The topic is a shadowy bloodstain of what was once a dead horse, but the main participant absolutely refuses to put the stick down. @NianticGiffard, I think it is well past time this topic is locked as it is going nowhere.
The fact that there are no Pokemon spawns should be a clear signal about the Niantic's stance on the subject. It doesn't matter that you click disagree on every post from other people, it's Niantic the one that sets the rules.
How would you feel if your whole town was blocked from spawns?
I'll keep advocating for change because the current stance (and defense from other wayfarers here) is nonsensical other than "it's the way it is". Still doesn't make it right.
And again, you've clicked disagree on a statement as basic as "it's Niantic the one that sets the rules".
If you disagree with that, then I think that it's impossible for anyone here to help you: Niantic's staff can't help you if you don't recognize that Lightship is owned by Niantic and they are the one that sets the rules, and other users are just that: users and the first rule here is that the rules are set by Niantic.
The military commanders were the ones that made niantic block the spawns. Why don’t you go to the wing commander of what ever base you live on and talk to them. Oh thats right they wont have time for things this silly. Its the militaries rule on it not niantics. Advocate to your local military and see how far you get. @NianticGiffard can this thread be closed yet?
When did he retire? Maybe there wasn’t a problem because of the geoblocking and rules set in place. Because I for sure know there used to be problems. Talk to the current ones. Your retired father (thanks for his service) can’t change much in regards to the current regulations now
Hence why I get annoyed with this conversation when it pops up. I know first hand that it’s not a problem, I’d love to know why the policy/stance is the way it is, and everyone here is just speculating and trying to tell me/others like it’s fact when they don’t actually know the reason.
and then on top people want all the waypoints removed from bases which just sends me even farther over the edge… sigh.
In the end I completely understand why the ruling doesnt make sense. I live on a base and have lived close to one my entire life. In Canada there were problems with it (a simple google with “military and pokemon go” will reveal a list of articles about it and the Canadian military).
Yeah that's the only reasoning I can think of? There was trespassing issues and also people getting in car accidents playing in the news headlines everywhere when the game came out. So since there's no straight answer that's the only concrete reason I can find (but living on base and also talking with my father it hasn't been an issue or even remotely on anyones radar since then).
So when everyone on here keeps spouting that it's unsafe and the military bans gps/ar/tracking that's untrue. (And when they want existing waypoints remove thats even worse...)
The ban on spawns is completely based on OSM tags, Niantic has those areas banned just as they have done for other tags for land uses (construction is one I can think of off the top of my head).
So the only valid reason I can find for why it is the way it is right now is because of the bad PR/press that Niantic got from the release of PoGo, and they are the ones that are maintaining this unfair rule, nothing to do with anything else.
I'll keep advocating for a change, IDK how it would be accomplished since its all on Niantic's side but whatever. I wish they answered this question in the AMA instead of straight up avoiding it...
Yeah, Niantic and everyone else leaning on the idea that the military doesn't want location-based apps is simply wrong. There has never been such a position. You can drive around on a military base with GPS just fine. There is no sensitive issue. It's a small town, like any other small town.
The singular point about location services has to do with operational areas, and they are very easy to distinguish. They are not going to look like regular neighborhoods or parks or shopping areas. Moreover, it will never be anyone's responsibility to run interference on these areas, in the remote possibility that you can't tell. All anyone needs to do is review per the published criteria. The military itself will handle appropriate procedures for preventing people from using location-based services. It is absolutely laughable that anyone outside the military would think to do this job for them. It's not anyone else's responsibility. It is not the function of reviewers to do this. It's also completely unnecessary. And before someone thinks that a random Sgt Joe is planning to take advantage of some exclusive work stop: you have that problem a thousandfold everywhere other than a military base. Sgt Joe isn't getting much out of it, and it's not an issue unique to bases anyway.
So, yeah, @TrevorAlan-PGO is completely correct. There is no substantial argument for denying military members access to the game. It's sad and shortsighted of Niantic to think they need to cripple playability, and it's indicative of their general lack of reading comprehension and taking things off the deep end. Allowing military families on base to play is a worthwhile change to advocate for; NOT allowing them to play when every other gated community can still have waypoints and spawns really is tantamount to discrimination.
Feel free to review according to whatever position Niantic seems to have, but I don't know why so many people seem to take issue with the idea of advocating for a change to that position. There are certainly plenty of people advocating for lesser changes. Bringing playability back to a large and deserving population is as worthwhile a cause as anything else on these forums. Military personnel SHOULD be able to play. I sure hope no one is objecting to THAT.
No prob, it's hard to see a lot of these comments and not think that wow, some of the reviewers here are just hating on the military. It just feels like there is a LOT of resentment in these comments, for whatever reason. I'm trying to give people the benefit of the doubt, even though none of the arguments logically hold any water (except for "Niantic said so," but that's pretty weak). There is a lot of misinformation. It's also kind of concerning that some people are so willing to stop at the unsatisfactory Niantic answer and not only not seek to improve things, but try to actively **** down the efforts of people who do actually care to see it improved. Not your fight or concern - got it, now kindly let the people who want to see a change try for it.
Yeah and I forgot about civilians who also work on base. And I guess my remaining family (step mother and 2, 1st grade brothers, and 1 toddler) count as civilian on base now, (or fit into the retiree category since they are a gold star family on base)
I'd love to teach my little brothers Pokémon Go since they play other games with the iPad I gave them , but I can't since they live exclusively on base... I know not the end of the world but it's dumb they can't play.
For the past six months or so, many players, have been warning you that ”this is a place that Niantic deems unsuitable.” ”I'm sorry, but we can't allow that," but you refuse to understand that.
And you will always ask Niantic for what you want based on selfish motive.
There is no perspective that the games we enjoy will be perceived favorably by the public, and that we and Niantic will have a lasting and positive relationship.
There is only the perspective of satisfying selfish motive.
And this time it is the Game Master's judgment.
Even if you don't like the judgment, you have no choice but to obey it.
I initially was confused why this rule was in place (still am), then when I tried to bring it up, you and others keep regurgitating the same thing that they are "unsafe" and "sensitive" blah blah blah, which is incorrect. @CipherBlakk-PGO put it better than me in their post.
My father was the 21st Space Wing commander and it wasn't a problem, he didn't even know it was a thing or cared about it (minus an eye roll at me because I STILL played Pokémon from since I was a kid, and forced him to sit with me in a theater to see Pokémon The First Movie when it came out which he described as "an hour and a half of pika pika torture").
And no, its not to satisfy a selfish motive, im an adult, I don't live on base anymore, but I visit because I have family and I am still involved in the military community.
Where else is this conversation to be had? I made a thread before and it's the same story, a bunch of people who don't know what they are talking about with no ties to the military just spouting misinformation and disagreeing with posts in support of US military bases.
Again, this question (or similar) was asked between myself and others on the last AMA and made the cut to be answered but Niantic avoided it...
Fact of the matter is several military contracted Niantic and requested removal within their bases. Niantic complied, much like any other request for removals. Only way Niantic reverses these decisions if property owners request a reversal. So it's not up to Niantic, but up to the militaries themselves.
OP asked for clarification on Niantic's stance on wayspots on bases, not your stance. This is the problem. Every time someone asks about this you turn the thread into a drama fest wherein you insult people and act like this is the greatest injustice of the century.
Where should you talk about this? Not here because no one here sets the rule. Write to John Hanke or something. Arrange a sit down talk between Niantic leadership and military leadership. I don't know. Just stop badgering people who are either seeking confirmation of policy or just following it.
And for the record, before you sneer at me as being ignorant about military life, I grew up in Colorado Springs. I've been on Peterson, Carson, and the Academy. Most of the kids I grew up with were military kids. I went to school on base. If Niantic does change their stance, I'm fine with that. I'm not okay with every thread on this question turning into your personal tantrum space. You aren't clariffying anything, you aren't changing anything and you're very condescending in the process of accomplishing exactly nothing.
I'm sure @NianticGiffard will leave accurate and specific comments again before this discussion is closed. Then we won't have to have the same discussion about military bases anymore.
Hello everyone! We had a long discussion with the Wayfarer team and this is what we have to say on this topic.
Please take heed we still stand with the ineligibility of Wayspots inside military bases in general and private residential properties are definitely a no-no.
HOWEVER, there are exceptions to this ruling i.e. if it's a park or public area that is open to the residents or the general public in the military base it will meet our eligibility criteria.
I do hope this will help clear things up from here onward.
Thank you for clarifying! Now can I get credit for all the things I got disagreements on because I rejected them based on reading in this forum that nothing on base was allowed, but others put through who were not trying to stay informed?
Comments
The topic is a shadowy bloodstain of what was once a dead horse, but the main participant absolutely refuses to put the stick down. @NianticGiffard, I think it is well past time this topic is locked as it is going nowhere.
The fact that there are no Pokemon spawns should be a clear signal about the Niantic's stance on the subject. It doesn't matter that you click disagree on every post from other people, it's Niantic the one that sets the rules.
How would you feel if your whole town was blocked from spawns?
I'll keep advocating for change because the current stance (and defense from other wayfarers here) is nonsensical other than "it's the way it is". Still doesn't make it right.
It would be very easy.
I would pick any other game or any other way to spend my time instead of trying to find ways to give money to a company that doesn't want it.
And again, you've clicked disagree on a statement as basic as "it's Niantic the one that sets the rules".
If you disagree with that, then I think that it's impossible for anyone here to help you: Niantic's staff can't help you if you don't recognize that Lightship is owned by Niantic and they are the one that sets the rules, and other users are just that: users and the first rule here is that the rules are set by Niantic.
The military commanders were the ones that made niantic block the spawns. Why don’t you go to the wing commander of what ever base you live on and talk to them. Oh thats right they wont have time for things this silly. Its the militaries rule on it not niantics. Advocate to your local military and see how far you get. @NianticGiffard can this thread be closed yet?
Yes, I talked to my father, there wasn't a problem... He was the wing commander, of 22 bases/installations as I said before.
I talked to my father before, there wasn't a problem, he was the wing commander, of 22 bases/installations before he passed, wasn't an issue.
Soooooo, again folks talking about things here that they don't know anything about.
When did he retire? Maybe there wasn’t a problem because of the geoblocking and rules set in place. Because I for sure know there used to be problems. Talk to the current ones. Your retired father (thanks for his service) can’t change much in regards to the current regulations now
He unexpectedly and suddenly passed last year while in command…
Hence why I get annoyed with this conversation when it pops up. I know first hand that it’s not a problem, I’d love to know why the policy/stance is the way it is, and everyone here is just speculating and trying to tell me/others like it’s fact when they don’t actually know the reason.
and then on top people want all the waypoints removed from bases which just sends me even farther over the edge… sigh.
My condolences.
In the end I completely understand why the ruling doesnt make sense. I live on a base and have lived close to one my entire life. In Canada there were problems with it (a simple google with “military and pokemon go” will reveal a list of articles about it and the Canadian military).
Thank you,
Yeah that's the only reasoning I can think of? There was trespassing issues and also people getting in car accidents playing in the news headlines everywhere when the game came out. So since there's no straight answer that's the only concrete reason I can find (but living on base and also talking with my father it hasn't been an issue or even remotely on anyones radar since then).
So when everyone on here keeps spouting that it's unsafe and the military bans gps/ar/tracking that's untrue. (And when they want existing waypoints remove thats even worse...)
The ban on spawns is completely based on OSM tags, Niantic has those areas banned just as they have done for other tags for land uses (construction is one I can think of off the top of my head).
So the only valid reason I can find for why it is the way it is right now is because of the bad PR/press that Niantic got from the release of PoGo, and they are the ones that are maintaining this unfair rule, nothing to do with anything else.
I'll keep advocating for a change, IDK how it would be accomplished since its all on Niantic's side but whatever. I wish they answered this question in the AMA instead of straight up avoiding it...
Yeah, Niantic and everyone else leaning on the idea that the military doesn't want location-based apps is simply wrong. There has never been such a position. You can drive around on a military base with GPS just fine. There is no sensitive issue. It's a small town, like any other small town.
The singular point about location services has to do with operational areas, and they are very easy to distinguish. They are not going to look like regular neighborhoods or parks or shopping areas. Moreover, it will never be anyone's responsibility to run interference on these areas, in the remote possibility that you can't tell. All anyone needs to do is review per the published criteria. The military itself will handle appropriate procedures for preventing people from using location-based services. It is absolutely laughable that anyone outside the military would think to do this job for them. It's not anyone else's responsibility. It is not the function of reviewers to do this. It's also completely unnecessary. And before someone thinks that a random Sgt Joe is planning to take advantage of some exclusive work stop: you have that problem a thousandfold everywhere other than a military base. Sgt Joe isn't getting much out of it, and it's not an issue unique to bases anyway.
So, yeah, @TrevorAlan-PGO is completely correct. There is no substantial argument for denying military members access to the game. It's sad and shortsighted of Niantic to think they need to cripple playability, and it's indicative of their general lack of reading comprehension and taking things off the deep end. Allowing military families on base to play is a worthwhile change to advocate for; NOT allowing them to play when every other gated community can still have waypoints and spawns really is tantamount to discrimination.
Feel free to review according to whatever position Niantic seems to have, but I don't know why so many people seem to take issue with the idea of advocating for a change to that position. There are certainly plenty of people advocating for lesser changes. Bringing playability back to a large and deserving population is as worthwhile a cause as anything else on these forums. Military personnel SHOULD be able to play. I sure hope no one is objecting to THAT.
And not just military personnel, military family too! Spouses, children, etc.
(You spelt this out much more eloquently than me, my writing gets all jumbled and messy when I'm flustered)
Agreed! And the civilians who use the spaces too.
No prob, it's hard to see a lot of these comments and not think that wow, some of the reviewers here are just hating on the military. It just feels like there is a LOT of resentment in these comments, for whatever reason. I'm trying to give people the benefit of the doubt, even though none of the arguments logically hold any water (except for "Niantic said so," but that's pretty weak). There is a lot of misinformation. It's also kind of concerning that some people are so willing to stop at the unsatisfactory Niantic answer and not only not seek to improve things, but try to actively **** down the efforts of people who do actually care to see it improved. Not your fight or concern - got it, now kindly let the people who want to see a change try for it.
Yeah and I forgot about civilians who also work on base. And I guess my remaining family (step mother and 2, 1st grade brothers, and 1 toddler) count as civilian on base now, (or fit into the retiree category since they are a gold star family on base)
I'd love to teach my little brothers Pokémon Go since they play other games with the iPad I gave them , but I can't since they live exclusively on base... I know not the end of the world but it's dumb they can't play.
That's your feeling, isn't it?
And you are being paranoid.
For the past six months or so, many players, have been warning you that ”this is a place that Niantic deems unsuitable.” ”I'm sorry, but we can't allow that," but you refuse to understand that.
And you will always ask Niantic for what you want based on selfish motive.
There is no perspective that the games we enjoy will be perceived favorably by the public, and that we and Niantic will have a lasting and positive relationship.
There is only the perspective of satisfying selfish motive.
And this time it is the Game Master's judgment.
Even if you don't like the judgment, you have no choice but to obey it.
I can clearly see you disagreed with all the comments I made sooooo. I'm not paranoid? Thats what you did
I initially was confused why this rule was in place (still am), then when I tried to bring it up, you and others keep regurgitating the same thing that they are "unsafe" and "sensitive" blah blah blah, which is incorrect. @CipherBlakk-PGO put it better than me in their post.
My father was the 21st Space Wing commander and it wasn't a problem, he didn't even know it was a thing or cared about it (minus an eye roll at me because I STILL played Pokémon from since I was a kid, and forced him to sit with me in a theater to see Pokémon The First Movie when it came out which he described as "an hour and a half of pika pika torture").
And no, its not to satisfy a selfish motive, im an adult, I don't live on base anymore, but I visit because I have family and I am still involved in the military community.
Where else is this conversation to be had? I made a thread before and it's the same story, a bunch of people who don't know what they are talking about with no ties to the military just spouting misinformation and disagreeing with posts in support of US military bases.
Again, this question (or similar) was asked between myself and others on the last AMA and made the cut to be answered but Niantic avoided it...
Fact of the matter is several military contracted Niantic and requested removal within their bases. Niantic complied, much like any other request for removals. Only way Niantic reverses these decisions if property owners request a reversal. So it's not up to Niantic, but up to the militaries themselves.
OP asked for clarification on Niantic's stance on wayspots on bases, not your stance. This is the problem. Every time someone asks about this you turn the thread into a drama fest wherein you insult people and act like this is the greatest injustice of the century.
Where should you talk about this? Not here because no one here sets the rule. Write to John Hanke or something. Arrange a sit down talk between Niantic leadership and military leadership. I don't know. Just stop badgering people who are either seeking confirmation of policy or just following it.
And for the record, before you sneer at me as being ignorant about military life, I grew up in Colorado Springs. I've been on Peterson, Carson, and the Academy. Most of the kids I grew up with were military kids. I went to school on base. If Niantic does change their stance, I'm fine with that. I'm not okay with every thread on this question turning into your personal tantrum space. You aren't clariffying anything, you aren't changing anything and you're very condescending in the process of accomplishing exactly nothing.
I'm sure @NianticGiffard will leave accurate and specific comments again before this discussion is closed. Then we won't have to have the same discussion about military bases anymore.
To reiterate what NianticCasey said, Wayspots on Military bases do not meet our eligibility criteria and should be outright rejected (1* review).Note: Please check the updated clarification on this topic below.
Hello everyone! We had a long discussion with the Wayfarer team and this is what we have to say on this topic.
Please take heed we still stand with the ineligibility of Wayspots inside military bases in general and private residential properties are definitely a no-no.
HOWEVER, there are exceptions to this ruling i.e. if it's a park or public area that is open to the residents or the general public in the military base it will meet our eligibility criteria.
I do hope this will help clear things up from here onward.
Well that’s news. Cool, can a clarification of this be added to the help/eligibility pages?
thank you @NianticGiffard :)
Thank you for clarifying! Now can I get credit for all the things I got disagreements on because I rejected them based on reading in this forum that nothing on base was allowed, but others put through who were not trying to stay informed?
This is a great move. Thank you so much! From myself and the US military community that enjoys Niantic games.