Pokémon Go brings PokéStop stats to your hatching route
Niantic launched Wayfarer for Pokémon Go in 2019, and it continues to give hope to all of us who live in rural places. Through the platform, players can submit nominations for new Pokestops, gyms, and Max spots so that you don’t have to travel as far to find what you need to hatch and evolve those ‘mon. Now, Niantic takes it a step further, with the announcement that you’ll soon be able to find out exactly how many players have used your nominated spots to gain goodies and fight fierce battles in the game.
That’s not all the stats Wayfarer can send you. You can also find out how many of your nominations are approved, how you help expand the map, how many reviews you submit, and edits you successfully make to other people’s Wayspots. Of course, you’ll need to have contributed to Wayfarer to get the stats, which are sent to your email every month.
To submit nominations, your level requirement must be 35 in Pokémon Go, so if you’re hoping to achieve fame in your local area, you’d better get catching. The system isn’t without its critics, of course. Some fans over in the game’s subreddit say they can’t get nominations through because of poor AI judgments, including subpar knowledge of accessibility routes, words triggering censors incorrectly, and false assessments of the level of danger. Hopefully, with increased eyes on the Wayfarer system after this announcement, some of these issues will be ironed out.
A cynic would perhaps describe the email updates on your spots as an attempt to keep up user retention, and this is a valid point – we’ve all had annoying marketing email spams from games asking us if we’re sure we don’t want to come back (I am looking directly at you, Star Wars: Hunters). But once a month is a pretty okay frequency, and there are people who really care about this kind of thing, so we think it’s more of an effort at transparency and fun than a sellout. It’s not like one of the best mobile games needs much help keeping its users online.
If you’re seeing someone taking advantage of this feature already, and maybe you’re also moving around a lot right now, the monthly roundups are exciting, as you can see how many little guys you’re helping other players to catch and grow. I’m personally a big stats head, so I’d enjoy the satisfaction of the numbers on the screen. And, even if you didn’t know the feature existed, it’s a fun incentive to try it out now and help the trainers in your local area.
For more of the latest on Pokémon, be sure to pre-order Pokémon Legends Z-A, which is the new Pokémon game, with our guide to the best deals – after all, it may turn out to be one of the best Switch games. We also have free Pokémon Go-specific goodies with our Pokémon Go codes, as well as a guide to the upcoming Pokémon Go events. Plus, check out our guide to the best Pokémon games to see if you agree with our list.
