For a POI to be considered it needs to meet at least one of the categories: exercise, socialize, or explore. I know I have heard it asked many times about is a place a local gathering spot, and many of the local restaurants and businesses are accepted due to being a place the community gathers. I am want to know since trends change over time especially with gathering spots if the question shouldn’t be can this be a good gathering spot instead of is it, this would make more local businesses eligible especially new ones. I do know that places that have a POI within reach do tend to get more social gatherings of players from the various Niantic games simply because it has a stop or portal at or next to that location, which is a definition of a social gathering spot.
Should we ask if a place could be a social gathering place instead of asking if it is currently?
I do not understand the purpose of this poll. The three criteria are a GREAT place of exercise, exploration, or being social. I think you are asking if we should accept because it might become that someday. The answer to that is NO.
5 Likes
So, if “people walk by here” and there’s room for a few people to stand - you think it should be a Wayspot?
So Wayspots could be pretty much anywhere?
Maybe Niantic could just throw an array of points in a grid?
Many of us love the “explore” aspect of Niantic games. I love when it shows me art, or award-winning restaurant, or a bite of history. So many things. I love that wherever I go, it’s like having a local show me around.
2 Likes
Im saying places, as in resturaunts, and other type businesses that are local places (not a chain) but not really a local hangout yet. I think if we allow all local places like that then those places have a chance of becoming a local hangout. I know in ingress when people want to meet up they look for a business that has a portal that can be reached from it, it may not be a place that was normally used to hang out but because if was used as a ingress meetup place, then people have sampled it and may return with more people to make it a hangout location. I feel like if it is clearly a mom and pop type restaurant that we shouldn’t have to justify it as a local social gathering spot to submit it.
No offence, but that last sentence comes across as “I can’t be bothered to put any effort into making even a semi decent argument that my local restaurant meets the eligibility criteria, so instead of trying, I want to moan that the criteria needs changing instead”.
Don’t get me wrong, I know full well the struggles of getting places like local restaurants accepted, even when they’re already established gathering places, and it can be very frustrating. However, having a wayspot there in the hopes that it makes it into a gathering spot in the first place is simply not gonna work if it has nothing else going for it, and if that’s the case, it can’t really be justifiably considered a great place to socialise, which would defeat the purpose of it being a wayspot. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink, and all that kinda stuff.
3 Likes
The restaurant I nominated most recently was accepted a while back. It’s still not open.
The description was 509 characters long. That’s more than 3x longer than this.
What do you mean by still not open? The business itself? Or do you mean your wayspot hasn’t appeared in the game you play?
I wouldn’t nominate it if it wouldn’t sync.
I have put long descriptions on trying to justify locations before just to have them still marked as a generic business. Too many reviewers don’t even bother reading your information. But if it was just automatically accepted that if you see a mom and pop restaurant that it should be approved as long as images, title, and description look good then we wouldn’t have to worry about those rejections. I feel like when thing like this have to keep being resubmitted over and over to finally get them approved that it is part of what keeps the system slowed down and clogged.
To be honest I am already answering that question in accordance with what you have suggested. A more open phrasing would definitely be an improvement in my opinion. I think a lot of rejections can come from an overly pedantic reading of the questions and the criteria. People that enjoy reviewing Wayspots are bound to care about the rules. Although I sort of think of them as meta-rules, since the real criteria are really a hodgepodge of rules, collective opinion, arbitration, machine learning and manipulation. 