Topic

Too predictable

This Glitch world is just too predictable. In Real Life, we make decisions hoping for the best, but in actuality, RANDOM CHAOS always seems to insert itself, and things never turn out like I planned. Something unexpected happens. Imagine in Glitch if we didn't know if those JuJu's were friend or foe. Are they going to give me something, or take something away? It's actually fun! Please give us more uncertainly instead of such cerebral mutations. If all it means is choosing a=b, but if you don't do that, then choosing c=d, the outcome is always predictable. We get choices, but there still is a proscribed straight line path.
Maybe when hatching a special egg, we won't know if it will make a pig, butterfly, or chicken. It's not much randomness, but it's something. Will there ever be more RANDOM CHAOS in this game? 

Posted 17 months ago by 1padme Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I support this!
    Posted 17 months ago by Servant of Lem Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I dunno. When I water my crops, harvest my crops, it doesn't always work. Pigs don't always want to be nibbled. In the beginning it's damn near impossible to milk a butterfly. When you mine you don't know when you'll find a gem.
    Posted 17 months ago by emdot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • super harvest is unpredictable :D plus, the rook strikes in completely random places. I agree about the jujus, though, that would be cool.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cupcake Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The idea about the jujus is interesting. Maybe they could give, take, or offer to trade?
    Posted 17 months ago by Becky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Rook attacks are unpredictable.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I can predict when the next one will happen: never :(
    Posted 17 months ago by bored no more Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @bored - Rook attacks are likely to happen. I've seen them on recent tests. They are definitely not boring, but a seasoned role player & game master I'm well aware of the element of chance that makes interest in a game sustained. Have you posted this in the Ideas forum?
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Fokian: Did you see a rook attack during the last test? I left the game up 90-95% of the time and never saw one. Hence the skepticism (at least on this topic).
    Posted 17 months ago by bored no more Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @bored - understandable. I think it's still undergoing some debugging.
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Open tests are unpredictable ;)
    Posted 17 months ago by Captain Mouldy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fokian Fool | rook attacks DEF boring. Like watching paint dry.
    Posted 17 months ago by Mac Rapalicious Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +100 to OP...this game is pretty predictable, and would benefit a lot more randomization of various things which would make it more interesting.  

    Right now the 'randomization' seems quite binary...will I get a super harvest or won't I? Will I get a bonus element (gem in mining, music box while gardening or barnacle scraping) or won't I?  Will I get 4 or 7 returns from harvesting, gathering, etc.?  These are a good start, but hopefully this isn't the limit of the algorithms for the future.

    There currently is no randomization of mixing things up in the game - gardening hybrids, for example.  There is no one thing that you can create that might have multiple random elements at once which results in an unexpected new entity in game (such as her egg example - hatching a pig with a different color, tail, eyes and ears; or hatching different colored chickens, with different types of beaks, and different tails; or butterflies with different sized and/or shaped wings, and different colors).  

    Additional complexity to the action may help - for example, being able to create seemingly unplanned items from the base elements from the alchemy skills, because there are 100's of possible outcomes not just 16, and these could be combined in 10,000s of different ways to develop as many different items...much harder to do than just randomizing outcomes from multiple items at once on certain things like flowers, or eggs/animals.

    I'd even take some non-random chaos to mix things up a bit... ;)
    Posted 17 months ago by ~Pink Flamingo~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • great idea. i was bummed to find out i could make the alchemy things by ... counting the numbers in the pictures, rather than by having to work at it. or by adding 10 10 and 10 over and over till i "learned" all of the potions.  and we've suggested that feeding miscellanous veggies or stocking the feeders with random things would cause grab bag seeds, or even just an unpredictable seed bag. the most "random" thing i get is "will i get a gem this rock that i mine or the next one?"

    @emdog- the higher skill you get, you never fail at watering/harvesting/nibbling, etc.

    i'm not a programmer or even that creative when it comes to this type of thing, so this may be a whiny whingy pipe dream but i love the idea! would be a great improvement.
    Posted 17 months ago by greenkozi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm just digging in over the past few days, but I agree that the predictable results of my choices did make them a little less interesting...

    Until I found my first gem, then the second one. And got a ticket that won me a music box. And the first time a tree told me a story (after a while I was like "shut up, stupid trees," but that was still cool). And another player randomly handed me a waffle right as I squeezed a chicken, which, well, that was significant to me, personally!

    More like this, please! Uncertainty should delight, not cause anxiety, and right now Glitch does that very well. So far I am delighted (I am like all, "Woah! The possibilities!"), but I could see myself getting bored of the actual game eventually and just logging in to hang out.

    Curveballs like mystery seeds or chicken eggs that hatch pigs would be neato. For the time being I'm enjoying the uncertainty of never knowing when I'll get handed some wacky quest that sidetracks me on my way to doing something else.
    Posted 17 months ago by naitPee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm reminded of an article from the lead designer of a game called Magic: The Gathering. While these games are dramatically different, I think reading the article can provide insights.

    http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/37
    Posted 17 months ago by Mr. Dawgg Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you Mr Dawgg for posting the link to a very wonderful article. 

    Life is full of seeming random events that may cause great surprise, both "good" and "bad". This opens up a whole other philosophical conversation, and this forum in not the correct place for that. I sincerely hope that Glitch devs can incorporate more randomness into the game, or it will be come very stale.
    Posted 17 months ago by 1padme Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Multi-colored/styled animals are a GREAT start in my opinion!
    Posted 17 months ago by IxÆoN Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm in agreement with naitPee on the eggs hatching pigs, etc.  As I was reading this forum I got to thinking it would be fun to have a chicken lay an egg once in a while when fed instead of pooping seeds.  Or maybe a butterfly would appear randomly when a chicken is squeezed.  Massage a butterfly and get a a bubble one time.  Something unexpected and random with all the already random goings on would be randomly fun.
    Posted 17 months ago by LasaLoraine Subscriber! | Permalink
  • 1padme, we agree :)

    And, great link Mr. Dawgg!
    Posted 17 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hey, does that mean you are buying copies of The Art of Game Design for your team, @stoot?
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm really hoping to be able to personalize our properties, indoors and out.For me it would complete our beautiful world! And Tiny Speck.....I wouldn't be able to resist spending lots of money :)
    Posted 17 months ago by Priscilla Parsley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just dreaming...but ahhhh yes patterned animals....OOOOOO WEEEEEE!
    Posted 17 months ago by Priscilla Parsley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Rook attacks are like natural disasters, just another part of boring real life.
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    My favorite parts of the game are when my pet rock says HEY LETS GO TO THIS PLACE.
    Then I am assaulted by color and cool art.
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    I think there should be more user generated content, and not just in home decoration.
    Posted 17 months ago by Chialoo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 for randomness in the game - at least after say level 20?

    I've never seen a rook in the game - as far as I know they visited in only one test (since mid April anyway)
    Posted 17 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink