The problem with Glitch is that under the shiny polish of whacky cartoon art and delightful sounds, it lacks depth. When I first read up about it, I was pretty hopeful. The idea of giving players the power to interact and shape with the world, complex, intertwining systems, a playground, a sandbox (of sorts) - All that sounded very attractive, so I gave it a shot and applied to get into the game on launch day.
I was drawn in by the incentives to help each other out, the discovery of new items, the bureaucracy (the best). I thought, this game has the potential to be a great interactive experience. Unfortunately, all the initial novelty wore off quickly.
I think the tipping point, when I realised it was all an effort in vain, was when I had my little meat farm set up in an apartment in Groddle Towers. Meat prices had been dropping, with the massive influx of players, each one trying to undercut the other. The concept of an economy is non-existent, when a player is easily able to sell his wares to a vendor for a decent price. To me, the tool vendor is a money-printing device. I dump my Sammiches in and it spits currants at me.
The auction system undermines the value of resources in the game. Why take the time to learn a skill and harvest for yourself, when with your own stream of income, you can just grab something off the auctions? They're never too expensive, especially when you look at the time it saves you. Everything is at your fingertips, there's a disconnect between players when it comes to trading and businesses.
I got bored of street projects after my 2nd experience. Dumping virtual resources into an abyss to 'unlock' a map. That's not much of shaping the world, and the exploration isn't much to talk about either. Sure there's art, but it feels like the world lacks meaning or purpose. What separates this map from the next? The presence of a certain vendor? Eventually, they all fly by like a blur, because it's the same resources over and over again. Trees, animals or mining nodes, ad naseum. Places do not serve a purpose apart from being host to these harvesting stations and players have to 'upkeep'. Likewise for Rook Attacks, I grew tired of it after my 1st experience. I finally got to put Piety and Imagination to use... wait, what's this? Another resource dumping mini-game? Ugh.
The game's fundamental design is unbalanced. It's too easy to sustain life, and there isn't much threat of collapse, when everything is so easy to re-create. It feels like another one of those Facebook games, just with a better, rudimentary social framework. It's all about keeping the player continually harvesting and crafting consumables.
One of the 'sales pitch's I read was that "There are 1000-plus items and 90 skills.". True as that may be, they all fall into skill trees and can easily be lumped into categories. Animal stuff, Alchemical stuff, Mining stuff, Gardening stuff, Foods and Drinks, Machines, Blocks and Fuels. It's all on the auction page. That's the extent of the variety. The only interesting things I found were really, the toys, but the limitations of those also left me disappointed.
I think that the structure of Glitch leaves it open to huge potential, but the direction it took has ultimately let it down. Content-driven material only gets you so far, eventually it's going to run out, and players will leave when there's nothing new. As steep is its learning curve, there are very good reasons why EVE Online is an extremely successful game. Glitch seems to have gone in the opposite direction, with oversimplification to appeal to mass populations. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the visual/aural aesthetics of the game, all I am saying is that the world could use a little more depth.