So I went camping, which left me a lot of time to think... and Glitch has been on my mind a lot. Not because of the joy or because of addiction/compulsion, but because of the growing disquiet both within the community and the game. It's a source of *stress*, and thereby becomes a rock my mind tries to grind into the red, blue, green, and shiny elements. I know other testers have echoed a similar cloud hovering, and rather than detract from or complicate their views, I'm posting my own.
Starting with the Shiny: Glitch is a lovely world. It's complex and detailed, the humor ranges from whimsical to cerebral, the artwork generally blows me away (I'm still impressed by Groddle, though less thrilled with Jeth and Phools). The Tiny Speck staff is outrageously dedicated to their craft, as a result their passion and love for their work is infectious. The format is what my gamer-geek-soul has been screaming for since in-the-box took over PC games, 3D-resource-heavy graphics took over MMOs, d20 took over RPGs, and deep canvas took over my side-scrolling games. Call me old-school, but those formats had a serious charm and I really feel like much of the gaming world has become a mindless-push-button-win. Old school or not, there are still text-based-pay-to-play MUDs that have been running for 10+ years... and I believe Glitch has the sticking power to last at least that long. Why is a whole different topic, but the end result = Shiny!
The Green: By that I mean $.... The game play at the higher levels is almost entirely self-directed. I'm pretty good at entertaining myself within Glitch without quests, and I'm usually among the first to offer up ideas when others say they are bored. I understand the 'casual sandbox' argument as well, and not everyone will be able to play hours and hours (and not everyone will want to). The a-la-carte credit purchasing is on par with the rest of the Casual Game industry, less right now since we have incentive discounts.
Glitch subscription pricing is actually on the low end of MMO industry standards. Most pay-to-play games range $8-20 a month, I've even seen 'diamond' options that give access to additional seperate 'high payer' or 'player-versus-player violence' versions of the world in some longer running MMOs at ~$100 a month (and people will pay it, if the world is detailed and entertaining enough)... so I think Tiny Speck actually has some room to play with that down the road if they felt it was needed. That said... pay-to-play at $15 a month generally confers unlimited play. That means people will be expecting to be able to play for hours, and weeks, and months on end... and the game still be engaging at the end of it. They don't expect to be paying for access to a space where (after a few months) their only objective is to find ways of entertaining themselves.
Unlimited play is not something Glitch can currently offer - not just because it's closed 1/2 the time... but because it is in beta and unfinished. It will never technically be 'finished', that's not the nature of a good MMORPG, but there will be a place of finished-enough-to-launch. Even at launch, the best we can expect is the potential for unlimited play down the road... but that is true of any new game and world. In any long running MMO there will always be periods where a collective of players are waiting for the next release, next upgrade, next expansion pack. Part of the advantage of the approach TS took technology-wise enables them to stay ahead of that, and indeed I believe it was part of the intent when selecting the live-update/push capabilities. The trick is staying ahead of 5% becoming a frustrated 15%. TS has the potential to do that, and part of the beta process is finding out where the balance is.
The Blue: The player end of world building is wonky, and feels like it is getting more-so over time. Even with changing the requirements and skill types - a moving target type of balancing I'm sure requires a human level of thought and input, which means a human labor resource requirement on a permanent basis at TS... but still the world building experience, which should be a big draw, falls flat.
In the big-big picture, it does seem like the changes over the 6 month view have served to erode the experience. The Street Projects were actually the single thing that made me log in a second time. I got the concept/look/feel/tech curiosity out of the way in a matter of hours... but it was the input into the world (and potential for creative input) that made me take a second look. When I arrived, I thought we would be able to eventually initiate projects as players then wait to see what the artists and developers cooked up... as in 'we'd like a new street here please, and see! we've done the first half of the work'. As time has gone by, it doesn't appear we'll have that level of input.
I dreamed one day we'd be able to write out an idea - find out if it could work, flesh out the mechanics, wait for the developers to set it up, then do the work in the world to implement/make it happen. I hoped that one day we'd be able to 'create our own recipes' (Lemburger with cheese, onion, pickles, mayo and tomato anyone? Light-weight pick built of better materials by the players?) and have them mean something in the world, as in higher energy from the food or a slight time/wear/yield trade off for the pick.
Now I am getting more the impression we'll perpetually run off of an art-dump-player-interact-to-implement system fueled by a vote for priority. Other than the 'vote for priority', it's not terribly different from the Ville Games as far as deployment goes. It makes me sad, in my heart I know Glitch has the potential to be so much more than it currently appears to be. On a wider level, I think it is that sort of hope/potential the longer term players are actually grieving over.
The Red: This is where I point out some areas where things can be improved. Don't mistake me as angry, upset, or trying to insult the game, the players, or the staff. I'm trying to provide some honest feedback here.
I find the level of communication from TS a little hit and miss. I'm all for mystery deployments in the context of the game play, but I'm whole heartedly against mystery changes in the context of real-world items such as subscriptions. TS has been making a conscious effort to be better about it since subscriptions were rolled out, but Billing needs it's own FAQ page and details about subscriptions (and the projected direction of subscriptions after launch - if/when possible) need spelled out in everyday language. Not to be a nag about things, but I'd also really like a printable version of the TOS I'm singing up to - before I sign on the dotted line. These are basics every person should have easy access to, which we presently have to work to uncover.
Also, I think the Forums themselves are in serious need of a staff member. I know how long these posts take me to write/read... and many of the staff announcements/responses are just as detailed and take just as much time to create, not to mention the time spent checking the threads for questions, or things that need addressed. It has to eat into valuable programming, coding, designing, artwork resources. The arguments on the Forums can often be put to rest with a simple explanation about the current status and TS perspective of things, *before* the topic becomes a festering environment of frustrated. A bit of a PR function to the existing player community (rather than the rest of the world) would be Awesome, especially when it comes to announcing big mechanics changes like Mining or Teleport.... TS members are handling much of that individually, but it seems like there's at least enough time involved to justify a partially dedicated intern.
My biggest let down so far - the game play over time is exceedingly thin. Player culture supplements some of it, but the truth is the game is very boring after months of playing. The acknowledgement by stoot elsewhere is probably the most comforting thing I've heard in a long time. To me, it means they are looking at the bigger balance and the Giants are already imagining. It means *eventually* it will be a joy to play and entertaining after 6 months, 18 months... and we won't be wandering off to find a new source of amusement.
Many MMO's use items and skills and professions and areas and guilds that can only be activated or used or joined at higher levels, even casual games utilize the practice of requiring a certain number of friends, play time, or levels. Skill wise, Glitch is time-based not play-based... so essentially after the 2.5 months of skill learning (presently) the game is over for you as far as game-directed-activities. There is a cap to achievements and places visited, leaving 'grinding' for either higher levels or cash.
Every time attaching a level requirement to something is mentioned there's a chorus of 'no fair' and I myself am guilty of crying foul when such an attachment doesn't immediately make sense, but it *is* one of the missing complexity layers to Glitch. Without some sort of incentive, there is no point to gaining higher levels in Glitch and no point in sticking around once the fascination wears off.... unless you feel obligated to a year subscription (TS has a very generous return policy).
Perhaps linking Level to the max # of skills one can learn would do it (as modified by Better Learning). Before you pelt me with rotten tomatoes, think about that idea again. The Level 10 player would have the 20 free skills + potentially 17 more through Better Learning + 10 for the levels = 47 skills... functional, but you would been to get to Level 54 to finish the skill table (if Unlearn and BA3 were available and BL was learned early - Level 59 if Better Learning 5 was Skill #83, and Level 86 before only BL is left). That's actually right around when many of the long-hour players are finishing things... mostly through a judicious use of down/closed time. It also means the people who start a skill then log out for a week (when the world is live) can't finish the skill table at Level 5 (possible if you can get your hands on the emblems). It has the extra bonus effect of scaling the quest and learning/absorption pacing to match the player-to-world interaction.
Last... more player control over the User Interface, mainly on the protection side. I'd like more than just a block. I'd like a tailorable content filter... I don't need someone deciding what I decide is offensive. Often what is offensive is not the words themselves but the way they are put together - so a report abuse feature would be nice. I'd like sorting sorting/grouping options for my friends, so I have some level of control over where my updates are going. I'd like to be able to easily mute and unmute someone in chat, some people aren't all bad - just having a bad moment and I temporarily want them to be quiet. These aren't horribly difficult features, are really common in various chat/messaging programs, and have a profound effect on the player enjoyment factor.... so while the list of priorities may be long on the development side, making the (now paying) players more comfortable should be sliding up the urgency list.
If you've managed to get this far, you deserve a cookie! Thanks for the patience :D I know the last bit sounds like a laundry list of complaints, and in a way it is. I hope it's interpreted as I intended, an impression of some of the strengths and areas for improvement.