Pokemon Go players claim PokeStops are “rapidly disappearing” from rural areas
NianticPokeStops are one of the core assets in Pokemon Go, as they let players collect important items and tasks. The community works hard to set as many PokeStops as they can, but some trainers from rural areas were in for a shock as they saw several of them “vanishing” in their locations.
To make progress in Pokemon Go, players need to spin PokeStops as these in-game objects give loads of useful items and bonuses such as Eggs, evolution items, XP, Field Research tasks, encounters with Pokemon such as Kecleon and Gholdengo, and so much more.
With the introduction of the Showcase feature, trainers have more reasons to use PokeStops, and naturally, the community leaves no stone unturned to get a large number of them in their location.
And while PokeStops are more significant in rural areas, players in these locations couldn’t believe when many of them disappeared, leading to their gameplay getting severely affected.
Reddit user ‘Lechonkje’ shared a screengrab of their rural location in Pokemon Go and stated that “PokeStops are vanishing.” The player then detailed that their community of players had created many PokeStops, only to find them rapidly disappearing in recent events.
The post invited comments from several players who were scratching their heads trying to figure out why these PokeStops were taken out by Pokemon Go devs Niantic.
A user mentioned, “Don’t scan PokeStops. I haven’t seen the scanning Research task in awhile. But people reported at the time they got rid (of) PokeStops sometimes when scanned” while another added: “no one scans the PokeStop in like a year it disappears.”
One of the comments linked the mishap to the Wayfarer feature. “They may have been assessed in Wayfarer and deemed not to actually be points of interest?” the user explained.
Another possible scenario was highlighted by a player who suggested that “someone reported” them as “fake PokeStops,” leading to Niantic axing them altogether.
Also, when a trainer remarked that the affected area could be an “unsafe location,” the OP clarified that they could “could safely access all of them.”
It appears that there is no definite reason behind the disappearance of the PokeStops, but almost everyone agrees that “it’s hard to even play the game” in rural areas.
As you step out to spin PokeStops in your location, be sure to check out Routes along your way as well as the current Raid Bosses in Pokemon Go.