I saw one player support staffer post an update about how her contract is ending and she won't be player support staff anymore. I did not see whether it was her decision or Tiny Speck's. I haven't heard of any others leaving.
Then there's others I haven't heard of. But people leave companies for millions of reasons.
I'm pretty I remember sure their start-up and investment stuff and things were designed to be able to run for two years no matter the circumstances, so I wouldn't be concerned.
We are not having a funding problem, but we did let some staff go. It's never a fun thing to have to do, but we grew exceptionally quickly in the run-up to the initial launch and kept the whole live team together for many months following launch and into the un-launch/second beta period. For where we're at right now, the company was just too big :\
Thank you stoot for updating this. :) I hope you require growth again in the near future, and maybe they can be rehired. I am sure that was hard for you, and them. *hugs to everyone*
Player support staff won't create new items Auren xP Different staffies have different skill-sets. Some PSAs were let go due to over-staffing as he said.
Volkov more like there was a lot of player support that was hired for being live. We are back in beta and there were people getting paychecks but not really having any work. I was laid off today for the same reason. I see why they let them go for now. That doesn't sound like money problems to me.
Oh yeah I guess it wouldn't give us new items.... just... SUPPORT for the new items! Yay! See I do solve all the problems XD :: giggles ::
Now onto the donut issue... :: passes out donuts to everybody :: hey where'd these fruit loops donuts come from?? :o :: passes out cool fruit loop donuts ::
Question the state of Tiny Speck as a viable business: response within 5 minutes.
Question the state of anything about Glitch as a game: wait days/weeks/months without a peep.
It has been mentioned before that Glitch subscribers aren't the real "customers" in the scheme of things, and that the investors are the only "customers" to whom TS answers.
The above statement is true. This thread is evidence. Shame on me for thinking otherwise.
If I paid more, could you please turn my subscriber heart into a broken heart? (Maybe a bit over-the-top, but I like drama.)
I suggest to anyone who wants a response to their future queries in a timely fashion - title your thread "Is TS having a funding problem?".
Oh yes, that's perfectly logical, the investors must expect the return on their money to come from all the advertisements wallpapered all over the site and throughout the game. o_O
They answered questions when we made a big deal out of it. When people got impatient and asked for more answers, they were told to stick to the original estimate. That estimate still hasn't passed.
You're the only one then Tibbi :( I talked to all the people in the Game of Crowns group chat and for some reason they all hate jelly donuts! I was appalled. Even Badge-Master General Lx Longfellow hates the jelly.
I can't do jelly donuts ever since that Calvin & Hobbes strip where Calvin compared them to big squishy bugs with the guts spilling out when you bite into them. D:
For real, Joe. Their pattern of behaviour here is really making me doubt whether I want to be a long-term paying customer. *For now* I'll still stick around, because I believe there still is the potential to be great things coming.. but ... I don't know. :: shrugs :: It's making me feel reaaaalll ambivalent about this company. :<
Am I alone in thinking the value of this game is not in the return on my subscription nor the relationships I have with TS, but rather the relationships I build with other players?
Joe, to be sure, to be sure, the question of co-workers no longer by our side is more in our minds. To a person, that is something we here hurt about and we know it hurts to be let go. I certainly know what it's like more than once in my working life.
As for updates, we're working on final updates to the first release of new stuff for the game. We're testing stuff, tweaks made, bugs are being identified and squashed. Our creative types are writing and editing a video right now to go with it. We know you are ready for it, and we want to make it right for everyone.
Kevbob - I think the word "updates" is being misunderstood by staff. When we ask for updates, we are really just asking for a status report. Not actual content.
Am I alone in thinking the value of this game is not in the return on my subscription nor the relationships I have with TS, but rather the relationships I build with other players? -- Daddy Bunchie
My thoughts are certainly with those who were affected by any recent personnel changes, which is why I intentionally avoided the subject in my response. They are our friends, too.
I apologize for any previous (and subsequent) insensitivity.
However, my point is that communication from TS has been, to put it lightly, extremely poor over the last few months. This being the first Staff response in recent history, I felt it necessary to add my two cents to this thread.
Please do not underestimate the value of something as simple (albeit vague :P) as your second paragraph. It goes a long way.
As a FS refugee, I knew quite well when I bought my Glitch sub that the same thing could happen here. I bought it, at a minimum, because I loved playing (still do!) and just like any investment in a future yet unknown, I was willing to invest in my possible future game play. Nothing is forever and I take life one day at a time and do my best to enjoy it, and in this case Glitch, to the fullest.
I have been laid off more than once in real life and it is really painful. I have known people that gave me the "bad news" who actually cried when they had to be the one to do it. I am sure that the layoffs were not done with either indifference or a light heart. But.. it is a business. If it were not, there would not be a Glitch at all. It is not an endeavor built on charity, nor can it be. This in no way means that Stoot and KevBob and all the rest of the core staff do not have a heart or that they don't care about people.
Daddy Bunchie hit it on the nose. May I please have a glazed old fashioned devil's food now?
Ps. Kevbob, et al. It would really be cool if you could post a few pics of what's coming :).
I think part of the inner conflict a lot of people are going through is due to the 'split' in the beta-ness of the game. If we are in a beta period, why is the " testing stuff, tweaks made, bugs are being identified and squashed" stuff that kevbob speaks of above not being done on the production server at least to a certain degree, where players can see it?
Granted, we don't want to go through another 'reset' (though I personally could care less.. I enjoy starting over with a new account and have done so several times already- after deleting the old account, for the record) so the integrity of the 'User Account Record' (apparently) needs to be maintained.
Right now the whole game has a feel of the walking dead. Areas once busy and very populated are near deserted. People are waiting, holding back. Many have just stopped participating. Players feel like they have a lot invested in what they have here, but are very uncertain of the future of Ur. The earlier beta period worked like a dialogue: people tried stuff out, worked with the devs more. People saw the progress happening. The new 'beta period' is much more blind; the whole game is on hold and people find that frustrating.