New factional ideology.

GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭
edited July 2021 in General

It just so happened that in our game the community does a lot of work for the company. For example, we ourselves organized the community, secret chats and so on, we ourselves bring new players to the game, saving the cost of the official advertising of the game. And yet, I would like to close one important issue that the company has not yet been able to cope with. This question has plagued many agents since the end of tessellation. It is a matter of a factional idea, a factional goal. How would you like to see your faction and the enemy faction in the next updates?

Write your comments below. How would you like to see your faction, enemy faction, interaction with ADA and Jarvis, corporations and so on?

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Comments

  • AzhreiaAzhreia ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting concept. I kinda like it.

  • GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭

    Listen, as a vanguard, can you ask someone from nia to look into this topic at least sometimes well and, if possible, write at least something with their ideas? This would be useful for the development of the game.

  • AzhreiaAzhreia ✭✭✭✭✭

    Niantic reads the forum already. I can ask them to take note of this topic but expect they would have seen it already.

    However, I won't be able to share their ideas if they decide to discuss this with us, as that would fall under the NDA.

  • GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭

    Do what you can, and I ask the rest to unsubscribe about what you think on this issue.

  • GoblinGranateGoblinGranate ✭✭✭✭✭

    The way I see it, Jarvis has no relevance at all in plots and the only interaction window I can think of would be just a loving memory.

    Right now, the plot I'd like to see would be ENL trying to fight RES due to the fact that there are evidences of ADA acting maliciously towards humanity. This would go well with older lore since ADA is known for having 0 moral issues with terminating human lifes.

    Kinda reminds me to Epiphany Night events, but sounds OK to me.

  • 1valdis1valdis ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2021

    Why do you call it "based on shards algorithm" if in the end you want to transport artifacts not via links (as in usual shards), but via.... Drones? (What about rural areas, too?)

    How many people do you know who actually care about the global MU score?

    I know a couple of them. From a hundred or so in my city.

    My point is, scoring that is:

    - global (instead of a specific city like during an anomaly),

    - continuous (not for the duration of some event)

    - 99.99% dependent not on how you do, but on how the rest of your faction does

    Will quickly become as obsolete and as useless as current global MU score.

    I open Score tab once about a month or two. I do it just because it exists, not because there's something actually useful. The same is going to happen with this "faction efficiency" thing. 55 vs 45 or 10 vs 90 factions efficiency, 1.5B vs 100M global MU, why should it bother me? It could be interesting the first month or two, just because it's some new scoring. Once it establishes and people get used to the same numbers, it's MU score part two.

  • GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2021

    sorry for my english, I am writing with mistakes, as it is not my native language.

    Once Roland Jarvis spoke to the agents of enlightenment in Ukraine (this is such a country). He talked about the need for the common good to place several stationary collection points for artifacts from the union of corporations researching XM under the leadership of Visur Technology on the territory of our country. The agents of the country had to choose the most protected and profitable places for the deployment of stationary points that move artifacts directly to the laboratory of a particular corporation. The places were chosen by universal suffrage, the objects were placed in the most interesting and difficult to access but strategically important places! In the mountains! In forest areas! Near borders with neighboring countries.

    Suddenly, a shard of extraterrestrial exogenous technology appeared over one of the portals! In the area of ​​this fragment (the radius that the scanner can cover 5 kilometers) was a GreenVam agent who received a notification in the scanner from a reasonable Jarvis virus that had infected the ADA algorithm a long time ago. The message said that the shard is located above the portal "Monument to Heroes Liberators" and that this shard of technology must be delivered to a stationary shard collector of one of the well-known corporations helping enlightenment agents. Such a stationary collection point was located in a neighboring region. Unfortunately, the shard was located under the enemy's field, above the remote portal. The agent contacted his command, they removed the field, and the agent himself threw a connection from the portal over which a shard shone in green shades on the portal in the direction of the artifact collection point. While the artifact was moving to the neighboring portal, agents of both factions were already traveling there.

    Resistance agents were also instructed to transfer the artifact to their stationary point, which was controlled by ADA and the ХМ world control organization. After the arrival of the shard, it turned out that the enlightenment agents could not cross the blue link that passed through several areas ... Therefore, for a short distance of up to 1 kilometer, the shard was planned to be transported to the neighboring portal by a drone, which, loaded with such an overwhelming burden, flew at a speed of 1 kilometer per hour. But the drone at that time was shot down by resistance agents, using the latest development obtained on the basis of research of the previous fragments, which was added by the agents of the blue faction for its intended purpose ... And the fragment continued its way again, but this time already being towed to the blue portal, from which it went by the links to the stationary collection point of the XM World Control Organization. But the agents of enlightenment were able to repulse the portal to which the fragment flew and send it to the desired collection point for the fragments. It was the first of 50 shards to unlock the secret technology of exogenous beings. After receiving 50 fragments, the analysis of extraterrestrial technology began and a new shield format was developed for the agents of enlightenment, which protected not only the portal but also the resonators. However, after a few weeks, the resistance was able to decipher the transmission with access codes to secret technologies, and also had this shield. And I would like this kind of events on an ongoing basis.

  • 1valdis1valdis ✭✭✭✭✭

    TL; DR:

    Long shards event, with some plot for uncovering a new mod. The winner faction has exclusive access to the new mod for some fixed time.

  • JimboMXJimboMX ✭✭✭

    My Faction (RES): Resistance fights TO PROTECT HUMANITY against XM realated threats. This can include Exogenous (Shapers, Nzeer, Undine, and others), Corporations, NIA, investigators, etc. Its hard to define if RES really supports the use of XM, or in which cases. RES is not against Mankind Evolution (ENL goal), but its against FORCING mankind evolution dictated by external actors. RES approves the use of XM, and will cooperate with whatever entitity, organization, corporation, etc that helps fulfill the main objective: PROTECT HUMANITY.

    Enemy Faction (ENL): Enlightened is not really an enemy (for RES), but has a different approach on the use of XM, and that put the factions into battle or in cooperation, depending on the matter. ENL goal is to USE XM TO EVOLVE HUMANITY. Until XM and its effects on human behaviour are fully understood, RES will not allow ENL, or anyone to use XM to harm humankind.

    The Ingress Story and Events should focus on this conflict of why and when are factions cooperating or fighting, and that should be reflected globally on the intel map. A Challenge where Objectives for both Factions are different that makes sense with the story would be highly appealing to the players. Ex: Enlightened wants to find a cure for CoVID by using XM to increase the creativity of medical investigators. They have to achive XX amount of MU to be able to influence.... (will continue editing later)

    Interaction with ADA: ADA is an artificial intelligence with its own goals. Such goals can vary from time to time, so its not always an ally or an enemy to the Resistance. However, since ADA was part of Niantic Project and has helped researchers and agents in the past, we can say its Friendly to the Resistance.

    Interaction with Jarvis: Jarvis has been seduced with Shapers evolution lies. I dont doubt he wishes to fulfill ENL vision of Evolution, but it is not clear what will the effects of the so called evolution will be. RES might consider him a foe for instigating Shaper ingression and the destruction of ADA with the SETAI

  • @JimboMX I think that's a pretty reasonable take, though I would say that RES is (lore-wise, and probably player-wise) sort of a loose alliance among subfactions whose goals do not always align. The most conservative RES subfactions believe that XM is inherently dangerous (largely but not completely because of the risk of Exogenous influence), and use any XM technologies only reluctantly. They would eliminate the portal network and all XM technology if they could do so without unilaterally surrendering to other groups making use of it - for them, the whole thing is a bitter trap, in which they are forced to rely on a tool they see as corrupting and ultimately inimical. (I think of Devra 1218 and the portal virus in this regard, but have met many RES who have this view.) Then there's a group that thinks that XM technology is OK, but only insofar as we can ensure that humanity owns/controls it, and that the Exogenous are locked out. This somewhat overlaps with a faction that is primarily transhumanist in orientation, and sees AI as a key through which (trans)humanity can grow strong enough to resist the Exogenous and control its destiny - this group tends to be very strong supporters of ADA, who they see as both an exemplar and a (perhaps not always reliable) ally in achieving human development on our own (technological, non-Exogenous) terms. (Presumably, the "New Wave RES" would be in this camp.) Finally, there are the Jehan/Anti-Magnus folks, who are actually very pro-Exogenous but favor the N'Zeer over the Shapers. They think that we can bargain with the N'Zeer for technological advances without having to give up control over our destiny, whereas they think that the Shapers are insinuative and dangerous. This last group seems to be all-in on XM...they just don't like Shapers (and the ENL, who they see as pawns of the Shaper agenda).

    FWIW, it would be cool if the writers did more with these conflicts, because they are not only interesting (and add depth), but also frankly pretty realistic. "Resistance" movements in real life tend to be pretty heterogeneous being more defined by what they oppose than by what they are. They are also vulnerable to co-optation (looking at you, Jehan) by those whose goals are more like those of the common enemy than they are wiling to admit.

    Putting my Agent hat on, I'm in the transhumanist camp, with strong sympathies towards the "XM inherently untrustworthy" position. I have no truck with the Exogenous. I see ADA as the child of humanity, and in some ways an example of a path we could take...but she is also somewhat twisted by the conditions of her creation, and her view on many things is shaped by having been enslaved by her creators and repeatedly threatened with extermination. Just as we cannot always trust her, she has strong reason not to trust us. But she is our child, and I hold out hope that we can with time mend what was broken. (As PAC reminded her when she was in a weakened state, she was saved from destruction because scores of New Wave RES agents volunteered to carry shards of her within their own minds and bodies...she retained that connection to them, and through them some broader insight into humanity and her own "ancestry." She is egoistic and pragmatic, but that is not incompatible with making and valuing connections with others.) In my view, Nemesis confirmed our worst suspicions about the Exogenous (and then some): we need to lock the door and throw away the key. In theory, that was done...but I have doubts. There are suggestions that the Undine managed to either penetrate the Tessellation or compromise it in some way, and Osiris Jarvis and his Acolyte were clearly scheming to find some way to leave a back door. Nor do we know that the doors cannot be re-opened. The mere fact that we haven't heard loud Jeremiads from Osiris Jarvis and allies about how they are now cut off from "our friends" tells me that something is wrong - if they're not weeping, humanity is still in danger.

    In the words of the great MC 900ft Jesus, "something's gonna happen and it's prob'ly not good."

    Stay vigilant, Agents! Humanity still needs you!

  • grendelwulfgrendelwulf ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'd like tasks assigned by Jarvis or ADA depending on your faction.

  • mortuusmortuus ✭✭✭✭✭

    this is something that could motivate newer players to stay more then just sign in daily to hack your sojourner/ epoch hack..

  • Ingress the Animation provided the best description (paraphrased).

    The world is in danger. Many forces seek to harness the power of XM. Those forces are divided into two factions. The factions are in conflict. The Enlightened and Resistance hold each other in balance.

    XM has always been around us and it's been exerting its effects on humanity since the beginning. XM is ordered data, a key, a signal. One that touches and unlocks parts of the brain. The factions are divided by a mysterious difference in perspective.

    The Enlightened feel XM is a way for us to discover ourselves and our true destiny. They say our relationship with the portals is symbiotic. A part of nature.

    The Resistance disagree. They see XM as a threat. They want to understand it, contain it. They want to use this power but only if it can be controlled and bent towards humanity's interests.

    A gift or a threat. It's a battle for minds.

    The XM in the fields influences the people it touches. Each faction want's to influence people touched by XM towards their mindset. Mind Control Fields can't completely control their minds, but it can influence ideas towards a given faction's mindset.

    Ditch the "We're defending Humanity from Aliens" BS since that's 100% not what's happening, or RES would spend all their time only destroying fields and not building. All it does is create mindless tribes. While that's a very American thing to build, it doesn't create a good community.

  • GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2021

    Orcs in Warhammer have two gods, Gork and M*ork. Gork is cunning but strong and M*ork is strong but cunning. We now have the same situation with factions. 

  • If you have some sparetime in your sommer holliday, the book where these ideas came from is worth reading. It was published in 1972, so the battle of XM has been seen before :-)


  • Forgot to say.. I like the idea of a faction gaining some new tech before the other faction after solving some kind of task. Also the idea that after a while, intelligence have flowed to the other faction ( Maybe after X amount of portal hacks) and the tech is now available to both factions. Anything that can get faction agents to work together to gain an advantage over the other faction, will give some new life to the game.

  • GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭

    Again, not a single answer from Niantic. Sorry, but despite hiring a community manager, the situation hasn't changed.

  • ZennZenn ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2021

    This isn't the sort of thread I expect the community manager to comment on... I would be pleasantly surprised but this is not specifically what I would expect a community manager to be dealing with.

  • GreenVamGreenVam ✭✭✭✭✭

    "And she shouldn't answer to anything." Users ask to do something - they write an open letter to the company, here on the forum, since they have nowhere else to write. What was the result? Result 0. Other users want changes in the plot, or at least so that items in the game and events are introduced well, at least a little bit of connection with the storyline. Again 0. Summer will end soon in Europe, but we haven't seen anything new in the game. What? maybe they fixed the comm? Nope, maybe something new was presented that will bring old players back to the game? Nope. Nope. Nope. And everywhere you look, everywhere such "nope".

  • MoogModularMoogModular ✭✭✭✭✭

    There's a topic where they announced upcoming events up to pretty much the end of August...

  • @Perringaiden: Alas, you can only believe in the version of the story given in the anime if you ignore all of the rest of the Ingress lore. But hey, however you rationalize your servitude to your alien masters is up to you! ;-)

    (Stepping out of character for a minute, I am amused at the idea that creating "mindless tribes" is an "American thing." You surely know better than that! But perhaps that was intended as IC. Anyway, the idea of having two groups that are in constant conflict is completely central to Ingress, so any faction ideology that doesn't support factional conflict is problematic from a game standpoint. "Off-court," of course, we should all be co-hobbyists, but this is a war game. In-game, the factions are fighting for the fate of humanity, and no quarter is given. If we wanted to help our our enemies, we'd be off playing PoGo.)

  • edited July 2021

    if you ignore all of the rest of the Ingress lore.

    Given that they've already done that before, 100% do it. The whole point is to throw out the concept of aliens and ENL being bad guys, because that's actually had a negative impact on new player's choices. It was the biggest lore idiocy in the first days of the game to vilify one of the player teams, and they've been retconning everything since then to try and fix that and doing it very badly.

    Throw the entire lore out and start again with something relevant to a PVP game instead of trying to tell a hero story about their favourites who keep losing when the story matters.

    no quarter is given

    This toxic attitude has had more to do with damaging the game playerbase than Niantic ever could.

  • @Perringaiden I doubt we will ever agree on much, and it is disappointing that you seem to conflate "on board" conflict in a PVP wargame with "off board" toxicity. But to your original comment, I don't actually think that the original Lore actually made ENL the unequivocal "bad guys," and if one reads through the early books/intel/etc. one notes that many if not most of the popular figures in the Lore were Enlightened. ENL are indeed the bad guys from the RES point of view, but from the standpoint of Jarvis, OLW, and others, the ENL were going to save humanity from themselves, uplifting them to a higher, creative, and joyous state by leveraging the benevolent guidance and inspiration of the Shapers. That's not unlike the creeds followed by billions of religious folks worldwide, and they certainly don't see themselves as the bad guys. I think that point of view was pretty clearly articulated in the Lore, and it obviously resonated with many players, who are proud ENL to this day. From that standpoint, RES are the "bad guys," dooming humanity to backward savagery and eventual self-destruction by their hidebound conservatism, xenophobia, and fear of the unknown. Who, having tasted the possibility of ascension, of ultimate salvation, would not fight for it tooth and nail? From this vantage, the Resistance are dangerous foes who must be subdued at all costs.

    The Lore itself is quite symmetric. Your issue seems to be that, ironically, you are looking at it through the lens of the Resistance. (Maybe you should switch factions. ;-)) I like to articulate the RES view of things, because that personally resonates with me, but I could write equally strident and heroic rhetoric in favor of the Enlightened - there's no lack of wonderful material for players to use in crafting accounts of daring and courage in service of uplifting humanity in the face of the prejudicial and primitive Resistance. The stories practically write themselves. The fact that each side can see itself as involved in a heroic struggle for the fate of humanity is key to what Ingress is all about, and is certainly part of the fun.

  •  I don't actually think that the original Lore actually made ENL the unequivocal "bad guys," and if one reads through the early books/intel/etc. one notes that many if not most of the popular figures in the Lore were Enlightened. 

    Very early on there were comments by executive staff and the writer that ENL were the 'bad guys'. The backlash made them try to retrofit and rewrite it all and they never properly succeeded but it's part of why the whole thing is a cluster.

  • thesolothesolo ✭✭✭✭✭

    I believe in the game code the factions are still "humans" and "aliens". Of course they're supposed to be the bad guys, that's the point of an invading alien force. Nothing wrong with that, it's just the functional equivalent of picking the Dark Side in a Star Wars RPG.

  • MoogModularMoogModular ✭✭✭✭✭
  • @Perringaiden , yeah, but if one takes the ENL viewpoint, the aliens are the good guys. The Shapers are like benevolent deities, trying to guide humanity to accept its full potential - and the ENL agents (from this viewpoint) are really demigods in training, working towards their ascension (and rewarded with remarkable gifts, like OLW's work at CERN). Given that we have lots of folks who believe things very much like this IRL, it doesn't seem a stretch to think that many agents would embrace it in-game. I mean, you could (per @thesolo ) interpret ENL as the "Dark Side," and play accordingly, but I don't think that's where most of the Lore and ENL rhetoric put them. That's how they look from the (in-Lore) RES viewpoint, but as noted, RES doesn't look at all good from ENL's standpoint, and a whole lot of pages were written valorizing the ENL position. Can any devout follower of St. Jarvis truly think of the Enlightened as villains?

    (I'm kind of surprised we don't have any Enlightened Lore-fans here to articulate the "pro-ENL" viewpoint, actually. They certainly exist! Seems to be a common point of view in the Essex community, from what I can tell. Maybe we need to hold an "Ingress rhetoric" competition, and get members of the respective factions to submit stirring speeches on why their side is obviously the path of truth and virtue. I think that both sides could produce some great stuff.)

    As far as the code, it's amusing that it's written that way, but obviously that has no bearing on either Lore or the actual game itself. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if the current codebase has allusions to PoGo in there (because they probably borrowed code from the Other Game). If they Pikachu shows up in an object name, I don't think it means that we have to assume that Evolution is the result of XM exposure, or that Visur and Team Rocket are somehow in league. (Though that might explain some things....)

  • MoogModularMoogModular ✭✭✭✭✭

    As far as the code, it's amusing that it's written that way, but obviously that has no bearing on either Lore or the actual game itself. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if the current codebase has allusions to PoGo in there (because they probably borrowed code from the Other Game). If they Pikachu shows up in an object name, I don't think it means that we have to assume that Evolution is the result of XM exposure, or that Visur and Team Rocket are somehow in league. (Though that might explain some things....)

    That's not how programming works at all. I can assure you even though there might be similar libraries along the Niantic games - there's no explicit cross reference among them especially when dealing with different IPs from various groups.

    You're missing the point about ENL coded as aliens - especially in the terms of EXOTIC MATTER.

    Exotic explicitly means something not native.

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