Ingress: Tactics—A Question of Cooperation

Ingress is a game that can be played on your own, or as part of a group. You can seek out the company of other players, play with friends, or play on your own – whatever suits your play style, or life-style best – but what you can’t ignore is that Ingress is a team game. Regardless of whether or not you acknowledge the rest of your team, the fact remains that you are part of it.

I find this aspect one of the nicest things about Ingress. I’m not a terribly social person, and there are days when I just need to be by myself, but I find I like the idea that there are people around who are on my side, even if I never see them. Sometimes, however, you can feel like you’re playing completely on your own, that no-one cares what you do, or don’t do, and like your team just doesn’t exist—but there are ways around that.

• Talk to other agents – there’s a faction tab in your Comms panel. You can use that to communicate to just your own side. If you’ve got time to spare, you can always check to see if there’s anything you can do to help others in the area you’re in. Or you can just lurk.
• Play like you’re on a team. If you come across a portal deployed by another team  member, don’t just use it to link out from, buff it up by upgrading its resonators, or filling empty resonator slots. Add some useful mods to it. Recharge it, if it needs it. It’s one way of acknowledging that you are building on someone else’s work, and also a way of letting another agent know that they, too, are not alone.
• Above all, remember that your team is made up of people, and that people aren’t so good with strangers, even if they’re meant to be on the same side. Try to get to know other team members first by attending some Ingress events. You don’t need to be able to get to an Anomaly, or an NL-1331 Meetup, you can go to a First Saturday, or see if there is a local Hang-Out for your team that you can join on-line. At least that way you can chat with other agents, and you might make some new friends you can meet up with. Just because you start out as strangers doesn't mean you have to stay that way.

And have fun. It's always time to move.