Hi everyone,
The Wayfarer Ambassadors are seeking feedback from the community about how users currently use Niantic-provided maps (such as Ingress Intel) in part of their Wayfarer experience, and what feedback might need to be provided to Scopely once Wayfarer changes ownership.
How I Use Maps
There are a variety of map tools which Niantic has (or has had) which show Wayspots, including:
- Ingress Intel (shows all Ingress Portals worldwide)
- Ingress Mission Creator (shows all Ingress Portals worldwide; allows users to search by portal title/description)
- Wayfarer app (defunct) (showed all Wayspots worldwide)
- Geospatial Browser (intended for developers only) (shows all Wayspots worldwide)
I personally find that maps such as Ingress Intel are very useful in my day-to-day Wayfarer activities. Examples of activities I use Ingress Intel for which relate to Wayfarer include:
- Looking for areas where I can submit new Wayspots (e.g. playgrounds or sports courts with no current Wayspots)
- Identifying Wayspots which need location edits or other corrections
- Identifying places where I could go to explore Wayspots (e.g. a park to visit where I would like to take photos of Wayspots or do scans)
- Marking my Wayfarer submissions with pins so I can keep track of what I have submitted and what I am planning to submit
- Using different basemap providers (e.g. Google Satellite vs. Bing Maps vs. Esri) to confirm correct Wayspot locations during review
- Identifying possible fake Wayspots in an area for reporting
Announced Scopely Changes
After the Spatial/Scopely split, “Ingress contributions won’t show up in Pokémon GO, Ingress, or Monster Hunter Now and vice versa” (source). This means that the Ingress Intel map will begin to diverge from the database of Wayfarer/PGO POIs. I would not be able to use the Ingress Intel map, for example, to see if a new sculpture or mural has already been submitted and approved in Wayfarer/PGO without physically going there myself to check.
It is “unknown at this time” whether Scopely will make an equivalent of Ingress Intel for the Wayfarer POI database (source).
It has been said that “for Pokémon GO players using Wayfarer, your experience will remain unchanged” (source). If there is zero access to a map of POIs post-split, then I strongly beg to differ. If there is no access to any map (other than Campfire gyms) then my Wayfarer experience is going to change significantly.
Your Say
Ambassadors would love to hear your thoughts about how you interact with maps as part of your Wayfarer experience. How do you use maps currently as an Explorer? What do you think will be the possible impact on your experience without being able to use tools such as Ingress Intel in the future? Could be make a tool that’s even better for Wayfarer than any of the current tools? What features would make your Wayfarer experience even better?
In addition to your comments, we would love it if you could take the time to fill out some of the following polls. This will give us some quantitative data which we can present through our channels as Wayfarer Ambassadors.
Do you currently use Niantic map tools like Ingress Intel as part of your Wayfarer experience?
- Yes
- No
How do you use Niantic map tools as part of your experience?
Select all that apply
- Discovering Wayspots (e.g. using the map to find new POIs)
- Planning submissions (e.g. using maps to identify future POIs that can be submitted)
- Aiding in reviewing (e.g. using a separate map during reviews to confirm Wayspot details)
- Curating the map (e.g. identifying Wayspots which may need edits or reporting)
- Sharing Wayspots with others (e.g. screenshots, links)
- Assisting the community (e.g. helping others understand why their Pokestop did not show up)
- I do not use maps as part of my Wayfarer experience
Do you think Scopely should prioritise creating a map which shows Wayfarer POIs?
- High Priority - This is something I feel is important
- Medium Priority - I would benefit from the feature but it is not important
- Low Priority - This would not impact me significantly / I don’t care
Which features would you like to see in a hypothetical future Scopely map
Select all that apply
- See the title and description for Wayspots
- Be able to see ALL approved Wayspots on the map (not just those which appear in games)
- Show different basemaps (e.g. Google Roads, Google Satellite)
- Show Wayspot latitude and longitude (e.g. for copying into GPS)
- See all the approved photos for a Wayspot as a gallery
- Being able to vote on favourite photos for Wayspots
- Display codenames on approved photos (unless user has turned this option off in their Settings)
- Filter to show my approved Wayfarer contributions on the map
- Have other users be able to see my Wayfarer contributions (e.g. people on my friends list)
- Create map link which will open the map to a specific Wayspot (e.g. for sharing with friends)
- Let me see on the map the locations of my submitted Wayspots (e.g. In Queue/Voting) and their status
- Let me place custom pins on the map which will display whenever I log in (e.g. for marking my future submissions)
- Edit a Wayspot directly from the map (e.g. title/description/location edits)
- Report a Wayspot directly from the map (e.g. unsafe location)
- Search for Wayspots by title or description
- See which Scopely games a certain Wayspot appears in
- Filter Wayspot/s to only show ones which appear in certain Scopely game/s
- Be able to display how Wayspots are used in certain Scopely game/s (e.g. icons for Gym vs. Pokestop vs. Power Spot)
- Track which POIs I have interacted with in-game
Some map services (e.g. Ingress Intel) are available on both internet browsers and phones. Other map services (e.g. Wayfarer App) were available on phone/tablet only and could be accessed from a computer. Where would you like to be able to access a hypothetical Scopely map from?
Select all that apply
- A desktop/laptop/PC browser
- A phone or tablet
Campfire is coming to Scopely. Would just the Campfire map (as is) be enough for your Wayfarer needs?
- Yes - I use maps for Wayfarer and the current Campfire map already does everything I could possibly need for Wayfarer.
- No - I use maps for Wayfarer and the current Campfire map does not do everything I need.
- N/A - I don’t use map tools for Wayfarer.
