New waypoints being used for max raids

And allow blame to put on a team that has no control over the actions of a specific game? We can generalize the blame on “Niantic” but the clarification is Shilfiell made about the Wayfarer team is very true.

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It’s heavily linked to wayfarer and may result in consequences for us. I am aware that we cannot do anything as wayfarers but there is a chance that my messages here may reach someone who can.

I have tried to report the inappropriate spots around my area but no action is taken. In game support would be no help as its either a bot or someone with a very small script.

My hope with sharing here is that it is my only way to communicate to Niantic staff that this system is bad and causing damage to the reputation of the whole brand by having PoIs that haven’t gone via the wayfarer process, causing gatherings at single family homes and places that are not suitable for large crowds.

The staff members here are in a position to pass this on to the relevant decision makers if they choose to. Whether they are listened to is another issue entirely

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I could complain a LOT more about how bad of a decision the hoardes of players thing is for everyone not in a city to even access the game mechanic, but that is indeed a game thing not a wayfarer thing

The bad PoIs though IS a wayfarer thing so I was aiming to stay on topic. It tars us all with the same brush. There is little point having strict wayfarer guidelines if the largest game encourages enormous gatherings on SFPRP or in other inappropriate places. The public wont care about which team allowed it - they will just see anti social behaviour and be angry

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Theoretically, this information is being collected with the “How many people could comfortably gather around this location?” which surely is also being considered on all Wayspot imports and Niantic/AI approvals, I’m sure. In theory, with this information available to the games they could factor in raid level or other considerations for the games. Which, similar to as you note, is a game action that could be stepped up to utilize Wayfarer mechanics.

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Yes! We literally give the data during the wayfarer review process and I had assumed this was indeed the kind of use case for it ie filtering types of activity at the spot based on this information

In that case, we’re in perfect agreement! I don’t like these imported SFPRP and dangerously-placed Power Spots one bit, and don’t plan to focus on cleanup efforts to any major degree - just a casual effort if/when I feel like it.

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Hmm :thinking: do I (try to) clean up the prp locations on my street and lose a perfect place to grab MP on my walks? The conflict is real.

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Yep!

We can’t really do anything more than report them, and give feedback. The report follow up seems non existant since nothing I reported has been removed yet. Maybe the feedback will be just as ineffective.

I was hoping that feedback based on this first weekend would have more impact than my theoretical worries beforehand about the large groups. I should maybe have taken pictures of the crowd blocking the 1m wide pavement outside someone’s house, but so many faces to blur out and kids there too, didn’t seem right.

It would be nice to report “not suitable for group play” as another option. Ie spot remains and does no harm as no one lingers and no groups attend

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There have been problems.

When large groups descend upon an area that expects only light traffic, damage and disruption may ensue. Plants can be damaged. Trash containment may be overwhelmed. People who have come to expect a low noise level and social distancing will naturally feel upset.

We can expect this to be followed by a wave of take-down requests and new geo-fences. Our games are diminished and our hard work is lost. We risk being seen as a nuisance, a threat, perhaps even a criminal mob.

Were we to single out one staff-member for blame, this might be quite unfair. Even stuff we disagree with could be written directly into their job description.

The company and its organization are another matter altogether. There is nothing that says we must cleave to their org chart or learn to repeat their lies.

Sometimes some direct pressure must be applied. If we are not active in becoming part of the solution, we may find that we are a part of the problem.

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It’s not just Powerspots though.

I’m sure I don’t have to bring up the mess of Brazil, India and Turkey again…

What do you mean blame?

This is not five year olds stealing some ice cream. It’s a private company with hundreds of millions of dollars investment which Wayfarer is part of. Is it the Ambassadors role to just uphold and defend Wayfarer rules irrespective of whether you agree with them?

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Im not defending any wayfarer rules. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Just because Wayfarer is part of Niantic doesnt mean all blame and complaints can go through Wayfarer, because they are part of Niantic.

Do you think the bot network in the Netherlands was large scale abuse of the Wayfarer map?

Do you think the dump of Wayspots in Brazil and India by Niantic was large scale abuse?

When Ambassadors have brought this up are you met with a wall of silence? A shrug of the shoulders? Given a link to Pokémon Go help?

Do you suppose an employee goes rogue and tell you what you want to hesr and lose their job? Yeah Niantic is to blame, but im not gonna put blame on someone or some team taht cant do anything about it.

I’d hope not.

I’m not sure why you think it’s personal. I’m sure none of the staff here have much say over Powerspots or the Brazil dump.

Are you saying we should just carry on and not even mention it while Niantic abuse their own map and expect us to follow along like little sheep?

Im saying you shouldnt attack or question Ambos when they say something defending the wayfarer team. (Im not saying not to have questions, comments or concerns and such, but thats not what you had)

If I want to question an Ambassador I will.

Where did I attack someone?

Yikes, I would very much hope Niantic aren’t THAT kind of company :roll_eyes:

Telling the truth should never cost a job so I won’t ever consider it to be a bad thing

If it could cost me a job honestly thats clearly a toxic workplace

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Hey, let’s get back to the topic at hand, which is Wayspots being used for Power Spots.

Oh, and if anyone checks out the PoGo Hub, seems there is always a new critique there about Max battles.

Ok.

Can you tell my why as a Wayfarer when I am doing reviews I should reject something on Sfprp?