Niantic responded because of the unfounded claim that Wayspots were being removed as a result of scans. Claims, that apparent, the Pokemon Go community believes is true dispite Niantic's statements to the contrary.
Was that snide comment really necessary? Did you ever consider it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy on the part of Niantic? If people get garbage hurled at them then can we blame those people for hurling garbage back? Two wrong don't make a right but there are people who aren't going to simply 'turn the other cheek'.
Just click the little "Flag" and inform the mods when you feel the comment is game-bashing. Don't otherwise perpetuate the conversation.
But as far as I can tell, the only real reason Niantic/devs don't have a Pokemon Go-exclusive community forum is the sheer scale. There's at least an order of magnitude larger number of active and enthusiastic players, while Niantic is but a small company.
But... at least they engage their players via Twitter, so there's that.
I've been sharing the comments from Casey on this thread every time I see people spreading the story about scanning leading to stops being removed, and asking them to remember that using an official source of information is really important... but unfortunately it seems like people would prefer to believe the conspiracy theories, and they continue to spread these rumours.
There is also widespread encouragement for players not to scan stops correctly, for example only to scan the floor so that the data can't be used for removal.
I wonder if some sort of AI could in future identify when players continually submit scans of the floor and stop them from receiving more of these tasks.
That there is an automated mechanism, that deletes wayspots is of course fake news, thanks to news pages, who see a single reddit thread by a p1ssed user as a reliable source ...
But also I can't believe in Caseys statement, that scan data isn't reviewed by the staff members, who deal with the fake reports. The scan data can be very unambiguous but also be unuseful. But hey, Nia is still unable to use pre-filters, that search for duplicate pictures in their database, check meta data, do an inverse google picture search or identify photoshop by simple signal/noise-analysis ..... I'm not surprised about incompetence ....
This is getting off topic, but the problem there was that too many Pokemon Go players were taking advantage of this exploit and committing Wayfarer abuse by first submitting a nomination in the wrong place so it will become a Pokestop, then moving it to the correct location later. Or moving an existing Wayspot from its correct location into an empty cell so that it would appear in Pokemon Go, then move it back later. If a large number of Pokemon Go players weren't acting in bad faith, Niantic wouldn't not have resorted to such measures.
But when most of the edit reviews are in order to move things around and so many nominations are out of their correct location, then there's a time when they have to put a stop of all the abuse.
Going back to the original topic, this is my personal experience:
On december 6th i in-game reported 9 pokestops on a graveyard in my city which violated the rules. I also did AR-Scans of these wayspots (because i heard of the AR-scanning deletes fake wayspots theory before) and uploaded them the same day.
Every in-game report got declined on december 8th like any other in-game report i ever submitted.
6 of the wayspots which had been declined were deleted on december 10th.
//Edit: I just saw that the topic of the e-mail stated that the report got declined, but the text stated that they will make changes to the place
People ask Niantic does the scanning remove wayspots, @NianticCasey-ING says no and people still continue to question.
The fact is Niantic can delete what they like from their POI database so have no reason to lie about how something is deleted. It may well be that the next PoGo special research contains throw a curveball around a tree or something so that’s why they want AR data.
The most logical scenario IF there is a bug from the posts that I have seen is that an old Paid POI which would take priority over a ‘free’ one is in the database marked as inactive (probably to preserve data integrity for stuff like gym medals if the company want it back ever people keep progress) and the daily build which adds new stops or removes ones that breach proximity rules is not disregarding the POIs with an inactive flag when assessing proximity.
I know that @NianticCasey-ING and others will be looking at this thread and will therefore be able to check if my theory is the case. If it is, they can fix it and you’ll get the erroneously deleted stops back.
How did those pokestops violate the rules? Were they misplaced? They could have been still valid poi’s as long as they met the criteria (historical figures 50+ years old) and you just got valid poi’s removed from your area
The graveyard itself probably asked for their removal. But just a note to @Paede218-PGO, Wayspots are only invalid and removed if they fall into one or more of the following categories:
No Pedestrian Access
Obstructs or interferes with Emergency Services
Private Residential Property
School (up to K12; including Day care/Child care services)
I was just curious as to why they reported a large amount all in one space to see why they actually reported it as it doesnt seem like with the info given that they needed to be removed :)
It wouldn't be the first time someone reported a bunch of Wayspots, demanding that they be removed for not meeting criteria, only to have the property owner also request their removal.
You don't care about location that don't exist. I've scanned and sent several reports about one gym and you reply it should remain. You are very reluctant to removing anything no matter what.
Comments
Niantic responded because of the unfounded claim that Wayspots were being removed as a result of scans. Claims, that apparent, the Pokemon Go community believes is true dispite Niantic's statements to the contrary.
My guess is yes, this is one of the only places Niantic interacts with the playerbase. As far as I know, there are official Ingress forums, but no Pokémon GO equivalent. It would appear these forums are the only way for Pokémon GO players to get an answer out of Niantic. As I repeatedly said, Niantic really ought to improve on their communication skills and have a constructive dialogue with the playerbase instead of consistently taking unilateral decisions out of nowhere.
FYI There are forums for every Niantic product except Pokemon Go. Knowing the userbase, it's quite self-evident why that is the case lol
Was that snide comment really necessary? Did you ever consider it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy on the part of Niantic? If people get garbage hurled at them then can we blame those people for hurling garbage back? Two wrong don't make a right but there are people who aren't going to simply 'turn the other cheek'.
With regard to AR scanning for Wayspots, I have passed on the message to my local community. However, there is still ambivalence to the entire mechanic. People simply just don't care for AR scanning. They'd much rather just play Pokémon GO than do chores for Niantic. As other have highlighted, the rewards are generally crummy.
Just click the little "Flag" and inform the mods when you feel the comment is game-bashing. Don't otherwise perpetuate the conversation.
But as far as I can tell, the only real reason Niantic/devs don't have a Pokemon Go-exclusive community forum is the sheer scale. There's at least an order of magnitude larger number of active and enthusiastic players, while Niantic is but a small company.
But... at least they engage their players via Twitter, so there's that.
We could speculate all day. I am sure with all of the millions, even billions, Pokémon GO brings into Niantic coffers they could afford to spend a few hundred dollars a month for a forum for Pokémon GO. It feels like a post-hoc rationalization to claim "the Pokémon GO community is too big".
I've been sharing the comments from Casey on this thread every time I see people spreading the story about scanning leading to stops being removed, and asking them to remember that using an official source of information is really important... but unfortunately it seems like people would prefer to believe the conspiracy theories, and they continue to spread these rumours.
There is also widespread encouragement for players not to scan stops correctly, for example only to scan the floor so that the data can't be used for removal.
I wonder if some sort of AI could in future identify when players continually submit scans of the floor and stop them from receiving more of these tasks.
That there is an automated mechanism, that deletes wayspots is of course fake news, thanks to news pages, who see a single reddit thread by a p1ssed user as a reliable source ...
But also I can't believe in Caseys statement, that scan data isn't reviewed by the staff members, who deal with the fake reports. The scan data can be very unambiguous but also be unuseful. But hey, Nia is still unable to use pre-filters, that search for duplicate pictures in their database, check meta data, do an inverse google picture search or identify photoshop by simple signal/noise-analysis ..... I'm not surprised about incompetence ....
My gut feeling is such conspiracy theories never would have been thought up had Niantic not changed the algorithm and started removing valid Wayspots from Pokémon GO simply because they were moved into a cell with an existing Wayspot. If a Wayspot is both valid and in a correct location, what's the harm in keeping it? I see no benefit in removing a correctly positioned and valid Wayspot.
Is anyone actually harmed by having a couple of extra Wayspots here and there (that are valid and in correct locations)?
This is getting off topic, but the problem there was that too many Pokemon Go players were taking advantage of this exploit and committing Wayfarer abuse by first submitting a nomination in the wrong place so it will become a Pokestop, then moving it to the correct location later. Or moving an existing Wayspot from its correct location into an empty cell so that it would appear in Pokemon Go, then move it back later. If a large number of Pokemon Go players weren't acting in bad faith, Niantic wouldn't not have resorted to such measures.
This rumor has gotten rather gotten way out of line. Here are the reactions from the wayfarer reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/NianticWayfarer/comments/khp3av/nianticcasey_confirms_that_wayspot_scans_do_not/
A couple extra pokestops wouldn't be a problem.
But when most of the edit reviews are in order to move things around and so many nominations are out of their correct location, then there's a time when they have to put a stop of all the abuse.
Yes, and if you look at what people are saying they simply don't trust Niantic. Niantic needs to earn back the trust of the playerbase. Your own customers aren't people you should be afraid of and yet Niantic likes to make sweeping changes to their games without first having a dialogue with the people who pay and play Pokémon GO.
Going back to the original topic, this is my personal experience:
On december 6th i in-game reported 9 pokestops on a graveyard in my city which violated the rules. I also did AR-Scans of these wayspots (because i heard of the AR-scanning deletes fake wayspots theory before) and uploaded them the same day.
Every in-game report got declined on december 8th like any other in-game report i ever submitted.
6 of the wayspots which had been declined were deleted on december 10th.
//Edit: I just saw that the topic of the e-mail stated that the report got declined, but the text stated that they will make changes to the place
I am not sure why this thread is still going on.
People ask Niantic does the scanning remove wayspots, @NianticCasey-ING says no and people still continue to question.
The fact is Niantic can delete what they like from their POI database so have no reason to lie about how something is deleted. It may well be that the next PoGo special research contains throw a curveball around a tree or something so that’s why they want AR data.
The most logical scenario IF there is a bug from the posts that I have seen is that an old Paid POI which would take priority over a ‘free’ one is in the database marked as inactive (probably to preserve data integrity for stuff like gym medals if the company want it back ever people keep progress) and the daily build which adds new stops or removes ones that breach proximity rules is not disregarding the POIs with an inactive flag when assessing proximity.
I know that @NianticCasey-ING and others will be looking at this thread and will therefore be able to check if my theory is the case. If it is, they can fix it and you’ll get the erroneously deleted stops back.
How did those pokestops violate the rules? Were they misplaced? They could have been still valid poi’s as long as they met the criteria (historical figures 50+ years old) and you just got valid poi’s removed from your area
The graveyard itself probably asked for their removal. But just a note to @Paede218-PGO, Wayspots are only invalid and removed if they fall into one or more of the following categories:
For all other cases, Niantic will review the location if the (verified) property owner contacts them via the form provided in the Pokémon GO or Ingress Help centers. Simply not meeting the current criteria, however, does not mean that the Wayspot is invalid.
...
I was just curious as to why they reported a large amount all in one space to see why they actually reported it as it doesnt seem like with the info given that they needed to be removed :)
It wouldn't be the first time someone reported a bunch of Wayspots, demanding that they be removed for not meeting criteria, only to have the property owner also request their removal.
Maybe the gravesite manager saw somebody walking around taking pictures and video on their camera phone and investigated it.
But seriously it would have to otherwise be a big coincidence.
You don't care about location that don't exist. I've scanned and sent several reports about one gym and you reply it should remain. You are very reluctant to removing anything no matter what.
The post that you quoted states that they don't use the AR scans to judge the validity of a Wayspot
I said reports and scans.
Yes, and I said that the scans doesn't matter.
If your reports are rejected you can appeal them here: https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/categories/removal-appeals