I am writing to you with a sense of extreme urgency and frustration. I am a Level 52 player, and currently, I am the sole architect and contributor for the Pokémon GO infrastructure in Az-Zāwiyah, Libya.
The Shocking Reality of Az-Zāwiyah:
Our city has a population of over 500,000 people, yet the entire municipality is served by only ONE Gym. There is a complete absence of PokéStops and Power Spots across vast residential areas. This means players have no way to replenish items or participate in the new “Max Battles.” I personally walk 12 to 14 kilometers every single day just to reach the only interactive point in the city. This is a massive failure in map coverage for a city of this magnitude.
The Burden of a Solo Builder:
I spend over 12 hours a day dedicated to the game, nominating and reviewing to build a foundation for our large youth population. While others play for minutes, I am working for hours to improve your map for free. However, my nominations have been stuck in the queue for over 3 months with zero progress.
Request for “Expert Priority”:
A Level 52 veteran who is the only active builder in a “gaming desert” should not be ignored. I formally request:
Weighted Voting: My reviews should carry significantly more weight to overcome the lack of local consensus and “voting rings” in other regions.
Emergency Queue Audit: An immediate review of nominations in the Az-Zāwiyah district to establish a fair base of 10-20 Gyms and necessary Power Spots.
Conclusion:
I am doing everything possible to keep this community alive and playing fairly. If the only active builder in the city stops, the game dies here. Please recognize the effort of a dedicated veteran in a high-need environment.
Sincerely,
Waseem
Level 52 Pokémon GO Veteran & Community Founder
Your Pogo level has no bearing over how you get treated on here or in your local community. I live in a community with over 260k in one Borough and 380k in the Borough I live in. Whilst it is frustrating that people in my respective community don’t contribute towards submitting stuff, I see it as a honour to submit things for people to enjoy and use.
The submission and review process can be a slow proccess. Some people here may be able to lend a hand in reviewing nominiations in your local area by changing their Bonus Location if they so wish.
So whilst I get your frustration, I would suggest celebrate every success you have been able to achieve and find a way to encourage your fellow players to help submit, even if it meants mentoring them so that they can submit stuff with you.
Thanks for contacting the wider Wayfinder community.
We will be happy to help with some of the aspects you raise.
Our experienced wayfinders are good at looking around for eligible objects.
It sounds as though you are reporting that things take a long time. It is possible that some wayfinders might change their bonus location to help with reviewing.
Are you familiar with how wayspots are selected to go into the game?
Thank you, Ambassador @elijustrying, for the warm welcome and for pointing me towards practical solutions.
To answer your technical questions directly:
Yes, I am fully aware of the S2 cell mechanics and how Wayfarer utilizes them. This is precisely why I have carefully planned my nominations to ensure they occupy separate S2 cells. The problem is not my lack of technical understanding; the issue is that none of these eligible, distinct nominations have made it out of the queue in over 3 months. In a high-population area with only one interactive point, this level of stagnation is devastating.
I appreciate your suggestion to invite experienced Wayfinders to change their bonus location to Az-Zāwiyah. I formally invite any skilled reviewers on this thread to do so. This is a crucial first step.
Regarding the points raised by @P1dg3ySlayer: While I respect your perspective, I must politely clarify. Comparing my situation in Az-Zāwiyah (500,000 people and ONE Gym, which requires me to walk 14km daily just to interact) to boroughs with hundreds of active points is not a fair comparison. This isn’t about local contributions being slow; this is about a total geographical infrastructure collapse. A Level 52 veteran who is the sole architect for this large population deserves recognition for the extreme dedication required to even maintain a presence in the game.
My request remains focused: We need intervention. Whether through volunteer reviewers changing location, or Niantic granting priority, something must change. We can build a thriving community, but we need the basic tools to do so.
That sounds like a really frustrating situation when you’ve made submissions but they do not go into voting.
Are there other players within your community? Encouraging more people to join in with wayfarer and review according to the wayfarer criteria will help matters. I am sure people from the forum could change their bonus area to assist in the short term, but it would be more sustainable to grow your own local wayfarer group.
@frealafgb, thank you for your input. You’ve touched on a very important point regarding sustainability.
I am actively working on mentoring a few local players, but we are facing a “chicken and egg” problem. To reach the level required to join Wayfarer, players need to play the game. In a city where you have to walk 14km just to find a single Gym, most new players get discouraged and quit long before they can become reviewers.
This is why I am asking for an “Emergency Audit” or short-term help from the global community. We need a “seed” of 10-15 Gyms/Stops to make the game playable enough for a local team to grow and eventually take over the reviewing process themselves. I am currently the only one with the level and the stamina to sustain this, but I can’t do it alone without the infrastructure.
I appreciate the support from everyone here; it gives me hope that Az-Zāwiyah won’t be a “gaming desert” for much longer.
That makes sense. My recommendation would be to lean on friendship XP to help level up faster - level 35 is really not alot of XP (I do accept it’s not easy without stops and gyms), and gifting can also alleviate the lack of items issues that a lack of stops causes.
I’m happy to change my bonus area and do some reviews to assist.
@frealafgb, that is incredibly kind of you! Thank you so much for volunteering to change your bonus location to Az-Zāwiyah. Your help will directly impact the growth of our local community.
Your advice on utilizing Friendship XP and gifting to level up local players is brilliant. I will double down on this strategy to help my mentees reach Level 37 faster so they can join the Wayfarer ranks and ensure long-term sustainability for our city.
Having an experienced reviewer like you looking at our nominations gives us the “jumpstart” we desperately need. Thank you for being a true leader in the Wayfinder community!
I got a Libyan review immediately. I am not sure if this is yours, and the mosque is obviously a hugely important place and a great PoI, but one comment I have is that the description contains some information that should be in the supporting information (or just isn’t needed).
Keep thr description to just details about the mosque itself, and put the additional info into supporting and it will be a stronger nomination overall- for future tips
@frealafgb, Yes, that is indeed my nomination! I am thrilled to see that it reached you so quickly.
Thank you for the excellent feedback on the description. I now understand that I should keep the primary description focused on the historical significance of the Mosque (built in 1281) and move the safety/logistical details to the “Supporting Information” section.
I will apply this advice to all my upcoming nominations to ensure they meet the highest standards. Seeing my nomination in your review queue gives me and my local community a huge boost of motivation. We are finally moving forward!
@frealafgb, thank you for the heads-up! I will immediately review my “In Queue” nominations and refine the descriptions based on your advice. Knowing that you’ve already found more reviews gives me so much confidence.
For the first time in months, I feel like the map in Az-Zāwiyah is finally coming to life. I’ll keep everyone updated on the progress once the first few approvals come through!
This one is another example of an improvement that can be made.
One of the rejection criteria is for car license plates being in photos - so I did have to reject this for the picture. However the nomination itself is good, so literally just cropping this picture to remove the cars would make it an accept, or just angling the phone up to focus on the building without the cars included. You can also probably find more stuff to submit inside the mall.
Assuming again that this is yours - if not, obviously you could do the resubmission
Great news everyone! My nomination for the “Technical Management Building” has just been ACCEPTED!
This is a huge win for the Az-Zāwiyah community. It proves that with the help of experienced reviewers, we can finally start putting our city on the map. I can already see the motivation returning to our local players.
Thank you again to those who changed their bonus locations. It’s working! Onward and upward!
Mod Edit: Post edited slightly to remove a reference to a live nomination. Just a friendly reminder to avoid soliciting votes so the review process stays fair for everyone. Congrats on the new Wayspot!
Thank you @frealafgb for the detailed feedback! Actually, “Abu Salim Mall” was not my submission, but since I am actively mentoring the local community here, I will make sure to pass this advice on to the other local players. We want all nominations in Az-Zāwiyah to meet the highest standards.
And thanks @salixsorbus for the tip! I will put my own “In Queue” nominations on HOLD right now. This will give me time to refine my descriptions and ensure my photos are perfect (and free of license plates!) before they hit the voting stage.
It’s great to see more local spots popping up in your review queue. We are finally building something real here!
Any where the photo is ineligible (license plates, people’s faces), you would do best to withdraw and resubmit. If they are left in the queue, they will just take up review slots and waste time for the eligible submissions.
You can always post for advice until you get a better feel for the process.
Thank you so much @frealafgb and @salixsorbus! I’m keeping a close eye on the map, waiting for the “Technical Management Building” to appear.
Regarding the rejection criteria, I am very careful about privacy; I always make sure that no license plates or faces are visible in my nominations. Now that I have your expert guidance, I am going to start working on many new, high-quality submissions to build the “foundations” of my city.
You’ve not only helped me get a new Waypoint, but you’ve also taught me how to be a more professional Wayfinder. I’ll be sure to come back and post an update (and hopefully a screenshot of a new Gym!) once more approvals come through.
