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The Pokémon Company speaks out against cheating

JoeM86

Member
I'll just be paraphrasing this article but The Pokémon Company has issued a press release deriding the recent release of an app on iOS that allows for you to edit Pokémon for use in the games.

It notes how it is done, using the DNS trick that's often occurring with cheats in the Pokémon games. They call these "illegal Pokémon". They go on to say that they could damage your game, which is true, and that it is against the ethos of Pokémon, which is also true.

It also states that if any player caught with hacked Pokémon in an official tournament will be banned from all future tournaments.

This is similar to how they treat hacked Pokémon in tournaments, but I've never seen them post a press release about this before.

いつも『ポケットモンスター』シリーズをお楽しみ頂き、ありがとうございます。

現在、『ポケットモンスター』シリーズについて、株式会社ポケモン・任天堂株式会社として許諾していないスマートフォン向けアプリケーションソフト(アプリ)が販売されております。この無許諾のアプリは、不正なポケモンのデータを作り、非公式のサーバーを用いて、不正なポケモンをゲームソフト内に送り込む機能を有しております。

不正なポケモンがゲームソフトに送り込まれると、ゲームが正常に遊べなくなったり、場合によってはゲームそのものが遊べなくなったりする場合もございます。

また、『ポケットモンスター』シリーズは、他のプレイヤーと通信機能を使って対戦・交換などができますが、不正なポケモンを用いて通信を行った場合、通信相手のかたにも正常にゲームがプレイできなくなるなどの悪影響を及ぼし、相手に迷惑をかける場合もございます。

通常プレイ以外でのゲームデータ改ざんなどの行為によって引き起こされた一切の不具合、不都合などにつきましては、株式会社ポケモン・任天堂株式会社では元の状態に戻すなどの対応はいたしかねますので、ご了承ください。

なお、株式会社ポケモンが開催しているゲームの大会では、参加者が通常プレイ以外の方法で手に入れたポケモンを使用した場合、発覚した時点で失格とし、今後開催される全ての大会への参加もお断りさせていただきます。

プレイヤーの皆さまの育てた大切なポケモン、セーブデータを守るためにも、取扱説明書に従った正しい遊び方で『ポケットモンスター』シリーズをお楽しみ頂きますよう、よろしくお願いいたします。
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/info/2013/06/130628_at01.html?a001=news
 

Salsa

Member
I was hoping this was about being unfaithful to your SO

i'd take that advice from the pokemon company
 

Sandfox

Member
Its pretty interesting that they've decided to speak out against it and I'm curious as to how they are planning to prevent cheating in X and Y since it should be easier than it was on the DS games.
 

Sendou

Member
Its pretty interesting that they've decided to speak out against it and I'm curious as to how they are planning to prevent cheating in X and Y since it should be easier than it was on the DS games.

By not allowing tranfering Pokemons from past games?
 

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
Google Translate said:
Failure of any kind, etc. concerning inconvenience caused by the act of game data falsification in the normal play other than, because you can not do the correspondence, such as return to its original state in the Pokémon Company, Nintendo Co., Ltd., please understand.

Looks like they've adopted Iwata's catch-phrase LOL.
 

Salsa

Member
Its pretty interesting that they've decided to speak out against it and I'm curious as to how they are planning to prevent cheating in X and Y since it should be easier than it was on the DS games.

no back-up save like with Animal Crossing

calling it

also calling it with people losing their save, and their shit
 
I wouldn't even know where to begin cheating in Pokemon, and I don't understand why someone would want to. To me, raising Pokemon is most of the fun! Now, if only they'd take a stand against stupid trade requests in the GTS... Level 9 or under Reshiram my ass...
 

chrono01

Member
Personally, I've never understood the appeal of this, since I'd want to capture the Pokémon in a legit way rather than simply hack the game. There's no feeling of accomplishment in this manner.

But then, I feel the same in regards to hacking in general.
 

Sendou

Member
How does that stop cheating in any way?

DS is so hacked open you can just manufacture Pokemons within or outside of what's possible. When transfering from DS Pokemons -> X/Y I'm not sure they could know if the Pokemon is legit beyond if such Pokemon is even possible in the game.

See them do it. Also makes it easier to sell various Pokemon titles to receive Pokemons not obtainable otherwise on X/Y.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
Then how about make many of the past gen pokemon available where I don't have to go from GBA to DS, to a second DS gen, and finally somehow to my 3DS.

I'd much rather just catch things in game than have to finagle technology around to transfer them.
 

Daingurse

Member
Make the game mechanics less obtuse to get competitive Pokemon then. I heard X/Y will make things like IV's and EV's more transparent, that's a start. But I'll sooner hack up some legal Pokemon or use a battle simulator to enjoy the metagame, as opposed to wasting my time breeding (or messing with RNG, admittedly never bothered with it) when I could be spending my time battling and team building. Then again I never played in any official tournaments, so I wasn't hurting anyone else. I used my hacked pokemon against other people's hacked pokemon lol.

Really it all comes down to . . .

tumblr_me2rtrmkw61raoufq.gif
 

JoeM86

Member
Really weird move acknowledging the app at all instead of just getting it taken on. Wonder what they're trying to accomplish?How does that stop cheating in any way?

There's little they can do. They can take down the app, but cheating is going to be really difficult to kill. They've probably worked a few ways into X & Y, but BWB2W2 are essentially a lost cause in this fight

I better be able to transfer my Pokemon! I have passed them down from multiple games.

They have said they're working on transfer methods

Yeah, but just send a C&D or something.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing so. Given how the lawyer who was representing them treated me, I don't envy them, should it come to that.
 

Wazzy

Banned
The only cheating I like is creating my team with their EV's and IV's done. I have no patience to level six pokemon with proper training.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
I better be able to transfer my Pokemon! I have passed them down from multiple games.

It would be great if they accommodated people with pokemon from past gens, but also allowed people like me that can't be bothered to transfer to be able to catch some old pokemon too.
 

sakipon

Member
I wouldn't even know where to begin cheating in Pokemon, and I don't understand why someone would want to. To me, raising Pokemon is most of the fun! Now, if only they'd take a stand against stupid trade requests in the GTS... Level 9 or under Reshiram my ass...

I definitely agree. I don't cheat in games in general. If a game is not fun to play like it was designed, I get rid of it.

However I don't really accept their logic of distributing Pokemon in real life events. Not all have the opportunity to travel distances because of some virtual animal.
 

JoeM86

Member
It would be great if they accommodated people with pokemon from past gens, but also allowed people like me that can't be bothered to transfer to be able to catch some old pokemon too.

We do know that the Kalos region has loads of old Pokémon in them :)

I definitely agree. I don't cheat in games in general. If a game is not fun to play like it was designed, I get rid of it.

However I don't really accept their logic of distributing Pokemon in real life events. Not all have the opportunity to travel distances because of some virtual animal.

They're special. They're not meant to be there for everyone to have, they're a special gift. All the major, event only, ones end up being distributed through WiFi eventually, anyway.
 
That'd be great, since it would mean that all pokemon would actually be catchable in a single game.

Highly unlikely. The last time this happened was the break between Gen 2 and Gen 3 due to the move from GBC to GBA. When Ruby and Sapphire came out, it was impossible to get all Pokemon just from just those games. You had to also buy Pokemon Colosseum as well as FireRed and LeafGreen, which came out later, to complete your Pokedex.

If GameFreak decides to not allow transfer of Pokemon again, it would be possible that it might take years to actually complete your Pokedex again.

Have fun capturing 750+ Pokemon!

I hope they don't actually do this though... I'm currently trying to complete my Pokedex for the Shiny Charm in B2W2 and I would just cry if I had to catch 'em all again :(
 

Pau

Member
I wouldn't even know where to begin cheating in Pokemon, and I don't understand why someone would want to. To me, raising Pokemon is most of the fun! Now, if only they'd take a stand against stupid trade requests in the GTS... Level 9 or under Reshiram my ass...
Getting and raising a legitimate competitive Pokemon takes a lot of time and effort. I don't understand how people have the time to legitimately have multiple teams of Pokemon with perfect IVs.
 

Firestorm

Member
Getting and raising a legitimate competitive Pokemon takes a lot of time and effort. I don't understand how people have the time to legitimately have multiple teams of Pokemon with perfect IVs.
After they cracked the RNG in the games, people can breed / catch perfect Pokemon pretty much at will with a bit of practice. Best thing that's happened to competitive play in a long time. You can do EVs for an entire team pretty damn quickly in BW2.
 

Sandfox

Member
Highly unlikely. The last time this happened was the break between Gen 2 and Gen 3 due to the move from GBC to GBA. When Ruby and Sapphire came out, it was impossible to get all Pokemon just from just those games. You had to also buy Pokemon Colosseum as well as FireRed and LeafGreen, which came out later, to complete your Pokedex.

If GameFreak decides to not allow transfer of Pokemon again, it would be possible that it might take years to actually complete your Pokedex again.

Have fun capturing 750+ Pokemon!

Diamond and Pearl did a good job of letting you get almost all of the Pokemon so its possible.
 
I don't see the appeal of getting Pokemon from a hack at all. The whole charm of the game is getting your own Pokemon and training them yourself.
 

JoeM86

Member
Getting and raising a legitimate competitive Pokemon takes a lot of time and effort. I don't understand how people have the time to legitimately have multiple teams of Pokemon with perfect IVs.

Most of them these days use a system known as RNG abuse. Essentially, hackers worked out how the random number generator works and use a seed programme in cojunction with the game to work out the best time to start a battle or collect an egg. From this, they can then make sure that they have got a Pokémon with perfect IVs, and shiny. It's cheating, but through manipulation of the game code. I call it soft hacking since you don't actually hack into a game, just use a bit of external software independently. It is the worst thing to happen to Pokémon for normal players in a long time.
 

Pau

Member
After they cracked the RNG in the games, people can breed / catch perfect Pokemon pretty much at will with a bit of practice. Best thing that's happened to competitive play in a long time.
Oh, I didn't know they cracked it. Even so, working your way around the RNG doesn't seem any different than using an app to me.
 

PokéKong

Member
Then maybe they should implement some super end-game feature made for advanced tournament players which lets you freely customize pokemon how you see fit, eliminating countless needless hours of time wasting grinding and letting players focus pure strategy.

Or I don't know, maybe make a new Pokemon TCG game where that isn't even a problem.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
I definitely cheated to get pokemon that were my favorite. Some pokemon it was the only way I could get them without transferring from GBA to DS and then to Black or White. I couldn't even transfer between DS games I don't think. It kills it for me that I needed online when I couldn't get online or needed to trade when I had no one to trade with. I have no problem hacking a level 25 Gengar and training it up myself.
 

Sandfox

Member
I don't see the appeal of getting Pokemon from a hack at all. The whole charm of the game is getting your own Pokemon and training them yourself.

If you play competitively you will want your Pokemon to be the best they can possibly be and more than likely be switching teams pretty often so a lot of people just hack to save time.
 
I completely understand the stance against using illegal Pokemon in competitive play.

However, memory altering devices like AR/GS/CB are amazing tools that allow fans to get a better insight into the inner-workings of their favorite games and mess around with the game's memory to produce pretty cool results and discoveries. Who cares if people use the devices to do whatever they want in a game they purchased so long as it only affects their game. Or if they go online in a controlled environment (ie, with friends only who are okay with using "illegal" Pokemon), who cares.

Nintendo/TPC said this same thing about MissingNo. and the various tricks/glitches to catching whatever Pokemon you wanted in G1 (including Mew).

If they enact stuff to penalize (ie delete save files) of people who use something like AR, that would piss me off. Somebody would figure a way around something like that anyway, especially when it comes to something as popular as Pokemon.
 

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
I guess this why Masuda didn't come straight out and say DS to 3DS Pokemon transfers will be a lock right away at the Pokemon Q&A at E3. They don't want any hacks to make it across.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
However, memory altering devices like AR/GS/CB are amazing tools that allow fans to get a better insight into the inner-workings of their favorite games and mess around with the game's memory to produce pretty cool results and discoveries. Who cares if people use the devices to do whatever they want in a game they purchased so long as it only affects their game. Or if they go online in a controlled environment (ie, with friends only who are okay with using "illegal" Pokemon), who cares.

Probably because it almost never, ever, stops there.
 

VALKYRAY

Banned
Pokemon company is the one to blame. All that unobtainable Pokemon bullshit, all that breeding bullshit, all that evolve via trading bullshit, and worst of them all: the ev & iv bullshit force you to cheat.
 

Daingurse

Member
Remove IVs, keep EVs. Problem solved.

Would fuck up Hidden Power, but I'd be all for the removal of "hidden stats" in-general, fucking bullshit. Let me assign whatever Hidden Power element I choose to whatever poke I want with a base power of 70 via move tutor or some shit.

Wow.

Well, I guess if you go in with the mentality that you should be able to, nay deserve to, get a perfect version of everything in the game, it's easy to justify cheating.

I hope you never play an MMORPG or a game like Diablo or something. They'd probably drive you insane with their supposed unfairness.

Hacking "legit" pokes is pervasive as fuck in the competitive community. Even if you're using legit shit, you can count on your opponent bringing perfectly optimized pokes via hacks or at the very least through RNG abuse.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Pokemon company is the one to blame. All that unobtainable Pokemon bullshit, all that breeding bullshit, all that evolve via trading bullshit, and worst of them all: the ev & iv bullshit force you to cheat.

Wow.

Well, I guess if you go in with the mentality that you should be able to, nay deserve to, get a perfect version of everything in the game, it's easy to justify cheating.

I hope you never play an MMORPG or a game like Diablo or something. They'd probably drive you insane with their supposed unfairness.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
cheaters never win

also, winners don't do drugs

but cheaters don't necessarily do drugs.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
I feel like an idiot because I cheat to get pokemon to use in game. I love planning out teams and playing the game more than going online and playing a team full of 6 shiny pokemon with 31 in every IV. Love using stuff I've never used before like Kingdra just to experience something new.
 

JoeM86

Member
PokéKong;66848021 said:
Then maybe they should implement some super end-game feature made for advanced tournament players which lets you freely customize pokemon how you see fit, eliminating countless needless hours of time wasting grinding and letting players focus pure strategy.

Or I don't know, maybe make a new Pokemon TCG game where that isn't even a problem.

We're not meant to grind. The Join Avenue does allow for easier manipulation of EVs, but IVs are essentially genetic variation and should NOT be adaptable in such a manner.

Pokemon company is the one to blame. All that unobtainable Pokemon bullshit, all that breeding bullshit, all that evolve via trading bullshit, and worst of them all: the ev & iv bullshit force you to cheat.

They really don't...

Remove IVs, keep EVs. Problem solved.

If they were to do that, then every Pokémon of the same species would be identical until you added EVs and that is unacceptable. What they need to do is find a balance with IVs so you can't have a "perfect" Pokémon
 
I think a solution can be found by tagging all Pokemon that are transferred from Gen 5 into Gen 6.

Then in competitions or online play, all these transferred Gen 5 Pokemon would be banned, legit or otherwise. Only Pokemon caught from X and Y would be allowed.

That way people will be happy that their old Pokemon made it over and would also solve the cheating problem. I'm sure a lot would be unhappy that their previous powerhouses would have to be retired though.
 
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