Best Of
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
My community has all but abandoned Wayfarer as well. A thriving community that had a group set up to discuss potential POIs and getting opinions on what we should submit and so on has died. Now the group is filled with "educational emails" and why more POIs (like the trail markers) have disappeared. Everyone is scared to nominate anything now for fear of it leading to a warning, now or later. My group has left, mostly based on fear and lack of clarity on Niantic's part. It is a real shame.
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
Wow. Aaron, Aaron, Aaron. How can someone miss the mark on so many levels at the same time? It's honestly amazing.
Trail markers that list the name of the trail are good candidates, you say? Then why are trail markers like these:
being removed en masse? I'm using your words here. These are not "just numbers or arrows". The trail name is RIGHT THERE.
And this nonsense about the trail markers not being "unique" enough is downright laughable. The focus of the submissions isn't the markers themselves. It's the UNIQUE stretches of hiking/biking trail they represent. Trail markers of the same trail are SUPPOSED to look the same. That's how you know you're still following the right trail! Because you keep seeing the same markers!
And how are sticker markers not permanent? They are just as permanent as virtually every other wayspot object. EVERYTHING that has a wayspot on it can suddenly be removed.
Playgrounds can be removed, so I guess they're not permanent. Reject all playgrounds!
Statues can be removed. Look at all the Confederate statues in the US that were removed. I bet plenty of them had wayspots on it. Guess statues aren't permanent either. Reject all statues!
It's baffling that even Niantic employees don't understand their own rejection reasons. The temporary/seasonal rejection reason is for objects that you know FOR A FACT will 100% not be around in a short while. Like Christmas/Halloween decorations. You KNOW FOR A FACT that those will be gone soon. Non-seasonal temporary things are things like traveling circuses, carnivals or county fairs. THAT'S the example your own rejection criteria page gives! A circus tent! You KNOW FOR A FACT those won't be around in a matter of weeks if not days after being submitted.
Tell me exactly when a given sticker marker will be removed and I will accept it as temporary. But if you can't, then sticker markers are to be considered as "permanent until proven otherwise", just like EVERYTHING ELSE.
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
Niantic is wedded to these email procedures. They haven't got either the logic or the wording worked out properly, that's why there are dire warnings on the advisory messages and the real warnings don't indicate where on the strike/ban scale you are, etc.
Each of us must choose to what extent we are willing to participate - if at all - and whether to feed back about it or just remain silent.
We do have the right and the obligation to use our best judgement. It would be foolish to attempt to follow random comments as though they were gospel.
I'm sorry, and don't mean to throw shade, but some of the staff seem to lack the capacity to instruct others. Let them do the stuff they do well, but don't allow them to distract you away from the top-down guidance you already have. If the company wants us to change course, they know where the content guidelines, criteria, contribution management system and tool-tips are.
Re: More Appeals Coming (Discussion)
On kne hand, yay, faster appeals, on tbe other, still think the appeals team is in severe need of an improvement on the guidelines, as a lot of rejection either
Haven't bothered to read through the appeal and nomination (I've had a few ask for info, which was in the supporting info)
Have used a rejection reason that isn't a rejection criteria (generic business or generic sign for things that aren't businesses or generic signs, like trail markers or unique fitness places)
Seem almost nonsensical in general
Can we look tk have the trains g for the appeals team improved first?
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
I feel like we're kinda beating a ... horse at this point, but I still want to post this conversation that happened in a discord yesterday when we started talking about this trail marker business. It illustrates how trail markers are used and why they are important to locals in wooded areas. We have a lot of parks that have deep woods with trail systems that go for long distances.
It's important to know the difference between a deer trail and the official walking trail but without the trail markers, it's not always easy to see that difference.
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
I'm going to give my opinion in Spanish:
Personalmente me apena profundamente que un comentario/afirmación de este estilo se haga público en un foro tan a la ligera. Los marcadores de ruta son el ejemplo perfecto de lo que un wayspot debería ser, son el objeto por excelencia que promueve hacer ejercicio y explorar. Cuando revisamos marcadores de ruta no se nos pregunta su diseño, si es más feo o más bonito o si es más simple o más complejo. Las tres últimas preguntas son las que principalmente nos dan a entender si un wayspot cumple los criterios de aceptación o no. Obviamente se puede rechazar por alguno de las cuatro primeras preguntas, como cualquier nominación, pero nunca porque sea más simple cuando sí está fomentando la exploración.
Los marcadores de ruta son de vital importancia para cualquiera de los juegos y Wayfarer, restringirlos tanto lo único que va a provocar es que no se nomine ninguno por miedo y no nos conviene esto ya habiendo suficiente miedo, recelo o desconocimiento en la comunidad. Y ya no solo es importante en los juegos, multitud de personas alrededor de todo el mundo les gusta hacer senderismo y seguir rutas y esta es una gran forma de darlas a conocer a nivel local y nacional. Hablaré por Europa, más concretamente por mi país, pero aquí son muchísimos los marcadores de ruta aceptados que ya no serían válidos y otros tantos que ya no podrían ser nominados. Estoy seguro que son cientos de miles las rutas en muchos países de todos los continentes que carecen de los recursos suficientes para hacer "bonitos" o "elegibles" según las palabras de Aaron. Restringirlos supondrá perder uno de los pilares de Wayfarer, la exploración. Pero lo peor no es esto, es el hecho de que se esté castigando a las personas que en algún momento nominaron y consiguieron que se aceptase un marcador de ruta que según los criterios, que han sido los mismos durante tantos años, eran elegibles.
Estoy seguro que esto no es una opinión personal de Aaron ni ha sido decisión únicamente suya el haber decidido que cientos de miles de marcadores de ruta ya no sean válidos. Espero con ganas que el equipo debata sobre todo esto nuevamente, piense en cómo ha reaccionado la comunidad (obviamente en contra de la afirmación hecha) y se retracten de alguna manera. Yo como embajador (aunque siga sin mi tag que lo confirme) como muchos de mis compañeros (como se puede leer en algunos comentarios más arriba), no compartimos el comentario compartido por un miembro de Niantic.
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
Care to explain how dime-a-dozen sports fields and playgrounds **are** interesting and dime-a-dozen trail markers **aren't**?
I can literally drive around town and pinpoint two dozen soccer field portals that are all using the exact same mass-produced goals, or several playgrounds that use the exact same mass-produced pieces of playground equipment.
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
What happened to letting the community decide what's eligible? Use your best judgement?
"As stated in our June 2023 AMA we aim to ensure that the community is able to bring unique and significant places we may have never discovered. Niantic is a global company with a diverse workforce and we strive to create a map that reflects the world’s many cultures and perspectives. However, we recognize that we cannot be experts on every location, and we rely on the community to help us identify important places and landmarks that should be included on our map. By not significantly changing our criteria, we are ensuring that we do not impose our own limited view of the world, and that we instead allow the community to help shape the map."
Re: Is it considered abuse to use another player's account for extra appeals?
The user has created a lot of posts asking for feedback. It's obvious they're interested in learning and contributing.
Incidentally, you can double your nominations by playing Ingress!
This is certainly enticing but it also will help the user slow down and appreciate another game and maybe learn a little more about the POI and gain new perspective. I learned a lot when I took that route, especially doing Missions.
@11Pekoe-PGO Ingress is a lot of fun and had its own lore that you can get into or play as just a "capture the flag" sort of PvP with the community. As frustrating as local Frogs/Smurfs may be, it's more fun than in an area run by AI 😉
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
This comment makes no sense.
Trails are interesting. The markers just help with following the trail and making sure you get to see all the interesting things that the trail has to offer, many of which might not be eligible to submit by themselves due to being unsigned natural features like meadows or woodlands. This means that they definitely do promote exercise and exploration.
There are two trails in my area that are both a similar length. I've submitted markers along nearly the full length of one of them (after Giffard clarified their eligibility), and I've submitted markers along part of the other one. The comments made by @NianticAaron make me not want to finish what I've started, which is doing the exact opposite of promoting exploration and exercise. I'm glad that the ambassadors all seem to recognise this and that they're speaking up about it.
Sure, a trail marker might not be the Mona Lisa, the Sphinx, or the Tower of London, but it doesn't need to be those things to still promote the core values of wayfarer and still be interesting.
