Showing posts with label Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game. Show all posts

Friday, August 23, 2013

Ingress: The Creators Of The Game Are Unimaginative About Its Use Cases

In short, I am saying the people who created the game and are still updating it every few weeks do not know. Only the players who are pushing the game's limits can know. They need to be listened to. A mindless capturing and recapturing of portals gets boring fast. How many L8 farms can you attend?

The poor portal approval mechanism is getting in the way. And the game should allow each agent so many new invites per month like clockwork. You get new portals approved to change the very map on which you are battling. And you have the levers with which to actively recruit and build a team. You do these two things and the game stays challenging. Otherwise, yawn.


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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Ingress: The Squad: Values



I am currently not playing. I am not out, but I am not active. I am waiting for my 1,000 portal submissions to go through. Then I am going to build a team, The Squad. For the longest time I thought I would keep mum about it. But I am at a point when I feel I should open source the value system I have written about The Squad. And so here goes.

June 6, 2013
The Squad Values

(1) We believe in Life/Work/Ingress balance. If you are playing for less than 10 hours a week, chances are you are not intense enough for The Squad. But if you are playing for more than 20 hours a week chances are you are messing up your Life/Work/Ingress balance. That is a no no.

(2) We believe in sportsmanship. The mark of true sportsmanship is that you truly enjoy meeting agents from both sides. You play as hard as you can, but then you truly enjoy meeting people from the other side. Be respectful of others on both sides. This is a game. It is supposed to be fun. Don't take the game too seriously.

(3) The Squad is 100% AP driven. We want our agents to get to 10 million in AP as fast as possible. We constantly look for ways to help agents do that. So when we come across a green L7/L8 farm, our first instinct is to hack it to burnout, not to take it down. Because we are AP driven.

(4) Most agents prefer not to join teams. And even those who join teams mostly play solo. And so The Squad will have a very limited agenda.

(5) You don't talk about The Squad outside The Squad. You can say things like "I am a member of The Squad" to recruit people, but that's about it.

(6) When you play solo, you play any way you want. You have the option to tap into The Squad's knowledge base of tips and the collective wisdom of the top agents, but there are no rules. It is a game. It is supposed to be fun. Go have fun your way. When you play solo there is only one rule: We don't talk about The Squad outside The Squad.

(7) The Squad is focused around events it organizes. All socializing happens during Action Time. There is a formal start to an event. And there is a formal end to an event. When the event is over, we go back to Life/Work. We don't hang out, we don't have beer. But if members choose to informally hang out that is fine too, but that is not part of the formal event.

(8) G+ socializing is largely a waste of time. COMM socializing is largely a waste of time. This game is played out there in the field. Your 10 hours a week is about action time in the field not staring at the Intel map at home.

(9) The Squad is a thinking kind of team. We have our tips, our knowledge base, our tactics, and strategies, but all are subject to challenge, and all are subject to empirical evidence. We shift our tactics as necessary. And new ideas can come from anywhere on the team.

(10) We are part of the global Resistance.

(Image: my newest portal submission.)
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Friday, July 26, 2013

Ingress: Taser Green Agents

Niantic Light Parade
Niantic Light Parade (Photo credit: drsmith7383)
Rumor has it Niantic is working on a new ammo item, so far unnamed. If an enemy agent is within your scanner's range, and you fire that ammo item, it will act like a mild taser on that agent. There will be a slight tickling sensation, no bodily harm intended.

It is thought to be of special use during interfaction events. Niantic is worried too many interfaction events are being organized, and it is taking away from the intensity of the game. Once you get to know and become friends with enemy agents, it is hard to then go back to thinking of them as enemies in the game. In many cities the game has supposedly slowed down due to such impacts.
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Ingress: And I Am Back


Not really. Over the past few days I have learned that (1) I don't miss Ingress, (2) Push-ups are much better exercise, more fulfilling, and way more fun than walking around staring at the phone pretending to get exercise through walking, and (3) The make money department is more gripping than the game of Ingress and I am better off increasing my hours there, since I work for myself and don't have/need regular "office hours." 

Some decisions. 

(1) I am going to completely avoid the COMM like I did all the way to hitting Level 8. In future my use of the COMM will be almost completely for Squad members. Even there a value is that COMM/G+ socializing is largely a waste of game time. 
(2) I am going to wait for my 1,000 portal submissions to go through before I make a serious effort at team building. 
(3) There is going to be a Greater Jackson Heights Resistance for agents that might not qualify for The Squad, but even that is later, I am in no hurry. 
(4) When I play, I will just rack up some more AP, that is all. I will play rarely. Life/Work/Ingress balance is a value to strive for. 
(5) I am glad for the reinstatement. But mostly I am going to act like the reinstatement never happened. I am going to play much less, if that. 

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