Country:usa
I’m looking for clarification on how a giant neon sign isn’t unique and worthy of approval.
I also am struggling to understand why Niantic would only want pokestops in big commercial areas. Every residential area is immediately a dead zone.
I don’t know if it is just me, but it seems the point of the game to get out and walk is hampered by needing to drive accross town and park to begin playing.
I have a gripe regarding the stops that ARE approved being bland and not adhering to guidelines…
Most likely, reviewers rejected with the option “Generic business or franchise.” They either interpreted this nomination as being specifically the business and not for the neon light feature signage. It’s a generic business with a rather intersting sign. I appreciate that you used a night photo, too, but that’s something some reviewers are geared against.
There is specific criteria for a place being for socializing, exercising, or exploring. For this sign to be accepted, reviewers must see it as being a great place to explore. These neon signs have become much less common. It looks like Spencer’s may be a unique business, too, and not a chain? If so, make that clear for reviewers!
I’ve been having trouble uploading photos, lately, but I have some neon signs approved, even one for a business, but it’s tricky and may need better photos and text focused on it.
For the other examples you shared, it’s difficult to compare and note how something in game does (or does not) meet the eligibility requirements I mentioned earlier, but art and fitness studios meet what I mentioned.
I suppose my point is, make the game better for players, not give them false hope of creating new pokestops.
I will not take from those who have benefits.
I simply wish to have a reasonable person look at what is an unplayable area, void of interaction, and parse out the most intereating features of that area.
If it is only places of importance, most desert cities in CA would not allow people to play.
Desert cities have places of importance as well. If anything, most local hangout spots in such places are more locally important than in bigger cities.
There is a known issue with it being harder to find objects for submission as wayspots in rural areas. There are several threads on this forum about that issue and I think there is an AMA.
However, your statement as follows is very wrong and very misleading.
Both of these sentences are demonstrably untrue. To give a specific example, I live in a residential area and have probably added around 100 pokestops within a mile of where I live. In Sheffield, UK, there isn’t a single s14 cell (approx 500m x 500m) that has nothing in it.
It is definitely the case that suburban USA has a harder time finding interesting things, because most suburbs in USA are very spread out (compared to the UK) and people walk less, so the density of interesting things is less.
Since wayspots are interesting things, it is not the fault of the wayspots that are fewer interesting things in many residential areas. It’s a consequence of those residential areas not having interesting things in them.
That is what wayfarers do and one of the things that makes wayfaring exciting - finding interesting things in areas that don’t already have them in the game.
It clearly isn’t only places of importance, because most desert cities in CA will either have wayspots or could have wayspots but no-one has added them. Even a small settlement (I suspect the word “cities” has a different meaning to you than me) will almost always have something eligible.
Regarding the residential portion. No private property is elligible, Period. So even if there were notable items, it’s private property and not permitted. Not sure how the UK handles such, but niantic auto blocks everything here.
Examples all directly adjacent to the sidewalk:
-Stained glass archway in zoned business commercial, denied for being temporary.
Giant neon sign viewable for miles for a local market, not a franchise or large chain - lacks uniqueness
3’ concrete frog statues - private property
Giant boat anchor in lava rock - private property
Carved wooden sign 4’ x 4’ - auto declined
Historic hwy 1 sign with state flower - auto declined
Approved stops around in a 2 mile radius:
Yellow liquor store sign
Boarded up church
Coffee shop
It kinda ruins the game when you try and improve the experience for your area and only receive rejection.
Thanks for that list, it sounds like an interesting range of places.
It’s hard tell from the brief description here how close something might be to being acceptable.
You refer to them being next to the sidewalk. If something is on single family private residential property eco en if next to a public walk way it’s a no.
I appreciate that this can be very frustrating but it was a ruling that came out of a legal case.
Some things are declined by the auto system. It happens to most of us at some point. We have appeals and these are there to allow a human to review it.
If you post the details of these we can give guidance.
The liquor store and the church sounds as though they are places that should not have been approved and should meet removal criteria.
A coffee place could be perfectly fine - it depends on the location.
Question first, then winge.
Are little libraries on private land also insta banned?
Hence my dissatisfaction.
I hesitate to be more specific as it risks removal of any hope for walkable routes.
The play style I’ve adopted is campfire to gps the 5 miles to a pokestop hub, drive around while playing, gps to the next hub, rinse and repeat.
Every week or so I’ll drive to the big town and pay $6 to park and walk a playable location.
Essentially I envy those that have the affluance to live next to a park that isn’t an hour walk away.
Gets a bit hard after a week of 10 hour shifts.
Seems like something that could be so much better if there was a way to use the minimal local landmarks to greater effect.
If they are on single family private residential property, then yes, they are not allowed, as SFPRP is an ineligible location.
You may be interested in this thread, as it discusses possible POIs in rural/low-density areas to look for. I’ve found it helpful not just for rural/low-density areas, but also urban/high-density ones.
There is also currently a test happening in some European countries in rural/low-density areas, where there are stops/gyms being placed at street corners and bus stops. It’s possible that, if staff find it to be a success, they may roll it out to other areas. You may want to check it out here:
It is specifically single-family private residential property that is off-limits, including the exterior boundary. Also farms. Apartment buildings, businesses, etc are absolutely fine.
This is being denied for “not Permanent and Distinct” which comes up in three situations:
reviewers did not think the object is permanent
reviewers did not think the object is distinct
reviewers did not think the object meets any criteria (exercise, explore, social) and wanted to explicitly reject it, so reject for not “permanent and distinct” because that is the advice from Niantic
There are a lot of reviewers who would prefer a better way to reject things that don’t meet criteria, because it confuses people to be told a permanent object is not permanent.
If you want advice on these, please post details (possible one post for each one).
The first may not be eligible and could be reported for removal. The church was probably open when it was submitted and might still be eligible now if the building is worth exploring, but again would need to be reported for removal if it shouldn’t be in the game. Coffee shops are often very eligible because they are excellent places for being social.
Please have a look at these for understanding what makes a good wayspot.
Single family private residential property is single family private residential property, no matter where it is.
The difference is that in the UK, we tend to have very clearly defined property boundaries, whereas in places like the US, it can often be more tricky to ascertain where property boundaries are, as there are often no garden walls/fences/hedges over there, and the rules for what is considered part of the property can vary by state, and also whether the area is controlled by an HOA.
In the UK, we also tend to have suburbs that are just better designed for people. Instead of just being homes and nothing else, our suburbs will usually have various amenities like parks, play areas, places of worship, businesses, and so on. As one of the other comments above said, in places like the US this often isn’t the case, and suburbs tend to just be private residences and very little else.
Correct, suburbs are unfit for play as you say. The property line goes to the curb.
All property here are parcels. No gap no free space all owned by a specific company or individual.
No open space between them.
THE only option appears to be appartments or business commercial. Which tends to “lack uniqueness”
Here’s hoping the street intersection option comes to fruition soon…
