I just made abuse reports for 14 golf/disc golf courses, totaling 162 reported wayspots.
I think I got a bit carried away 
Iâm just constantly amazed how common these things are elsewhere. Iâve only ever seen two of them in the UK.
Itâs only a matter of time before they show up here and/or Reddit to tell us how their âperfectâ Wayspots were removed and how they should go after those pesky abusive reporters! 
Hello Wayfinders,
Thank you for your honest feedback on the changes to our Wayfarer Abuse Ladder. We completely understand your concernsâespecially around maintaining the integrity of our shared map and ensuring a positive reviewing experience. Your passion for a fair Wayfinder experience keeps this community thriving, and we hear you loud and clear.
We remain deeply committed to protecting the quality and safety of our shared map across all Scopely Explore games. I want to reiterate that Trainers who had their Wayfarer access suspended will NOT regain access to Wayfarer, even if their Pokémon GO accounts are reinstated. This ensures they cannot submit nominations, edits, nor review Wayspots to impact the map moving forward. We will continue to take decisive action against Wayfarer accounts taking actions to intentionally degrade the Wayfarer experience.
To further safeguard the reviewing experience, we recently updated our Wayfarer Help Center guidelines. Under our updated Ineligible Photos and Fake Nominations policy, the use of AI-generated content is explicitly prohibited and will result in swift Wayfarer sanctions.
While our support team is actively working through a recent influx of support tickets, we are making steady progress and are optimistic about returning to normal response times in the coming weeks. We will continue to monitor the forum, social channels, and queues for the coming weeks and make improvements where needed
Thank you for your ongoing partnership, patience, and dedication to building a better map together!
Which of the available reactions indicates that I appreciate the acknowledgement that we have been heard, but still think this is a bad move?
Editing this post since the screenshot of the reactions confused people.
Has there been any discussion of raising the game level required to participate in Wayfarer related activities? That would prevent abusers that are already locked out of Wayfarer from creating new game accounts. Currently in PoGo, it doesnât take much to reach the required level, especially with the addition of remote raids and the XP you get from exchanging gifts with friends.
I thought my screen had frozen with the emojis and hit refresh before I read your comment. 
Yeah, my mouse cursor hovered over the reaction icon for a full five seconds before I decided there was nothing appropriate I could use 
Does that mean I can re-report two AI-generated wayspots that the abuse team refused to remove?
Or just post it here and we can all report them. Abusers want mOaR pOkEsPoTs? How about MORE REPORTS!
I hope this was collaborated and reviewed by people who actually use this system but it feels like a rush text addition that is unclear.
Ineligible photo
[âŠ] is obviously doctored or edited, including AI generated or modified photos[âŠ]
Is this implying that AI generated/modified photos are strictly ineligible or do they fall under the âobviously doctoredâ qualifier? The distinction matters.
Can confirm this happened btw, I saw it with my own eyes and had my report rejected too.
Read through most of the comments⊠I wanted to build on my previous post with a potential solution (still may have issues but maybe itâs a starting point for someone else to use 
Whether Wayfarer separates completely from Pokémon Go(&other games) or not, I think Wayfarer should treat itself as its own entity, and protect its database regardless of whether the threshold to access Wayfarer is level 60 or level 15 or open to anyone or becomes more exclusive based on something else.
All proposed numbers are examples, not necessarily recommendations:
It would probably take some time for the Wayfarer team to set it all up but the novice level could be treated like a training course. Include honeypots utilizing the very first reviews as a guided walk-through to familiarize reviewers with the system, good nominations, bad nominations, abuse, fakes and etc. After those first reviews new reviewers get a mix of real submissions and honeypots. If they get honeypots wrong there could be dialog boxes to click through, highlighting why the submission is or isnât a good one. Maybe a hidden 5-10 second minimum viewing timer giving them time to look at the main issues but quickly. The better they get the fewer times they have to spend on education and the more time they have to get through reviews and start understanding what a good submission is.
If someone is not improving and gets a very low agreement percentage (Idk 25%?) after so many reviews (100?
) then they can get a message like, âWe noticed youâre having trouble getting the hang of reviews. Weâre sure you can get this but for now please take a break, weâll see you in dd:mm:ss.â This could be treated as a soft warning and include a link/popup to âwhat happens if you donât get betterâ and a link to the forum for getting help as well as the most common things theyâre not identifying correctly. After theyâre back maybe thereâs an increase in honeypots they get (not sure I like this myself but it would protect the database from intentionally bad reviewers) and if they arenât improving substantially (35% agreements? at another 100 reviews?) then they get a second message âWe know youâre trying but youâre still having quite a bit of difficulty. In order to earn submissions we need you to to improve. If you wish to continue reviewing you will need to reach xx% agreements in your next 100 reviews or you will have to take a mandatory 7 day break.â After the 7 day break they get another shot at the same goal, if they fail that then the next message would be something like âUnfortunately youâve been unable to meet the agreement goal. We know this is disappointing but if you still think this is something you want to contribute to, you can return in 28(?) days. If youâre still unable to improve when you return then you wonât be able to try again for xx(weeks, months, indefinitely?)â
For those that hit that initial bar, or manage to improve as stated, they get a message âCongratulations! Youâve earned your first submission! As you continue to review you will earn additional submissions and as you improve your rating the number of submissions earned will multiply.â Include a chart of rewards. Probably include info on maintaining good reviews and submissions.
Past the initial training at novice level the honeypots shouldnât have a huge impact on players and as they move up their Wayfarer rating they should be less common. Like, apprentices get a 33% reduction in honeypots, Explorers -66%, Experts -80% and removal of the educational review unless multiple honeypots are incorrect and Champion only gets honeypots if Wayfarer notices an overall increase in certain issues or changes a rule.
To all of us volunteers, whatever the Wayfarer team decides to do; remember, no system is perfect. Donât stop fighting for a good system though!
To the Wayfarer team, figure out your standards. Whatever you do next, itâs gonna make someone unhappy, but your product is your product, make sure it meets your expectations.
You have made some good points but they do seem to be aimed at the reviewers.
The change means that there is less control of bad nominators and this is where changes are now needed.
I did suggest above that maybe if a nomination is deemed to be âAbuseâ and not just a mistake then maybe remove their previous wayspots. This will also effect legitimate wayfarers but we need something to replace the ârisk to PoGoâ that has been taken away and legitimate wayfarers could then re-submit the removed wayspots.
Not perfect and I am sure the old system wasnât either but we have gone from a threat that mattered to most to very little threat at all 
Right, itâs indirectly dealing with abuse, by hopefully making reviewers better. Rewarding consistent, good reviews with submissions while building up knowledge on what makes a good submission.
Something for the Wayfarer team to consider. Maybe a piece of it is something they can use or tweak
Niantic/Scopely has been constantly easing the application requirements:
from requiring in-site nomination to remote;
from requiring exams to not requiring them;
from requiring level 40 to level 37 (even though the level cap is already 80);
from limited application quotas to 320;
from banning game accounts to not banning them.
This constant easing has led to widespread abuse of the Wayfarer system. I report players abusing the system almost every day!
However, Niantic/Scopelyâs policies seem to encourage abuse.
Sometimes I wonder if Iâm the one standing in the way?
I have one quick question regarding the photo liking system in Pokémon GO, will players with suspended Wayfarer access still be able to like/vote on Wayspot photos inside Pokémon GO?
âSince photo votes directly determine the cover photo of a PokĂ©Stop/Gym, there is a concern that bad actors (especially those using multiple accounts) might still exploit the liking feature to manipulate and control cover photos in their local area.
âCould the team clarify if photo voting/liking will also be restricted for these Wayfarer suspended accounts?
I wasnât being sarcastic. Lots of previously residential homes in my area are businesses, and I could see this house being some sort of community center.
Perfection. Iâm betting you didnât have to squidge any of those hole locations by more than 10 m, as Niantic intended 
Anybody can report ineligible Wayspots for removal no matter where they are in relation to the Wayspot. Also, Niantic has nothing to do with Wayfarer any longer.