- Can we take the devices for our area and run our own servers?
tl;dr: No. But you can stop if you want and start your own service.
When your areas were started it was understood that the money given to me was a donation to help operate the scanners. The purchase of a device is to cover the box, a smart plug, shipping, shopping time, flashing work, programming work on the server to accommodate the device etc.
This is a NON REFUNDABLE DONATION. Some areas cover the purchase of devices by members paying a fee to access the scanners. This allows us to cover the monthly costs as well as buy more devices for those areas. Some areas however were on fixed prices/device. This model is no longer being added to but some are grandfathered in at the $5/month/device rate. This rate is to cover the device fees to MAD, the server fees, power, as well as my time maintaining the services which include the Scanner, Map, Discord Bots, TileServer, Name Lookup Server, and many other pieces that operate in the background that you may not see.
These are also considered donations and are non refundable if you choose to stop services.
When you sign up for my services you agree to this, if you decide to move on to another provider you are welcome to do so. All negotiations are to be done with ONLY MYSELF, any 3rd party information is to be considered unreliable and I will not be held to their promises.
ACTS OF DISRESPECT TOWARDS ME WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE STOP OF SERVICES This includes, threats towards me or anyone who is affiliated with the scanning services. In the event that I stop maintaining my server or scanning becomes unavailable, then the devices will be handed over to those who donated once I have removed all accounts, software, and login info from the devices.
- How does this map/notifications work?
tl;dr: Expensive and confusing computer hardware and software.
Customized hardware running modified operating systems capable of mocking global positioning systems information is used to collect data. Those devices are controlled by a customized computer server that tells them where to go and what to do, while collating the data they collect into a database. Another customized computer server interprets that data and displays it in a map format allowing end-users to customize the display to meet their needs. Furthermore another customized server application watches for raids and rare Pokémon and notifies us here. It searches for 100%, 0%, and good PVP mons as well to notify the people who have paid for those notifications.(edited)
- You mentioned ‘mocking global positioning systems’ . . . so you guys are all spoofers?
tl:dr: Nope. Not even close.
The ‘zombie’ devices used to collect map data do spoof in order to collect said data. These devices do not even have screens, and are controlled entirely by our computer servers. No creator or user of the map system needs to spoof using a personal device or account to facilitate it. If you hold the opinion that utilization of these devices solely for generating map data makes us spoofers, then we would strongly encourage you to never to use our map, since doing so (by your logic) makes you a spoofer, too.
- But isn’t this cheating?
tl;dr: No.
We provide data, no differently then someone sharing a raid on a facebook post. What you do with that data is up to you. We strongly believe that provision of this data to the community does more good than harm. Unlike other mobile-based games with highly competitive aspects, we do not believe that the data we provide adversely affects anyone in the playerbase. Again, if you feel as though use or knowledge of this data is cheating then we would strongly encourage you not to view the map.
- Won’t I get banned for violating the terms of service?
tl;dr: Highly unlikely.
Have you ever held your friend’s phone at a raid and tapped it for them while they ran back to the car real quick? You violated the terms of service. Did you get banned?
- Why are you asking for money?
tl;dr: This is expensive and while it IS a community project, it’s not a charity.
We’re trying to provide an informational service to the local community. This is an expensive endeavor. That said, it’s an endeavor we think is awesome and would like to expand in order to give more to the community. If the community is willing to give back to us in the process, we will happily utilize that to expedite our expansion. Such expansion has the potential to include adding other local communities to the map. This could also include expanding map features such as daily quest details.
- I donated money but now the map is down – what gives?
tl;dr: We appreciate you, and we don’t like downtime either. However, there are NO GUARANTEES
One of the first things we said was that this whole process involves a lot of expensive and confusing hardware and software. There are several ‘moving’ pieces behind the scenes, and any complications at any one of those steps can lead to downtime. We don’t like downtime and will do what we can to remedy it and keep you informed in the process. We make no guarantees about what will or will not be available at any given time, regardless of whether you have donated to us. Downtime may also be due to upgrades: we will work to expedite such work and keep you informed in the process.
- I want to use your map but I don’t like Discord.
tl;dr: Oof. Sorry.
Among other things, Discord provides us a layer of security in the form of authentication. By authenticating through Discord we’re able to mitigate the potential for certain types of abuse and data breach from affecting us. If we were a huge company we could ensure this in other ways, but we’re not a huge company… we’re just a bunch of nerds trying to do cool stuff for the community. That said, we gotta do what works for us while doing our best to maintaining safety and security.
- If you want to include the whole community then why am I banned from your Discord?
tl;dr: I rarely ban people, however if you are banned you likely earned it.
As of the writing of this FAQ we have very few people on our ban list. We have alternate forms of ensuring member accountability if necessary to combat negative influences on our community (Map access restrictions, Warnings, Mute, Temp Kick) Again, we’re here to give back to the community. If we can buffer the effect of toxic people within the community then we feel we have an obligation to do so. However, the primary goal is to allow everyone the opportunity to enjoy our scans. That said, if you are intentionally bringing a bad attitude into the chat rooms, OR if you try to DM me for support, this could lead to a ban. Please be courteous and use the member support chat room for support.
- Is there a map for (insert town name)? Or Can you add (insert town name) to the map too?
tl;dr: Yes I can.
Things have changed in the mapping scene and now I can scale up and add a new area usually same day that it’s requested. If you know of an area not currently getting scanned and know of people that would pay for it, reach out to me in member support for something like that. There are no up-front fees to buy devices anymore. That is all included with the $5/month membership fee. BE AWARE – There is a 5 member minimum to start a new area. I will make special consideration for areas with lower numbers at a higher rate of $10/month. It’s straight forward that the more members join an area the better it does.
- I caught this Hundo/Rare Pokémon that your scanner didn’t find. Why?
tl;dr: We don’t get them all. That would be astromically expensive and no one would pay for it.
So it comes down to how many locations the device has to check before the average Pokémon despawns. Most despawn within 30 mins and are on a one hour cycle, some are there all hour. So let’s say they’re all there all hour (which really isn’t the case). However for the argument let’s say they are and you have 1 device scanning, it can check 200 locations every hour roughly however by the end of the hour most things would be despawning by that math. So the optimal plan is 50 locations per route per device. This ends up with pretty much perfect scanning. Most Zones that I have set up are around 300-350 locations per route. So to expand your area to cover everything would require 7x as many devices as you currently have. This would also mean much higher monthly fees and just end up not being worth it. You have to understand the devices are not much different then your average person running around town checking Pokémon, yes it hops but then it also has to wait for the Pokémon to pop back up. There is a lot of math involved.
- Isn’t this violating copyright laws?
tl;dr: No.
Currently there is no known potential copyright issue is by using the images and names from the game. The pokemon company has a disclaimer about their trademarks allowing their use in these cases royalty free. You are paying solely for the data access here, NOT the reward in game, that’s still up to you. See: https://www.pokemon.com/us/legal/ I may decide to switch to 3rd party drawn images and abbreviated names in the future to completely eliminate this issue anyway. As for the references to the game and the data we distribute, that’s a non-issue as per canada.ca write-up on the rules of copyright in Canada. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canadian-intellectual-property-office/en/intellectual-property-rights-software-canada?fbclid=IwAR2VRh7VCaHdFz6AARpHBK_8VVHi_Hvp5xhdVvhuqjF6HQ8ad5BL2h6Jm98 “Note that data that isn’t part of an “original” collection may be regarded as mere facts, and you cannot copyright facts.” All software and code we use in ALL of our apps and websites is 100% open source, even the apps I have built and/or developed on myself. Rest assured there is no legal issue with this service, obtaining data from this service WILL NOT effect your account standings in any way. It’s still up to you to “Go”.
- How do you get scans?
Interested in signing up to get scans? You can get all of the below with a membership to pokescans… Raid Notifications Hundo/Nundo Notifications Perfect Great/Ultra PVP IV’s Notifications Quest Search Bot Ultra Rare/Rare/Semi Rare notifications MAP ACCESS! https://map.pokescans.ca/ And More! Here is the link to sign up… https://upgrade.chat/pokescans
- How do I get DM’s from @Professor Juniper?
Send her a private message saying !start to enable notifications.