Topic

A Moving Service - Your Ideas Appreciated!

As I've mentioned in my updates and elsewhere in the forum, I've been doing quite a lot of brainstorming about how to start and run a Glitch Moving Service. I'd love to get some feedback from others about this.

* Size of the move - I have the full complement of backpack slots available for the move - 256. Will most glitchlings have less than that number of items to move, or will I need to "hire" a helper?

* Cost - I'm thinking that the rates would be per backpack slot. I've thought about a percentage of the total value of the items being moved, but that seems too difficult to figure out.

*Livestock - As I understand it, our livestock cannot be moved. I could offer a service to hogtie 1 piggy and bring it along, I guess.
---as an additional service, I could offer piggy/butterfly/chicken eggs as replacements for the livestock that was left behind.

Trust. Since there's no way to get "bonded" in game, I will need a list of client references when I get serious about this "business." So, if you need help moving during the beta tests, I'll do it for pineapple upside-down pizzas & your name as a reference!

Any other thoughts, or problems that I might be overlooking?

Posted 19 months ago by MicklePickle Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Sounds like a very viable service, I'm sure people will want to hire you even if it's just for the novelty of it. Good luck on your venture and I'll keep you in mind if I switch from my el cheapo house to ano one.
    Posted 19 months ago by Gizmospooky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You've already got a stellar reputation in my book.  I've known you since cyberspace first existed*

    *(inside joke:  he and I were early denizens of cyberspace.org -- an online community that was started by the guy who wrote the software for The Well). 

    And I'll be glad to be one of your moving helpers. 
    Posted 19 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Since I've never experienced a Glitch house move before - get me up to speed. As soon as you buy a new house, your old house is sold, right? When you've sold your house, you can't go back in it? Therefore, you have to make sure you have all you stuff in your inventory / bags before you sell / buy a new place?

    Can you go inside other players homes? So far I've only experienced 'knocking' on their door.... I take it if they are in you can go inside?

    Just thinking perhaps it's good to establish a meeting spot - or place of business (like the machine room in Groddle Forest)... or do you just intend to meet up with Glitches when they want?

    If I've gotten some points insanley wronge - please correct me!! (Besides spelling and grammar.)

    I'm also thinking you need a special edge over people in their own friends lists from just helping them move instead! (Of course, I know your idea is a lot more fun and charming - though I'm guessing the initial getting people to go with your services, might be slow at first.).

    Also if you're going to recruite people to help you - I think establishing a list of skills they need to have learnt (the Animal Kingship / Herding type skills, or Teleporting?). Or maybe someone to tag along to make sure energy and happiness is topped up by making food and drinks? :3 I'm sure you'd have no room for food and drinks while you're carrying other peoples things.

    Once again, if I'm mistaken on points, correct me :)

    Hmmm, also perhaps an in-game note advertisement campaigne
    Posted 19 months ago by Kimbot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the vote of confidence, and your offer to be my assistant, WindBorn.

    You've got it right, Kimbot -- you need everything --- except trophies --- in your inventory before you sell your house. Remember to clear out your cabinet, too. You can go inside other player's homes, with an invitation.

    Meeting spot --- Eventually, I think a Group would be the best way to meet. That way, if someone needs to move, they can join the Group, and then connect with me in Group Chat (maybe someday, they could physically look me up in a Group Hall).

    Benefit of hiring a service to move, versus using your friends list --- the biggest I can see is that my bags are empty and ready-to-go, whereas it might take a while to arrange some friends to help. (I should add: during beta, I'm hoping that glitchlings already on my friends list will need my help, and I can build some experience.)

    Establishing a list of skills needed and duties for helpers --- this is a great idea, and something that I hadn't considered, yet. It'll become more apparent to me after I complete the first move for someone, I think.
    Posted 19 months ago by MicklePickle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Great idea, MicklePickle. Having moved once, I know that it can be problematic and time-consuming trying to find empty spaces to stow all your cabinet stuff and whatever spillover you have on your floor!
    Posted 19 months ago by ElleD Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The problem is not slots for items, MicklePickle, the problem is slots for bags! right now my biggest concern is not the items, but the bags! 

    I will be moving as soon as the game opens, and since you are my neighbor I want to use your services first. So can you save me up the first appointment of the game?
    Posted 19 months ago by Yaya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I can't speak for other Glitches, but I think 256 would be more than enough for me.

    One suggestion I have: You should charge the normal item rate for the first pig, and then slightly more for any extra pigs, up to (insert number of helpers available) moved, since each extra one they'd be paying for not only the pig but the person to help.
    Posted 19 months ago by Milx Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh, and Mickles: I have no animals, but i have a million bags, so please bring your slots empty?

    THANKSSSS
    Posted 19 months ago by Yaya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yaya - Sorry to lose you as a neighbour, but I will be happy to help you move when we get back inside the world. I'll dump all my bags and come empty backpack'd! (although that's only 16 slots ... not a million!)
    Posted 19 months ago by MicklePickle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Milx - Thanks so much for responding. You bring up an excellent point, about moving the piggies. I was under the assumption that only 1 piggy could be captured from any street/house, but you seem to be saying that it's only 1 piggy per player? Hmmm....
    Posted 19 months ago by MicklePickle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Mickles - the largest cabinet available (soon) is 32 slots. That's 2 full player inventories... plus anything the other player might have on them or sitting around. You may want to keep a list of 'helpers' handy. Your offer of bringing empty bags will go a long way and is fab!
    Pigs are tricky - in that you can only remove one per player per street per lifetime (lemme know if someone has changed that). Best bet is to leave them be and make new in the new home.

    When I had an excess of stuff and was moving, I would leave a trip of stuff at a friends house (maybe you can offer warehousing services?).... made moving easier and there's a bit of a bug/trick (which will probably get fixed now I'm saying something publicly) for home buyers. Open the Realty page in a new browser tab/window. When you buy a new home, you get an option to teleport to it. In the game window, if you are standing outside the house - you can go ahead, walk in, drop your bags... if your teleport point was set near your 'drop point' (the place you left your stuff), you can teleport back and pick it up, then use the 'free' teleport from the Realty page to get back to your new house. If you happened to still have stuff at your 'drop point', say the stuff you keep with you to walk around... you could use your teleport again to head back and pick it up before heading out in the world. If you have all your stuff... you might wanna think about reseting your teleport point :D

    One time I think I had to make 5 trips all told, and depending on your teleport skill level, the above might not be an option. I really hope the dev's let us keep that little trick... makes moving take 2 real-world hours (packing ain't easy) rather than 5.

    One more thing Mickles... if you're charging for the service and you wind up using teleport... make sure whatever you're charging covers the cost of the food to replace that energy (or the food is part of the payment - who doesn't feed the movers beer and pizza?). For those who might want to move their pigs, you could also offer a chick and/or a piglet.... but I think new houses have them + grain to raise them in the cabinet.
    Posted 19 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you so much for posting with your thoughts, Travinara.

    I will definitely keep that in mind about the large cabinets. For the larger moves, I had planned on using my own house, as you say, for a temporary warehouse.

    Also, great information about teleporting. Truthfully, I wasn't planning on using teleportation for these moves, unless I had a helper/teleport buddy.  Maybe I'm being a GlitchLuddite, but I didn't think folks would mind a bit of a wait, as long as their stuff is secure while being moved. (once, IRL, I waited for 5 days for movers to move my stuff intrastate!)
    Posted 19 months ago by MicklePickle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • ...2 months, by boat, UK-US ...3 months once in a military move from US to Germany. I've had some rather ugly moving waits (stoopid customs!). Some stuff people can wait for, and some people get nervous logging out when their stuff is elsewhere, some people can wait, and some won't. If they're in a rush, the homeowner could function as your teleport buddy if each of you have a teleport point set on either side... and of course that sort of rush service would mean Awesome Stew! Currently I'm homeless, but I'll certainly look you up if I ever do get mobile.
    Posted 19 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Poor Travinara, wandering homeless like a lost petal in the wind.... :(

    Yeah, as far as pigs go, you would probably be better off just getting new ones rather than moving the old ones. 
    Posted 19 months ago by Milx Subscriber! | Permalink