I Hope "They" Do Something...

A shadowy cabal of them that are suppose to do something.

"Them"

There is no They, They is Us

At an IngressFS I recently overheard an agent expressing the hope that "They" do something to bring more people into the game. Agents, we have been given the world as a stadium. We have been given bats and balls in the form of our scanners, and they have given us the rules by which the game works. Effectively, Niantic has set the stage for us.

"They" aren't building teams too, that is our job. Always has been.

There was a bit of groan when I said that we need to invite our friends to play, then I was contested. If you have already tried to get your friends to play, try again. Talk about Ingress with people, be encouraging. Talk about the joy of it like we all do when we are together. Talk about why you love this thing we all obsess over. We can tell stories about Anomalies, Fielding Ops or gathering frog tears.

I like to share tales of First Saturdays best, because I have the best time. I think IFS is the core of community. So much comradery on the part of both factions. Good times get folks to show up to events. Far too often I hear people say the game is dead, or dying. I think we might just need a better recruiting catchphrase. Perhaps telling people how the game you love is dead is not quite the best selling point?

I also realize that we all don't have the biggest social circles. I took some time away from Ingress, and returned to try to make some friends. While I absolutely have made some great friends, I get why people look at me funny when I tell them to bring theirs to play;

My friends all already play.

It isn't like there are potential Agents falling from the sky. We have to be vigilant to find them, and try in the meanwhile to be good ambassadors. It bothers me how often I hear negativity out of the player base (especially on social media) If you love Ingress then treat it that way. Frustrations do not have to be tirades of smack with threats of uninstalling. Every badge release is angry emotes on Facebook. I can't imagine being mad. Can we all cool down with the negativity?

The Joy of Ingress

So what are we supposed to do? Quite simply what you are already doing, have fun. There is joy in our game, have it, and share it. When is the last time you told Facebook or Instagram about your adventures? Use hashtags. You kids like hashtags, right? There is fuck all not much going on with social media and Ingress, so every post counts. Literally anyone can be the next Ingress superstar. Make it you! We are the game's ambassadors, we are recruiters, we are the champions needed to resurge and start maybe winning some damn events once in a while ;)

If none of that seems to work, forget the them and join the Us. RES Agents should head over to 1R and check out what we have cooking.