Topic

Why put anything in your home street when the new houses go live?

So I set up a home street.  When I get visitors...

- they take herbs from the community garden I put out and don't replant (as I expected)
- they wear out my patches, rocks, and gardens; I will have to use my own resources to restore them
- they would take collectors and feeders if I left them out
- they would hog-tie and carry piggies away if I set them out
- they take pretty much anything else that isn't nailed down (including my pumpkin pies from my Zille-o-lanterns)
- when I visit other streets icons are always begging for currants; people use them up and don't tithe

It's a nice fantasy that people will selflessly put out trees and resources for other players, but games don't work that way.  Actions that are rewarded are the ones MMO players tend to do.  Some players enjoy altruism but for most maintaining a community tree that wears out and turns out to be a net resource drain is not something that will stay interesting for long.  Even worse, if you don't play for a while you will probably come back to the game to a home street that's worn out and full of nothing but projects.  Really, where is the incentive to put ANYTHING in your street rather than your backyard where you get the full benefit of the resources/imagination needed to build and maintain it?

There need to be concrete incentives to put resources on your street.  Maybe imagination is given to the homeowner whenever someone uses a resource?  Problem is, I doubt there will be support of infinitely expanding streets and homes so there will come a point when more imagination is not useful.  Maybe visitors shouldn't cause wear and tear on resources?  Maybe resources in the home street could be immune to wear and tear, or be much sturdier?  Perhaps the projects on player streets could go towards the badges and randomly give pieces of street trophies - then players would actively look for home streets to restore.

I'm not sure of the answer but I wanted to get this out there while we are still in beta because I see trouble ahead.

Posted 8 months ago by Lucille Ball Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Lucille, I appreciate this post and was coming to the same conclusion last week. I had already made up my mind that I will not have anything (except trees) in my front yard.
    Posted 8 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've had 3 pigs since the dawn of time on my /home street. Nobody has pignapped them, and they have been named the same thing since someone first named them.

    I don't plant really in my exterior herb gardens. I occasionally come home to find it filled to the brim with Purple Flowers. Many won't plant, but some probably go around specifically to plant in the gardens, to get their 5000+ planted badge.
    Of course, I put out a note saying people could plant in them. Before that, I think people were too scared, as it had never happened. If you label them as public, some will plant :)

    I can't deny that they wear out the resources, but because I am on a tree route, as long as I begin the Restore project, someone coming by will actually do it for me like the sweet kind glitchen they are. I even had one girl offer to go home and come back with the supplies for one!

    I honestly believe they will be sturdier later. They say the projects will cost noticeably more, and it wouldn't make sense at this rate of degradation to increase the cost. I bet it was that fast so that we would break them all a few times. Remember, the idea was to have a one-week test of the new house features before the next big change rolled out, so they had to make sure we would break and fix them at least once or twice in that time.
    Posted 8 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm sure there are some players that play the way you posted but there are others like I who spent all last night visiting home streets, completing projects, topping up feeder, filling up other glitchen's empty herb and crop plots and basically just enjoying the quiet and solitude away from the main streets of Ur : ) Roaming the home streets are my quiet time.

    I've only ever not been able to complete one project due to not having the correct items to repair.  Luckily the street owner was at home so I apologised and was able to show her the herbs I had planted at the other end of her garden : ) She told me I didn't have to worry about the project but I would have TP'd back with the resources to fix it had we not spoken! 

    Edit: to say I already have the 5000 herb badge, I plant because I like to : )
    Posted 8 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I plan to put lots of sparkly rocks on my street, if I can.  Not sure how it will all work in the end, but I have high hopes for mining parties. :)
    Posted 8 months ago by Tibbi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • hahahaah Tibbi! I want a forest.
    Posted 8 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm sorry you've had such a negative experience with your home street. 

    I'm also on a resource route. I've had to replace my patch and tree myself a couple times, but more often than not, someone else has already done it for me. :) Also, people have left pigs and planted herbs in my gardens too, and once in a while, I notice that the icons have been tithed. 

    I think once we switch over, I won't make quite as extensive a home street. But until I see otherwise, I'll set up a tree and a plot or two and leave some animals out there.  The resource routes have always been about cooperation..in the future, the other routes'll just more closely resemble the old wood tree route in terms of community effort. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens!
    Posted 8 months ago by Katechol Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd like it if the devs would build in a history, such as "Glitch X tithed to the Humbaba icon" or "Glitch Y captured your piggy."  Given how far the programming has gone, however, I don't have much hope that it's within the capabilities. 

    If people knew they'd be identified, I'm confident they'd perform constructive actions more and steal less.
    Posted 8 months ago by Brownee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Lucille: yep I agree with you. You could put a "I love Ricky" sign in your front yard instead of resources :P
    Posted 8 months ago by Piratice Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm the 1st to say tragedy of the commons to people complaining about resources gone missing. 

    However, my time on a tree route during R2 has been great!

    1. I have pigs /home. None have gone missing. 1 which had a slightly objectionable name went missing...though it was replaced with "Piggy". So total pig count remained the same...had the person been able to rename I'm sure they would have done that instead.

    2-4. My peat bog, sparkly, and tree patch have died repeatedly and all three have been replaced. Not once have I come home to a dead patch. Not once. That patch dies about every RL day. 

    5. Herbs. Sigh. I've come /home to weeds of herbs I've planted and to herbs I didn't plant. After I did the last harvest on the herb garden and schleped down to Ur to collect guano...I came /home to a restored herb garden. Mixed bag.

    A longer life span on resources would be great. Being able to have only friends or keyholders interact with some items would be great. I'm certainly not leaving RHK supplies out on the street unprotected.

    As for your "nice fantasy" I'm on a route that gets enough traffic to kill a patch a day. It's been ok. The real question is...when "restoring" becomes more expensive to its "real price" what happens then?

    My plan atm is to allow the route runners to replenish what is used. When there are projects I'll put a portion but let it sit as a project and have the runners put in their bit too. There is always Ur or my backyard and projects aren't annoying like icons or machines begging to be refilled.
    Posted 8 months ago by M<3tra, obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • In answer to your titular question, Lucille, I do it because I like to. I have been on a resource route pre- & post-R2 and I enjoy it. Sure, my tree patch needs to be restored daily, but since R2 dropped, I think I have only done it 4(?) times. People keep restoring and replanting for me. (Thank you people!) I do the same when I find another's resource in need. 

    I won't keep a garden on my street after the reset because when grabby glitches strip everything from it but the weeds, it's ugly and definitely diminishes my happy. But all of the resources I put out, I put out for the taking. I keep a free pile by my signpost. I just like giving things to people. 

    If maintenance becomes a burden after the housing reset I will reconsider my position. But as long as it feels good, I'll keep doing it. Heck, I'm looking forward to curating a resource route.
    Posted 8 months ago by Aleph Zero Subscriber! | Permalink
  • for now I don't feel greedy taking people's fireflies & barnacles and not helping out on projects since this is still a test period.  you don't need to restore - just trash it & get a new one free.  once people have to pay to restore their projects, I will probably restrict my scraping & whistling to the wild ones.
    Posted 8 months ago by armi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ha! I didn't even think of trash and re-installing.

    Also, tree patches reduce in lifespan 4% for 2 harvests) so I guess I'm getting around 20-30 route visitors a day. 

    Here is hoping that instead of 2%/harvest it goes down to 1%/harvest, please?
    Posted 8 months ago by M<3tra, obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Piratice Brilliant!  I need to teach my gnome "I love Ricky"! :-)

    Thanks for all the constructive comments.  I'm glad to hear others have had better experiences.  I'm wanting to get on a resource route once they are up and running, which is why I'm putting some thought into this.  I've restored stuff in other people's yards, including an embarrassing moment when I wore out Kevbob's tree. LOL!  Can't be letting awesome staff come home to broken stuff.

    I share Metra's concern about what the release price of restoring patches will be.  If it stays cheap or the lifespan extends greatly perhaps it's not going to be an issue.  As I think about it, if the resources are really expensive to restore it may stop me from using others' streets at all.  I mean what if it took 100 jellisacs if you happen to be the person who scoops the last 1% of the pad?  (It takes 15 now.)  Or 500 planks to repair a patch?  You either push the repair burden onto another player or forego a substantial % of your harvest if you run across a patch that breaks.  I am too polite to leave another person's yard unrepaired so that might drive me out into the streets for fruit and the bogs for my jellisacs rather than using a resource route or wandering yards as I'm enjoying now.
    Posted 8 months ago by Lucille Ball Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I too like to have a garden for folks as well as animals and trees rocks and the like for others to come and share. Yes there are times when I have to plant but Im always very pleased when i come back to see a diffrent crop planted and growing where I planted last. :) LOL Sometimes I'll wipe out that crop and replant! I try not expect a lot from others in Glitch, simply because in most games folks are only out for themselves,...but here it is different and I remain surprised at how giving others are. I'm not sure why your having such a bad time of it but I wish it was better. All I can suggest is if its been that bad just have a small front yard with a nice house and keep all your goodies in back.  :)
    Posted 8 months ago by Baldiboo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lucille you make excellent points that have surely been made before; for myself I can only say that curating a resource route has been one of the most fun and rewarding experiences I've had in Glitch, and that my experience has been that during R2 my tree is usually restored for me and I have lost one pig and my zilloween pies only. I'm not that into gardening anyway and have no plans too put any out front after reset, but will continue to enthusiastically support the spice route because of all the fun I have doing it, even if that means that part of my Glitch routine becomes constant restoration.
    Posted 8 months ago by JillyBean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I guess some people play expecting too much...if you put things out expecting nothing in return...then you might be pleasantly surprised...I plan to put stuff - trees, rocks, etc. out on my home street, and if it wears down or is taken/changed/whatever...well, it is what it is...I would like to think that others play the way I do - where I prefer to pay it forward vice taking it all for me, but if they don't...I live in confidence that 1) they reap what they sow, 2) karma's a ...well, you know...even if it's just a game... ;)
    Posted 8 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have to admit, when I've visited /home streets with icons, and was able to R/R/R without tithing, I haven't tithed. I've been under the impression that icons and tithing status are tied to the player, not to the icon. So, if one Cosma icon tells me to tithe, all Cosma icons will tell me to tithe. That's been my experience.

    If I've been wrong about this, and my R/R/R'ing without tithing has ruined it for the next glitch, then I sincerely apologize.
    Posted 8 months ago by dm Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No, it is by the specific Icon. You can test this in the yard of someone with multiples of the same giant. If you tithe one, the other(s) will still ask for tithes. I have two Icons of Pot and they are definitely separate and distinct entities in terms of tithes.
    Posted 8 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wait - if i create another set of icons, i can revere them separately from the set I have now?  That works?
    Posted 8 months ago by WalruZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No, it doesn't, WalruZ. You can only use each verb for each Giant's icon a day. But you can use 3 of a Giant's icons each day, one for revere, one for reflect and one for (whatever the last R is that I can't recall at the moment).

    If you use one Zille icon 5 times and have only used another Zille icon 2 times, then the first will need tithing while the second will not. Tithing is linked to how often each separate icon, regardless of giant, is used.
    Posted 8 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So, tithe requirements are tied to specific icons, but I can still only R/R/R from each giant's icon once a game day? Because if I've gotten everything I can from an icon and tithed, I'm sure not going to tithe to the next icon from the same giant that demands it. That'd be a foolish waste of currants.

    If I can only Ruminate, Revere and Reflect each giant's icon once a day, I'm only going to tithe to them once a day, no matter how many others I walk by.
    Posted 8 months ago by dm Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's right dm. :)

    And yea, I only tithe an icon if I'm going to use it or if I used it and caused it to need to be tithed (like I used to do on resource routes when I didn't have a full set).

    I see any icons I would leave out front as something there for others. I'd not keep my R/R/R set outside for everyone. I'd keep it inside and use it every day and leave the ones outside to bestow random benefits to strangers; if any of the strangers wanted to use them, they would have to tithe them. Icons don't have to be tithed to give out random benefits, even if the "need to be tithed" bubble gets annoying.
    Posted 8 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You can only R/R/R each giant's icon once a game day, but I believe the "giant love" you get from walking by an icon is independent of that.  I've gotten "giant love" from walking by the icons in the house of a friend after I've done R/R/R for the same giant using my own icon.
    Posted 8 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i actually wish someone would come by my home street and use my resources it will give me something to look forward to .to do when i get home.
    Posted 8 months ago by Queen Alcmene Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm on a resource route, and very rarely have I come across extremely rude resource use. Sure, piggy feeders, and any sort of collector aren't safe, but those are easy to steal and this is a high traffic area. 

    However, I have seen resources used up, left, and when I returned they have been fixed. I've only had to restore two of my own resources-- I can't say that most of the people who use the routes are kind, but at least a decent number are. Keep faith, little glitchen!
    Posted 8 months ago by MsKelseyClaire Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm with MsKelsey.  There will always be jerks, but I think there are an equal number of Glitchen who are very considerate.  I recently got a PM from someone who had used up my dirt pile, and wanted to know if I'd like it to be fixed.  Very kind of her to do that, and not something I EXPECT my visitors to do, but I definitely appreciated the fact that she offered ^__^
    Posted 8 months ago by Genkicoll Subscriber! | Permalink