I was walking along a pathway with my kids and noticed a wayspot was no longer there. It is a giant chess board set. This was June 9th and I submitted a report which was rejected. Before reporting it that day I tried to find out more information and previously the hotel had put a notice up on social media saying it was out, but that was last in July 2020.

I received the rejected report as it can be seen on satellite which is from 2023, and there is “streetview” along the pathway from June 2017 showing it was present.
I was thinking about just forgetting this, but wanted to ask what is considered seasonal?
Mostly, we consider holidays seasonal, such as Christmas or Hallowe’en displays. But seasonal can be “restricted according to the season or time of year”.
I inquired with the hotel and they responded that they only put it out during summertime and that I should see it out soon.
Before, others may have been concerned as it was in its own cell, but a plaque was moved (can be seen in my photo from the hotel in 2020) and the sign is right in front of this wayspot, so now they almost overlap.
I know Niantic may take a different stance on this, but would you consider the chess set seasonal? I have seen similar ones in other cities, but I was visiting either during the summer when it was present, or during the winter with snow.
To be honest further down in the same L14 cell we had a large park which had to be gutted for soil decontamination years ago and is undergoing redevelopment. Due to the pandemic things are a bit behind.
All the wayspots have been removed with the exception of a few that were moved to their proper location and two that were moved into storage until the park is completed. So many reports rejected nearby and I am sure many unhappy local players once I appeal them. Although, to be honest I haven’t reported the two wayspots that moved to storage yet. I was trying to gather information to determine how much longer it would be to complete the park, to inform my decision on reporting it. The two objects are historically significant and can easily be nominated again.
Just kinda of a mess in that area.
Seasonal isn’t even mentioned anymore when reviewing; it was removed when the thumbs up/thumbs down system was rolled out last year. I think it made things confusing, as there may have been some good submissions being rejected for being permanent, but only used during certain times of the year.
Both the acceptance and rejection criteria don’t mention seasonal. The acceptance criteria says that the submissions must be a permanent physical, tangible, and identifiable place or object, or object that placemarks an area. The rejection criteria says it must not be a location, place, or object is temporary, or highly unlikely to be permanent.
I think a good example of something that is permanent but not open during certain seasons are outdoor pools. Depending on the location, the pool may only be open during the summer months. However, the pool itself isn’t removed once the season is over, since it’s built into the ground, has a deck area, and most likely buildings for admission and changing rooms.
Being that this chess set isn’t permanent, and does get put away during certian times of the year, I think it would be considered temporary instead of permanent. I think of it like those basketball hoops people can buy for their homes that have wheels, and aren’t affixed to the ground, which allows them to be moved for storage.
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Hi @TheOneXanthippe and @DTrain2002
Maybe the tooltip gives the necessary information. In my language you can find there something like “you probablly can’t visit it again”, as seasonal.
That would fit to the pool example (you can visit it again in summer).
It might be different in different countries, but in Sweden many of these large chessboards, stays out all the year. (Not the pieces but the checks are made with permanent colour to the ground or attached in a way so its hard to remove).
Some of them are also ”buildt” on place, where the square is made of ”casted concrete”. In those cases at least I think the poi is to be seen as permanent and not seasonal.
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I agree. I more commonly see the board, with some sort of facility to get the pieces out at various times. And that is fine.
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Yes, the checkerboard is always there, even if sometimes covered in snow, with the pieces stored inside. If you had a warm spell in February, and the snow melted, you could probably ask at the desk for the pieces, and could play a game. Or perhaps you could use your own soda cans or something for a game of checkers.
A tennis court is still a tennis court when covered in snow.
An ice skating rink is just a pond in summer - or less. The ice melts, so it is temporary. (A permanent sign saying “This is a place to skate in winter” could be valid.)
This chess board is not present but moveable. I do get the ones painted in the ground or the tiles/stone are built in to show the board.
This is what is currently there.
My gps camera data is a bit off, but it’s the same angle as seen in the in game pic.
So it isn’t a permanent feature. I would consider it temporary. Similar to the hoops that were mentioned. I had a statue that I reported and had removed lately. Others say it is still there on occasion as it is placed outside the door every now and again. Again a moveable object that the staff move.
For his set it would be unlikely for the staff to offer the pieces up for use if asked because the board isn’t present year round.
Oh, yeah - if the board is a mat that’s rolled up in winter (or is moveable in any way), then yes it’s temporary. Next summer they could easily decide to deploy it somewhere else. Or they might put it in the lobby in winter.
I wouldn’t remove anything in a park under construction. They could put some things back exactly where they were. You don’t know until it’s complete. What if the playground, or a statue, or plaque is in the exact same place? Also, it’s a lot of frustration to get something removed, and more frustration to get it added back. I feel like you’re borrowing trouble to rearrange the gameboard based on a temporary state (park construction).
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The park in question closed sometime before 2019 and was completely gutted, soil removed due to contaminates, and paths changed. Nothing will likely go back in the same spot.
The park is open but not completed and all the benches are in place and none of them have plaques anymore. They are just basic gravel paths and brown weeds. This wasn’t in the planned design. It was part of a phase for remediation which is completed.
Currently I have just reported the 7 benches that are no longer existing. Why would I leave these when it is highly likely they will not be there? A few others were moved to the adjacent park that was not part of this remediation. This included a historical wayspot. Those location edits were completed via help chat due to the long distance moves.
I was only going to remove the 7 benches and leave these 2 historical objects, but upon researching they only accepted the concept design of the park in 2020. However they are in discussion with the community and the indigenous nation. As well the hotel that occupies a large chunk of the area (the park goes around the border of the property) has received approval for rezoning to expand their footprint and height just last year. Which will encroach on part of this park. So, likely they will have to make a decision at some point on what is happening.
How long do I wait? I mean the benches are gone and replaced. The park will have many wayspots upon completion, but who knows what that will be.
Also, there are other wayspots that can be nominated. I just was out of nominations when I was there. When I remove some that are ineligible, I always find a few in the area.
I was doing second Sunday with my son and this park was part of the mission. Which was quite odd as basically 2 parts had no tangible wayspots. A friend created this mission years ago and was looking at editing it, since new changes have come up with removals/approvals.