Pokémon Go players are getting fed up this week with Niantic’s implementation of an annoying type of Field Research task, which requires gamers to scan an area for augmented reality mapping.
Players feel the AR Mapping tasks, which require the Pokémon Go user to walk around a place and scan it with their phone’s camera for 20 seconds, are very awkward and weird to observers—especially around certain locations like schools and playgrounds. Players agree the concept is cool, but they want Niantic to stop shoving the tasks down their throats.
“I would love it if Niantic would stop asking me to walk around recording a children’s playground,” said a player in a Sept. 24 Reddit thread. Another user echoed their sentiment, stating there’s “no way in hell I’m ever doing one,” given PokéStops nearby are all playgrounds and public parks. A third found themselves in the same boat, with their main PokéStop right next to a kindergarten.
Because of these concerns, players are asking Niantic for research tasks they’re comfortable with. Some try to avoid problems by scanning places when they’re empty or if they’re away from their community. But many wish they didn’t have to do these tasks outright in the first place.
The post’s author said the worst part about the AR Mapping tasks is that they seem to pop up even for players who turned off the AR Mapping feature and actively avoid scanning PokéStops.
It’s not the only aspect of AR Scanning and PokéStops that have come under fire recently. Some say they got in trouble for submitting new PokéStops because they didn’t meet Niantic’s standards. All the while, some weird submissions with not-so-okay descriptions are getting approved.
AR Mapping and its associated features raised eyebrows when they were first introduced in Oct. 2020. Three years have passed since then, and public sentiment hasn’t shifted in favor of the feature. It seems like there are more issues with it than ever before, and the onus is on Niantic to do something about it.
