New Mission Authoring FAQs
The Mission Authoring FAQs got a big update 5 hours ago and explains fast-track for IFS and 2S,an appeal process for certain rejected missions and tips on what to do when a mission is rejected.
"Here are some frequently asked questions related to Mission creation, the approval process, and some tips to help you understand common rejection reasons.
Regardless of the rejection reason, consistently resubmitting the rejected Mission without attempting to fix issues, or submitting a Mission multiple times in an effort to get a different outcome may result in your Mission authoring permissions being suspended or permanently revoked
Mission Review Timeline
Agents should allow 10-15 business days for Mission review.
Fast Tracking
First Saturday and Second Sunday
We highly recommend Agents submit their Missions with enough time to be reviewed via the normal process. We may consider removing privileges to Agents who abuse the Fast Track system.
To be considered for fast tracking, Missions must
- Include the following hashtags in the title
- First Saturday: #IngressFS
- Second Sunday: #Ingress2S or Second Sunday
- Be submitted by the Monday before the event; Missions submitted after the Monday before the event may not be reviewed in time.
- If submitting a banner, it must be a 6 or 12 mission banner; First Saturday and Second Sunday banners larger than 12 missions will be immediately rejected.
- Submitting Missions from multiple accounts to create a larger banner will also result in rejection of the whole set.
Mission Day
Agents may create complementary banners to support a Mission Day event or provide additional missions for participating Agents to complete. Banners for standalone Mission Days not tied to another Niantic event are not eligible for the fast track at this time.
General Tips
- Mission approval guidelines can and do change over time, similar to Portal (Wayspot) guidelines. Do not assume that because a title, description or picture was used on an existing live Mission, new Missions using the same materials will be approved.
- Each Mission is reviewed individually regardless of whether it's a single Mission or part of a banner. Each Mission needs to meet Mission criteria and follow Mission guidelines. This means there can be cases where a few Missions in a banner may get approved while others may get rejected if there are issues with the images, text, Wayspots, or passphrases/custom descriptions.
Quality Issues
A lack of a clear and informative description and/or title
Agents should
- be able to read a Mission’s title and know its theme and general location, and whether it is part of a series or banner, and
- be able to read a Mission’s description and know why the area or Portals are interesting or how the Portals relate to the theme of the Mission.
Mission Image, description, and/or title are unrelated to the Waypoints chosen
Pick unique Waypoints for your Missions and ensure the description includes context on why these Waypoints were chosen (eg, visit all parks in this town).
Ensure that the Mission image is related to the theme of the Mission, ties in to the title/description of the Mission, and the Wayspots chosen.
Do not use single letters or characters in a Mission image. If you wish to include text in the image, ensure that at least two (or zero) characters are prominent per image.
General Tips for Quality Issues
Pick a theme for your Mission. For example, Missions that allow Agents to learn about cultural aspects of a city... the best food, the coolest art, top tourist attractions and other memorable locations.
Create Missions that encourage Agents to explore an area by visiting interesting locations, learning about local history and culture, or enjoying special attractions. Include Portals that showcase the best features, if possible.
Someone unfamiliar with the area should
- be able to read a Mission’s title and know its theme and general location, and whether it is part of a series or banner,
- be able to read a Mission’s description and know why the area or Portals are interesting; how the Portals relate to the theme; and if the Mission requires more than a simple short walk, what they need to do to complete it.
Additional Tips for the First Mission of a Banner or Series
Consider providing insights in the very first Mission to allow Agents to determine whether they will be able to complete all missions in the set before starting and getting stuck.
- Consider mentioning if the set is particularly challenging (e.g. a strenuous hike along the way).
- Consider informing if Agents should consider driving or biking between locations due to distance.
- Consider noting if Missions may be difficult or impossible to complete for someone who has a mobility impairment.
Promotional Content
Text contains URLs, email addresses or HTML
Update the Mission content and remove URLs, email addresses, or HTML code.
Trying to sell/advertise a product or service
Remove promotional content from the Mission and resubmit for review.
Trademark and Copyright Issues
Use of an image or text that isn't yours or that you don't have rights to use or that contains a logo
Ensure you use your own images, or images that are in the Public Domain. Do not download images from the Internet to use as Mission assets without written consent from the creator - EVEN if that asset is already being used in another Mission. Assets that require credit to be given to the author to be used will not be able to be accepted as that violates Promotional Content guidelines.
"Free to use" does not necessarily mean free for commercial use. Having a license also does not necessarily grant permission to use an asset commercially.
Don’t use logos (for example, of a team or store) or other copyrighted content in your Mission image.
If you have proof of permission to use an asset for commercial purposes, please submit it via a support ticket by clicking Something Else > Events & Missions > Missions.
Use of official Niantic logos or event names (NL1331, Mission Day, etc.)
Do not use official Niantic logos except the First Saturday and Second Sunday Logos and the Enlightened and Resistance Logos.
Do not use Ingress Medals (achievement medals, event medals, character medals etc.) as Mission images.
Exceptions may be made for unedited assets provided by Niantic explicitly for the use of Mission assets.
Use of Image or Text that claims the Mission as “official", otherwise implies it has special designation, or is endorsed by Niantic (e.g., “The Official Ingress London Mission”)
Do not use Mission names that suggest sponsorship or affiliation. For example, instead of naming your Mission "The Niantic Mission", try "A Mission near Niantic's Office".
Missions that are complementary Missions intended to be done in conjunction with a Mission Day cannot reference Mission Day or MD in the title.
Personal Information
Text or images that reveal information about a person’s identity, including (but not limited to) real names, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
Update the Mission content (title, description, passphrases) to remove the personal information.
An image with identifiable people or faces
Modify imagery to blur or hide any identifiable people or faces.
Public figures and fictional characters are permitted.
Full or partial codenames/Agent names (e.g., "Mission idea from @neo" or "this is neo's favorite lunch spot," etc.)
Update the Mission content (title, description, passphrases) to remove the personal information.
Inappropriate Content
Defamatory text or image
Primary intention of trolling, harassment, abuse, attack or ridicule
Inappropriate images (including curse words/obscenity)
Remove the offensive/inappropriate content.
If it seems like context was misunderstood, submit an appeal to provide context and have your Mission re-reviewed. Submit a support ticket by clicking Something Else > Events & Missions > Missions.
Incomplete or Spammy Content
Text that implies the Mission is incomplete, involved little effort, or is not ready to be published (e.g., "test Mission")
If the Mission is not ready to be reviewed yet, do not submit it. You can edit the draft version at any time in the Mission Authoring Tool.
Mission series/banner has repeated Waypoints
A Mission series or banner should encourage exploration; avoid reusing the same Portals or Waypoints multiple times throughout the series or banner.
Ensure the description includes context on why these Waypoints were chosen (eg, visit all parks in this town).
Multiple Issues
Missions may have more than one rejection reason. Review the tips above to help address these issues.
Note: Do not resubmit a Mission without attempting to fix issues. Being a Mission Author is a privilege for Agents who abide by the Mission Criteria. Repeated transgressions may result in Mission authoring permissions being suspended."
Comments
I’m glad they’ve provided means to dispute. We’ll see if those ever actually work, but this seems like a decent little update in regards to missions. Heck, I’m honestly surprised they even know they still exist. Now, if we could get some updates in-game surrounding missions that would be even better.
Wow they actually acknowledge banners.
Will this actually let banners get thru on the first time around? Can I actually get my big banner that makes you walk 3 loops around an area with like 80 approved? Guess I will recreate it tonight and find out in 10-15 business days. 🤔
So the reviewing quality is going to be increased to enable this? And false positive rejections will be reduced and rejection messages will be improved?
Hi Thanks for this - clear & helpful comms. Can you clarify if glyph images are permissable?
Missions are for commercial purposes!
That is a very interesting information.
How do we get more info on why a mission was rejected? Because in my experience the replies are often vague, unclear an un-informative.
En síntesis las respuestas de rechazo no son claras.
Al momento de rechazar digan expresamente porque se rechaza. Así sabremos que modificar o mejorar.
Actually I have some problems with mission submissions, too and that is very frustrating for me. I always use my own images (self-created or photographed by me).
If a mission becomes rejected, I don't know, WHY - I always get a standard e-mail with several reasons, which are COULD be the cause for the rejection. So I try to change the waypoints, to edit the title or the description, the image... And sometimes the mission becomes still rejected again and again. And I still don't know, WHY 🤷♀️ So I try and try and try...
It would be very helpful to name the PRECISE rejection reason in the rejection e-mail, so I can fix the mission right immediately without trial and error.
I really like it to create new missions and I have many creative ideas for new banners but since this summer I am going bananas... 🫣
Missions are for commercial purposes!
The entire game is classified as a commercial product, and missions automatically fall under it as well. It's not specifically Missions that are for commercial purposes.
im sure it’s already been said but a huge frustration with mission authoring in general is the lack of information/feedback when a mission is rejected.
the answers are dismissive, vague and often nonsensical. Surely It’s not difficult for any reviewers to state the actual reasons for the rejection.
Could we also get an increase to the number of missions that we are allowed to create?
Asking for a friend (and myself).
The mission editor needs to be updated for mobile use esp on 3rd step & as well as add note fields in step 2 (to note copyrights & other relevant infos )
As long as NIA does not provide any clear information on why a specific mission was rejected the appeal options are nothing but nonsense.
It's hilarious they didn't make an update about this on their channel especially when it could have been added to their FS and 2S weekend announcement. 🤦♂️
I wonder if they’re planning to add one after this FS/2S badges have been sent out so that they’re not flooded instantly with new Missions.
For anyone who hasn’t seen a rejection since this
Unfortunately, we were not able to accept your Mission. Your Mission may have one or more of the following issues:
A lack of a clear and informative description and/or title
Mission Image, description, and/or title are unrelated to the Waypoints chosen
To avoid such issues, try to create a theme around your Missions. Some ideas for possible themes:
Missions that allow Agents to explore the city, whether it's the best food, coolest art, top tourist must-do activities and locations, etc.
Missions that cover history or historical figures, like a Mission along the Boston Freedom Trail or a Mission tracing important points in the life of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Pop culture Missions, like tours of movie locations or a local band's favorite spots to eat, drink and relax around the city.
College campus tours.
Fitness (e.g., Hacking all Portals along a rigorous hiking trail or running path).
Note that these may not be the only issues with your mission. In the future, be sure to thoroughly review our Mission Criteria in the Help Center.
Here are some tips for creating high-quality Missions:
Set expectations for your Mission: in the description, include information about how long it may take, the amount of distance it covers, whether it’s best on foot vs. on bicycle, etc.
If you use passphrases or create hidden Missions, for added challenge and excitement consider requiring the Agent to examine the actual Portal to find the answer or their next Waypoint.
Keep in mind that Agents cannot go on multiple Missions at the same time, so Missions that are too long or difficult may force Agents to abort halfway through. Enhance your Mission by adding custom descriptions for each Waypoint, which makes the Mission more interesting for your fellow Agents.
Best,
NIA OPS
I liked it when Niantic gave us acceptable banner images to make our own missions in our areas. There was no argument that the images were not appropriate. No convoluted rejection emails that never helped. The missions were accepted quickly and on the first submission. They gave us banners that celebrated Chinese New Year. It would be great if they kept doing this. Give us acceptable banners for each anomaly series, mission days, first Saturdays, etc. Just provide us with the images and we can do all the hard work and submit them.
So, you can still get a mission rejected despite following that collection of guidelines WITHOUT being provided of which ones failed. That's not too motivating... well, at least you can dispute now.
As for the single letter thing, I know isn't new but I think I understand the reason why it exist: to avoid forming innapropiate words. (I just wanna leave this here if someone needed some clarification about this TOS)
Also, now we can confirm that an account can get "blacklisted", which that's why some people claimed that submiting the same mission on another account from one that keeps getting rejected got accepted with no issues. Which it leads me back to my first point: They better improve their reviewing quality, or all of this will just gonna be useless.
They better improve their reviewing quality, or all of this will just gonna be useless.
im gonna go ahead and guess that they won’t…