i know I’m long forgotten. Lol! I’m turning 60 in February. I do wonder if they don’t want old faces repping their brand.
PS: I’m a woman who at 59 I hit level 16 and recursed and got back up to level 9, and had 20M AP total gained in less than two months. And I’m CORE and I use the shop (check out Portalyst purchase records Niantic). I won Ingress EliteV at 52!
Us old folk can get so frustrated with apps and websites, they don’t take into account any age related issues like declining eyesight or hearing loss, reduced small motor skills, or memory. I am fine with buying some inventory like frackers or hack mods rather than glyphing, because I do struggle a little with the fine motor skills that glyphing requires.
EDIT: it could be a checkbox in settings, am going to check them to see if that makes a difference in getting surveys.
Weirdly, by coincidence i had started this group on the new Niantic Social the day it went into beta, a place for older players to meet and discuss strategies for play as you age, like I can't be out alone at night for long nights anymore, so having productive ingress time is important so i have developed some strategies to get AP faster and gather keys quicker, etc. It can be more difficult for older players to find teams for travel, as an older player could slow down a younger team, so i just wanted to make a place where they could gather and create teams and new ways of enjoying the game as we age. xD5tJFqa is the community and anyone of any age is welcome to join.
Not really. The email is the same format but community surveys have ranged from general questions to shaping up CORE to the one we're discussing in this topic.
@MoogModular I am a CORE Subscriber, and played since beta. I just checked my email, all inboxes. I don't have ANY surveys from Niantic! When i saw your screenshot I thought, "Wow! How did I miss surveys? " I did the identical search in my email and there is nothing. I even checked my spam box, there was nothing. I am 59 and don't even get a survey, ever, at all. Very interesting!
Although, after looking through my settings, it could be a checkbox I'm missing, will try checking them and see if that makes a difference.
I don't think that outsourcing any blame to "the survey company" is a reasonable. Niantic controls their choice of survey company as well as their contract with the survey company, and presumably they reviewed and signed off on the survey before they sent it out. I've worked with a couple of survey systems and you could always customize the text that was displayed to users for various things. This means that Niantic either didn't take these factors (age, friendly rejections) into account, they specified the survey poorly, or they didn't do an adequate job of reviewing/testing before they sent the survey out. That last item is unquestionably true-- they should have caught this in testing. The first or second things may also be true.
Also, I note this wording from Thia:
from what I'm told, the age should be set that it doesn't block anyone from taking it
This leads me to believe that Niantic made some deliberate decisions about age beyond just creating groupings, and the wording makes me wonder what consideration will be given to responses from people 55+.
Don't feel bad. Those emails, AFAIK, don't usually go to everyone. I haven't received on in ages, 11/20/2019 was the last one I saw, according to my email.
Just checked mine and it still hasn't been updated.
If anyone wants to take the survey, here ya go. Looks like everyone got the same link. I would suggest picking an age between 18-55 if you actually want to complete the survey
I get Ingress surveys fairly often, but my spouse doesn't ever get any - even tho our settings are the same and we play about the same amount.
The most hardcore agents I've observed are retired, and can spend all day every day on Ingress. They probably spend more on gas and gear than on housing, lol.
Niantic already knows how often we play. If they wanted, they could send different surveys (etc) to people who:
play every day,
play several times a month,
play several times a year (on vacation),
former actives who stopped when Prime came out,
CORE subscribers, vs non-CORE subscribers,
destroy more than build, vs build more than destroy,
I'm told that the survey should be working and that the age gate was removed. I recommend clearing cache/cookies just in case? But can someone besides me take a gander and let me know?
@NianticThia Clicking the link that was sent to me in email and entering my real age gets me a rejection. Hitting the back button and changing my age to 54 lets me proceed.
Yes, but you can often still collect the data on those people outside your target range and view the results from many different angles, even if you exclude the group you don't care about when you export the results.
I'm going to point out that it's been six days since I posted this, including four full business days at Niantic's headquarters. Making a mistake is one thing but not fixing it promptly when it's brought to your attention sends an entirely different message to your customers... or at least to the old fogeys who are impacted.
I checked after @Weveran bumped the thread and noticed it hadn't been addressed. My assumption is that it was moved on the priority list right under the latency issue that's being investigated....
Which demographic group do you think has the majority of the purchasing power especially when it comes to video games? That's what the video games companies are zeroing in, which is why they are mostly the target of surveys.
@Otrera35 I can certainly see an argument for weighting the responses for different demographics differently, but I can't see any case for telling a group of customers that you're not interested in what they have to say. Alienating loyal customers has no upside.
Older people tend to have more disposable income, so I'd say they have the most purchasing power. This particular old fogey is almost certainly in the top 10% of spenders on Ingress, and maybe the top 1%. I throw money at Ingress like crazy because I want the game to be successful and profitable. There was that day when we had a bus build and I deployed 357 beacons because it was more fun than fighting for deploys and mods. I've beaconed entire towns just because I could. I deployed 200 toast beacons in Manhattan one night to get the last 100K to L16 when I recursed, and then a friend of mine grabbed my initial idea of doing L1-8 with toast beacons and ran with it. I spew frackers like they're candy, and I literally asked Brian if I could spin up multiple accounts that never played just so that I could spend more money on CORE. (He said no. Dammit.)
So yeah. Even if you're less interested in a certain demographic you probably don't want to tell them that.
You know, I can understand how a mistake like this could have been made. I can almost but not quite understand how it could have been overlooked before it was launched... in theory people test things like this but in practice they don't always, or sometimes they do and they aren't very good at testing.
What I well and truly can't understand is how it could remain broken for two weeks. TWO WEEKS, with multiple people being aware of it. At one point it looks like they thought they fixed it but apparently they didn't test that before deciding it was fixed. The possible conclusions I can draw are that they don't care, they're not competent to fix it, or it was a deliberate choice. None of those options is a good look or a good customer experience.
Comments
This one is different and Thia has already indicated the age cuts an error.
Every monthly survey has been different though.
Same questions tho usually?
i know I’m long forgotten. Lol! I’m turning 60 in February. I do wonder if they don’t want old faces repping their brand.
PS: I’m a woman who at 59 I hit level 16 and recursed and got back up to level 9, and had 20M AP total gained in less than two months. And I’m CORE and I use the shop (check out Portalyst purchase records Niantic). I won Ingress EliteV at 52!
Us old folk can get so frustrated with apps and websites, they don’t take into account any age related issues like declining eyesight or hearing loss, reduced small motor skills, or memory. I am fine with buying some inventory like frackers or hack mods rather than glyphing, because I do struggle a little with the fine motor skills that glyphing requires.
EDIT: it could be a checkbox in settings, am going to check them to see if that makes a difference in getting surveys.
Weirdly, by coincidence i had started this group on the new Niantic Social the day it went into beta, a place for older players to meet and discuss strategies for play as you age, like I can't be out alone at night for long nights anymore, so having productive ingress time is important so i have developed some strategies to get AP faster and gather keys quicker, etc. It can be more difficult for older players to find teams for travel, as an older player could slow down a younger team, so i just wanted to make a place where they could gather and create teams and new ways of enjoying the game as we age. xD5tJFqa is the community and anyone of any age is welcome to join.
Not really. The email is the same format but community surveys have ranged from general questions to shaping up CORE to the one we're discussing in this topic.
@MoogModular I am a CORE Subscriber, and played since beta. I just checked my email, all inboxes. I don't have ANY surveys from Niantic! When i saw your screenshot I thought, "Wow! How did I miss surveys? " I did the identical search in my email and there is nothing. I even checked my spam box, there was nothing. I am 59 and don't even get a survey, ever, at all. Very interesting!
Although, after looking through my settings, it could be a checkbox I'm missing, will try checking them and see if that makes a difference.
I don't think that outsourcing any blame to "the survey company" is a reasonable. Niantic controls their choice of survey company as well as their contract with the survey company, and presumably they reviewed and signed off on the survey before they sent it out. I've worked with a couple of survey systems and you could always customize the text that was displayed to users for various things. This means that Niantic either didn't take these factors (age, friendly rejections) into account, they specified the survey poorly, or they didn't do an adequate job of reviewing/testing before they sent the survey out. That last item is unquestionably true-- they should have caught this in testing. The first or second things may also be true.
Also, I note this wording from Thia:
from what I'm told, the age should be set that it doesn't block anyone from taking it
This leads me to believe that Niantic made some deliberate decisions about age beyond just creating groupings, and the wording makes me wonder what consideration will be given to responses from people 55+.
Don't feel bad. Those emails, AFAIK, don't usually go to everyone. I haven't received on in ages, 11/20/2019 was the last one I saw, according to my email.
Just checked mine and it still hasn't been updated.
If anyone wants to take the survey, here ya go. Looks like everyone got the same link. I would suggest picking an age between 18-55 if you actually want to complete the survey
https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90403721/7a847dc66da5
Survey still requires younger than 55.
I get Ingress surveys fairly often, but my spouse doesn't ever get any - even tho our settings are the same and we play about the same amount.
The most hardcore agents I've observed are retired, and can spend all day every day on Ingress. They probably spend more on gas and gear than on housing, lol.
Niantic already knows how often we play. If they wanted, they could send different surveys (etc) to people who:
Hi!
I'm told that the survey should be working and that the age gate was removed. I recommend clearing cache/cookies just in case? But can someone besides me take a gander and let me know?
Tried it with the link posted above and could input 60 and continue, so the restrictions seem to be lifted
Edit: seems it was a fluke? Doesn't work anymore
I'm still blocked, even in incognito mode.
I tried on my desktop (previously answered and completed on phone) with "female, 70, yes" and it wouldn't let me take the survey.
Tried different browser, different IP (through VPN), same response, still blocked.
I lied about my age and took the survey.
Would have been nice to have had the opportunity to get a copy of my answers.
@NianticThia Clicking the link that was sent to me in email and entering my real age gets me a rejection. Hitting the back button and changing my age to 54 lets me proceed.
Ha, even after "fixing" it doesn't work... That is sooooo Niantic
Boo, OK let me take it back to the folks - thank you for letting me know!
@Hosette I'm going to send you a DM; please look for it :) <3
Yes, but you can often still collect the data on those people outside your target range and view the results from many different angles, even if you exclude the group you don't care about when you export the results.
I'm going to point out that it's been six days since I posted this, including four full business days at Niantic's headquarters. Making a mistake is one thing but not fixing it promptly when it's brought to your attention sends an entirely different message to your customers... or at least to the old fogeys who are impacted.
I checked after @Weveran bumped the thread and noticed it hadn't been addressed. My assumption is that it was moved on the priority list right under the latency issue that's being investigated....
@ZeroHecksGiven I feel like the lag has been better recently... it's not completely better but it's definitely been improved for me.
That's pretty poor. And priority change excuse? Take 5 min to send an email to survey company asking them to correct it...
Which demographic group do you think has the majority of the purchasing power especially when it comes to video games? That's what the video games companies are zeroing in, which is why they are mostly the target of surveys.
@Otrera35 I can certainly see an argument for weighting the responses for different demographics differently, but I can't see any case for telling a group of customers that you're not interested in what they have to say. Alienating loyal customers has no upside.
Older people tend to have more disposable income, so I'd say they have the most purchasing power. This particular old fogey is almost certainly in the top 10% of spenders on Ingress, and maybe the top 1%. I throw money at Ingress like crazy because I want the game to be successful and profitable. There was that day when we had a bus build and I deployed 357 beacons because it was more fun than fighting for deploys and mods. I've beaconed entire towns just because I could. I deployed 200 toast beacons in Manhattan one night to get the last 100K to L16 when I recursed, and then a friend of mine grabbed my initial idea of doing L1-8 with toast beacons and ran with it. I spew frackers like they're candy, and I literally asked Brian if I could spin up multiple accounts that never played just so that I could spend more money on CORE. (He said no. Dammit.)
So yeah. Even if you're less interested in a certain demographic you probably don't want to tell them that.
I do hope Niantic understands where you are coming from. I wish you the best when it comes to that endeavor.
The next survey has only 2 questions and doesn't ask age.
That's the usual survey that comes out every cpl of months or so.
You know, I can understand how a mistake like this could have been made. I can almost but not quite understand how it could have been overlooked before it was launched... in theory people test things like this but in practice they don't always, or sometimes they do and they aren't very good at testing.
What I well and truly can't understand is how it could remain broken for two weeks. TWO WEEKS, with multiple people being aware of it. At one point it looks like they thought they fixed it but apparently they didn't test that before deciding it was fixed. The possible conclusions I can draw are that they don't care, they're not competent to fix it, or it was a deliberate choice. None of those options is a good look or a good customer experience.