Another One?

The Resistance had a hard night last night in the Allen and Plano Texas area as many of the control fields and R7/R8 farms were brought down...bad news for me since I am low on high level gear.  I have a ton of mid-level stuff so I guess I need to go a hunting for more gear over the next few days. Maybe it is payback as I have been on  a link destroying kick lately.

One of the farms was in the Allen Cemetery and it occurred late at night or early in the morning hours when it was dark.  I try to be fair and stay out of places when it is after hours but maybe Allen's Cemetery does not have a curfew set on it.  I need to check.

In other Ingress news, I acquired my FOURTH MUFG container this morning.  Add that to my two
regular containers and lack of high level gear :(

If you are constantly trying to control areas and seem to have trouble doing so, make sure you watch your antagonizer to see what they are trying to accomplish.  I  get frustrated in my Ingress playing sometimes but when I look to see who took out the portal I have been nurturing,  sometimes it is someone who is trying to make a large field and that portal is key to their plans.  That being the case, "link block" where you can to help counter that.

Also try going to portals that are difficult or impossible to drive up to (drive by hacking/attacking) since a lot of Ingress players cannot be burdened with walking 50 meters to go after a portal.  I have one I have been nurturing for weeks that is over 100 ft from the road and since it is so blazing hot right now, most people do not want to be burdened with getting out of a comfy A/C cooled vehicle.

BTW, if you have no checked out the IITC web tool, you need to.  Linkage.

90 Days and Still Good

I am happy to report at 90+ days of being on Riluzole that my liver appears to be in good health and the meds have not caused any damage that the doctor can detect.  Also the meds have yet  to make me sick.  I am however a bit fatigued on some days and I am usually in bed by 9 or 9:30 PM!

My Newest Obsession - Ingress

I have always been late to the party.  It  does not matter what area it is, I am one of the last to adopt to it.  We just bought our first flat screen TV last year and our first laptops this year.  I did not start Geocaching until 2007 (it started in 2000).  The only high end cell phone I have ever had was an HTC One (M7) that I got shortly after it was released (my work phone) and I still have it.

About 1.5  months ago or so I read an article that made me curious about a game experience called Ingress that was made available to the public in beta form on Oct 30, 2013 and general release on Dec 15, 2013.  Before June 10, I never heard of it and at that time was not following much in the gaming community.  I loaded the app, signed up, and joined a faction.  I did a little Ingress playing (doing a mission or two) in the local DFW area before going on vacation (staying in WV, VA,  NC, GA).  When I arrived in WV, I completed a few missions and was able to get to level 5 before I made it back to Texas on July 5th.

I hacked/linked/attacked/modded all along the 3200 mile trip by car (actually my 2010 Tacoma) but did not really get into it until I made it back to TX where I achieved R8 on July 26.  Not bad for me.

Leveling up is pretty easy for the first 5 levels.  I managed to go up from 3-5 pretty quickly while in WV just by driving to and from a nearby park, walking it, and driving home as well as walking to a park that is even closer to my mom's house and hitting it up every day.

Things get harder at L6 but it is still not overly hard to level up.  At L8 the system changes and to advance levels you need not only points, but medals as well.  For example, you need 2.4 million points plus 4 silver and one gold to make level 9.  Right now I have 3 silver and one gold and all the rest with the exception of two, are bronze.  I am about halfway to silver on most of those.

Levels and needed AP/Medals:

• L1 Agent = 0 AP
• L2 Agent = 2,500 AP
• L3 Agent = 20,000 AP
• L4 Agent = 70,000 AP
• L5 Agent = 150,000 AP
• L6 Agent = 300,000 AP
• L7 Agent = 600,000 AP
• L8 Agent = 1,200,000 AP
• L9 Agent =  2,400,000 AP + 1 gold 4 silver
• L10 Agent = 4,000,000 AP + 2 gold 5 silver
• L11 Agent = 6,000,000 AP + 4 gold 6 silver
• L12 Agent = 8,400,000 AP + 6 gold 7 silver
• L13 Agent = 12,000,000 AP + 1 Platinum 7 Gold
• L14 Agent = 17,000,000 AP + 2 Platinum 7 Gold
• L15 Agent = 24,000,000 AP + 3 Platinum 7 Gold
• L16 Agent = 40,000,000 AP + 2 Black 4 Platinum 7 Gold

I have managed to recruit several players in several states (WV, GA, and TX) and so far they all are enjoying the experience.

I have to say I am completely engrossed in this activity and have met a few players without attending any functions, although I hope to attend at least one in the future.

More Links

Google Help Page (Duh)
Field Guide (slightly out dated)
Wikia page
Ingress Intel Total Conversion (neat Intel page hacks)
Niantic Project (Older)
Decode Ingress (Very Helpful)