Wayfarer Announced
Niantic has released an Official Page and announcement video detailing a new "Wayfarer" system, which will allow players of their games such as Pokemon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress to make and review submissions for new points of interest on the map.
Pokestop Submission has been very slowly rolling out in select countries for some time now, but has been unavailable to players in many countries, including the United States. It is very likely that this system will entirely replace the existing submission system, and will allow players from all involved games to eventually have a say in regards to what new stops are set in a given area.
The website states that Pokemon Go players will be able to join this system before the end of the year, while Ingress players are reporting that players over Lv.12 already have access. We will continue to monitor this system and post updates as they become available.
How does Niantic Wayfarer Work?
While little is known in regards to this system, here is what we do know for certain;
- Players will be able to submit new "Waypoints" via this system, including giving descriptions of the chosen location
- Submissions will be rated on a 1-5 star basis, with a lower rating being negative, and a higher rating being positive.
- The system will show any existing information about the Waypoint, as well as potential existing nominations that have been previously submitted
- Waypoints will be rated based on several factors, including Historic or Cultural significance, Visual Uniqueness, Safety of Access, Location Accuracy,
- Nominations are also given a classification, such as Building, Object, or Structure
- Players will be able to review new and existing Waypoints via this system
Frequently Asked Questions
As with any yet-to-be-released feature, the announcement of the Niantic Wayfarer system brings with it a number of questions.
- Ingress players already have access to the system and Pokemon Go is mentioned to have access soon, but will Harry Potter: Wizards Unite players have access to the system as well?
- How long is the average time between submission and acceptance?
We will post answers to these and more questions as they are answered.