Ingress New Player FAQ

• I can't find any portals in my area
• Try going to Ingress Intel
• Create Portals: Instructions for Creating a Portal
• I found a portal on private property
• http://support.google.com/ingress click contact us then Report an Issue with a Portal and then select the appropriate action.
• Is anyone in my area?
• To find out announce yourself in Faction COMMs.  This will let other players in your area know you're there and if there is a presence in your area they can tell you how to get involved in that community.  And often these groups will help you understand how to play.
  
  To announce yourself: In the lower right hand corner of your client there is a tab that says COMM.  When you first open this chat you are in All COMM which means both toads and smurfs can see what you post.  Up at the top of the tab you'll see the words All and Faction click on Faction and type your message.  You will probably screw up more than once and say something intended for Faction in All, it's okay everyone does it and the COMM can be a little glitchy sometimes.
  
  This is usually a better way to find people in your area than announcing yourself in the Ingress Community because not everyone watches that.
• I got an extra invite what should I do with it?
• Anything you want except sell it.
• How often can I hack a portal?
• 4 times in 4 hours
• I'm surrounded by the enemy and there are no friendly portals near by, what do I do?
• First, there is currently a problem with faction balance in the game.  Remember, Ingress is still in beta so the awesome creators over at Niantic are still trying things out.  With that being said....
• Hack enemy portals.  You get 100 AP for each enemy portal you hack, it can be a little slow but while you're finding a community (see next bullet) it's a way to make progress.
• Find out if there is a community in your area and join.  This is a social game and most high level players are more than willing to help new players when we know you're there.  Warning if you don't want to be social then this game probably won't be a whole lot of fun.  See Is anyone in my Area above.
• If there is no one in your area then see if you can recruit more people to play in your area (See next question about Invites).
• I'm surrounded by friendly portals how do I get AP?
• Hack portals until you get keys and then make links.  Links are the best way to generate AP in a friendly heavy area.
• Soon you will get AP for recharging your resonators remotely and from upgrading resonators, this is new so I will update once I know more.
• How can I get extra invites for my friends?
• +Niantic Project loves creativity and stories about playing +Ingress. Report to the Ingress Community on what you've been doing in your area and that you need additional help to fight Resistance/Enlightened.
• My GPS bounces around while I'm playing Ingress, what should I do?
• If you are near tall buildings there isn't a whole lot you can do because you might not have a direct line of site to the GPS satellite.
• Install GPS Status & Toolbox it will help some.