You are losing control over the red link part 2
Goodmoning
You have recently implemented Machina, a player that creates totally random portals and red links, equivalent to a NPC in other games.
Some time ago I wrote a post about red links
Now a rule has been added: red links cannot cross other links, but I see that it changes little, after all because there is a high density of portals.
Red portals are not a problem, indeed a resource, because they can increase the playability of a game.
However once a player starts any game, whether it is Ingress, Pokémon Go, Legue Of Legend, Hogwarts Legacy or any other game what is it that makes the player continue to play? In my opinion it is the socially behind the game itself, that is, other people who do the same game as you.
And here it's the geniality of ingress, the success it guarantees to a game, which I guarantee to the simple making triangles on a server, the fact of not ending up like HP: wizard unites.
For the simple fact of making links or fields between more place you need a certain lever of sociability that ingress guarantees, I give an example with the field that in fact I often do:
I live in the green circle, next to the blue circle another friends, next to the pink circle two other friends.
To be able to make field/link we have to see each other, socialize and interact; whether it's a trip to the bar or an invite me at their home or them at my home: we have to meet to exchange keys or agree to clean, and it is this “playing together” that keeps the game alive, if I played alone I quite the game long time ago.
The links are “connection” between players, and are those links to keep the game “alive”, which is why I don't understand why NIA insists on creating random links that block these “connections” between players.
I know I'm heavy because I keep complaining about the red links, but how do I get through here, for example:
How can I make “connections” in this space? How can I compete with an algorithm that cuts these links?
It’s a good thing that they can no longer cross existing links, but they go to cross the moment he is knocked down by the opposing faction, Considering that sometimes there are so many links that they do not allow the other faction to make new links or fields.
Now I can understand the need to make the game more dynamic, but helping one faction thwart the other is one thing, killing the game is another.
If you want to make the game more dynamic, red links in my opinion can be a good thing but they MUST BE few, targeted and last as long as it takes for the other side to make new links or files, disappearing shortly after.
Thanks
ThePoio
Comments
Red links are much more aggressive this time around too. If you miss a red portal when you clear an area, or say a park, within 4 hours that one red portals has already derped to 2-6 more. Good luck agents!
I am am full support of this current level of Machina.
It is now meaning that I'll have to watch intel each Day, Like I used to and plan my commute trips.
Eh, its just spamming in general. Same places that were red last fall/winter are red again. Places that red has never touched nor has many agents ever touched in years, remains grey. Gonna waste a bunch of gas this weekend to clean up the red in places far away that no one plays in.
Oddly red is growing under some fields of less than 100k mu, but not all. I guess that intel that @NianticThia gave us is no longer valid?
it will end like last time: the red will be unmanageable and niantic will take everything away, as i see it, he is killing the game and that's it
there aren't enough red they need to spread faster and crosslink again.
More red please!
Portals ok, links less
feels the direction of the game from now on will be an ai faction and scanning portals not exactly anything that involves teamplay or anything fun chasing npc portals☹️
Unfortunately in big cities, it has become unplayable due to the many machina portals, large control fields cannot be planned. Players dwindle as they lose interest and those few remaining try with limited success due to new machina-generated links from not beating those few surviving portals. I certainly don't find it right, I much prefer the old team game!
also small cities........ingress whit red links it's a job, not a game
Am still waiting for Machina to make fields
perhaps after next anomalies they will evolve to that. How funny all we can do wait and see how niantic plan to dp with an ai faction
Machina is so rampant and random it would be almost pointless trying to do a group megafield or even solo suburban layers unless in a car.
I’m observing players of both factions in my broad area being fenced into their core play zones by Machina.
Nobody needs to work on blocking each other, Machina has that sorted. It also helpfully fills in any gaps where factions are interfacing.
Not saying it is really bothering me yet, just noticing that things I enjoyed doing previously would probably not be worthwhile any more, and that some elements of faction interactions are reduced thanks to Machina.
I do love all of the L8 Machina portals that are hanging out in those private golf clubs, or middle of the gated communities where pogo players just had to make new useless poi's.
Having all the Machina li ms around for myself is refreshing, and that it still obeys linking rules.
From conversations with players on both factions in my city.
Some say there is no Machina around them, which is true in areas where there is a fair amount of players around, but in the suburbs with limited or no players, it is rampant.
Me a suburban player it is still a trek to get to large clusters of Machina around.
But at the end of the day, most don't care, which is disappointing.
When one faction wins several years of Septicycles without any effort, this is where half of our player base isn't very motivated.
Having Machina making fields which challenges players could be the motivator we need.
Though the Ingress Septicycle scoreboard hasn't been visited since it was implemented in late 2013. And adding Machina to that would be difficult for the devs to do.
But perhaps the devs want to do a big overhaul of the scoreboard, including perhaps Battle Beacon points.
I think the bulk of the development effort is now on the Agent Ops Task System, Especially when we look back when we did the MZFPK Anomaly, which showed us it was far from ready, but they had already committed to the event.
Currently i simply just destroy all enemy portals, fields and links to help red to spread and it works. My area is now surrounded with red. I wish i could join red.
If it wasn't for the red faction most areas wouldn't have anything to do. Is nice to see activity on the map. Like it or not you need activity in this game. If new players aren't coming online then creating artificial competition is the next best step. Now if the red faction starts making fields then many people's heads will explode, not good for player retention to have headless players.
headless players
What is the difference if red fields or not? It's headless either way. It's a bot.
Which is fine for what it is. Soon enough the bots will be the only players left. Throw some green and blue ones into the map.
And not enough time or teammates to do the task better or more efficiently.
Machina is destroying my community. People can't really do the things they like anymore, meaning fielding. Here, every town is surrounded by forests and mountains littered with portals that are essentially spoofed at any time by the AI. In order to keep up, we'd have to be constantly hiking and keeping all portals blue or green, or the bot completely takes over. And before you say that we're lazy, I doubt there are many players anywhere, at all, who hike mountains more than we do here. But it's completely overwhelming, and makes it impossible to do anything but city-based microfielding.
The game changed, you should learn to adapt.
Changes are not always positive, does it benefit niantic if human players will be less and less because an agressive AI pushed them out ?
Ingress is already a sinking ship, with or without machina. At least something chaotic new exciting happens. Instead of watching the same boring big fields recharged infinite.
Capturing portals and recharge them, will mean Machina cannot use them, thereby eventually opening up your linking windows
You make that sound easy. You have room for hundreds of extra keys?
it's true but from bad to worse! Scanner redacter was definitely a more intuitive game
i made strategic blockers (was a good decision that it can crosslink anymore) especially for machina and it saved me lots of cleaning work. i still have to clean, but it could be worse. But still i found machina growing too aggresively and i am in favour it can decay especially when it links 2 PITA portals with each other.
Using the map and looking at various cities across just the US it appears that machina is dominating many areas. But to say it's machina's fault is not exactly the answer. The game just isn't popular anymore. The few players that are left just can't keep up with constantly clearing it. So why play? Some areas have enough activity to keep it down. So they don't really see a problem. The solution really is more active players and that's really up to Niantic.
They should expand the Key Locker count for more sales 😉