I have updated the photos and added a current photo from today, Saturday, March 28th, to demonstrate that the waypoint is still in the correct location.
I am writing to formally appeal the removal of the Wayspot “Colorfully”. I have been a dedicated player since 2016, and this location is a pillar of our local community in Tapanila.
This spot, “Colorfully”, was a very active PokéStop for several years without any issues. Recently, it was converted into a Gym, but only two weeks later, the entire location was removed from the map. Currently, we have neither the Gym nor the original PokéStop.
I kindly ask for a formal review of this removal. This Wayspot is located in Tapanilantori, a central public square that hosts community events, especially during the summer. It is a safe, pedestrian-only area that does not interfere with private property, emergency services, or traffic. It perfectly meets all Niantic Wayfarer criteria for social interaction and safe exploration.
The removal has negatively impacted our local player base, and we believe it may have been based on inaccurate reports, as the site remains a safe and accessible public space. Please consider restoring this vital point of interest.
Thank you for your time and for reviewing this case. Best regards, luis36lp
For a Wayspot to be removed, Niantic will either have been presented with evidence that it should be removed, or by a property owner request to have it removed. There is nothing you can do if it was a property owner request. If it was from a report, then you will need to submit evidence that this point of interest still exists and meets criteria.
I am not staff, just a regular on the forum trying to help you make the best case you can. Just wanting the gym back for the local player base is not enough.
Hello! Thank you very much for your help. I have updated the post today by adding this photo I’m sending you now, to demonstrate that it is currently still in the same location as of today, Saturday, March 28th.
Thank you for the welcome and for your advice; I really appreciate the help.
Regarding the removal, I am not entirely sure if it was due to a report or a map update, which is why I am submitting this appeal. I highly doubt it was a property owner request, as the location is a public square managed by the City of Helsinki. Since it is a public space in my neighborhood, there is no private owner involved who would request its removal.
Furthermore, there are no construction works or any other issues that would make the area unsafe for pedestrians.
I have seen someone on a discord server badly photoshopping this box out of pictures and then saying “look it’s gone” - they wanted it removed for their own benefit I think, to move the gym elswhere
Hopefully staff can remedy this - it should never have been removed. It meets no removal criteria. It should be restored as a PoI and the gym put back- to do otherwise rewards the abuse
I can provide screenshots of the entire discord conversation to staff if they want. I assume what happened is that they improved their photoshop skills
Thank you so much for bringing this up. This is my first time posting here and I’m a bit new to the forum rules, so I’m not sure how to proceed with this kind of information.
To the forum staff: Should these screenshots be posted here, or is it better to send them directly to an administrator via private message? I want to make sure we follow the rules while providing all the evidence of this potential abuse.
In any case, here is my update from today, Saturday, March 28th, showing that the location is still there:
I knew that art looked familiar. If this was an action from complaints to the town about crowds of Pokemon players, as happened in my town, then only Niantic can tell you this.
If if was based on falsified player reports, that is a punishable offense by that player. If that is what happened, I hope the player is banned and that the gym relocation based on the false report is reverted.
Thank you for your comment! I honestly doubt it was due to crowds. We are a small community and we never have large groups of players here; it’s usually fewer than 10 people at most. It’s very rare to see a big gathering in this square, so I don’t think it has affected the local authorities at all.
Thank you! I’m not 100% sure what happened, but it’s definitely not fair since the gym is still there. It’s very strange because another gym and a Pokéspot nearby were also removed recently. I’m new to the appeal process, so I don’t know if Niantic is making big changes or if these were false reports. I will probably start a different thread for those other spots so we don’t mix them up with this one. I just hope this gets fixed soon!
I’m really glad you posted @Luis36 it really sucks that this happened to you.
Here is the image that was shared on discord - I will share more detailed info including username and in game name with staff. You can see the low quality and bad editing over the box area where the house and trees are distorted. They also cropped and framed it carefully to give as little context as possible
Wow, that’s unbelievable! Some people really have too much time on their hands to do this. I’m glad we are making progress, but it would be great if the Admin also verifies this player’s other recent reports, as another gym and a Pokéstop disappeared nearby in a very short time. It doesn’t seem normal at all. However, let’s take this step by step; my main priority right now is resolving this specific gym. I hope the Staff sees this evidence and reactivates our spot soon. Thank you so much!
Did your library have anything happen to it? They also were talking about a library needing to be removed, but it clearly did not. Again they deliberately tried to obscure and mislead
Thank you! Please send it over. Since I’m still learning how to use this forum, I’m not sure where to find my ‘library’ or messages. If you send it and I can’t find it, could you please explain how to view it? Thanks for the help!
Sorry I could have been clearer. A library (Kirjasto Bibliotek) was another thing the same person was trying to remove saying the PoI was wrong, misplaced, needed deleting. It appeared to be completely accurate to me.
If the wayfarer team need any specific information and it has not been provided so far on the open forum but you are also concerned about revealing details on a forum they can initiate a direct message in the forum just with you.
Edited as I had accidentally omitted the word team
Will the gym be put back where it belongs too, so that the abuser doesn’t benefit from what they managed to do? Otherwise restoring the PoI after the gym recalculated will still reward this activity and this person will continue to do this.
it really sucks that this happened to you.
