Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Ingress: New Scanner: Version 1.30.2 Update



Being able to see how many keys you have to a portal before you link to it is great. I have over 30 portals that I like to have at least one key of. But I also want to link and field - the most fun part of the game.

I think this scanner favors agents who walk to agents who drive around in cars. That is also a plus. The car advantage might have been diminished. If Ingress could turn America into a walking nation, that would be trillions in health care savings. That alone would make the game worth it. I was not overweight when I started playing, but I have lost weight playing. That is a good thing. My waistline is slimmer. Walking is the best aspect of the game. I was already a walking maniac before the game. Now I am even more so.

What they have not worked on is the COMM. Unless they fundamentally rework the COMM the app is not tremendously helping the social aspects of the game. The COMM is currently the weak link in the chain.

My only bigger gripe than the COMM is that Niantic is not approving portals fast enough. Unless New York City has 10 times more portals it can not accommodate its current batch of players, let alone the expected five times increase in player numbers. I would like to attempt complex fielding, but that is currently not possible. Please approve my 1,000 portal submissions already.
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Ingress: Governor's Island

Monday, July 01, 2013

Ingress: Home Territory


My definition of a home territory is one where the majority of portals are your submissions. Which means just because you live in a territory does not mean that is your home territory. And it is perfectly okay to have a small home territory. So if you have managed to put together a cluster of 30 portals 20 of which are your submissions then that is your home territory. That might lead to a lot of gerrymandering, and that's okay.

A home territory might or might not be an entire neighborhood. A home territory might cover multiple neighborhoods.

Ideally you carry a key to every portal in your home territory so you can remote recharge as necessary. That also liberates you in that you can move out and about the city without losing your home territory portals to decay or easy capture because the XM level went below 50% after a few days.

Ever since I left timtomhuze behind like so much exhaust fume my primary focus has been to build my home territory. That would be mostly Jackson Heights, but it also spills over into Woodside. Heck, I have made portal submissions all over Queens, from Flushing to Astoria to Long Island City. I must have made 1,000 portal submissions by now with a few hundred more to go. My next wave of focus is along the 7 train line on both sides of the track. I covered 74th Street to 82nd Street yesterday.

A side project for me is to become the top blue agent in NYC as measured by AP.

Then I will have space to start building my team - The Squad - in earnest.

Home territory building is a ton of fun. It beats the excitement of attending L8 farm events. Fact be noted I have never lacked for L8 ammo since I left timtomhuze behind like so much exhaust fume. I also have rediscovered the delight of using all levels of ammo from L1 to L8.


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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Ingress: Team Momentum: What Gives?


Just in the past few months we have seen the team momentum go from the blue team to the green team and now back to the blue team. It is only a matter of time before the pendulum swings again. The blue team was able to push it to 66% of the territory. And then they were pushed back to 40%. The green team took it to 60%. And now that the pendulum has swung, you have to ask, how far will the swing go this time? I have a feeling 66% is not an option. It is now going to be a 60-40 swing, or a 55-45 swing.

How do you regain momentum for your team? I believe the formula is simple. The team that organizes more L8 farm events will dominate a territory. I believe the blue team regained momentum by organizing near daily L8 farm events.

How do you take that up one notch? Well, you take that up one notch by organizing simultaneous and consecutive L8 farm events. So instead of 20 L8 portals, you shoot for 50 or even 100.

I firmly believe attack events can also be planned. Attacks do not have to be solo efforts. But the L8 farm is the ultimate group act in this game. Not even L7 farms come close.

In the next phase expect the blue team to shoot for simultaneous and consecutive farm events in their attempt to shoot past 60% of the territory. And the only way for the green team to stop that would be for them to organize numerous L8 farm events.

It can feel like a zero sum game. Portals flip. That is the game. You are not building anything permanent. You can increase the velocity of the game, but you can not change the fact that portals flip and farms get taken down, and team momentum switches sides almost like clockwork.
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