So my Wayspot nomination got rejected and I’m not sure why? I thought I had all the criteria down
Here’s what it looks like:
I’m pretty sure I have it all checked off and I’ve seen other similar theater type pokestops get accepted so what makes this different? Should I go ahead and send an appeal for this?
Welcome to the forum @SirRyan
Mandatory @BlameJamal tag for Charlotte NC peeps =)
If this rejection for “Wayfarer criteria” with an email from “our team” was decided about 20-24 hours after you submitted, it was most likely Niantic’s ML (machine learning ai) model. My guess would be that it couldn’t recognize that as more than some furniture in a room.
If you want humans to review this nomination, you can appeal. You get 2 appeals, each on a 20 day counter before you can use them again. If you do appeal, it could help your case if you can provide links that show this Theater Room is an amenity here. I cannot guarantee it will be accepted but is worth a try.
If you don’t have an appeal, or if you want to save it, you can try again with a new submission with a new photo. If there is a sign for this Theater Room, I would use that for the nomination. If there is not, you may want to try taking the main photo from a different angle. Maybe more like the one you used for the supporting photo to show the whole room.
[Note for future noms, leave off anything about a specific game in the supporting section. Just say how it meets criteria, and give any other information reviewers may need to verify it is what you say it is and where you say it is. You submit wayspots not pokestops, no matter what the prompt says.]
Hey there @SirRyan, I am also in Charlotte and I can tell you. You will have a much better chance of getting this approved if you snap the photo from outside the clubhouse vs. inside the clubhouse.
This looks like inside of a single family home. Try this again and if you need help, reach out. My office is in Ballantyne and I’d be willing to help you get some stuff approved in that area for sure.
I appreciate the help a lot! In your opinion which method do you think I should try doing first? Should I remake the stop with more distinguishing photos of the theater room like you said or should I try appealing it? As for any sort of sign marking the room, there isn’t one (actually I just remembered there is one but it’s a really small and boring sign that says “theater room”, it’s not really distinguishing imo). I could try taking a secondary photo of the hallway that leads into the room if that would make things more clear for supporting evidence
Thanks for the help and it’d be cool to see ya in Ballentyne! As for taking the photo outside vs inside, how would that work if I’m trying to have a stop be just of the theater room and not the whole clubhouse. I could try doing a stop like that later but what about the theater specifically?
The Clubhouse would be an easier submission, unless you are submitting the Theater because the Theater exists in an empty L17 S2 cell. I think I found the clubhouse, and highlighted there are already occupied cells for the pool and a fountain that I think is in front of the Clubhouse.
I will copy and paste my speech about S2 cells:
I know the prompt tells you that you are submitting a “Pokestop” but you are actually submitting a Wayspot to Niantic’s Lightship 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 PoGo: https://pokemongohub.net/post/article/comprehensive-guide-s2-cells-pokemon-go/
I usually try submitting a couple of times before I appeal, since appeals are limited.
Ok, I’ll try to resubmit the theater a few more times and if it fails then I’ll appeal. I’ll let you know how that goes. And yeah the cell division on the clubhouse and the surroundings splits it up into 4 chunks haha.
I would try at least one with this sign. When nicely centered in the photo, ML seems to understand signs better than furniture.
So using the sign as the supporting image would be the way to go? Or does the ML only look at the photo that’s going to be displayed in game?
They don’t tell us exactly how ML works, and for good reason. But I have found that changing the main photo is a good way to proceed when it is rejecting a nomination that I think is valid. I do like your idea of taking a supporting photo from the hallway looking into the room if it includes that sign, whether you use the sign as the main photo or not.
Ok I’ll give the sign and the hallway a try as a supporting photo for now because if it comes down to it having to be used as the main photo, while it could get accepted that way, it’d be kind of disappointing in my eyes if the wayspot discussing a movie theater barely shows the actual theater in the photo. I’m not sure if that made sense but that’s how I kind of see it
So what I went ahead and did was appealed the nomination I had already submitted since I don’t think I’m in need of having open appeals at the ready. Now it’s been about a week since I did it and I’m wondering how long it’s going to take for it to go through the process. Is it going to be a few more weeks or is it going to be months? If it’s going to take a long time, would it be okay if I remade it now? Or since it’s in appeals now, would making a pokestop on the same place mess things up? Sorry about the many questions I’m just new to this whole thing
There’s no set timeframe for appeals to be decided upon, especially since they are reviewed by human staff. It can differ depending on how many appeals are in queue, as well as other work that staff may be tasked with doing.
A week isn’t unusal for an appeal, as some have had appeals take several weeks in the past.
Also, the Wayspot Appeals topic isn’t for appealing rejected nominations. Please read the info for the topics before posting. The below thread may get closed since there’s nothing that can be done, nor is it a removal request or restoration request.
We aren’t making stops/gyms for PoGo or portals for Ingress, but rather nominating POIs to be Wayspots on the database map. Each game uses the map to determine game play locations, and each game has their own density inclusion rules. PoGo uses S2 cells, while Ingress uses a 20 m rule. No approved Wayspot is guaranteed to become a stop/gym and/or portal based on the rules.
More info on PoGo and S2 cells can be found here:
https://pokemongohub.net/post/featured/comprehensive-guide-s2-cells-pokemon-go/
However, it’s best to wait for the appeal to be decided upon, as if it gets approved and there’s a pending nomination, the pending nomination will get marked as a duplicate.
The forum is here for asking questions! If I have appealed something, I wait until it is decided before submitting it again. There is no rule about this to my knowledge. I think most appeal decisions are within 2 weeks these days, but can’t promise that.
Ok, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
I’ve been told that it seems like it qualifies, it’s just that the ML most likely didn’t know what it was looking at.
Mod. edit: After merging I’ve deleted doubled informations (like photos)
Hello,
Wayspot Appeals is for appealing rejected removal requests that are valid, or to ask for a removed Wayspot to be restored. At this point, you’ve appealed the nomination through Contribution Management, so you’ll just have to wait and see what the appeals team decides.
Oh I see. Thanks for the clarification. How long do appeals take usually?
