Why are good, accurate PokéStops and routes removed after several years and replaced by PokéStops at non-existent locations elsewhere?
When I submit a valid objection to a rejection, is the location properly examined, or is only an old, outdated aerial photograph used? To clarify, I live in a new neighbourhood. Five years ago, there was a fruit orchard/farmland here, but now it is a completely new district that will continue to be built on for the next five years. The aerial photographs often do not show new streets, schools, and playgrounds, but that does not mean they are not there.
Why are stickers on lampposts valid PokéStops? There are at least eight (if not more) within a radius of 500 metres.
If a route is removed for the reason I mentioned earlier, why is the PokéStop also removed?
And my final question for now: why do I often receive a scan request for a PokéStop that is not even nearby (in my daily rewards, after spinning a PokéStop)?
A couple of these topics are not wayfarer related, so let me get those out of the way first:
Routes are not connected to wayfarer. The removal of a route doesn’t cause the removal of a wayspot. However, if a wayspot is reported and removed, then any routes attached to that wayspot will be hidden/removed as they no longer have a valid end point.
AR scan tasks can be a nuisance for players. The Pokémon Go devs want you to provide them with AR scans for other projects, and so they’ll usually dot these scan tasks around with the purpose of making you go and scan a specific Pokéstop or Gym. A lot of players don’t enjoy doing this. The solution to it is actually fairly simple though. When you pick up such a task, just hold on to it and never complete it and never delete it. It doesn’t take up a space for regular field research tasks, and you can only hold one AR scan task at a time, so any Pokéstops you spin whilst you hold on to one of them will give you regular field research instead.
Those are the non-Wayfarer related things covered, now on to the stuff that is actually meant to be discussed on this forum:
Could you provide some examples of both valid wayspots being removed and invalid ones being approved locally to you?
The appeal reviewers will use the available evidence to make a decision. If street view and satellite view are out of date, the onus is on you as the submitter to provide enough evidence that the location is accurate and valid when you submit your appeal. For example, Google Maps might not be up to date, but you should check other mapping services just in case they’ve visited your area more recently or have better satellite imagery of it. You can let the appeal reviewers know which map to use if you find one that’s more up to date.
Other than that, if there are any websites for the housing development that maybe show a map or development schematic of how the area is meant to be laid out, that could also help appeal reviewers. You can also upload geotagged images to an image hosting website and link to that in your appeal if you’re really struggling for other forms of evidence to help verify the location.
If you use the wayfarer web based submission, you are able to upload multiple supporting photos, and I would maybe suggest doing this if you’re in an area that’s not currently mapped. Make sure at least one of your supporting photos is geotagged so that reviewers have something to reference.
If the stickers are valid trail markers that mark the route of a local trail and were placed by an authority responsible for maintaining that trail, then they can be eligible. Trail markers are often a very good thing to submit in more rural areas.
I do want to add that every wayspot must meet the criteria of atleast one of these:
A great place to socialise
A great place to explore
A great place to excercise
Trail markers for example encourage following a specific trail and even socialising sometimes. That’s why these markers often are in the game. As a last point about these, the markers are not the thing we are aubmitting, we are using it as a point of interest to nominate that particular part of the trail, since that is the thing to explore.
