Countries with their "own rules"
DerWelfe2205-PGO
Posts: 374 ✭✭✭✭
Just wanted to get some opinions and experiences on the topic of regions that make their own rules for wayfarer. I for example feel like it is nearly impossible to get trail markers and post offices accepted in germany. (And I'm not talking about stickers. I had proper metal trail markers rejected that had the trails name and further information on them). Just feel like some reviewers haven't gotten the memo that those things are eligible.
(Which by the way is in stark contrast to neighbouring countries like the netherlands where basically every single trail marker is a POI)
Post edited by DerWelfe2205-PGO on
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you wouldnt accept something like this
or something like that
No? That is because you do not know what it is for the people in the country their are in.
That is why the system is broken. Noone in Germany would accept a Post Office, as people always reject them. Like my trail markers who do get rejected.
For Germans, a Post Office and a Trail Marker are simply not a POI. that is the "Common Sense".
In Thailand or Japan things like my examples are something that is a valid Wayspot, here in Germany you might would reject them as "Seasonal, Not Temporary".
Some examples of 'own rules' do make sense, as we're supposed to rate the 'cultural value' of PoIs, and different cultures will value things differently.
I get that. But to me it often feels just random. Stucco reliefs for example. They ALWAYS get accepted even in cities like vienna where basically every building has those. The result of that is that a significant portion of waypoints in vienna are just Stucco reliefs. They are super generic and could be considered mass-produced. Nobody cares. Trail markers on the other hand get rejected because they are "common" even though their cultural value is much higher.
And it undermines the initial idea behind waypoints. Nobody will use this database in order to "explore the real world" when all it shows you is the same generic stuff.
I quote a NiaChaosmonkey because Rodensteiner said Post Offices are invalid. But they're. I don't know if Germany's post offices are in shops or not standalone... But if is a building then it's a 5* ...
i didnt say that Post Offices are invalid, Seklai-PGO. I said that noone accepts those.
Of course a Standalone Postoffice is valid. Still i have never had one accepted.
We do have alot of Post Offices that do have something else to sell. So that might be the cause for many others to be rejected.
It's hard in Canada, at least in Québec.
Try to add this in additional informations to educate bad reviewers. Since a lot of them are in the wood. A lot are not visible in google maps as well. I would suggest downloading the Street Views app and uploading a photosphere
Here's Niantic's official statement on it
Trailheads, trail markers, mile/distance markers, etc. - Acceptable, if they have a trail name on them. Simple mile markers along a trail with nothing other than a number should be rejected."
https://www.greenbelly.co/pages/how-to-read-hiking-trail-signs-markers-blazes#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20a%20trail,of%20direction%20or%20an%20intersection.
The UK has several things that wouldn’t be accepted elsewhere.
Some red phoneboxes for example where phoneboxes in the US and other places wouldn’t be accepted.
Same for postboxes (except E II R) are accepted as historically significant with older monarch cyphers, where a postbox in the US would have no distinguishing marks or significance to my knowledge.
I did add that information after some trail markers I submitted got rejected. They still got rejected. Nothing you can do when the majority of reviewers thinks trail markers shouldn't be waypoints.
Edit: And before someone brings it up, nothing else was wrong with my nominations. Just this year 60 of my submissions were accepted. I know how to take a good supporting photo etc. It's really just that reviewers in my region don't like trail markers.
The big one is the UK's absolute obsession over post boxes when these are verboten everywhere else.
yes, but only certain old ones. ppl got a little OCD over these
Virtually impossible to get a local hotspot approved in Australia, everything is marked as generic business.
When you nominate you should be able to select the category of the wayspot. The reviewer should then see the category and Niantic's rules on the category. Maybe they could integrate a checklist with the criteria on that category, If all those criteria are fullfilled it is autoapproved
Many reviewers seem to ignore supporting information. Many reviewers see to not read the information and updates provided by Niantic on the criteria for wayspots. That is what is causing the problem. My suggestion would counter that and would even educate the reviewer on the criteria.
In Belgium, potales (small Virgin Mary altars built either in a dedicated shrine or directly into house's walls) are always accepted, even when they technically break the PRP rule. On the other hand, getting a local business approved is nigh impossible.
State instead of country, but we New Jersey folks tend to believe that a diner is such a classic part of NJ lore that they should get approved more often. Not mine, of course, because my stuff is rejected nonstop, but overall ... :p
yes, trail markers galore. didnt get accepted
Are they named trails or just numbered routes?
That is a group of waysigns instead of trail markers.
that is the exact problem of this.
what is a trail marker? what is a waysign?
people cannot differentiante
they have both. these signs are trail markers and waysigns. They are Named Trails also.
It's rather simple. A trail marker marks the beginning, course, and end of a trail. A waysign tells you which way to go to reach a specific destination.
and again, the exactly point i wanted to show you - in TheFarix-PGO´s World a trail marker is something totally different than in my world.
These "Waysigns" are on the beginning, and and in the course of the trail. They are Named, and also contain the point where they lead to as the kilometer.
Wait, why aren't post offices allowed, they are in the guidelines if stand alone
And what about all the trail markers along the trail? Are they not also trail markers? If yes, then they usually point in s direction to go for the trail
I fail to see how we should treat "waysigns" or trail markers differently. Niantic stated we only need to have the name of the trail on them.
Trailmarkers and Trail Blazes aren't the same thing. Markers are generally at important intersections or meaningful mile numbers. Blazes just tell you you're still on the trail and going the right direction.
I love signs like these. I think they are good. But it would also depend on the context. I would have to see if it's at a major Junction of trails and not just a road sign on the side of the road. Since I'm not in Germany I don't know how standard those are.
I think what you call context can be problematic. There are, for example, some places in Germany that have a lot of trail Markers. So many in fact that if they all were accepted they would make up the majority of wayspots in the region. And that leeds to ALL of them being rejected because some reviewers think they would create a precedent If they ever accept one.
The spots you mentioned are rejected as temporary objects even in Japan.
In rare cases, they are approved because of low-level judges, but those who do will be punished eventually.
Don't speak ill of other countries based on your assumptions.
the spots i mentioned are perfect wayspots in the countries they are from. i just picked two random wayspots in Bangkok and somewhere in Japan.
His example is totally fine. In Germany it is usual, that there are signs like his on evry hiking trail crossing. Those show the next inermediate targets in written letters, and the km to these ponts. the one big problem with the rules, like written down by Nia, is that the trail name is nearly never written down on the signs - it is hidden behind a symbol or a color code, like you can see included on evry partially sign above. Even the most famous german hiking trail, the Rennsteig, isn't written down on most of its trail markers. It's only a symbol code too....
Here a typical example from eastern Germany:
Here the white-color-white markers stand for different named trails. white red white for example is called "Mittlere Saalehorizontale".
So these are 5* candidates.
The 1* example for Germany would be those symbols alone on a pole or as markers on a tree, that shall only hint that you still didnt leave the right path....