Reward System & Unfair gameplay - 24 Resonators & 24 Portals.
This message is more directed to the Ingress team, this is about AP.
Either the reward system was meant to be this way or maybe not. I dont know. It just doesnt make sense to me.
I want you to forget about medals, XM & items.
Do correct me if I am wrong in my calculation
Lets say we have have 24 Resonators & 24 Portals in this world.
3 Portals needs up to 24 Resonators to complete a field.
Portal nr 1
We deploy 8 Resonators.
1 x Resonator gives 675 AP + 125 AP = 800 AP
6 x Resonators gives 125 AP = 750 AP
Last Resonator gives 250 AP + 125 AP = 375 AP
How much AP do we get per portal?
Portal nr 1 gives total 800 AP + 750 AP + 375 AP = 1925 AP = 8 Resonated used
Portal nr 2 gives total 800 AP + 750 AP + 375 AP = 1925 AP = 8 Resonated used
Portal nr 3 gives total 800 AP + 750 AP + 375 AP = 1925 AP = 8 Resonated used
All 3 portals in total = 3 x 1925 AP = 5775 AP = 24 Resonated used.
Now the links & the field
Link nr 1 = 313 AP
Link nr 2 = 313 AP
Link nr 3 = 313 AP
Creating a field = 1250 AP
Links + Field = 313 AP + 313 AP + 313 AP + 1250 AP = 2189 AP
Everything in total = 2189 AP + 5775 AP = 7964 AP = All 24 resonated used on 3 portals.
Lets start over. How can I gain more AP? instead deploying all the resonators in those 3 portals. Why not add just 1 resonator per portal.
So...
Portal nr 1 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 2 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 3 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 4 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 5 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 6 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 7 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
Portal nr 8 = You add 1 Resonator & it gives you 800 AP
8 Neutral portals has 1 Resonator each which gives 8 x 800 AP = 6400 AP
We have 16 Resonators left which I deploy on neutral portals which gives 16 x 800 AP = 12800 AP
In total we have 24 x 800 AP = 19200 AP & all of our Resonators are used.
It doesnt make sense to me.
Dont argue with me, I am not trying to change anything, keep it this way if you like. I can take advantage of this reward system & abuse the reward system.
I do want to know why it was made this way or maybe I have missed something?
Comments
You are looking at a very specific thing and saying it's unbalanced, while forgetting that it might not be when looking at the overall picture. AP isn't everything. If you "forget about the rest", many things won't make sense.
maybe I have missed something?
What you've missed is literally everything else about the game that isn't how much AP you've earned.
By the game's own scoring mechanism (whether it's a good one or a bad one, I leave that debate for another day), you lose if all you do is deploy a single resonator on neutral portals.
And to be honest, even if earning AP is the only thing you care about, the examples you've come up with aren't even interesting. Ignoring preparation time, you can get 1.2M AP (Level 8) in a few minutes, and 40M AP (Level 16) in a few hours, by repeatedly creating fields constructed in a certain way.
Portals are the limiting factor.
If I herringbone field 10 portals and my math is correct (80 reso, 24 links, 22 fields). I will gain 54,262 AP. Same single deploy on the 10 portals is 8,000 AP.
Herringbone fielding 55 portals seems to be the breakeven point where single deploys just outgain the AP but I would need to find 440 neutral portals.
I dont know about your calculation, it might be right.
You spend 80 Resonators and get 54262 AP from 10 Portals.
Then you need to add 1 resonator per portal & the first you deploy gives 800 AP so that will be 80 x 800 = 64000.
Here's my question to you: Would you have more fun building and linking a smaller number of portals, or single-deploying a larger number?
How did you get 22 fields out of 10 portals?. I got 8 fields
It is fun to link & create fields, but if I am down town where their are many neutral portals. I would take advantage of the situation and walk and add one resonator per portal. We got plenty of portals right next to each other.
Doing that according to me is not fair for my team who keeps creating fields from scratch. That is why I wrote "unfair gameplay" in the title.
More fair would be if the first deployment gave normal 125 AP or nothing for that matter, then I would I have to create links and fields to gain better AP even down town & by doing that way, I would be supporting the Mind Unit & be more loyal to my team. That´s why I had an interest in the Illuminator badge.
It's how you link them. 3 portals A, B and C create one field
Adding a 4th portal then link to A and B to create a bigger field over the initial one and then link back to the other portal which creates an additional 2 fields, if the portals are aligned then with each additional portal you can create an additional 3 fields.
Agent 57Cell has some good tutorials on YouTube. They helped me when I started fielding
This one on max fielding describes the technique https://youtu.be/FkHtelZxgtg
When he used 10 portals, he already spend his 80 resonators & it says 22 fields, but when I pause the video, I get 15 fields, but their are 24 links.
You are missing the field created by linking first to the left and right bottom anchor portals.
That makes a field over the top of the existing fields and then linking to the previous portal creates 2 more.
So yes if you count the individual segments you get 15 but each time you throw to the anchors you gain a field.
That field you are talking about has 4 portals, you cant get one field by using all 4 portals.
1st field using 3 portals
2nd field linking over the top of the existing field
Linking back to the middle portal creates 2 additional fields to the right and left of the link.
This only works if you throw to the middle portal last. Throwing it before will only end up with 3 fields which are the initial one and the ones to the left and right.
An easy way to always get those extra fields is to always throw your links largest to smallest distance. The link to do the split is always the closest to you.
Yeah, but on youtube he had 22, but their was only 15.
I understand that you got 3
Take a look on youtube again from the beginning. He creates the first field with 3 portals = 1 field, nothing wrong with that.
The second field he creates is with 4 portals connections & it counts as field. To my understanding, that is not possible. You can however split it in 2 as you showed on the pictures, that I dont deny.
First field is A(left) B(right) C(top)
Then he goes to D(above C) and links to A and B, creating field ABD.
When he links D to C, it creates fields ACD and BCD.
Giving a total of 4 fields with 4 portals.
Does this count as a field with 4 portals?
You connect D to A and D to B, but A to C is connected & B to C is also connected, that makes it a square.
I do understand if you connect D to C that you get 2 more fields.
C isn't part of the ABD field, C is completely covered by ABD.
It's called layering fields, where 1 field completely covers another.
Got it, I didnt know that laying fields were allowed. Big thanks.
@IPHacker I can tell you that single-reso deploying, fully deploying, or building and fielding are all fair to your team. There might be areas where dropping R8/R7 is better than just a single reso because other players will build them to P7s quickly but in general there's absolutely nothing wrong with single reso captures. It's a very typical behavior when people are visiting an area and working on their Pioneer badge (unique captures) or Liberator (captures). You are not obligated to fully deploy anything.
Having said that, there are a few things that you can do that would be rude to your teammates, but it's specific to an area. If you know that a portal is a teammate's couch portal then it is courteous to at least drop an R8 when you capture it, 87 or 876 is better, and it would be rude to put junk mods like link amps on it. The same is true if it's an area that you know your teammates build up for farming. In that situation you can ask your teammates what they prefer for mods.
Making a square does not create a field-- fields must be triangles.
I kind of agree & disagree with "I can tell you that single-reso deploying, fully deploying, or building and fielding are all fair to your team."
100 % agree here "fully deploying resonators, linking and create fields" this is teamplay.
I also agree by deploying 1 resonator per portal is supportive to my team.
I also disagree by deploying 1 resonator per portal is teamworking with other agents & this is why...
When I take a walk near my home, I do create links and fields, but down town I only add 1 resonator to get that extra high AP offered & leave the rest of the dirty work to the other agents. This isnt teamworking or fair towards other hard working agents, it is abusive of the situation offered by Ingress Prime. It has to be balanced & fair.
You are probably very nice & hardworking agent, but not me, I am just a selfish idi*t.
Let's try this again, since my last post was apparently against the ToS. Would think having a help link would be helpful to agents.
Smurf.help is the short link (ie will always take you to the guide)
Long link is
It's a great help site for both newer and older agents. Answers quite a few questions many agents have. It's very detailed, and has information useful to any agent, regardless of their faction.
@NianticVK if posting a help link is against the TOS, we might need to have the ToS updated. 😉
Are you sure it was removed or just pending approval? It's usually a spam filter.
I got a full on warning email from @NianticVK
I might of said a wordy dirty that the spam filter didn't pick up. Normal English, but other non-native speakers might of been offended by basically being called a brand new agent.
@IPHacker You have a lot of people offering you advice and information here... including people who have been playing the game for a decade and have AP that is well into nine digits. We're here telling you that you're not being a selfish anything when you just seed portals... you're playing the game in one of many perfectly acceptable ways. It's all good.
I am greatfull that people are offering information and advices & thank you for your kind words as well.
This isnt about you being a nice guy & I being selfish idi*t or how I play this game.
This is about the title "Reward system & unfair gameplay" that I think it can be abused.
This was more or less directed to Ingress Prime team in my first discussion & I added this question.
"I do want to know why it was made this way or maybe I have missed something?"
I am just curious why it was made that way, it doesnt make sense to me.
I am not trying to be right or wrong, I dont know if I am right or wrong, I dont care if I am wrong or right. This isnt a product that I will spend money on yet. I am totally new to this & still learning. I dont want to compete with people in this forum, I am just asking Ingress Prime team this questions.
"I do want to know why it was made this way or maybe I have missed something?"
That´s all.
I think others have pretty much covered all the bases. You can technically earn AP with single resos, but it's limited by how fast you can reach new empty portals. I do agree though, first deployment shouldn't be a huge reward, I'd rather see the 8th reso deployment be the one that gives a large AP boost.
Here's a great video by @57Cell , watch all about fielding from his Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C97xCtswH2E. Fan fielding is going to give you max AP for the portals in your area.
Also, once you want to pass through levels 9 through 16, AP fails to be the only requirement to level. You need badges.
While cheesing it with single reso deploys, the player is only getting portal captures and uniques IF they're only going to new portals. Players putting in the extra effort get badge merit for (from https://fevgames.net/ingress/ingress-guide/concepts/medal/):
Builder (deploy resonators)
Connector (link portals)
Engineer(deploy mods)
Hacker(Hack portals)
Mind Controller (Make fields)
Illuminator (mind units, if they get a lot of MU)
There's an argument to be made that if you're in a transport single pinning versus someone walking among many portals playing "right", they are also earning trekker faster. Plus, if they keep spare keys from their fully pinned portals, they will have more opportunity to reach their recharging badge faster. Also, they'll get the gear they need as they play too.
Now if you want to talk about some cheezy incentive balance issues.... I can microfield a small area of portals and earn upwards of 150-250k AP per hour... However, when I'm done spending X amount of hours playing, someone can walk in with a stack of bursters and earn 50% of that fully played value in mere seconds. So my normal 3 hour play session yielding around a million AP? 10 minutes for the person tearing it down for about 500k AP. I'd rather see destruction reduced or building increased significantly in AP so there is more parity.
Totally agree with you last paragraph there. I can spend several hours microfielding the area and someone can take it down in seconds. The way i balance it in my mind is A.) they are getting approximately 2/3rds of the AP i gained from fielding it and B.) I can field again without waiting 7 days.
I micro fielded up to double Onyx Mind Controller (80,000 fields). I have 580 something million AP. I used to worry that the other team would get easy purifier from me micro fielding. But then I realized, just comes down to how YOU want to play. I enjoy walking around, making triangles. THEY can drive by and blow it all up in a few minutes. THEY don't get the enjoyment of walking around, using their brain to make as many triangles as they can. THEY just mash a few buttons. THEY miss out on the exercise from walking.
When you micro field you build on multiple types of stats that will later help you level up in the game. When I micro field I work on, Trekker, Builder, Liberator, Connector, Mind Controller, Illuminator, Engineer, Hacker, Translator, & my enjoyment of the game. I might be missing out on a few other potential badges, but to me, it's fun. Who cares how others play? The point of the game is to enjoy it the want you want to.
Be like @Hosette and leave a trail of grey portals in your wake, be like other agents and run AP generators. Do what you want. Don't worry about the other agents. Don't worry about how someone else might gain AP or not gain AP. Who cares?
@MrNateJo One of the things you're missing in your time calculation is gear acquisition.
Someone who is microfielding can get all of the gear that they need by hacking while they go, so essentially 100% of their time investment is or can be identified by the time they spend building and linking the area. By contrast, smashing up a big area requires the player to come in pre-loaded with high-level weaponry, so the total time investment is much higher than the comm-visible smashing. My creds for saying this: I got onyx Purifier before platinum Builder, and double onyx Purifier before onyx Builder. In order to do that I spent way more time farming gear than I did using it. There were times when I went to great lengths to load up on X8s, both literally and figuratively, but because farming is usually a silent activity it's impossible to know how much time someone invests in gear acquisition.