Topic

OMGIANT FIRST BETA TEST -- reviews and party talk

Post here what you liked, and what you didn't like! oh, and that party. PARTY!! :DDD (post screenshots of the party here :) oh, and name suggestions)

Posted 20 months ago by Mocha Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I didnt like that it ended and, that GOD called us little doggies and not chicks. q_q
    Posted 20 months ago by Hootaholic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think it was awesome.
    Posted 20 months ago by Briar Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Great test.  and best clucking party ever. ;) 
    Posted 20 months ago by Lelu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh... doggies?  GOD-Fail.
    Posted 20 months ago by Briar Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Naming decisions for the party here!! http://beta.glitch.com/forum/general/2917/

    (This was the end-of-test 'come dressed as a chicken' party for the first ever Beta test on 25/4/2011, to also celebrate the success of the "All ye who think the Devs should give Hburger her Chickenburger suit back say "aye"!" campaign).

    Such a superb party - THANKS TO ALL WHO CAME!

    Screenshot! http://i.imgur.com/kvaGN.png
    Posted 20 months ago by Hburger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My thoughts:
    This test ran so much faster, and being open for 5 solid days allowed me to start having free time in-game. So, this test, I threw myself into the street projects, as did several others, I think. It was SO much fun to work with everyone, especially those Lethensome Lift patch digging parties (Joe Blow, zeeberk, looking at you!) and it was fun to be able to jump into the community with relative ease when I put my mind to it.

    My major gripe would have to be the one that everyone's been talking about: I want more group oriented things for those who want to do more group activities. Something that's not just running around these 4 or 5 streets scraping barnacles or scooping jellisacs or digging patches and peat bogs just to return to the project and see the requirements already filled, but maybe Multiplayer quests or something along those lines.

    Even though I don't really like it, the Tree Killers group is a perfect example of the sort of thing I would enjoy. Getting together and creating a story for ourselves based on the mechanics of this world that we've been given and are creating.
    Posted 20 months ago by Jhennauchan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, I have a few gripes about the tree killers group myself. They killed off most of the good trees so I couldn't get any bubbles or gas. Could we maybe have a limit to the number of trees you can poison in a length of time? (maybe the ones in your house don't add to that count?)
    Posted 20 months ago by geoffreak Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The technical advances were already foreshadowed, the issues with the project mechanics already discussed, and the scaling was pretty impressive, but from an in-game perspective, I think Patches vs. Trees marked a point at which Glitch grew up a bit, and I'm glad that happened.
    Posted 20 months ago by Holgate Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It was so much fun. Sadly, the tree killing thing took a bit of the shine off. But it was still awesome!!! :)    
    Posted 20 months ago by Tibbi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Mining seemed to be broken there at the end. I kept clicking on the rocks and I would get two tapping sounds from my pick and then the pick image would go away (the sounds would continue) and I wouldn't get any rock chunks. Same with tinkering. Would get sound, but no fixing, and the sound wouldn't stop. 
    Posted 20 months ago by Essie Kitten Subscriber! | Permalink
  • sc803, I had the issues at projects. When you fill up a requirement, your skill keeps trying to finish it. It is neverending even if you cancel. I had four aborted project noises going on at once today. I thought it was going to drive me over the edge. The only way, right now, to make the pain stop is to change streets and come back. Yeesh.
    Posted 20 months ago by Mistress*of*Fishies Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wish I had got in sooner.  I made decent progress but not as much as I would have liked.

    I had some generally performance issues, but nothing major.  In game freezes.  Sometimes the focus shifted from the screen, but I couldn't get back into focus. But nothing that wasn't fixed or resolved fairly quickly.  

    I'm excited for round two.  It starts now right?  (*wink wink nudge nudge) j/k
    Posted 20 months ago by g33kgurrl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had a really great time playing this time around. Best test I've played so far.

    Things I would love to see:


    - Subway map. The names of the stations are starting to get a bit confusing.


    - A project counter on the left side of the screen. There should be a "join project" option when you talk to the vendor that opens up the counter for that specific project with the stats for every item. It could be located below the list of groups you've joined.


    - Teleportation II skill that allows you to establish several landing points.
    Posted 20 months ago by Yaya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes, Yaya. More Teleportation. After all, we DO pay for it in energy depletion. We aren't asking for freebies. And I was sort of hoping that the Levitation skill was, you know, uh, ahem, errr, *real*!
    Posted 20 months ago by Mistress*of*Fishies Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Due to computer malfunction, I didn't get in this test, but I am loving the fact that I can select skills to learn from mobile.
    And I am glad to see that the team is clearing up the details of the skills system. I do know that I'm going to have a different priority for my skills after the reset on the way to going live.

    One of the things I see that we have the opportunity to do here as alpha and beta testers is act as mentors to new players after we go live. I'm seeing a ton of talk about how more people are going to "ruin" the game, but we have a chance here to be role models and community leaders if we try. Perhaps we could ask for signs like the ones we were able to turn on in Faunsphere - "busy" and "mentor". Both could be VERY useful here.
    Posted 20 months ago by Murri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maybe the tree-killers need a method to the madness? I am at level 17 but i haven't completed the pet 7 seedlings quest. Simply because I could never find a patch and when I did I (in Shimla Mirch, Chakra Phool) I decided that I should leave it for people to collect lumps of earth or loam. I don't know what kind of damage they were doing but given that there may have been several ppl trying to complete the quest I don't see why it is such a big problem that trees are killed.

    I liked the test too - it was faster, there was more to do (projects) and overall ppl were hell bent on playing. But towards the end I began to wonder how long I could play this game.
    Posted 20 months ago by mickey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • About the party: I remember someone shared a YouTube link in the midst of it, and I didn't have time to click/save it. Could they post it again here? :)
    Posted 20 months ago by Hburger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, I decided to borrow a PC lappy from work so I could play at home and loved every minute of it.  I find the number of quests popping up constantly to be very annoying, and they interfere with what I am doing in the game - I already have about 25 waiting to complete and do not need any more.

    I love the person/people who flooded Marylpole with piggies and flutterbys, as that is where I live so I was able to get loads of meat with no hassle.  Many thanks, see you for the next test.
    Posted 20 months ago by riscy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I thought i'd share my thoughts here on what was an amazing test that performed incredibly well on my machine.  Flash crashed a couple of times but I was able to log straight back in with no hassle  - few general observations....

    1) Number of players
    I have no idea how many people were playing this time and how the amount of players went up and down but I was surprised that it didn't feel like a lot of people around.  The projects were busy areas but even they were not overloaded.  That was one of my big concerns that it would feel incredibly crowded but actually it wasnt - love to hear other views on that.

    2) Quests.
    Given the amount and increase in time to learn new skills I personally think there needs to be an increased number of quests during the game.  I had got to the point where I only had rainbow run left to do.  If you're waiting 18+ hours to learn a new skill and projects might not be your thing then I think people will get bored of the game and leave (Second Life spings to mind here).  I also love the idea of players being able to assign quests to other players (We need 500 hooch for this project, posted perhaps on an auction style board that people can sign up for).

    3) Help Chat
    Whilst there were a lot of new players there was also a lot of unnecesary chat in the help system - i'm always torn between answering questions "where do i get my papers" and so on as thats not really helping, its doing but each to their own.  The sub groups helped some of that chatter but there was still a lot.

    4) Community Gardens
    I have spoken about this elsewhere - I love the idea and always have but won't be doing it anymore and those that know me well who have played the game will know how much those behaviours upset me.

    5) Projects
    I have to confess to being slightly evil during the projects - but with a purpose.  When items were required I put them up for auction as silly prices (10 planks for 1500 was one i recall) I was shocked to see people almost fighting to buy them and it does lead onto a wider point i'd like to make (sorry for rambling).

    I think it will be incredibly interesting to see how this game pans out in terms of game and social interaction.  There was almost a fever when doing the projects which attracts some people - the passionate feelings that are brought up when killing trees make amazing interactions with people and there was the  horror of some people when finding large numbers of animals in one street.  I, for one, hope the devs take the brave move of not putting too many rules and barriers in place and let the game police itself.   That way it will be a far more interesting experience especially as player numbers increase.

    As a final note, and this is around the projects, I wondered if Tiny Speck have considered the projects element of this game as a potential team building tool for Management Training - having designed a number in the past myself I think this one would be a really good product especially teams that are internationally dispersed.

    Thanks for reading and I loved the test.
    Posted 20 months ago by Bob Apple Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I would like to see 2 things implemented in this game, #1 time life on pigs running free in worlds to die say in 12 hrs.Also the chickens.They are a nuisance especially in mining areas.#2 sell us a butterfly net to at least get a chance at quest for loco motoloco.
    Posted 20 months ago by Jellybelly Baby Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Bob Apple, re: 2...holy smokes, yes! I'm down to one quest. I do like the streets projects a lot, but I really love the quests, too. Re: 3, you may have missed this, but stoot got in the Help Channel and let everyone know that its lifespan is limited...it is going away! Also, re: the tree killing, Bob, in another thread about that, jdawg has said they will shift the mechanics of the poison and antidote somewhat because the testing did reveal that to be somewhat unbalanced, but I don't think they plan to police it much either. 

    @ Murri: Since you didn't get to play much, you might have missed an interesting feature that is happening. They added a group of official greeters (I think they started a few tests back with just a couple folks) who welcome new players as they enter the world, go over a few basics and answer questions. The system is being tweaked and played with, but it's setting a nice helpful tone right off the bat and providing at last a bit of mentoring. [If you are wondering, I know about this because I got asked to be a greeter...bowled over by that and deeply grateful for the opportunity.] The devs are also helping greet the newbies, which is pretty darn cool. Several new folks expressed how much they enjoyed the personal greetings. So there's a bit of an official mentoring system getting underway, in a sense, and of course there are all kinds of longtime testers out there who are doing as you suggest unofficially, too. I think the idea of mentor signs is cool, too; Puzzle Pirates had that going with a few folks here and there with different colored names marking them as mentors. A cool idea.

    I loved this test (probably obvious). Made a better effort to report bugs, watched the tree wars with interest from afar, enjoyed helping greet players, threw myself into the street projects...oh dear, having Glitchdrawal just thinking about, best drag self back to the Glitchodone Clinic!
    Posted 20 months ago by RM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hi everyone/developers if you are reading this!

    Thanks so much for letting me in finally so I could play, I had a blast. Really enjoyed exploring, questing, cooking (the cooking is much better designed than in many games I have played, at least if you had to make ingredients you could easily get back to the original dish without having to search menu again) buying a house, etc.

    I did have a few 'crises' over the 3 days I played not necessarily asking for anything to be changed but just as feedback:


    When I first came into the game I had a nice greeter, but it was a little early to know what questions I wanted to ask...well maybe that was just me....I just needed a little time to have a look round and maybe find out what I needed to know!! That wasn't a crisis as such but following on from that I was suddenly swamped by people trying to do the newbie gifting goal. I didn't know what the goal was, why I was being swamped, how to move properly or anything yet but I had people barking at me to drop this or that from my inventory, that I needed a bag...didn't know what any of it was. As I didn't know what the stuff in my inventory did yet I was reluctant to drop any of it. I didn't know I could drop something, take the gift and then drop that and get the other thing back..Luckily a more experienced friend turned up to help me or I might have left and never come back!


    [I still have the newbie gifting goal to complete myself and I am reluctant to go and do that to newbies! I think it is in any case rather hard to find level 1 newbies - maybe this goal needs a bit of tweaking?]


    'Crisis' 2


    This crisis was self-induced but I am not totally in control of my trackpad and accidentally gifted a bigger bag and all its contents to another player - not that I don't like to gift at all but I really didn't want to do that! They were actually AFK and I couldn't ask them to give it back at the time...and I never managed to get in touch with them. I just wondered if there could be an 'are you sure' reminder if you are about to gift a full bag of stuff?


    'Crisis' 3


    Partly to do with the housing shortage - I first bought the cheapest house possible and  saved up and wanted to buy somewhere bigger but there wasn't anything available that was worth moving for/in the right location. Then somewhere came up that another player had sold, which was great, and right where I wanted to be, but it came with 8 pigs - which was too many for me to handle! As I didn't have herding skills I had to ask friends and acquaintances to come and remove the pigs...they were all trying to finish goals before the game closed, etc. It was rather an annoyance for all concerned! Depigging took pretty much all evening and stopped me being able to do anything else for a few hours...it was nice to get pigs with the house, but on the other hand I also would have liked to go through the process of hatching them myself or whatever you have to do...maybe this feature could be looked at or tweaked?


    Anyway I am loving the game and will definitely come back - probably looking forward to the wipe more than most as I'll be on a level playing field with the people I know in the game who are all far ahead of me. I just mention the above as it is a beta test and I felt obliged to give some feedback - take it or leave it :) Sorry I missed the final party, I fell asleep!! :) (UK timezone) but i hope to be able to stay awake for future parties :)
    Posted 20 months ago by Violet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Don't feed house pigs and they will die on their own.  It takes awhile.
    Posted 20 months ago by Tingly Claus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Violet, just so you know, they/we are really working hard to tweak the whole greeting thing and have many ideas floating around, esp. regarding bags and the gift the newbie goal. Great, great feedback on that; I'm going to copy and paste it to the greeters group. Also, put your idea on number 2 in the ideas forum; good one!
    Posted 20 months ago by RM Subscriber! | Permalink