Topic
Questions About New Housing and Group Halls -- NOW WITH STOOT ANSWERS!
UPDATE: Scarlett Bearsdale has provided a summary of questions and answers here.
Thanks Scarlett!
** ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS *****************************************
I have many questions in my mind about the new housing and group halls that will be coming to Glitch. I am going to post some of them here. Maybe others have questions they would like to post.
HOUSING QUESTIONS
1. Once the new housing is introduced, what steps will current users need to take to acquire a house and what steps will new users need to take to acquire a house?
2. Will a new house consist of a template that can be extended and added to? If so, will there be one template that everyone starts with, or will there be different starting templates to choose from?
3. Will houses have an exterior that is visible from public space such that any player could pass by, see the house, drop something in front of it, or knock on the door if they wish? If so, will there be ways to customize this exterior to make something that is visually unique?
4. Will there be spaces with clusters of houses similar to the current housing quarters? If so, will there be public access to these spaces such that any player can come into them and wander around?
5. Will the new houses have a permission system that is more flexible and layered than the current permission system which allows anyone who has access to a house to take almost everything that's not locked into a cabinet?
GROUP HALL QUESTIONS
1. Will a group hall look like and function like (a) a building, (b) an outdoor street or streets, (c) an outdoor street or streets with one or more buildings, or (d) any of these a group wants?
2. Will group halls be available only to formal groups or can a collection of players get together and create a "group hall" without also creating a formal group?
3. Will group halls be considered to be owned by their associated group (however such groups are defined), owned by a subset of the group, owned by the entire community, or what?
4. Will group halls be accessible only to those who are members of their associated group, or will there be a more flexible permission system (e.g. public, public w/ blocklist, permanent guest list, limited-time invitation, etc.)?
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Maybe TS will answer some of these questions, maybe not. Either way, I'm interested to know what others want to know :)
UPDATE: See below for some answers from stoot :)
Replies
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Miso George: "all these questions and stoot ignores mine and many others. Why the selective response man? :`c" — yours was the *very first* question I answered! (link).
& "I'd really like to see ALL the questions answered" — that's impossible: every answer just begets more questions. - bored no more: about 8 weeks.
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the questions/concerns that I see that haven't been answered yet are:
1) how will the lack of neighborhoods thing work? (how will people be able to find your house? will random passers-by still be possible? what will happen to animals that live on a housing block?)
2) if the new houses are in our imaginations, how will they relate to the rest of Ur? will my front door always take me to the same place or will its destination be somewhat variable, ala Howl's moving castle?
3) what sort of architectural variety might be available? will I still be able to imagine myself as the Witch of Maybe Marsh living in a gourd house in the firebog? (ie, will we have the option to imagine our houses similar to where we live now or are they going to be radically different?)
4) and last but not least, my own burning question: any chance y'all might see fit to release some more swamp houses during the wait or do we just need to be patient? - thanks for answering, stoot :)
- Yay about 8 weeks! :D Thanks for all the answers, stoot, I'm very excited to see how things turn out.
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Oh that's true, I already forgot you did answer mine on the first page. Heh. >_>
:: blushes ::
<_<
....... >_> -
Muchly Alais:
1) We are still arguing about this. At the very least, you will be able summon friends to your street, and once there, they will be able to follow links you've added to your signpost to the public streets of other players where they'll be able to follow links those people have added to the public streets of yet other players, and so on. So, random passers-by will be possible.
2) Most likely they will be variable.
3) It seems like there are two totally different questions here: (a) There will be a lot of architectural variety available (more than there is currently). (b) The new houses will not be in the normal world so they can't physically close to particular locations in the world (but they also can't be far either :)
4) I don't know :) - thanks! "I don't know" is a very valid answer
- Thanks, Stoot! Answers much appreciated!
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Joe Blow:
"If you can't anticipate the very basic questions of your audience, then I'm afraid I have no additional questions to ask." + "Asking questions about widgets, without the foggiest idea as to what a widget is, is worthless."
That's just it — I can anticipate the questions. They are things like "what is the exact color of the widget?" or "what are the precise dimensions of the widget's handle?" or "what are the material used for the widget's screws?" In other words, they are mostly questions I don't have the answers to mixed in with questions that don't seem especially urgent or questions that might not make sense in the new context — sometimes, there are no such widgets.
I bet you don't believe there is some short, finite list of question which, when answered in a single forum post, will remove all confusion and leave everyone satisfied — I definitely don't believe that. All answers just result in more questions (usually two new questions for each answer given).
Really, I don't think there are very specific questions … just a desire to know what is happening (what is planned and when it will happen). When there is something specific to announce in that regard, it will be announced. -
stoot.
I love you.
Platonically of course.
Bear on man wouldn't go right in the media. -
stoot...you have my <3
Just this---> about 8 weeks. <--- satisfies me to no end!! TY :) - I am super pumped about the housing changes and to hear that there are new animals coming. Thanks for the update, Stoot!
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Thanks for the answers and your patience, Stoot.
My only question is, will we be able to grow veggies and herbs in the house/garden? I'd love an answer to this one. :D - You will be able to build more than one type of garden on your property (they don't come with any; you can "imagine" more land and then build many, many gardens).
- YAY! It's great to be getting all this information from you, stoot. Thank you! :-D
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"about 8 weeks."
eight in-game weeks? *bats eyelashes innocently* -
Thanks Stoot - every little snippet of info is appreciated - even the 'I dont know'
I understand that our XP level will change to imagination, but what happens to our currants, will they be exchanged for imagination too?
Should we be selling our hoarded stuff for currants or will it be worth more to us as a usable commodity? - Thank you for answering all those questions, Stoot. The information is great!
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Stoot, here's another question: will XP be totally converted into Imagination and disappear as a concept? Will it be possible to level down?
Edited to add: Oh no! Does no more XP mean no more happy trumpets and kazoos when you level up? I love the kazoos! ;) -
Thanks again for your reply stoot.
"That's just it — I can anticipate the questions."
Then why ask for a numbered list of questions that you know are un-answerable? Instead of tossing it back over the wall to us, why not come out with the authoritative response that you just did? "Folks, nothing to see here. Nothing to discuss at the present time. 2 months away, details in progress." Problem solved.
This all boiled over as a result of details given in interview that were never shared with the community directly. In other words, poor communication. Your setting an expectation that TS would set up a Q&A session has also yet to come to fruition (unless this thread has become the de facto Q&A). This didn't help.
I hate that I have to surface with negative comments, but I also hate some of the "Golly gee, thanks stoot" responses that seem to dominate these types of threads.
I assure you that many are struggling to find reasons to stay with this game. I hope that negative feedback matters to TS, but fear it isn't being heard. I hope that everyone ultimately decides to stay.
Here's looking forward to positive things in the future! - The 8 weeks answer helps me to decide what I will be doing for the next 8 weeks. Thank you. I don't think that was very much to ask.
- all the staff answers are amazing. It so whets my "imagination." :)
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Thanks for the feedback, Stoot! The plans for the game sound so exciting! I can only imagine the hard work going on behind the scenes. You have a terrific staff in place, with the best and the brightest working their tuches off to make glitch all that it is meant to be.
I guess my question at this point is similar to what Teena asked. Like so many others I've begun hoarding. Initially it was for street projects, but now I wonder if projects are also on hold for awhile.
PS I know sugar is probably working on stuff for our houses, but I sure wish Jade's tiera would be made available to buy. And your suit ain't too shabby either! -
Thank you for the answers stoot. I think part of the general frustration that a lot of players are experiencing right now is a lack of concrete direction as to what we should be doing in the lead-up to the Big Update. For example - you said that hoarding materials won't be of much use, but you also said that we will be able to craft things for our homes. Wouldn't hoarding certain materials be useful for this? Would selling off our materials for currants be more useful? What will happen with the currants system? I know I, and probably a lot of other Glitchen, would feel more at ease if we had somewhat of a "guide" to how to prepare for the change.
However, I do recognize that there are certain things that haven't been decided yet, and if that is the case for any of the questions above I think it would be best just to come out and say that, rather than give vague, "beating-around-the-bush" answers.
Thanks again for following this thread! -
Stoot, I really appreciate the answers, especially the 8ish week time frame. The one question that I'm most concerned about and I've seen asked with no real answer many times is about my hoard.
I know I'm not the only one with a massive hoard stored in my home that I'm hoping will be useful in the future. However you've stated they won't be very useful...
The thing is, at the level I am with all skills and quests done, what I have left is gathering and badge grinding. That is fine, I just want to know that all this work I've done gathering things isn't going to go to waste. I want to feel like the time I've spent in the game is going to be worth something once these changes happen and I think that is the real concern of everyone asking about their hoard.
Perhaps I've missed the answer but are currants going away completely? Are we still going to need building materials? I'm really excited about imagining my home and I'm not at all concerned about "losing" my levels to imagination. I am concerned though that everything I've spent months of time gathering, organizing and storing are going to be worthless.
Could you please give us a definite answer as to whether the crafting and imagining will need any materials available in game and if currants are going to be at all useful?
If I could get an answer to that I will happily continue to invest hours upon hours of my time into your wonderful game. -
Both kinds of gardens! Yay! *kermit-flail*
Thanks, Stoot. - +1 SkyWaitress. This is exactly what I'm talking about.
- What Filox said. Especially the Kermit flail. :-)
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All Hail Stoot!
The blessings of Lem on you!
...would you like some Lemburgers with that blessing? -
So from reading this, I think it's hard for us to imagine what it's like to be on the other side of this - knowing the arguments going on behind the scenes and all the hard work, that may change the game in a way that make some of our questions unanswerable.
So I'm holding out on asking most questions. The most important question to me was a time frame that we could expect to see these changes, which is an answer I've received now (so thank you for giving me something that takes away the worry that I'll log on one day and all my stuff will be gone).
There's only one question that I'd still really like to have answered, stoot. You mention that XP will convert to imagination but say nothing about currants. Will currants be elimnated, transferred to imagination, or stay as they are?
Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. -
Will currants be elimnated, transferred to imagination, or stay as they are?
Cause if they're being eliminated, I'm going on a cubi buying binge :) -
Will currants be elimnated, transferred to imagination, or stay as they are? -- Kristen Marie
Cause if they're being eliminated, I'm going on a cubi buying binge :) -- Snowpea
o_O
I second that! - If currants get eliminated I think I'll have to go on a no-no and hooch binge.
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Just in case someone is just skimming for numbered questions and skipped non-numbered questions:
1) Will currents stay in the game, or be replaced with something else? - I have to say that I am VERY excited by all of this and very, very thankful for your candor, stoot barfield. :)
- 2) If items for our new houses will be craftable, why isn't it beneficial to hoard building materials? Should we liquidate our assets instead?
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Okay. I like the idea of being able to have lots of gardens.
My house will be filled with butterflies and pretty plants! -
I agree with these questions and very eagerly await a "no" response to "Are currants going away". :: bites nails nervously ::
Edit - I'd also like to throw in that I am getting more and more excited about the upcoming changes to housing the more I know about them.
If someone could release a "how to prepare..." guide I'd really appreciate it, as others have suggested. I think most of my nervousness comes from just not knowing what I need to do to be the most ready to jump in and start customising..... -
I agree with these questions and very eagerly await a "no" response to "Are currants going away". -- Miso George
I think a lot of my Glitch friends would know that I lean towards a "yes" answer from them instead of a "no." ^_^ -
He does say that to get "stuff" we will be crafting and trading with other players so it seems we will have some sort of currency to trade with even if its not called currents. I'm not worried that our currents and xp will be converted to other units or benefits of equal value.
As for losing the neighborhood: I liked living in an imaginary neighborhood in the bogs but I think that losing the "place in Ur" concept is a fair tradeoff for being able to have customizable "rooms". I've never met any of my neighbors in the bogs so it won't be a great loss for me. The idea of my room not having a distinct physical place is starting to grow on me.
I don't think Glitch has to be bound by the idea of a neighborhood inside of a game world. That's kind of boring when you think about it. I always thought there was potential for Glitch to appeal to people who use IMVU (3d chat rooms), people who use virtual worlds like secondlife, and people who play MMOs. Who says it has to stick to the limitations of any of those concepts?
It might help get non gamers into Glitch if we were set up with first, the profile page, then a link to enter the player's "house" "room" (2d chat room) or *inner space*, (the hearth, the inner mind (reminiscent of the tower quest) , inner imagination, whatever you want to call it) and from there, the option to enter a portal into the collective space/outer imagination/public imagination in the world of Ur via the links at the back door. Something of a bridge from a static profile page to a game. Might make entering the world less of a deal for people who think that they don't want to get fully into playing a mmo.
There are lots of folks who won't enter a virtual world or get involved in a MMO but will be happy to visit your profile page on any place where you have a presence. Lots of non gaming folks will use IMVU as a chat room so why not have our "houses" serve the purpose of such chat rooms? The only reason I don't use IMVU is that I don't like the 3d setup and I don't like the avatars but a glitch "2d chat room/house" would be very cool. Especially when there is the option to exit the room into the game world. - yay! changes!! I'm really excited to see what people do with their group halls!!!
- 3) Will there be new street projects in the next 8 weeks?
- O.o new animals OMG now dreaming of cows that i can feed flowers and they will produce honey ^.^ since butterflys give milk
- If there aren't going to be any "neighborhoods" like there are now (which is great), I hope there is still a way to walk around and listen to other people's garden gnomes. That's the one thing that I really hope stays - everything else can change and it will be fine!
- Cow for honey? Bee for honey? Bumblebear for honey? This seems like something we need a referendum on :D I like this.
- Hunny Bunnies for Honey.
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Currants
There will still be currants for a very long time (probably forever) because having something to facilitate trade is very, very useful. However:
• When imagination is introduced, there will be many things which can only be "bought" with imagination (mostly land & character upgrades) so currants will become somewhat less important overall.
• The few remaining things which can only be bought from vendors (with currants) will be made craftable by players. Later, vendors will at first stop buying things they don't "need" and vendor buy prices will become variable. Finally, game-run vendors (generally) won't buy stuff at all. (Our long term goal is to completely eliminate game-run vendors, though player-run vendors would be ace.)
Converting to Imagination
The amount of Imagination that existing players start with will be a factor of their Currants and their Level at the time of conversion. Some portion of your Currant balance will be taken away and replaced with Imagination (you may be able to convert from one to another after, with a large amount of friction). Then you'll get an amount of Imagination which is based on your Level.
However, we will be converting on a curve: being a higher level or having more currants now will mean you start with more imagination, but the differences will be reduced. An example might help explain it:
Imagine three players before the conversion: Fred, who is level 10 with 1,000 currants; Mary, who is level 30 with 50,000 currants and Sally, who is level 60 with 1,000,000 currants. In the example, Mary has 50x the currants that Fred has, while Sally has 20x more currants than Mary and 1,000x more currants than Fred (the differences in levels seem less, but because each successive level requires more XP, the ratios between their levels are actually similar to the ratios between their currant balances).
After the conversion, rather than 1 : 50 : 1,000, the differences between them might be more like 1 : 10 : 100 or even 1 : 5 : 10 (it depends on the curve and we have a lot more math to do before we'll decide that). Bottom line: if you are ahead now, you will be ahead afterwards, but not as far ahead.
Hoarding Stuff in Anticipation of it Giving You Some Advantage in the Future
It will probably help you a bit to have 1,000,000,000 cherries at the time we cut over, but I would not sacrifice life's pleasures to spend all my time getting incrementally more cherries right now in hopes that that might get me further "ahead" in the game after all these things switch.
It is just too complicated to know what the relative values of things will be (as above, some pretty major economic changes are coming and a complete overhaul of the crafting system will come shortly after, the introduction of imagination will change many dynamics and on and on and on …) to unambiguously say "we encourage you to obsessively hoard any item you can in the game".
In fact, now, as always, I'd say: if you enjoy doing it for its own sake, it is worth doing. On the other hand, if you are stressed that you might not have "enough" allspice or dullite or butterfly milk then you probably have far more than you could possibly ever need and should do something else instead :) -
Neighborhoods
The existing ones function (barely) as neighborhoods in the best cases, but would be doomed in the long run without rent or property taxes, etc., because of the inevitability of player turn-over.
I have high hopes for the new system's neighborhoods since the linkages will be dynamic and the map of the space will reflect the players relationships. Once we do group halls, doorways from the main group area to individual members houses would be fairly simple, so there can be multiple ways in the which an individual house can be grouped with others and multiple ways in which it can be found. -
Currants
Rats! I guess the answer was a "no" after all. C'est la Vie
I'd really like to see what you guys have planned for player-run vendors.
Neighborhoods
Makes me wonder if it's possible to "imagine" a door that connects your house directly to the Group Hall.