I am a much happier person since I found Glitch. It filled the void left by the demise of Faunasphere. It keeps me in touch with my International friends....I laugh each day at the forums. It has restored my faith in the common man. Upward and onward, fellow Glitcherini. The best is yet to come.
To answer to the original post: I smile at random things now - things that remind me of glitch.... and then get made fun of by my family members for it :p
And I had a dream some days ago... about Bureaucratic Arts III being learnable.
"Eudevie,what are you doing?"
"Making Juicy Carpaccio"
"It's 4 o'clock in the morning. Why on earth are you making Juicy Carpaccio?"
"Because I've lost control of my life."
ayep.
let's see... Wednesdays I really start getting the Glitch Itch and refresh more. On game day, I do chores before it opens, then I disappear in my room to play throughout the test, even though I'm running out of things to do. When the test is over, I apologize to my family and promise to spend more time with them, which I intend to do.
this probably sounds crazy - but just being in Glitch - where most people are amazingly helpful and so many people often work cooperatively to get things accomplished - has made a huge difference in my life. I get inoculated by immersion in the great energy here and carry it with me, spreading some of it around in the real world.
Congrats, Andonida! Well, my hubby and I finally found a computer game we BOTH like and can play together. And I have made some truly wonderful friends I never would have met anywhere else. And laughed and laughed at things like "piggy terrorist" "Does tree poison work on a chicken?" "I'm cooking myself and going to hell" "Oh crap GOD is talking" "I'm going to the mines to get poo" etc. And yes, I keep a list of things my friends say that are "only heard in Glitch" because it just makes me laugh so hard. Oh, best dev one: "The eggplant is the only thing sane in this world." You know who you are, you nut. :)
I am easily amused to begin with, but in Glitch, I have a place to amuse myself if I want to play alone by tossing some piggies or tasty morsels into the GF trees, or join a group if I want some social fun, or sneak up on a nekked sleeping proofreader and snap a screenshot. It's the perfect vehicle for amusing myself in many different ways, depending on my mood. And it always makes me laugh.
Glitch introduced me to Mexicali Eggs, for which I will be forever grateful.
Mmm, Mexicali Eggs.
Also, it gives my partner and I something else to nerd out over together. (Whether that's pointing out Glitchy things IRL or making spreadsheets of crop efficiencies). Because we totally need help in the nerdery department. Erm.
Glitch is forcing me to seriously rethink my previous stance on video/computer games, which was that they're OK but that I'm better off without them. As a mom, I fought tooth and nail to keep my kids from falling into electronic entertainment (no TV at all, limited supervised Internet, handheld and computer games... anyone out there remember the Zoombinis?). I wasn't quite 100% Luddite, but I was very careful about what we did allow. And that hasn't really changed...
But I thought games were pretty much brain candy... something to be doled out in moderation after the serious work was done. And now, after reading a LOT about game theory and therapy... I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that there might not only be some benefit to some games, but actually a LOT of benefit (again, in SOME games).
While I don't think video games caused Columbine, I do think that the imagery and actions we immerse ourselves in do have an effect on our society collectively. It just isn't a good thing to give a kid a gun, set him loose in a FPS and call it fun. Lowering our sensitivity to violence and giving rewards for causing pain... it just feels so wrong. The cooperation and whimsy in Glitch is so far from the damage and domination from other MMOs (that I've seen... I freely admit that my limited exposure to things like WoW and Diablo and L4D are certainly not representative of all games), and I find myself really feeling joyful after helping build a street or satisfied with my organized renewable resources.
There are two things about Glitch that have changed me... one is the fact that I have gradually surrendered to the joy of playing the game itself, and then there is the entire experience of being a beta tester (and all the agony and excitement that goes along with it). The wait between tests has caused me a surprisingly significant amount of anxiety and irritability (and not just me, judging by the pitiful pleas from other players)... something I hope is only temporary, caused by the scarcity of the game pre-launch. The excitement, though... I really feel like I'm part of a special group of people creating something that's never been done before. The social hacking aspect of Glitch is fascinating and delightful... the people on these forums are among the smartest and politest I've ever seen on the 'Net, and that's at least partly due to the teamwork, kindness and cooperation fostered by the game. I feel like I'm participating in a truly pioneering aspect of our New Media, something I suspected right when I heard about Glitch, and a feeling that was amplified hugely when TS announced kt's arrival.
Great question... it was fun to try to sort out my feelings about all this!
Well, when the game's up I usually neglect my homework...
And when I'm trying to focus on something, the song that plays when you use the Focusing Orb plays in my head.
Awesome post Lilith! Yes I remember the Zoombinis! I think the thing that Glitch succeeds at is a sense of communal accomplishment rather than a personal score tally. I hope the devs will be able to keep the proper ratio of resources to players to keep that feeling.