Seer Badge - FAIL

Here's another quick rant since I'm ranting....

The Seer Badge.

Wow what a mess. While I do consider this a fail on Niantic's part, I would classify it as they had the best of intentions, but I don't think they anticipated the overwhelming response they would get.

My best guess this was an attempt to increase the number of portals quickly. I like so many other agents mainly submitted portals pretty casually.

Then the Seer badge was announced. Agents could level up based on submitting new portals. Awesome idea, right?

Well yes it was, but I don't think Niantic realized the tidal wave of responses they would get. While the seer badge was active I probably submitted 200+ portals. Yet, I've only had a very few approved. Of the portals I've submitted I expect a minority to be rejected for legitimate reasons. I was gunning for submitting 500+ portals.

As submittals took longer and longer, I stopped submitting as many.

Now to Niantic's credit they initially suspended portal submittals to apply for the badge and I believe they have officially ended submittals.

Those who still have portals submitted before then will be counted towards the seer badge and those after will not.

At first this really irritated me, but since then they have made many other badges, some are quite easy to get like the Sojourner it becomes a disappointment at worst because while I want to get all my badges to Onyx, this one will forever be stuck as bronze...

Cheaters- A short rant

This is a form of cheating I've come across lately players moving portals which are correctly situated to be in a more advantageous place for them.

I had seen it and hadn't thought too much of it before, but then a portal I submitted and would hack regularly got moved. Here's the portal:

The player moved it from the proper place in the pond to the middle of the pond to the middle of a street so they could hack it from their work easily. One day I go to hack it to the regular spot in the parking lot I always go, and I'm out of range. Initially thought I was dealing with a little bad drift but I waited recharged some portals and never got in range. Then I looked and it wasn't drift, it had been moved. WTF???

I'm a little disappointed that Niantic allowed the move. Just looking at the map you can see it got moved to a street and that the portal is a fountain. The picture shows

Making me more frustrated, I and other players have attempted to have it put back in it's proper place several times to no avail. Niantic keeps denying our requests.

Since I was posting more regularly I now work in a different location, same company just a different office less than a mile away from where I was. This location just happens to have 2 portals nearby. 1 I can hack from my desk when I get the opportunity to and another I'm about 10 meters away from. I would never consider requesting moving the other to be a personal benefit to me. I just hack it on my way in and out or when I happen to be on that side of the building.

While Ingress is really cool and a ton of fun; it's just a game people, why do you feel the need to cheat???

Quit Your Bitching!

Of the many people, places and things I follow on G+ I also follow +NIA Ops. You get some good information on game updates, portals of the week and more. But since I follow them I also see all of these ridiculous #PortalAppeals.

People if your portal is rejected get over it. The vast majority of them can be answered by looking at the Portal Submission Guidelines.

If you think it qualifies as a valid portal just resubmit it.

Here's a portal of a church I submitted but got rejected. I figured it was because of poor picture quality, so I was going to go resubmit it the next time I was in the area. But before I even made it there it was accepted without an appeal.




And another thing stop referring to the folks that approve/deny portals as "portal approval monkeys" or likewise, they're just doing their job. Have some respect.