'Pokemon Go' players frequenting Marcy Kaptur's office to capture Eevee
August 1, 2016
By: Sabrina Eaton, Cleveland.com
August 1, 2016
CLEVELAND -- At first, workers in Rep. Marcy Kaptur's office on Lorain Ave. were puzzled by a dramatic rise in the number of passersby lingering outside their storefront, all staring intently at smartphone screens.
Finally, the Toledo Democrat's staffers put two and two together. Creators of the popular "Pokemon Go" mobile device game had located a virtual Pokemon, an Eevee, outside their building that players could collect as they walked by.
"Of course, It's all about Eevee," a Kaptur spokesman said.
Kaptur's office is entertained by the sudden extra foot traffic that comes with being a way station in a popular game that allows aficionados to collect virtual Pokemon characters when they visit the real locations where game creators placed them.
But staff at several landmarks with serious themes -- such as Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., -- have sought to remove their locations from the game.
"Visitors to these locations should come with an attitude of respect, not a desire to score points in a game," Illinois Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky said in a letter that asked the game's makers to remove the Holocaust museum from the game. "I urge you to take immediate action to address this situation by eliminating these sites."
Public safety facilities - like fire stations and jails - also report they've been disturbed by Pokemon Go players seeking access to search for characters, while police are warning people to not play the game while driving.
The game's creators are trying to honor requests from locations that say they're inappropriate for game playing sites, and has already removed the Holocaust museum, a museum spokesman says.
"When something is really popular, we have to figure out the most respectful way to deal with it and make sure that everyone is playing safely and doing things in a respectful manner," the Pokemon Company's consumer marketing director, J.C. Smith, told Associated Press.