Topic

What's next for glitch?

As guides on the internet get more detailed, and more people discover ways to quickly progress in Glitch, the game's content is being run-through faster and faster. Glitch is advertised as a casual/social, but if you look at the gameplay systems, you will see that the game is set up like a more immersive MMO. For example, there's a good deal of grinding in the beginning of the game, and energy (unlike most of the real casual games) can be perpetually regenerated. Even the 'skill system' is similar to sandbox MMOs like EVE online. You grind through EXP, you complete quests, you hoard money. This game plays like a hardcore RPG, sans combat.

Which is fine. Working towards your first house and getting all those tools you need are both rewarding goals to work towards. The problem is, there's seemingly nothing to do after that.

Don't take this post as me hating on glitch. I love the game. I just feel like the game ends right around the time when you are most prepared to play, having the tools you need and a house to call home. After that, the game just becomes the internet's cutest chat room.

I've been keeping a close eye on the ideas forum and the changelog, but it seems like most changes and topics that get the most attention are minor adjustments and changes or additions to aesthetics.

Does anyone know of any major changes on the way? Have the devs expressed any interest in adding more depth to the gameplay?

Edit:
Read below for an interesting discussion

STAFF UPDATE about 16 replies down.
V

Posted 14 months ago by Humbaba Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Have you done the quest to visit the Rook Museum in the Tower yet? That gives some hints that a whole new aspect of Glitch might open up in later gameplay.
    Posted 14 months ago by John259 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Have you participated in any Rook attacks?  Have you participated in any street building projects?  Do you have all the street building trophies? 
    Posted 14 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • More PLAY and FUN, of course! 

    I truly admire the genius of Glitch dev as such a versatile game where new things can be implemented almost instantly, for example, the arrival of cubimals, the new Idolatry Iconizing Emblems, new skills like Eyeballer, snapshotting, the new party places, seam streets. It's just mind-boggling to grasp the excellent intelligence of the Giants' mind! 

    It is impossible to have nothing to do because there will always be something new to discover and play. 

    Remember when you're in school, the minute you hear the bell, you will run out and climb the monkey bar or pull your friend's ponytail or play hopscotch or catch some grasshopper? Well, I believe most of us stop having this kind of play after high school maybe even earlier time. 

    I see Glitch game as my huge worldwide playground during 'recess' time from work. 
    It is my convenient "PLAY" for my adulthood. 

    When I was playing the smuggler quest, I was walking and sneaking through the streets, yelped occasionally when the crocs appear, my heart was pounding, blood rush through my head.... It is such an exhilarating experience! Same excitement when I discovered the FireFlies Whistler quest, watching my glitch 'Zoink' face, the crazy area with numbers. Oh so much fun! jumping around Plexus and later in Toxic Moon.  

    Playing Glitch really makes me feel the enjoyment of play and discovery and anticipation of what's around the corner. The writing makes me laugh all the time and the worldwide community chat gives access to knowledge and new interests/hobbies. (I learned about Dr. Who from UK glitches, Kukubee aww-inducing creative products) 

    I truly enjoy how I feel satisfied and really feel that I PLAY, DISCOVER, and LEARN something whenever I enter the world of Glitch.  
    Posted 14 months ago by Saywhat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think the writer here has a good point.  I don't think he's trying to say that the game is bad, but in it's current phase, it lacks a lot of depth.  While I'll be the first to admit that I haven't participated in street projects or a rook attack, these events are few and far between and/or difficult to find (as they probably should be).

    His point, however, remains valid.  I also feel like the game is missing something.  When I signed up, my image of the game is that it was supposed to be community-created world, and I'm not sure that it's lived up to that yet.  Aside from placing trees and animals, there's not much that can be controlled by the players.  

    What I would like to see in the future is more variability between items.  Perhaps the tools I create or the foods I cook could be slightly different than the ones another glitch makes (based on level, experience, minor ingredient variations, and/or skill).   

    I'd also like to see some elements of the game change to foster a stronger emphasis on communication and cooperation.  For example, as it stands, the marketplace is extremely impersonal.  I never even notice who I'm buying from.  It would be much more interesting if shopping were done in local areas in the game.  This would encourage more communication and create areas of specialization based on demand.  It would also likely drive up prices in the game, which is necessary as I don't see much purpose for money in the game after you are able to buy a house.

    One more detail I would love for them to add is more special areas.  Part of what makes any virtual world interesting is that it is mysterious and begs to be explored.  As it stands, the Glitch world has a few interesting areas that encourage curiosity such as the Ancestral Lands and the Jethimadh Tower, but the VAST majority of the streets are just boring, walking paths.  Glitch needs a LOT more of these mysterious areas of different levels of difficulty to navigate. 

    While these are a few things that I feel like the game is lacking in it's current state, this post is not to be read as a complaint.  I imagine the Glitch staff would be the first to admit that the game does not stand now as they envision it in it's optimal state.  It's still a VERY new game, and I look forward to seeing what kinds of ways they work to improve it in the future!
    Posted 14 months ago by Jambalaya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • ARE there any street building projects?
    Posted 14 months ago by WalruZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Street projects? Do they exist? Sometimes I wonder.
    For something that is advertised as the cornerstone of Glitch, street-projects are barely explained and  barely accessible.

    Saywhat, that would do an impressive job at selling the game to a prospective player, but I don't think it reflects the reality of Glitch's gameplay. 99% of the actual game is running around, collecting items/currency and EXP while your skills go up. My point is, after about 3 days, you can have most of the currants you need, a house, and trees or animals to generate new items for you. At that stage of the game, again only a few days in, there's not much point to collecting further-- you know, the 99% of what makes Glitch.

    I've told a few friends at work about Glitch, and they all seem to have the exact same experience: they get super excited at first while they are saving up money and exploring the world for the first time, followed by a huge bummer once they get their house and the items they need. The first portion of the game plays like a non-combat RPG, the second portion of the game is a blank sandbox with little to do. Just think about how little incentive there is to actually level up in this experience based game.

    I want to have a reason to collect items. I want to have a reason to level up. Give me a pet to train, feed, and gain loyalty with -- perhaps to compete with other players pets. Give me something like a street-project, but on a smaller scale -- so I can build additions to my house, maybe even minigames I can invite my friends over to play. Put in super expensive houses that need to be built by a group of players, to act as a  "party house" or "group HQ". Give me some kind of time sink that actually means something.

    This game has beautiful art and music, and one of the best browser-based UIs out there. But the novelty doesn't last forever. Glitch feels in many ways like an early beta.
    Posted 14 months ago by Humbaba Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've only been playing for a few days, but this thread is very interesting to me. I have to agree with the points, the game needs more depth, I just hope that the developers realize this. As it stands, it is a very fun game, but I do not see myself playing long term if features are not added. Jambalaya's points are very good.
    Posted 14 months ago by aconanlai Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "The first portion of the game plays like a non-combat RPG, the second portion of the game is a blank sandbox with little to do."

    the expression i like to use is "sandbox without the sand".

    "Put in super expensive houses that need to be built by a group of players, to act as a  "party house" or "group HQ". Give me some kind of time sink that actually means something."

    these existed in very bare bones prototype form at the end of the beta. presumably they will be arriving in time, hopefully soon. we've also been promised expandable, customizable housing. for about a year now.

    i was kinda shocked that Tiny Speck launched the game in its current state, to be honest. i figured they would have put in at least one long term creative activity as the final element before launch, but that never happened. house customization was what i assumed this would be, or possibly the group halls. instead we got races and game of crowns and now party packs, which are fun but short lived and useless .. alongside cubimals and now icons, which are tedious, longer lived and useless.

    to be honest, i don't understand the thinking here. maybe they wanted to pull the trigger on pulling on starting to get significant subscription revenue and figured they could build out the endgame in the month or so while players fleshed out their skillbase and worked on a little bit of street building.

    if i had to make a prediction, it is that more street building will occur within a week or two, and that customizable housing will come out after that.

    there is a bottleneck i think, in that i think they are pretty much ready to have group halls but they don't want to create any more "non-customizable" housing templates, which is why we haven't seen any new house designs since the Alakol 50k/30ks. i think that the customization interface has taken a long time to develop and stacked on top of that to make the customizations at all interesting they need to create a bazillion art resources. so there's a significant bottleneck that needs to be cleared.
    Posted 14 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i also wonder if Tiny Speck has shot themselves in the face somewhat with the art style they elected to go with.

    the initial idea was to go with a variety of different artists creating elements of various realms, which is why Ix and Uralia and Firebog look so much different than the other regions. since those early days, everything else has been done in a kind of "house style". i imagine this speeds up level design since they don't need to get a new artist to figure out what "ground" is supposed to look like, or design new trees all the time. there is less waiting on new art assets and much more recycling of old stuff.

    but on the flip side, the style they've gone with is highly textured and detailed and i imagine isn't so simple to 'churn out'. new staff or freelance artists, and i'm not certain how many artists they actually have on staff, would have to be brought up to speed and learn to emulate the style. if Glitch had a more simple, graphic look then maybe we'd be looking at more content.

    all this is speculation into the internal production of the game that none of us really has a clue about .. but i think this speculation at least fits what we've been seeing in terms of the visual development of the game, and the speed of said development.
    Posted 14 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Everyone has very good points here. 

    I just like to make a point that the Glitch game is very organic with many potentials for pleasant new surprises. That will be the 'pull' to get into the world and discover what's new and develop personal game objectives. 

    I cannot remember the last time I have the desire to replay mario games or zelda or warcraft or scarface but at least one day in a week I am curious enough to check-in with glitch whether there are some new things. 

    Humbaba - there are quite a few minigames you can play with your friends - you need to buy race tickets from the dispenser (I think there's one in Guillermo way next to uncle friendly) 

    There are sooooo many things in this game that could be overwhelming for new players and easily missed. I highly recommend all players to checkout other excellent glitch-related reads:
    http://www.glitch-strategy.com/
    http://www.glitch-strategy.com/wiki/Glitch_Wiki

    And of course by all means, utilize all the marvelous glitchfans-developed tools:
    http://zoggish.appspot.com/locations
    http://glitch.alwaysdata.net/
    http://code.google.com/p/glitch-location-checker/
    http://glitch.li-ping.com/help_skill_queuer.html#install
    Posted 14 months ago by Saywhat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had the same issue when I first started playing in beta during the summer. I was addicted for the first couple of weeks, and then found the game to be severely lacking. My hope was that there would be more information about the Giants, and possible interaction with them. The Giants are the very basis for Glitch, yet the biggest part they play in the game is through the shrines, which, despite new efforts with spendable embles and new icons, become somewhat obsolete after you unlock your skills and are at a comfortable enough level to not need to donate for xp. There used to be an encyclopedia entry for the Giants, although it was never released, and now it's completely gone. In addition, there are no more talking anythings. The ability to talk to rocks, trees, and animals was my consolation for not having anything greater involving the Giants, and kept my hopes up that something else was coming.

    Glitch is marketed as a social, community-based game, yet with a lack of messaging system outside the game itself it's very cumbersome to interact outside of forums. Statuses are well and dandy, but not for having conversations. I have plenty of people on my friendslist, but have actually befriended very few of them because I can only access them in-game, when they're online. It's quite hard to build a friendship unless you meet someone when they're online and develop that way, or you invite someone you know IRL.

    What's great about Glitch is that it has a lot of potential. What's not so great is that it isn't being unlocked, or at least, not at a fast enough rate. Rook attacks and street projects should be more accessible events, not just for those at a high enough level to walk (or teleport) through three areas without a subway* without dying or for people popular/rich enough to hold massive parties.

    *I've no idea if the subways thing is being worked on or not, but it'd be great if it was expanded. Not necessarily to every area, but the Tamila/Aranna/Bersara clump is really annoying.
    Posted 14 months ago by Coi Koy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm all for progressive revealment in a game, but Glitch takes it to extremes. As it's a no-download/no-install browser game, many people will give it five minutes at most and decide - like I did when given a beta testing account months ago - that it's merely a very trivial 2D platform game where you run and jump and collect things.

    It was only when I recently received an email saying that Glitch was going live that I looked again. I was on the point of similarly dismissing it when by good fortune I discovered the quests, which are educational, challenging and interesting. Then I reached the point of buying a house and said - like our OP in this thread - that's it, but maybe carry on for a while in case there are any new quests. Now I've visited the Rook Museum I guess there's far more to the game in that direction but I don't know what. I also need to explore the machines (blocks etc). I don't know if street design is actually available, or whether it will require computer programming knowledge (I see mentions in some places of API functions, for example). Fair enough, all that can come later.

    My point is that Glitch needs to sell itself on its home page with at least a few hints of its deeper aspects, so casual players don't pass it by.

    Also, the Glitch article on Wikipedia doesn't seem to bear much resemblence to the game as it now stands. Perhaps someone needs to edit it wholesale.
    Posted 14 months ago by John259 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Great thread. 

    I hit the wall yesterday. It occurred to me that I was spending HUGE amounts of time in the mines. As an artist and social justice proponent who initially saw this as a viable alternative to first-person-shooter games, or deadly classing-up games like the Sims, or RL emulation games like SecondLife... it depressed me.

    Last night I wrote something which, inadvertently, is complementary to this very thread. It's called "Slave labour in the Mines" http://www.glitch.com/forum/ideas/10266/

    Afterwards I read something that again pointed towards more depth called "Bookmaking/Authoringhttp://www.glitch.com/forum/ideas/10267/.

    One thing is for certain: I'll be unloading all my bags into the street before I close the door behind me if all I get to do is harvesting, harvesting, cooking cooking, mining, mining. 

    !Kona
    Posted 14 months ago by LadyKona Paradox Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm a little surprised and impressed at how thought out these replies have been. It's obvious that one of Glitch's strengths is the community itself. The foundation of the game has set up a great opportunity for an in-depth social experience, no doubt about that. We just need a little more, I think.

    I wish they would not focus so much on polish and aesthetics at this point, and instead try to push some big systems.

    If there are minigames and if street-projects do really exist (sarcasm), then I would love to see a better explanation in game, or at least a more intuitive way to discover them on your own. In the mean time, I will try to seek them out myself.
    Posted 14 months ago by Humbaba Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, as we go longer without new street projects or more to do than "collect stuff", and now that I'm over the hump of grinding to speed up the long learning times on BL5, M4 and G5, it's got to the point I'll just keep the skills learning while I wait for something to happen . I think I'll finish off my last couple of Completist badges too (I've enjoyed exploring the world Tiny Speck has created, it's the best thing about Glitch) but after that I think I've exhausted the current fun of Glitch- but certainly not the potential. There's lots of potential.
    Posted 14 months ago by Axe-a-lot-l Subscriber! | Permalink
  • While I don't see the current state of the game so bad, I too reckon that a larger longtime goal should be added to make things interesting.

    My two cents: there is another continent somewhere out there. Only very high-level players can enroll for exploration/terraforming duties (think Gattaca!), but they
    - First have to train for it
    - Then have to get there safe and sound
    - Finally have to prepare the world for civilization through a number of harder quests, some of them requiring one or more groups of players working together to be completed.

    I guess this would make higher-levels gameplay very interesting, while giving lower-levels players a goal to aspire to.
    Posted 14 months ago by Ayzad Subscriber! | Permalink
  • One thing I wish the devs would review is where MMOs like Glitch have been before, and take from them the lessons so painfully learned.  

    As an example:  Glitch reminds me a lot of A Tale in the Desert, in that it's primarily a crafting game.  The difference between these two games is that people in ATiTD could group up with friends and create nations that would then be able to work cooperatively to create monuments.  The setting obviously led itself to this (Ancient Egypt being a veritable hotbed of monument-building), but since Ur is a fictional place, it wouldn't be hard at all to rationalize creating ridiculously difficult projects within the game.

    For example, how about instead of breaking in new streets and requiring legions of new artists and designers, TS Devs would incorporate a system for improving our existing streets.  Allow us to build player housing from scratch, so that streets otherwise devoid of interesting or feature-rich environments could grow as the population demanded it.  Even now, a few weeks after the game has opened, player housing has been nearly all bought up.

    I think this sort of solution would allow the devs to put suitable road-blocks in front of the population's advancement that would give them breathing room to develop a story-arc for the world that would be more engaging than putting a few red pixels up against some green and making a few other pixels.
    Posted 14 months ago by Snarkbutt Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree — good thread!

    To the original question, the current crop of major projects for us are: (1) group-owned locations (AKA group halls, but it is more about the locations than the halls) which will include the ability to choose resources and upgrades, build new locations, and a bunch more; this is what we are most likely to launch first, (2) the revised tutorial/early game experience (won't matter much to most people reading this, but still important to us), (3) customizable/upgradable houses/buildings: probably the most important overall, but huge and longer term — it might happen before the end of the year :), (4) mobile games & apps (we have done a lot of work on developer tools and the APIs and are starting to see some traction), (5) more physics play, games & races, (6) reworking player-to-player trading, the return of market spaces and overhauling the vendors (7) a bunch of new skills and items, closing off the current skill and crafting trees dead ends and adding a lot more functionality, mostly to support group-owned locations and building upgrading/customization.

    The transition from beta and episodic testing to launch and 24/7 availability contained many challenges but we're pretty close to adjusted now. Work on the larger projects is full steam ahead now (though we've still launched several medium-sized features —like Updates in the client, Camera mode/Eyeballery, Party Spaces, Icons, Emblem spending, etc . — fixed many bugs and done a done of polish/tweaking in the 3+ weeks since launch day).

    Over the next few weeks, we'll be posting more information about upcoming releases. In some cases it's just to help you plan for the changes and in others we'll be gathering feedback. And, in a month (or possibly two!) we should have the voting mechanism for subscribers in place to open some of the decision making up.
    Posted 14 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • First: What a wonderful, constructive, insightful discussion. I am not worried about Glitch, if the community presents itself in this way. Thumbs up.

    Second: THANK YOU, THANK YOU stoot barfield, for this clear and straight forward answer. I was waiting for days for a comment from the official side like this. Please, please DO post more information about upcoming stuff to give us a better idea of what's in store and what we can look forward to. Very appreciated.
    Posted 14 months ago by Louis Louisson Subscriber! | Permalink
  • VERY EXCITING! Thanks for the update!
    Posted 14 months ago by Epilady Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Humbaba:  Pardon the pun, but with all the stuff you are getting from donations, you must be overflowing with goods! Did you get that cubimal box I donated the other day? :)

    Seriously though, the game is always in development. Give it time. The developers are working very hard and there's plenty more in store I imagine. The game is very young. Regardless, there is so much to do, try . You can always sponsor your own events and create your own fun as well.
    Posted 14 months ago by Zu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is an interesting thread.
    I for one hope prices don't start going up, because I'm still a poor Glitchen who needs every currant I can snag.  (~.~)

    I *would* like the ability to build additions onto my house, or get more cabinets, that would be awesome.  Or create new plots in my garden, so I could grow some herbs maybe.  I see a lot of potential for this game and I really feel like it's only just getting started, so, there's a lot of reason to stick around.

    Oh also IRL I'm kind of a reclusive shut-in with hoardes of medical problems that prevent me from going out and doing stuff out in the real world, so this is a nice escape from that sorry existence.  ^-^  It helps distract me from the pain and illness I deal with every day IRL and give me things to work toward that I feel happy about accomplishing.
    Posted 14 months ago by ♪♥~ Auren ~♥♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow, Stoot--has it only been 3 weeks since the game went live? People really need to be more patient--the devs aren't gods, even if they like to call themselves GOD every once in awhile. It takes a little longer than 7 days (including rest) to make (or update) virtual worlds.

    As for street projects: They are indeed gone right now. They will be coming back eventually. They are in hiatus while they receive a complete and utter revamp. Keep checking the New Streets Group--when projects come back again the group chat will be lit up like a Christmas tree caught in an electrical fire.
    Posted 14 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • (1) Why not HALLS? I was sorta disappointed when I saw the group halls "streets" in the beta
    Having a place to meet inside WALLS feels a lot more social and interesting to me
    (3) Yeah I definitely wanna see that ^^
    (5) In my oppinion you're spending too much time on "external" games... having a thousand of those will only scatter the purpose of the game. I think a lot of people are more interested, as Humbaba explained, in "adding more depth to the gameplay" itself.

    Of course everything comes in its time indeed, the launch period has been a great job in a technical point of view :]
    Posted 14 months ago by Lemo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Woah, staff update! Talk about results. Thanks Stoot.

    The new stuff coming, especially customizable housing, sounds great. And by the sounds of it, the APIs and mobile games might be where the long-term gameplay will get fixed up into shape. Looking forward to it.
    Posted 14 months ago by Humbaba Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lemo he didn't say there wouldn't be halls,  just not only halls...  this way there will be communal outsidey stuff too  -  group locations need to be places to do stuff,  not just to hang out....  
    Posted 14 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So glad to come across this thread - lot's of great discussion.

    I've only been here a few days, but I was thinking today what happens when I've achieved the goals I've set out for myself?  I definitely see some form of customisation ability at the individual level (e.g. dwellings) and collaborative building of the game space as being the next logical steps.  Then what about groups that people belong to within Glitch being able to create and direct the game experience?  Will be keeping an eye on this thread for sure.
    Posted 14 months ago by dmnddgs Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The future looks bright and cheery.  Love it!!!! Egad, three weeks...wow! 
    Posted 14 months ago by AlmostSilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Awesome response.  Love this game.
    Posted 14 months ago by Hobbes Meta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm looking forward to more stuff to do.. especially if it's more collaboration based.  Thanks for kicking off this topic Humbaba :)
    Posted 14 months ago by icatchm0nkeys Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This game right now is a launch pad. It's a stable platform from which they can fire up whatever they want, whenever they want. No other game on the net comes close to the completely modular and free-form nature of what they might have here. Libraries full of player-written books (kudos to whoever's idea this was), spectator sports, community designed and built parks and zoos--the possibilities are, well, endless.

    In a year, this game will be held up as a gold standard in design, alongside Minecraft. Hopefully someone gives Tiny Speck an award. They deserve it.
    Posted 14 months ago by Harry Chronic Jr. Subscriber! | Permalink