Chicago Abaddon Prime - Most Memorable Moments
I'm really interested to hear what most stood out to everyone at this event.
For me, it being a Mega Anomaly and not in direct competition with other sites, helped lure people from multiple regions I'd been hoping to meet for years. This was a real treat. Just about checked everyone off of my list so I can finally retire in peace.
As for Moments... I love hearing the boom of the announcements crowd screaming "Re-Sis-Tance" in unison. At the time, I was surrounded by quiet, unhappy Enlightened agents so I didn't participate. But, the energy radiating from the other side of the room was incredible.
I also loved seeing Hank Prime so heavily into the video games at our after party.
I can't believe I got all our nerdy decoder boys to sing karaoke at The Seven Bar & Restaurant. Every single one of them got up there to solo! Woop!
And of course, the last impromptu gathering at our Resistance hotel where I got to swap stories with @chibri @foxypants @velotriraptor and a few others, over amazing beer before flying home. That was a relaxing way to avoid the scary weather that was taking a turn for the worse outside.
Oh, and I enjoyed that moment during Intel Ops when we had nothing left to do but sit and think. Think... think... what are we missing? That's when the fresh ideas started flowing and a clue came in. Within 2 minutes we heard the beep,beep,beep,beep, clank! of the hotel safe unlock and we all started screaming. It was a glorious feeling! Oh joy!
Just one more thing... it was funny waking up at random moments in my hotel room where strangers were fiddling or struggling with something. I'd move to help them, then pass back out, never for more than 4 hours, and never learning their names. According to @AFoxinSox , I might be a ninja? Lol... *giggles. Never even got to meet anyone I bunked with that weekend. Too much to do!
Comments
I met you, for a brief moment before I fell asleep and you bugged out again.
We did? Lol. Was that in my first hotel room? Or the second? So many people! So little time!
My 3rd anomaly as boots. Via Noir, also in Chicago, was thick with Res and after the first hour, we found ourselves with little to do. Exo5 in Boulder was the complete opposite, heavy Enl and my whole team was out of gear at the end. Abaddon was CRAZY! Our starting sector was a mile or so from check-in, so we started on the move and just kept going! The rapidly changing playbox kept everyone on our toes, constantly on the lookout for the different portal ornaments. Trying to coordinate media swaps without having them picked up by passing agents was also an interesting dance.
The agents from the far west suburbs gathered at an outdoor pub close to the river to nurse our sore feet and have a moment of stillness. We were sore, tired, and disheartened. Then someone said "we won".
No....
It says right here on Slack.
You're joking. No way.
But it was "insert very trusted agent name".
Really? (At this point, we all start reviving a little).
Then came the screenshot of the new glyph sequence. And we all erupted in shouts and startled the table behind us.
The most memorable part for me was how shockingly close the win was. To me, that's how a Meganomaly should be. It should be a super tight race. It took until the next day to really sink in.
@GibsonGirl71 Yes! Close battles are the freaking best! I was also sure we'd lost. I had no hope.
But, why would the announcers build up the Enlightened successes like that, driving the nail in further? Usually they build up the losing team before announcing the winner. But, that couldn't be us. The playbox was overwhelmed and nothing we did to actively control portals stuck. Ok, leave their blockers, hack all the things, go, go, go. It still felt fruitless even though I knew we were doing the right thing.
What a thrilling switcharoo!
I'm stoked you got the exciting news while resting your feet at a pub. You guys must have been pumped.
@jplolo , amazing moments of the weekend are too numerous for me to count, but one of my favorite parts of the weekend was one you mentioned: The conversation and drinks in the hotel lobby on Monday while we -- a small band of Ingress players from Hawaii, Germany, New York, Wisconsin, Ontario, and right here in Chicago -- waited out the storm. Before Ingress, the chances of any of us meeting were effectively zero. But because of Ingress, we now have a shared history and a truly incredible shared experience. Ingress is like nothing else.
My comms died on me, I lost my group, and wandered from the bottom of the play box all the way up to Lincoln park before I realized I had no idea where I was or what I was doing.
This sounds horrible!
I love your story of the weekend @jplolo and I'm so glad everyone had a great time.
My recount is similar to @GibsonGirl71 since I was at the same table as her having a pint.
Wish I could have stayed at the afterparty longer.
t|-|anks fOr organizing 7he k4raokE nigh7 out, it wAs su(Per fun! :-) $
What should I say :) this was an amazing long weekend for me as well ...
Stealth for starters... No explaining Ingress to a local friend at a breakfast date... Then Stealth....
Then... meeting my team :)
While having travelled the longest distance ever for an anomaly - to Chicago and on the other hand this being the anomaly where I was most comfy on the streets , knew the area and all... Even when cycling....
Winning that thing when everyone here told me we would lose... and my response each time was... no :) Hearing the announcement, watching the room go blue and the first glyph appearing (my non English language exclamation in the video I took...)
Being on the after party, in the hotel lobby or lounge or on the roof terrace meeting all you people... Skipping the family prescribed shopping spree (and not looking back) and tourist activities (also not looking back) in favor of meeting all of you :) For connecting, swapping stories... For once meeting in real life ...
This was one unique and beautiful (wrong word but somehow right) and amazing weekend!!!
100% sure you are a ninja!
Nice hidden passcode! Thank you
Yay!!! Someone got it @Ninjaburger ! Thanks for sneaking that in.
I spent most of the anomaly in a car, but I did get a chance to walk around the city and see the giant metal bean, which was cool. I wish I could have met Hank Johnson. He seems like a nice guy.
That was a super fun anomaly. The Omaha owls fielded a couple bike teams. Had an absolute blast running our bikes around downtown like maniacs. If I remember correctly we got blown out by blue. Caught up with many enlightened friends from all over the world that we hadn't seen for a while. Traded keys and made plans for future ops. I miss going to anomalies regularly.