Redesigning Ingress Alexander Rose Initial Proposal My proposal for this project was to redesign the online interface and communication systems of Ingress. I feel that the user interface of the website for the game and the interface in the game could be modified to add deeper and more productive communication between players. In addition redesigning the in-game user interface in specific ways could improve general gameplay quality as a whole. What is Ingress? Ingress is a geo-location game that was created by Google for android phone devices. It is currently in a closed beta and is being continuously updated and refined. In the game players are given the choice to choose one of two factions to align themselves with, the Enlightened or the Resistance. Once the player chooses a faction they must go around to real places in the world that are called “XM Portals”, which are essentially capture points. By capturing points for their faction, the player increases the level of influence that their faction has in the world. By connection these points together with special items in game the player is able to increase their factions global influence as well. This is the fundamental goal of the game, to increase the influence your faction has in the world as whole. Ethnography Until now video gaming has been limited to sitting behind a computer and interacting with others only through the computer itself. In some cases players are able to meet with the people they play with who live all over the world but for most it was strictly communication through the interface of the computer and the internet alone. Ingress, a geo-location game on android phones, has changed the way players are able to interact with their friends and even their enemies in video games. Now not only does the player interact with these people online, but they will meet them on a regular basis and perform missions and operations together, in real time and in the real world. For this ethnography I decided that I would closely examine how this game has changed player interaction and how the added personal social interaction changes the way players interact online and in real life with each other. Ingress is a cell-phone based game that currently is only available on Android. It is a geo- location game that pits two factions, The Enlightened and The Resistance, against each other to try and control more minds around the world. Each team must travel to portals which are control points within the game world and they must capture them for their faction. By capturing these points the faction then makes it possible to harvest utilities from those points and they can use
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Transcript
Redesigning Ingress
Alexander Rose
Initial Proposal
My proposal for this project was to redesign the online interface and communication
systems of Ingress. I feel that the user interface of the website for the game and the interface in
the game could be modified to add deeper and more productive communication between players.
In addition redesigning the in-game user interface in specific ways could improve general
gameplay quality as a whole.
What is Ingress?
Ingress is a geo-location game that was created by Google for android phone devices. It
is currently in a closed beta and is being continuously updated and refined. In the game players
are given the choice to choose one of two factions to align themselves with, the Enlightened or
the Resistance. Once the player chooses a faction they must go around to real places in the world
that are called “XM Portals”, which are essentially capture points. By capturing points for their
faction, the player increases the level of influence that their faction has in the world. By
connection these points together with special items in game the player is able to increase their
factions global influence as well. This is the fundamental goal of the game, to increase the
influence your faction has in the world as whole.
Ethnography
Until now video gaming has been limited to sitting behind a computer and interacting with others
only through the computer itself. In some cases players are able to meet with the people they
play with who live all over the world but for most it was strictly communication through the
interface of the computer and the internet alone. Ingress, a geo-location game on android phones,
has changed the way players are able to interact with their friends and even their enemies in
video games. Now not only does the player interact with these people online, but they will meet
them on a regular basis and perform missions and operations together, in real time and in the real
world. For this ethnography I decided that I would closely examine how this game has changed
player interaction and how the added personal social interaction changes the way players interact
online and in real life with each other.
Ingress is a cell-phone based game that currently is only available on Android. It is a geo-
location game that pits two factions, The Enlightened and The Resistance, against each other to
try and control more minds around the world. Each team must travel to portals which are control
points within the game world and they must capture them for their faction. By capturing these
points the faction then makes it possible to harvest utilities from those points and they can use
these portals to create “Mind Control Fields” which increase the total global score for their
faction. While the actual game takes place out in the real world there is a great deal of social
interaction taking place on the internet, specifically on G+, google’s social networking system,
which functions much like Facebook.
Through G+ players are able to connect to the Ingress global community. On the Ingress
page players can share photos, results of gameplay, and anything else related to the game that
they are interested in sharing with the community. However the really intriguing part of the
online community are the smaller G+ groups that are created for local groups of Ingress players.
by using this social networking in such a way they have changed the purpose of the social media
itself to become a strategic form of intel so that they can succeed in the game. I found this to be
the most fascinating part of the community as a whole and I tried to focus on it for my
ethnography of the game as a whole.
In addition to the ability to interact on G+ player’s also have access to an in-game live
chat system. This system is setup so the player can chat with their factions within a specific
range of their position. The distances of this chat range from 20 kilometers, 100 kilometers, and
finally globally. This chat no only displays comments from other players but also displays
critical information about portals that are being attacked in the local area.
Through this chat system players can see a live feed of important information while they
are playing the game. This allows the community to connect via the internet even when they are
out in the world playing the game. Through both the in game chat and the G+ pages players are
able to get real time information about the game and they are able to interact with the global and
local community whenever they wish.
While examining all aspects of Ingress, and how people socially interact with each other
using it, I tried to keep a few specific points in mind while examining social interactions while
playing the game and through the internet. First I tried to examine how the social interaction on
the G+ page effected the way people played Ingress. I also tried to see how the social interaction
through the in-game chat effected gameplay as well. In addition to both to those questions I tried
to keep in mind how the social interactions while playing the game itself affected the way people
interacted in the G+ page and the in game chat.
The specific community I examined was the Ingress players of the Hudson Valley. While
watching their interactions I started to observe that there were clear social systems working
within the community. It seemed that each piece of social media that was used for different
levels of coordination between the players of the game. For major operations that all players
would need to take part in to accomplish higher level players, who became the undeclared
leaders of the group because of their level and experience, started each day by declaring on the
G+ page what portals were important and what needed to be captured that day. Then after this
happened, within two hours of the post going up, players would start to state in the G+ chat what
portals they could deal with and when they thought they could take care of those portals. It was
surprising because instead of using G+ just to share information with one another, it became a
sort of military staging ground. It was like watching an army commander issue orders on the
battlefield for each soldier to follow. This made the G+ page the highest tier of communication
that the players had with one another. Each player would start their day by checking this page
and then carrying out their orders. It was truly fascinating to see social media being used almost
as a military tool for the players of the game. Periodically throughout the day players would go
to the G+ page and add images of people that they found out played the game so that other
players would be able to spot enemy players when they were trying to capture points. In addition
to that players would also post when they had completed an objective on the G+ page so that
other players would know that they didn’t need to worry about completing this objective.
The in-game chat was the next level of interaction that I observed during the time I
watched people play Ingress. This chat was used as an extra level of communication while
completing objectives. Since players would be out in the world capturing points they would use
this chat to talk to each other like an instant messenger. This would be used for anything from
verification of portal locations, to just congratulating someone for capturing a portal while they
were playing the game. Surprisingly the interactions in this chat seemed more like the social
interaction that many people see on websites such as Facebook or Myspace. Instead of using G+
to socialize many players prefered to use in-game chat to socialize with each other on a personal
level. I think this had to do with the fact that unlike on G+ players could interact with the
opposing faction in the in-game chat. This made for a much more open interactive experience.
Players joked much more often in the game as opposed to the social media attached to the game.
It seemed as though this was done on purpose. Players kept the important information in G+ and
they commiserate using the in-game chat.
Social interaction when in person was very much affected by the state of the game.
Players would meet up and discuss what portals they wanted to attack or defend or discuss things
that had occurred recently in the game. Because both factions are out in the same world
competing for points it was always a possibility that players would interact with players from the
opposite team. When opposing teams met in person it was always a very exciting social event.
Both teams would joke about different things that they had done throughout the week and they
would joke with each other about things they wanted to accomplish in the coming week. In
addition they would also talk about things that were said in the in game chat as well. Real life
player interaction was surprisingly civil considering the competitive nature of the game which
was a delightful discovery for me because many competitive video game communities can be
quite aggressive due to the nature of the game. After observing interactions within this
community for several weeks I found that the social interaction and the use of social media
surrounding this game was quite interesting. Players didn’t not use social media in the same
manner as most people when playing Ingress. This was most notable when examining the G+
page. Instead of using it for its intended purpose which is to bring people to socialize and
connect, players used it as a form of strategic planning for the game itself. I was fascinated to see
that there was a chain of command that formed within the G+ group and was seen in the way the
members of the group played the game. I found that social interaction through the in-game chat
was used to a lesser extent as another form of strategic communication. However, this level of
interaction was much more relaxed than the interaction on the G+ page. I was also surprised to
see that much of the real world interaction was based on the interactions people had within the
game and the in-game chat.
When looking at the design principles of Ingress what I found most fascinating was the
games focus around teamwork. Because players needed to work together to create stronger
portals players were much more inclined to work together to get things done. by designing the
game in this way players are forced to work together or they will not be able to achieve as much
as they want. In my opinion, this fosters a social environment and pushes players that would
otherwise work alone to work with fellow teammates. This then pushes those players to engage
in interactions using the in-game chat and using social networks such as Facebook groups and
G+ to strategize.
Another interesting design principle of Ingress is that players are allowed to talk to the
enemy faction when using the in-game chat system. I think allowing both sides to interact with
each other makes for a much more civilized environment. Instead of having each faction never
talk to each other, Ingress allows the community to have a simple way to communicate with the
enemy team. By doing so I think this eliminates the tension that sometimes arises in video games
when players cannot relate to the enemy team because they never talk to them. By allowing
players to do this Ingress provides a civil gaming experience for its players because both teams
have the chance to become friendly with each other instead of never speaking. Thus adding to
the overall social experience that players have while playing Ingress.
If I was to redesign some of the mechanics of Ingress I would not specifically change the
way the game works currently, however I would add to the current features that exist in the game
already and I would also expand on the social experience the players have outside of the game.
First I would add to the current game mechanics a clan system. Having a clan system similar to
the group systems present in other popular multiplayer games would add to the social aspect of
Ingress on a local level. If clans existed players could have rankings within their clan which
could potentially allow them to issue orders to other members of the clan or even quickly aid
members of the clan even if they are not present with those clan members. This would essentially
add to the social experience and sense of community players would have while playing Ingress.
In addition another redesign I would add to Ingress would be to create a social
networking system, much like G+, that worked with the game. If there was a social networking
system that was connected with the game players could use that system much more effectively
than just discussing plans on a G+ page. For example if players had specific points they wanted
to hit during the day the could post it to Ingresses social networking site. Then any portals that
were targets for that day would be displayed in the game on the players phone. Allowing for a
much more interconnected and social experience. This allows the social networking system of
the game to affect the way the game works instead of just being something not directly
connected to the game. Also, players could then view things being said in the social network
while playing the game on their phone, instead of needing to use an outside source.
Overall I found Ingress and its player community to be a fascinating group to analyse.
This is a new type of social gaming that has a lot of interesting ways for players to interact with
each other. Players not only enjoy the game together through social media but they use the social
media to enhance their game experience. Social media is used such a strategic way in Ingress
which is not really seen in other communities simply because of the nature of the game itself and
how it makes players communicate. After observing the player interactions that it makes players
interact on a much more strategic level and also creates an environment where teamwork is
absolutely essential to being successful in the game. I am excited to see how this game and the
social media around it grows.
Works Cited
Safko, Lon, and David K. Brake. The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies
for Business Success. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print.
Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Morgan
Kaufmann, 2008. Print.
"3 Principles For The Future Of Gaming, From A Google Game Designer." Co.Design. N.p., n.d.
Web. 07 Mar. 2013.
What is Ingress?
Ingress is a geo-location game that was created by Google for android phone devices. It
is currently in a closed beta and is being continuously updated and refined. In the game players
are given the choice to choose one of two factions to align themselves with, the Enlightened or
the Resistance. Once the player chooses a faction they must go around to real places in the world
that are called “XM Portals”, which are essentially capture points. By capturing points for their
faction, the player increases the level of influence that their faction has in the world. By
connection these points together with special items in game the player is able to increase their
factions global influence as well.
This is the fundamental goal of the game, to increase the influence your faction has in the
world as whole. Ingress is a team game. Players are encouraged to play with other players to gain
buffs while playing and increase their effectiveness when trying to capture and defend points in
the game. Most of the time players will go out with other players on their faction in be carpools
and convoys and capture points and defend points together. Surprisingly a lot of the interaction
around Ingress becomes oddly reminiscent of military strategy and communication. Players run
around capturing points and issuing orders to other players. Because the game is made by Google
a lot of socialization around the game is connected to G+, Google’s social networking system.
They cleverly integrated the two systems with each other allowing players to create social
network around the game and connect with new people through their system and in their game.
The specific component I am looking at is the communication system and intel system in game
and out of game. These systems are ways for players to see the status of portals anywhere in the
world. These components were designed to give players a dynamic view of the state of the game
both at a computer and on their phone while playing.
Audience
Because of the nature of Ingress it is hard to attract younger audiences. Because of the
necessity of mobility for a geolocation game players must have a mode of transportation. Also
they must have an android phone and be able to move around quickly over large distances to
capture and defend points. Because of this it would seem that the desired audience for the game
is adults ages 18 and up with access to a car and an android device. I think the current design of
the game reaches the audience quite well. Overall the design of the interface both in game and on
the web works and does it’s job. However, just because the system is well designed right now
doesn’t mean it couldn’t be made better. I think what could be changed to make it better would
be to make item selection in game much more streamlined. Players do not like constantly going
through menus to do the same action over and over again. Also creating a system that integrated
G+ groups into the game would be highly beneficial for the game and would create a much more
involved group experience in the game. These changes are the areas I will be focusing most of