Topic

Dear Glitch Beautification Anti-litterer Green Initiative Peeps,

Boo on you!

I dropped invites to a neighborhood party  at the signs on the residential streets w/in our street. Y'all came and picked them up to throw them away because, apparently, no matter what a note says or where it is placed, it is trash in your eyes.

But this was not trash! 

It was a party invite to a specific mass of people. Would it have killed you to leave them there until Thursday so that everyone on the streets would have a chance to see them? If beautification is so important to you, don't you think a strong sense of community would help keep Glitch beautiful? Don't neighborhood block parties increase that sense of community and make us proud of our little neck of Ur? We would have picked them up on Thursday night or Friday morning. It would have been good. 

But no. It's all black and white to you. There is no green. All notes are trash and must be destroyed.

I would have been a proud member of your group. Now I think you're just a bunch of green meanies set out to destroy party fun... you're a bunch of deimaginators as bad as the rooks themselves!

Posted 14 months ago by Vera Strange Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • I used to enjoy reading the odd notes I came across, the poetry ones were nice. But now I rarely see a note for anything...

    Learn the skill for penpersonship? - nah, total waste of time as far as I can see, its right at the bottom of my to-learn list!
    Posted 14 months ago by Teena Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Notes decay after a certain number of reads, so some/many of the disappearances may just be the result of people reading the notes in curiosity without even picking them up.

    As someone who leaves poems and fortune cookies around in out of the way places as something fun for explorers to find, I really hope there aren't people just picking them up in some control-freak desire to keep things 'clean'. I don't mind people taking my notes if they liked them, but if it's just to 'clear litter' I see that as ruining my effort to give other players a small something to enjoy.
    Posted 14 months ago by Sloo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I tend to clean up notes that seem to me to be spam:  Buy my auction, IM me to trade cubimals cheap, etc.  I always leave notes that are creative (poems and stories), or fun (user generated scavenger hunts).  Are you sure people aren't just taking the party notices to help them remember when and where it will be?

    I think that the building bulletin boards are not much used because the desired audience for the notes does not correspond to their location.  Almost no one uses the machine rooms except for a few engineering fans, because blocks currently have very little use in the game.  Housing areas haven't formed up as communities much, so perhaps leaving the note boards there can help with that, but only a few kinds of housing even have them.  Most people want their information posted in places of high general traffic, so just outside of subway stations, outside of the bureaucrat offices, at junctions between regions, near the tool vendors, and similar places would probably be a lot more useful for placement of notice boards.
    Posted 14 months ago by KhaKhonsu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • They very easily could have been taken by folks wanting to remember and that would have been ok - I was checking the streets to drop a note if need be. But the fact that they lasted a day and then were all gone in a v. short period of time (including all the notes on the doorsteps of people on my street) suggested otherwise to me. I've since heard of several other areas that have been wiped of their notes and ran across a note in Bortola complaining about something similar (apparently folks leave notes in the dragon head and they were all taken). It could be someone looking to sell/donate them - though that seems like a lot of wasted inventory space that would be better used in other ways... 2 bags full on my quarter alone and they ignored some food & firefly jars which would have netted more. 
    Posted 14 months ago by Vera Strange Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd say griefing by picking up notes is against the ToS, trouble is how do you report an entire group?
    Posted 14 months ago by ICountFrom0 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love finding and reading the random notes.    I like what Pallas wrote above... it's Pixels... find your purpose that doesn't involve screwing over someone else.   Yea!!  I agree.  
    Posted 14 months ago by Ooola Subscriber! | Permalink
  • But if you make bulletin boards commonplace that will give people an excuse to hoover up all notes! They'll say "Messy! you should have used the BB!"
    Posted 14 months ago by xLIFEx Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Taking a note that is left right in front of someone's door is sort of like stealing someone's newspaper from their front porch IRL. How rude. How very, very rude.
    Posted 14 months ago by Becky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Active removal of all notes - rather than picking up for reminders or natural decay - is removing a tool for creating and maintaining community within the game.  It's straightforward to mail people whose names you know, but notes provide an opportunity to communicate with people you don't know yet.  

    In beta I wrote a few lighthearted 'newspapers' for a while and left them at the train stations, just like you get in RL tube / subway stations.  I got a lot of positive responses and made new friends through that activity.  In a similar vein, I once found a note and solved a riddle - another friend made. Notes are the only in-game way of engaging groups of strangers in community activities

    The enduring Spice / Gas war is one thing - it doesn't actively prevent the development of the game, it just inconveniences one side or the other until the balance is shifted.  Removing and destroying notes is actively preventing the development of the community through player-designed activities and is closing down a means of meeting new people.

    It's also stealing the opportunity for anyone interested to read the sometimes quite lovely jottings, thoughts and musings of Glitches as they pass through the world; that's removing the ability to share stories, poems, comedy.  And taking notes off the dragon is just mean - that one is quashing a tradition.

    Anyway I know, it's only pixels.  I seldom get involved in these debates but this movement seems a little one-sided and in direct opposition to what I thought Glitch was supposed to be about - Giant imagination and the growth and nurturing of a new little community.

    tl;dr - sadface, Moonspoon personally thinks this is against the spirit of the game.  Moonspoon is simply stating a point of view or opinion, if you will, and is not attempting to enforce this viewpoint on anyone else. Your mileage may vary, terms and conditions apply, the sun always shines on TV, and so on...
    Posted 14 months ago by Moonspoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I pick up and dispose of all notes I find laying around streets.

    Why? 

    Most are trash. 

    There is a place for a special/secret note here and there. But after a stretch of reading dozens of inane notes in a row, I decided to just trash them all. 

    Glitch is for everyone. If you want to litter everywhere, that's fine. I'm not going to throw a fit about it. But I'm just as welcome to clean up after you, and I expect you'll take it as graciously as I take your littering. 

    Saying 'My notes are more important than your desire for a litter-free World' is pretty disingenuous. We live in this world together. We're all supposed to contribute our efforts to make the world in our vision. 

    I'll stop trashing notes when I stop seeing notes saying 'Haha! Made you look!' and other inanities every few streets. If useful notes were the only ones I ever saw, I'd be much, much less likely to dispose of them. 

    So do your part - clean up the trash! Put us Green-Up-Glitchers out of a job! 
    Posted 14 months ago by Old Pea Head Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Sindee☆Cyanide

    OK, I thought that I worded my post in a way that would convey that I was just teasing you.

    Sorry that it wasn't clear.

    No need to apologize, I was only kidding around.  :-)
    No worries.
    Posted 14 months ago by Poppy of Detwoit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It sounds as though you think you have a standard for living, Old Pea Head, but really, you have no standard at all. Scorched Earth has no elegance nor humanity about it - it has no evolution, thought, or forward motion. It is mindless neutralization.

    The world is not a sterile space. I do not expect (nor do I feel like I deserve) a world where every step out of my door is unto a new day, freshly-minted. I expect to see the footprints and smudges of those who went before. My favorite furniture pieces (in another universe) are well-worn and handed down. The wood is varnished  -- but also has blemishes, small nicks and pale patches that tell a story of the world because someone *lived in it*. 

    A Green Initiative with no compassion ultimately serves no one.

    And if you're just trashing notes with no regard for their contents, Old Pea Head, how will you ever know if the world has become more to your liking? Will you continue being a Glitch-in-a-Bubble, or will you ever step down and get your hands dirty ever again?

    With affection,

    Wellsie
    Posted 14 months ago by Wellsie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 Wellsie.  Well said.
    Posted 14 months ago by Poppy of Detwoit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The idea of notes being 'locked', or unable to be picked up (or taken down from bulletin boards) for a certain amount of time is a good one.

    I think (as others have said) more glitches would use the bulletin boards if they were in more visible areas where others can walk past and see the messages, e.g. residential streets, outside subway stations, etc. And if the notes didn't disappear from the board within minutes of them being put up, of course.

    Also, how about having the option to 'take a copy' of a note? For those that want to take them as reminders of when parties or other events are happening, or if they just want to keep a cute poem or message that another glitch wrote, leaving the original note for others to read.
    Posted 14 months ago by The Cat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • edited/deleted... I'm too close to this to be objective, calm, and/or rational. No offense meant! Peace, love, and harmony to all. 
    Posted 14 months ago by Vera Strange Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I remember when there was a moon party, and people would leave notes waayyyyy up at the top of the anti-gravity crater.. which then meant people would try desperately hard to find out what they said.. I love notes when they're whitty and funny.. :)
    Posted 14 months ago by GravityGrip Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 The Cat. Taking a copy is the best idea I've heard so far. It would certainly resolve the issue!
    Of course ... notes should still decay to avoid littering. It hasn't been easy to organise great events (at least not for me) since launch.
    Posted 14 months ago by Erine Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love notes, all of them. It's like a little piece of someone else who isn't there anymore, it's magical, and useful. People may have their reasons for picking up notes: they like them and want to keep them, or they hate them. For the first reason, this is the perfect solution:

    "Also, how about having the option to 'take a copy' of a note? For those that want to take them as reminders of when parties or other events are happening, or if they just want to keep a cute poem or message that another glitch wrote, leaving the original note for others to read." - The Cat

    You are a genius :D

    Now, for people who hate notes, I have to repeat: paper is not trash, in this game, it's different from real life :/   Just leave them be: something you think is stupid or useless, might be amusing for someone else. Of course, you have the 'right' to do it, but you are creating problems for a lot of people, so despite your good intentions, just think a little. Also, write in this thread your suggestions to improve this note system!

    Summing up most suggestions here (for lazy people):


    Stickier / locked notes
    More boards
    Taking copies
    Voting up or down for recent notes, if it gets enough down votes it can be removed
    Posted 14 months ago by Mandy.23 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just re-voicing my suggestion from above, and adding a new one:

    1) Picking up a note could cost energy.  Something in the range of 10-20 per note was my suggestion.  If people want to pick up a note, it should cost them some energy.  People would then have to make a decision: Is this note worth picking up and spending the energy on?  It would make profiting from note hoovering very difficult (if not impossible).

    2) The game could log who picks up notes and post to profiles like auction wins and sales do.  A friend of mine had this suggestion, after we had a lengthy talk about the problems with people who hoover all notes they come into contact with.  We determined that it's easy to figure out who's dropping too many notes (and maybe spamming) because their name's on each note, but you can't see who picks them up, therefore allowing the hoovering folks to never get caught for their bad behavior.  If the game logged who picked up notes and posted it to the wall of the original note writer and their own wall the first time it's picked up, then people would be able to see a pattern of abuse and could report it.  Seeing who picks up your notes might create some interesting friendships, as well.

    Summary:
    - Picking up a note costs energy.
    - Picking up a note creates a time stamp and username stamp on the note creator's and note taker's wall the first time it's picked up.
    Posted 14 months ago by Gant Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Had forgotten about posting this thread.

    I really like those two idea's Gant, think it would be much better than my 'sticky notes' idea which could be abused by naughty Glitchen.
    Posted 14 months ago by Primevil Shambler Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Primevil - I'm glad someone did, lol. XD 

    In all seriousness, I haven't heard much else on this topic, nor has a dev commented on any plans to change notes (as far as I'm aware, if anyone knows otherwise, please point me to it), so I guess it's a non-issue at the moment.  But, that said, I'll save the ideas in case it comes up again!  

    I still haven't tried to implement my note user-made content, because I don't want to set myself up for disappointment when I see them being indiscriminately hoovered away by people who don't even read them.
    Posted 14 months ago by Gant Subscriber! | Permalink
  • gant, i have had good luck of late with leaving notes and finding notes.

    i read nearly every note i come across, and most are legit these days.

    i hoover spam notes. in my book, BUY MY AUCTION is spam.

    party invitations in moderation are not. invitations to groups likewise.

    i prefer not to see notes all over the grass, but it's not hard to leave them by signposts or subways stations or to hide them behind things if they're surprises.
    Posted 14 months ago by flask Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Cool, flask.  It's good to know things are looking up in that area.  ^_^  I might yet run some intrigue... we'll see.

    I think I mentioned at the bottom of page one on this thread that I ran into a couple of the hidden notes you left a few weeks ago, when you ran your event.  It was cool seeing them there -- makes me wish I could find more fun notes.  Seems like the only ones I run across lately are "don't kill the wood tree" and "don't take the piggy food" sorts of notes, if any at all.
    Posted 14 months ago by Gant Subscriber! | Permalink
  • just a heads up: i ran a secret contest last week and i started a new secret contest this week.

    so look for notes.

    this week i also found some lovely poetry and a serial story, as well as some short jokes.

    i don't mind notes about not killing wood trees; there are still enough new people who don't know how to care for them that they have a place. and today i was on a street and started to pick up piggy food, not realizing that it WAS piggy food or why it was necessary to leave pig food in a street, but then i read the note and all was made clear.

    so i'm still learning from notes.

    notes are also handy because if i go into a neighborhood to leave presents and dust their trees (i do this often) and the tone of the notes suggest to me that i do not like the people here, i leave my presents and fertilidust in other neighborhoods, which is once again very useful.
    Posted 14 months ago by flask Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow. I never throw any type of paper. People should just ignore the papers, mind their own buisness, y'know?
    Posted 14 months ago by TacosBeFriends Subscriber! | Permalink
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