Be Excellent To Each Other

Since installing Ingress (Android only I'm afraid, recently bought up by Google from original devs), I am now taking a very long and weird route to work every day, as well as wandering around my local area in the evening hacking portals getting exercise.

It's basically a GPS-based game where two factions (Enlightened vs. Resistance) attempt to capture 'portals' that are meta-constructs linked to prominent objects in the real world (public art, churches, government buildings, funny signs). The major catch being that you have to be within 40m to interact with them, resulting in players racing back and forth across their cities to capture and maintain portals for their faction. You to obtain useful items (weapons, resonators, keys, media) by 'hacking', you can attack and drain portals in order to make them neutral, and then capture and fortify them with resonators and buffs.

It's an invite-beta, for which I have two invites. If you really fancy the sound of it, let me know and I'll punt one your way.

Also, Enlightenment ftw.

Edit: Edinburgh currently looks a little something like this. I'm on the Green (Enlightened) side, which is making for a fun if not challenging time.

Sounds awesome!

Lacking an android and regular access to a city, I'll pass.

Ooh, sounds fun. Also, I have both an Android AND a city, so this might be good! I'd like an invite please!

There are portals in rural locations too, and you can request the creation of new portals via the app (although filtering will take a few weeks afaik).

Mr Squirt, PM me an email address

Also the 'fields' on the map above are created when you link three portals together. To create a field there must be no opposing factor fields bisecting the area. The number at the centre of the field is a representation of the estimated population of the field and contributes to the worldwide faction score (to determine who is winning).

Some VERY LARGE fields have been created spanning large US states and across oceans, which is very hard to do (as even one tiny enemy field in the way will prevent you from creating it), requiring co-ordinated assaults from local, and not so local, faction players. It's a very social game that encourages interaction and collaboration.

Last night a tourist had collected a load of portal keys from the city centre, and stopped outside my flat on his way home where he dropped them all. I promptedly picked them up and thanked him. The keys will enable me to create links between the portals in question (assuming they're on my faction's side), so this was very handy.

Thanks! I shall do some ingressy stuff anon!

There would be potential to capture a good chunk of the Forth there EBG, wish there was an iPhone version!

If you're near enough to a portal to interact with it what do you actually have to do to capture it?

There's a cracking triangular field spanning from North Berwick to Antruther

There is an 'unofficial' iOS version, which you can hunt out at your own risk!

Each portal has 8 spaces for 'reasonators' and four slots for buffs.

Resonators are essentially energy cells that protect the portal, so the more you have, the more HP the portal has. Various buffs add more shielding, or make the portal easier to hack (you can hack your own portals for items, so that's why you'd want to do that!), or counterattack the player when they attack or hack the portal.

To make a portal neutral, you just have to drain the portal's resonators to zero, which destroys them.

I have this now but it'll need to wait until it's not pissing down for me to fire it up.

Yeah, I had to spend 20 minutes looking very fucking dodgy wandering around the car park at work.

I might have also been wheeling around on my bike (in the rain) earlier in order to take down and then re-fortify a portal near my flat. Derp.

I asked for an invite so I'll see what happens.

and here we go!

Ace! It told me to go to the pub!

But MrsA! People were relying on me to stop the evil enemy!

I've got to fortify the port.

I mean portal!

It is a risk, Niantic have recently been banning accounts left and right for using anything except the official client.

Also if you're looking for local players or groups, the best place to look after the in game comm is Google+ (yes really). I got loads of support and gear from my local higher level players when I was starting out.

It's designed to be a team game by virtue of the fact that if you're level 8, you can't create a mega-fortified level 8 portal by yourself, because it limits the number of high-level resonators you can place. Actually at Level 8 I think it's one or two, so you need to collaborate with at least a few other players to get really fortified areas.

Hey it's the exact same rules as Scientology!

Some dude just cycled up to my flat, dropped about 100 portal keys and some XMP bursters, then rode off again. It was weird, but cool.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off for a walk to try to capture a portal and expand the green field around my flat

After noticing that this was responsible for over half the battery drain on my phone over the last few hours and as I'm pretty unlikely to get into it properly I've uninstalled it. I think I've still got invites on my account though so if anyone want a shot just shout. Note though that I signed up directly on the main website and got an invite within about an hour so you can probably get in direct from the source right now.

Ingress is a killer of battery life as it's always using GPS, data (which it also racks up a fair bit of if you play a lot) and has the screen on. Most players I know carry spare batteries or mobile chargers etc if they're going to be out any length of time. I have similar but haven't been playing much of late.

I walk to the station and select Victoria Hall then select hack a portal and some numbers appear. This pleases me.

I captured 13 portals on the way to work this morning. My regular 20 minute commute took 1hr 40. Still, I'm getting some killer exercise cycling in random directions. Anyone watching me probably thinks I have severe navigation problems.

Apparently I now have 13 invites (and no friends), I remember back when we didn't have any etc etc so if you try and sign up and don't get in right away give me a prod.

Ha ha! I managed to capture a portal and then link it with another. I have now done a small amount to protect diners in that Byron Burger from alien interference!

Anyone keep playing this? I'm now L7, about 300k off L8, and I've done a *lot* of cycling this month.

Me. I am still level one but it provides a welcome distraction on the way to work. Pubs around saltaire are mine.

How much AP? It's only 10k to L2. Make a few links!

It said 70k earlier!
I will find my phone.

70k is at least L3. Maybe you're just still using L1 gear?

I'm L7, about 800k AP. There's three L7 portals with four rare multihacks each outside my gf's flat, so I'm building a monstrous inventory of high-power gear. The centre of Manchester is awesome for this game, the Northern Quarter is the site of quite a bitter war.

Nice. Sadly there's nothing in range of my flat or work for easy hacking, so I'm constantly bereft of bursters. I've made a dickload of AP without even firing a shot through a lot of strategic fields.

The game has a lot that needs fixing. One monument in town has no fewer than 7 or 8 duplicate portals around it, it's silly.

Yay level two. It will give me something to do on lunchtimes in leeds.