“Following an internal investigation performed by our team, we have confirmed that you have been submitting Wayspot nominations that do not meet our criteria. This is a notice email to help you improve your Wayspot contributions, this is not a warning. […] Note that any further violations can lead to permanent suspension of your Wayfarer and Pokémon GO accounts.”
(I’ve highlighted a slight inconsistent
The violation example they selected (“generic”) is a trail marker that was accepted and is a live wayspot in Ingress (presumably also Pokemon Go).
Has anyone had their wayfarer and Pogo accounts permanently suspended because of further random violations (that, as it happens, are impossible to predict, and can therefore only be avoided by not submitting any more wayspots)?
Has anyone had this warning and then continued to submit wayspots, with their usual rejection/acceptance ratio, without repercussions?
Has anyone had any luck in responding to the automated email (“Graham” support at nianticlabs.com) and getting a real person to look into it and remove the violation flag from their profile? Is it worth replying to the email?
(stats for 2024: approx 24 rejections, 350+ accepted across both pogo and ingress)
Not permanently, but I did get my accounts banned for 3 months because I submitted a lot of trail marker wayspots that were perfectly satisfactory at the time but were suddenly considered “violations” by Niantic.
Funny thing was that it was a 30-day ban at first, and when I contacted them to reinstate my accounts, they were like “oh sorry, we made a typo in the ban e-mail, you’re actually banned for 90 days”.
I kid you not. They said there was a typo in an obviously copypasted or auto-generated e-mail.
Not had one yet, but I generally avoid Trail Markers outside the Capital Ring Marker trail (Capital Ring Walk - Transport for London) as trail markers have a love hate relationship with reviewers.
Let me explain. This is not a Warning. There are no flags on your accounts because of this message at all.
You can absolutely respond to the email or appeal this decision. Permanent suspensions are very rare and happen in cases of serious violations or repeated violations despite warnings or suspensions. The acceptance and rejection ratio has no say in this.
@NianticAaron Thanks for responding. I don’t want to have to stop finding things to submit (they aren’t all trail markers!!). I’ll reply to the email and see what comes of that.
OK. There’s a few issues with the email (the threat that says it isn’t a warning; the violation example being a wayspot that has been accepted). Is there going to be any mileage in referencing these or are Niantic aware of these issues already?
If you have questions as to why that nomination was approved but was deemed not following criteria, please get support on it in the Nomination Support - Niantic Wayfarer Community section.
Hi
I do think there needs to be a careful look at the wording of these emails.
Most wayfinders will not be aware of the existence of these emails, why should they.
So one that is meant to be about “education” and contains phrases such as violations and permanent bans will of course cause stress and worry.
I am really glad that @NianticAaron has been able to quickly reassure you about that. I had one of these emails a few years ago and it put me off submitting for a long time as these sorts of reassurances and examples of the issue were not available. So things have improved but I know how you feel.
With regards to trail markers the guidance that everyone should be following is in the criteria clarification section
The emphasis is on the route or trail as that is the element that is about exploration and exercise. The markers are simply anchors for decision points on the route, enablers of following it.
I have received another email, apologising for the earlier one and saying to disregard the warning notification. I think I’ll be able to continue running out of submission slots (Ingress and Pogo).
I am glad that @NianticArron responded quickly, since my concern was growing despite my best attempts to convince myself that my submissions were legit. I’ve noticed from other threads that the automation of the emails, and the wording itself, has long been causing distress, so I’m not expecting them to be changed.
(The main reason that trail markers are good wayspots is that they encourage Exercise, which is one of the three linchpins of Niantic games.)
Was the trail marker wayspot mentioned in the first email removed? Or is their second email saying there wasn’t actually an issue and so the wayspot is valid and remains as-is?
The trail marker wayspot, which was accepted and is still in Lightship (and is also well-written and meets criteria) was mentioned in the first email as an example of a wayspot that “does not meet our eligibility criteria as it is generic”.
At least I didn’t get my account flagged and also the first email was effectively withdrawn. So posting here helped.
Must feel super nice to get a threatening email like that for a perfectly reasonable nomination that remains in the database
Doesnt matter how many people tell you it isnt really a threat, still would terrify me, and I’ve submitted lots of “generic” trail markers (perfectly valid nominations) so Im basically waiting for my nasty email
I received this as well and have not used Wayfarer anymore. I don’t want to risk being banned since the spot I edited and tried to move to its new location they are saying is a violation. So how can I confidently use Wayfarer if they don’t see real updates in the maps? I thought it was because I had to fill the whole page so I entered a description and someone suggested it may be seen as influencing but someone else put through the location edit and got the warning too. It’s definitely not worth risking a ban. But I have no trust in Wayfarer anymore.
Unfortunately the interface isn’t always clear. Especially with the focus on game immersion. But talking about the move in the Description edit is why you got your email ‘warning’. I see no reason that you should be worried about doing future nominations.
I thought that was all too but I didn’t want to risk being banned so my daughter put the edit through on her game with no comments and got the exact same warning.
Interesting. I would not have expected that. I’m sorry that has happened to both you and your daughter. It seems like there was something going on on the Niantic side. Maybe they flagged the spot because of a recent email?
I still think you are both good to nominate. Though that park sign move is a major question now. Note that I did read your full thread about it from a few months back.