At this point i don't think there will EVER be a response from a Niantic official. They even don't answer the Machina portal questions. Niantic, what is wrong with you?
Choosing a small village with not the infrastructure that could host a lot of "tourist" playing Ingress? Come to the Netherlands, we have a lot of cities that could host a anomaly with no problems at all. Come to Tilburg, we have the hotels, trains/public trainsport and other things that could bring a great anomaly experience. And a descent amount of portals in the city center!
Not sure about Izmir. I was there for NL+Mission Day, it certainly is big enough to host an anomaly and the Earthquake was in a different region.
But Rotenburg is really a strange choice. All serious German players will go there for the medal. Myself, I will probably stay in Kassel which might have been a better choice.
Claudia, you do so much better than I would have, at putting all of our opinions together in your post.
When I first saw the list of anomaly cities I got excited. I misread the German city and I thought it would be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
That was one city I have never made it to and was eagerly looking forward to an excuse to returning to Europe just to explore that city, and take lots of photos as well as play Ingress.
I then learned that there were two towns spelled almost identically, and I was sure Niantic had just misspelled the town and it would be soon corrected. I booked flights and sat and waited.
Well obviously the anomaly will not be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and as such, I have not had any desire to visit Rotenburg. So I canceled my tickets and rebooked for another anomaly city on another date. I don't want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to go to a dumpster fire. (I know our player community would try to make it the best possible experience, but they can only work so much magic) And, as stated above, I'm quite certain that the cell phone infrastructure will not hold for hundreds of us being in that tiny little town all at the same time, not to mention the accommodations, public transit, and other issues that were mentioned above.
although the case is somewhat different, I am a bit annoyed why Bandung, Indonesia was chosen again for the next event. Last time Bandung was hosted Myriad, not long ago it was chosen for BB kureze and kythera. Moreover, the condition of my city right now is not safe, there are many motorbike gangs with sharp weapons in quiet hours.
I recall two occasions when I had a problem to believe what I just read. I couldn't believe the stupidity.
The last one was "Rotenburg an der Fulda" is a anomaly city.
The other one was when this, now unemployed, guy suggested to drink chlorine as a cure against COVID.
But I see the decisions for Rotenburg positive. The Mission Day on Sunday will cover every portal in town twice and can be done in an easy 2 mile walk.
This is not the first time the mess has been involved in selecting the venue for the anomaly, but I am disappointed that the Vanguard and Ambassadors are not making effective use of it.
Also, the current Ingress is currently split between cities that do not wish to host anomaly and those that do.
That said, as I posted earlier in another thread, the candidacy of the Anomaly host city from the RBB last year carried a new air to the Anomaly.
This will be a positive for Ingress in the future.
So, I think it would be good for Ingress to have a system where some venues can be held through this kind of candidacy, instead of everything being decided by Niantic.
For example, if the format of this year's Q2-Q4 is adopted for Q1-Q4 in 2024, there will be 12 cities (4 in Asia and Oceania, 4 in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and 4 in North and South America), one in each of the monthly venues, with the agents' candidacy in addition to the 24 cities chosen by Niantic. would not be bad.
From what I've heard, some of these sites came from the Mission Day applications a few months back where they also introduced the Mission Day Lite option.
Does it make sense? Not at all but it's at least some understanding on how these sites were picked. The assumption is there's POCs from those forms.
I don't think the decision is related to the introduction of Missio Day Lite, It's the size of 2500 people where Mission Day Lite can be held, the population of Rotenburg is, surprisingly, too large for that.
The reason why the NIA came up with the idea of holding Anomaly in Rotenburg, for example, is that players in their area have put their name forward to host the BB battle in 2021 (perhaps).
(However, if you are trying to say that the NIA is trying to look at smaller towns, or that the NIA might use it as an excuse to look at smaller towns, then I agree with that :))
Comments
At this point i don't think there will EVER be a response from a Niantic official. They even don't answer the Machina portal questions. Niantic, what is wrong with you?
Choosing a small village with not the infrastructure that could host a lot of "tourist" playing Ingress? Come to the Netherlands, we have a lot of cities that could host a anomaly with no problems at all. Come to Tilburg, we have the hotels, trains/public trainsport and other things that could bring a great anomaly experience. And a descent amount of portals in the city center!
Not sure about Izmir. I was there for NL+Mission Day, it certainly is big enough to host an anomaly and the Earthquake was in a different region.
But Rotenburg is really a strange choice. All serious German players will go there for the medal. Myself, I will probably stay in Kassel which might have been a better choice.
Fully agree on all other points made.
Claudia, you do so much better than I would have, at putting all of our opinions together in your post.
When I first saw the list of anomaly cities I got excited. I misread the German city and I thought it would be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
That was one city I have never made it to and was eagerly looking forward to an excuse to returning to Europe just to explore that city, and take lots of photos as well as play Ingress.
I then learned that there were two towns spelled almost identically, and I was sure Niantic had just misspelled the town and it would be soon corrected. I booked flights and sat and waited.
Well obviously the anomaly will not be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and as such, I have not had any desire to visit Rotenburg. So I canceled my tickets and rebooked for another anomaly city on another date. I don't want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to go to a dumpster fire. (I know our player community would try to make it the best possible experience, but they can only work so much magic) And, as stated above, I'm quite certain that the cell phone infrastructure will not hold for hundreds of us being in that tiny little town all at the same time, not to mention the accommodations, public transit, and other issues that were mentioned above.
although the case is somewhat different, I am a bit annoyed why Bandung, Indonesia was chosen again for the next event. Last time Bandung was hosted Myriad, not long ago it was chosen for BB kureze and kythera. Moreover, the condition of my city right now is not safe, there are many motorbike gangs with sharp weapons in quiet hours.
1. Very Boring
2. Not safe for now
Are you assuming that XMAs and Vanguards had any information before the list was released?
They don't. In some cases it looks like what's halfway between ...is being employed and the nearest city with any level of portal density is chosen.
I recall two occasions when I had a problem to believe what I just read. I couldn't believe the stupidity.
The last one was "Rotenburg an der Fulda" is a anomaly city.
The other one was when this, now unemployed, guy suggested to drink chlorine as a cure against COVID.
But I see the decisions for Rotenburg positive. The Mission Day on Sunday will cover every portal in town twice and can be done in an easy 2 mile walk.
SoftHAK
Anomaly veteran.
This is not the first time the mess has been involved in selecting the venue for the anomaly, but I am disappointed that the Vanguard and Ambassadors are not making effective use of it.
Also, the current Ingress is currently split between cities that do not wish to host anomaly and those that do.
That said, as I posted earlier in another thread, the candidacy of the Anomaly host city from the RBB last year carried a new air to the Anomaly.
This will be a positive for Ingress in the future.
So, I think it would be good for Ingress to have a system where some venues can be held through this kind of candidacy, instead of everything being decided by Niantic.
For example, if the format of this year's Q2-Q4 is adopted for Q1-Q4 in 2024, there will be 12 cities (4 in Asia and Oceania, 4 in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and 4 in North and South America), one in each of the monthly venues, with the agents' candidacy in addition to the 24 cities chosen by Niantic. would not be bad.
From what I've heard, some of these sites came from the Mission Day applications a few months back where they also introduced the Mission Day Lite option.
Does it make sense? Not at all but it's at least some understanding on how these sites were picked. The assumption is there's POCs from those forms.
You're assuming this was discussed with XMAs and Vanguards.
I don't think the decision is related to the introduction of Missio Day Lite, It's the size of 2500 people where Mission Day Lite can be held, the population of Rotenburg is, surprisingly, too large for that.
The reason why the NIA came up with the idea of holding Anomaly in Rotenburg, for example, is that players in their area have put their name forward to host the BB battle in 2021 (perhaps).
(However, if you are trying to say that the NIA is trying to look at smaller towns, or that the NIA might use it as an excuse to look at smaller towns, then I agree with that :))
The English translation may be ambiguous due to the translation application.
I believe the confusion is caused because Niantic, Vanguard and the ambassadors have not discussed this beforehand.
And I am disappointed in Niantic for not taking advantage of the agents who have some familiarity with the region.