BTSC reporter: So that brought us to the central topic of today - can you introduce what's NL-1331 to Chinese agents who're not familar with it? How did it begin? What's the van like, and the event.
Ethan: So NL-1331 started as a part of the ingress story line but it really turned into something much more. The strpy line almost takes a backseat to what NL-1331 is now. That is to say I think NL is an amazing tool to reach out to communities that maybe have never had an anomaly or feel like they are too small to receive attention from Niantic. Of course we go to big cities but in between those we always try to visit smaller communities that the larger ingress community may not be aware of their existence.
Ethan: The events are designed to be very casual and laid back. We always encourage agents of all skill level and length of time playing to join and meet the rest of their local community that they may not know is out there or they've been to nervous to contact by themselves.
BTSC reporter: Going through NL-1331 venues in North America is definitely a good geographic lesson and I admire the noble cause for the NL-1331 event.
BTSC reporter: It started as a US event but now across the world, tell us what brought the events to the world wide? How many countries have you been for NL-1331 events?
Ethan: So yeah it started in America. Which was logical because that's where we were are all mostly based in the beginning. But we started to see a flourishing community in Europe and Asia. I tried to convince my boss at a much earlier point that we needed to expand or area of influence and initially that was met with a bit of resistance (no pun intended). I was eventually able to convince my boss to let me go to Europe and try out the same format. That turned out to be a very successful move. That I turn gave my boss confidence to let me start exploring places in Asia. Thanks to a lot of help from local agents and test run in the Philippines we find ourself continuously expanding our range of influence.
Ethan: I'm not sure I remember how many countries I've been to but it's probably around 40 or so
BTSC reporter: That's amazing record! Do you have a favorite country (or a few?)
BTSC reporter: And I'm curious - in many countries there're local version of vans, what's your favorite van and can you tell us how many versions were created?
Ethan: I have several that enjoy quite a bit. Mostly it's cities that I fall in love with. My favorite city is Prague. A few the follow close behind are Lviv, Valencia, Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Luxembourg.
Behind The Scanner Chinese
BTSC reporter: And I'm curious - in many countries there're local version of vans, what's your favorite van and can you tell us how many versions were created?
Ethan: Well to be honest the truest NL van is obviously the big one in America. Then we have several temporary versions for Asian countries and Europe.
Ethan: I don't know the exact number of versions created but I think it's about 10
BTSC reporter: Speaking of US van, when Niantic was spinned off from Google I heard the van was MIA for a while, was it a hard time for you? After all, the event revolves around the iconic van. And how did you get a new one?
Ethan: Well it was a hard time. I think the future of the NL project was in serious jeopardy. There where a lot of unkowns for everyone at that time. Through a little bit of due diligence and convincing we were able to get funding and allowed to keep the van. NL was on a short leash at the time. But as we rebounded from the spin-off we felt more comfortable expanding the NL project.
BTSC reporter: Must be a big accomplishment to not only bring it back and even expanding it!
BTSC reporter: With the expansions around the world you are in some serious, maybe even insane - I'd say - schedules.
Like last March you were in Taiwan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka then Thailand, how did you juggle the schedules?
Like last March you were in Taiwan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka then Thailand, how did you juggle the schedules?
Ethan: It's difficult and those didn't happen mistake free. They first ones are always a learning experience. Such as customs and lead times to produce country specific merch. But I had a lot of help from local pocs. This can be said for all countries. If it wasn't for the help of local agents we probably wouldn't be able to do a lot of what we do.
BTSC reporter: Very true, all events happen with both dedicated Niantic staff, and local agents I'd say. It seems many of them love to be your traffic victim! Wanna say how do you feel about them? Haha.