Topic

What's wrong?

As this is my favorite browser-based (or social media-based) game I've ever played, I just have to ask one question:

Why so few content updates?

I remember playing this game for months during beta, never knowing what to expect from the creative minds at Tiny Speck.  But since the game has re-entered beta, I've seen almost nothing added.  My optimism forces me to believe that the devs are concocting some incredible new housing and imagination system for the players.  But I've seen nothing but posts about Tiny Speck's confidence in their ability to produce some revolutionary new culture-building experience in a browser.  That confidence, to me, seems completely undeserved.

I've been a subscriber since I started this game in beta, and I have no intention of cancelling my subscription (should Tiny Speck deliver on some of their promises), for I believe more in this game than most others.

But you can't keep your players in the dark this long without some sort of progress update (including screenshots) of the essential features that were promised.  It just feels like such a shame to watch the content support for this game just drop off for 2+ months after an incredible beta experience.

Posted 11 months ago by Fartenstein Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • because..aliens
    Posted 11 months ago by Volkov Subscriber! | Permalink
  • errm... you must have been playing a different game to me for the last couple of weeks...seems like nothing but announcements and updates and discussions about changes in the works.

    did you read the QnA sessions?  http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/15805/

    I'd guess that's why no 'content' updates (apart from new areas, new housing, new quests), bigger things for the team to be doing at the moment?.
    Posted 11 months ago by Nobbin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Since I joined, they have added eyeballery, photography, unlearning, potions and brewing as skills.  And new housing and imagination systems are not just "your optimism" - they're a definite thing that's been talked about frequently here in the forums with many staff responses. 

    Read the Q&A!  
    Posted 11 months ago by Wintera Woodswitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fartenstein, I agree!

    I used to play every day and was so involved in the game, but now I just do not know what to do and how to amuse myself here, unfortunately :( I've learned almost all skills, I've been almost to all places and.... it is sad. We need more content, we need to put some purpose into the gameplay - I used to play to discover the world of Glitch, but presently it seems so familiar and somehow shallow. It is a pity to say that, but it's just what I personally feel.
    Posted 11 months ago by bumz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think they are spending their time on the game engine update. The housing update is a very complex and involved one.
    Posted 11 months ago by Melting Sky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Patience, grasshopper. HUGE, core game changes are coming in the next few weeks, and these changes are NOT trivial. I'm sure TS is spending the vast majority of their time working that out. Small updates are not a priority in the face of that monster of a task. They will likely throw us a few bones every once in awhile to keep us from getting too antsy, but don't expect anything substantial until they unveil the big one. In the mean time, spending less time in the game will likely only make it better when you return full force (absence makes the heart grow fonder).
    Posted 11 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Regular content updates are a luxury to a game that has gone back to Beta and decided to overhaul most of its major systems.  I'm pretty sure once Glitch relaunches, content updates will be more plentiful.
    Posted 11 months ago by Warrender Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am going to have to agree with Volkov, firstly, and then with Warrender, Shepherdmoon, Melting Sky, Wintera, and Nobbin.

    These changes are enormous. They have put in more stuff than I'd expect with such large changes looming on the horizon (the estimate we were given is 8 weeks- or might it be 7 now?).

    How many games are going to put in any new stuff when they know they're bringing huge changes? For most games, you have to wait for patch day or expansion day to get any new content. And generally, with all games, you hit a point where you don't want to play much until those promised days come, after you've exhausted the previous content.

    There's nothing wrong; It's just a natural cycle present in any game.
    Posted 11 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The thing I keep in mind is that during beta the game would be closed for days, sometimes, weeks at a time. Then it would open for a few hours or maybe a couple of days and I would run around like a maniac trying to get as much play in as possible until GOD gave the 10 minute warning that the game would be closing again.

    The nice thing about the current beta cycle is that the game is open 24/7 while the ts team works like crazy on all the exciting things discussed in the Q & A. I can hardly wait. Whoo Hoo!
    Posted 11 months ago by GreyGoose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Seriously?  They patch this game almost daily.  Sometimes with new quests, other times with new skills, and still other times with new features (fancy progress meters, inventory search, etc).  Heck, they've even completed an incomplete old hub and added an entirely new hub too.  And this is all just since it went back into beta.  

    I freely admit that I'm basically done with all this new content, but that by no stretch of imagination means that they didn't put it in.
    Posted 11 months ago by Nerd of Epic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I joined a month or so ago, and since I've been here, I've seen new quests (involving a new area and new game mechanics), new skills, a new party venue, and some new Christmas items. I've also seen smaller updates, like changing around the public gardens and the Rube mechanics, and all while the team is working on a massive game engine overhaul and completely changing the way housing works into something totally new. And let's not forget that one forum thread where stoot himself showed up to answer many, many questions about what's going on, or those two live Q&A sessions that were held a while back.

    So yeah, saying the game has gone stagnant, or we're not being provided any information, is kinda unfair.
    Posted 11 months ago by Aeralis Subscriber! | Permalink
  • When are they going to tell us the status of Half-Life 2 Episode 3or Half-Life 3?

    Oh. Wait. Wrong forum.
    Posted 11 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think its a lot of under the hood tweeking before rolling out other major changes- nothing wrong just be patient grasshoppa. (i cant hardly stand the anticipation either) they have big plans-things take time to develop...
    Posted 11 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • While what everyone here has said IS right... I wouldn't mind some pictures of what's been under development :P If such things actually exist outside the whole "Well we wrote three thousand new lines of code for the way such-and-such is going to work!" of course! I'm embarrassingly tech un-savvy so, I wouldn't know how the whole process unfolds :)
    Posted 11 months ago by Liza Throttlebottom Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Probably a lot more than 3,000 lines of code. . .

    They certainly have pictures by now (if they have any hope of meeting stoot's deadline). But they'll be reluctant to release those because the pictures they have are in a state of flux and the final product may well end up quite a bit different. 

    I'd still prefer that they do release them, but I understand where they're coming from.

    --Me
    Posted 11 months ago by SchWM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • At this point, TS has nothing to gain by leaking previews. If you like them, you like them and you'll keep playing. If you DON'T like them, you'll moan and complain and raise a ruckus at a stage when it's essentially too late for them to take a giant U turn and redo stuff.

    Better to keep everyone in suspense and do a big reveal. The people who don't like the new stuff will complain and/or leave and everyone else will get on with playing the game.
    Posted 11 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Damn those aliens.
    Posted 11 months ago by Mal'akh Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh my Gods seriously Effenstein (I refuse to use the F word in your name sorry) >_<
    We do need content updates.  A lot of them.  All the other online games I play release new items almost daily or at the very least once every few weeks.  The one game I play obsessively besides Glitch has kept me playing for so long because there is ALWAYS new stuff to come on and see!  The game itself doesn't change but there's new breed specific genes for the animals for instance and new items released every year, like this year they have birth-flowers for each month.  There's a new limited item for every month of 2012 that users can collect.  I LOVE collecting rare items, especially when they're beautiful and I can display them in my Cabinet (another feature of the other game.. there's a Display Cabinet in your inventory you can place items in so they can be viewed and not take up space in the main Inventory)... ^_^

    If Glitch is going to hold my interest in the longest-term possible they need to start thinking about doing something like this.
    Posted 11 months ago by ♪♥~ Auren ~♥♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Miso, what is the other game you play?
    Posted 11 months ago by Kirnan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So basically what you're saying is actions speak louder than words. 
    Posted 11 months ago by Eye Wonder Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Err... I don't think anyone is saying that they don't need to do content updates, Miso.

    What they're saying is that with the gargantuan project that they're working on, it's a wonder they have time to do the things they have been doing. I don't think they're doing too little in light of that.

    If there was not such a huge change looming in the "near" future, and they were just like, "Meh, they don't need anything new this week.", it'd be a whole lot different. But it's not like that. They're not just sitting around doing nothing and being lazy about adding stuff (well, they could be.. but for some reason I doubt it; I hope that doubt is well founded).

    Besides that, as others have mentioned, this update is going to change core game mechanics. You can't just add a ton of stuff that may get broken when those mechanics go in. They don't need to be spending their time doing band-aid fixes after the game mechanics change; they need to get it all designed hand in hand with the new mechanics so they have time for such content updates in the future.

    It's kinda like downloading a bunch of clothes and furniture for the Sims and unzipping them all at once to find out when you get in the game that it's going to crash when you open a certain thing- then you have to weed through all the stuff you added to get rid of it so you can play the game again.
    Posted 11 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • But but...Miso did not answer...
    Posted 11 months ago by Kirnan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1

    Appreciate the enthusiastic types here with the stock standard "ohhh but huge new stuff is coming right around the corner, really truly!!!111" and the devs have been magnificent in their communication...

    ...but no-one can deny they've seen their friends list online shrink considerably. And the notion that hoarding goods right now won't help when the new updates come really doesn't give anyone anything to do atm.

    I'd really like to see some more long term goals brought in, even for the now. And I really hope the new houses don't take 5 minutes to build.
    Posted 11 months ago by Rosty Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, the other option is to put back that [CLOSED] sign while they are doing updates.... 

    But I prefer being able to get into the game anytime, than waiting in anticipation for them to announce a schedule to open the world (like in beta). Playtime usually conflicted with real life appointments, and it would be a big disappointment if I didn't get the chance to log-in and do some minor chores while they were open.

    I guess they're testing if it's possible to update the game while it's live. And as far as I know, there have been a lot of updates without the game going down. 
    Posted 11 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think a lot of the game players are taking a wait-and-see approach.  Before we put a lot more into our accounts on the game we want to see what they will roll out in the 'next big update.'

    There will always be another group of players, those who use the game as a gigantic chat room, who will hang out on the site regardless.  Lord help Tiny Speck if they are the only people playing three months from now. 

    That situation, an insular hardened small group of devoted 'chat room' type players who kinda ended up repelling newcomers, is what kept Faunasphere from growing and ultimately killed the game.  Saying 'oh this is a wunnerful community' is fine, but it's a small-town attitude.  Games don't grow when that sort of ingrowth takes root.
    Posted 11 months ago by Kalstept Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And the notion that hoarding goods right now won't help when the new updates come really doesn't give anyone anything to do atm.

    I know there was some comment about how hoarding things won't necessarily help, but I fail to see how hoarding basic ingredients (beans/bubbles/planks/meat/barnacle/rocks/etc) won't enable you to build  things in your new home, or create things and gain imagination more easily than if you don't have a mountain of everything in your home. 
    Posted 11 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think Stoot only said that so people wouldn't get angry when they find out that they don't actually need 1 million cherries to upgrade their home, and feel they wasted all their time. (Don't take my word necessarily--you MIGHT need 1 million cherries--that's just an example). His point is that if you won't feel like you wasted your time if you end up not needing a particular item you gathered, then go ahead and gather it. If you'll be pissed if you don't need it, then don't do it.
    Posted 11 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have complete faith and confidence is TS and I shudder to think of the  nasty "closed" sign going up again.  OMGiants..I could not deal at all :(

    Q

    [automatic sprinklers automatic sprinklers automatic sprinklers automatic sprinklers etc etc etc]
    Posted 11 months ago by Qizara Subscriber! | Permalink