People are finally starting to put a stop to the mass hysteria created by Pokemon Go. Since its launch in July, the news has been filled with stories of people being injured or accosted while using it. And even shrines have been erected to pledge allegiance to the app. But a suburb in Australia has decided that enough is enough.
Rhodes, New South Wales has had its fair share of commotion because of the app over the last few weeks. They were not immune from Pokemon trainers bombarding city streets and causing traffic jams.
The suburb was home to three Pokestops, but something odd happened over the weekend, and by Monday all three stops had disappeared. They were gone in a blink of an eye, and people are trying to piece together what happened.
The local council had sent a petition to the app’s developer Niantic to try to get those stops removed from the map, for they caused annoyance among the community. Residents of the area had submitted photos, which showed torn up grass and decay left by the app users, and they hoped to convince the counsel to talk to Niantic. Deputy Mayor Helen McCaffrey said in a note the game’s popularity was causing more harm than good:
“The recent phenomenon of Pokemon Go has seen unprecedented numbers of people flocking to Rhodes. I would like to thank residents, building managers and businesses for their support and patience as we all try to find an appropriate solution to the ongoing issues of noise, traffic and rubbish, as a result of the game’s popularity.”
It’s still unknown exactly why the stops were taken off the game, some speculate it was just from a standard app update or if the letter to Niantic actually worked. If the letter did work, more communities may try the same thing.
(Via Mashable)