Making Ingress Better – Part 1

There are already Part 2 and Part 3 available as well.


So, folks, Ingress is already 2.5 month old (still in beta!). After playing a while I can already point out some things, which I, as a player, would be glad to see fixed or enhanced.

I am pretty sure that many of these will find their solution as the game evolves, but nevertheless..

Let’s start with the basics.

 

1) And here is the first catch — Ingress is… pointless at this stage.

 

Please hold on and don’t shoot me with a fire hose!

Yes, currently there are not many people with Level 8 and there is something to fight for. But what’s next? Perfect illustration of the game process is this one 🙂 You can find animated gif here

Ingress Blue Green

In my opinion, some kind of team achievements should be introduced. Game goal is to capture more Mind Units than opposing team. So, big fields should be awarded with much more “team points” than small ones.

Next, there can be some kind of recognition for keeping fields and portals in your team’s hands. For example, “defended portal for 7 days = team gets XXX points + extra points for those, who helped to recharge that portal, upgraded resonators etc.”  Or, “kept field with XXX MU alive for 7 days = teams gets XXX points etc.”

Isn’t it logical? Otherwise, I believe, most players will simply be bored as soon as they reach Level 7 or 8. At the same time, new will come and as Google needs GPS tracking data, then it does not matter, whether players are veterans or newbies.

 

2) Cheating.

 

Ingress Cheater

Ok, I know it is eternal problem with almost any game. Still all these GPS spoofing bastards and account sharing players should be reported and banned quickly and with no mercy. New methods for discovering them should be implemented.

Methods should be strict, because many people will quit playing, as they do not want to spend their time and money (check Ingress costs!) competing with those sitting in front of the computers and getting 200 000 AP in one hour.

What do you think? Share in comments!

To be continued…