"Discussion: How do you feel about PokeVision?"

#PokemonGO: For those unfamiliar: http://ift.tt/2avqCnt is a site that allows you to see spawns of Pokemon at any point in the world in real time. All you have to do is find an area you want to scan and click a button, and it shows all nearby spawns as well as how long until it goes away. A link to PokeVision hit the front page of /r/pokemongo today and the site is now heavily used.The general reception of the tool in the comment section has been positive, to the point of many critics being instantly downvoted (sort by controversial and see what I mean). This comment quotes the official ToS of the game:you agree that when using the Services and Content, you will >not: attempt to access or search the Services or Content, or >download Content from the Services through the use of any >technology or means other than those provided by Niantic or >other generally available third-party web browsers (including, >without limitation, automation software, bots, spiders, >crawlers, data-mining tools, or hacks, tools, agents, engines, >or devices of any kind);So, according to Nantic, a tool like this is cheating, ad this is a 3rd party search tool. The common justification is that this tool allows users to still find Pokemon while the three step bug exists. However, I doubt the site will go away on its own after that bug is fixed. I think we should discuss how a tool like PokeVision fits into the future of this Pokemon Go.I am worried that a tool like this detracts from one of the most fun aspects of the game: tracking down rare Pokemon on your own or with friends. For the sake of this discussion, let's ignore the three step bug as it will more than likely be fixed in the near(?) future. With this tool, you don't even need to go to an area to see what is spawning nearby. You can hop on a computer and track nearby parks to find a rare spawn, drive or walk to that location and know exactly where to go to get that spawn. No more wandering around searching, no more strategy involved triangulating while watching the steps.So just don't use it. This is the argument most commonly used to dispute those speaking out against the program. This is the same argument commonly used by people using other methods of dubious legality in video games (see: map hacks, config file modification, auto-farming bots). Sure, I could just be the lawful good player here and not use it on principle. But this tool is powerful enough that anyone else using it has a distinct advantage in their efficiency for both finding spawn areas and tracking down the exact location.The argument can be made that this just like camping triple lure spots or farming 1000 pidgeys to evolve during a lucky egg. IMO those are perfectly acceptable because although they may not be the most fun things to do, they are simply different ways to take advantage of the game's core mechanics. I think PokeVision takes things a step too far, and I'm trying to pinpoint where exactly I draw the line. I love the Silph Road community because it's all crowdsourced information. It's a ton of fun hypothesizing spawn patterns and digging in to deeper core mechanics. For the most part, to this community the game is still a black box, but one that we are beginning to understand more and more. PokeVision breaks this black box concept and completely removes the "hunting" aspect of the game. To put it in terms of the main series: SilphRoad & the subreddit are strategy guides, and PokeVision is a GameShark. It just feels wrong in a game that has PvP - In order to be the very best like no one ever was, it is necessary to cheat.Am I alone in thinking this? How do you feel about PokeVision? I would like to highlight a couple topics to start the discussion:Does PokeVision give a major advantage to users?Is PokeVision cheating, either by the official ToS or by your own criteria? If so, is it acceptable to use while the "three step" bug affects the game?Do you think Niantic intentionally kept open the tracking API that made this possible? Does that make this tool acceptable?Where do you draw the line between min/maxing and cheating? Can you draw any comparisons between PokeVision and morally gray tools in other games?What should Niantic do about this site? via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2agZRGM