Recently at GeekMom, we’ve given a lot of coverage to a MMORPG that some of us have gotten hooked on called Glitch. For me, it was my first real taste of online gaming, for others it was another new world to play around in. While I didn’t get too invested in it during beta, in recent weeks I’ve gotten hooked. On Monday night I spent an hour mining in the caverns for rocks to sell. My husband joined me there; he mined and then gave me the rocks. It’s new for us to have this kind of thing to do together. He has always been a gamer and enjoys sharing this with me. We were both shocked to learn yesterday that Glitch is going back into Beta, in effect, being “unlaunched” as they are calling it. This just two months after it came out. You can read what Tiny Speck have to say about it in this blog post on their site. They have identified two major problems that cannot be patched, as I’m told is the norm for online games. Funnily enough, I have encountered one of these problems, while my husband and fellow GeekMoms have encountered the other.
My problem in beta was that I just couldn’t get into it. I only had time to play in ten minute bursts here and there, and I just wasn’t getting anywhere. I walked around picking berries, gathering bubbles, petting piggies, but didn’t do much else. So it didn’t feel like something that I had to do with my time, I continued to play intermittently mostly because my husband had fun watching me play and I thought it was “cool” to be in on it during beta. Apparently other newbs have had similar experiences with just not getting into it, therefore not sticking with it until it became fun. I’m addicted now, I play everyday as it’s a nice way to wind down. But making the game more instantly accessible to new players is something that the good people at tiny Speck feel can’t be patched, so back to the drawing board.
My husband’s impending problem, one that he shares with several GeekMoms, is more of the “been there done that” variety. Glitch is an infinite game and yet when you reach level 60, have learned all your skills and achieved every quest, there’s little left to do. Sure there’s always another badge to earn, some are very peculiar and hard to attain, but beyond that, there’s not much happening. If you get bored, you stay away and that’s not what Tiny Speck want to happen. My husband was under the impression that street building would be more active than it has been in recent weeks, and that would be where it became infinite. He has been stockpiling resources to work on a new street but has yet to come across new construction. He still has fun playing because I am there and still discovering the world, but how long can that last?
In their words, “We’re doing it to make sure that all of you have a game that is awesome to play from the first moment you step into the world to deep into your Glitch adulthood.” I’m in the middle phase right now, I have skills still to learn, I’m only on level 17 of 60, though I generally advance one every few days, and I have gads of badges to get. I somehow got past my initial “what’s the point again?” phase, and am not yet been-there-done-that-ing it.
My biggest concern is – will they re-set the game and will I thereby lose everything I’ve already accomplished? Tiny Speck says no, they don’t foresee a reset being part of this move, though some aspects of my achievements might go away because they are not compatible with new game play. That’s fine, as long as my account doesn’t re-set. If it re-sets again, I doubt I will be taking the time to do it all over, as much as I’m enjoying it right now, that just doesn’t sound like fun. Level one, again. No money, again.
One of the things I love about this is their attitude towards gamers. Anyone who has paid real money for extra features can visit a refund page if they feel cheated by the unlaunch. Now that’s a company that cares about their players, I’ll stick around and see what they do with it. As long as my account doesn’t re-set!
There was so much grinding in all of the skill catagories, I burned out on Glitch very quickly even though I reached lvl 24. I’m “learning” my last few skills, but I don’t plan on picking up the quests for quite a while simply because there is no draw of anything new.
Also, has anyone actually seen a rook?
The faux-word “funnily” is an abomination that should be stamped out with great prejudice.
Humorously, if you must.
I logged in yesterday and I got attacked by a rook. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on.
Funnily enough, ahem, there were massive Rook attacks yesterday. I stayed logged out until my husband said it was over!
Re: not getting into it — I thought I was just a grouch or something! Kind of nice to know it wasn’t just me. Contrariwise, I very much still like Second Life.