Topic

Staff Topic

New upgrade: Trade Channeling!

We released an upgrade card allowing you to access a new chat channel, specially for trading!

You can use it to ask around to see who's selling what you're buying and then teleport right quick to buy it from them. And other things like that.

If you have feedback or bugs you want to tell us about, let us know here!

Note: If you don't see the chat channel after buying the card, refresh the game. If the card is stuck in your deck, you can re-deal, or send us a help case if there's still a problem.

Posted 5 months ago by kevbob Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • cool..sounds like fun..maybe we can use it to get ideas..lol I'm looking at mine built and now I'm like..now what?? I love it..I just can't make up my mind what I want to use it for. :) 
    Posted 5 months ago by Cryztal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just curious... why was this a card and not just a regular channel option, like Live Help or Global?  We could use a group chat without spending imagination.
    Posted 5 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Is Rube going to show up in the channel? Because I really don't want to talk to him more than I absolutely have to.
    Posted 5 months ago by girlthulhu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, I can see the card, but I am not able to purchase the card.  Every time I try it tells me "could not purchase imagination upgrade."
    Posted 5 months ago by Galnoir Subscriber! | Permalink
  • agree with glum - curious ..
    Posted 5 months ago by serenitycat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Awesome, although I wonder why it's only 25 iMG.

    ETA: It's 200. :) 
    Posted 5 months ago by Rook Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This does seem like something that should be a standard feature and not an upgrade. Could we have the reasoning behind the decision? I'm not complaining, I love spending iMG on things but I'm wondering about new players who would likely be looking to purchase things due to lack of skills.
    Posted 5 months ago by Papa Legba Subscriber! | Permalink
  • According to Endoplasmic in global, "Was a typo :( Some lucky people got it for 25, it was supposed to be 200" so if it's only 25i for you, buy it before it changes its mind!
    Posted 5 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sweet.  THX
    Posted 5 months ago by Mystbecky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I cannot buy the 25c card
    ignores me
    but that's okay!
    *bravely carries on
    Posted 5 months ago by harriette Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maybe this is an upgrade card that everyone gets right at the beginning, so they're aware there is a trade channel (and can choose to avoid it if they wish...)?
    Posted 5 months ago by geekybird Subscriber! | Permalink
  • dilemma - do you buy the upgrade to get rid of the option, or take the risk of being faced each dawn with street hawkers and traders .....

    *now if it was slower and more searchable like a classified then maybe it would be more interesting*
    Posted 5 months ago by Sonneratti Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hypothetically, limiting new players from the trade channel would funnel any starter questions / spam / etc. to the already existing channels . If they wanted too, I believe they could put a level limit for the upgrade card to show up, and thus negate the ability of low level players from getting on the channel. Likewise, they could tie it to current / future skills. I'm sure other reasons could be thought up, too.
    Posted 5 months ago by XD Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Newer players would be the ones looking to buy many things, though, since people who've played for longer have most or all of the skills, and can make their own stuff.
    Posted 5 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i already ate my card, it was minty
    Posted 5 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ ☣ elf ☣: It wasn't! It tasted like bacon flavored lollipops with broccoli.
    Posted 5 months ago by NO DELETIN BACON>:O Subscriber! | Permalink
  • glum pudding & serenitycat & Papa Legba: It's an upgrade because most things that are not absolutely required to play the game will be upgrades for new players (e.g., inventory search, the "set as destination" feature, zoom, etc.). And we're making all those things (relatively inexpensive, early-level) upgrades because then their introduction is paced out over time, at the player's direction, rather than taught all at once in a frenzy of tutorial pop-ups.

    (And, glum, re "We could use a group chat without spending imagination": — you have many already, no? This one is different and the price is about one one-hundred-thousandth of your lifetime iMG … if that really seems too dear, I bet some nice players will give you SWFs to wrangle or free items to donate to get the iMG to buy it ;)
    Posted 5 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I really do not like the idea of having to spend imagination to use something that #1 should be provided to the game as a whole, #2 would help considerably clean up the game chat.

    Until this is provided to everyone in game, it will continue to bog down general chat, other chat rooms, and forums.
    Posted 5 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have plenty of swfs for those that need the 200img to buy the upgrade - just leave a written note with my butler please and I'll make sure to leave you some swfs when I log back in tomorrow : )

    Failing that, the new day just broke in...go see your magic rock now for that all important img boost :D
    Posted 5 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love the hard work you're doing Stoot keep it up :D many thanks to you and the rest of the team
    Posted 5 months ago by Adam :D Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Adam :D — thanks! But it is definitely not all me: I'll pass it on to the team :)
    Posted 5 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get the whole "make everything an upgrade" thing, and 200i is not a big deal, but I don't see the point in hiding a potentially useful channel from newer players.  It can take a long time to encounter a card, and in the mean time, being asked to take your buy/sell chat to the trade channel will result in frustration.
    Posted 5 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I wouldn't be shocked if it's part of the tutorial or introduced as a quest, and not hidden at all.  
    Posted 5 months ago by Red Sauce Subscriber! | Permalink
  • A different way of looking at "hiding potentially useful information from newer players" is  "not overwhelming them with new stuff  until they are ready to use it".

    If someone is trying to do things that would be directed to the Trade Channel, that's a good time for other players to explain what the upgrade is and why they should buy it the next time it comes around.  People get presented with new information when they are ready for it.  

    If it's something they never ask about, or something that they aren't interested in when they hear other players talking about it, then they don't have to waste time and iMG buying the upgrade.  
    Posted 5 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @glum I haven't noticed any trouble encountering cards I want on an alt I tried touching after the conversion? I think it won't be such a problem for new players as it was for us.
    Posted 5 months ago by Liza Throttlebottom Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @glumpudding...new players have such a panopoly of things to learn etc, can't worry about this.  Not sure as an old pro I'll use this, but glad it is there for those who will.  Thanks TS!
    Posted 5 months ago by FlatEarther Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I still don't think a channel is the right way to do this (from my experience with other games). Please consider a more comprehensive mechanism in game or extending the API to support third-party site directories.
    Posted 5 months ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • A "trade channel" being used just for trade?  No.  Experience has shown that trade channels are used for Chuck Norris jokes.
    Posted 5 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Janitch - It's far from the only option.  There are many third-party sites that use the API to interact with the auctions (which are more a sales list than anything).  People often want to advertise in game and have been doing so in the global chat channel.  This gives them an alternate space to do it and allows others to opt out of hearing it without missing out on other experiences as well.

    Morthis - An example: Experience also shows that here, sometimes people apologize and say they were wrong when someone argues with them.  On the internet.  I was *so* confused the first time I saw it!  This is a special place and the "normal" rules often don't apply.  Also, this isn't that game and it's not the sole fully global channel available (which makes it far less likely to be hit by off-topicness).  =)
    Posted 5 months ago by Magic Monkey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, new players do have a ton to learn, and there's little to no official documentation, and things are constantly changing, and who knows what the new tutorial will be like.  I do know that a lot of people start the game, "don't get what the point of it is," as they often say when they're greeted, and leave.  A lot of others do stick around, get frustrated by various things, and leave.  ("Well," you may be thinking, "this just isn't the game for them."  That may be true in the long run, but if the game's going to succeed, more people will have to stick around for longer.)  It's great to discover new things as you go along, but I strongly feel that a basic resource like a global trading channel should be accessible to everyone from the start, if it's going to be accessible to anyone.  Imagine, for example, how strange it would be to hear that there's an auction house, but to then find that you couldn't open the web page until you'd jumped through some unknown hoops.

    It's certainly possible that a new player can have access to so few cards that the trade channel card will appear quickly; however, the only unusual cards I have left right now are a few kitchen tool upgrades, and it still took me more than a week to get another Radial Heights card.  Today a friend and I had to buy some cards in order to get to the new one.  It was easy for me to do, because I have a lot of img saved, but my friend doesn't, which made it a lot harder for him.  Sometimes it's fun to wait for things to happen in the game, but I can't see that being the case here.
    Posted 5 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Glum, good lord: you don't know anything about the new tutorial, you don't know which upgrades are available when, you don't know what tools we have to control the pacing or order, you don't know at what level people will get the upgrade, you haven't been in any of the tests or any of the stats … how can you be so sure that this is the wrong thing? And, more importantly, why do you care so much?
    Posted 5 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Janitch, re: "Please consider a more comprehensive mechanism in game or extending the API to support third-party site directories."

    They are in no way alternatives. Like something I just wrote in another thread about Towers, thinking about trade channels as the ultimate solution to all economic interaction is missing the point.
    Posted 5 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the reply. We "augmenters" are sharpening our keyboards and waiting for the API to catch up.
    Posted 5 months ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And, we are very behind on many fronts on the API. We'll make a real and concerted effort to catch up soon :)
    Posted 5 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • On Stoot's response to Glum:

    Some of us care a lot about Glitch.  Surely you want that.  That leads us to care a lot about various things, some of them apparently small.  Glum in particular has invested a lot of time and energy into helping new glitches find their way around the game so the new user experience is going to be on her mind.

    And "you don't know, you don't know, you don't know" -- yes, and who has the keys to that knowledge?  Ordinary mortals who don't have invites stashed somewhere have been unable to see the early game ever since imagination rolled. 
    Posted 5 months ago by Fnibbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Magic Monkey:  Fair point, though I will say my experience with trade chat and equivalents is not just that game.  ;)

    I've been in trade chat here for a full hour now and it only strayed off topic once, and that was brief and instigated by me.  I am... cautiously optimistic, but waiting for my heart to be broken.
    Posted 5 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fnibbit: I think it's great to care! And I'm not trying to brag that I have some special knowledge that "mortals" (your term) lack. I'm saying that in the absence of any real information, the criticism is much less likely to be helpful. A thoughtful response to the actual process, once it is ready for release, is always welcome. In the meantime, this was meant to be a thread about the new trade channels ;)
    Posted 5 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Magic Monkey part 2:  The real test of whether trade chat can stay on topic will occur once habitual denizens start to develop social relationships within it, though, I think.
    Posted 5 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • In other games I've played, there's been some prerequisite for certain economic actions.

    I'm confident that glitchen can and will say "there's a trade channel upgrade card" to new players if needed instead of being confusing. 
    Posted 5 months ago by diaveborn ♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hmmm - so may Staff to defend this upgrade card...interesting.
    Posted 5 months ago by MeherMan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • MeherMan wrote: Hmmm - so may Staff to defend this upgrade card...interesting.

    +1 for you, sir xD
    Posted 5 months ago by Rutger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Also.. I never open any other chats then the one of my group. Nevertheless, I bought the trade channel card... just in case.
    Posted 5 months ago by Rutger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Question: (and I am not trying to start a debate or cause a problem But: How is this different then the Marketplace? Just because it is a chat function and not a forum?  

    and just to edit: I bought the card and am pleased with how it is working...
    Posted 5 months ago by Gable875 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Gabe, chat rooms and forums are basically the same thing, except chat rooms are real time, and forums are not (for the most part)
    Posted 5 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think the changes in the game are wonderful.  When I look at the whole game and think of a new player starting from the beginning, I am jealous that I can't be that new player.  It really has become a humongous world of imagination.   Besides I am sure we will all get some great beta/beta gift right?  Maybe a stoot barfield bear?
    Posted 5 months ago by Meia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Gable875

    let me get a bit techie here:

    A forum is a place where a conversation is permanently recorded (usually) and can take place asynchronously (at different times) so that you and I, for example, can carry on a discussion even though you asked your first question more than two hours ago.  Forums are wonderful when the conversation needs to be spread out among people in different time zones and with different amounts of time to spend composing their ideas to make persuasive arguments.  Or, as with Marketplace, they want to have the widest possible audience for their announcement.

    A chat is a synchronous (at the same time) conversation that is not permanently recorded (usually) and people who aren't online at that time cannot take part.  The audience is limited to the people who are actually paying attention to that channel at the time you make your request or announcement.  

    They serve very different communication purposes, just as a text, and email, and  a catalog serve different purposes
    Posted 5 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Can I just confess here that when I put my first SDB on my wall (it was a gift btw, I am way behind on skills from being away), I thought fixing a price on an item meant I could put it up for auction from my house!  Which was really cool!  Except it doesn't work that way and nothing sold!  And then I got really embarrassed, especially when someone made a pity purchase after coming to visit my house!   

    But I tell you this story for one reason...to segue into asking if auctions are going away?...Especially since folks are madly building towers with which to sell their wares.

    ETA: This is semi-still-on-topic.
    Posted 5 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nanoo, I don't have time to pull the link up at the moment, but it has been said by staff that auctions aren't going away.  This is meant to be another option for people who want it rather than a replacement.
    Posted 5 months ago by Magic Monkey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Original post removed. Sorry for my snarkiness, glum and others; all this exciting tower building and sdb organizing left me a bit worn out and drunk. Let's all just try to play nice, boys and girls...stoot and glum, kiss and make up and then we'll sing the Barney song and make jokes about tower names, ok? fun fun! (I'm still sorry I missed out on all the boner jokes...knowing how creative everyone is in this community, I'm sure you all were in rare form. ;) Oh, and speaking of playing nice, thanks to all the swell folks I met on the (awesome) trade channel who traded (and in one case gifted) me all the lovely dirt I need for my Urth blocks...xoxo!

    *weaves a witchy peacy smiley spell...good vibes, all*
    Posted 5 months ago by KitchWitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No no, KitchWitch, you've got the threat all wrong there.  It's, "Don't make me turn this thread around and go home!" =D

    I'm sure if there are problems with new players and confusion that the staff will re-evaluate at that point.  But I'm totally sad that I, too, missed the discussion of (and perhaps trading of?) boners.  I'm sure it was entertaining.
    Posted 5 months ago by Magic Monkey Subscriber! | Permalink
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