I’m hoping that I can get some assistance from the Niantic Wayfarer moderators. My partner who is on the Niantic Ambassador Program got some feedback from @xLilPoundcake that I should raise this on this platform.
Over the past 6 to 8 months I seem to be going around in circles where I submit a portal it gets accepted most of the time directly by Niantic directly the stop then disappears around 2 months later, I then go back and resubmit, then same happens the portal shortly after gets removed.
I do all of my Wayfaring through my game of choice which is Pokemon Go, and despite myself becoming renowned within the PvP side of the game, one of my favourite aspects of the game is the discovery, I have a passion for adventuring into the wilderness and discovering new points of interest not only in my local community but that of my extended community and even all across the United Kingdom when i travel away for either business or leisure. If I have my hand on my heart the recent events have left me demoralised and leaving me with very little motivation to continue this passion of mine. Which is shame considering the area in question Great Blakenham, Suffolk United Kingdom when I started employment within this area there was only roughly 5 portals in the surrounding area, there is now circa 60.
I’m in strong believe this constant removal requests is coming from a local ingress player, whom is known to be disgruntled towards Pokemon Go players and their apparent lack of ability to submit portals correctly. I’ve had over 400 approvals globally and I’m renowned within my local community to be one of our established Wayfarer offering advice to newer members looking to enhance their play experience within their local area.
The individual who is requesting for these pokestops to be removed is now going to the extreme of tearing down trail markers, causing in what is in my opinion what is criminal damage. I have various supporting photos which I can supply, and I know this is not something which is being done by the local authority as in case, other trail markers which are too close to existing portals are still present and on other markers these have only been installed around 6 months ago following a local authority lead initiative to encourage the local community to venture out on approved safe walkways. I would be very keen to speak to the required people about the apparent abuse of the system and eventual criminal damage being occured.
Thanks for reading
Richiebeckett85
Pokemon Go (Lv50)
Welcome to the forum! I am sorry you are having this experience.
There is an abuse reporting form linked at the top of the page here that you could use to discuss this behavior directly with Niantic.
If the person is tearing down markers in real life, this should be reported to the authorities.
It is very difficult for me to get Niantic to remove something that needs to be removed with evidence. I am always astounded when I see reports of removal/restore faction wars.
Hello and welcome @richiebeckett85
Thanks for taking the time to post this.
As I read through I started to wonder if it would involve trail markers so it was no surprise when I got to the end and saw it was.
.
The criteria clarification
Should have laid this issue to rest but it would appear not.
Could you post a few recent examples here please,
Have you had any emails about the removals or do simply notice they have gone.
Hey there! Welcome to the forums! Your partner had raised this issue with me a few months ago and I didn’t have any specifics, so I’m glad to see some here! I too would find it helpful if you could post a few examples, as Eli also asked. As Cyndie suggested as well, the abuse form is a great way to go.
Welcome again! Hopefully we can help you get a better handle on what’s going on here.
If it’s public footpath markers it wouldn’t be the first time they have been wrongly removed through a report even though Niantic’s criteria has said they can be accepted.
Hopefully your post will flag the inconsistency on the reports, the outcome and Niantic’s own criteria and yours can be reinstated.
I want to temper your expectations for what the Wayfarer Team can do about this abusive behavior. If the person is vandalizing property, Niantic employees can’t really do anything about that simply based on your report. You would need to contact your local authorities and get them to handle it. Hopefully that would generate some kind of proof (a report) that you could then submit. But if the local council doesn’t put the trail markers back up, the wayspots can’t be restored. So you will need to follow up with them to make sure that happens.
Just be careful not to get too detailed with the authorities about all this being motivated by one or more Niantic games. We’ve seen in the past that any bad behavior by players can make authorities judge us all harshly. We don’t want the local council to contact Niantic to remove all the trail markers from the games to avoid this issue because then we all lose.
But that’s an extreme and hopefully it won’t come to that.
Hey thanks for feedback, just to confirm reference the vandalism I have zero expecting on Niantic to take any action here, my expectations is they review the abuse of the system whilst taking into consideration the additional vandalism which has been witnessed within their judgment on what repercussions they deem fit upon review of my abuse report.
I have this afternoon touch base with the trust which maintain the area to make them aware of the situation and offered my assistance in a volunteering role to assist repair any damage which has happened. I’ve also informed my local council whom’s trail markers have also been vandalised, I’ve not mentioned the circumstances just that I’ve observed it during my walks within the area
That is a great way to handle it with the council, IMO. If it continues to happen and they want to dig into it, you could then mention that one player is going mental but you want them to know we’re not all like that.
Discover Suffolk Trail Marker - River Gipping Walk (Stowmarket Road)
Trail marker located along Stowmarket Road. The path leads to the Gipping River Walk, a popular walking trail within the local community. This sign features a QR code to enable visitors to access hundreds of walking, cycling, and horse riding trails across Suffolk. It also features another scannable code to provide a guide to enjoying the countryside in a safe and sustainable manner. Placed in partnership with Suffolk County Council
Baylham & Beyond and Shrubland Park Walk Trail Markers - River Gipping Walk, Great Blakenham Lock
Trail markers for a selection of local walking trails. The trails shares elements of their routes with the River Gipping Walk which follows the River Gipping. These trail markers are located near Great Blakenham lock
These all look like great places to exercise and explore.
Sounds like the person requesting removal knows they need proof and therefore need to destroy the markers in order to get their proof.
I wish them many splinters and stinging nettle encounters in their endeavours.
Hopefully there is a way to sort it out. It feels like to me, the trails are still valid even if the markers are destroyed - assuming they will be relatively quickly replaced. But i suppose niantic arent going to argue with the player submitting proof that the markers are gone.
there is a long history of it, basically they request removal, it gets removed. I go back resubmit, they get approved as they rightly should. However I feel they have taken this action to stop this circle. I have prior to knowing they where destroyed used my prior submitted photos to submit them again they get approved. I then visited the new pokestop in the game only to realise the extent to what they gone to.
It just brings to whole Niantic community into disrepute and I hope the Wayfarer team can identify who it is and terminate their account as this type of behaviour is not wanted within out local community. I mean these are routes maintained by a charity
Yeah its completely disgusting behaviour from that person
And I would have probably done the same thing, resubmitted with the old images if I hadnt been back and seen the damage, because you would never expect someone to do this!
Best course of action would be to appeal for it to be reinstated. Niantic could see continuous resubmitting of “ineligible” waypoints as abuse. (Not commenting on the eligibility of them, but better be safe than sorry)
