Does anyone know if this is really 'multiplayer' or if your experience is in any way influence by the progress of others?
I've toyed with a similar ideas but the problem was that your GPS location doesn't guarantee you are really there. There are plenty of ways to spoof your location. So, my point is it will only be a matter of time until there are bots that walk around for you. If this is purely a 'single player' game then personally I think it's a neat idea but I don't see it being that entertaining.
Yes, it is multiplayer. You capture portals and others can come along and blow them up, taking them for the opposition. The promotional video certainly captures the feeling of 'someone is attacking this portal.. wait.. is it that guy over there staring at his phone?'
Couldn't you use physical QR code stickers for such proof of location? They can be fairly small and merely need to contain a random UID code (or an URL with the code as query parameter).
Of course that only works up until people start sharing those codes online, even though you can tweak game mechanics to discourage players wanting to do that, it's impossible to prevent.
Precisely. Which is why I think this will have a tough time succeeding. Even casual gamers will eventually get frustrated. This is also the sort of thing that is difficult to repair once the damage is done.
I've toyed with a similar ideas but the problem was that your GPS location doesn't guarantee you are really there. There are plenty of ways to spoof your location. So, my point is it will only be a matter of time until there are bots that walk around for you. If this is purely a 'single player' game then personally I think it's a neat idea but I don't see it being that entertaining.