Hi all. I started playing Glitch only recently (thanks for the invite, Beyond the Pale!) and one problem I have is that the constant energy and mood drain makes it hazardous just to take a little time to talk to one's friends, or to strangers, for that matter. I have croaked while trying to talk to someone, and I've had someone croak at my house while talking to me. Even when I survive a friendly conversation (how odd that sounds...) my character is usually left in a pissy mood, which reduces Imagination rewards and just makes gameplay less fun on the whole. This is a poor reward for stopping to say something nice to someone, to say the least. I consider any gameplay feature that discourages people from being social to be a Bad Thing, and terrible for the game's overall feel.
I'm not asking for the drain to be eliminated, but rather wondering whether it might be possible to introduce some sort of "socialization mode." A player would be able to enter or exit this mode freely, and while in it, you wouldn't lose energy or mood, but neither would you be able to do anything useful--you could chat, rearrange your inventory, change which skill you're learning, browse the upgrade cards, and so on, but you wouldn't be able to move or make things or use tools or interact with objects in the world.
As I said, I haven't been playing very long, so I don't know whether such a feature would have potential for abuse. Any thoughts on that? Does this sound appealing?