COTA 'Christ of the Abyss' was just removed
DarthLayer-ING
Posts: 42 ✭✭
A long standing portal that's been here since inception was just removed today.
Why?
Because res was butthurt and couldn't stand it. Absolutely pathetic move by Niantic removing a legit anchor because one side just can't. #BushLeague
I was here Saturday. It was legit before I fielded over the keys, but noooooooooooot now.
WTF Niantic?
Post edited by NianticAaron on
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Comments
Niantic have to review the removals and only remove in certain circumstances.
Faction/game bias don’t play in to removals. What was the Wayspot?
You can appeal its removal over here - https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/categories/removal-appeals
Provide all the information required and someone from Niantic will take another look and bring the Wayspot back online if it’s eligible.
Hello @DarthLayer-ING
I get that you are annoyed but…..
This is a community forum and Niantic staff don’t always answer so this may not be read by who you are intending.
It is not helpful to bring a game based dispute here as this is just about wayfarer, and the tone creates an unpleasant atmosphere for ordinary wayfinders who have nothing to do with this.
Try the invalid appeals section, but be respectful please.
I'm confused... Aren't the various Christs of the Abyss (I know there are multiple) all underwater and thus not accessible by pedestrians?
Is any island also not pedestrian accessible as well?
You can walk around on an island - I literally do this all the time as I'm based in the UK. Doesn't matter if you need to use transport to get there, so long as the actual location is safe for pedestrians to walk up to once they're there.
You cannot safely walk on the bottom of the sea to my knowledge. At least, I know I certainly don't have the gills required for such a feat.
My reply got eaten by mod review 🤦🏼♂️ please standby haha
Seriously, we're going to start removing decade old legit portals because of the new standards?
Or, only when they are legitimately used? It would still be here today if not for the fields put up Saturday. I've owned that portal for over 2 years.
The wayfarer perspective is game neutral. The question they are interested in is “does it belong in our database?”
if it doesn’t and meets removal criteria then it goes from the database and then from any games that sync.
if you believe it should stay then add information to your post over in appeals explaining why it meets wayfarer criteria. That will make a stronger case than simply referencing the game.
This would be a difficult loss for me, as well. I grew up visiting the one in Penneycamp in the Keys. But technically, it's underwater so it doesn't have pedestrian access.
But is that the opinion of the reviewers or the rules?
Since yes it could be underwater, but by all means use a tube and be able to breath under water, you could go without getting hit by a car? There are for sure no pavements, but it would still be doable.
how should we deem the lighthouses standing in only water? They have no real pedestrial access? What ablut towers and some special ornaments on elder buldings, you cant reach them by foot, since noone can walk up a wall? Should they also be removed?
There are a lots of portals without actual pedestrial access, created by niantic them self sometimes..
Sorry, you're just reaching and being pedantic here. Anything that is 100% underwater does not have pedestrian access - those are the official rules. Using a snorkel to get to a statue is not an approved way to play Niantic games.
I've never seen a lighthouse that is always underwater. I know of one that is underwater during certain tides but then has pedestrian access during low tide. That is a POI and I would advocate for it to stay because people do hike out to it at low tide. The key term being "hike," not "swim." We've been given guidance from Niantic that "fountains" in the middle of ponds don't have safe pedestrian access and you could most likely walk to those. So, yes, it is quite obvious that something underwater in the ocean is not considered safe for Wayfarer.
I agree that something underwater would not have safe pedestrian access. The one exception that I could think of would be something with a permanently-moored observation platform that let you look down at it. If you could boat out to the platform and walk around on it then that seems legit to me.
I think you would be arrested for swimming in the pond for a fountain, and to put a boat into that pond would surely look hillarious.
But there are a lot of lighthouses standing in water, so called kassunLighthouses.. and they are standing in the water so you would have a hard time walking up to them. But trying to walk to moust islands is also very hard. You must use a boat, and that means some of the way to the poi doesnt have pedestrial access?
One may also start to wonder, from exact wich distance starts the critheria of pedestrial access? Since outside a town, on a field there are a birdwatchtower. Roads leading there has no pavement since being on the countryside.. the only person actually with perfect pedestrial access would be one farmer, who lives close by, and could walk by foot from his house out on the field..
But that doesnt make the poi only reachable for one person only, since many persons has been visiting this birdwatchtower. But does the birdwatchtower has pedestrial access?
Perhaps it was removed because it lacked safe, pedestrian access (unless you count spiny lobsters for safe, pedestrian access). If a fountain in a small stormwater pond lacks safe, pedestrian access, then surely, a portal in 25 feet (7.6 meters) of sea water 6 miles (9.7 km) offshore lacks safe, pedestrian access.
https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/26703/speed-spencer-park-fountain-tallahassee-florida-usa-invalid-portal-removal
An island isn't covered by 25 feet (7.6 meters) of seawater. Ergo, an island likely has pedestrian access.
When you field off a portal, you call attention to it. Actions have consequences.
One of the most basic criteria for wayspot eligibility is safe pedestrian access. A wayspot located 7 miles off the coast, and then even still being 25 feet underwater, does not provide safe pedestrian access. As such, wayspots that do not have safe pedestrian access are also within Niantic's wayspot removal criteria.
Niantic's strictness on removing locations due to pedestrian access goes as far as fountains in the middle of small, apartment complex ponds, or statues in the middle of a roundabout. Pedestrian access is not as simple as being able to stand at, or get near an object.
While the Christ of the Abyss statue is truly an interesting landmark with interesting history, that doesn't mean it meets the criteria to be a wayspot/portal, and the fact that the portal has been in the game for many years also does not give it an exemption either.
I also agree with @PlumbousGasBag-ING on their point that when players utilize portals such as these, you call attention to them (and this goes for those who specifically utilize intentionally misplaced or fake wayspots as well). Christ of the Abyss is not alone though - There are plenty of interesting places being lost to the sea that should currently, or will eventually, need to be removed as wayspots.
Some examples include:
Dome Houses on the Point: An iconic structure which slowly faded into the sea over many years, losing its pedestrian access - Of course that was before Hurricane Irma destroyed two of the domes in 2017, followed by Hurricane Ian destroying the rest in 2022.
Amphitrite, the Bronze Mermaid under the Sea: Another underwater statue, similar to Christ of the Abyss, located in the Cayman Islands.
Sand Island Lighthouse: A lighthouse whose surrounding island has all but eroded over time despite multiple restoration efforts, leaving only a tiny pile of jagged rocks that teeter on the edge of what could be considered safe pedestrian access. This particular wayspot also features third party photos, stolen from the internet, a separate violation of the rules of Wayfarer.
Perhaps a cleanup is in order.
(BTW, appeals like this belong in the Invalid Wayspot Appeals section of the forum, linked below)
https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/categories/removal-appeals
This has now been raised in the relevant section so probably worth adding any comments there and Niantic staff will review it in time.