Movie theater acceptable?
RyGuy10189-PGO
Posts: 100 ✭✭
Movie theaters are acceptable as they promote social gatherings, correct?
Why weren't these two approved? I have an idea, but want to hear what others think.
And I'll renominate them at some point
Comments
Like I said in your other thread, they are both generic locations of large chains.
Renominate with improved descriptions. The first one needs a new image, the second one you can just reuse the same image. These will get through eventually.
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https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/27593/movie-theaters#latest
Movie theaters are one of those 50/50 submissions just like restaurants. They're very hard to get approved. I feel like half the community believes ALL movie theaters are generic locations even though in my personal opinion some do meet the social gather criteria.
These 2 movie theaters might be a bit hard to get approved by the community though. Theyre both technically chain owned. Marcus theatres and regal cinema are big theater companies. When reviewing people always look for reasons to deny submissions but i always look for ways to get them approved. Maybe thats why it takes me forever to get upgrades lol.
I too got my local movie theater denied. Its owned by cinemark which is considered a chain movie theater company though. :/
I tend to treat them like restaurants. A big chain theater with nothing unique about it is a denial.
A local indie theater that has an interesting history or there's something that makes it uniquely interesting or important to the community? Sure. The very first theater that started a chain? Probably yes because of its historical nature, just like the first McDonalds or Starbucks.
We were just discussing this on another thread. https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/comment/136253 I'm of the opinion that all movie theaters serve an important cultural and social role and are acceptable.
I'd treat it more like a chain gym, it's dependent on how many other cinemas are around. For example, in a city center, you might find 3 seperate chain cinemas, or even 3 of the same chain cinema, so not worth submitting, but out in a small town, there might only be the one cinema, that being a chain one that one there should be accepted as it would be the main socialising area for cinemagoers
@gazzas89-ING I think that could qualify as "uniquely interesting or important to the community".
I agree with you and I think it's worth another submission when you're up to it. I also have a smaller chain theater near me and I saw several submissions in my area for parts of the theater (arcade, murals) and they were rejected. I finally just submitted the theater itself and pointed out it's the only one within a 30 minute drive and they do lots of events (or did a lot pre-covid).
I don't agree with other comments that they are "just like chain restaurants", at least in my area, not every city has a theater and those that do only have one. One large chain cinema is serving several nearby cities and definitely fits under cultural and gathering place.
Assuming you have 40 nominations to work with, this is what I'd recommend. Go ahead and renominate the theatres. HOWEVER, also do some sleuthing to find out if there are any dedication plaques, unique and original artwork, amazing architecture, etc. within or outside the theatres themselves. If so, nominate BOTH the theatre and my aforementioned items. Doing so will double the chances of a portal/stop/etc. being accepted and activated in said locations.
Good luck!
I appealed the decision, and you know how those are going. I'll know by 2028 what niantic decides. 😆😆
This might go against the masses but i feel like movie theaters should be more of an approval than a church, or even on the same level. At least at movie theaters its guaranteed everyone is allowed inside. I cant tell you how many times ive pulled into a church parking lot to hack a portal, or fight a PGO gym and someone from the church comes out and asks what im doing there. Thats just my 2 cents though. :/
Generic or chain movie theaters is where people gather to view a form of art. Socialize before or after about a film.
While of course I don’t know for sure if movie Tavern is a chain movie theater, I know for a fact Regal is so that needs to be rejected properly. However if you can prove to me that Movie Tavern is one of like three in the country, then I would, with a better picture, approve it. Hope this clears stuff up! @RawDawg1089-PGO
There is nothing in the criteria that differentiates between an individual business and an international chain. Don't make up your own criteria, and don't listen to people that do.
I said 1 of 3 [3-5] in the state, not country.
The U.S has over 500 Regal Cinemas AND over 500 Marcus Theaters / Movie Taverns. They are the definition of generic.
Niantic would like to sell sponsorships to either chain. But why should they pay, if they already have hundreds for free? Or if their competitor has hundreds for free?
Wrong.
Chain does not equal generic:
https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/comment/45941#Comment_45941
We should not take potential sponsorship deals into account:
https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/comment/79068#Comment_79068
Please keep up to date with the criteria and don't spread misinformation.
@TWVer-ING I interpret Casey's comment as "Chain almost always equals generic but occasionally an instance of a chain may be important to small communities. It's up to the submitter to convince reviewers that the location that they're submitting has a special value to the community."
If someone submits a McDonalds with the supporting text "Everybody goes here" then I'm going to reject it every time. If they say something like, "This is the only restaurant within a 20-mile range. Everybody hangs out there on weekend nights, it's where people go on dates, and even the mayor holds meetings there", then I'm probably going to approve it.
Nowhere do Casey or the criteria make a distinction between chain locations and other business locations. It is all about "the impact of the location to the community".
Wouldn't you go through the exact same thought process on any other business nomination?
@TWVer-ING I do.
Smaller one-off businesses have an easier path to acceptance because the submitter can convince reviewers that it's interesting and noteworthy through multiple paths. "This coffee shop was voted #1 in Cleveland four years in a row", 'This restaurant has two Michelin stars and is famous for (whatever)", "This legendary donut shop is a top pick in every Portland tourist guide." A business with thousands of locations probably isn't going to have any of those features so someone submitting a McStarBell is going to have a narrower path for convincing reviewers that this one should be accepted.
In other words, chain = generic by default but on rare occasions can overcome that. Small businesses = generic by default but it's easier to overcome that.
That's mostly true, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. My point is we shouldn't treat a business differently just because it is part of a chain. People claiming chain = rejection are wrong.
Also, I believe when Niantic uses generic, they mean doesn't meet eligibility criteria. We see this in the September discussion about trail markers. But that is my personal interpretation. I could be wrong there.
Possibly try not upgrading it. Might have better luck with local reviewers. Personally I would try for a new picture in the first one without the car. I like the second one just fine.
Also could possibly look for something unique at the theater that others wouldn't have.
Something like this would probably be easier to be voted for than just the theatre front.
At no point has niantic said that total quantity across a country is an indication of eligibility and for what it's worth it's also not included in the definition of generic. My state doesn't have a single Regal theater.
Also someone else already cleared up the sponsorship thing.
I understand taking a closer look at a submission if it's part of a large company / chain but deciding that your personal feelings or agendas override niantic criteria is just weird to me. It's not a good reason to blanket reject submissions.
You are projecting. I do not let personal feelings override Niantic criteria. I'm just not omnipresent enough to catch their every word.
None of us have everything memorized - we look it up. To be fair, I meant a general "you" so I'm not projecting, but you gave a great example. Putting out bad information isn't helpful. And again, I understand wanting to look a little closer at chain locations but saying they should just be rejected outright simply for being a chain is bad information.
My post never used the word "reject", or even "eligible". Having 500 locations IS the definition of generic. This is not "bad information".
Hi, I'm kinda local to you. I approved that top one just the other day.
I want people to really think about WHY Niantic has told us that "chains" are not "special." It is 100% about money. They want to work sponsorship deals with national brands. So they tell us that locally owned or independent versions of businesses are fine (in other words, not worth going after as a sponsor/partner). But large chains that serve the EXACT SAME purpose as those independent businesses are "generic" because they'd rather have the power to make the company pay for the privilege of having a sponsored stop or gym.
You're only **** yourself in the foot by accepting the insane guidance that chain theaters are less of a social meeting place than a locally owned theater.
I wouldnt say 500 is the definition of generic. Like 500 qcross the whole of the United States is not a lot when you actually think about it, given the size if the USA. Yes that would mean about 10 for every state, but I reality that's 1 every 7000 square mile roughly, for a cinema that's a lot of distance between each to argue that each one is unique in its area
I think the point of the criteria refresh was for us to think more on how a nomination actually fits the goal of exploration games rather than how this item is a mass produced chain. I would hazard a guess that there are 10x more Playworld playgrounds https://playworld.com/ in the US than both Regal Cinema and Marcus Theater locations combined. Yet we do not consider playgrounds ineligible mass produced chain locations. A Walmart does not encourage people to gather and socialize, a playground does. Target does not encourage socialization and cultural expression, a Regal Cinema theater does.
Exactly. It is amazing how people think the Wayfarer map is supposed to only be full of custom, hand-crafted POI. That's not how the world works. We live in a world of mass-produced stuff. And that is OK. Mass produced and chain places draw people together just as well as custom items.