What made Glitch unique
Thinking about what was unique about Glitch from a game design standpoint. A few conclusions:
–It had co-operative (or solitary) rather than competitive gameplay. Most massively multiplayer games involve some player-versus-player component. Glitch didn't.
–The game didn't set goals for you. Instead, it created a multiplayer world in which you could set goals for yourself.
–Glitch encouraged kindness in the game's writing and in some of the game mechanics. This encouraged a game culture in which player interactions were atypically kind for online games.
–A player-driven economy. (I am a little nervous for when Eleven launches; I feel like I will have to learn a lot more skills and spend my time harvesting and crafting random objects I never did before. When I started playing Glitch, there was an advanced player economy. That allowed players to be very specialized. For example, I sold guano — I harvested the droppings of cave bats [this involved feeding them repeatedly] which I could sell on the player marketplace for a lot of currants. The player demand for guano was high because there was a huge contingent of players who harvested yellow crumb flowers so they could sell them to street vendors — this produced a steady stream of currants. I like guano because it was a seller’s market; people bought it faster than we could harvest it. One player wanted guano so badly that they set up a program to automatically buy guano on the marketplace. I surmised this after discovering that guano sold for under a certain price would be bought instantly every time, faster than human reaction speeds. The price was way lower than the usual asking price for guano, but it was instant currants. One thing about harvesting guano is that it was just so much more practical if you could simply buy the food to feed to the bats. It took multiple stacks of food just to produce one stack of guano. Selling guano below the usual price allowed me to get instant currants with which to buy food with which to get guano to get a bigger harvest of guano to sell at or above the usual price. This plan was going great until suddenly the player’s script stopped automatically buying my guano. The player either ran out of money or the script detected that some pre-set limit had been reached and stopped buying. This shows just how complex the economy was. Most games don’t have that because most of the items aren’t crafted by players.)
–It sustained a feeling of strangeness and wonder throughout, like a Miyazaki film.
What else?
–It had co-operative (or solitary) rather than competitive gameplay. Most massively multiplayer games involve some player-versus-player component. Glitch didn't.
–The game didn't set goals for you. Instead, it created a multiplayer world in which you could set goals for yourself.
–Glitch encouraged kindness in the game's writing and in some of the game mechanics. This encouraged a game culture in which player interactions were atypically kind for online games.
–A player-driven economy. (I am a little nervous for when Eleven launches; I feel like I will have to learn a lot more skills and spend my time harvesting and crafting random objects I never did before. When I started playing Glitch, there was an advanced player economy. That allowed players to be very specialized. For example, I sold guano — I harvested the droppings of cave bats [this involved feeding them repeatedly] which I could sell on the player marketplace for a lot of currants. The player demand for guano was high because there was a huge contingent of players who harvested yellow crumb flowers so they could sell them to street vendors — this produced a steady stream of currants. I like guano because it was a seller’s market; people bought it faster than we could harvest it. One player wanted guano so badly that they set up a program to automatically buy guano on the marketplace. I surmised this after discovering that guano sold for under a certain price would be bought instantly every time, faster than human reaction speeds. The price was way lower than the usual asking price for guano, but it was instant currants. One thing about harvesting guano is that it was just so much more practical if you could simply buy the food to feed to the bats. It took multiple stacks of food just to produce one stack of guano. Selling guano below the usual price allowed me to get instant currants with which to buy food with which to get guano to get a bigger harvest of guano to sell at or above the usual price. This plan was going great until suddenly the player’s script stopped automatically buying my guano. The player either ran out of money or the script detected that some pre-set limit had been reached and stopped buying. This shows just how complex the economy was. Most games don’t have that because most of the items aren’t crafted by players.)
–It sustained a feeling of strangeness and wonder throughout, like a Miyazaki film.
What else?
Comments
Oll Right!!
I agree with @coolbetty that a great "feature" was being able to be a secret treasure hider. I didn't talk to many people in-game, but I loved leaving nice food and drinks hidden for strangers around the world. Or sometimes I'd litter an out of the way street with pickles I made, because why not. People love pickles.
Anything that regularly celebrates holidays is full of win!
-I also liked the feeling that I could play the game alone, but always be able to turn to others for help and cooperatively figuring out new puzzles, if I so chose. I like to be able to play MMOs alone, but knowing that there's a helpful and caring community backing me up at all times. The feeling that I was alone, but only by choice, I guess?
-And that it was really almost a sandbox, but without the usual unpleasant chaos and violence. Enough structure that you could make your own story, but enough freedom to do so, I guess is what I'm getting at.
-Definitely the co-op nature was key.
-That and the obviously boundless, joyful creativity of the designers, which was helped by the game being constantly updated and added to. There was always a new horizon, and since I'm primarily an explorer whenever I play MMOs, this is important to me. And not just new horizons in terms of new areas, but new puzzles, new quests, and all kinds of new features.
-That and the notes. Even a lonely player like me could feel the presence of others in the community (even at 3 AM Pacific Time) through the notes, and the little items other players were always leaving behind.
"It's time for me to write my final goodbyes to the glorious land of Ur. Glitch is absolutely absurd but that's the beauty of the thing I suppose. Glitch is so absurd that it's brilliant and unique. Through its absurdity it made sure that it was so different from the other games out there, so much more special than the other games. The devs worked so hard to make a game that was unique and special, to make sure that unique and special game had a spot in hearts. They made a game that was beautiful and fun. So, when the time comes to say goodbye, let us remember that game. Bring its imagination and fun with us in our everyday travels and keep it in its spot in our hearts. Mourn Glitch not by sadness but by remembering it for the happiness it brought and for its wonderful absurdity. Remember it for its beauty and everything Glitch ever was and is. The street sign above this note reads Bliss. I've left this note in this particular space because that is what Glitch is. Bliss."