Pokémon GO: Expert reveals tips for applying for PokéStops – “There are absolute no-gos”

The Wayfarer platform gives you the opportunity to submit your own suggestions for new PokéStops in Pokémon GO. YouTuber ChaosLady is passionate about this topic, which is why we at MeinMMO spoke to her. Below you can read what tips she has for you.

What is it about? In Pokémon GO, Trainers have the opportunity to actively participate in the game by proposing new PokéStops via the Niantic platform Wayfarer Submit.

YouTuber ChaosLady is also very active there. In an interview with MeinMMO, she revealed to us which DOs and DON’Ts there are. She also gave us a few tips on what to consider when applying for new PokéStops.

This is Chaos Lady

Melanie alias ChaosLady is one of the best-known German-speaking YouTubers on the subject of Pokémon GO. She currently has over 11,100 subscribers on her YouTube channel and streams regularly via her Twitch channel. She publishes videos about Wayfarer, Pokémon GO and other Nintendo games several times a week.

She has been playing Ingress (today’s Ingress Prime) since 2013 and has also been on the go every day in Pokémon GO since its release on July 6th, 2016. By that time, she had already reached max level in Ingress and also submitted several hundred new wayspots.

In her videos, she often dedicates herself to this topic around Wayfarer, which is why we wanted to know more about it from her.

ChaosLady has already rated so many suggestions on Wayfarer

Wayfarer is the official platform for Trainers to request new PokéStops. In the YouTube videos of ChaosLady you can see the passion with which she travels on Wayfarer. For this reason, we wanted to know from her how many suggestions she has already evaluated.

ChaosLady: “I really enjoy Wayfarer. I’m driven by the fact of improving the gaming experience for all of us. In total I rated 11,140 suggestions, which may sound like a lot, but it’s not considering the system has been online since 2017.”

Good to know: She also explains that the Wayfinder, i.e. the person who submitted the proposal, can also raise an objection to a rejected Wayspot. This is then checked directly by the Niantic Wayfarer team. In addition, the proposals can also be submitted for Ingress Prime in addition to Pokémon GO.

No-Gos that everyone should know and pay attention to

With so many suggestions ChaosLady has seen and rated on Wayfarer, we wanted to know what they think Trainers should consider when submitting new PokéStops.

ChaosLady: “There are absolute no-gos, you should know and pay attention to them. In principle, no recognizable faces or number plates of cars may be present in the Wayspot photo (first photo of the proposal). It also shouldn’t be too dark or blurry, and the photo shouldn’t contain a watermark.”

In addition, ChaosLady tells us places where you are not allowed to submit Wayspots. These include, for example:

• kindergartens
• Schools (except universities)
• places inaccessible to pedestrians, such as freeways, unsecured railroad tracks, military bases
• Adult places, such as liquor stores, gun stores, sex-related stores

These mistakes are the most common when applying for new stops

In addition to the no-gos that everyone should be aware of, trainers also make other mistakes when applying for new PokéStops, which then leads to rejection. ChaosLady told us her most common reason for rejection.

ChaosLady: “My most common reason for rejection is when I can’t match the suggestion via the satellite image embedded in Wayfarer. The wayfinder may submit two photos, the wayspot photo and the environment photo. The latter helps reviewers see if the GPS location is correct.”

Important NOTE: According to ChaosLady, you should make sure that the picture shows as much of the environment as possible. Particularly concise points and landscape features, but also existing wayspots, play a decisive role here, as they serve to improve orientation on the image. ChaosLady recommends taking the photo in landscape format.

But there is another criterion that can lead to exclusion: “Another problem is misspellings in the title and description. While this shouldn’t be a reason for rejections, according to Niantic, the past has shown that these submissions are rejected at an above-average rate. So pay attention.”

Two more tips: ChaosLady also has two tips for you in this context, which you should consider when applying for new Wayspots:

• Describe the object correctly: So don’t write that it’s a great place for a PokéStop, but go into the object. Keep in mind that the Wayspot is also used for other games
• Geodata in the surrounding photo: With the help of camera apps, you have the option of integrating your GPS coordinates into the image, which can help to verify the location during the assessment, especially in the case of outdated or blurred satellite images

Suggestions that are often accepted

Due to the extensive experience ChaosLady now has with Wayfarer, we asked her for her assessment of which proposals are often approved.

ChaosLady: “Basically, you can say that everything that is public and easily accessible, is a sight, has unrestricted access or is private, or is a meeting place for people, is well suited for a Wayspot.”

According to ChaosLady, if the factors surrounding the respective proposal fit, the following objects are relatively often accepted by the community:

• Artworks (Statues, Murals, Painted Junction Boxes)
• Spring
• religious sculptures (if not in the cemetery)
• public playgrounds (not at schools or kindergartens)
• Sports equipment or sports fields
• Sports clubs
• Information on signs or showcases
• public bookcases
• public libraries
• churches
• monuments
• theatre
• town halls
• skate facilities

You should pay attention to this if you want to start with Wayfarer

In order to submit suggestions via Wayfarer yourself, you must be at least trainer level 38. But that’s not enough, as ChaosLady revealed to us in the interview. In addition to the trainer level, passing an aptitude test also plays a decisive role. If you have met these criteria, you can start right away. But what is important now?

ChaosLady: “As a Wayspot applicant, you should keep an eye on your status and statistics. This is the only way to see whether your own ratings match those of the community. If you deviate too often from the global opinion/direction, it changes for the worse.

A negative status currently means that your own rating is no longer included in the overall rating of a Wayspot. What other disadvantages there will be in the future, I can not judge at the moment. Niantic continuously develops its systems and also responds to feedback from the community. That makes the whole thing exciting for all of us.”

Learn how to rate suggestions on Wayfarer.

If you want to know more: ChaosLady also invites interested parties to her community on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Discord. There she gives more helpful tips about the game and Wayfarer. Also can on their community server in Discord suggestions can also be uploaded before they are actually submitted in order to receive initial feedback.

There are at least two Wayfarer videos a week on their YouTube channel. In these, she not only evaluates the WaySpots, but also gives insights into the Niantic Wayfarer Forum and shows the Niantic news and decisions on current Wayspot discussions.

Her goal is to bring these experiences and impressions closer to her viewers. So it’s worth checking out.

Are you as active on Wayfarer as ChaosLady? How many suggestions have you already rated? Or do you want to submit new PokéStops yourself? Let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO and talk to other trainers about the topic.

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