Pokémon GO Niantic ban wave, 30-day and permanent bans for submitting non-compliant Wayfarer nominations
Trainers, a hot topic is currently trending among Pokémon GO circles: the 30-day ban and permanent ban for submitting nominations that don’t meet the Wayfarer criteria. That’s right, Niantic is laying down the law, and it’s causing quite a stir in the Pokémon GO community.
A player known by the handle RandomCybarian took to Reddit to share their unfortunate story. They got hit with a 30-day ban from both Pokémon GO and the Wayfarer platform. According to Niantic’s email, the ban is a result of submitting non-compliant nominations. Yeah, you heard it right – a whole month without access to Pokémon GO or Wayfarer.
RandomCybarian is not alone; several players have reported that Niantic has started to crack down hard, especially in the Netherlands. There seems to have been a lot of Wayfarer abuse in the region, where bot networks were approving just about anything.
30 days suspension for submitting nominations that do not meet the Wayfarer criteria?
by u/RandomCybrarian in TheSilphRoad
Before we dive deeper, let’s briefly touch on what Wayfarer is for the uninitiated. For seasoned players, Niantic Wayfarer allows for the submission and review of new Pokéstops (Wayspots, in Wayfarer parlance). However, you need to be at least level 37 in Pokémon GO to get in on the action.
There are different categories for what makes a good Wayspot, ranging from historic markers to parks and more. The idea is to foster community interaction and exploration.
The player who got banned has been a part of the Pokémon GO ecosystem for seven years and has invested not just time but also money into the game. To receive a 30-day ban for what they believe to be a minor infraction has left them (and many others) quite peeved.
Before nominating a new Wayspot, you need to understand that it should meet one of three criteria:
- A great place for exploration
- A great place for exercise
- A great place to be social with others
- The location or object also must be permanent, publicly accessible, and safe.
Given this dramatic action by Niantic, it’s clear that they’re taking the integrity of the Wayfarer system very seriously. However, is a 30-day ban for a first-time offense too harsh, especially for a seasoned player?
As someone who’s been a part of the Pokémon GO community for years, I think Niantic could be more transparent about its policies and perhaps implement a warning system before outright bans. After all, the game has a broad audience and varying levels of understanding about what is or isn’t an appropriate Wayspot.
If you’re planning on contributing to the Wayfarer system, make sure you follow the guidelines to a T. Niantic isn’t messing around, and the last thing you want is to be locked out of catching ’em all for an entire month.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Niantic’s actions are justified, or is this an overreach that could alienate loyal players? Let’s get the conversation rolling in the comments below. So, Trainers, stay informed and tread carefully when engaging with Wayfarer – no one wants a month-long timeout from Pokémon GO.
I’ve seen plenty nominations that were clearly not correct, one person even nominating his own backyard. So I can understand Niantic taking actions against that. But I have also had perfectly fine nominations not approved because some people called them fake, because Google Streetview was 10 years old. Appealing those decisions is almost useless, because that can take years, apparently. I don’t see any positive action from Niantic there, so banning people for one, or a few incorrect nominations seems to me totally unfair and way too harsh.
So agree, I was standing at a historic building near my house and Niantic said it would not approve it because it looked like I took the picture from my car NO I WAS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM MY CAR
I don’t think they even bother to have someone check nominations out so they shouldn’t judge them at all
Now that historic building was torn down such a pity there will never be a pokestop there as it is now a vacant lot of overgrown weeds
Wayfarer is a mess anyway. Too many salty editors drunk on fake power — like a bunch of Reddit mods — who just love shooting down any nominations they come across using whatever excuse they can come up with that day. I’ve had flagpoles and memorials rejected because “not permanent,” I’ve had park sites and benches rejected for “not public land/not a safe place,” and none of those rejection criteria are remotely accurate and yet appeals do nothing. It’s a loaded dice roll whether you’ll actually get someone cool who will approve your submission.
Yep same in europe peoples private house has a mural on it approved. Fire dept 3 houses down from my appt… Has a huge mural, disapproval- not safe & not a public space in picture is the Fire house the mural on the wall and a swingset. The local pogo community is more toxic than a fps sometimes.
Yet another heavy handed and misguided action by Niantic that supposedly cracks down on cheaters, but really only hurts legitimate players instead. If they had any kind of sense, they would target the accounts approving bad submissions which are far more numerous than the submitters. All this move is going to do is turn away legitimate players who don’t want an unfair ban.
That’s exactly what they were doing. In the Netherlands there are are people who are working together to approve everything just for more wayspots. Niantic cracked down on the accounts involved.
As usual it’s the pokemon players abusing things to try and have as many gyms/stops ingame as possible without any consideration to the quality of the “gameboard”
Vast majority who give approval of stops are spoofers themselfs and what’s ninantic fine about spoofing ..nothing . Idiotic company that is just outright lazy .gets players to govern alot of aspects of the game when it suites then throws out bans for silly things while doing nothing about spoofing .it’s just blatant hypocrisy
I fully agree with the first 2 comments, but totally fake nominations are wrong. Mistakes are one thing, but nominations in a residential location are straight up cheating. The problem is Niantic is so random in what they do. They make changes that impact their bottom line and they introduce routes and they can’t even approve them. Out and out cheating iratates me but then so does Niantic
The problem is that some people ONLY live in residential areas miles from anything. If they just want to somewhat play the game they would have to drive hours for a good spot. When they could just nominate the local farm their family has lived on for generations, and IS public. Like what are even those rules? They are so convoluted that anyone could pass or restrict any location. If the rules weren’t written by a person with a 5th grade reading level we wouldn’t be having these issues to begin with.
I guess that’s the last time I try to nominate a pokestop
i got band for 30 days and don’t know why
Same here I was playing thismorning put my phone down for an hour and now I’m banned for 30 days, I have messaged niantic atleast 5 times and still no response
I have seen some totally ridiculous including dogs and boats. I have nominations that are rejected and someone else submits same spot and it gets approved. I live rural area close to a small hamlet of 60 people. Most of the landmarks are gone. We dont have sidewalks anymore so trying to get anything approved is a process in itself. Banning people for trying is a bit much though.
I nominated a public pool near my neighborhood twice and both times it got denied. Someone else nominated months later and it is now a pokestop. Guess my submissions weren’t good enough at the time???
1. What did they submit? or as I’m guessing spam submit?
2. Article states they invested time and money in the game. This is a false statement as you buying an item from niantic in game store for real money is just that you buying a virtual product, not an investment.
3. With out further information on this users reasons for the ban and Niantic not posting more information. I would venture to say this person was exploiting a loop hole in the wayfarer system got caught and is now complaining about their own stupidity.
You dont own the game or wayfarer dont complain when the company that does hands down punishment. There are already to many “home” stops as is.
Someone got banned for nominating trail markers. I’m hesitant to risk a ban for nominating stops.
It’s simple, Niantic got all their $15 from each player who bought their Go Fest tickets & more if they bought raid passes. Now that it’s over, they don’t care. They will continue with things like this. But nope, keep giving them your money people
Niantic is a joke. With no warning, they ban the people who are helping to create their game. The cheating is so rampant… Can’t beat em? Join em. The game is so much more fun now. F niantic and their sh!t decisions. Ban me, if you can find me. What a joke
I am with you! They are a jjoke! And stupid at that. They keep raising the prices for stuff, hold events in places that only players with money or families with money could even think about going to. And inflation is ridiculous, especially gas. People out in rural areas have very poor reception and are lucky to see pokemon. . . .unless they use incense . . . .which you have to buy. Niantic is so worried about spoofers but they should try to work with players, not ban them. I have gotten bans for spoofing and now I barely play. I am 60 years old and worked 100 hours in 2 weeks. I also have a medical condition that keeps me from going out in Temps over 80°. People who spoof spend money. Instead of raising the prices of incubators and raid passes, they should sell a travel ticket which would allow someone to “fly” legally somewhere they could never dream of actually going. If they sell them at a minimal price, to allow even the lower class people access, they would make more money without raising prices for in-game products. I barely play anymore and have been playing since pogo came out. I have given up. I can’t get out like I used to due to my age, health, and finances. They aren’t really helping people get exercise because people use cars to play as distracted drivers and all they have to do is press a button saying they’re a passenger even if they’re not. So. . . Okay to endanger lives but not okay to stay in your home and explore new places. Stupid!
I have been a beginner player for about a year and never submitted anything yet. I just wanted to catch Pokémon, hatch eggs (I work at a restaurant, so that’s easy to do), and be social. I feel very uneasy and don’t want to risk getting suspended or banned for one simple screw up. I feel paranoid about submitting anything. This is just messed up! I question things these days.
Wayfarer process is a complete cluster anyway. They really need to do something to make it less random and arbitrary. I’ve seen so many examples, and have a few of my own, that make absolutely no sense. I quit bothering with it.
I have never nominated any new pokestops….knowingly at least I don’t even know how yet I got banned while I was on vacation right before Go fest and I bought a ticket and everything I was so excited 4 it and the new Diance and now I didn’t get the research opportunity or to evolve the new attack for Rayquaza and meteorites n I’m stuck with some Rayquaza stuff I’m completely irritated I haven’t even played on my other account ruined my vaycay cuz I finally got to go somewhere else to play n then that happened…I wish I could get my $ back for go fest at least or something
Thank the lames that laughed at the #HearUsNiantic movement. When it affected them, THEN they were talking about boycotting. Yeah, I’m looking at you…
A nomination from Pokemon Go approved as PORTAL in Ingress but not Pokestop or gym in it’s game.
Learning from Wayfarer’s Criterias deep into S2 cells. Sometimes caught me think it over of “Am I enjoy playing it?”
Looking through the answers about missing pokestop or how to pop it up into PoGo, got me into a discussion or fight between Ingress players and PoGo players. Funny thing is Niantic has no action to it.
A pokestop nomination approved but become Ingress Portal only. Is just like My food order is on somebody else’s table and the waiter come to say sorry they ran out of ingredient.
Now with this ban on such players, Niantic is Challenging the PoGo community more with it’s strong IP, Pokemon.
Nomination Rejected Email just doesn’t state out Why. Logging into Wayfarer to check the rejection reason is vague and AMAZED me with how intelligent the reviewer are to call two 60 feet tall pillars holding big billboard as “Temporary Display”.
Another case is, in a CITY themed recreation park, a sculpture with name “Police Station” on it, rejected for “disrupting the emergency”.
If this Ban is working by BOT, either it’s based on Count of those brainless rejection reason or other way, I guessed I would be one of the Banned person SOME DAY. And again, I won’t even understand why I’m banned in the end AGAIN.
Niantic has a GOD complex….relax its only a game Niantic!!!! Your giving too many rules to people who are spending money and making you rich….pretty soon Noone will want to play…let that sink in
I think this is totally ridiculous that they will ban players for bad stop submissions and take no noticeable actions against reports of cheating players and abusive players. Certainly shows that Niantic supports priorities are not in the correct places. I agree that something should be done in regards to bad submissions but a ban for that is very extreme. Instead of focusing on these minor issues and over doing the “punishment” how about focusing on a more extreme action against abusive players and cheating players Niantic!
I put my phone down for an hour thismorning and when I picked it up it said I’m banned for 30day I have tryed to message niantic atleast 5 times to find out why and yet no response. Niantic need to be held accountable for there actions or atleast give more than just a generic response when they do reply
Why ban on Wayfarer AND Pokemon Go? You choose to use wayfarer to support and improve the game. If there where BOTs acceptting all in wayfarer (NL) the Pplayer should not be punished by a 30 days ban on PokemonGO. That account is a 7 year investment in the game nobody legit deserves a BAN just by doing (wrong) actions on wayfarer!
They could just ban players from Wayfarer. Why ban from the game?
And they won’t ever answer you. People whose accounts have been wrongfully deleted can’t get any response nor does anyone offer to recover the lost account. . . Cause they cant!
I picked up my phone on the next day and was permanently banned. I have tried several times to find out. Been playing the game since 2016. The day before I approved a walked route. From reading the other articles is this why I got banned. I have emailed niantic and all I got was the account does not correspond with that email??? I have logging in since 2016 with it. Seems I am going round in circles. As some said ibdont think niantic no what the they are doing. Ban wayfarer not the game. Should start up a protest against the niantic company. Might get results.