Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

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EikoandMog
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Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby EikoandMog » 09 Jun 2013, 00:34

I'm not sure how many people follow this or play at all but Ingress is a closed beta augmented reality game about going outside and actually visiting cool things in your local area. The backstory is that a secret organisation known only as Niantic has discovered Exotic Matter (XM) that has the ability to shape human thought and mysterious extraterrestrials known as "shapers" seem to be behind it. It's a web of intrigue with elements of ARG if you care for that sort of thing.

Players are split in to two factions: the Resistance which seek to push away the influence of the Shapers to save humanity and the Enlightened that wish to welcome the Shapers in to our hearts and minds, claiming that they are the future of mankind's potential.

The game actually uses your GPS and is in essence an overlay of Google Maps meaning that yes, you will need to go outside to do pretty much anything. Key areas; most of which are user-submitted show up on the game map as "portals" which can be interacted with in a number of ways. Hacking will produce items with which to attack and defend or portal keys. Defense is promoted using items known as resonators that take a certain amount of hits before being destroyed, XMP Bursters that will directly attack resonators and a few others.

With keys, you can link portals together of which your faction own. Make a triangle using these links and congratulations, you made it on the scoreboard! I'm not good at tutorial writing but I'll throw down a few links for those interested. Be prepared, the low levels are incredibly slow and this seems to be a gameplay decision by Niantic Labs. While I know that LRR is predominantly blue which belongs to the Resistance faction, I play on the Enlightened (green) which at the moment seems to have less people playing on its side by quite a bit. Just my two cents. Feel free to check out the intel map for your area before you choose your faction a little ways in to the tutorial and make a decision based on that.

Official site. Go here to request an invite.
Official Ingress Youtube channel. There's a few tutorials linked on there.
If you actually got in (seems to be rather quick turnaround from request to invite), you can see what's around using the Intel map.

EDIT: I should note, Android only. Sorry, iOS users.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby AdmiralMemo » 11 Jun 2013, 00:38

I've been playing this since Beta.

Lack of transportation hinders me, but I still work on it when I can. I'm Resistance, playing in Baltimore, though I do have a couple of keys from San Francisco and from Pennsylvania on me.

Also, you CAN change teams, but only once, and it requires a full reset. (So drop everything you have at some place you control (like your house) before you do it, so you can pick it up afterwards. :D)
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby EikoandMog » 11 Jun 2013, 05:07

I started playing around late April and I'm nearly Level 4. There's not a great deal of portals around me and those that are are too high level for me to interact with in any way other than hacking due to also lacking transport. The times I do get to do things, I have a great deal of fun, however.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby psychopez » 11 Jun 2013, 13:50

Lvl 6 Enlightened in the Pittsburgh area.

We just had had a cross-faction meetup "Operation Turquoise" at a pub this past weekend, and it was fun to meet a bunch of fellow nerds and geeks. The meetup kept the vocal 2 or 3 people on each faction away, which made it really neat to see the other team and just chill.

We actually discussed a few things, like a 'Capture the Flag' game we're setting up in July with portals, and started working something out to pose a challege to Baltimore/Cleveland/Cincinnati once the football season starts. So huge props to the game for the social aspect.

As for the physical aspect, I do have to say it, I've gone on more than a few 30-60 minute walks around my neighborhood because I could hit some portals, or gone for a walk at lunch rather than chill on forums, but I do live and work in a highly populated area so I can hit a lot of portals at once doing either.

Your mileage may vary.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby AdmiralMemo » 11 Jun 2013, 14:44

There are few portals around where I live. Many more downtown, but I rarely ever go there. Portals are about 2 to 5 miles between them around here.
Graham wrote:The point is: Nyeh nyeh nyeh. I'm an old man.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby EikoandMog » 11 Jun 2013, 16:54

psychopez wrote:Lvl 6 Enlightened in the Pittsburgh area.

We just had had a cross-faction meetup "Operation Turquoise" at a pub this past weekend, and it was fun to meet a bunch of fellow nerds and geeks. The meetup kept the vocal 2 or 3 people on each faction away, which made it really neat to see the other team and just chill.

We actually discussed a few things, like a 'Capture the Flag' game we're setting up in July with portals, and started working something out to pose a challege to Baltimore/Cleveland/Cincinnati once the football season starts. So huge props to the game for the social aspect.

As for the physical aspect, I do have to say it, I've gone on more than a few 30-60 minute walks around my neighborhood because I could hit some portals, or gone for a walk at lunch rather than chill on forums, but I do live and work in a highly populated area so I can hit a lot of portals at once doing either.

Your mileage may vary.


Oh, have you done a meetup with an agent named FateEverywhere/ Exit Strategy? I know him from elsewhere.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby gcninja » 11 Jun 2013, 18:41

I've been trying to get a friggin invite, can anybody help a brother out? It looks awesome, I JUST CANT PLAY
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psychopez
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby psychopez » 11 Jun 2013, 19:37

EikoandMog wrote:
psychopez wrote:Lvl 6 Enlightened in the Pittsburgh area.

We just had had a cross-faction meetup "Operation Turquoise" at a pub this past weekend, and it was fun to meet a bunch of fellow nerds and geeks. The meetup kept the vocal 2 or 3 people on each faction away, which made it really neat to see the other team and just chill.

We actually discussed a few things, like a 'Capture the Flag' game we're setting up in July with portals, and started working something out to pose a challege to Baltimore/Cleveland/Cincinnati once the football season starts. So huge props to the game for the social aspect.

As for the physical aspect, I do have to say it, I've gone on more than a few 30-60 minute walks around my neighborhood because I could hit some portals, or gone for a walk at lunch rather than chill on forums, but I do live and work in a highly populated area so I can hit a lot of portals at once doing either.

Your mileage may vary.


Oh, have you done a meetup with an agent named FateEverywhere/ Exit Strategy? I know him from elsewhere.


I don't think I've done a meetup with him, but I see him all the time on faction chat. You want I should send a mysterious message to him?

gcninja, sure, pm me your e-mail address. I would very much like it if you went Enlightened, as it is the one true way, but you have to make your own choice, I'm not going to force you to pick a side.
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EikoandMog
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby EikoandMog » 12 Jun 2013, 02:13

psychopez wrote:
EikoandMog wrote:
psychopez wrote:Lvl 6 Enlightened in the Pittsburgh area.

We just had had a cross-faction meetup "Operation Turquoise" at a pub this past weekend, and it was fun to meet a bunch of fellow nerds and geeks. The meetup kept the vocal 2 or 3 people on each faction away, which made it really neat to see the other team and just chill.

We actually discussed a few things, like a 'Capture the Flag' game we're setting up in July with portals, and started working something out to pose a challege to Baltimore/Cleveland/Cincinnati once the football season starts. So huge props to the game for the social aspect.

As for the physical aspect, I do have to say it, I've gone on more than a few 30-60 minute walks around my neighborhood because I could hit some portals, or gone for a walk at lunch rather than chill on forums, but I do live and work in a highly populated area so I can hit a lot of portals at once doing either.

Your mileage may vary.


Oh, have you done a meetup with an agent named FateEverywhere/ Exit Strategy? I know him from elsewhere.


I don't think I've done a meetup with him, but I see him all the time on faction chat. You want I should send a mysterious message to him?

gcninja, sure, pm me your e-mail address. I would very much like it if you went Enlightened, as it is the one true way, but you have to make your own choice, I'm not going to force you to pick a side.

I asked him as well and he seems to know you as well. I say go for it and yes, Enlightenment is the future. Join it.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby Clerik » 28 Jun 2013, 06:55

I can very much empathize the awesomeness of this game,. It has been my personal drug since early BETA. It's basically geocaching meets WoW with all the fresh air of the former combined with the XP-bar of the latter. Also you meet nice people and fight for your home town.

I f anyone would fee interested in receiving an invite - sent me a PM.
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Re: Ingress: Google making geeks go outside.

Postby AdmiralMemo » 10 Dec 2013, 11:42

Necroing this thread because Ingress is coming out of beta on December 15. I need to invite people before then to help me get to Level 5.

Anyone not currently playing that wants to play? I've got 10 invites.
Graham wrote:The point is: Nyeh nyeh nyeh. I'm an old man.
LRRcast wrote:Paul: That does not answer that question at all.
James: Who cares about that question? That's a good answer.

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