I started playing again about a week ago after a long hiatus beginning around the rollback to beta. I am loving many, many of the changes (iMG is a perfect fit yay!) but my first impression of Resource Routes was, "Bleh, too easy, caters to OCD resource collecting/clicking, takes me out of The World."
However, after having wandered about a few Routes I now think, "Yay, I get to really SEE other Glitches, their decoration choices, their funny notes, their secret communities, their street item generosity, etc."
It feels like Routes are Glitch's accidental foray into "guilds" (c.f., other games). Routes are a means of committing yourself, permanently, to a group identity/service in a way that was largely missing earlier in the game and I think it's awesome and has great potential.
But the lack of "place" feels wholly at odds with the type of community organization involved.
At the most minimalist I could imagine a means of Registering your Route with Papers (and a minimum member requirement?) which would allow your Route name to appear on a sign/portal door/something. On the more fanciful extreme I could see Towers or Route entrances or whatever decorated by their cooperative.
I am a solo player in Glitch for the most part and the existence of Routes makes me happy. Not because I'm greedily wallowing in resource collecting -- honestly, I still have more fun farming resources out in the World -- but because it really showcased for me the variety of players and playstyles. It made me more aware of the microcosms that might exist than ever before. Despite there being no there there for Routes there's a real sense of People There.
The Beta World is a happy protected cozy bubble of familiarity. I vaguely remember the unsettling feeling when the game "launched". I went from being a quiet soloist who nonetheless recognized a large number of glitches by name as I zipped by them on the road to feeling completely disconnected from a World populated by strangers -- there was no Home to retreat into.
Guilds in other games have always served to create communities within the community and I think TS should totally support and applaud the player-inspired Route creation and try to grow it into something slightly more substantial.
P.S. Sorry for wall of text.
P.P.S. Hi!