Look, I don’t want this thread to get closed due to our arguing.
I asked for Niantic to clarify picnic tables and areas, because ultimately it’s up to Niantic to decide what stays and what goes - you are correct here.
Which removal criteria they meet is irrelevant, because see above. Just because something doesn’t meet removal criteria doesn’t mean it can’t be removed. “Ask, and ye shall receive” works quite a lot for me.
You think that clarification is clear enough? Good. I don’t think so, so I asked for further clarification, just like other people asked for further clarifications on other things.
Can we also get Niantic clarifications (not player opinions) about transit hubs? I thought that only famous transit hubs are eligible, but seems to me that an intersection of any two bus routes is considered a hub. Maybe I was wrong in rejecting a few bus stop nominations and should start accepting and nominating them
@NianticTintino Please provide a clarification on neighborhood signs. These keep coming through voting. There is nothing inherent about them that meets criteria, but players see a sign and submit it. And then reviewers see a sign has been accepted on the nearby wayspots and accept it. And so on and so on.
There is a significant number of community that think city/neighborhood signs fit the “explore” category. While, this is not a universal view and is more prevalent in some communities than others, I just wanted to push back a bit when you say “Nothing meets criteria”. But, just as importantly, the schism is such that it could use a look at.
Or it could simple be left to local communities and standards and just means it’s the norm hit-n-miss decision
City signs are not anything like these neighborhood signs I am talking about. There is one at almost every corner where I live. If you want to /something with them, maybe “estate” signs comes closest. I almost always accept “welcome to city” signs if they have safe pedestrian access. The neighborhood signs I mean are just there to identify the subdivision for the builder and have zero significance outside of identifying the real estate.
I’d call them apartment/condo/town house/housing communities. Besides those “estate” signs for larger housing communities that span for blocks I’ve seen signs for individual apartment buildings.
And yes, those signs are different from “Welcome to such and such official city” or “Welcome to such and such official city neighborhood”. They are “Here’s a sign for a random living community that has a fancy name given to it by developers or owners to make it more attractive to potential clients and to increase its value”
I contacted the Wayspot Removal for a generic postbox and a generic comunity mailbox… this is the response after some back to back emails from Niantic:
Both Zachary and Saylor responded the exact same in regards to a mailbox. If you live in Canada you have likely seen this.
This is a generic item as updated for anti-graffiti wrap by the postal company.
At least the mailboxes in the UK are slightly significant. The ones here are completely the same. The wrap isn’t even different depending on where you are.
I googled “canada mailboxes with anti graffiti wrap”, switched to image results, and one of the first photos was two of the same mailboxes, exactly like this one, standing side by side. There were more photos of the same mailbox. So they are still mass-produced, generic mail drop-off mailboxes designed and placed by Canada’s postal service department, even though someone might consider them artsy. But because of “mass-produced and generic” part they shouldn’t have been nominated, let alone approved. I tried to search for this design, but only found this article related to community mailboxes and not to mail drop-off mailboxes - Community mailbox design unveiled as Canada Post prepares to phase out door-to-door delivery | CTV News. This might help with removing community mailboxes wayspots. If you could find something in the news about this artsy design that shows this is mass-produced, it might help with those mailboxes, too.
Oh I did. I sent links and examples.
For the mailbox I gave several streetview examples from around town with coordinates. Then I added links from three other provinces for the mailboxes.
For the community one I added links and the websites. So this was done initially in the wayspot removal and then subsequently after feedback. Most of the community ones are for developments in my area. Although, I know other cities moved to that before it was stopped. With emails to show another province showing who will stop receiving door delivery and then another link in another province that no further community mailboxes will come up (due to elections) but that door service will not resume for those that have the community boxes.
Yet this was the response for all my evidence.
I can easily submit in wayspot appeals but was leaning towards an anonymous removal to not trigger some people. Instead, maybe I should just start submitting some
Do the appeals. If they fail, then we’ll know for sure it’s totally fine to nominate drop-off mailboxes and community mailboxes I guess I could also try nominating FedEx and UPS drop-off boxes
This is Niantic’s response after showing them the rejection criteria site that the object is mass-produced. Both Saylor and Zachary bot responded with the same message.
So anytime your wayspot is publicly accessible an appeal can happen on the grounds that no other such criteria need be met
Yet Niantic voting and appeals denied multiple trail markers that are on trail maps due to being “generic”. But sure let’s keep the mailboxes.
The more recent nominations for stop signs that I have had I really shouldn’t have rejected, since they are publicly accessible
No I submitted the request through Reporting a Wayspot — Wayfarer Help Center to remove the wayspot in question as it doesn’t meet criteria.
I have seen road signs. I actually had one removed that was “Now entering…” that was on a highway. It wasn’t accessible and after construction was not replaced. I do see more road signs popping up in the newer developments since they look more modern and perhaps were considered wayfinding for pedestrians, but the signs are directing you to locations that are too far away and are actually for drivers.
My understanding is that the form is for property owners who don’t want wayspots on their property, but I was told that it’s OK for general public to use, too. I personally never used it. I report wayspots in-game first, then appeal here. If you haven’t tried appealing here, I suggest you do. It won’t hurt and just takes a little bit of your time.
Update: Considering that the form is for removing wayspots from private non-residential properties, when Niantic people get your requests for removal of signs on public property, they probably go “Excuse me, but we only deal with private properties here”
An ambassador actually commented on a post in Wayspot Appeals to use the form instead. I have had mixed review with it. Normally I use it when removing wayspots I find while reviewing. I cannot report these because they are not in my area. Technically, there is no in game removal report that meets this. It is safely accessible, it isn’t on school property or on private property and it is still there.
A comment on the forum asked about a way to appeal reports via contributions so it would be anonymous. I indicated to them they could use the form. I personally like transparency when appealing, by seeing what Niantic’s response is. It would be nice if you could do an anonymous post on that thread.
Anytime I report a wayspot for removal it starts some uproar. It doesn’t matter if it is private property, on school property, or permanently removed. People don’t like changes to the game board.
