INGRESS

[AlfaTech]

Used to do a lot of Geo-caching with one of my friends down in Cornwall so this sounds right up my street. Annoyingly we're both iPhone users though.

Well Ingress is just one (of many) good reasons to go 'Droid But seriously though, the wait will soon be over for all you iPhone users - and don't forget to join the 'right' side and "be Enlightened", not the default over-populated, troglodyte, regressive resistance.

[SiliconAlley_Sam]

Well Ingress is just one (of many) good reasons to go 'Droid But seriously though, the wait will soon be over for all you iPhone users - and don't forget to join the 'right' side and "be Enlightened", not the default over-populated, troglodyte, regressive resistance.

 

Just found out that he's actually an Android user now which makes it even more annoying. Enlightened it is, thanks for the head's up!

[Garacesh]

Definitely Enlightened! Plus, it matches your name, and you ladies love to accessorise, right? [/sexism]

 

Resistance is incredibly over-populated because it's the 'default' class. The scanner voice is ADA (the Resistance AI, more-or-less their mascot) The team descriptions are written in favour of the RES, the Ingress Report (the weekly news) is so RES-biased it's un-freaking-believable and rumour has it most of the Niantec team are RES. But we still manage

[AlfaTech]

We're surrounded on every side, I'm daily battling about 6 different smurfs to the East of our territory - it's gr8 fun. First time I played this I was seriously outnumbered and it was just me against all of them on both sides. But now we have an excellent team of 3 L8 ENL in my home town plus but some very strong alliances with 3 nearby towns including Swindon (which used to be totally dominated by the blues but is now all green - how times have changed). So we've finally got the RES on a back foot in our cell, but you can't stop 'em whinging and name-calling tho. lol

[Garacesh]

The bit that really annoyed me was the recent Ingress Report that featured Green Marble.

 

We covered HALF THE F:censored:G WORLD! Literally. Fields over HALF OF THE PLANET. We got a mention, which was nice, but nothing much, then immediately after the Resistance were praised for a 'mega field' that had nothing but ocean below it. SERIOUSLY?! Bias much? >.<

 

We're outnumbered in my local area, and a lot more of them have their own transport (cars) than we do, so often our things are getting dropped between 23:00-03:00, plus a lot of them live in the same areas (so they always have L8 farms up) whereas we're more spread out, but we still push back hard when they bring the fight to us. The fact that they have more players means they build L8 farms easier, get more resources easier, and recruit more people, so it is a bit of a spiral that reinforces itself each time it coils round. BUT! Don't let my griping fool you, it's fun, though!

Edited July 2, 2014 by Garacesh

[AlfaTech]

That sounds quite a bind bruv, sorry to hear it We made a concerted effort to destroy any local L7/L8 smurf farms in our area, now as soon as there's a whiff of one popping up we're on it! It's our little game of whack-a-smurf and we're often fighting to get there first. Our own town and nearby town's farms are always L7 and occasionally become L8, but we have a permanent L8 ENL farm in Swindon now-a-days (I pop up there once a week).

 

Yeah Ingress is great fun for all the family, gets you fit walking everywhere, out and about and visiting new places you never knew about, really social when you meet up with your fellow team-mates (and dare I say is cross-faction meetings). What's more it's free to play (not factoring in other costs like buying a power-pack for your phone, or draining away litres of fuel as in my case). I'm liking the introduction of 8 new extra honoury levels (9-16) so the level bashing is back so it doesn't as stale as when it all plateaued out at L8, regional scoring has also made a massive difference and gives you something to aim for and makes the game more what it's supposed to be about - capturing mind units for your faction - although how you play it is up to you.

[AlfaTech]

...And it's finally here for those Apple folk: Ingress for iPhone, iPad, etc

 

It looks like they're resetting the game for your guys, decay rates have increased from 7 days to 3 days. Come and join the fun!

 

JOIN (GREEN) ENLIGHTENED!

Edited July 14, 2014 by AlfaTech

[Garacesh]

Oh, finally! It was supposed to be released during the Montreal anomaly but wasn't.. No idea why (Niantec's PR being the steaming pile that it is..) @SiliconAlley_Sam, Join the Enlightened!

[SiliconAlley_Sam]

Yaaaaaaay! Enlightened is the way to go then?

[TechMonkey]

Except it just crashes on my phone I'm hoping that is because of the rush to sign up by all and sundry.

[Garacesh]

Yaaaaaaay! Enlightened is the way to go then?

Well, realistically, it depends on how you 'feel' about each faction.. From the story perspective..

 

Do you want to use XM and the Shaper's influence to advance Humanity? Do you believe that they have silently aided us with developing technology, medicines and become the dominant species? Join The Enlightened (A risky choice, if the Shapers turn out to be benevolent meanies, but offering amazing rewards if they don't.)

The Enlightened's 'mascot' is a man (ex-man, I guess, he's no longer a physical being) named Roland Jarvis, a scientist whose consciousness entered the XM stream after Epiphany Night. The enlightened capture areas and MU (Mind Units) in order to 'free the minds' of humans inside the fields, allowing them to experience the enhanced thought, creativity and intelligence they see the Shapers as providing.

 

Do you fear what the Shaper's could represent? Do you believe we should outright reject their influence, push them from our world? Do you believe humanity can make it on its own, and have no need for the advancements the Shapers may have brought us? Join The Resistance (Arrogant, but the 'safer' approach, but if they are helping Humanity means we throw away further advancements)

The Resistance's 'mascot' is an AI named ADA. The Resistance members capture Mind Units to shield humans from the Shaper influence (They use slightly different resonators to make fields which block out rather than open up the mind). ADA wants to analyse the brain processes of billions of humans using the captured Mind Units, but we don't know what for, yet.

 

(There is a somewhat corrupted copy of ADA living inside the body of Klue that wants to eradicate humanity, also aligned with the Resistance. We've yet to see what will come of that, I think that'll be to do with the third faction)

Myself and @AlfaTech are on the Enlightened.

 

Except it just crashes on my phone I'm hoping that is because of the rush to sign up by all and sundry.

Could be, but it might not be tailored to every device yet.. You're taking part in some "Involuntary QA", as Goat Simulator called it

Edited July 14, 2014 by Garacesh

[AlfaTech]

Yaaaaaaay! Enlightened is the way to go then?

 

Well lets put it this way, the Enlightened want use exotic matter (xm) to help evolve mankind to a higher level. Whereas the Resistance have created an A.I. that want's to evolve itself and doesn't care about humanity. The initial choice in the game is a bit misleading as it doesn't really give you any kind of picture of the back-story. Enlightened are positive forward thinkers, whereas the Resistance are rather backward and fearful (unfortunately as the story unfolds the resistance have become a bigger threat to humanity through supporting and unleashing the megalomaniac A.I. known as ADA.) On another level the different factions seem to attract different types of people, but that is just an observation. So I suppose you need to ask yourself do you consider your self 'enlightened' or 'resistant'? Or maybe you just prefer a warm green to a cold blue. lol

Edited July 14, 2014 by AlfaTech

[Garacesh]

Enlightened are positive forward thinkers, whereas the Resistance are rather backward and fearful

Now, now.. Let's not appear prejudice.

 

The Enlightened Perspective:

The Resistance are arrogant, fearful and backwards. They want to push away the Shapers after all they've done for us. The shapers have provided us with heightened creativity, giving path to so much artistic expression, music, paintings, sculptures; and intrinsic knowledge that would have taken us centuries longer to on our own. Through their guiding hand - and guiding is all it is - we have become the dominant species of the planet - without them we'd still be stuck in the dark ages! The Shapers are allies of Humanity, and have never given us any reason to think otherwise.

The Enlightened harvest XM and Shaper Technology in order to free the minds of more humans, allowing our species to progress further. Who knows what wonders the futures hold if we embrace the Shapers? Now that we know about them, we can try and figure out how to communicate with them. Maybe we could be mutually beneficial to each other?

 

The Resistance Perspective:

The Enlightened are childish, and have a rose-tinted view on the Shapers. The Enlightened don't see the threat they pose if we keep them around. They can influence human thought, pave the rise of grand movements. These movements may be positive, we don't know, but there's every chance they could lead to death, wars and a myriad of disasters. We don't know their true motives, we don't know what they are. It's too risky.

The Resistance harvest XM and use modified Shaper Technology to block out the Shaper influence. Humanity is strong enough to make it on its own now, and we'd do much better without our minds being manipulated in-secret by these otherworldly entities we know nothing about.

 

Essentially, though, the game is the same on both sides. It's just Blue or Green, depending on who you pick.

[AlfaTech]

Its quite funny how the story is progressing even many in the Resistance now don't know if they can or want to trust ADA (A Detection Algorithm) the A.I. monster that they've unleashed upon humanity, which believes it now supersedes mankind. So far beyond a general 'fear of the unknown' the Shapers (whoever or whatever they are) have posed no obvious threat and have only served to help civilizations through the ages. In this sci-fi story as with many, the biggest threat to mankind is mankind it's self, or mankind's creation. It kinda reminds me of Terminator where ADA is like Skynet. "All humans must die!". "Resistance is futile!" lol

[SiliconAlley_Sam]

So... It's downloaded and I'm Enlightened.

[AlfaTech]

So... It's downloaded and I'm Enlightened.

 

Hooray, you've made the right choice! Have fun, and let us know how you get on. If you need to know anything just ask.

[Garacesh]

So... It's downloaded and I'm Enlightened.

 

Woohoo!

First things first - this game takes time to play. And effort. You can't just sit at your PC like you could with something you'd downloaded through Steam.

Secondly, keep an eye on your mobile data usage if you have a cap. It can be quite easy to creep away.

Third, go into your profile in-app and hide your stats. Don't let the enemy see when you're cultivating a guardian portal!

Fourth, Get yourself a Google+ Profile (I, personally, wouldn't link it to your Ingress account though. I refused to, as did most of my locals). Say hi in comm's. Keep an eye on allchat (it shows local player activity) and if you see anybody else nearby building or capturing, ping them in the private faction chat (clicking on their name, or typing @name will alert them to your message) and ask to join them. You can destroy, link and field on your own, but this will be quicker if you have help.

 

All-in-all, it's a social game. Most likely your faction will have several (if not tens-of-several) different Google Hangouts and groups for events, general chat, etc.

We in Manchester have a hangout for general non-ingress chat and a hangout for game-chat, but create new hangouts for each op/event. You'll likely not get invited to events and the 'main' hangouts straight away, just in case you're a spy (yes, that actually happens).. But once you've proven yourself, you'll be running up with the big dogs, getting involved in ops, and that's where the real fun begins. You'll find not a lot of big-chat gets discussed in-app, it's all done through private Hangouts.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Garacesh

[SiliconAlley_Sam]

Ingress didn't give me the option to not link it with my Google+? (I don't think) Does this make a difference?

[Garacesh]

It's not really as massive issue, but it just means anyone that views your profile (which they can do even if you turn off your stats) gets a link to your G+ profile. It has been known that people have been harassed on their G+ accounts due to other Ingress players finding out, so personally I chose not to do it.

However I'm getting reports that several things are missing from the iOS release, and since it was submitted around a month ago (before profile linking was a thing) your scanner may simply not have the option to do it. Check your profile - is it linked?

[SiliconAlley_Sam]

Not as far as I can see? Not sure where I should be looking yet, though. Not had chance to explore the app very much.

 

Edit: Doesn't look like there's any portals within walking distance of work which is a bummer!

Edited July 14, 2014 by SiliconAlley_Sam

[Garacesh]

Oh, whilst I remember, portal decay is drastically increased now to make it a little easier for the newbies. Portal resonators decay every day, and usually if nobody recharges them they completely decay within 7 days (becoming neutral again).. However this has been sped up so a portal now dies in 3 days if it's not recharged (power cube drop ratios have also been increased to compensate). But the big money is in capturing portals and creating control fields, so that's actually good for newbies.

[AlfaTech]

Don't talk to me about these new decay rates

[SiliconAlley_Sam]

Hmm, there's one portal within very easy walking distance of home and another that's a bit of a trek! Whole area is covered in green, does that mean it already belongs to our faction and I'd be messing with one of our own? Is that a done thing?

[Garacesh]

Hmm, there's one portal within very easy walking distance of home and another that's a bit of a trek! Whole area is covered in green, does that mean it already belongs to our faction and I'd be messing with one of our own? Is that a done thing?

 

No. Fields can be absolutely ma-hoosively huge (Google "Operation: Green Marble"). A field is when 3 portals are linked together, the area inside becomes a field (and is coloured appropriately).. You can still destroy and capture portals underneath a field but you cannot create other links or fields* and there's only one way to destroy a portal your faction owns, and that's by using one specific item (in your case, an ADA Refractor).. You're fine to capture and destroy as much as you can, it won't screw anybody over if you're under a field.

 

It's bad linking that screws people over (as links cannot cross, so it might prevent them from making links and fields), but A) you're a newbie, so it's forgiveable and B) You can't link right now, so you're fine. What you want to do is head to a town centre and make the smallest fields you can - you get X amount of AP for a field regardless of its size (1250, I think?) so make lots and lots of small ones. Huge ones are just for MU count and bragging rights. Do that later

 

* you can link from the outside edges of a field inwards, but if both portals are under the field, you can't link them)

Edited July 14, 2014 by Garacesh

[AlfaTech]

Na, it's fine (so long as you don't flip a portal to the opposite faction, but don't worry about that right now). Just work through the tutorial, hack portals and look for white ones to capture.