Who do you agree with?
PkmnTrainerJ-ING
Posts: 4,423 Ambassador
Listening to the Wayspotters Podcast (it’s okay, but not fantastic) and the hosts came to a heads about a Wayspot.
One of them (Host A) saw a fire station on their Nearby when reviewing, and used the Wayfarer app to report it for obstructing emergency services as it’s still in use.
The other host (Host B) mentions that he should not have reported the Wayspot, as it was “grandfathered” in and not bothering anyone, and mentioned they got rid of a gym POI on Pokémon GO.
I wanted to see what people thought. I’ve used Host A & Host B, as I know the hosts are on this forum from time to time, and some may be friends with them on the games.
My view is that reporting it was the correct thing to do as it shouldn’t have gone live, and should have been reported long ago, and as mentioned players will have had six years to earn whatever badges etc. they need from it.
Comments
I don't necessarily agree with either host actually.
Host A, when reviewing generally should be focusing on the nomination itself, and not necessarily on other things around it such as things that appear on duplicate maps. In addition, if Host A is not necessarily native or lives near the the wayspot to be reported (i.e. reviewing from across the globe), it's not their responsibility to just casually report things way away from their location. Not all fire station wayspots disrupt the emergency services of said fire station. If I, instead was rewarded a key to the Space Rover, and then saw a live Fire Station as a portal, I'd report that in-game. Not in the Wayfarer app, which now opens it up to explorative reporting.
Host B has a fair point. If the gym was grandfathered in, been a POI since the dawn of Pokemon GO and was not subject to complaints or removal requests, then live and let live. But at the end of the day, it meets removal criteria, so it must be gone. Provided that the gym activates somewhere else that might be more beneficial and is not a net gym loss, it is fair to remove. I've removed several grandfathered things, regardless of whether something that does not exist doesn't bother anyone, or is clearly in a child care centre.
I do not encourage remote reporting at all because it does not take into consideration the local knowledge of wayfinders. Reporting without repercussions or accountability just leaves it to accountability issues again. It's like alleging Niantic has boots on the ground, and then they miserably mess up the Space Needle in Seattle. In the last episode, one of the hosts decided to report something a block south of the wayspot of the week as a duplicate because they seemed to be the exact same utility box. When in fact, at much closer glance, the blue rider is not the same as the red cap shopper.
Interesting view on it. Though
Provided that the gym activates somewhere else that might be more beneficial and is not a net gym loss, it is fair to remove. I've removed several grandfathered things, regardless of whether something that does not exist doesn't bother anyone, or is clearly in a child care centre.
do you mean by this that you would not report something that met removal criteria if it meant there would then only be one Wayspot in that cell, leading to no gym in that cell?
I didn't know they still removed stuff there, last time I saw wayspots at a school when reviewing I checked street view, satelite and it had a pin on map and they didn't remove it.
If it was something in a fire station that didn't get in the way I would say leave it but the fire station itself even if it isn't getting in the way is iffy.
I don't see a problem with remote reporting in some cases, for example 3rd party photos. That's not a judgment call and you don't have to be "on the ground" to find an exact match with a Google search. Exact duplicates (same words and same photo) of other existing wayspots is something else that can be reliably found remotely. In the second case it might not be obvious which one is the original, but often it is.
I do agree that emergency services, prp, and k-12 are more likely to be mis-reported remotely.
for wayspots that are fire stations, are in the middle of roads or bodies of water, or are clearly within school grounds i will report remotely as there's really no local knowledge advantage in these cases. the wording for the EMS rejection is vague but to me a wayspot that is a fire station should be removed regardless of where exactly the location pin was placed. to a certain extent I feel this way because so many folks will use existing examples as evidence for their own and like it or not there's no way to ever change that.
You know, I was thinking I’d just leave it alone but @tehstone-Ambo has convinced me. If an ounce of ineligible POI removal equals a pound of coal prevention, that makes it worth the removal, remote report or no.
Not all fire station wayspots do, but some do. I would report a fire station IF I thought the wayspot interfered with emergency services. I would not and should not consider potential impacts to the playfield in any specific game when doing this.