How to avoid a Pokemon GO way spot rejection for Duplicate?

I have submitted several locations as way spots and had them rejected as Duplicates. This is very aggravating. The locations don't show up on the Pokemon GO map, so I have a hard time understanding how they are duplicates. I know from past questions I've asked that it has something to do with Ingress. So are Pokemon GO players supposed to check the Ingress map on top of the Pokemon GO map before submitting a suggestion for a way spot? Am I supposed to be a mind reader? ALL the rules should be made CRYSTAL clear so me and other players are not wasting our time. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • Erin1469-PGOErin1469-PGO Posts: 11 ✭✭

    It seems that there is this cross-platform issue, I would think there ought to be a warning within Pokemon GO when someone is trying to submit a Pokestop suggestion when you place a pin to mark the location and it conflicts because it is too close to another stop or is an existing stop in Wayfarer, Ingress, etc. I never knew what those orange icons are, Wayfarer markers, that is NOT explained in the Pokemon GO app.

  • PkmnTrainerJ-INGPkmnTrainerJ-ING Posts: 5,125 Ambassador

    It’s explained that the orange markers are used in other Niantic games if you tap them. One small extra step to have it explained.

    You’re also not submitting a PokéStop but a Wayspot that can be used across a variety of Niantic games. Adding a warning would only make people nominate things in the wrong location.

  • Hikaru588-INGHikaru588-ING Posts: 538 ✭✭✭✭

    @Erin1469-PGO the central database that holds all approved wayspots does not care how close they are together. It is up to each game to select what wayspots get used and how they are treated.

  • Elijustrying-INGElijustrying-ING Posts: 5,483 Ambassador
    edited February 2023

    Hello @Erin1469-PGO

    The underlying issue is that Niantic are very poor at communication even the most basic information, and have not explained what everything means and what happens to nominations.

    Although the impression you are given when you submit something is that you are submitting to be a pokestop the reality is that you are submitting something with the potential to be a pokestop.

    Once your nomination has gone through the review process if it’s approved, it is accepted into the Lightship database - this holds all approved wayspots and is separate from all Niantic games. 

    During the review process the wayfinders are given picture and title of all nearby wayspots to check for duplicates. This is same sort of information@HankWolfman-PGO describes at the point of starting the in game nomination process. So it is important to follow what HankWolfman describes to avoid a duplicate and the frustration that comes from wasted effort.

    Each game sets its own rules as to what it will take from Lightship to use in that particular game.

    For Pokémon Go the rules revolve around the use of some mapping software commonly referred to as S2 cells it  breaks down the surface into smaller and smaller cells - each size is referred to as level and a number. 

    Google: S2 cells and Pokémon Go - Pokémongohub  has a very good explanation, but essentially only 1 stop or gym per level 17 cell.

    For Ingress the rule is that the wayspots have to be 20m apart.

    It is perfectly possible for wayspots to be in both games, 1 game or none. Which is why looking at the nomination screen which accesses the whole database is important.

    Having a warning pop up that your pin placement has something nearby might be useful ( I can’t see it doing any harm).BUT you need to remember you can’t see any other nominations that are in the system yet to be resolved, and someone else could easily have submitted the same wayspot ahead of you (so yours still ends up as a duplicate) or another wayspot becomes approved first in that cell so yours doesn’t appear. A pop up wouldn’t solve these issues and given there is limited resource I wouldn’t put it at the top of a list.

    In other words there are numerous potential pitfalls and you need to do the best you can but be aware things may still go wrong.

    And always remember Niantic = poor communication.

    But if you persist it can be satisfying.

  • Erin1469-PGOErin1469-PGO Posts: 11 ✭✭

    When I first started nominating Pokestops many were not approved or labeled duplicates. In spite of the explanations here, I'm still confused about cells and all this mumbo jumbo. It is NOT well communicated in the Pokemon GO app. I almost gave up even trying, but I persisted and managed to get some new Pokestops approved. But still, when I submit something and it gets labeled a duplicate it irks me like crazy. I consider myself a decent photographer and I have also had success submitting new pictures for some existing Pokestops that had dark, blurry, or poorly composed pictures. Apparently, the standards must have changed at some point because plainly some pictures do NOT meet the criteria but got approved along the way.

  • Elijustrying-INGElijustrying-ING Posts: 5,483 Ambassador

    @Erin1469-PGO

    If you posted one of the ones that ended up as a duplicate we can look at it. It might help when we raise points in the context of an actual nomination.

    it would need the whole submission. It doesn’t sound as though the submission content is the issue it seems to be about the duplicate side.

  • 26thDoctor-PGO26thDoctor-PGO Posts: 4,924 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Like @Elijustrying-ING said you are probably nominating things that already exist but you can't see in game so obviously wouldn't know they already exist.

    The cell mumbo jumbo is easy enough to understand the steps to seeing them are a bit convoluted and need a couple of apps but once you have them and are familiar with their workings it's relatively easy.

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