Covid bonuses

2

Comments

  • mortuusmortuus ✭✭✭✭✭

    exactly.. early this year my town had between 50-100 p8 portals blue or so.. now we have maybe not even 1 last time i checked.... game still works with many p7 not as fun sure but not like game stops if no p8 portals exist...

  • @Toxoplasmolly

    The real effect of these changes is to sustain (some) pre-pandemic modes of (competitive!) play.

    Correct, but with far less need for travel. It's something Ingress needs. There is a pandemic, so with the unchanged game, it will restrict most modes of (competitive!) play. So the changes will help ameliorate the restrictions.

  • A lot of arguments against are saying "If you don't feel safe playing, don't play." But as community activity and travel become increasingly unsafe due to increases in cases, "If you don't feel safe, don't play" will accelerate losing players.

    There are plenty of players that don't care about the rules of the game nor what is safe (see: rampant trespassing, mountain rescues of lost hikers, and getting locked inside parks after closing) so those who don't feel safe playing during this time will be shut out by those who ignore the risks. Getting shut out will make Ingress unplayable, inevitably leading players to quit. With an already shrinking player base, how fast do you want Ingress to die?

    Keep in mind that these are temporary changes being requested, many of which were previously implemented without negatively affecting gameplay.

    I agree that the cell score should continue. It's the core scoring metric of the game.

    But I also agree that Niantic should consider re-implementing other changes that facilitate reducing community activity while maintaining ability to effectively play.

    Yes, increasing hack count before burnout increases time spent at a portal, but reduces the number of portals visited (and therefore the number of locations visited) to get the same number of hacks and amount of gear. Spending an extra 20 minutes at the same 10 portals reduces movement versus traveling to 40 portals across a larger area = reduced community spread.

    Double deploy 8s reduces the number of people to build a P8, therefore fewer people involved / people have less distance to travel = reduced community spread.

    Halving decay rate reduces the XM needed to sustain portals = less moving around to gather XM and cubes = reduced community spread.

    No one should feel the need to risk their safety for a game and no one is being forced to. But reckless behavior by those ignoring the risks should not provide an advantage nor be rewarded.

  • ToxoplasmollyToxoplasmolly ✭✭✭✭✭

    Lower portal decay might mean less travel in the name of hacking for power cubes, but for those who have no immediate opposition, it means waiting even longer for the gameboard to reset (decay), or traveling even farther afield to find somewhere to play. Make recharge more efficient, instead.

    Double R8s is predicated on the false belief that people can't farm or play with anything less than level 8 portals and gear. If they're really so essential to the game, and gathering people together is such a problem, we might as well go with 4x or 8x R8s. Otherwise, enjoy the easier level 6 and level 7 portals with double R7s; all aspects of the game remain quite playable. Or be creative [1] [2].

  • Unfortunately, building portals is an effort of diminishing returns.

    Start with 7-7-6-6-5-5-4-4 and you have a P5. Glyph hacking will yield a fair amount of R6, but extremely few R7.

    So now you're building 6-6-5-5-4-4-4-4 for a P4. Glyph hacking will yield a fair amount of R5, but extremely few R6.

    Now it's down to 5-5-4-4-4-4-3-3, and you're stuck at P4.


    Sure, get creative... But in the case of [1], you have to hope that an opponent doesn't come through in the 8 hour span of building, and/or before all 8 players have had a chance to return and hack to burnout... which won't yield much gear on limited hacks before burnout. In the case of [2], what if there aren't 8 local players? You have to get out-of-area players to travel--which is exactly what we're trying to reduce.

    Making portal levels diminishing was a way for Niantic to force teammates to coordinate and work together. In a time when gathering is strongly discouraged--even violates government orders--Niantic has a way to reduce the need to gather in groups. They've done it multiple times over the years and have done so without negative impact during this pandemic.

    Why should anyone be against a simple switch that has been done repeatedly and can keep people safe?

  • ToxoplasmollyToxoplasmolly ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2020

    If gatherings are truly such a hardship, why not 4x R8s or 8x R8s? Surely, a gathering with only one or two people is safer and more likely to be legal than a gathering with four or eight people? Or, why not just hand out the gear for free in the store and save people a trip outside?

    Leave P8s as the difficult portals to build that they normally are, or fully commit to this argument about "safe gatherings." The middle ground of 2x R8s makes a mockery of both.

  • 1valdis1valdis ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2020

    Sure let's bring the bonuses back, if you wanna k.ill the game once again for rural people and agents who have no local opposition.

  • NoSpringsNoSprings ✭✭✭
    edited December 2020

    I can't help but notice -- this is the second comment that basically says, "Look, I gave it some thought, and I can see where the OP is coming from. But, can we meet in the middle somewhere and maybe compromise about XYZ?"

    ...did you notice that? It's that "supposedly whiny, can't ever be happy with anything" player base -- being TOTALLY REASONABLE and having a completely constructive discussion about something. I WAS PROMISED THIS SIMPLY IS NOT POSSIBLE WITH INGRESS! Who are you people and what did you do with the obnoxious, unwilling-to-budge-even-a-little-bit, hyperargumentative/unreasonable agents who obey all the appropriate stereotypes? ;)


    I can't speak for the OP, but I'd wager he isn't married to the idea that this must be an all-or-nothing proposition. Other than the one or two people who have voiced their disagreement (and their input is appreciated as well) it feels like there's at least a general consensus that most players would be fine with reimplementing most of the original COVID game modifications (double deploy R8s, in particular).

    I'm not saying that everyone is in LOVE with the idea -- but we Ingressers are a vocal bunch; if someone really thought this was gonna be the end of the world as we know it, they surely would have said so by now.


    So again, the question becomes: @NianticCasey @NianticBrian @NianticSanta @NianticWhoeverElseImForgetting: You've already taken steps to protect your Pogo Trainers, HPWU Wizards, and ${Whatever_Catan_People_Are_Called} from this latest surge in COVID cases...can we perhaps turn our attention to protecting your Agents, now, as well?

  • 1valdis1valdis ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yeah if Niantic wants to protect their agents by making them uninstall then let's go 🤣🤣🤣

  • NoSpringsNoSprings ✭✭✭
    edited December 2020

    Sigh, okay hang on -- lemme fix my original sentence:

    "And so far, ONLY ONE Agent has predicted that this would lead to the end of the world as we know it. Everyone else seems openminded enough to at least discuss the options, so hey -- for any given discussion on the Ingress forums, that's about as close to a consensus as you get!"


    ^^ better, @1valdis? ;)

  • MirthmakerMirthmaker ✭✭✭✭

    I can't wait either for hard mode after Covid19 is beat.

    October 2021 for fs? And April 2022 for anomaly? That would be satisfying goals to **** for.

    I think easy mode only creates stagnant inventory. Ingress needs inventory to move very quickly. If it doesn't there's problems.

  • AtunatunakAtunatunak ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2020

    Not having L8 gear doesn't mean that you can't play, L7 gear is practically the same, and the slow decay really kills gameplay for a lot of those able to go out and play safely.

    Regarding this, I would propose totally the opposite: faster decay.

    I don't care about bonus in PGo, to play that game, you just need a few pokestops and a gym at most, and you use incense from home and still keep catching monsters in the same area without needing to move to a different one.

    In Ingress you capture, deploy, field and that's it*, either you waste virus or battle beacons or you need to move to a different zone to keep playing. So, a faster decay would really help people to be able to field again the same zone in a few days.

    *You can also glyph hack until you get sick of it (without needing to move) or do missions (movement needed) but those actions are not so related to the portal level which seems to be the problem for many people asking for the double R8 deploy to come back.

  • A mod that increase or decrease decay would be great.

  • grendelwulfgrendelwulf ✭✭✭✭✭

    They haven't been reinstated. Egg distance is still normal

  • gazzas89gazzas89 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yeas, another post about the covid bonuses, but why aren't niantic looking at brining these back? Worldwide cases are rising again, theres now a second strain discovered that spread up to 70 times easily more than the original strain, countries are being hit by second or even 3rd waves, even countries that had a tight control on it are struggling to contain it (like japan). Surely niantic needs to do.soemthing in the game to convince people to not meet up, to play locally etc.

  • MonkeyPeltMonkeyPelt ✭✭✭✭

    If people want a casual game, Niantic has PoGO and HP:WU. The only thing Ingress might need for COVID bonuses is a bump in cube rates. If cancelling competitive Eos Protocol wasn't enough, then please go jump in a creek and play one of the other games.

  • edited December 2020

    The last thing I need is more cubes. Already doing 10 million XM in recharging a month and having more struggle clearing my inventory, than finding XM. And one of the bonuses that the OP is asking for, is reduction in decay, negating the need for more cubes.

    Plus if you're running low, buy them.

  • Given that we're in a worse position in the US now than May, IMO the original bonuses should come in for a month or two.

  • phthoruthphthoruth ✭✭✭✭

    I'd like to see double 8 deploy re-instated. That allowed agents to get some gear without formal gatherings of 8 people.

    More abilities with drones would be cool. For example, 1 unlimited action per recall would be interesting. Then I could send my drone out on missions to do something interesting.

  • mortuusmortuus ✭✭✭✭✭

    double r8 is not the solution... then why not 4 r8 etc ?? why stop at double r8 ? this statement makes no sense.... in my city there arent any p8 since long... mostly p7 and u can still play fine..... we could use more drone versions tho... that can do more then just hack 1 time/hour..

  • RostwoldRostwold ✭✭✭✭✭

    Conversely, the ONLY thing I need is cubes. One player's situation is not every player's situation.

    If you're struggling to clear your inventory, delete stuff!

  • MargariteDVilleMargariteDVille ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2020

    What about a VR 8 reso that can be played even if you already played a common 8?

    What about a safe period when a portal can't be shot? Four hours from its claim, or from putting a beacon on it. If it can't be blown up right away, people could have time to go by, bump, glyph.

    How about portals decay faster, based on amount of links, fields, mu they are carrying?

  • Anyone who isn't calling for reverting shield values, cutting glyphing and frackers, and bringing back walking farms, is always going to be playing on "Easy mode" 😂

    *shakes cane* In my day we walked uphill for the entire lap of the 20 portal farm for hours, single tapping each portal, to get 200 bursters, while recycling single R8s to get enough XM to hack!

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