The forum for inter agent communication.
I see in discussion that it is desired that the forums be more focused on inter agent communication and possibly less focused on player - Niantic communication.
Unsure if Niantic realise or not but there are whole applications built by agents for inter agent communication, along with mapping tools, trust systems etc. There is even an accomodation network.
When my wife and I travelled through China, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan we could easily find and communicate with agents in almost every city we passed through using these tools. (The one's we couldn't usually had no agents).
For local communities there are groups on almost every chat platform, websites that are communicated to new agents to get started and so on. (All funded by volunteers).
There is little need for a central place for communication and due to opsec nature of a lot of the chat, little desire for one.
Most local areas have xfac chats. Sure a lot are basket cases but this is usually down to factional rivaly or a few toxic individuals.
I don't see a forum fixing that.
In fact, you can see on the existing forum recent posts where some perceived wrong blows up into a fight, with people naming agents etc.
The Sitrep chat on the forum is probably the best for this. Agents of either faction can normally appreciate a good op.
Another might be cool places or gameplay tips.
What we really want is better communication from Niantic on big issues, or, at a minimum, a working ticket system with better, more meaningful responses.
Lastly, I have a lot of respect for IUENG, they do great work and some well respected players in it. That said, it's a bit of an echo chamber when it comes to thinking. Please take that into account and canvas multiple player groups on ideas/opinions.
Thanks.
Comments
I read your post this morning and couldn't quite figure out the connection, I then ran across the page which shows the conversation @NianticThia had with someone and then shared with IUENG. (updated where this conversation originated from)
That being said, I agree, this forum doesn't need to be a place for agents to communicate with each other. It should be a place for Niantic to communicate with us, have open conversation and dialogue. Would really love to see Niantic using these forums as a way to help mold some features of the game. Respond to feedback.
We've had countless discussion surrounding missions and scanning, yet, Niantic is silent. Just because there isn't time currently devoted to working on those features, doesn't mean there can't be discussion about it....
Sharing the post for anyone who missed it, like myself..
https://telegra.ph/Thias-Forum-Call-11-09
Call me nitpicky, but I do wanna clarify that Thia didn't had a conversation directly with IUENG, but only with @1valdis, who then decided to share it with the channel.
https://telegra.ph/Thias-Forum-Call-11-09:
Thia doesn't like how the forum is structured and wants to revamp it, as people currently see it mainly as a platform to talk to Niantic and not to other agents.
There's a reason why Agents consistently use this forum to talk at Niantic: Ingress is sufficiently buggy that it negatively impacts the Agent experience.
Some producers own the quality of their product and own the decisions they make when it disrupts the plans their players have made. Then there's @NianticBrian, who let C.O.R.E renewal errors fester until it was called out for what it was.
In the absence of an engineering team that's willing and able to produce a quality product, Agents will always be wanting "better communication" from Niantic. It's all the more frustrating when it's about things like
WayspotPortal nominations and Portal scanning, where Niantic depends on Agents for "content" and "data". I'd expect Niantic to be tripping over themselves to help Agents help Niantic, but alas, what we get is one step removed from complete and total silence.This forum should be used more by niantic to us not other way around.
Sorry, should have shown source to avoid the confusion.
I'll also add to my original point.
Player-Player discussion does happen here to a degree. It also happens on multiple other platforms. Often players come to the forum seeking a consensus on thoughts in an issue or disagreement from others. Niantic is seen as final adjudicator so it's natural for players to want input From Niantic on issues important to them.
This is also why the AMAs are so popular.
You could perhaps reduce demand for Niantic feedback by having regular AMAs, perhaps split them into play questions and game questions.
The forums should close the gap between forums (communuty map); Niantic Chat (XFac local area groups); and other platforms (secure faction groups)
Defs split the general forums into more like one for play discussion.one for game and so on....
It's just the closure of Google+ really put the community in a bind where part of it never recovered
Niantic Chat seems to also be a medium to get that communication within the game flowing