Topic

You're already in max groups.

I know I've gone on about this before, but this whole "You can only be in seven groups" thing is really starting to frustrate me. On the face of of, it seems like groups should be a great way to build up little sub-communities within Glitch, populated by people with common interests or goals. But the current implementation is fundamentally broken. Most of the groups just never get the chance to get going. As soon as someone is in seven groups, the effort involved in checking out any other group is just way too hard - so hard, that I'm sure many people never bother looking at potentially interesting groups simply because the whole thing is just way too much hassle. 

Just to check out a new group, I have to:

1) Actively quit a group I'm already a member of.
2) Join the new group
3) Decide if I want to stay

Then, if I want to stay, I now miss out on anything that happens in the group I had to quit. If I decide it's not worth it, I then have to:

4) Quit the new group
5) Rejoin the group I originally quit.

That's way harder than it ought to be, and easily enough to put me off. The consequence is that I hardly ever bother looking at groups any more.

I know there's a 'workaround' - once you've reached your limit, you can get people to invite you to extra groups, but that just makes things even worse. Putting aside the problem that you first have to find somebody who is a member (nigh on impossible), it just exacerbates the problem. Suppose I'm in seven groups, and then get invited to three more. I'm now in ten groups. Then, I spot a new group called (say), "Really interesting group" and I want to check it out. Now I have to quit *four* groups before I'm allowed to join "Really interesting group". That's ridiculous. And then, if it turns out to be pretty dull in the end, and I decide I'm not interested after all, I can only rejoin one of my original four groups and have to actively seek out people to re-invite me to the other three.

So, we have a handful of groups that gain a critical mass and thrive, and then a huge barrier to entry for any new group that comes along. No wonder so many wither and die with only one or two members.

I know staff have said that groups will undergo a major overhaul at some point, but I don't know if that's something that's actively under way, or if it's just a statement of intent. In the meantime, I don't really see the point of them any more.

Posted 18 months ago by dopiaza Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • It's not that difficult to get invited to a group - try sending a "please send me a group XXX invite" in both you home chat, and in global chat...

    TS has said they are going to expand the number of groups sometime after rollout i believe it was...
    Posted 18 months ago by MeherMan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes but as dopiaza said, if you're 4 groups over your limit, you have to quit and get re-invited to 4 groups just to check out a new one. That is a hassle. I'd also like to see the limit increase.
    Posted 18 months ago by FrankenPaula Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I wish we could read Forums for every group  (maybe not post to them) so we could find out what they are about and if we want to join.  There are several groups that sound interesting to me but as dopiaza said it's just too hard to quit, join, quit or even to beg to be invited.  I am in more than 7 now.  If I quit one to check out another, I will have to beg an invite to the new group and then if I don't want to stay there I will have to beg an invite back to my old group, etc.  This also involves at least one or two other people who have to take the time to invite me.  I also don't spend much time in any of them anymore.  It's not that I don't like them or want to belong.  If I didn't want to belong I'd quit.  It's just that the whole group thing is getting too hard to deal with.  I am just too tired.
    Posted 18 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I totally agree with everything said here. 
    Posted 18 months ago by Tally Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am in the same situation.Thank you, dopiaza, for describing it perfectly. I am in more than 7 now. I like each of them. Others look interesting, but I don't want to fiddle with the Leave/Invite game. Right on, Brib! lol
    Posted 18 months ago by GreyGoose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree. I'd really like some way to check out a group before committing. Being able to read at least the latest posts would give you an idea of what its about. I'm in a couple groups that have been inactive for awhile, but are really useful for info, and I don't want to quit them. I'd like to see a much higher limit.
    Posted 18 months ago by Phoebe Springback Subscriber! | Permalink
  • OK! We agree!

    I believe the group limit has already been increased (but if that has not rolled out yet it will the next time we deploy).

    And, you will soon be able to see discussions for public groups without joining (but only those groups which do not restrict their discussions to certain group roles).
    Posted 18 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks Stoot - also, it often goes unsaid so let me say once again how truly great it is to see how involved and helpful/willing the entire TS group is. I realize we are all still just testing - however - it is really nice to see that our collective group input and thoughts are considered by you and your team.
    Posted 18 months ago by Shadowy Time Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Increased? I could have sworn it was 8 before but now it's only 7. There wasn't any increase that I could see. But yes, I would LOVE to be a part of more groups.
    Posted 18 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yay! Thanks stoot!
    Posted 18 months ago by dopiaza Subscriber! | Permalink
  • TY stoot! I know we are a vortex of 'I wanna' but this one's likely to help us all out quite a bit.
    Posted 18 months ago by Lelu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree with Shadowy! Thank you so much for such an amazing game with such helpful developers..... :) <3
    Posted 18 months ago by NutMeg Botwin Subscriber! | Permalink