Topic

Which Additional Tediums?

In addition to the reinforced tedium of the extended time to sit around clicking and waiting and mining and clicking and waiting and etc, I've noticed that harvesting/planting crops is taking longer as well.  Is this additional built-in repetitive tedium to ahem 'improve' the user experience, or something I should troubleshoot?  I can't tell what is taking longer and should be reported as a potential bug/issue and what is taking longer because making some tasks take longer is apparently and inexplicably a good idea.

Posted 7 months ago by Tomorrow's Man Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Some tasks take longer as a base because you can shorten their time with upgrade cards.

    Skills don't work the same way anymore, and that hasn't been not explained.
    Posted 7 months ago by diaveborn ♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Here's my soliloquy.

    I love Glitch, as evidenced by being at Level 53 before the change; but I can't see myself being at all as invested now that instead of the complex things becoming more complex, the tedious things have become more tedious.

    I understand that it hasn't not been not explained, but there's seems to be a disconnect.  I see it this way -- for the last thousand hours or so (not sure how many, but over a year it's lots), I worked very hard to reduce the amount of time it takes to do the tedious things so I could spend what time I have to spend on frivolity (i.e., video games) enjoying them and not just clicking, clicking, clicking.  Something I've always liked much about Glitch was that it gave constant opportunity to reduce that inevitable tedium of video games.  Now, apparently, most of the time I must go back to doubling my time spent on tedium -- so if I spent, say, 6,000 seconds mining in April, I'll need to spend 12,000 seconds doing so in May.  That might sound fine to some folks -- but that hour and forty minutes is a movie, or batting practice, or cooking a new recipe, or, frankly, time I can spend outside, since they rolled this out just as Spring/Summer is hitting my region.  

    As with all things that take up our time -- rush hour, the DMV, pooping, the security line at the airport -- I'd psychologically allotted that 1:40 to blissful Glitch spelunking, and I'd grown ok with it because I'd learned that it was the best case scenario.  Now, as the Spring breezes waft by in the sixties outside, asking me to invest an extra hour or two in something that I spent months trying to spend less time doing is, frankly, counter-intuitive.  

    Throwing in the rare "chance" that I could reduce that time by playing a random card game simply doesn't overmatch the common sense choice of just avoiding it altogether and investing my time in something simply more productive and engaging than going back to click........mine........click........mine........like I did before I'd spent all the time learning to avoid that tedium.

    To reiterate my simple opening:  I love Glitch, as evidenced by being at Level 53 before the change; but as lilac wafts in my open windows to call me away from anything less than riveting on this screen, I can't see myself being at all as invested now that instead of the complex things becoming more complex, the tedious things have become, alas, as tedious as this missive.

    Cheers,

    TM
    Posted 7 months ago by Tomorrow's Man Subscriber! | Permalink
  • At level 53 you should have plenty enough imagination to go ahead and buy those times right back with the cards. I think the new way will make this a lot more fun and engaging for a lot longer for newbies. Sad fact is that older players in any game almost never appreciate changes. After all, the reason you loved the game has been altered.
    Posted 7 months ago by Kittn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • wait...pooping takes time?  who knew?
    Posted 7 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • TM, I was level 55 with the change so I can assume you only got slightly less imagination than I did. The key to enjoying the game is to spend all the imagination you have right now- and use your reshuffle cards liberally if there are certain things you definitely do not want! I spent all of my initial imagination and I can say that I am way farther ahead than I was before the change.
    Just a few examples:
    -Super harvests from trees now give me 36 additional material! And I get super harvests from trees so often, the same tree will often give me 96 of something from just 2 harvests!
    -I just went herb gardening and you get a super-shuck sometimes. For example I shucked 2 rubeweeds and got 8 seeds!
    -I can apparently have a chance of hatching twin animals now. There's been so much else to do I haven't tried yet, but look forward to doing so :)
    -So much more!

    Downgrades
    -The only things that are still downgrades from what I previously could do are that I only get 5 grains from chickens, and I haven't gotten the highest mining upgrade yet so it is slower for me. However, I just choose to not do these things for now until I get the upgrades. Also, my energy tank is lower, but I consider it an upgrade since it means mood goes down slower ;)

    Of course you will not have the same experience as me since you will get different random cards, but if you spend your imagination as it was intended for us to spend you will end up with many more upgrades than downgrades! :)
    Posted 7 months ago by Omnika Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Do disenchanted people who really want to quit a thing write few hundred descriptions in a forum devoted to that thing about why they really mean it this time? I think you're just as hooked as always but hadn't yet had the chance today to say 'missive', 'soliloquy' and 'frivolity'.

    :P
    Posted 7 months ago by FyodorD Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Take 5 minutes out of your busy, pooping-filled day [;)] every 4 hours, to reshuffle your cards. Even if you don't play, even if you just get on for 5 minutes to shuffle, purchase any you want, then log off, then it will make your gameplay in a few days much easier/less tedious.
    Did I want to go back to sleep at 9:30 this morning? Totally. But I grabbed my computer and hit shuffle real quick just to make sure I didn't lose the opportunity :)
    Posted 7 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nobody likes a nerf, TM, but it really doesn't take that much time and effort to get your skills back and better!
    Posted 7 months ago by Lucille Ball Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pooping takes no time at all if you wear diapers.
    Posted 7 months ago by dm Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I do agree that there is a difference between "difficult" and "tedious".  It's a lot easier to just make things take longer than to make them more interesting/engaging, but the latter clearly makes for a better game.

    That said, I haven't had enough experience to be upset by the changes yet.  Because we're in beta, I'm more willing to go through stuff again and I guess we just have to work through all the cards, spending the imagination we got seeded with, to make up for the reset.  (I wish there was a "buy all" button though so we didn't have to go through the cards one at a time.)
    Posted 7 months ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Aside from the rant regarding the change I had also noticed the increase time in planting/tending to plots.

    I haven't seen a card even on the 200 and counting list from TomC about shortening plot interaction times so I doubt it is in the same vein as the mining changes.

    Might be just part of the increased lagginess of the last few days? 

    Or, is this indeed a "feature" to make "Gardening is a leisurely activity" deal come up more as I obstinately keep trying to garden faster?

    Though i'm really cropping or herbing as garden skills are trees not plots, gah
    Posted 7 months ago by M<3tra, obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It sucks being a relatively low-level player (29 days) with all the skills learned. The imagination awarded was determined by level, so I did not have anywhere near enough to rebuy all the perks I have lost. My old learning penalty was something like 658%, meaning that Transcendtal Radiation II should take about 4 days to learn. But actually it is taking 13 days. And this is after spending over 1/2 of my IMG allotment rebuying learning skills (perks).

    Short answer: My character is less effective today than he was last week. And thats not fun.
    Posted 7 months ago by Yendor Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tomorrow's Man, I was level 32 before the chane and agree completely with all you said. It's quite silly to be told to buy tge cards when these people have no clue what cards you are given.  And really, anything is preferable to just sitting about, clicking (slowly) to do things you were able to do faster a few days ago. 
    Posted 7 months ago by Jarhaven Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Could be worse.
    You could have been reset.
    Posted 7 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was reset; twice -- I've stuck by it for that long.  But after each reset we *never* went backwards with the raw amount of actual human world time we'd have to spend gaining satisfaction in the game.  Now we do.  And this is the first time I've checked back in five days, only to see how the climate was blowing.  I have not logged in, and I won't, and I suspect a lot of other medium-level Glitch gamers out there are also now completely disenchanted, because we really, really enjoyed the limited time we could spend in the game, and we got great satisfaction out of the things we could accomplish in that time.  This new format is like graduating from college, only to be told later than the college "restructured their course credits" and now your degree not only counts for less, but it will take you longer to get back to where you were...but only if you get a winning combination of random chance and lots of money.  

    The whim of the Giants making chores take longer is akin to accidents backing up rush hour and the water heater breaking; these are not qualities I'm looking for in my imaginary world.  Glitch was great because it was vicarious, an efficient and satisfying escape from reality; if I want to grind away at hope and wait for random chance and money to fall my way, I'll spend my ol' Glitch time trying to be a musician in the meat world -- the chances are low, but at least the long odds are always consistent.  

    I'll miss you all, and I'm one of many, but we dedicated casual Glitchers have clearly been factored out of the TS bottom line.
    Posted 7 months ago by Tomorrow's Man Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tomorrow Man - with 99 skills and over 385 achievements, what exactly was left in the game for you to do?
    Posted 7 months ago by Sturminator i` Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tomorrow's Man...you've not even bothered to use all that iMG you have to purchase any upgrade cards.  If you would just start buying them, you likely will be ahead of where you were before the iMG change (it wasn't a reset like we had in Alpha/Beta1 days where we had to completely start over from zero)...oh, well, guess you would rather quit than actually attempt to understand and try out the new system.  Wishing you well...
    Posted 7 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Its sad really, those people who aren't giving the new system a chance. It seems a lot of folks would rather bitch about things than actually try it. i was horrified at first and a little overwhelmed by the new system but I trudged through it and am now actually loving playing Glitch again. The upgrade cards are a nice touch and having a use for imagination/XP instead of just leveling up is an awesome idea. It actually has me out doing things again. I used to just travel around now I actually mine, craft, cook etc. because there is purpose to it. I even donate things now instead of selling, there is more use for imagination then currants. 

    And for the record, if there was a reset I would be gone for good. I spent way too much time building my character to where he is now, if it all was lost I would find another time sink. But the imagination change over was not a reset, we lost a lot of skills but I had 700,000 imagination to get myself back to where we were, imagination I did not have to rework for. 
    Posted 7 months ago by Papa Legba Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well said Papa Legba, though I'd almost have liked a full reset...I'd like to see just how different the game is from a newb's P.O.V., but I'm weird like that.  But I'm with you...I think I've played the game more in the last few days than I have in the past few months directly related to the new iMG and upgrade card system.
    Posted 7 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This system makes my casual playstyle even more rewarding than it was before. I get more for less time. It's wonderful.
    Posted 7 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Exactly, and there is always the option to have an alt if you want to experience the game from the start again. I am considering making an alt once this is all complete and the new player tutorial is done.
    Posted 7 months ago by Papa Legba Subscriber! | Permalink