Yes, and it’s OK for there not to be a single global standard. If the Japanese don’t want any wayspots near public bathrooms because it violates their cultural norms, they can vote to reject them while Western countries accept them.
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I beg you, please do not group other people’s thoughts under national or ethnic categories. Each individual thinks differently.
To be sure, restrooms are delicate places, but if there are artistic decorations there, it is not abnormal to point a camera at them. Since the intention is to draw attention to the decoration, it should be placed in a location that does not interfere with the original purpose of using the restroom. Of course, if it is an inappropriate place to point a camera, then each case should be considered on its own.
The important thing is that cases that have not been discussed before are now on the agenda. Although there are differences between countries and cultures, it is important that we all discuss these issues together.
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I agree, i was giving an example for how cultural norms can drive what is accepted. I wasn’t making rules. This is the problem with Wayfarer, people want to apply rules to every comment.
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Well this was a fun read.
I do believe people are right to be concerned about how others could perceive game players in or around bathrooms/loos/WCs/etc. I think the worst case scenario would be if a waypoint was scannable at one of these locations and got someone, who’s not thinking, in trouble for appearing to record others and someone reports them to the authorities.
I would tend to agree with that and point that out if anyone asks me my opinion so that the person asking has that perspective. But maybe we should trust players to use their best judgement when interacting with the waypoint? I always put my phone away when I use a public multi person bathroom. If I’m waiting on someone outside a bathroom I don’t mind using my phone but I am aware if I hold my phone up like it’s recording or taking a picture that may be weird especially if there’s nothing interesting worth capturing.
And then waypoints aren’t just about gameplay right? Niantic is building a database and waypoints aren’t always going to end up in games anyway. If Niantic decides later interesting things on or near bathrooms shouldn’t be in game for sensitivity (or possibly legal) reasons, they can remove them from the games. Which makes me wonder, does Niantic keep the data on waypoints that have been removed?
Anyways, outside mural seems okay, trust players to be aware of their surroundings 
I know agents and trainers who have had moms yell at them, and even call the police, when they were gaming at a playground. (All were men, playing solo. Mostly over age 60.) But Niantic has repeatedly and vigorously promoted nominating at playgrounds. So of course we should approve them. At parks, apartment complexes, neighborhoods, privately owned churches…
What I’m trying to say is that Niantic’s stance is that public (or semi public) places are fine, even if non-gamers could be uncomfortable with it.
Personally, I draw the line at psychologist offices, child protective services, food banks, or anywhere that serves people who are mentally struggling or homeless. These places are not meant to be public (even if they have a playground or bathroom mural for clients). It could be devastating to their cause (the reason for their existence), to have random people hanging around looking at their phones.
Some reviewers could view external restroom walls similarly to how I view a family counseling office. We should all accept that these nominations are not shoo-ins.
Meanwhile, the advice to give other gamers is: Be aware of how you hold your phone, and how others could view that. Especially at playgrounds or bathrooms.
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This thread has now made me remember a nomination I saw a while back. Apologies for the amount of toilet talk that’s going to go on.
I haven’t seen any murals on the outside of public toilets (that I can remember) but I wouldn’t automatically reject if I saw one in review. I’d take time to look at it.
With an outside mural, I guess it would be fine to scan, and interact with in the games (at least from a UK perspective where we also have a “very public urinal” - x.com which even with the fancy outer signage I wouldn’t nominate as it is…very public) as you’re not going in and capturing images/playing a game there whilst people are answering the call of nature. In the meantime, the mural likely brightens up the area a little.
One that I would (and think did) almost instantly reject (once done wondering why the submitter thought it was a good idea) was this one.
This is a urinal in a CenterParcs toilet, so definitely one that wouldn’t be good to be catching in AR at or scanning etc.
I did take a photo of it myself even (nobody else was in the toilet at the time)
Just my quick view, but it is 6am for me and I’ve been up since 4am so may not be the most coherent.
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Yes. I agree with hnbseaprincesshnbAmbassador. Yes, there doesn’t need to be just one global standard.
If I see a Wayspot on the exterior of a public toilet in a Western country, I will accept it as a cultural difference between my country and the West. As I said before, I personally think it is very unique. If it already exists as a Wayspot in your country, I will interpret it as a consensus of the Wayfarers in that country and accept its existence.
However, I remember that Niantic had a rule that it would not accept the idea that “there does not need to be one global standard.” (I’m sorry. I thought there was a reference somewhere, but I couldn’t find it.)
As seaprincesshnbAmbassador said, if I were to review a Japanese Wayspot application and found this case, I would not approve it in my opinion. If I were to unfortunately find a Wayspot that has already been installed, I would submit a deletion request to Niantic (depending on the situation).
However, Niantic did not accept the removal request.
They maintain that removal requests should be based on “removal criteria” and that no exceptions should be allowed. Even when we argued that “there does not need to be one global standard” and that “the idea of what is considered sensitive varies depending on the country or region,” they did not take us seriously.
Also, it’s not just Japanese people who review Japanese Wayspot applications. As you all know, last year there was a challenge where people from all over the world reviewed Japanese Wayspot applications.
In cases like this, don’t you think it would be impossible for Wayfarers from all over the world to make decisions about the culture of each country when carrying out the approval process?
Therefore, I would like Niantic to at least take seriously the request for removal from Wayfarers in a given country who determine that the content is “inappropriate for that country’s circumstances.”
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I know some people are overreacting about the restroom but I don’t think it’s necessary to overreact that much.
True to the basics of Wayfarer, I have learned that it is necessary to make individual decisions based on the totality of the circumstances of each object, rather than thinking in terms of categories of objects. It is a place where there is an Eligibility Criteria that does not correspond to the Rejection Criteria.
I remember that the meaning of a sensitive place in the Rejection Criteria was defined as a place where someone is facing death and feeling sentimental. Please let me know if I am understanding the meaning of sensitive location incorrectly.
NianticCasey-ING’s post on the old Wayfarer community forum (web archive)
Welcome to 2021: Wayfarer 3.4
Hi folks,
Welcome to 2021 everyone! We’re back with a couple of tiny updates as we regroup as a team and start planning out for the next couple of quarters. For now, here’s what’s new!
New Rejection Reasons:
- Location Inappropriate: Use for Nominations whose real-world location appears to be explicit or inappropriate (e.g. adult entertainment store, weapons shop).
- Location Sensitive: Use for nominations whose real-world location appears to be sensitive (e.g. very private memorial grounds).
- Fake: Use for nominations that are clearly fake, and do not actually exist at the submitted location.
- Photo Watermark: Use when there is an obvious watermark on the photo indicating that it is copyrighted or includes personal or player info (‘tagging’).
Improved banned words list: (omission)
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Just want to bring this to attention.
There is a parody thread that is somewhat related to this discussion. I can’t tell if the new users in that thread are taking it seriously, that public toilets/restrooms/bathrooms on their own are eligible, but I certainly can see how it can be confusing.