Have you ever noticed how chary Niantic is with information?
Explorers have felt frustrated since forever that Niantic didn’t adequately explain Wayspot rejections.
Eventually, Niantic added feedback categories to their emails. Then we knew that our ballfield was considered to be a ‘generic business’ or ‘farmland’ which isn’t very helpful, so explorers said they needed more feedback, and also wanted some push-back against reviewers who behaved improperly.
Niantic responded by developing several types of nasty-gram. The real ‘Warning Letter’ was what lead to the development and ultimate disregard of strikes, bans, and banishment from both Wayfarer and any individual games.
They also drafted other letters that contained words like ‘Warning’, ‘…may lead to sanctions including permanent loss of game accounts’, that were intended to be merely advisory:
Dear Ricky, somebody didn’t like it that you rejected their nomination, so you are receiving this warning that you may need to reacquaint yourself with Wayfarer Criteria. Failure to adapt to changing rules could lead to a temporary or permanent ban from all Niantic services.
Hoping you are well,
Sincerely,
Samantha Hopkirk
We refer to these as ‘Advisory’ or ‘Educational’ emails, because Niantic says they are not ‘Warning letters’ (even though they contain that word).
Someone in this chain got such a message for rejecting a nominated logo at a franchise restaurant, which was somehow overturned on appeal.
