Scout Controller - preventing abuse

I'd like to suggest the following, to prevent abuse of the feature and "guardian' like thing.

I observed that the number os scans I submit are equal to the number of scout points I will earn. This can be abused by malicious people to dominate their favourite portal (by scaning it multiples times) to intentionally prevent others to became the scout controller. My idea is simples: after you became scout controller, you stop eaning more scout points on it. So if a portal had no controller, you submit like 10 in a row, you will still have only 1 scout point on the portal, and the next player who want to acquire an unique scout control will have to make just 2 scans, and if he decide to do more than that, the points will be locked at 2 (so a third player will only have to do 3 scans, and that goes on).

I believe this way if a lot more fair for everybody, both players and for niantic since the same person doing a lots of scans on the same portal will probably get the same results always and all those repeated scans could be used on diferent portals.

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Comments

  • 1valdis1valdis ✭✭✭✭✭

    I wholeheartedly disagree with this suggestion.

    This can be abused by malicious people to dominate their favourite portal (by scaning it multiples times) to intentionally prevent others to became the scout controller.

    I don't even know where to start... First, how is this an "abuse"? If I want to keep my scout controller, I want to scan more. Second, why those people are "malicious"? If you want to get the scout controller - go and scan more that those people. And third, you say "to prevent others from becoming the scout controller" like it's a bad thing. No, it is not, because it is designed to work this way?

    all those repeated scans could be used on diferent portals.

    Niantic themselves said they want people to scan portals in different weather and lighting conditions...

  • HydracyanHydracyan ✭✭✭✭✭

    After you get the point it is useless,there's no such a thing as keeping the control for yourself, you will earn nothing for keeping it for yourself for months. And as you said, Niantic want people to scan portals in different weather and lighting conditions, and one guy scanning it multiple times on the same instant will just end in same results and the higher the number of points to need to do the crappier they will be.

  • sophielabsophielab ✭✭✭

    There are some that require 2-4 scans to get most of object if not an entire 360. I was doing that on some even before scout controller. I don't think the intended function is last to scan but more scans.

  • mortuusmortuus ✭✭✭✭✭

    the whole portal scan is so flawed, ppl can on the scan only just scan from home their feet and still get credit for it.... what a waste of badge..... give us drone badge instead.....

  • ZeroHecksGivenZeroHecksGiven ✭✭✭✭✭

    It resets every 30 days, supposedly.

    Plus, I highly doubt people have enough interest in this badge to scan something enough times just to block someone else from getting a single controller point and if they do, have it...

    i was just a few blocks from the space needle in Seattle, one block from the Seattle Google office and I saw a single portal out of about 40 that had a controller. ONE!

  • PangarbanPangarban ✭✭✭✭✭

    Unless you have a home portal, you can't scan from home. You need to be in hack range of a portal to scan it.

  • Kevinsky86Kevinsky86 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020

    I have the same concerns, but we have yet to see that this is actually a problem.

    I'm sure people are out now to get their 100 scans and that can cause some friction if you're just trying to get your medal but all the portals in your direct area already have like 5 or 6 scans.

    But i'm sure interest will die down because this scanning process is just not rewarding enough and beeing a long term scout controller doesn't really give you anything other then the initial tick on your badge stat..

    This whole thing is supposed to reset every 30 days so let's just give it some time instead of demanding all sorts of changes. I just don't think this is going to be a real problem, at least not untill Niantic starts giving some proper reward (AP, CMU, whatever) for portal scanning. It's a fairly brutal time, battery and data hogging process with no real reward outside of of the badge.

  • edited July 2020
    • Portal Scans require many scans of a given portal to get sufficient swarm data points to make a rendering. Therefore it's in Niantic's best interests to have multiple scans of the same portal. Discouraging this would be counter productive to their business case.
    • Preventing someone from being Scout Controller over a single portal is pointless, because they can simply go to other portals and become Scout Controller there. You only get one Scout Controller point per portal.
    • Scout points (different to Controller) are gained by simply doing scans. Even if you are not Scout Controller of a portal scanning the portal will give you one Scout point.

    I think your concept of abuse, is predicated on a misunderstanding of the difference between Scout points and Scout Controller points, and the uselessness of focusing on one portal for Scout Controller.

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