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Google's Niantic Labs Sorry Over Death Camps In Smartphone Game

Posted by samzenpus on from the our-bad dept.

New submitter LunaticTippy writes: For those unfamiliar with Ingress, the game has GPS coordinate portals that correspond to real world locations, players then use smartphones to battle for control of these portals. Many public locations with historical or artistic interest are submitted by players. It turns out some of the sites were located within concentration camps such as Dachau and Sachsenhausen. NBC reports: "In a statement to The Associated Press, Niantic Labs' founder John Hanke said the company has begun removing the offending sites from the game. He said 'we apologize that this has happened.'"

135 comments

  1. What could possibly go wrong? by Megane · · Score: 3, Informative

    Give people the ability to create things tied to real world locations without any sort of moderation controls, act surprised when they pick controversial locations. Trolls gonna troll.

    --
    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    1. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by freeze128 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Funny how they said "We are sorry that this happened" and not "We are sorry that we did this". i.e., they are not taking responsibility.

    2. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Dr_Harm · · Score: 1

      The game does have moderation for location submission. It can take weeks to get a "yes" or "no" response once you've submitted a photo, description, and GPS location.

    3. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by mythosaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Location submissions in Ingress have always required approval.

      Similarly you could request locations be removed for a variety of reasons - generally because they were on private property, were out of reach to the general public, etc. Sadly, sour grapes and even more sour players were more often the cause. A portal at my place of business was removed ostensibly because the garden was for patient recovery and meditation. Site management never even knew the game existed, let alone that Ingress players were disrupting meditation in the garden. The real reason a portal at my place of business was removed was that the opposing team didn't like a cluster of portals that was in the lap of the opposition -- so they faked a complaint to get it removed.

      Bitches gonna bitch.

    4. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Locations are user submitted.

    5. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

      I'd also be proactive about Mecca.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    6. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by nate_in_ME · · Score: 1

      Weeks? Who do you know? I've had portals waiting for approval since September without an answer one way or the other...

    7. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and NAZI haters gotta hate.

      . . .

      Oh, wait.

    8. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by mtippett · · Score: 1

      +1

    9. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

      Give people the ability to create things tied to real world locations without any sort of moderation controls, act surprised when they pick controversial locations. Trolls gonna troll.

      If only Google had -- oh I don't know -- some sort of sophisticated mapping software or database where they could flag GPS locations ...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    10. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      Surely a game involving real-world locations, submitted by players, is so obviously vulnerable to metagaming attacks that it's almost hard to consider them metagaming at all, rather than part of the game?

    11. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by hawguy · · Score: 1

      Funny how they said "We are sorry that this happened" and not "We are sorry that we did this". i.e., they are not taking responsibility.

      It's better than the typical corporate non-apology "We're sorry that this may have offended some people".

    12. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by idji · · Score: 1

      portals are not supposed to be in schools, but all the schools in my area are saturated with portals that school kids there have set up.

    13. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...and approved/rejected by Niantic staff.

    14. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That moderation should only be used for erroneous submissions. Using it to censor "offensive" locations doesn't make the locations no longer exist, it just buries one's head deeper into the sand.

    15. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Someone near me managed to get a portal of a parking lot approved. The portal is in the middle of the woods. Took them like two days to reject my request to move the portal to where it actually was.

      Another portal near me is a car. The car has sinced moved. Reported multiple times, and nothing from them.

      The real news is that apparently it's possible to get Google to moderate portals at all.

    16. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have outstanding submissions anywhere from 6 months to a year right now. I just got one denied that was just over 6 months old.

      Of course, they'll take graffiti on the side of a dumpster, but they won't take actual non-death-camp historic landmarks.

      As I keep saying, their approval process is handled by a randomizer. No human can be as pathetic as their approve/deny decisions have been.

      Hell, I tried to have a portal removed from my ex-wife's house. I went out to visit our daughter, and while I was trying to explain the game, I turned on the game and it was on the house. The picture was from a commercial property miles away. They refused to remove it.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    17. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      Because everyone knows the right and moral thing to do, is quietly pretend that concentration camps don't exist and never have.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    18. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by cfalcon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They didn't really "do" it, they just missed what it was when they approved it. And it should be pointed out that the whole point of locations is that they be basically what the death camps are today- aka, public places, museums, etc. It's entirely possible that they were not added to troll, but simply on the idea of "hey, people are around here to learn, lets put a portal here because it is interesting for the players who come here".

      Again- Ingress portals are placed in historical and public areas.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      "The gameplay consists of establishing "portals" at places of cultural significance, such as public art, landmarks, monuments, etc."

    19. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They don't exist unless you're a lobbyist or someone trying to get some money by exploiting the events etc. ...

    20. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok... so, what is wrong with having locations at old concentration camps? They are real life locations, they sure as hell have historical value, in fact I believe they are both museums nowdays. The game doesn't actually require you to personally go to any place you don't want to. PEople get offended for weird things.

    21. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Pseudonym · · Score: 1

      And it should be pointed out that the whole point of locations is that they be basically what the death camps are today- aka, public places, museums, etc.

      Indeed. The whole point of the game is to get gamers outside and walking and visiting interesting and significant places. (One game slogan is "it's time to move".)

      The problem isn't that the location is in the game. The problem is that some players act like complete arses, ruining those locations for everyone else. In retrospect, this is an obvious point.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    22. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by bickerdyke · · Score: 2

      the whole point of locations is that they be basically what the death camps are today- aka, public places, museums

      No. As a funny side note, it's amazing how some officials go out of their ways to avoid labeling these places as "museums". The new expression "documentation centeres" was coined for museums in non-museum-worthy places.

      --
      bickerdyke
    23. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congrats, you're arguing against what precisely nobody said. Well done you. Any other points that nobody is making you'd like to categorically refute while you're here?

    24. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, delete all portals apart from Mecca. It'll be a geeky cellphone Hajj all by itself.

    25. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      act surprised when they pick controversial locations.

      How is it controversial to add concentration camps as "historic locations and monuments"?

    26. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Alioth · · Score: 1

      Ingress does have moderation controls. Every single submitted portal has to be approved by Niantic. It often takes 9-12 months before new portals are approved/denied. Basically, Niantic staff approved these portals.

      --
      Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
    27. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Documentation centres" sounds rather sinister to me, in a "papers please" kind of way.

    28. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by narcc · · Score: 1

      You seem to be arguing with your imagination.

      Good luck.

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
    29. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      And it should be pointed out that the whole point of locations is that they be basically what the death camps are today- aka, public places, museums, etc. It's entirely possible that they were not added to troll, but simply on the idea of "hey, people are around here to learn, lets put a portal here because it is interesting for the players who come here".

      That could be, or they could have actually known there was a concentration of Jews in the opposing faction in their area. We can't tell from here. Given that this is the internet we're talking about, I'd give about even odds.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    30. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by rjr162 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but Niantic reviews the submissions and either approves or denies them. There's a whole section on G+ Niantic setup for handle Portal Appeals (when Niantic denies your submissions, you can post the photo, location, and why you think it should be a portal. Other players can vote yes or no on it, and with enough votes Niantic will review the submission again).

      In the end, Niantic (or whoever they hired.. unpaid interns maybe?) are the ones who either approve or deny the portals that go into the game.

    31. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would think "Historic Site" would be generally more appropriate.

    32. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      act surprised when they pick controversial locations.

      How is it controversial to add concentration camps as "historic locations and monuments"?

      Because they were one of the results of fascism, but fascism seems to be coming back into fashion (see: US, UK, NSA, GCHQ, secret courts, 'crony capitalism', destruction of encryption/anonymity online, destruction of private property rights, destruction of right of conscious, domestic paramilitary SWAT for non-violent misdemeanor offenses, etc etc etc) so being reminded of them makes those wishing to control what others do uncomfortable to think about.

      The US is making striking parallels to the former Wiemar Republic across multiple areas of government, economy, and society.

      It's an ideological 'lalalala I can't hear you!'.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    33. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would think "Historic Site" would be generally more appropriate.

      The SJWs want a revised global history instead of allowing people to learn from the past. Can a drone be targeted at SJWs to rid society of these fools?

    34. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      keep trying and ask others to try to move the portal. it will eventually be moved.

    35. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      right of conscious,

      Gah! Should have been "conscience". Curse you, autocorrect!

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    36. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jerusalem seems more fraught with peril

    37. Re: What could possibly go wrong? by Baloo+Uriza · · Score: 1

      Funny thing is there's basically no quality control. There's dozens of locations in Tulsa that have multiple portals in Ingress that have been reported multiple times, without getting fixed. Bonus is that landmarks that could be but aren't spend years in the submission queue before getting denied with no obvious reason. Ingress is broken, and Niantic has itself to blame.

      --
      Furries make the internet go.
    38. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by Baloo+Uriza · · Score: 1

      September? I've had some that have been in the queue since beta.

      --
      Furries make the internet go.
  2. Denialist by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So is removing them and pretending those places dont exist is a better solution?

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:Denialist by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Is it educational? "Go visit here and get points!"

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    2. Re:Denialist by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 0

      How the fuck do these stupid comments get modded Insightful? Ingress is not the University of human learning, it is just a stupid game. If you can't work out what the Holocaust was without Ingress you need serious help.

    3. Re:Denialist by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Again from Wikipedia: Ingress portals are placed at:
      "The gameplay consists of establishing "portals" at places of cultural significance, such as public art, landmarks, monuments, etc."

      So yes, it sort of IS the university of human learning, if that means that almost every interesting place you might go to has portals all up in it. If you go to a portal, the game says, here's some stuff, but because you physically WENT there, the point is that you are somewhere of interest, such as a museum. It's not "just a stupid game", it's a stupid game with an excuse to go be somewhere interesting.

    4. Re:Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've been to Dachau, and I play ingress. Believe me, Dachau is NOT the kind of place where people should be playing a damn game in where you try to control other peoples portals. It's a very real place, and while one concentration camp is enough for one lifetime, I'd still hate the thought of people running around trying to earn points in a game while visiting Dachau where such horrible things happened.

    5. Re:Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Uhh.. As someone who's played the game in multiple cities around the world, I have to say you're really stretching it calling it a "University of human learning".

      Portals are often things like a painted mural of a local business. Even the historic ones often have little or no educational material attached to them. Universities have REAL information in them. Ingress is 75% game, 24.9% exploring new places, and .1% learning.

      It's very definitely a silly game where you might find something new and cool, but very little of it is educational

    6. Re:Denialist by dave420 · · Score: 1

      I think the desired outcome is to not have their game cause lots of muppets to walk around sensitive memorials to millions of dead people, staring at their phones. These people aren't going there to learn or pay respects - they're going there to play the game.

    7. Re:Denialist by KGIII · · Score: 2

      I can not believe this has not been said thus far in the thread. I must remedy this...

      Hitler!

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    8. Re:Denialist by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      These people aren't going there to learn or pay respects - they're going there to play the game.

      Who's going to approve their reasons for going there? A self-appointed Gauleiter like you?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    9. Re: Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's idiotic, exploring and learning are the same thing! If you go someplace you would not normally go because you feel it has no relevance to you in your own life and leave there with a personal connection then you have learned something and are arguably a better person for it.

    10. Re:Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Definitely.

      A guy I work with plays this game. He's the kind of person who would rather sit home on his couch playing games than learn anything. But with this game, he's had to visit plenty of local monuments and historic locations.

      The kind of places that teachers would drag kids to, but due to this game, he's been there voluntarily.

    11. Re:Denialist by narcc · · Score: 1

      Who? Not an individual, but the rest of the civilized world.

      We've collectively decided to maintain those sites for a purpose. We've also collectively decided what does and does not constitute disrespectful behavior at those sites.

      You're upset that you can't do whatever you want, wherever you want, without facing social consequences for your actions. You hear this sort of nonsense from school kids trying to defend their poor behavioral choices.

      You wouldn't send text messages in a movie theater, would you? Then don't play video games at Dachau!

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
    12. Re:Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have to say you're really stretching it calling it a "University of human learning".

      To be fair, those were originally Jack Griffin's words.

    13. Re:Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are seriously comparing the sending of a text message in a darkened theater, where the light from the phone cannot be ignored by those around you, to using your phone outside in broad daylight, where it is very fucking easy for other people to ignore said phone?

    14. Re:Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice goalpost moving you got there, going from "it's a stupid game" to "it's a game". I'm curious how you would change your argument if someone managed to show that it isn't a game. I doubt anyone will, but I'm still curious.

    15. Re:Denialist by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      He's as bad as the Nazis, isn't he?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    16. Re: Denialist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was to Dachau as well. The german guide told that windowless room with showerheads was to wash the prisoners and the three, or was it four, large ovens near them were used to bake them fresh bread.

  3. Ingress. by mythosaz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "goal" of Ingress is to get people outside and walking around and looking at the real world.

    A lot of players use it trolling around in their cars to hit as many points as possible, but a lot of fat nerds like myself have walked around a lot of parks we might not have otherwise gotten off our fat asses for.

    I'd have rather seen a historic site -- no matter the subject -- than a few graffiti mural-ed alleys I've wandered down here in Phoenix.

    1. Re: Ingress. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seems stupid though. How do you know they didn't mark said graffiti-vandalized alleys because they like to hang out and rob people there?

    2. Re:Ingress. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Well, I guess it sucks if you don't have many historic sites where you are, but in the environs of these camps there are a lot of other historic sites which are also not memorials to the death and suffering of millions of people in recent history. "Historic site" can, and does, mean a lot more than death camps. There is a lot of space between "boring Phoenix" and "Place where a million people were killed" - one doesn't have to leap from one to the other. Also bear in mind that while you might be actually interested in the places you are brought to, many people will just be staring mindlessly at their phones. That is rather distracting to people who go to these camps to honour the dead, and shows a complete lack of respect.

  4. Untrained ape doing portal submission moderation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder if this is a symptom of using an untrained ape randomly pressing Yes & No buttons for moderation. Naw, can't be.

    I do hope they train him/her to be a bit faster in addition to the sensitivity training.

  5. Too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The damage has been dough, you hurt my feels you insensitive bigot! Reparations for me now!!!

    1. Re:Too late by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Funny

      The damage has been dough, you hurt my feels you insensitive bigot! Reparations for me now!!!

      well... how about a cookie? :)

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  6. Defuk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Having a historic location is bad now? We're people celebrating the deaths, or taking a picture and sending it with GPS data? Huge fringing difference to a same and rational mind...not that many of those exist any longer.

    1. Re:Defuk? by dave420 · · Score: 1

      It's entirely disrespectful to have people going there just to play a game.

  7. I still don't get this by Guy+From+V · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Again why are they needing to apologize for approving portal locations for historic areas?

    1. Re:I still don't get this by Rockoon · · Score: 2

      Some people look for reasons to be outraged.

      Something to do with NAZI's, gay rights, or slavery is the simplified lazy-mans method of being outraged. As long as everyone is shallow, nobody will notice how simplistic and shallow your outrage is. So in essence the simplistic shallow people pat themselves on the back for being so simplistic and shallow.

      Don't see it yet? Go look at just about anyones facebook feed. A bunch of people patting themselves on the back for gay marriage in the U.S. even though 5-nines percent of them did exactly zero to support any gay rights.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    2. Re:I still don't get this by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Not so much historic, but revered, solemn places, where millions of people got murdered, and millions of other people go to reflect on such horrors. I'm not sure if you know, but Ingress is a game, it's hardly the ideal activity at such a place.

    3. Re:I still don't get this by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Anywhere in Ingress you go, you press a few buttons on your phone for the gameplay. Because the actual point of the game is to get the out-of-game you to the place, this is pretty much the entire point.

    4. Re:I still don't get this by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      And the point of a cemetery is to not desecrate it by playing games there.
      I played Ingress for about a year, I know how it works, After the first time you visit a site you learn about it, then you spend the next few months trampling all over it trying outdo the other team and getting your GPS to sync up. You simply bury your face in your phone and wander around blindly mashing your screen. This is fine at a public park, but entirely inappropriate at a holocaust memorial site.

    5. Re:I still don't get this by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Are you that socially retarded that you can't see that leading people to a hallowed place in order to play a completely unrelated game is tasteless beyond belief? It's not about being outraged, but common human decency. You're the one being lazily outraged, it seems. If you spend some time actually thinking about this, it's pretty obvious. You wouldn't want a portal on your parents' grave, would you?

    6. Re:I still don't get this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You wouldn't want a portal on your parents' grave, would you?

      Why would he give a fuck, maybe unlike you he doesn't get lazily outraged by people suggesting that his parents were noteworthy enough to count as a place of significance.

    7. Re:I still don't get this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's three in my grandparents' cemetery.

    8. Re:I still don't get this by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Are you that socially retarded that you can't see that leading people to a hallowed place in order to play a completely unrelated game is tasteless beyond belief?

      If by "socially retarded" you mean not so fucking shallow, then yes.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
  8. Re: Untrained ape doing portal submission moderati by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean over-sensitivity training?

  9. I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by Loopy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When did learning about history or using historical figures, locations or groups in games or other activities become verboten? If we are to apply this crap objectively and consistently, then we need to make sure we ban everything that anyone anywhere ever could possibly be offended by, just so nobody suffers from undue loss of self-esteem or panic attacks or feel that their positions are not getting equal respect.

    Books with any controversial name? BANNED
    TV shows that say certain trigger words? BANNED
    Cars named after people or places that someone fears? BANNED
    Documentaries about terrible events in history? BANNED

    Where, pray tell, does it end? When did people lose all ability to process input on a rational and contextual basis? /smh

    1. Re:I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      BANNED

      BANNED

      BANNED

      BANNED

      Geeze, ya gotta quit after the tenth espresso man.

      See below for my very own offensive statement. I wrote it because I know it will offend some folks. I don't care, and not likely it will be BANNED.

      The difference? If we don't care if we offend people, it doesn't matter. Bill Maher has made a career out of purposefully offending people. Network television was worried about him offending people. HBO wasn't So he's busy agitatin' which is what he do best.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    2. Re:I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      When did learning about history

      There is no learning, it's just a game. A stupid game at that.

    3. Re:I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      The game is to take you to a place, man. That's not stupid. It's not like you have to go sit in a museum and run a WoW raid or something. The gameplay is minimalistic on purpose.

    4. Re:I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When did learning about history or using historical figures, locations or groups in games or other activities become verboten?
      Unbelievable.

      Listen, I've been to Dachau. It's full of things you can learn about the horrible things that went on there. It's also a totally inappropriate place to be playing fucking capture the flag in. This isn't simply just "offensive" like saying nigger. It's really just incredibly disrespectful to go around trying to score points at a place like Dachau.

    5. Re:I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      I've played it, I know exactly how intrusive it is to the local area. Our local War Memorial hired security guards to keep all the nerds out because it was such a high concentration of portals, there were dozens of people endlessly running around its grounds with their heads buried in their phones, being an obvious nuisance to people there for reflection.
      Play your game everywhere else, just show some respect to people who actually gave their lives for your freedom.

    6. Re:I'd like "What is history?" for $500, Alex. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You want to take away their freedom in order to commemorate freedom. Even I couldn't make shit like that up.
      --
      roman_mir

  10. Damage control by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    Just put in confederate flags, and Dixie will come to your aid - all will be forgiven.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  11. How is this wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It gets people to visit historic locations. Something offensive would be a location like Walmart.

  12. There are no concentration camps anymore... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are there?!

    1. Re:There are no concentration camps anymore... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Our good friends in the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea are keeping the spirit alive. North Korea is best Korea!

  13. The smartphone game trivializes Auschwitz. by westlake · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So is removing them and pretending those places dont exist is a better solution?

    It hurts my head when a geek asks a loaded --- smartass ---- question like this and gets modded up +5, Insightful.

    1. Re:The smartphone game trivializes Auschwitz. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it doesn't, any more than it trivialises anything else significant that someone has put a portal near.

      I can see why some people visiting a site like Auschwitz are doing so because of the loss suffering of themselves or loved ones, and I think it's reasonable to restrict Ingress if that makes them feel better.

  14. What exactly is a "death camp"? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Neither Dachau nor Sachsenhausen were extermination camps.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
    1. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by jklovanc · · Score: 1

      Dachau

      In the twelve years of its existence over 200.000 persons from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in the numerous subsidary camps. 41.500 were murdered

      Sachsenhausen

      Some 30,000 inmates died there from exhaustion, disease, malnutrition, pneumonia, etc. due to the poor living conditions.

      There seems to have been a lot of death in both those camps.

    2. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      32,000 deaths at Dachau, 30,000 at Sachsenhausen.
      How many people have to be murdered before you think playing games on site is inappropriate?

    3. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Not really relevant. "Playing the game" is going to a place of historical significance. The gameplay is a few buttons to "hack the portal". The actual point is that you are somewhere of interest, such as a museum. Given that memorials open to the public are unquestionably of historic interest, this is interesting.

      Obviously they deleted them to avoid the bad press, but this sort of thing is sort of the point of Ingress- the places you go are ideally educational, beautiful, interesting, something. If you go to a portal at a museum, you spend a bunch of time travelling, several seconds pressing buttons on your phone, and then your day is "I went to the museum".

    4. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 2

      Crap. I've played the game extensively. At high interest sites there are a lot of portals in close proximity, so teams turn them into high level farms to accumulate inventory. You can have team of 10 or 20 people doing circuits, with a 5 minute cool down between hacks and 4 hacks per portal, a farm session generally goes for over half an hour of intensive farming, longer if the opposition shows up and a battle ensues. And this used to happen multiple times a day at the popular sites.
      I can only imagine the impact of this at somewhere like Dachau...

    5. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by dave420 · · Score: 1

      They deleted them to save the camps from being disrupted by idiots walking around playing games on their phones. It shows an utter lack of respect to encourage actions like that. Visiting a historical site (or museum) is far more than simply going there.

    6. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by Maritz · · Score: 1

      Were they true scotsmen?

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    7. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by Zedrick · · Score: 1

      I think the OP meant is that those are concentration camps, not extermination ("death"-) camps. There is a big difference, though lots of people also died in concentration camps.

    8. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Removing them is not going to move these people from "playing games" to "visiting for historical reasons", but move them from "playing games while learning history" to "playing game while forgetting about those mythological concentration camps they were forced to learn about in school".

      IMHO, if just one person thinks "oh my God, this place really exists" after going to this portal, its done more good than bad.

    9. Re:What exactly is a "death camp"? by arcade · · Score: 1

      There was a lot of deaths in concentration camps, but they weren't designed as extermination camps.

      Wikipedia, as always, is rather useful for a definition:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      "Rune Kristian Viken" - http://www.nwo.no - arca
  15. Chosen few by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oddly enough it was only sending Jewish players to these locations...

  16. Google the un-geniuses by faway · · Score: 0

    First the Google others refer to black people as gorillas, and now they're making fun of the victims of genocide.

    This parallels the trend that I've seen: that right-wingers have taken over the Bay Area.

    1. Re:Google the un-geniuses by faway · · Score: 1

      oops typo: First the Googlers refer to black people as gorillas, and now they're making fun of the victims of genocide.

    2. Re: Google the un-geniuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How exactly is including an historic location "making fun"? Were the portals named Happy Fun Shower Camp?

    3. Re:Google the un-geniuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody is making fun of the victims of genocide. And so what if someone actually is? A super bad taste in humour should not be illegal. Laughter can help you remember and process things. Actually remembering historic events, the bad and the good, helps when forming opinions of current events and would-be-events.

  17. Denial by alantus · · Score: 1

    We should not ignore historic events just because they don't paint a rosy picture of humanity: the inquisition, the holocaust, the armenian genocide, etc.

    Spain will soon approve a law to grant citizenship to the jews expelled from Spain in 1492, this is the right attitude to correct mistakes, not to ignore them. I wonder if Germany will follow.

    1. Re:Denial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spain will soon approve a law to grant citizenship to the jews expelled from Spain in 1492

      Call me intolerant, but I don't think any good will come from bringing undead Jews to Spain.

    2. Re:Denial by dave420 · · Score: 0

      No one is denying the holocaust happened, they just don't want gamers traipsing around the place with their faces glued to their screens, disturbing the people who went there to remember the millions of dead and abused who passed through gates at the camps in question, and at other such camps. You might want to work on your reading comprehension.

    3. Re:Denial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, much better to have gamers sitting at home, not caring about those "fictional concentration camps that only exists in history books for the teachers to have something to talk about".

      Denying that something happened is much easier when you've never seen it.

  18. The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by smellsofbikes · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The entire point of portals is that they are located at physical locations that have historical or cultural significance. https://support.google.com/ing...
    The list of the top ten most historically and culturally significant sites in the whole world would include the concentration camps.
    This is political correctness at its worst, where in seeking sensitivity it in fact hides atrocity.

    --
    Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
    1. Re:The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Or they don't want people walking around fucking memorials to millions of dead people while playing a game. Is the concept of respect so foreign to you that you leap immediately to some faux-outrage conclusion as the only possible explanation? It's not political correctness but basic human decency, something you seem to not find at all worthy. You suck as a human being.

    2. Re:The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      420 dude!!! T0KE UP!!!!1!"#"!

    3. Re:The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That sounds like a problem with the players.

      It's possible to go to a place because a game suggested it AND be respectful.

    4. Re:The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not in Ingress.

      When attacking/claiming portals, you need to walk to very specific locations and then basically sit there and fiddle with your phone for a couple of minutes. It looks really stupid and I can see why they wouldn't want to send people to do it in the middle of a concentration camp. They have rules that portals can't be in places where it would be dangerous to sit around doing nothing.

      Then again, there are plenty of cemeteries near me that are also portals, not to mention literal memorials, so clearly "respect for the dead" is not one of Google's goals for this game.

    5. Re:The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because people not playing Ingress are not doing that anyway, right?

      You know the place where you sit right now. At one time. something died there. Maybe even a human. Maybe even in very disturbing circumstances. Maybe the body is under your feet right now. Show some respect and stop browsing Slashdot!

      You can be at Auschwitz, play Ingress and show respect at the same time. Show some respect for how other people express respect.

    6. Re:The exact opposite of what Niantic should do by smellsofbikes · · Score: 1

      Wow, commemorating an outrage makes me suck? You have a very, very screwed up worldview.

      --
      Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
  19. Did I say death camps? I meant happy camps! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  20. oh I get it by slashmydots · · Score: 2

    This completely explains how Russian troops with smartphones keep accidentally ending up in the Ukraine. Their smartphone game said go take over a site in the Ukraine.

  21. deniers? by Hallow · · Score: 1

    How could this be offensive? The whole point is to call out places of cultural or historical significance. The only people that _should_ be offended by this would be holocaust deniers.

  22. It goes into the quintillions by tepples · · Score: 1

    well... how about a cookie? :)

    Or how about a few quintillion cookies?

  23. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

    (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (next):

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

  24. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

    (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (next):

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

  25. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

    (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (next):

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

  26. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

    (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (next):

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

  27. Who cares? by MagickalMyst · · Score: 1

    Seriously. It is a game, that's all.

    Are real people actually getting killed in the game? There are all kinds of games that include violence, murder, theft, assault, robbery, drug dealing, etc.

    People who are offended by this should really give their head a shake. There are actually real people in the world who are suffering as a result of real violence and terrorism. I wonder if they speak out about real world problems - or do they just bitch and whine about video games?

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
  28. Paywalled by tepples · · Score: 1

    Please explain to all of us how the privilege of reading up on the subject is worth $12 for the first article and then $29 per month if we forget to cancel afterward.

  29. Did they play Concentration at these camps? by tepples · · Score: 1

    They weren't extermination camps, but they weren't "sit around and play card matching game all day" camps either. Perhaps we can split the difference and call them "detainment with criminally inadequate nutrition and enrichment" camps.

  30. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (the QUESTION above you'll AVOID TO NO END, "Gosh, I wonder WHY?" (not!)):

    ---

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

  31. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (the QUESTION above you'll AVOID TO NO END, "Gosh, I wonder WHY?" (not!)):

    ---

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

  32. What I post's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer it!

    As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (the QUESTION above you'll AVOID TO NO END, "Gosh, I wonder WHY?" (not!)):

    ---

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER (That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    APK

    P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk