My concerns about mood have been here since the re-imagining of beta a few weeks ago.
I feel that good mood is something that is a basic trait in personality, both in-game and in real life. The idea that mood drops on a timed basis as opposed to actions taken seems inherently wrong to me. Doing things like chatting with friends should actually bump up our mood. Doing a good job when working should bump up our mood as well because we feel proud of our actions. Exploring should bump up our mood as seeing things for the first time is exciting and fills us with wonder at this beautiful world we are experiencing. Giving gifts to friends and strangers should bump up our mood. Being at parties should bump up our mood. Playing a game we all love should bump up our moods.
The mood drops seem to need to be in place for some reason. Even as players who are enjoying themselves immensely... I leave that to the developers. But here is a thought: The home streets have arguably sapped a lot of interaction from the streets of Ur. In my experience, poking around at home by yourself for too long is what should drop your mood. At the same time, having friends over to your house should increase your mood. Being with other Glitchen in a social atmosphere or even in the same street should increase mood as a feeling of camaraderie is fostered there. This however would leave out and punish shy and reclusive glitches. For that I would suggest creating and including an "Ascetics" skill for people who like to be left alone to contemplate what they will, on their own. Mastering that skill would in effect allow them to maintain mood on a very low input of external stimuli.
I love Glitch. I have been playing for a long time and I have great friends here. Lately, it is starting to feel like a job to maintain my mood and now it is worse. I will continue playing as I feel that I am an integral part of this community and am glad to be here anyway (my good mood showing through).
This game is a joyful game. It is beautiful to experience. The mood drain just seems out of place.