Best Of
Re: Another Niantics review where the community DID NOT decide.
Well it was accepted. Again another Niantics internal review 🤷🏻♂️ didn’t change anything. And yet again the email claiming that the community accepted it. Do they think we don’t notice.
Historic Lighthouse. Bad Appeal Decision
Hello,
I am looking to share my feedback to Niantic in the hopes this appeal result can be overturned, as recommended in the November 2023 AMA.
The nomination in question is the historic Stratford Shoal Lighthouse. It is located on a small island in the middle of the Long Island Sound. Built in 1877, it remains an important nautical landmark and promotes exploration today. The year "1877" is embedded in the stonework on the side of the lighthouse tower.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, shown at the link below.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/132353507
The lighthouse has an entry in Google Maps (albeit slightly misplaced):
It shows other images of this nearly 150-year-old lighthouse that several other adventurous explorers have taken personally.
Since Google Maps satellite imagery does not capture this small island in the water, the location of the lighthouse can be verified using the NRHP document that shows 41° 03' 36.0" N, 73° 06' 06.0" W, which is 41.060000, -73.101667. This is only a few feet away from my proposed nomination location at 41.060031,-73.101692. The whole island is probably 150-200 feet across too.
My supporting image shows that the lighthouse can be directly accessed by pedestrian via a boat or kayak since a pedestrian platform with a railing takes a visitor from the shoreline to structure. The railing completely encircles the lighthouse.
Additional images showing the full extent of the lighthouse and island, from the link above:
Wikipedia entry for this lighthouse:
Now I'd like to discuss what NianticCasey said once when this topic came up. "A lighthouse on a small island that is only accessible by boat / ferry would be eligible if there's a public dock or some other way for players to approach on foot once they've docked." - NianticCasey
Lighthouse nominations, such as this one, promote exploration and help explorers discover interesting real-world locations in accordance with Niantic mission. Below are some other interesting examples of similar lighthouses I found:
- Execution Rocks Lighthouse (40.878059,-73.737604) -- Great name!
- Stepping Stones Lighthouse (40.824293,-73.774773)
- Greens Ledge Lighthouse (41.041623,-73.443892)
- Pecks Ledge Light (41.077337,-73.369835)
- Penfield Reef Lighthouse (41.117114,-73.222105)
- Falkner Island Lighthouse (41.212683,-72.653849)
All of the wayspots above are found in the Long Island Sound. The threshold for safe pedestrian access is the following according to Niantic: "Remote nominations, such as those on mountain tops or on small islands, are acceptable if they can safely be accessed on foot." Without an adjustment to my appeal, I do not foresee the community of explorers or another Niantic reviewer to accept this valid nomination in the future.
Thank you for your time.
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
I think you take time to revisit and review what Niantic employees are saying. If they no longer think low-effort trailmarkers are a great place to exercise, quoting that guideline at people is what's going to get reviewers in trouble (assuming player reviewers ever get to review trailmarkers again, that is).
Re: Nominations in Limbo
Update on my saga…
In the last few days, I have been given nominations to review in my municipality and surrounding areas. This is an entirely new development. So far it hasn’t moved any of nominations, but it is giving me hope that my area is no longer in a black hole.
I also filled out a wayfarer survey that asked about my experience. I assume all users received the same email. My responses highlighted the lack of attention to my nominations. The following day, I saw that one of my nominations was moved into voting with the Niantic symbol. This was a first, so I’m wondering if it was a reward for completing the survey.
One question was about the most satisfactory part of my wayfarer experience. I responded that it was the ambassadors in this forum. It was pleasing to give you the well deserved praise.
If you read all of this, thank you.
Re: LDS and Niantic Games
But I started this post because I was asking about what looked like
obvious coordination across the United States to turn a fun game into a
way to get their message out and stated you all can do what you want but
I'm not approving them because I know it is more of the same. If that
means I should be reported then fine.
One of the hardest parts of the Wayfarer experience for me is recognizing and remediating my own personal biases. There are some nomination or edit types that provoke an emotional reaction for me, just as these edits may do for you! When I see these types of things in review, that's where I use my skips - I basically opt out of voting based on emotion, but instead pass those along to a more-impartial community to decide. I think that's the better option.
I do agree, though, that it's a valuable thing to call attention to these types of coordinated and widespread efforts, so I thank you for bringing it up! While this series of edits may be perfectly legit, I think it's a good thing to at least investigate on the Niantic side to be sure it's all being done by the rules.
Re: LDS and Niantic Games
No, I don't find the bullying of, or making fun of, religious people to be funny. Not in the slightest. I don't know what those route rules have to do with this conversation. We are talking about descriptions on POI, not on routes. Routes and Wayfarer do not share the same rules, and shouldn't since many people who are involved in Wayfarer don't even play the game where Routes are available.
Re: Nomination Rejected
I would try to get a better picture without the scooter in the way, and maybe facing the entrance face on instead of at a 45 degree angle.
Also, the fact that people walk past it is completely irrelevant. That's not anything to do with the pub itself. The pub is a great place to socialise, so try to sell it to reviewers as such.
Re: There's no pokestops around me for several dozen kilometers, Niantic just rejected me nomination.
”because there’s no other PokéStops around” isn’t a reason for the community/Niantic to accept your nomination.
A Wayspot needs to be one of the below:
- A great place for exercise
- A great place for exploration
- A great place to be social with others
You mentioned you nominated a store, which generally doesn’t meet any of those. But do feel free to share your nominations so that people can tell you definitively and help you improve.
Re: There's no pokestops around me for several dozen kilometers, Niantic just rejected me nomination.
If you want to share a general location, not exact, there are lots of people who will be willing to look around the area to see if anything catches their eye for you to submit.
In non Wayfarer related news …feel free to add me and I'll send you a gift every day. I'm horrible at opening gifts so don't worry about sending back if you don't have any.
1460 0000 4392
Re: Trailmarkers - warning received
That's frustrating and disheartening for you.
Meanwhile I can go on a 20 minute walk and interact with 15 memorial benches to John Smith, husband, father etc etc
Some that existed before Wayfarer, some after it started, some have had the small metal plaque that you can buy from the local council from anywhere between a couple of hundred quid to >1k removed, some will have it removed in a year or two.





