Recognizing the Contributions of Different Ingress Anomaly players

MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭

Dear Niantic,

I am writing to you today to express my concern about the current badge system for Ingress anomalies. As a long-time player and participant of these events, I believe that the current system does not adequately recognize the contributions of all players.

Currently, there is only one type of badge for all anomaly events. This means that players who travel long distances to play at the anomaly site, and players who participate in remote recharge rooms all receive the same badge. But players who organize the event behind the scenes get nothing. This is not fair to the players who put in the most effort.

I believe that there should be different tiers or types of badges for different types of player contributions. For example, players who travel long distances to play at the anomaly site should receive a higher tier badge than players who participate in remote recharge rooms. This would show that Niantic recognizes the extra effort that these players put in.

I would also like to see Niantic create a badge for the organizational, logistical, and intel teams. These teams are often made up of players who are not able to attend the anomaly events in person. However, they play an essential role in making sure that the events run smoothly. I believe that these players deserve to be recognized for their contributions.

I hope that you will consider my suggestions. I believe that they would make the badge system more fair and equitable for all players.

Sincerely,

Mxx

«1

Comments

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭

    Recharge rooms are a viable tactic. But it's unfair that somebody who can tap on recharge button 3 times in a comfort of their home or a cafe gets the same recognition as somebody who was on the ground fighting. Yet somebody who spent hours behind the scenes organizing it all get nothing.

  • MirthmakerMirthmaker ✭✭✭✭

    Encourage the same/one time zone trip. North America that's tough.

    Time off from work is the problem.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2023

    What are you talking about?! No amount of encouragement of same time zone trips will address the lack of recognition of behind the scenes player efforts!

  • tp235tp235 ✭✭✭✭

    Interesting suggestion.


    As I understand it, I recall that anomaly medals used to be awarded to players who contributed, except for local participants, by the responsible party submitting a list to Niantic.

    However, this was discontinued because some agent groups interpreted this arbitrarily and filled in the list with agents who did not contribute.

    There was also the problem of operators struggling to grant medals because what used to be a way to obtain anomaly medals by entering a passcode was changed to automatic granting.

    And I understand the opinion that the same medal for a player who participated in the local and a player who recharged is not an incentive to participate in the local.


    This year's Anomaly will be held three times in each of the three series.

    If this format is to continue, I would suggest, as an example, the following format.

    Then some players will try to complete the Anomaly medals, which will revitalize the Anomaly. (The color can be any other color as long as it is clearly stated what it was earned with.)


    (1) Gold: Local participants

    (2) Silver: Contributions from operators and camp affairs (a list must be submitted by the responsible party)

    (3) Bronze: recharge

  • MirthmakerMirthmaker ✭✭✭✭

    This is closer. Define "camp affairs" so that it is understandable.

  • MirthmakerMirthmaker ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2023

    Niantic does a terrible job encouraging non-local player from taking a two hour plane / ten hour bus/train trip unless you physically have someone reaching out to you daily with the are you coming speech, and being highly persistent to the point of don't worry about gas $$ or airline tickets.

    Get out and move is what is being called for.

    Encourage that at levels not seen since 2017-2018.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭

    What? 🤨 Dude, you are not making any sense. Please keep your nonsense out of this thread.

  • MoogModularMoogModular ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think it's fine for the anomalies to be a one level bronze. There is so much happening behind the scenes with anomalies that it is forever hard to verify people's actions.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭

    Exactly. Plus another tier if an event has connected cells aspect.

    Looking at somebody's badges one should be able to tell what exactly their level of participation was. Plus I want to be proud and show off how I got my badge.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2023

    It's fine for somebody to spend literally 3 seconds to hit the recharge button once and have more recognition than somebody who spent days and weeks of their time organizing hotels, event spaces, transportation, swag design, manufacturing, handouts, recruitment, team building, training, tutorials, strategy, and everything else that goes into making sure people have a good time?!

    If Niantic trusts POCs to organize an anomaly, they can trust them to submit a list of people who participated behind the scenes.

  • XK150XK150 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If they want recognition in a game, they should show up and play the game.

  • XK150XK150 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Another thing: People have asked for tiered anomaly medals before, and it never happens. You know why? Because Niantic knows that tiered medals won't increase Anomaly participation, and are therefore a waste of time.

    In fact, tired medals anomaly medals would probably decrease anomaly participation in some ways, because there are players who won't play for tiered medals if the top tier is unattainable to them.

    People asking for tiered anomaly medals are insufferable because they're so desperate for extra bit of glory that they keep asking for things that would be bad for Ingress overall. Get a life, guys.

  • tp235tp235 ✭✭✭✭

    The agenda here would be to make each role in the anomaly visible to others.

    Originally, event medals are different from medals for leveling up, so there doesn't have to be high or low tier ranks.

    We don't even need a bronze role.


    In a sense, anomaly medals are medals to satisfy the need for recognition that you participated in this anomaly.

    So being able to see which role you played in the event is also a strong incentive for participants.

    So here's the thing.


    As an American, he puts it.

    "I participated onsite in Jacksonville in April, operator and administrative in Brighton in May, and Winnipeg in June Recharge. So it's all complete."


    She, who is Japanese, said.

    'I was onsite in Baguio in April, Brisbane in May, and Ueda, Japan in June. So I only have one color on my anomaly medal. But I have three medal counts."


    This kind of thing satisfies a player's need for recognition and is a strong incentive.

    So I wrote gold, silver, and bronze, but the colors can be different: blue-yellow-red, or purple-orange-pink.

    You want to make yourself proud of your surroundings.


    And I also believe that anomalies should be focused on on-site, given that they go back to their origins.

    And I believe that increasing onsite incentives is necessary.


    So, speaking incidentally, I don't deny the item kit that appeared in the store yesterday, which could be called a beginner's kit for anomaly participation.

    It is very hard to collect items.

    However, I think the item kits should only be available to on-site participants.

    We also think that it should not be possible to buy it after the battle starts time in order to avoid pay-to-win by charging on the day.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭

    Organizing anomalies is a HUGE headache for the players involved. There's a reason why some cities swear off ever hosting another anomaly...Until Niantic significantly improve their communication and support for the POC teams. It's a thankless job and that needs to change.

  • XK150XK150 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2023

    Nobody cares that much, except the people who want a medal for party planning.

    I've got 17 anomaly medals on my profile. Literally no one ever asked which ones were in person and which ones were remote, because normal players don't care that much.

    Post edited by XK150 on
  • HosetteHosette ✭✭✭✭✭

    I haven't been paying much attention... did you say that anomaly ORGANIZERS don't get badges? You meant the people who spend hours upon hours planning, creating promotional material and swag, recruiting, organizing and encouraging players, building strategies, training players, finding hotel deals and setting up afterparties, handling hospitality, defining the playbox, running and attending meanings, and dozens of other thankless tasks? REALLY? I once took a whole week off of work to run an anomaly and I could have used another week off afterward. If I did all that work and didn't get an anomaly badge I would be livid.

  • tp235tp235 ✭✭✭✭

    What is being said here is not the perspective of the normal players around you, but your own.

    Onsite participants who don't care don't care at all.

    But there are those who do.

    And that's why it's a good way to incentivize onsites.


    I once met a player who had never participated in an onsite anomaly, but somehow talked as if he had been following the anomaly, and I thought it would be better to distinguish between them by the color of their medal.

  • MoogModularMoogModular ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2023

    From my understanding, they actuáally get Niantic Ambassador coins for volunteering.

    I don't know what op is saying because they clearly haven't been involved with the planning of an anomaly.

    @@tp235 I can't remove this tag by mistake
  • AzhreiaAzhreia ✭✭✭✭✭

    No, Niantic no longer issues those coins.

    @Hosette there are no more manual badge assignments for Anomalies. You have to interact with 5 NIA-deployed BBs in the playbox to badge. Intel and Orga go badgeless unless they are on-site and interacting with BBs.

  • SSSputnikSSSputnik ✭✭✭✭✭

    The coins were a nice bonus. I got an embedded reporter one. Definitely deserved as your team misses out on your full attention to the game whilst busy taking pics and running after team groups for good pic coverage.

    Orga should def get recognition, its a nightmare.

    Usually these people are in the city where its being hosted tho, so can participate.

    A tiered medal wouldn't be so bad. But max reward should go orga/poc, then on ground boots, then remote recharge (which is also a huge pita to organise) vetting crew, intel crew etc.

  • XK150XK150 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • MoogModularMoogModular ✭✭✭✭✭

    I find it interesting for few people to disagree (besides Mxx) @mortuus @tp235 @Hosette

    You all think people who are key couriers are not helping with their team for an anomaly? Every bit counts and I really hate trying to say one part is more than the other.

  • XK150XK150 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It was too many words to write or read about tiered medals that aren't going to happen. You should try to expend all that energy on that something that actually matters.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭


    I never said nor implied that people who farm and distribute keys for recharge rooms shouldn't be credited or that their contribution is small. I have no idea where you got that from. Those people are as much part of the behind-the-scenes team as many others and they most definitely deserve recognition that's different than somebody who recharged 100xm.

  • MxxMxx ✭✭✭✭

    Local organizing teams often tap into a pool of remote assistants to help with tasks that don't require physical presence in that city. Such people don't participate on the ground.

  • SSSputnikSSSputnik ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2023

    Yes, but the POC is usually on ground. I'm well aware of how anomaly planning works.

    Although remote dispatch from people unfamiliar with the ground can be a PITA.

Sign In or Register to comment.