Topic

Stewart Butterfield on the Pressure of High Expectations

"So why does Butterfield confess to living in “perpetual fear” these days? The truth is Butterfield is under enormous pressure. Expectations for Glitch, which Butterfield describes as a “shared, perpetual game with its own ecology,” are exceedingly high, both because of Butterfield’s personal brand and its ephemeral launch date. (Even after two years of alpha and beta testing by roughly 20,000 gamers, Butterfield declines to disclose when he plans to release the game. “We haven’t finalized [the release date] yet, though the end of September is likely,” he says.)"

Article published today, here.

(Thanks to Welshcorgi who posted it, I saw it in my home timeline.)

ETA: There's more in the article, it's worth reading the whole thing!

Posted 16 months ago by Ximenez Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

1 2 Next
  • HTML5 is in it's infancy but Flash has been around for a long time... and I think it should be more reliable. In the past couple of months I have had a few updates to the product and more than once it's broken something... even in Glitch.
    Posted 16 months ago by GavinLeigh Subscriber! | Permalink
  • One of my Glitch bug reports said I play an "average" 12 + hours when I log on.  So who is playing for 10 minutes if the average is so much lower?   I do tend to focus on one thing at a time which means real life can just bloody well wait until the game ends.  My main worry is what happens when the game does go 7/24 ?  I'm happy with what we have now, then again I wonder when the game will reopen.  Oh being a Libra isn't always being level it also means being wishy washy, wanting both sides of the coin.
    Posted 16 months ago by xoxJulie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "One of my Glitch bug reports said I play an "average" 12 + hours when I log on.  So who is playing for 10 minutes if the average is so much lower? "

    there's a ton of people who get an invite to glitch, quickly find it boring and never play again. this is to be expected.

    .. but your 12 + hours is probably abnormally high even for the most active glitch players.
    Posted 16 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow, yes 12+ hours is abnormally high I would suspect.  That's literally half a day, and I think a lot of players have jobs/school/real life that would keep them busy for part of that time.

    Back to jujulicious.  "These improvements have allowed our talented artists and level designers to create a level of player immersion that might be described as Jujulicious™"

    That is the best interview I have ever read.
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • *Ahem* I play an average of 10+ hours on weekends/ days off. I suspect I'm not the only one.
    Posted 16 months ago by KitkatCat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Okay all you marathoners, I just want to remind you guys of something that's very important to all of us: Swampass. Remember to keep your hair dryer close!
    Posted 16 months ago by Skwid Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I know this is off topic just a little, but i love seeing Stoot in the game.  He's usually sleeping when i see him of course, but i'm sure he's very very tired cause we all know he and his crew have been working very hard on this game.  
    Posted 16 months ago by Cat A. Tonic Subscriber! | Permalink
1 2 Next