I currently have 14 nominations that have been approved, but only 9 of them are live in the game I play. The remaining 5 appear to have been added to other Niantic titles instead. I understand the disclaimer that “not all accepted nominations will appear in all Niantic games,” but I’m hoping to better understand why this happens and if anything can be done about it.
As someone actively working to improve my local area for the game I play, it’s disheartening to see the results of that effort benefiting a game I don’t engage with. If a nomination isn’t going to appear in the game it was submitted through, I would rather it be rejected so I can revise it or submit a different candidate that better fits the game’s criteria.
Is there a way to ensure that nominations are prioritized or filtered to appear in the game they were submitted for? Or at least more transparency on what determines their final placement?
This issue is discouraging me from continuing to contribute, and I’m sure others feel the same. Any clarification or potential solutions would be greatly appreciated.
I have this written up for when I see a wheresmypokestop question:
I know the prompt tells you that you are submitting a “Pokestop” but you are actually submitting a Wayspot to the database. The Wayspot can only become a Pokestop or gym if it is alone in a level 17 S2 cell. This is a good article about S2 cells and how they are used in PoGo: https://pokemongohub.net/post/article/comprehensive-guide-s2-cells-pokemon-go/
(Eligible Wayspots are added to Pokemon Go in a sync that happens once a day normally. If it has not been more than 48 hours since it was accepted, it could just be that it has not synced in yet.)
Wayspots that are not eligible to be Pokestops or gyms still have the potential to be used as Power Spots. It appears that there is a 22m distance requirement from any Pokestop or gym for it to be used this way, and it seems there is a limit of two active Power Spots per L14 S2 cell, the same size used to determine gyms. We explorers haven’t figured out the schedule for syncing in new Power Spots, but it is not on a daily basis at this time.
If you would like to leave the title and location, someone here with access to external resources may be able to confirm if there is indeed an issue with the S2 cells. But since the sale to Scopely has affected these Niantic (now NianticSpatial) maps being updated, it may be more difficult. The gps coordinates where you pinned the Wayspot will be after the second photo in the email you received when you submitted the nomination, but the pin may have been moved in voting. Do be aware this is a public forum if you would rather not reveal your location. I realize this is a lot of information to dump on someone, so please ask if you have more questions.
Whilst I can understand why you’d feel this way, I do think it’s worth looking at the bigger picture. A lot of the wayspots used in any given game will have been submitted by players of a different game, who may not have had your specific game in mind when they were making those submissions.
So whilst obviously it’s nice when you submit a wayspot and it is actually used in your game(s) of preference, you shouldn’t feel so bad if it doesn’t meet the requirements for a specific game, as you still may be helping out someone else with your submission, and their submissions might end up benefitting you as well.