Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Ingress: The Game Changes



I don't understand people who hit Level 8 and then give up. I can understand slowing down because you are pressed for time, you have other obligations. But plain giving up? Why did you get started in the first place?

Not only am I in, at four million action points I feel like I am just getting started. This is a game. And it is great fun. That is the starting point. It is a great game.

In 2010 I wrote a blog post called Mobile First. Fred Wilson read it and wrote a blog post echoing the theme, and that blog post of his became his top post for that year. Ingress is futuristic, in that it it about mobile, about gaming, about location, and a few other things. So for industry watchers it is a great way to get into the action. This is not a waste of time.

It also allows you to get to know a neighborhood like a local. It opens up the city's geography. And that is a big part of the game for me. Seeking opportunities to deploy Level 1 resonators still has appeal for me, and this is a big reason why. I am at a point where I can get any amount of ammo of any level. Ammo is no constraint. Time is. And you use up low level resonators like anything when you go for it.

The point of having high level ammo is to have the option to use it when it makes sense to do so.

This is a simple game like a knife is a simple weapon. I don't think a knife is a simple weapon, if you know how to use it. Some very complex strategies will become possible when there are 10 times more people playing the game, or even 100 times. The velocity of the game increases and more options open up.

Most people who play the game think there are two sides in the game. And the mind unit count makes that suggestion as well. But I think that is the simplistic version. More than two sides are possible. There are many many sides in the game. The AP count is the compass, and many, many sides are possible. Small, agile teams can do more, I believe, than large, scattered teams that waste a lot of time "socializing" on G+.

You still have two basic tools, you have the app, and you have the Intel map. And you are good to go. Time is the only ammo worth counting.

I am at a phase where I need 10 times more people playing the game in New York City to seek the next level of fun in the game for me. Until then I practice the basics, get to know the terrain better, get more intimate with the city's geography, make good use of the two tools and, yes, socialize.

Ingress And Complex Strategies
Ingress: Phase 3
Ingress: A Great Game For The Knowledge Worker
Ingress Tips
Level 8 In A Month

Level 8 farming for Level 8 ammo is probably the top collective activity in the game right now. And it is no secret. A secret is something that only one side knows. If both sides are doing it, it is not a secret. Both sides build and harvest L8 farms. Both sides try to be as secretive about it as possible. My observation has been most of the harvests get used for vain claims to territories. People use up a lot of ammo to keep what I call their vanity portals. I wish more of that high level ammo were used to create spectacular events. You are not building anything permanent in the game. All you can hope for is screenshots. And perhaps event reports when the screenshots do not do justice.
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Ingress And Complex Strategies



Ingress is not a complex game and I believe complex strategies are not possible. This is more tic tac toe than chess. But it is fun and that's the point. It is futuristic. It is global. I expect mass adoption. Frankly I expect it to hit Gmail like numbers in two years. I hope the game goes public as soon as possible. Why wait? The game is good to go.

Secrets are details that the other side does not know. My experience in New York City has been both sides have gone on to do similar things pretty much independent of each other. Not because there are moles, but because this is not a complex game. You play solo. Then you hit Level 8. Then you meet a dozen others who are L8. And you wonder, what if we all got together? You end up with L8 Farms, which are my favorite Ingress events, only by now you can find it on the map pretty much, and L7 Farms give you pretty good ammo too. The idea of L8 agents coalescing is no secret, because both sides are doing it. The idea of L8 Farms: not a secret. Both sides do the Alerts thing on the enemy's L7 and L8 farms. The idea is to destroy as soon as possible. Some top players get major thrill out of it.

I just happened by two L7 farms in my neighborhood and took them down both times pretty fast. Then I got to take down a L8 farm in Battery Park attended by none other than derp, who I claim is the top Ingress player in the world. I think they had managed not even two hacks yet. That's a score. Could not have happened without tomhuze's intel. The dude also paid for the cab.

In this game a car is a tank, a fighter jet. The other night Kimon, I and sma were claiming back some blue territory at and near Grant's Tomb, in a car. It was fun.

The game does not need more complexity, I think. You don't want L1 agents feeling too helpless and you don't want L8 agents feeling too powerful. The recent changes that cause XM drains for actions taken create a more level playing field. The game is good to go. Now complex strategies are all about increasing the number of people that might be playing the game. I want to live in a city where more than 10,000 people are playing the game.

The next challenge I have set for myself is to build an elite squad. Beer bores me. Agents with less than 2.4 million in AP need not apply. And that elite squad will get built once 10 times more people are playing the game. So Niantic, open up the flood gates. The larger the number of people playing the game, more complex the strategies possible.

Ingress: Phase 3
Ingress: A Great Game For The Knowledge Worker
Ingress Tips
Level 8 In A Month
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