2nd wave of massive rejections in Germany

Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

We had a 1st wave of massive rejections in southern Germany during October and November 2021 out there.

What was observed back then?

  • a large scaled region in southern Germany faced nearly 100% rejections, but also surrounding area was statistically significant influenced
  • most effected area could be identified as 3x4 large S2 cells (so 12 S2-cells of level 6),
  • due to the comparatively short timeframe of a few weeks the massive rejections were observed at candidates with comparatively short In-Voting-phase (so especially for upgraded candidates or for candidates, that are in a region with very high prioritization of the distribution algorithm)
  • some people claimed, that some regions became significantly faster concerning their reviewing timescale

What happened here in the forum?

There have been at least two very big threads for this topic:

In both threads Niantic staff wrote, that they want to look into it:

There was never update posts and the bug-section-thread has still the label "new" ....

Somehow during December the rejection-spam had an end, and I guess the people were appeased due to the release of the appeal feature ...

During the last 2 weeks the thread got a revival, and again only a similar statement:


What happens now?

Nethertheless all this stuff now comes back. We have again lots of crazy rejections, but this time it seems to be not only southern Germany. At the moment we don't know much and we can't do more than collecting examples.

But since this is the 2nd time, that this happens:

  • lots of expierienced reviewers quitted
  • we have found either a troll, a freeloader or maybe a root of this - so there is a lot of toxic stuff going on in social media platforms right now, including threats with bot networks and threats of organized downvote for special towns

So if Nia doesnt act fast, they can sweep up the remnants of Germanys wayfarer volunteers on their own. I'd like to remind, that German wayfarers have to deal with lots of very special problems. So the stability of the wayfarer platform is weak here anyway. What I mean:

  • Germany has nearly no streetview, only in big cities google started that project, but stopped it then because of some strange clauses in our laws. So reviewing is different here .... and fakers can do their business very easy ....
  • all our neighbour countries (except Austria) have totally different languages, and nearly evry region in Germany has foreign reviewers in range, that usually dont understand German, and way around

These are problems, that can't be solved by Niantic. But even those, that Niantic could solve, are not adressed. So the criteria page has lots of very bad translations (for example inappropriate location and sensitive location have in Germany the same title) up to logic problems in the introduction sentence of the rejection criteria. Evrything was pointed at multiple times in this forum. Nothing happens.

Further now the ambassador programme fully neglected Central Europe. You chose someone from UK, that is not representative for our problems here. And then there is the poor guy from Ukraine, that has to deal with way worse things now ....

So pleae @NianticDanbocat @NianticTintino @NianticGiffard start to talk to the people - there are lots of possibilities: write updates to existing threads and not only excuses, create PM-threads, maybe a hidden subsection, or choose a 12th ambassador. We know, that there was at least one suitable application out there from Germany.

Tagged:
«13456

Comments

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    You can see the location in the second picture. Very clear because of the houses arround (Also you can see it on Google Maps)

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    Well - what to say? The reason for rejection is absolut **** (1 meter next to it is another portal - this is not a rescue alley?) and I don´t know why it is not historically significant

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    At the second picture you can see the surroundings with other portals

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    The fountain is called "Milchlingsbrunnen" ask the people in 1926 why it is called like this

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    It is in the middle of the Pedestrian zone

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    In the middle of the Pedestrian zone

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    On the second picture you can see the surroundings with the street and streetnames

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    The second pictures showes that it is not an unsafe access - it is directly at a traffic- calmed street

  • Farmfire-INGFarmfire-ING Posts: 11 ✭✭

    Second Picture shows the street and the old town hall (you can see the old town hall also on google maps)

  • Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2022

    And now examples:

    Stuff from me and my folks:

    Silver Smeltery from 15th century, unique object in Europe. Has an own wikipedia article, that also declares, that it is by far not a private residence. 2xrejected.


    Staff building of a 15th century silver and cobalt mine; nowadays building from 17th century; today entrance of a visitor mine: 2x rejected now, 3rd attempt in pipeline.


    Two old border stones. I cant say for sure how old exactly, but most likely around 1470 when the town Schneeberg was founded because of the deiscovery of the silver deposits there. Even if they are not such old, then nethertheless at least 200 years. The color at the stone is only a chalk marking of the forest rangers. Both 2x rejected:



    Central object of a small park. It is a direction marker to the sights of the town, for example medieval market place, the nearby castle ruin, the community pool, and another still existing castle. The signs for the sights have wood carved ornaments and so on... in the picture you see the one of the marketplace with town crest as ornament, and the one for the community pool with a bathing ring and a beach ball as ornament. So perfect proxy for the park, and even without that it's an art object ....


    Old ski jumping hill; out of order since 1990, but today used by mountainbikers instead of ski jumpers. 2x rejected.

    Description tells in detail, what to see here: the platform is the starting platform, and on the right side the little step there is where the flight starts. So although it's a natural ski jumping hill, it can be identified with a closer look.

    Border marker of Saxony (duchy during medieval ages, later kingdom) with Saxonian crest on it. At least 200 years old, and since it is sandstone it is very weathered, but nethertheless identifiable:


    Another bordermarker, now for duchy Saxony-Weimar (for that the very special W stands for):

    Body part reason might be the supp pic, but it's nethertheless ridiculuosly stupid:

    We have more examples of such rejected border markers, but the other examples are more weathered, and so the rejections arent hard enough to underline this threads topic.....


    Hiking trail markers:

    The next bunch of examples is also difficult, because hiking trail markers are very often rejected in Germany. So I start with those, that are should have been accepted without any doubts and that are far beyond the minimum level, that was defined back in OPR-days (direction marker with proper path name). A few weaker ones at the end...

    weaker examples, that nethertheless fulfill the old minimum:

    #1 and #9 of this set of trail markers are already mentioned above. #2-8 are only of this kind (directional sign and trail name, and nothing more). #2 and 5 were accepted; 3,4,6,7,8 rejected ....

    Post edited by Raachermannl-ING on
  • Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2022

    .... this post was a missclick on a saved draft ...

    Post edited by Raachermannl-ING on
  • patsufredo-PGOpatsufredo-PGO Posts: 4,215 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nobody are going to mention how this massive rejection wave is related to abuse reports?

    Between the wave when many submitters were stopped to nominate new Wayspots, every German reviewers were expected to review fake nominations or abusive photo edits that contains Mara skin from Minecraft. The abusers have been sanctioned by Giffard (or at least, until their 30 day ban period expires).

    Later in February, somehow this Mara abuse was back, but this time not in Germany, but in a remote island near Antarctica.

    There are not only two Mara Wayspots that were accepted, but also another Wayspot that using @LukeAllStars-ING 's profile picture in Telegram! Description is clear that he's 'fake hunter #1'.

    Surely there must be a connection between this rejection abuse and abuse reports over Germany.

  • Sacred2309-PGOSacred2309-PGO Posts: 9 ✭✭

    @patsufredo-PGO to add to that, I have recently seen a bunch of abusive nominations with @LukeAllStars-ING as target, either photo edits with his profile picture or completely new submissions with a screenshot of the existing Wayspot including his picture and the "fake hunter #1" description.

  • Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Next stupid rejection, again the staff building of a former silver and cobalt mine:

    (nowadays a holiday appartment, so eligible)

    And it's only UNESCO world heritage .... but lets reject it nethertheless...

  • Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

    And more stupid rejections:

    again a border marker, that is at least 300 years old ....


  • patsufredo-PGOpatsufredo-PGO Posts: 4,215 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Boy, now that discussion has been closed...

    Let's hope they can resolve this ASAP.

  • Rodensteiner-PGORodensteiner-PGO Posts: 1,705 ✭✭✭✭✭

    maybe just giving a feedback on a daily basis would help there. Many people are p** beyond your imagination.

  • Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Next hiking trail marker rejected for no reason ....

    Mismatched location?

    intermediate targets with plausible distances fit the marker. Mount Auersberg ~5km on nearly straight way. Way to Sosa is very curved, so 2.5km fits. The other path to Sosa with 7.6km says, that it goes around the water reservoir .... so wherever it goes exactly, 7.6km is also plausible from that location.

    One can also idnetify from the supporting picture, that south is at the right side. This fits, that the forest road here is in west-east-direction....

    So .... this is the only location, that fits all these criteria.

    Even if a reviewer doesnt have such geoguessr-skills, then it should be easy to find Sosa at the map to at least give 3* on location .....

  • Raachermannl-INGRaachermannl-ING Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

    ... and a 3rd time rejected:


  • Indeterminacy-PGOIndeterminacy-PGO Posts: 5 ✭✭

    My impression from this thread is that something is going on in Germany with bots or coordinated abuse. So it makes sense to wait it out. But I was positively impressed with the result of two of my appeals.

  • Hitchhiker79-PGOHitchhiker79-PGO Posts: 63 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for this post. There is nothing to add. I'm not giving up hope that the problem will be fixed.

Sign In or Register to comment.