Thank you everyone for all the replies and for the discussion around this topic.
I think one thing that has become clear from the responses is that I am far from being the only person who sees a real issue here, even if we do not all agree on what the solution should be.
I also understand better now that this may not really be a Wayfarer eligibility problem. Wayfarer has its own purpose and criteria, and it probably should not simply accept arbitrary locations just because a particular area has few PokéStops.
What I find especially interesting, however, is the experiment that was mentioned earlier with Niantic-generated PokéStops in low-density areas, including street corners and bus stops.
I recently experienced this myself while staying in a residential area near Toulouse, in France. I also live in France, in a town of roughly comparable size, which made the contrast particularly striking.
In the area near Toulouse, many of these generated “street corner” PokéStops were present. Simply walking around the neighbourhood, there were plenty of PokéStops to discover and spin, and the game felt naturally integrated into the walk.
In my own residential area, the situation is completely different. There are almost no eligible real-world objects under the current Wayfarer criteria, and therefore virtually no PokéStops. To have a comparable gameplay experience, I have to go to the other side of town.
This is why I would really like to understand more about the experiment:
- How were the areas selected in France?
- Why did some residential areas receive these generated street-corner PokéStops while other very similar underserved areas did not?
- What became of the experiment?
- Is it still being evaluated?
- Are there any plans to expand it?
I think this kind of system could be a very good compromise: keep Wayfarer focused on genuine real-world points of interest, while Pokémon GO uses an additional mechanism to prevent certain residential or rural areas from becoming permanent “Wayspot deserts”.
Maybe this forum is not the best place to discuss the Pokémon GO side of the issue. But given the number of replies and views this topic has received, I think the question deserves further consideration.
If anyone knows the best way to contact or raise this directly with the Pokémon GO team, I would be very interested to know where this discussion should continue.
