Memorial Benches?

Was wondering if I could get a Niantic employee to weigh in on this topic. According to the Wayfarer website:

"Memorial bench/plaques - Eligible, if dedicated to a noteworthy member of a community or historical figure."

However some seem to believe if any bench is dedicated to someone then it must be a noteworthy member of the community.

So what's the answer?

Comments

  • HosetteHosette ✭✭✭✭✭

    The answer is that Wayfarer discussions have moved to a dedicated forum: https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/

  • oscarc1oscarc1 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That's not an official Wayfarer image, although the text quotes what the guidelines do state.

    Depending on the area, memorial plaques can be easily purchased and placed on a bench, some places will provide a lease to let people have a memorial plaque on a bench too, which means that they would be temporary in those instances.

    Everybody was important or significant to somebody, but that doesn't make them important or significant to everybody.

    Many memorial plaques are simply to loved ones that have passed. It's the submitter's role to provide information on WHY that person was notable for it them to be considered a significant member of the community. It's the reviewer's role to objectively decide whether that person was notable or not based on the information presented.

    Here's an easy tip: 99% of the memorial plaques you see, that simply state a name, birth year, **** date and maybe a sentence about them, none of these would be notable enough. Generally if a person was a noteworthy member of the community, the community would erect a statue or plaque that reflects their contribution and shows how important they were, not just a generic plaque smacked onto a random bench.

    This topic has been covered many times in the AMA's and also on the Wayfarer forums. I suggest you search them for further information.

  • Thanks guys. Let me just answer a few things:

    1. I understand there is a wayfarer BBS however I choose to post here because people here seem to be smarter and I felt I would have a better chance of Niantic commenting on a post made here with a more updated answer.
    2. I know that image isn't an "official" Niantic image. However the text next to it is a direct quote from the Niantic/wayfarer guidelines for what they want and don't want from the reviewers.

    Oscarc1, thanks for that definition it's really spot on. But I still believe there is a lot of confusion and some wayfarer communities are even coming up with there own definitions so I feel it's important for Niantic to update what kinds of POIs they want and don't want in all there communities (Ingress, Pokemon Go, Wizard unite & there further games they are still working on)

    Please Comment Niantic

  • AzhreiaAzhreia ✭✭✭✭✭

    Niantic will more likely comment on a post on the Wayfarer community where such things are addressed and visible for all Wayfarer users, not just Ingress users. I suggest you post there.

  • Have you been on the Wayfarer community fourms lately? It's over run with immature PoGo players that want every Point of Interest approved. Haven't seen to many Niantic post's on the Wayfarer since the coronavirus started.

  • EvilSuperHerosEvilSuperHeros ✭✭✭✭✭

    Granted this is all true, but it doesn't help if the majority of users in Wayfarer give it 5 stars. Benches are becoming portals everywhere.

    Normally, I'd just complain about Niantic not sticking to their own guidelines or having any sort of oversight or a process to review such POI's before they go live. But lately, I'm just enjoying all the super duper easy unique captures. If Niantic wants to pollute their own POI Database, let them. It's really not worth taking the time to fight over.

    Go grab your easy uniques. Work your those Explorer and Pioneer badgers!

  • grsmhikergrsmhiker ✭✭✭

    That's not quite accurate, but I know where your frustration is coming from.

    Honestly, OP is just as likely to get a response here as they are on the wayfarer forum... which is to say, they probably won't. After those forums were set up, they have been left to languish and are almost completely ignored by Niantic. Though, an admin does drop in once in a... well, once. I think they last interacted some time back in mid May.

    I have been sporadically active on there since day 1. Post a question, and you'll get a half dozen regulars who respond with some good discussion, then another half dozen who post "me too" replies with no meaningful content just to boost their post count, followed by a handful of trolls (likely all owned by the same person) who give bad advice and try to derail the topic. One of those trolls was allowed to run uncontrolled for over a month before being banned, then another equally harmful sockpuppet was finally shadow banned weeks later, and on the rare occasion that an admin does weigh in on a question, their replies are often so vague that they create more confusion than they resolve.

    On the original topic though, like has been said earlier it's up to the submitter to make the case for why the person was important. "Lived in this town and liked walking in this park" won't get you very far; I did just get one approved recently with a supporting statement along the lines of "this person is memorialized here because they were a state senator who was instrumental in securing the funding that allowed this state park to be constructed."

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