Topic

is glitch anti-social?

i am finding that glitch reduces my overall social interaction rather than increases it.

there are testers who i personally know who i actually spend less time socializing with because of glitch, even though we play at the same time.

glitch cuts into free time i can spend checking facebook or twitter and communicating with these people online, and since glitch is very anti-communicative outside of the help channel, the game actually has a net anti-social effect.

trade hasn't manifested in the game other than a few items given away here and there, and has been largely superseded by auctions, which are almost completely non-social.

there haven't been any foundational collaborative game elements implemented for testing thus far, and it always seems like i'm playing the game in parallel with all these other people, instead of playing with or against them. a chat window does not a social game make.

one promising area for collaboration i found was radiating meditation, which allows you to generate energy and mood for the people around you, and while it was fun at first to "follow" someone doing something energy intensive and act as a kind of "power pack" by constantly radiating, it eventually became a boring, anti-social click fest where i didn't feel much like a collaborator. more like a crutch or literally a hanger-on. there was also pretty much no gameplay reason for me to be doing this other than sheer desperation to try something, anything collaborative.

i understand that the game has to be significantly solo-playable, and that the most basic game elements are still being refined, but it is disappointing that [for me at least] at this stage of development the game is less social than not playing at all.

Posted 2 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • Granted that we understand that chat and conversation are on the agenda for refining, is there a Ventrilo server somewhere on which we could converse?

    I'm sure that our worthy devs like having a record of what's said in chat, but there's clearly some pressure toward more robust social interaction now.
    Posted 2 years ago by Peter Verona Subscriber! | Permalink
  • stoot, reminds me of how it was done on There.com (RIP). you could start a convo with someone, and you two would face each other and there would be a shared bubble of text over your heads. others could see it, and ask to be part of the convo. the person who started the convo could accept them, then the group would reconfigure to hold the new person, and their text would be added to the bubble. it was a very smooth and natural way to deal with group chat.
    Posted 2 years ago by Mabs Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "So, shared houses = guilds? Or clubhouses. :) "

    Love the term 'clubhouses'. Especially if you could hang little chalkboard-esqe signs on the outside... "The Blue Food Pursuit Society" etc
    Posted 2 years ago by Albert W. Gamage Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "So, shared houses = guilds?"

    i have a feeling they'd be much smaller than guilds. under 10 people?

    though maybe there could be shared cooperative apartment buildings of 100+ people working together to improve the place, add additional stories and housing units. that'd be great.

    kind of like a dorm, i guess, except you could have a big room and wouldn't have to share a shower.
    Posted 2 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 region chat, but I think it should be neighborhood chat (not just street you're on but all adjacent, which would save you from the problem of someone saying something to you just as you click a street sign)

    Agreed, Clare, re: single- and solo-mindedness under the threat of limited time. I get caught up in wanting to achieve something before shutdown.

    My social recommendation is that, when we get to this point, building and creating new things should require multiple people. Barn-raisings and research labs and working kitchens...

    Lalu, that's a great insight re: hallway culture emerging from the side-scroller style.

    Striatic, hear, hear re: "i do like the paint the level idea, and the musical level idea. they are simple and obviously collaborative and don't need to be tied into the overall quest system or economy. plus they sound fun and creative in a way that goes beyond mixing and matching doll clothes on our avatars." Yes.

    Mina, agreed, re: "Back in GNE times the social aspect really just kicked in after most of us knew our happy little online world like our RL neighborhood and we were looking for things to do with items beyond their original purpose."

    Hooray for this being just the beginning!
    Posted 2 years ago by MetaGrrrl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have to say, in the most recent tests, I really started enjoying the game for reals after I hit a certain level and started having more money/stuff than I needed. At that point, you start entertaining yourself by giving people items, or throwing a party, or starting art installations or whatever. That's also when you start interacting on a level other than "where can I find lips?"
    Posted 2 years ago by Helcat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Helcat - Agreed. I also think the "House" achievement was, at least for me, the dividing line between solo/co-op in the game. I simplemindedly wanted to achieve the house, so that I could relax, leave my stuff there, grow some crops, and start perusing with other members. Especially with the whole visiting aspect of the game.
    This was, of course, before I realized a reset would lose the house, too. Then I stopped worrying.

    Making more cooperative building/activity requirements for certain aspects of the game would positively breed that social glue. It might even make sense to have 2 realms of the gameplay experience. One for those who want to achieve socially, and those whole want to play alone.
    Although, I guess all of this depends on whether you want it to be (specifically) a solo world, coop world, or ambiguous.
    Posted 2 years ago by Bingobar Subscriber! | Permalink
  • During the last run I yearned for a beautiful,melodic street....On it would be hammocks hung between trees,and swings swaying in the wind........Just waiting for my aching little avatar feet to jump into and relaxxxxx awhile. maybe even have a few pleasant chats with fellow Glitizens and exchange ideas....Just shoot the breeze in total relaxation together....Would that be considered social enough???????
    Posted 2 years ago by Tilly TrinkleHouse Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree. The most social experience I have had so far was running past a group of people on my way to finish a quest. I hope the game developers add more social elements soon to the game.
    Posted 2 years ago by bluebird804 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It gets pretty social at times, mainly when we *think* a reset is coming or when the game is about to shutdown. A house party was the big social event so far.
    Posted 2 years ago by Tingly Claus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • bumping an oldie but a goodie for the newer players.
    Posted 24 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm curious, when were "projects" implemented? That's the most social aspect of the game that I've felt so far, and I thought that they worked really well (aside from lag)
    Posted 24 months ago by Yew Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "We need a way to broadcast across the game (or the street/level) about events happening"

    We had that mechanism in GNE and it was great! People organized art projects, flash crowds, poetry readings, and on and on. In a sense, GNE was (at that time) so basic that there wasn't a lot to do. So people got creative on their own. It was one of the best aspects of the game.

    Another thing that happened in GNE was that people hung out in a location where a number of other people were, mostly just to chat. A mechanism to let people know how occupied a location is (before going to it) might be helpful in this regard.
    Posted 24 months ago by Plurp Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ooh, Plurp - Good idea. If we knew how occupied all places were then we could always find the party. :)
    Posted 24 months ago by Smange Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "I'm curious, when were "projects" implemented?"

    after this topic was created, although they were in the works long before this topic was created. they've made the game much more social.

    "GNE was (at that time) so basic that there wasn't a lot to do. So people got creative on their own. It was one of the best aspects of the game."

    people are too busy grinding XP and quests for that sort of thing to really be an element of this game.

    "Another thing that happened in GNE was that people hung out in a location where a number of other people were, mostly just to chat."

    in this game, people are discourage from gathering locally, since too many people on a street incurs a ton of lag. i think that'll be fixed eventually .. but even then people will probably continued to zip past each other wordlessly as they run their quest and achievement grinds.

    i wouldn't call glitch anti-social anymore .. indeed it is more and more social with every test .. but there are still many anti-social elements to the game and very little GNE style freeform social experimentation.
    Posted 24 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "people are too busy grinding XP and quests for that sort of thing to really be an element of this game."

    Not necessarily. I spend most of my time doing solo questing, but I keep at least one eyeball on the Help chat, and it's via chat that I have learned about impromptu house parties or end of the game parties. Sometimes I have gone and sometimes not.

    Assuming the lag that results when avatars cluster will get fixed, that is one of the biggest areas of opportunity that I see. At the most recent end-of-the-test party, we reached the outer limits of what you can do pretty quickly : distribute and consume edibles and gifts, use the Jump function to dance the po-go, use the Follow function to dance the conga, use the Levitation function to entertain the crowd, use various dusts, powders and Radiation meditation to entertain the crowd, hug and kiss with emo bears. If I could develop anything for Glitch, this would be the area I would be focusing on, games that avatars could play together.

    Also this or any party would not have happened without chat, which is the prime mover as far I am concerned. Discussions in chat are what keep me from rushing past friends when we are on the same street.
    Posted 24 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "but I keep at least one eyeball on the Help chat, and it's via chat that I have learned about impromptu house parties or *end of the game parties*."

    "At the most recent *end-of-the-test party*"

    [emphasis mine]

    i think you're demonstrating my point. i follow help chat too and impromptu house parties are extremely rare. most of the social gatherings are end of game parties .. but that just proves my point.

    pretty much the only time people make for parties is at the end of the game when there is simply not enough time to finish their quests and achievements [or projects] which are the primary concern of the game to the exclusion of socializing. the quest and achievement components have to be rendered inconsequential before people really consider hanging out in the game world.
    Posted 24 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes.
    Posted 24 months ago by yeoz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No,  on my first day here, today, when someone gave me a hug that boosted my energy (that was very low)  up to 120. 
    Posted 20 months ago by Ancient Princess Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is a fascinating discussion, especially with Stoot's added perspective.

    My take on this is that while I would like to see more multiplayer and collaborative things going on, it would be very frustrating and disappointing if it becomes impossible to play "solo" and advance.
    Frankly, on some days, I AM anti-social, and I might just want to toodle around, explore and mine or harvest or mess with animals, etc. without having to have help with everything.
    Part of the reason I've little interest in WoW is the aspect of the game that essentially requires you to be in a Guild to advance past a certain level. I'm on a swing shift schedule, which means that while I'm normally on at night, I could be on at any time, so coordinating with a guild would be a real pain for me. And I won't go to the weird extreme I've seen from my WoW playing friends of losing sleep for a raid. I need my sleep, and my hubby doesn't sleep well when I'm awake.

    Keeping it possible to be anti-social would be lovely.
    So would more options for being social by choice.
    Posted 20 months ago by Murri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm with you, Murri. I hate having to beg people to help me on quests (like the peat bog quest I recently got that I don't want to finish because I loathe the idea of asking around to see if anyone is willing to help out). The help out a newbie quest is not quite as bad, although I don't know how to do this when it isn't apparent who is level 1 (without asking around randomly). I also don't mind ones where you can force yourself on random strangers walking by, like the garlic breath kisses quest.
    Posted 20 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Shepherdmoon: They bought in a little level indicator by everyone's nameplate in-game when that newbie quest was introduced, but then people complained because it made the level system too apparent and competitive, so thy removed it a few tests later. :/

    See Trivia: www.glitch-strategy.com/wik...
    Posted 20 months ago by Hburger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's interesting, Hburger.... I don't agree with the decision to remove the level indicator. I think it can be useful, especially for identifying newbies that may need extra help. It wouldn't make me feel any more competitive to have it there.
    Posted 20 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • this *is* a good (long!) discussion and i really liked the comment it was brought back to life with.  :)

    i also agree with murri that it's great to have the balance between both ends of the sociability spectrum.  i also have never done the peat bog quest, because it always seems like more trouble than it's worth to initiate, although i've helped other people complete it. but on the other side of things, i've also participated in long barnacle scraping parties to help get a street project completed.


    the level indicator *was* a good way to complete the newbie gifting quest, but there are more creative ways that could be used to provide a visual indicator of a new player that would avoid some of the problems of the level indicator, such as the idea that's previously been tossed about by having each new player start the game wearing some sort of birthday suit, and only giving the ability to pick a new outfit at level 2.   
    Posted 20 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I really liked the level indicator. Perhaps we could have it back, but with an option to toggle it on/off from the Preferences page? :)
    Posted 20 months ago by Hburger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, I was thinking during the last test that some easy way to identify level ones would be good.  Maybe something like "L" plates on a car that switch off when the player reaches level 2.
    Posted 20 months ago by Tradescantia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've read this thread a couple of times (yes, all the way through) over the past few months and have agreed or disagreed as my experience of the glitch world changed over time.

    My first impression was that yes, glitch is essentially anti-social, people run past you, there's very little chat, etc. 
    This past test I really made an effort to talk to more people and initiate contact the way I would IRL.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes people just walked off. 
    The peat bog quest (which I attempted no less than 5 times) requires talking to people, but that was so awkward to co-ordinate and just seemed impossible to do.  I really felt that the communication tools were not up to the task of speaking with a group of other people and co-ordinating actions that required accurate timing.  I did finally meet a group of bog diggers that turned out to be The Dream Team (you know who you are- high fives!! all around!). 
    Even with a lot of patience, people taking turns to activate quests, time their bog digging, etc- it was really difficult, mostly because of the communication tools available.  It really only works well if ONE person takes the lead, gives instructions and others just follow or say short things like 'okay'.  Otherwise the time for typing, replying, (not being able to tell if someone is typing or just waiting, so everyone waits...etc) breaks down a 'natural' flow of conversation until someone says 'wait, what are we doing now?'...
    We used party chat and local chat, and with overlapping speech bubbles that meant you have to look at 3 places to read / answer.  Tricky.

    Also, what Nanookie said here alpha.glitch.com/forum/gene... really hit the nail on the head for me.
    1. There's a lot of zooming past people you know or being zoomed past, and it's literally physically awkward to try to click on them or chat with them...often they are outta there before i can get my chat hello out, smooch 'em or friend request 'em.

    2. Talking together often feels like you are standing in a hallway talking to someone, with people zooming around you. This is only cool if there is a boring meeting somewhere else that you are avoiding. And I often have the thought, "Oh, he/she is probably too busy to talk."--even with people I know well.


    The hallway thing feels especially true.
    Posted 20 months ago by Wrendolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh, one more thing-
    the other area where I felt the inadequacy of the communication tools are the Community Gardens. 
    Is there a good way to organise/ co-ordinate activity in them?

    At one point I had planted up most of a garden with cabbages and potatoes, then realised my mistake- I now had to wait around to harvest it all (and those suckers take ages) and in my excitement, I'd gotten rather carried away, taking over almost the whole area. 
    I left and came back a few times, there was rarely anyone in the garden, but I felt bad for monopolising so much shared space.  And I didn't want anyone else to harvest all my veg, of course. So, I thought about leaving a note to say something like 'sorry I planted so much, please don't take my veggies, I'll be back soon' but felt like a total hypocrite about that contradiction.  (And was worried that my note reminded me of these www.passiveaggressivenotes....; )

    So that left me the option to talk to each person who came into the garden, tell them that me and my veg would be out of here shortly, etc.  It reminded me of the clumsy communication between toddlers in their first year of nursery. Walking up to each other, saying something while the person is looking away, or following someone who is walking and talking at their back.  Then waiting for a reply, or no reply, not sure if they've understood, or speak english, or are really vegetable thieves going after my nearly-ready cabbages.  Which of course they weren't, but by that time I had invested so much time in those damn things I was bloody paranoid.

    So, the lesson is- don't plant up a community garden full of slow-growing veg and remember that your avatar has the communication abilities of a toddler.
    Posted 20 months ago by Wrendolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • 1. if we did have level indicators, toggling settings are a good idea, especially if you can turn off your own indicator from everybody else's view, as well as turn off your view of everybody else's.

    2. i wouldn't want to stick new players with a big L on their forehead, they are new, not losers!  ;)  but something automatic and temporary is a good idea.

    3. there have been other discussions of this (maybe even earlier in the thread!), but a better integration of the communication aspects of group quests into the quest itself would be a huge help.

    4. i like the idea of automatically orienting avatars to space people out or direct focus of avatars toward talking, and wonder, now that enough time has passed between stoot's comment about this to grow a whole new human, where that sits on the development plan  ;)

    5. not sure if it's a recent addition, or if i just didn't notice before, but i like that we have the ability to click a name in local chat to access a menu for interacting with the person.  noticed that yesterday for the first time and found it to help look for level 1s and such.

    6. i love the idea of passiveaggressiveglitchnotes.com  ;D
    Posted 20 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've been spending a good bit of time in the commuunity gardens as well, and I've develed the strategy of A: setting it as my teleport destination & B: planting nearly every empty plot with a wide variety of things I'm not very attached to. If I find stuff that is ready and it goes more than about ten minutes without someone coming  back for it, I go ahead and harvest, but I replant with the same thing.
    The biggest problem I've noticed is people being greedy and harvesting everything and leaving the plots dirty while you are gone. It wouldn't bother me to find that I got distracted for too long and someone harvested and replanted my stuff, but to find dirty plots that I need to spend energy to hoe before I can replant is infuriating.

    Sadly, I don't haave the skillset finished for leaving a note suggesting that people should replant if they harvest someone else's plants.
    Posted 20 months ago by Murri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't see the point in a level indicator... I really really don't. It's easy enough to spot the new guy if you hang out in the right areas. They're the one in the Noob Clothes! Look for players wearing the basic baseball cap and black/yellow striped shirt. I'd like to argue from the higher level perspective. I *don't want* other players reacting differntly because I'm a higher level player. I like the animosity, and having my level over my head makes me uncomfortable. In the end it might actually make me less social, and spend more time hiding.

    Group Quests can be easily navigated using the Party Chat. Form a party with your group, the chat dialog will appear. It's really fun with a good Barnacle party, you can send out a 'scout' onto another street.

    I will agree with a much, much earlier sentiment... the amount of social interaction is directly proportionate to player 'comfort levels'. I spent the better parts of Levels 12-20 being totally anti-social. It's a whole lot easier to take the time to be friendly when you're sitting on a fat bank account and hoards of stuff.

    I think over the next few weeks we will start to see the social side of many players. People are hitting the point where skills take longer to learn, so there is more down time between Quests. It leaves players with a 'now what' feeling, which in a certain number of people will spawn all sorts of Personal Missions. I spent the last test helping with a couple of collaborative/individual efforts, mostly gathering things while I was out wandering. One was to help populate a street with Pigs, so the other player needed lots of fruit and whatnot, it was a fun scramble to try and gather everything up.
    Posted 20 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't know guys... i have to somewhat disagree with the anti-social premise.  I was pretty much totally selfish with only doing my own quests, but at the same time I ran into a Bunch of glitches who I was friends/befriended & we interacted quite a bit.  Not to mention the group chats were down right hilarious.

    Trav might be right with comfort levels to some degree, but I've noticed that especially at the younger levels, many glitches (in our group at least) got an overwhelming amount of support and visitation.   Perhaps it's just comfort levels of what you are willing to do during your quests. 

    Some may like to complete quests asap, ignoring the many social aspects of the game (which may also follow with Trav's point of skill learning length).  Some others may not care so much when the quest is finished and continue on their merry way, visiting and helping others.

    I find myself, somewhere in the middle.... i like to explore or track people down to gift and visit.  If i complete a quest.. then great (although if it's a nibble piggy quest, you bet your hide i'm doing it asap!).
    Overall... i've played lots of games... this is definitely one of the more socially interactive ones.

    Note:  I've noticed that the original post was 9 mos. ago... curious if perspectives have changed...
    Posted 20 months ago by RainyRain Subscriber! | Permalink
  • To respond to Striatic's original post-- "anti-social click fest" is pretty much how I felt about it, too-- rushing to re-earn old badges or skills.

     I didn't succeed in collaborating much this time, either, even with that Level 1 quest which requires it. Having been a tester for a long time I didn't know about the Noob clothes and found it tiresome to keep clikinng to see what level a player was (they were usually above me, far from Level 1)
    Posted 20 months ago by Chelseathing Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've never had trouble being social, even a year ago.  It's still too early to judge whether it's generally anti-social, although we have a lot better idea than we had 9 months go.  They know their bread and butter with this will be the social aspect.  It'll pan out as social in the end.
    Posted 20 months ago by Tingly Claus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • When I think back on the various games I've played in the past, the ones I socialized the most are the ones where I was in a guild. If we could take the "groups" concept of the message forums in-game by having group halls and group owned items & property & group projects, it would encourage socialization for those that want it. Though it should be a purely voluntary thing and I like the idea of groups just being whatever players want and not pre-specified guilds.
    Posted 20 months ago by FrankenPaula Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am always forgetting the Chat window.  I notice the chatting in the Help window though because I occasionally have a question.  I feel ignored there most of the time when I do ask a question or comment on one.  That may be because there is so much chatting in that window that everything passes quickly.

    Because I hear no sound when a chat is aimed at me (maybe none have been) I am just too busy doing things to check that window.  I have come from Faunasphere where we had two kinds of chatting, on screen and in an IM window.  I could easily see the on screen bubble chat and the IM made a sound.  IMs were personal.  I never had to view a constant chat session scrolling rapidly in the IM window.  I find that hard to do here.  I can either play the game or watch the chat scrolling by.  I choose to play.  I apologize to anyone who may have sent me a message in that chat window.  Next time hit me with a board to get my attention first.
    Posted 20 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Annie  i didn't look  (so if you already know this - eek!)  Are you in the FS Refugees Group?  If so then PLEASE please please (tee hee) join our group chat when the game is open.  We would looooove to see you there and you can get all your questions actually answered.  Also if you click on a friends name in the list to the right (when game is open) you can send a PM. 

    I too wish we had PM options when game wasn't open.. and i also forget to look for comments because there's no sound :) lol  i find myself scrolling back up when i get a minute, but otherwise... i end up repeating my questions.  OH well...

    @ FrankenPaula - I know for the street projects this last go around, there were groups hanging out near by to work on them, maybe this is something you're looking for?  don't know.  Definitely take a look at any of the Groups that you might be in, at the bottom of your friends list in game (when open).. i know a couple groups that are fairly active during game time. (maybe you already do and this point is mute! lol)
    Posted 20 months ago by RainyRain Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sometimes I'm social, sometimes I'm not. There are times when I just feel like toodling around on my own, doing my own thing, but I keep an eye on my FSR group chat window, and if someone needs something I have, that I don't need, I'm always willing to jump in and help out. I've even lent out currants to friends who wanted to buy houses, but weren't as advanced in level as I am. Now that I'm up to level 21, I have pretty much everything I need, so I help out my friends when they need something. Is this social or antisocial? I haven't gotten the quests that require you to wrangle up a group of friends to accomplish something yet, but when that time comes, I'm sure I'll have enough people around to help out. I haven't seen but two or three truly anti-social people in the game. One who was yelling at everyone passing by in all caps "DON'T PICK THE EGG TREES! THEY'RE NEEDED FOR A QUEST" which, of course, made me want to go pick all the egg trees. But, I had better things to do than twist someone's panties.
    Posted 20 months ago by Essie Kitten Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I can't help but compare Glitch to GNE when I think about how less social Glitch feels to me.  There's a few reasons:
    1) There's tons of quests and badges in Glitch, whereas you could build things in GNE but it was just self-contained fun.  I tend to be a little OCD about completing things and am pretty goal-oriented, so I naturally put more effort into doing quests and leveling.  I am usually on my way somewhere or in the middle of something when I run into someone and don't want to stop and forget what it was that I was doing.
    2) The amount of time spent actively controlling an avatar to get from point A to B is much higher in Glitch due to the fact it's a side scroller.  In GNE it was a mouse click, and bam you were there.  So in GNE I could click, and then go "hey, what's up?" if I ran across someone.  In Glitch, the click to change areas is just a tiny amount of the travel time.  Typing a message to someone means not holding down a movement control, which means not progressing in the game.
    3) In GNE, when you were in the same area as other people, it was immediately obvious because it was just a list of people.  In Glitch, someone may be way over on the other side of the map.  I like seeing those little speech bubbles when I talk to someone, which means that even if I'm in the same area, I might not be very interested in talking.
    4) In Glitch, everyone else seems like they're in a rush to do something too, so I feel like I might be interrupting in a lot of cases.
    5) Because of the heightened "gamification" of Glitch in comparison with GNE, all my items and time feels like it has more value.  The stuff in GNE was all random stuff that I was happy to trade with people, or even give to them in a lot of cases.  In Glitch I tend to hoard items because I might happen to need them for a quest that's just around the corner.  I feel way less interested in collaborating or benevolently helping others because there's a direct impact on my own progress.
    6) Glitch feels a lot bigger than GNE, in terms of the audience and the size of the world.  There were a few hard-core GNE players who I got to know (including striatic, o hai).  I don't get quite the same sense of community with Glitch (except maybe here in the forums).

    One other comment - "collaboration" like street projects really seems to be more of a competition.  There's a shared reward, and if you're in the top three contributors you get permanent credit for working on the project.  You're not really doing things with other players as much as there's a set of missions that have a short lifespan that people try to get in on.  It's not a collaborative effort like a doing a WoW instance, it's just a random thing that anyone who happens to come by can do.
    Posted 20 months ago by mirth Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @katlazam... i think the "L" is for learner... :P but now i would see "Loser"! 
    I'm all for stamping a Lvl 1 in some fashion and then it's gone when the move on. A little *1* by their name that disappears when they advance or something?

    I think that if you hang out in "help" you can make some friends. I met a couple sweet people just running around. I like that i can play alone. Having my tasks to do is fun for me and i don't want to rely on others. The occasional party is fun, but not quite my style... i do love dropping in though!


    It seems people want this game to be a certain way. That tells me that maybe this isn't the game for you. Sort of like love --- if you are always trying to change the one you "love" then maybe they aren't meant for you after all?
    Posted 20 months ago by Niknik Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd like to see some areas in the game where you can make open ended freestyle building projects (like minecraft) where somebody could just decide they were going to build a giant statue of a chicken and get friends and random passers by to fetch items and help with building it. 

    Although of course a person should also be able to just build something by themselves if they want to.
    Posted 20 months ago by FrankenPaula Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm surprised at a couple of comments here from people that say they treat the community gardens as free personal space to plant their own crops that they harvest themselves... I'm not trying to attack anyone's method of playing, and you are certainly free to do what you want, but I thought the community gardens were a way of sharing: people take what they need, and replace it with something else when they are able so that someone else in need can take it later. Your personal garden in your home is for your own use: my impression was that the community garden was for everyone, and no-one has "dibs" on any particlar crop there. That also means that it relies on the honor system: honorable people will take only what they need and replenish it when they have the means to do so. People could be greedy and monopolize it, but that could result in back-lash from other players... If used properly, I do think these gardens could promote social interactions, but I don't think they are meant to be for individual use where others are told to keep their hands off.
    Posted 20 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • On this whole topic, I have to say I'm surprised anyone finds the game antisocial...but maybe that's because I came over with buddies and we are using the group chat like crazy. Thus, for me, I actually feel as if I'm being MORE social in the game rather than less. Plus often I'm meeting new folks in the chat windows and in the game. I agree with whoever said that later on it does become a bit easier to chitterchatter on the streets because you have fewer quests and they are more difficult to accomplish. You end up being more inclined to hang out and chat with people, for example, while you are waiting for trees to die if you need to dig up loam or whatever. I'm quite enjoying the social aspects of the game. However, I can see how we all have differing opinions about what antisocial is, too. 

    On the guild question, the one MMO game I played that had these actually made it more, rather than less, difficult to be social because you definitely felt part of a class system, which was degrading....
    Posted 20 months ago by RM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @mirth: I think alot of the rushing around to complete quests and levelling that you are seeing right now is due to the fact that we are only allowed into the game in short bursts that are far apart, so people feel like they have to make the most of their time before they're kicked out of the game again. Once the game is open more often (especially 24/7), I think things will calm down considerably and there will be a more relaxed pace that is more conducive to social interactions.

    As for identifying level 1's without irritating people that don't want to be labelled with a level: how about having "noob" in front of the level 1's name in the local chat window? They won't be level 1 for long, so this is a very temporary thing, and useful for them so they can get help more easily. I can see a problem with identifying level 1's based on the clothes they are wearing: what if they keep wearing those clothes after they level? What if higher level players specifically put on that outfit so they can get free hand-outs from other players?
    Posted 20 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • couple things for mirth...

    2) Typing a message to someone means not holding down a movement control, which means not progressing in the game.

    There's a map trick with this. If you click anywhere in the micro map (in the game window), you will start moving to that point. It's a flat horizontal movement, so if it's one of those streets that has a jump obstacle, you'll need to navigate that and you can resume the auto-walk.

    Alternately, if you Set As Destination on the big map... the arrow that appears in the game window directions can be clicked. The auto-walk will often even select the sign and move you to the new street, but sometimes that bugs out and you have to click the sign manually.

    3) In GNE, when you were in the same area as other people, it was immediately obvious because it was just a list of people.

    The list of 'also here' appears in the Local Chat window when the street loads. We used to have it appear in the game window and it updated as people came and went (in that black bubble GOD talks in at the end of a test), I kind of miss it.
    Posted 20 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree with Shepherdmoon, "Community" garden sounds like something everyone shares, planting and harvesting as needed, belonging to no one person.  I may have been wrong when I planted a plot in one of those gardens, just for fun.  It was before I got a house, so obviously not in my neighborhood.  I had no intention of harvesting it, I just thought it would be useful to anyone passing by.  I hope someone felt free to take it.  If not, eep, sorry.  (we soo need smileys, lol)
    Posted 20 months ago by Phoebe Springback Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My comment about the community gardens is obviously being misunderstood here by Phoebe and Shepherdmoon.
    I don't view it as a "this is mine!" type of thing, but rather "This is Ours!".

    If I plant something there, I expect that if I wander off and come back, I will not find the plot empty or dirty. If someone else picks something, that's fine, but just taking something that someone else spent currents and energy to plant without putting forward the effort to replant is greedy in the sense of being greedy toward the community as a whole. It shows a lack of respect for the concept of that anonymous Glitch that theoretically planted any given crop, as well as any random Glitch who may come to the Gardens after you. By leaving a dirty plot, you are saying "I don't care if anyone wants to plant and grow stuff here. I just found free veggies!"
    It does not matter whether the person who planted it originally ever comes back. It's the IDEA of the thing.
    Heck, I've been getting in the habit of planting every plot with something random if I happen to chance upon the gardens when no one is there if the plots are mostly empty. And I often do get busy and leave it for whoever may wander in...

    A tomato seed costs less than 15 currents from the vendor.
    There is little excuse to not replant.
    Posted 20 months ago by Murri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Glad you cleared that up Murri. I was just about to start a thread on the etiquette of the community garden.
     
    Posted 20 months ago by tweetypie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ahh, Murri, I apologize if my post sounded that way.  I totally agree with you, if you harvest, replant & don't leave dirty.  I only meant I wasn't sure I did the right thing, as I didnt live there.  But actually, I have seen comments where some people seemed to think a public prop could be claimed.  I've seen that become an uncomfortable issue in another game, & wouldnt want it to happen here. 
    Posted 20 months ago by Phoebe Springback Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tweetypie- might be a good idea to start one anyway, so more people realize that it's rude to harvest and leave it dirty. If you feel like quoting anything I've said, go right ahead.

    Phoebe- Nah. Claiming stuff planted in public in any selfish sense would be silly, and childish. I do try to function more maturely than that.
    Posted 20 months ago by Murri Subscriber! | Permalink
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