Location-based AR games such as Pokemon GO, Ingress, and the relatively recent Harry Potter: Wizards Unite are, by definition, dependent on, you guessed it, locations. The method Niantic used to establish these games demands an abundant supply of location point that will make players visit that particular location.
Dissimilar to the strictly virtual world where expansion is close to infinite, there are only a few physical locations on Earth that might demonstrate interest. This is the reason why Niantic is releasing its Wayfarer program to basically crowdsource those places from Pokemon GO players.
It is truly a more effective method of pinning down locations that could be used as points of attraction in the game. In any case, Niantic cannot travel all over the world to find those perfect spots. On the other hand, however, it can simply just add about any place suggested by random players. This is the reason why it is adding a certain level of assessment board to this tool.
Not All Pokemon GO Players Qualify For Wayfarer
The gaming giant is basing the Wayfarer on its classical Operation Portal Recon created for its first AR game, known as Ingress. That enabled Ingress Agents, a.k.a the players, to appoint and also review Portals. Those ‘Portals’ are supposed to, in theory, appear only in locations of huge interest or relevance to a specific place.
Niantic Wayfarer will be very similar. Qualified players are not only enabled to nominate, but also review all the other nominations.
This short video guide provided by the gaming company gives instructions on what makes for a good Waypoint.
Proposed locations include museums, historical markers, and art installations that could be converted into Portals, PokeStops, and Gyms.
According to Niantic, not all Pokemon GO players can become Wayfarers. The company, however, did not give any more details on who can qualify.
