Netizen

Sunday, June 09, 2013

Ingress: The Squad: Racially Coded Language

You can see fatasses on both sides engaging in racially coded language. They act like they are but on the same team.

Ingress (27)
Ingress (28)
Ingress: Portal Building, Field Building, Farm Building, Team Building

This reaching across the team dividing line (there are only two global teams possible) with racially coded language is not exactly a new observation on my part. But Ingress in its purity is supposed to help you cut across social barriers. But it is a knife. You can cut vegetables with it, or you can cause harm. Some people use the game to express their prejudices. It's their choice.

G+ socializing is mostly a waste of time. COMM socializing is mostly a waste of time. This game is played outdoors where you actively interact with portals. But faction chat verbal wars are I guess part and parcel of the game. Once in a while you just have to engage.

As I build The Squad I am going to keep chat verbal action and racially coded language in mind.

Friday, June 07, 2013

Ingress: Pendulum Swings In Team Momentum

Portal flips are inevitable. We all know that. Portals flip. There are blue regions and there are green regions. There are blue clusters and there are green clusters. But even in strong zones portals flip.

Similarly teams have momentum. A few weeks back the blue team in NYC had about 66% of the territory. That might be down to 50%. A full swing of the pendulum means the blue team could get relegated to 33%. I am not privy to the green team's internal stuff. So I don't know how they see the big picture.

But the swing does not have to go all the way to 66. Two very competitive teams could go back and forth at 60-40 to 40-60, or possibly even 55-45 to 45-55. I do think the green team locally might be headed to 66%. They do have that momentum right now.

You have to be driven by AP. You have to be driven by the idea of getting to know a neighborhood like a local. You have to be driven by the idea of getting to know people. Then the back and forth does not feel meaningless. Then it does not feel mindless.

There are people who have given up playing because they feel Ingress is meant to teach you the futility of war. I get it, I get it, I quit, they seem to think.

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Ingress: The Squad

Induction happens only in person, at the Squad events.

You have to own an External Battery.
You have to be playing Ingress at least 10 hours a week. Staring at the Intel map does not count. This is 10 hours of actively interacting with portals.
You have to personally know someone who is already a member of The Squad.
You may not be a member of any other Resistance/Ingress team.