Firstly I am writing this post as dmnddgs the player here not dmnddgs the character I play in the game space.
I'm sorry if you find what I have to say TL;DR, but I am very new to the whole online gaming and social networking spaces, even though I've been around since the year dot. I have lot to say on this subject and I would be sooo happy if you would spare your time to read it. If not, I have tried to summarize what I am saying in a TL;DR at the end – hope that helps.
To say I feel strongly about what is going on at the moment would be an understatement. I like to think I have become a very active player in Glitch and I certainly spend an inordinate (lol) amount of time in A.Bliss. Being a hardcore miner in A.Bliss has helped me create my strategy for the game going forward, both from a play perspective and what it is I choose to get out of it personally.
I was there when the bust up happened that is being discussed in another thread. I wasn't involved directly, but I remember trying to calm things down and get players to take a step back. I encouraged them to look at the GAG vs GODS thread and see it all as being fun and to stop trying force people to play the game in whatever way they deemed to be acceptable. My forum post ended with a link to GODS manifesto - here it is MANIFESTO (I wonder if you will click it?). Admittedly, my forum trolling has probably been quite awkward. As I said, this is all new to me.
The next day both players contacted me and seemed pretty upset about what had happened and the formal warnings. Both suggested they were going to quit. I begged them to hold on and just relax for a bit, which I thought they were going to do.
The sadness they expressed may have upset me even more than them. I contacted staff (Jobynana), to ask a question. I was not asking for the warnings to be reviewed, but I wanted to discuss the problem with A.Bliss and what I could do about it. Within the course of a few minutes I had an emotional melt down; a fricking cynical grown man blubbering like a baby.
Thank the lord for Joby. She took me aside and asked me to follow her into some of the most beautiful spaces I had yet seen in Ur. She helped me realize that there is so much more to it than meets the eye. I lost track of how long we talked for, it seemed like hours and we touched upon many subjects regarding Glitch which had been bothering me. I get a tight feeling right now thinking about how Joby handled my pain, so very giving and not judging at all. She helped me to figure out that I needed to take a step back myself and spend some figuring out what my strategy should be in charting my own path through the game. The other amazing thing about Joby??? Well, FFS it was something like 3:00am in the morning where she was, and she was supposed to be chilling out with a friend. Talk about dedication folks. What other company have you seen that has staff that are willing to do this. That alone should give you a clue.
Glitch is a concept of absolute genius in my opinion. As with all creations of genius there are flaws. But it is those very flaws that make the creation a thing of wonder.
A.Bliss is a very flawed space.
For some reason we have been drawn to it and there you will find the most random, entertaining, stimulating, challenging, loving bunch that I think you will find anywhere on Ur. We regulars have an understanding of how A.Bliss works that is not very well articulated. In another life when I was involved in process design my colleagues and I used to talk about the concept of entrainment, and that is exactly how A.Bliss works it seems to me. To the uninitiated eye it is random and chaotic, but to us there is a particular kind of dance that seems to evolve and it can be entrancing.
At the same time as this dance is in swing (what someone once called the "shiny fever"), there is a rapid fire of free flow messaging scrolling in the local chat window. Call out codes for where the rocks have spawned interspersed with what I can only describe as some of the most random, intelligent, hilarious, snarky, lewd, helpful and loving messages going back and forth between some of the more vocal participants.
For a new comer it can be a frightening or intimidating place. But it is intriguing enough for many to stay on and become part of the fraternity. We are nothing if not welcoming. Equally, there are those that have been to A.Bliss several times but have not necessarily clicked into the "dance". This is primarily where the conflict arises in my opinion. A side issue is just who is playing a role in the game space versus those who are playing "themselves"? It's something I am only just figuring out after being here for about a week. Whenever I have been in A.Bliss and I sense conflict I try my best to diffuse it gently and I know there are others of my fellow miners that will do the same.
(cont.....)