I would like to re-open the discussion on mining etiquette.
I am a relative newbie and I was confused about the glitches who swoop quickly through the mines, "helping" others finish off rocks. At first I thought it was nice to see so many helpers. But then I noticed that, unlike other miners, the "helpers" tended to be surly, never chatting, trading, or giving kindness. Also, the helpers hate it if you trail them and attempt to "help" them! I have concluded that "helping" like this is actually an act of rudeness.
I read through the old closed discussions and it seems that most people feel the same way.
I understand that any system to prevent "helping" would be cumbersome.
My question is: Why is this behavior still called "helping"? I feel like calling it that and having the system report mining progress as though it were a good thing just gives jerks permission to act like jerks.
There are a lot of cool things about Glitch but what makes this game really unique is that it does not encourage or reward people for preying on each other. Except in the case of "helping" someone mine.
It is sad to see the fast, high level "helpers" clean out an area before the others can even finish one rock.
I realize that, especially with the new house stuff coming out and all, there are a lot of more pressing concerns to be addressed now. I just hope that the "helping" feature could be renamed to something more accurate before re-launch.
I also hope that you will take my comments as I intend them, as questions and suggestions, not as criticism and that you will correct me if I am mistaken. Thank you.