"I mean, you even had Cassey at one point advocating for the eligibility of Starbucks, which is about as generic as generic can be"
This is a special case and goes to show that even generic businesses can be important to small towns as a social hub
"Who's in the wrong here?"
Niantic and solely Niantic, due to their combination of laziness and total incompetence in updating the offical guidelines on the website to reflect their offical view as stated on these forums.
I'll have to interject: Just because Niantic SAYS something, does not put you in the wrong for going against it. Hell, they've stated that PRP is ineligible, yet their own internal reviewers have accepted and/or refused to remove portals in PRP.
The phrase "Niantic stated X" no longer holds any more value than a chewed up bubble gum. Any decision that is made on any portal is subjective, there is no right or wrong, because there are no RULES to define what is right or wrong, there are merely "guidelines".
With this, i just want to state that Niantic had achieved it's goal. They get the community fighting and pointing the finger amongst themselves, and until more people start to think like you and me and point the finger at the real culprit, this non-issue will always continue to be an issue.
I can't find anything more recent than 2016 about these kinds of requests. These are all 5 years old, and they were all a result of Pokemon Go coming out the same year and spawning a mad rush for Pokemon. That is long since over. What evidence is there that they are still sending requests "for the past five years?"
Seems unlikely that anyone here would have any idea what governments and base commanders are doing, let alone have any basis to speak for them.
I say this also for those of you who insist that living quarters are safe on US military base grounds.
The current position on all POIs on military base property is to reject them.
This is not going to change.
And while the government and military commanders have asked for them to be removed, they have also said that they will discuss the details as described in this text.
This is a very generous step.
It means that there may be POIs that can be approved.
But it's not up to Niantic to decide whether to approve or deny a POI. Neither do we, of course. It's up to the government and the military to decide.
I don't believe that Niantic has ever discussed this issue with the other side.
It is possible that by consulting with the government, some POIs, even the ones you claim are inhabited, will be fine.
The government and the military will set the boundaries of what they will and will not approve, instead of you just saying it's safe.
The result could be the same as it is now, of course, but some of it could be changed.
It starts with consultation.
If Niantic does not consult with the government, then everything will remain the same in denial.
And other players, including myself, have said that if Niantic doesn't change its current non-consultative stance, we would like to see it clearly stated that it is a denial so that this issue is not repeated.
Again was just about to 5* this nomination when i tapped google in the corner to get a bigger map to be sure that was a tree it was pinned to - and discovered this is on a military base! If you don't want on base wayspots, you are going to have to remove existing ones.
I posted another example yesterday but it seems to be stuck in purgatory. It was a duplicate playground, with the supporting information pleading for more stops to help the families on base. The fact that bases are supposed to be banned does not appear to be at all clear to the submitters.
What I see here confirmed the image for most of player about NIA which is full of contradictory action.
NIA told us when we review the nomination not to use of shortcuts or pre-canned responses but every mail from NIA to us is pre-canned responses.
NIA said not to nominate portals that only employee or special person can access, but in reality, a lot of requests to remove these invalid portals rejected for no obvious reason at all.
If we still want to play the game, we just need to accept it. Just like old saying, take it or leave it.
Most of these "posts" are still proving my point. There's normal coal (Starbucks, someones front yard, a flag pole) and there's 100% eligible should be approved submissions (playgrounds, gazebos, parks, pavilions, etc, etc). This is literally the exact same shiitake as off-base submissions...
But go ahead, keep trying to "out" and "dox" and "expose" or whatever, USA military members and their family attempting to play Niantic games like it's a crime. I'm having a great laugh.
(Niantic should lift the ban on US military bases for their games (Pokemon Go, Ingress, Pikmin Bloom, etc.))
Oof, totally forgot that I could also contribute examples to this thread. Here's an Israeli one! Just stumbled upon it. From the Hatzor Airbase.
On a side note: a few days ago I found out until recently, there was an actual American law forbidding high-quality satellite imagery of Israel in order to protects its sensitive military areas. I wonder if all the Wayspots that were approved in various Israeli bases before that law was nullified were literally illegal, then - by exposing details from within the bases...
Just because it was a valid point doesn't matter, it still is not the point of this thread. The point is to bring attention to the fact that the criteria on military bases was supposed to be updated more than 2years ago and never was. So now 2 plus years later people don't know you can't nominate on bases, so we reject stuff because that is what the rules are, but because the criteria wasn't updated so not everyone is. 🤷♀️ all we ask a community are asking for is for Niantic to update and continue to update the criteria to March what they have told us. I think this thread has more than shown it was needed and there is still complete silence from Niantic which is UNACCEPTABLE!!!! @NianticTintino please address this as it is not an unreasonable request, but the lack of response is.
Another one - this one at a hospital on a military base. I LOVE this sculpture. How is anyone to know this should be rejected with all the approved wayspots existing?
They also told you plenty of times to not accept stuff on PRP, it's in the guidelines, and lo' and behold, their own internal team HAS ACCEPTED STUFF ON PRP. Their FourSquare import also came with a lot of portals that don't meet criteria. So, yeah, he's not wrong. He wants Niantic to stop being incompetent. So do you and i. We're on the same side. No need to argue.
This issue will never come to a conclusion until your team responds to the consultations requested by the military heads of various governments.
If you will not continue to consult with the military heads, then you should clearly state in your rejection criteria, etc., that you will reject all candidates on the military base site.
Ultimately, players will follow your team's point of view.
If you continue to hold that view. You should tell Niantic's Wayfarer team to respond to any requests for consultation from the military heads of governments.
As a result, the government may decide that there is no problem with settlements, and Niantic may change its guidelines.
But right now it's all rejects, Giffard assures us.
And I have consulted with "heads of government", and it's irrelevant. It's 100% a Niantic ruling in the US, they decided to ban US bases and the military community from participating in the platforms and games.
I don't know who you consulted with as the head of the government, but it makes absolutely no sense for you to consult with them.
If you consulted with Joe Biden and he said it was OK, it doesn't matter if you have a picture or text of the two of them shaking hands.
It's like claiming that the playground equipment in the K-12 facility was recommended by POI, and that "I got permission from the director, so there's no problem here.
It doesn't mean anything unless Niantic, as a company, formally responds to the government's request for consultation and both parties share the results.
If Niantic chooses not to consult and decide on their own, then the decision has already been done.
Comments
@URWhatUKnow-ING
"I mean, you even had Cassey at one point advocating for the eligibility of Starbucks, which is about as generic as generic can be"
This is a special case and goes to show that even generic businesses can be important to small towns as a social hub
"Who's in the wrong here?"
Niantic and solely Niantic, due to their combination of laziness and total incompetence in updating the offical guidelines on the website to reflect their offical view as stated on these forums.
You are absolutely right.
Their latest statement is that such nominations should be rejected as 1*, so anyone that sends or approves such nomination is in the wrong.
The issue about not removing existing wayspots that aren't valid according to the current guidelines is a topic that maybe they'll address some day
And Casey said that "a Starbucks" that met certain conditions could be eligible, not every Starbucks.
(Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Seaplane Base)
I'll have to interject: Just because Niantic SAYS something, does not put you in the wrong for going against it. Hell, they've stated that PRP is ineligible, yet their own internal reviewers have accepted and/or refused to remove portals in PRP.
The phrase "Niantic stated X" no longer holds any more value than a chewed up bubble gum. Any decision that is made on any portal is subjective, there is no right or wrong, because there are no RULES to define what is right or wrong, there are merely "guidelines".
With this, i just want to state that Niantic had achieved it's goal. They get the community fighting and pointing the finger amongst themselves, and until more people start to think like you and me and point the finger at the real culprit, this non-issue will always continue to be an issue.
We do not know what action will be taken by Niantic in response to this request.
However, I would like to ask you to do this.
For the past five years, governments and base commanders have been sending requests to Niantic to remove Wayspot.
In my country, Japan, a notice of removal request was sent to all companies related to Pokémon GO, including Niantic, in August 2016.
Please respond to these requests sincerely.
The government is requesting you to do so using the government's form.
@NianticGiffard @NianticDanbocat @NianticTintino
I can't find anything more recent than 2016 about these kinds of requests. These are all 5 years old, and they were all a result of Pokemon Go coming out the same year and spawning a mad rush for Pokemon. That is long since over. What evidence is there that they are still sending requests "for the past five years?"
Seems unlikely that anyone here would have any idea what governments and base commanders are doing, let alone have any basis to speak for them.
I say this also for those of you who insist that living quarters are safe on US military base grounds.
The current position on all POIs on military base property is to reject them.
This is not going to change.
And while the government and military commanders have asked for them to be removed, they have also said that they will discuss the details as described in this text.
This is a very generous step.
It means that there may be POIs that can be approved.
But it's not up to Niantic to decide whether to approve or deny a POI. Neither do we, of course. It's up to the government and the military to decide.
I don't believe that Niantic has ever discussed this issue with the other side.
It is possible that by consulting with the government, some POIs, even the ones you claim are inhabited, will be fine.
The government and the military will set the boundaries of what they will and will not approve, instead of you just saying it's safe.
The result could be the same as it is now, of course, but some of it could be changed.
It starts with consultation.
If Niantic does not consult with the government, then everything will remain the same in denial.
And other players, including myself, have said that if Niantic doesn't change its current non-consultative stance, we would like to see it clearly stated that it is a denial so that this issue is not repeated.
Spoken from a thrill-seeker player:
Again was just about to 5* this nomination when i tapped google in the corner to get a bigger map to be sure that was a tree it was pinned to - and discovered this is on a military base! If you don't want on base wayspots, you are going to have to remove existing ones.
I posted another example yesterday but it seems to be stuck in purgatory. It was a duplicate playground, with the supporting information pleading for more stops to help the families on base. The fact that bases are supposed to be banned does not appear to be at all clear to the submitters.
Out of curiosity, are we going to have to do another AMA to simply all for Niantic to publish all of its criteria?
C'mon, @NianticTintino, can you please comment on this thread?
Another one today with existing wayspots - I was looking to see if the Academy counted as post K-12 and found it is on base.
What I see here confirmed the image for most of player about NIA which is full of contradictory action.
NIA told us when we review the nomination not to use of shortcuts or pre-canned responses but every mail from NIA to us is pre-canned responses.
NIA said not to nominate portals that only employee or special person can access, but in reality, a lot of requests to remove these invalid portals rejected for no obvious reason at all.
If we still want to play the game, we just need to accept it. Just like old saying, take it or leave it.
He's not wrong tho.
And here is another on property marked as on base at Fort Lee in Open Street Maps.
Most of these "posts" are still proving my point. There's normal coal (Starbucks, someones front yard, a flag pole) and there's 100% eligible should be approved submissions (playgrounds, gazebos, parks, pavilions, etc, etc). This is literally the exact same shiitake as off-base submissions...
But go ahead, keep trying to "out" and "dox" and "expose" or whatever, USA military members and their family attempting to play Niantic games like it's a crime. I'm having a great laugh.
(Niantic should lift the ban on US military bases for their games (Pokemon Go, Ingress, Pikmin Bloom, etc.))
Oof, totally forgot that I could also contribute examples to this thread. Here's an Israeli one! Just stumbled upon it. From the Hatzor Airbase.
On a side note: a few days ago I found out until recently, there was an actual American law forbidding high-quality satellite imagery of Israel in order to protects its sensitive military areas. I wonder if all the Wayspots that were approved in various Israeli bases before that law was nullified were literally illegal, then - by exposing details from within the bases...
(everything on nearby is on base)
Just because it was a valid point doesn't matter, it still is not the point of this thread. The point is to bring attention to the fact that the criteria on military bases was supposed to be updated more than 2years ago and never was. So now 2 plus years later people don't know you can't nominate on bases, so we reject stuff because that is what the rules are, but because the criteria wasn't updated so not everyone is. 🤷♀️ all we ask a community are asking for is for Niantic to update and continue to update the criteria to March what they have told us. I think this thread has more than shown it was needed and there is still complete silence from Niantic which is UNACCEPTABLE!!!! @NianticTintino please address this as it is not an unreasonable request, but the lack of response is.
Or lift the ban on perfectly eligible waypoints on bases.
Another one - this one at a hospital on a military base. I LOVE this sculpture. How is anyone to know this should be rejected with all the approved wayspots existing?
They also told you plenty of times to not accept stuff on PRP, it's in the guidelines, and lo' and behold, their own internal team HAS ACCEPTED STUFF ON PRP. Their FourSquare import also came with a lot of portals that don't meet criteria. So, yeah, he's not wrong. He wants Niantic to stop being incompetent. So do you and i. We're on the same side. No need to argue.
It's a beautiful statue/nomination. Exactly a reason why Niantic needs to remove the unwarranted discriminatory ban on US military bases.
The discussion will loop forever, as it always does.
@NianticGiffard
This issue will never come to a conclusion until your team responds to the consultations requested by the military heads of various governments.
If you will not continue to consult with the military heads, then you should clearly state in your rejection criteria, etc., that you will reject all candidates on the military base site.
Ultimately, players will follow your team's point of view.
@TrevorAlan-PGO
If you continue to hold that view. You should tell Niantic's Wayfarer team to respond to any requests for consultation from the military heads of governments.
As a result, the government may decide that there is no problem with settlements, and Niantic may change its guidelines.
But right now it's all rejects, Giffard assures us.
And I have consulted with "heads of government", and it's irrelevant. It's 100% a Niantic ruling in the US, they decided to ban US bases and the military community from participating in the platforms and games.
I don't know who you consulted with as the head of the government, but it makes absolutely no sense for you to consult with them.
If you consulted with Joe Biden and he said it was OK, it doesn't matter if you have a picture or text of the two of them shaking hands.
It's like claiming that the playground equipment in the K-12 facility was recommended by POI, and that "I got permission from the director, so there's no problem here.
It doesn't mean anything unless Niantic, as a company, formally responds to the government's request for consultation and both parties share the results.
If Niantic chooses not to consult and decide on their own, then the decision has already been done.
Everything is rejected.