Message from your Wayfarer Ambassadors - Discussion

NianticTintino-INGNianticTintino-ING Posts: 1,103 admin
edited June 2022 in General Discussion

Hello Fellow Explorers, 

It’s great to finally publish our first update from your Wayfarers Ambassadors. It’s been a slow start getting to know each other from around the world; and, setting sights on some joint goals for this year. We, as your Ambassadors, are very excited to share a little about what we’d like the Wayfarer team to focus on this year. As your Ambassadors, we’ve landed on the top 3 community goals listed below.


Top 3 Goals

Wayfarer Criteria Clarification

  • To help Niantic better understand what makes it so difficult for the community, we’re digging deep into the current criteria as much as we possibly can, and hopefully reach any conclusions on how understanding can be improved to help us all. We invite you to participate in conversation with us in the upcoming months as we work to understand the depth of your sentiments. We recognize that it’s a super hard challenge to find a single criteria that applies globally but also makes room for the nuance found in each local community.

Incentivizing Wayfarer

  • You may have seen a lot of chatter around this in the most recent AMA, seen a forum post here and there, or thought of this yourself. The question we hope to address here is “What are ways in which we can incentivize Wayfarer as a whole to take full advantage of all its features?” We’re excited to hear your thoughts on this too; from our newer to our most experienced Explorers. 

Supporting Rural & Remote Communities

  • I think we’ve all heard the conversations around rural & remote communities, states, countries, etc and we hope to share ideas and possibilities around the best way to support our global community and the communities that may not have the most reviewers in their areas just yet. 


So, what do you think about the top 3 topics this year? We hope that you will be as excited as we are to be working more closely with Niantic.

So what’s next?

Well on our end, we will continue to meet as an Ambassador group to advise the Wayfarer team on these top 3 topics. Along the way we will be sure to share updates with you. For now, feel free to continue dropping your thoughts here in the forum to inform our conversations. Also, @NianticTintino will create and monitor 3 new forum posts where we as a community can share more about our thoughts regarding each specific goal. Feel free to drop in your thoughts for each comment in the discussions linked above.

   

As @NianticTintino always says,

Safe Exploring and we’re excited for all that’s to come.

Check out the original post here.

Post edited by NianticTintino-ING on
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Comments

  • Paul9263-PGOPaul9263-PGO Posts: 29 ✭✭

    Could you get Niantic to fix all the issues? I still can't nominate stops because of an issue with categorizing nominations that was supposedly fixed for Apple users. I am on an Android phone.

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

    Along the way we will be sure to share updates with you.

    How often should we expect updates? Every quarter?

  • Great question. I don't want to choose for them so I'll bring it up. I'm sure we'll share updates when we have them though :) for a more consistent schedule I'll leave to them to decide and update you soon.

  • LFKomala-PGOLFKomala-PGO Posts: 57 ✭✭✭

    Hear Ye Hear He, -AMBO Gengdi, It is I Lachlan whom hath now been flared as an Ambassador!

  • DEMARTIN0-PGODEMARTIN0-PGO Posts: 376 ✭✭✭✭

    Apparently so do I and a bunch of others commenting on my new thread. haha

  • Thank you for this unsolicited promotion.

  • flatmatt-PGOflatmatt-PGO Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Oh no what did I start?

  • arealrarewail-INGarealrarewail-ING Posts: 9 ✭✭

    As an ambassador, apparently, I second everything said here. By everyone. Thank you for your time.

  • Shilfiell-INGShilfiell-ING Posts: 1,560 Ambassador

    Why -ambo? Did the full title get blocked for containing a mildly naughty word in the middle? I want an official explanation for that particular choice of abbreviation. 😁

  • 29andCounting-PGO29andCounting-PGO Posts: 2,435 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Ambo for male, Amba for female

  • willowitaly-INGwillowitaly-ING Posts: 88 ✭✭✭

    Only the real ambassadors get ambo in their names lol

  • Liediawa-PGOLiediawa-PGO Posts: 58 ✭✭✭

    Since Niantic, Ingres, and also PokemonGo recently explicitly call for submitting new stops via Wayfarer to discover many new things, I share the demand of many again publicly on the subject of MeetYouOutThere.

    We call for standardization of the appearance rules of POIs, especially in PGo and no cell system, or at least a drastic reduction in the size of the stop cells! We want to have ALL accepted POIs in PGo, like Ingress, bc all are based on the same database! For more MeetYouOutThere!

    Last year, we added over 3.8 million new Wayspots. That’s almost 4 million new Gyms, Pokéstops, and Portals that our players can interact within the real world. Explorers, how many more Wayspots do you think we can add in 2022? (Niantic, 01/29/22)- there is sooo much more possible in PGo without or with a reduction of the cell system when you compare PGo and Ingress!

    Because we could have so many more stops to go out and discover new places, that’s the general slogan, right? (#MeetYouOutThere)

    Especially in Pokémon, we have been calling for the reduction of the stop cells to a minimum or rather the removal of the stop cells for years. The system is simply outdated and we want a revolution here too! Because this system is the main problem because the cells are just too large and many things can’t be submitted to Pokémon or even appear. But these have their raison to be there too. There is a reason that they have been accepted and are present in the database! They also contribute to discovering the world and going out. There are so many beautiful places in all the cities that can be rediscovered. I also don’t know all the places in my city and have been able to explore many only through new stops.

    Wayfarer should also comment on this because it’s getting more and more frustrating and it’s a pity that groups of players in individual games are being cheated on this point and only a small fraction of them can benefit from all the work, because

    •How many stops are there but only in Ingress?

    •People do the work, submit it and rate it for upgrades, but only get the answer that they’ve been declined, or you get the promise and nothing appears even though it’s been accepted!

    •Players submit for all games but benefit from only a fraction and players from other games submit things that others cannot benefit from either!

    I don't think there have ever been so many wrongly rejected as they are now. Many simply declined for "other reasons", "cultural reasons" or "temporary or seasonal establishment", while complying with the rules and seeing that they are permanent.

     Stops that are intentionally submitted to an occupied cell instead of their actual location, which can also often be seen on Google, are currently being discovered. Instead, they are often pushed forward 15 meters so that they CANNOT appear in Pokemon.

    Many changes have to be submitted and Wayspot requests have to be made in such a way that a slightly changed location has to be specified for them to appear in the games at all. If both games have the same waypoints, editing requests are greatly reduced, especially when moving.

    Most reviews on Wayfarer are no longer taken critically, but rather arbitrarily. Many rates it, but not to rate suggestions according to their quality, but to get matches for their upgrades. It’s sad, but the quickest way to get an upgrade is with rejections, without even looking at the image, the text, and the additional information or the location.

    In addition, many places and countries invite more people to play and have more stops than others. This is also used by spoofers. Why does Niantic support this so openly? These places are hopelessly crowded and local players are deprived of any fun. Also, the places are sometimes more or less equipped with stops due to old regulations. This systematically favors or disadvantages places. It doesn’t have to be like this. Pokémon has been connecting everyone for years. Regardless of age, culture, or place of origin. This could be further promoted.

    And don´t be silly. Niantic will probably process or even pass on any data. They were also able to benefit from a change.

    Why don’t we approach this in general, but only about Wayfarer challenges for individual countries? A change would benefit everyone, but mostly the small towns and countries, which in turn would lead to more fun and more players. It’s sad that in small places only one or maybe two submissions made it, otherwise the cells are all over the place. This means that you can’t and don’t want to play there either. Why not make the game attractive there and win more players and earn more money?

    Do you even notice that you are currently just breaking the game, especially for players in the countryside or small towns?

    You can't always assume that everyone lives in big cities with lots of stops where it's really worth playing. Not everyone lives in San Francisco, NY or Tokyo, or Japan, i.e. where you have your offices. No, most of them don't live and play there and you're currently making this game almost impossible with stop cells or the latest changes to the smoke.

     We understand that you want to make us go out more and do something. But not like this! Even with more stops, the game can be well balanced, even without big timeouts. Not every stop has to be a spawning point and it’s not about getting thousands more arenas. Depending on the stops, new arenas should appear in the arena cells.

     Cross-game changes have already been made to the games. Our friends have already been connected. Completion of playing cards could lead to more satisfaction, acceptance, and fairness.

    Listen to the players. Especially after the removal of many stops (Niantic Support 11. 10. 21) in Pokémon and the subsequent outcry from players, the desire for more stops is well known. We do not want to hear it may be that we will use this proposal in the future. -No, use them now, for everyone!

    Please rethink this and develop general rules that apply to all games so that we can all benefit from it! There is so much more to discover!

    Otherwise, at least a test phase starts. You can change it again apparently quickly, as you have noticed when deleting many stops.

    Instead of really giving incentives, players are currently being punished. The smoke was systematically rendered useless, making catching more difficult. Then why don't you give new incentives with new places to go out and discover places with other people?

    Even if it's a Pokemon problem, the consequences and the resulting consequences can be seen and felt very strongly here in Wayfarer. I also oblige you to initiate a rethink and to speak to the Pokemon team.

    #HearUSNiantic

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

    We’ll see if you post it again in a few weeks time on the next big thread? I’m sure you shall.

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

    The Wayfarer team aren’t the ones who will be able to change it. If you have a Pokémon GO specific issue, keep raising it with that team.

  • Liediawa-PGOLiediawa-PGO Posts: 58 ✭✭✭

    Imagine, I know that. But since the whole problem is reflected here again, it is time that Wayfarer has something to say

  • sogNinjaman-INGsogNinjaman-ING Posts: 3,313 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Ambo Goals

    1) Criteria - Top idea. The majority of arguments in here about "but the criteria say my waypoint should bee accepted" all revolve round a very few topics. While allowing the "flexibility" that Niantic want, it would be very good if you could get Niantic to give some definitive "Yes or No" answers about what are often country specific things - so UK postboxes / German trailmarkers etc etc. They need to come out and actually say "This design - yes, this design - no". That would help a lot. Visually unique - does this need a revamp. What are the opinions of the ambassadors and Niantic on things like trail markers where you see identical sets of markers every 40m or so in some places, should there be a limit of 1 marker of that type per x 100m m. At what point does visual uniqueness cxome into play, or are there some waypoint types it does not apply to. Discuss?

    2) Incentivising Wayfarer. What are ways in which we can incentivize Wayfarer as a whole to take full advantage of all its features? What features? It certainly needs some more, such as options to directly report invalid Waypoints spotted while reviewing. The review page needs a revamp IMO, do we really need questions about "cultural relevance". We need more explicit rejection criteria, so people submitting get better info on rejections. We also need reviewer feedback so reviwers can improve - lots of room for discussion here. Badges - meh, but it would be nice to have the in game badge requirements for Ingress and PoGo the same - 10,000 vs 1500 for "platinum".

    3) Rural Communities. Niantic games, with their reliance of real world feature, will always be "better" in urban areas, thats just the way it is. Without changing the criteria for rural communities (theres a whole can of worms you do not want to open) I'm not sure what more can be done - if there are only a limited number of things to nominate at a loction there are only a limited number of things.

  • kamemaru456-INGkamemaru456-ING Posts: 1 ✭✭

    If possible, can you hold something like an official POI study group remotely?

  • BochumJules-PGOBochumJules-PGO Posts: 498 ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2022

    @NianticTintino

    Can it somehow be that there was a small error or bug? This morning I was still a Ambo and now I'm apparently no longer? 👀

    😅 A little clarification would be nice!?

    Post edited by BochumJules-PGO on
  • Duiomar-PGODuiomar-PGO Posts: 458 ✭✭✭✭✭

    So they could change up the suffixes and remove the game locked ones we have now after all. Interesting.

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

    This is getting old already. Stop it.


    Back to the topic, what are the actual missions for Ambasssdors? And are they allowed not to be active in this forum?

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