Elect And Evaluate Your Local PokeStops With This New Tool

Remember how Pokemon Go had to strongly remind players to, you know, not break the law in order to get to PokeStops? Niantic Labs does. Today the developer of Pokemon Go announced a new tool for Niantic AR games that will allow players to elect, evaluate, and report PokeStops or Waypoints.

Called Wayfarer, the interactive platform will let users add information about already-established points of interest — such as cultural significance or history — and elect new ones. Perhaps more importantly, the system will also encourage users to report inappropriate locations for PokeStops or Waypoints, like private residents or preschools (no, you can't hang out in someone's yard for the sake of replenishing your Pokeballs). 

The idea is that all this user-generated information should make for more accurate PokeStops. It'll probably result in a few fake ones being added, too, but that's bound to happen whenever users are allowed to enter unconfirmed information freely. There have been a number of incidents involving less-than-ideal PokeStop locations, including hullabaloos that got local law enforcement involved. A more curated collection of PokeStops might prevent fiascos like this in the future.

For people in more rural areas without a PokeStop in sight, this is also your chance to elect local points of interests worthy of a PokeStop or Gym. Other users can vote on these nominated locations, too, so underserved populations will no longer go unnoticed. 

Pokemon Go is still going strong long after the idyllic summer of 2016, when people everywhere explored their neighborhoods — maybe for the first time — in search of Pokemon. There were quite a few incidents then, too, involving some over-eager players trespassing for the sake of catching 'em all. Niantic Labs apparently paid close attention to all this and has been working on ways to integrate the fictional world of Pokemon safely with the very real world.

We'll have more for you on this story as it develops.