Why no Requiem Decode?
MadRelique
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@NianticBrian is there a reason why this anomaly is not going to have off site anomaly decode challenges?
I as well as many (outside recharge range and unable to take a week+ off to travel) were hoping for a means of participating in this anomaly. The decode element from Umbra was a ideal method, and it is saddening to see how we were just given one event anomaly without a method of participating at all.
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Yes. Although I want to first thank Niantic for starting to put information online so early, so we get a sneak peak at the badge and a hint about the location within the city based on the Afterparty, for my friends who were hoping to participate remotely, this line on the page is concerning:
"You must recharge an anomaly portal during the anomaly period or provide Intel operator services during the anomaly period."
When Umbra added decoding as an offsite option, this seemed like a great way to get more agents involved in anomalies who couldn't travel to the site, and at a lower burden to organizers. With the 13 Archetypes challenge, it seems that there is a significant and growing interest in decoding within the Ingress community. It seems odd, then, that this wouldn't be continued into the Requiem anomaly.
This is especially disappointing because, unlike every other series in the past, this one is only available in one location. Agents in Asia, Oceania, the Americas, and much of Africa are not in range to recharge portals in Munich, even if they could manage to arrange key distribution. With the exception of a relatively small number of intel operators, and those few of us who are fortunate enough to be able to afford the time and expense to travel to Europe, there would be no way for the majority of agents to participate without decoding or some other creative off-site option.
I hope the answer to the decoding question is merely a "not yet" and not a "no."
Yes, please please please add a decode challenge or other means for the rest of the world outside this recharge ring to be able to participate and get the badge. I started playing in May 2015, and I have managed to get every single anomaly badge since, and I will be very sad if I am unable to get Requiem. I am unable to travel to Munich, Intel operator positions are very limited, and as I'm in Colorado, I am unable to recharge. I and many others will happily pay for an offsite badge ticket if there is something we are able to do.
This is reminding me as to the 'why' of Sarah and Pinesingers resignation letters. *sigh*
Thanks for holding an Anomaly Event for us. Can't wait to participate and see all the faces in Europe again!
I'm sorry Niantic, but I have to call you out here; you're being idiots.
For the entirety of Ingress history, you have hosted multiple anomalies per series, in multiple cities all around the world. Even when you only had "Meganomalies", you still offered 3, one in each major zone (APAC, AMER, EMEA). That was rough for some agents, but it at least allowed those who could not attend, say, Amsterdam, to still attend Chicago.
Here you have a situation where you're offering 1 anomaly in totality, for 1 city across the entire planet, with no off-site decoding or other participation beyond recharging, which, as other agents have already pointed out, is geographically limited.
Or, put more simply, you're basically telling all agents who cannot easily travel to Munich on the day of the event that they can go play in traffic.
This is an incredibly exclusionary event, and runs counter to over half a decade of established anomaly play. If you're looking to phase them out in favor of hex events, okay, but this is not the way to do it.
I just want to add that I would also like a chance to participate remotely in the anomaly and also to obtain the Requiem badge.
And yes, I would be willing to pay for this as well.
Thank you. 😁
We were promised the chance to earn the anomaly medal offsite in other ways. I have not missed an anomaly medal since I began playing. I hope leaving out the details on this option was an accidental oversight and not that you are actually going to fail us all by not providing to us the ability to earn the medal offsite, as previously promised.
I want to echo something that @vidicon said:
When Umbra added decoding as an offsite option, this seemed like a great way to get more agents involved in anomalies who couldn't travel to the site, and at a lower burden to organizers. With the 13 Archetypes challenge, it seems that there is a significant and growing interest in decoding within the Ingress community.
I was a fan of the Umbra decoding challenges. I am a fan of the 13 Archetypes challenges.
In my early Ingress days, I remember hearing about Verum Inveniri* and their “impossible" puzzles that some how yielded anomaly intelligence. I remember thinking, If I couldn’t attend an anomaly, that’s something I wish I could do.
Fast forward to the present day. I’m learning. I’m having fun. I might or might not have the skills (yet), but if I can’t travel or provide Intel operator services, I’d throw my hat into the ring for decoding. It would still be something that makes me feel connected to the effort that the whole team, the whole faction, puts into an anomaly. And yes, it would be something to get a medal, a shiny bit of pixels around which I and many other friends can tell and share stories.
*Alas, I think a lot of that history died with G+, so that link will have to do.
@NianticBrian @NianticThomas
I'd love to see decoding as an option for Requiem. It was an interesting inclusion during Umbra for both remote agents and Intel and a great way for any agent worldwide to pitch in towards the big game by using their acumen.
Having a way for agents to do their part towards the score for exclusive events helps us all to feel included, even if we don't have the funds, or time, to be there personally.
Remember how @LibertyBot2 got the world pitching in toward their Portal Luminescent Project (PLP) by making a Mission Banner challenge for Luminescent Heart 13 Magnus? That's what I'm reminded of when I wish to hear someone on the inside say, "we could still use your help".
When you have portal hunting and decoders battling for Advanced Intel in the days leading up to, and during a big event, it brings the excitement to our doorstep and puts our remote hearts into rooting for the win.
I'm not saying everyone, everywhere should get a badge for the event just because they want one. It should be a challenge, just like attendance can be a huge challenge. But, give us more routes for access to the Mind Palace, please. We're hungry!
I see it like the Passage to Osiris badge, elite for those willing and able to travel. I'd be disappointed if everyone could get the badge from their home town, it isn't a small thing making arrangements to attend from central US. Maybe a lesser, different color badge can be made available for those that can't attend and are willing to participate off site?
World is cruel place, individuals do not always get what they want...live with that 😁
Don't worry folks, in sure at some point you'll be able to just buy the badge. Seems to be the direction they're going anyway.
So you want to make Ingress more profitable. You ramp up community participation with a bunch of decoding challenges, yet you don't do a decoding challenge for the single anomaly held this year?
This one just sounds like a simple thing to do. (or should be)
It's not the single anomaly this year. There can be other ones after May.
It's the only one with the Requiem badge, that's the problem
There could be...but we don't know. They've had them in the past. I've attended anomalies in Feb in both Atlanta, GA and in Milwaukee, WI.
Nothing from those over on the Ingress team. I'd normally ping the community manager but...well...yeah.
But if there is nothing on the horizon to keep agents engaged, we are going to see active agent numbers drop yet again. With drops of agent activity, it will be harder and harder to get agents to show up at a future anomaly if we even have one after May.
Unless of course, you know something we don't know?
The event announcement was explicitly limited to "January to May 2020". Events after May 2020 will be announced separately.
So, it's not unusual that anomalies happen only in the second half of a year.
I do agree that having only one anomaly in a series at one place, it would be great to have a way for people all over the globe to participate off-site and be able to earn the anomaly badge.
Based on Data from past few years, they haven't and people have complained about it each year. Prior to 2016 they had them in the first half of the year multiple times.
Previous Anomalies
Heck, the first one was in Jan of 2013 at Cahokia Mounds (in IL, near St Louis, MO) which was sadly before my time in Ingress.
But back to the original thing. They've post their weekly decoding stuff, and have gotten people interested. If they don't have a decoding event for offsite participation for the Anomaly in May, they are only sh o o ting their selves in the foot. Agents want it, hopefully someone over on the Ingress team notices. Maybe @ace would be kind enough to point it out to the team?
I'll leave my 2 cents as well, this is super disappointing not only because 95%of the world can't join the anomaly in any way, but because there's only one anomaly to begin with. I was really mad at the last megaanomaly despite living in Chicago, and I see that they didn't take any suggestions.
Longtime player here, this might be it for me if this continues
Let's think about this. Since there is only one anomaly in May, what would be the impact (e.g. on server upkeep or on faction gameplay co-ordination) if every agent outside Europe decided to register as a decoder for the same event? Seems to me like it would be a logistical nightmare, but maybe I'm wrong. Convince me. :-)
How about having connected cells? Everyone who registers for off-site and does a certain number of actions in one of those cells gets the badge. And MU score in those cells counts as part of the anomaly result.
No worse than the current decoder challenge. That is, if they can manage to keep the Intel map running.
Which again, uses POC's. I loved connected cells. But if Niantic doesn't want to use POC's, then it would be hard to determine who helped, who didn't, ect. Some agents might only perform one action (out of the way blocker) during the connected cell op time. Only way around that, would be to just give everyone in that cell the badge, but that would be like the Sharts Badge we all got from being active during that specified time. And I'm sure someone will cry over that.
Can't really use the MU scores from the cells, it would just be a point for one faction or the other. MU isn't the same across the world. You would only have to win your cell. MU scores could be posted, but not be part of the actual scoring itself.
There's no need for POCs for connected cells. Just require a specific set of actions. Like make 100k AP or create 10 links or something like that. If recharging one anomaly portal is enough to get the badge for rechargers, then something like that would certainly be enough for connected cells.
Umm, so if you field over the area, how will you make 10 links? Not everyone in a fielding op gets to throw. 100k AP? For some that's nothing, for most agents, that's fairly high. Some don't even hit it during FS! If you get to be that lucky agent or agents who have to travel several hours one way to clear links for an op...limits the amount of time you might be able to play. Just stating there doesn't seem to be a really good way to do this without a POC or making people upset.
I just posted some random numbers
No worse than the current decoder challenge. That is, if they can manage to keep the Intel map running.
The current decoder challenge is every-man-for-himself and not time limited. The Anomaly decode is supposed to be a team effort in a specific time window. (It does no good for the team to have a thousand people decode the first challenge and no one decode the tenth, for example - and for each challenge, one decode is enough.) This is what I mean by faction gameplay co-ordination.
Only way around that, would be to just give everyone in that cell the badge
Only people who had applied for an offsite-participation ticket. That alone would avoid the "you gave me this badge I didn't want" crybabies.
still in the center of the world