bloom community: the use of GPS spoofing and other unauthorized software to manipulate the game location.
Players are increasingly reporting activities that suggest the use of such tools. By artificially altered location data, individual users can bypass game mechanics and gain advantages that are not available to regular players. This affects the fairness of the game and can negatively impact the motivation of honest players in the long term.
Pikmin Bloom thrives on movement, discovery, and fair participation of all users. If rule violations are not adequately detected or sanctioned, the impression arises that adhering to the game rules no longer matters. This can weaken the community’s trust in the integrity of the game.
Therefore, I would like to ask Niantic to further improve the detection of GPS spoofing and other manipulation methods, consistently review and sanction known violations, regularly inform the community about measures against cheating, and examine additional technical protection mechanisms to detect location manipulation at an early stage. Many players appreciate Pikmin Bloom precisely because of its real movement and exploration aspect. It is all the more important that the same rules apply to everyone and that unauthorized advantages are effectively prevented. Thank you very much for your attention and for your efforts to ensure the integrity and fairness of Pikmin Bloom in the long term.
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@Deoxys1974 well spoken!
In the last few weeks I’ve been noticing a ton more suspicious (impossible) flower planting in straight lines from big flower to next big flower, across streets and straight through apartment buildings. Also very suspicious large mushrooms being engaged in the middle of nowhere at crazy times has become VERY common.
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