I keep trying to get those NYPD call boxes into the game
Quittryhardin-PGO
Posts: 7 ✭✭
I know they are a borderline dime a dozen but I gotta try to get more stops nominated near me. I live in the suburbs and all of the stops are a bit further off I keep seeing them get nominated yet when I try for some reason I can't get them in are they allowed or should I just stop trying?
Comments
How do you prove it fits an eligibility and none of the rejection criteria? Can't reference an existing object since criteria changes. Can't reference what is in queue since not every nomination is acceptable.
I doubt Niantic has an official ruling on them. As a regular visitor to NY I feel like they're too ubiquitous to be noteworthy, though I can imagine that there might be some unusual/rare/famous ones around.
There's a parallel to postboxes in the UK. Nearly ever red postbox has a royal cypher on on it, which is a monogram for the monarch who reigned when the box was installed. Local convention seems to be that EiiR boxes (Queen Elizabeth II) are rejected for being common, George VI is marginal, and anything older than that is typically approved. (Insert some handwaving because there's more complexity/rarity in postboxes there, but that's the high-level overview.)
Hello and Welcome @XxMachineGun-PGO
As a U.K. wayfinder my only knowledge of these phone boxes comes from Top Cat and Officer Dibble. 😀
A golden rule is don’t view what you have found in games as a guide as to what is likely to be accepted now. Guidelines change and sometimes things that shouldn’t be accepted get through.
If you want to try, and it sounds a long sh0t, as a submitter you really have to sell the individual case.
You would need to say why this is a point that is worth visiting to meet the exploration eligibility.
I can see different images online- is it an unusual design?
Search online for any specialist groups that could provide knowledge.
Make it interesting.
Dont say anything about we need stops in supplementary info as that irks some reviewers and you will need all reviewers to be onside.
Are there other things locally you could submit ?
Good Luck
Technically the red phone boxes in uk would be the parallel, and they are mostly acceptable, there's a type that's too common, but I have no idea what it is and what it looms like, I've probably submitted it but I'm 5 for 5 on red phone boxes
Info on the phone boxes, not to be confused with police boxes which should be given 5* across the board ;)
I would think these block emergency services. If someone needed to use one to call the police, access to it needs to be free and clear. The person shouldn't have to wade through a bunch of nerds standing around playing a game.
What is the history of them?
Are they still in service today?
Do y'all mean this type
or this type
I feel as if i probably should have given a little more context my bad but mine the one next to my house has been essentially decommissioned it has all sorts of things on it and i dont believe it even works anymore i havent seen anyone repair this NYPD call box let me attach a photo.
Its been pretty rusted over and it used to have tape on it but some kids randomly removed it i know this is a more recent model but i see this exact model constantly in game and i have no idea how
If I visit NYC, why would I go see that? Especially if I've already seen another one? You'll need to explain to reviewers why it's good to explore.
Yeah, this seems only marginally more interesting than a street garbage can.
Put a GR cypher on it and it will fly through reviewing...
True to be honest but theres genuinely nothing else in the area and im reaching so idk if theres anyway you can help me to explain how it could be more interesting like any tips i would be really grateful
Completely fair and honestly I get that, but I'm definitely trying to figure out how to get a stop or gym in my general area. There's sadly nothing else here worth nominating so I'm trying to reach and I noticed this one isnt really normal looking so i was reaching and trying to do something.
I would look into its history if its historically significant then I don't think there should be any reaon for it to be rejected
@XxMachineGun-PGO I get where you're coming from but that's not quite how the system is supposed to work. The whole point of Wayfarer is to find eligible/interesting things and submit them, not to try to populate areas by finding anything that can possibly be submitted and maybe get lucky. I review tons of candidates, and so many things where the supporting text is some variation on "Need a stop here", "There are no stops nearby", "Trying to get a stop near home", "Lots of people walk here so there should be a stop", etc.
There are no playgrounds in the area? No interesting artwork? No uniquely interesting restaurants, quirky coffee shops, historic plaques, community halls, etc?
If you really, REALLY want to get this through, and you're 100% certain it's been decommissioned, then your best bet is going to be guerilla art. I'm not advocating for this, and I don't think it's a good idea, but you wouldn't be the first person to create artwork to get a couch. Or turn it into a little free library, but then you're signing up to maintain an LFL.
If all else fails, move to Manhattan where you can't walk down a street without tripping over three wayspots in every block... including a few submitted by yours truly despite the fact that I live on the other coast. (I'm joking about moving, but I'm quite certain you also wouldn't be the first person to choose a resident based on wayspots.)
Honestly, I found it quite interesting. I'm from Britain and had never seen a set up like that before. It would make me want to look up the history of it, but then, I like post boxes before queen lizzie so my view point is probably a bit skewed lol
My thoughts echo those of Gazza.
i would go for the history side.
somewhere online there will be a group nof enthusiasts who can help.
If there were a few of them they'd be historic. Thousands of them all over the city? Not so much, unless there's something special about this specific one.
Remember as well though, they might be out in the suburbs where these kind of boxes would be few and far between. What's common as muck in one place might be rare in another. Not saying this is or isn't rare where the op is, but it is something to take into consideration as well
Here's an interesting article from 2013, at which point there were 15,000 of them in the city. The ones with both Fire and Police buttons are newer. According to this 2019 article at least some of them were still active then. This 2015 article suggests that most still worked then, except the ones that were knocked out by Hurricane Sandy. I can't find any information saying that they have been decommissioned.
Wikipedia has 271 photos of them and there is some additional information on the FDNY page.
The older ones have a pleasing aesthetic, a certain iconic look.
Technically I guess they don't really meet any of the more recent criteria standards.
That being said though we are awash in postboxes that have managed to be added on really just age alone so if you can find a way to convince reviewers go for it.
It might be an uphill struggle though to get it added.
When you are reading a thread about standards while doing reviews...
I checked mission creator recently and a good 1000+ are already wayspots regardless of the usual lack of merit most have. I rarely review them but reject every time. old != historic and they're still quite commonly found.
Wow, someone disagreed with a post that contained nothing but informational links about those callboxes? Man, people are weird.
Just today I've posted a new thread about this non-sense of spamming disagrees in this forum, but as I've included screenshots instead of linking to the comments it won't appear until Monday.
I might like or not your opinions, but when someone state a fact I think that clicking disagree is an act of trolling and Niantic should stop this abusive behavior as it discourages new users to take part when they see this attitude.
Yep I had that bizarre situation recently when all I gave information.
I presume there may be some translation / misinterpretation of what disagree might mean or as you say just trolling.
I don't know of any statement that disallows them, but if you submit that call box, I will reject it every time UNLESS:
You convince me it is a great place of exploration. This would entail proving that the city is preserving this as an historic relic they are actively keeping up and encouraging people to visit.
or
You convince me it is a great place for exercise. Having trouble coming up with any way it could meet this one, but maybe if a famous road race has this as a check point and you can prove the route.
or
You convince me this is a great place to be social. Does a local group meet here regularly to discuss out of service call boxes or something?
Those are the three pillars of Wayspot criteria. Besides the short list of things that are not eligible, it is up to you to prove that it meets one of these criteria, and I frankly don't see how you could do it. Especially since the call box you showed a picture of already has vandalism, which the criteria for photos says to reject.
I had a friend in New York once try to persuade me that the old "push for walk signal" round metallic unadorned buttons at street crossings should be considered eligible because they're old, and since the lights are now automatically timed they're not in functional use (historic?) although they did at one point aid in exploration.
He did not convince me. :)
Slightly disagree with your first one that the city would need to be encouraging people to visit then to be a level for accepting as encouraging exploration, simply because, listed buildings don't have governments promoting people to see those, yet I'd argue they are good for exploring as its nice to know what is listed in an area and why