Topic
What disappoints me about this game sunset...
For the most part, I think TS's handling of the game's end has been great. They have gone above and beyond what most other companies would do. However, something still bothers me about how the game's end has been handled. Wednesday, I went to the forums like usual and I find that this game is cancelled and will be shutting down in less than a month. And it's a huge shock because there had been absolutely nothing before then to indicate any part of this game was in trouble. Nope, we were getting tons of new features and even a new major artist, and it looks like there were going to be tons of feats in the future for more unlocks, etc.
I find it hard to believe that TS only came into realization of this during this month. Surely there had to be some discussion behind the scenes, or at least some concern about low player rates. Yet we were kept in the dark about the entire time that there was anything wrong going on. Besides one spammy feat, there wasn't even any attempt to get players to recruit.
I'm no expert on business, but I doubt that word of mouth can cover for everything. However, I can tell you that I did not see an advertisement of this game anywhere. As for the lack of players, it's definitely not because this game can only appeal to a niche market. However, I only found this game because I was reading a MMO blog that usually caters top players of traditional MMORPGs and EVE Online, most of which aren't interested in Glitch, or at least they wouldn't be by reading a few blog posts. In hindsight (20/20, I know), I'm wondering why there weren't hordes of tumblr freaks here. This game caters to every single aspect of their sensibilities. And there are tons of teens and adults who have longed for a more mature version of Neopets. (Not in the pet raising aspect, but the economy and social ones)
And if the game was losing money, it must've been doing so on a trajectory. But in all, I just don't see that the dev team did anything to try and change its business model.
I'm just shocked by the abrupt ending of this game. I know that City of Heroes has different circumstances behind its closing, but it's had a couple of months for players to get ready for that. Maybe it's better for a game to go out with a bang than a whimper?
I guess this is all beyond my understanding, but I'm really baffled about how this has played out.
And preparing to be called "troll" in 3...2...1...
Replies
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@Shhexy, exactly! There are a lot of posts, maybe not in this thread as much as others, that are quite insulting towards Stoot & Tiny Speck.
I'm glad Stoot has clarified that it was largely his decision. It might be a little less confusing to know more of the details that lead to the decision since the closing announcement seems so vague and the game development was going full steam ahead, but clearly they are not going to be shared with us. - The anger and bitterness shown here by some, is just a testament to what a great game this was! Keep it all in perspective! For example...Burn all the mobile devices! It's their fault.
- @Lucille Ball: I totally agree. I'm still really confused about what's going on. I mean it doesn't really matter, but I think it'd be nice to know.
- @Thursday... If I didn't know better, I'd think you was a Monday!
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As long as they keep the code and data this game isn't dead... the Giants will wake up for a while and when they go back to sleep our Ur shall return.
And that data and code is valuable. -
Lol babi,
I guess what I wanted to say is I love all the people here, even stoot-but I want us to remember, we rock, and I just dont think stoot made a good choice, and I would find it hard to trust choices made in the future.
I cant put myself in his shoes. I just know how this looks from my point of view. Tiny SPeck overall gave us all an amazing time. I blame solar flares,cake,cheese-and maybe a bad judgement call. Who knows. -
Blame cake?
OMGERD HOW CAN YOU BLASPHEME SO BAD....*hugs cake* its oki...the bad bad person dint mean it..... - Thank you Stoot for your answer. Even though I am too depressed to play the game it still gave me some relief with your answer. I don't know why. I would ask my psychologist if I had one. I wish you guys could have met up with the ones who tried to make FaunaSphere work. Maybe you could have come up with a solution from their unsuccessful game to keep this one from going under. I don't know. I don't know what makes all the computer stuff work. I just like to use them. Until it runs like a P.O.S and I want to toss it out the nearest window. None the less...thanks Stoot.
- I'll forever blame it on Flash. Those feats we did? They were testing the scalability of the platform, and we all saw what happened to performance when a large group of people are in the same place. So blame Adobe, blame the lack of support for Flash, blame the changing times, but I don't put any blame on TS. They did an outstanding job building a revolutionary type of game; unfortunately they made a bet on a technology that became obsolete before their passion for this game did.
- @terra thingy thingy thingy sig ...I think you are right! Except, for the passion part.
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Anger, questioning, trying to bargain are all a natural response to loss, and I'm probably not going to change the way anyone feels or is thinking about this right now. Nevertheless...
Technology and the use of technology change in ways that are hard to predict. This is why a new venture like Glitch involves a significant risk, and also why those who undertake that risk are to be respected.
Over the past year, I think it's been clear to those who've been following such things that the potential user base for complex, browser-based flash applications is declining at a faster rate than would have been expected when the development of Glitch first began, or even when Glitch went back to beta. As a consequence, the financial success of Glitch would require growing the player and subscriber base at a faster rate than would have been originally planned in the business case.
While it might be possible to achieve through advertising, this kind of rapid growth in itself creates a number of stresses, not only on such things as servers and support staff, but also on the social fabric of the game community. Through various experiments, TS has recently been looking at the likely impact of such stresses, and I suspect the results indicated that adequate coping would require a significant additional investment.
Could the audience for Glitch grow quickly enough and large enough to make that investment worthwhile? To answer that question, you have to think about conversion rates. What percentage of people exposed to advertising will actually try the game? What percentage of those will continue to play for more than a day, more than a week, more than a month? What percentage of those will pay for a subscription or for credits? You can actually get a handle on this by looking at conversion rates for those who are invited by friends -- which a lot of research tells us will represent the best-case scenario -- and by experimentation with advertising on a small scale. If the conversion rates aren't good enough, it may not matter how many people you can attract by advertising or more aggressive social marketing.
So, if you are still reading, your next question may be why TS hasn't been more open about the experiments they've been doing or the results they've been getting. A simple (though incomplete) answer is that you can't explain such experiments while you are doing them, and you also can't publish the proprietary company data they produce. Even if that were possible, there would still be people objecting and demanding more explanation and more time at a time when time is of the essence and a decision needs to be made. - Splendora, well said.
- I think that the unlauching (1 year ago) is the clue that something was not okay.
- @Splendora...I love people who can articulate so well. Brava! Brava!
- I read an article on Techcrunch (I think) that they got an anon tip way back in early Oct. that the game was in trouble. They should have told us sooner so we'd have more time to prepare for the end.
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I'm not sure I agree that we don't have enough time to prepare for the end. Once the end is announced, people will naturally start leaving and with no subscriptions the game gets even more expensive to run.
What threw me is that they were asking for new recipe ideas and releasing whole new mechanics (fishing, ice scraping, Shim Shiri) very recently so there wasn't any indication that things were going to wind down. I did wonder at the low numbers on recent badges. Only 6515 players have Feat First, for example. -
Thank you Splendora — I appreciate that summary, which is a decent representation.
And, to clarify my earlier remark (made on my phone, in bed, in the middle of the night, trying to catch up on the forums after an extremely long day) — I'm not saying EVERYONE thinks we're stupid: that was just in response to the original posting, along with a few of the comments.
I know everyone wants more details and more information (believe me, there are enough "lessons learned" to write a very long book) and I'll try to summarize a few more details when things calm down a bit. But, there are other demands on my time and attention right now (like helping people I love find jobs, doing what we can to make the game go out in style, building tools to archive and export, responding to a few of the hundreds of emails coming in, attending to legal formalities, etc.)
To the people who are so quick to judge on the basis of one or two remarks here or there: (1) you can kiss my ass :) … and (2) I hope you one day have the experience of having your decisions so publicly scrutinized and second-guessed.
To everyone else, here's an unexpurgated cut and paste from an email I sent the night before we announced the shutdown publicly, which might help a bit:
"But just make sure this part is clear: I'm not doing this because I'm restless or bored. I hate this. It is truly heartbreaking to me. There are so many really good people who worked late, night after night, month after month, and they are going to lose their jobs (and the ones on the game side in Vancouver are going into a truly terrible job market). The players who engaged most deeply and evangelized most fervently for us are going to have their community and their favorite pastime yanked away.
And, purely for selfish reasons it is a disaster: this project and the core idea has been a dream of mine for over a decade. I was sure it could work, and I put everything I could into it. It's not just your "everyday" humiliation of failure — the loss of credibility and accrued capital, etc. — but it's laying to rest something I thought of as my life's work. It's horrible.
So, when I say that I'm sure it can't work it is because I've been over it from every angle, qualitatively and quantitatively, again and again, in excruciating detail and I honestly do not believe that the possibility of success is there.
If any one of the critical factors were different — if we were on the right side of technological history re Flash and mobile, if we had a solution to the client performance problems, if we had managed to execute more fully on the potential of the systems we've built and had players clamoring to get in the door — or even if everything was exactly as it was now but we got there a year faster — I would think it worth keeping going. But, at this point, I am convinced we are throwing good money after bad.
There's certainly a self-fulfilling prophecy aspect to it — maybe, if I just believed, it could be made to work. But, I have come to this decision soberly, with due consideration and in good command of the facts and I can't see it any other way." - Here, here Stoot! Good for You! You rock!
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@Stoot Thanks for sharing this - it's so sad to read it, but it explains a lot.
Hope to see some new exciting TinySpeck project soon! (and by "soon" I mean regular soon, not Ur soon.:)
I love so many parts of this - amazing and detailed art, funny little animations, lovely music and other sounds, quirky texts, clever quests, little UI and UX things, team responses in the forums and global,...even the direct mails were fun to read. I will miss this so much. -
Well I think it was a brave effort to try to make a game like this and a courageous decision to shut it down.
As to "having all the information" I half suspect that subscriptions were falling in number and not growing. Kind of sorry I didn't invite more people but I tended to play the game as a sort of escape from day to day interactions, a sort of semi "secret" world to go to. I guess we all should have tried harder to invite friends and get them into playing the game. I also didn't renew my full year subscription because I was unsure about the future of the game (when it didn't re-launch in September, one year after the original launch, it seemed like something must not be working). I did buy a one month and a one month for my alt (was planning to play each account for a month at a time). Frankly, I was getting very bored and feeling guilty that even with all the extra streets and games and the continued improvement of small details in the game - Glitch just wasn't doing it for me anymore. It would have been nice to have been able to quit and still have Glitch to "come home to" once every few months, but business's can't survive on that kind of committment.
Guess I'll be looking into the kill and murder bloodthirsty negative 3d games to keep my interest alive. sad. - Having been through the Faunasphere shutdown, I should not be stunned by the failure of Glitch, but I am unhappy. I don't know what hurts more, knowing the game is dying or reading all the heartfelt sentiments expressed in posts. The anger, grief, sense of loss and, yes, love that people have been pouring out in these threads are nothing I haven't felt before or don't feel now. The one thing I felt after FS shut down that I do not feel this time around is hope. Stoot has said that they didn't try to find a buyer. He wants to shut it down in the face of overwhelming odds. There will be no resurrection. He is determined to move on. It's his baby and he's entitled. But it still hurts.
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Just one thing Mr Stoot Barfly, Butterface, erm whatever your last name is...Barfiled...sigh Barfield!
I HAD FUN! Thank you. -
It seems like there must be a way to do this using a different platform. So maybe Flash isn't The One. A couple of the people I know who wanted to play couldn't because their net couldn't handle it, even though they can play games like CoH (*sob*).. is there any chance at all that this could come back in the future as a game with its own client? There's just.. nothing else like this, and I really don't want to see it go.
I am still very much in the bargaining stage. -
Stoot, I had to go through this with my own life's work, once. I have the luxury of it being such a small thing in comparison that I'm able to pick it up again as a smaller hobby. But it took me five years to overcome the emotional blow.
I once told myself that my comic succeeded if I made one person's day just once. And every time I witnessed that happen it was true, for that one moment.
What has really helped me has been to see other people pick up the torch and run with it. Not taking my work and building on it, but taking my example and making their own thing entirely. Witnessing that has helped me to pick up the pen again. Which I can do now that my arm has healed and I've had the experience to see what works and what doesn't. I expect I can write and draw comics until I'm in the grave, and that's all I ask of this world. Well, that, and other people's comics!
I'm looking forward to watching the ripples created by Glitch. Never before have I been so connected to a group of people I don't really know, who all have so much creative power at their fingertips. I'd love to see another game like Glitch, or to see Glitch itself resurrected. What I'd love even more is to see the great things that we all did in this game come to life in reality. The silliness, the kindness, the lightheartedness, the helpfulness, the understanding, the community. We weren't perfect, and we had our terrible, terrible moments. We're human. But there were some of the best lessons here, and I think we've all seen a glimpse of something in human nature that can be greater than the rest of the world seems to demonstrate.
Some of the friends I've met here have it really rough right now. Glitch was the only light in their day. With no work, failing family lives, natural disasters, depression, anxiety, the whole works.
Let's stay in touch. Maybe we can give each other a leg up occasionally.
It's my hope that if we make the real world a little bit more like Glitch, which is a tall, tall order, I know, then perhaps it will help someone get back to the drawing board.
Thank you. So much. - There's many factors here, Financial and Sustainability, being the key factors. And i respect all of Tiny Speck staff for what they have collaboratively put together, it really was a unique and brilliant collaborative game. Unfortunately unique can work against you, the same old cookie-cutter crap that is out there in the game world survives, and yet there are those of us that look, and have always looked for these rare and unique games, because we want to break the mold those cookies come from so badly, that mold NEEDS to be broken. However if its not a cookie-cutter game, incoming players are often at a loss as to what to do, get confused or angry, and don't give those games a chance. As for the communities side of it, this wasn't only a game to us, it really was a true community of loyal and friendly, helpful people, which is a diamond in the sea of pebbles in the world of gaming, it just doesn't happen. We are as much in mourning of a unique community, as we are for a brilliant game, and right now its like we were just told a loved one is sick and dying, but we were never told, what the sickness was, or what we could do, and we would do just about anything...to make that sickness heal. So to everyone....Lobe to you all! we will be Glitchen for Life!
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Thanks for sharing that, Stoot.
For many of us who were around 10 years ago when the purple paper dried up, we felt joy when we started playing Glitch. Not just because the game was so joyful, but because we were all aware that, for you, it symbolized the realization of a long-held dream.
For many of us who were around 10 years ago when the purple paper dried up, we are sad that the game is closing. Not just because we loved it so much and will miss it, but because we are aware that it is also a symbolic ending for that dream of yours. We are sad for Glitch, but we are also sad for you and for Eric, and all those who also created the paper 10 years ago.
I'm sure there were lessons learned and now what-ifs and Monday-morning quarterbacking, but at the end of the day, you made something great, and it was great while it lasted. People can rant at the corporate aspects of the closing, but hopefully they will start to see the very real human team behind the game who are also, in their own way, ranting at the corporate realities that needed to be faced. - I agree wholeheartedly, Eureka.
- We all got something out of this stoot..so for that alone it wasnt a failure ..If we take away with us the good memories and the fun we had and the friends we made and the experience of being part of this project..we take away a lot. I for one am very honoured to have been part of Glitch in all its glory..from the red closed sign till the 9th of december when the doors close for good..I have my memories..good ones all good..I do not have nor ever had one bad experience here...game play ..players..and staff alike..it has all been good. and for that I thank you.. :) x
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t"his project and the core idea has been a dream of mine for over a decade. I was sure it could work, and I put everything I could into it. "
This is exactly why I was drawn to the game. It was built on a dream and not one to make money - I respect people who follow their dreams.
I really wish I could take some of this hurt away from you Stoot, I really do. I can't however - but I respect you more even now. I'm a fan...not the stalker kind, the genuine kind. :-)
To TS employees - much love and respect and thanks for a really unique, and wonderful game. I wish you all nothing but the very best! - Stoot, thanks for sharing more of your thoughts and motivation for pulling the plug. Now that I'm over the shock, I'm just grateful that I was lucky enough to find Glitch and get to play for a year. I had fun, great fun, since this turned out to be the best MMO community I've ever been lucky enough to join.
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If we could keep a game alive on the sheer promise it offered us and the hours upon hours of joy we have shared alone and as a group, Glitch would go on in perpetuity under the steam of our quirky collective consciousness.
As it stands, it has changed my life for the better. I realize how many people out there share my heretofore unique sense of humor and my intense love of whimsy.
And, stoot, I have hopes that you have something great in store for us, something that not just stays ahead of the technological curve but that sets the bar on it. Just give the word and Glitchen will come running to try it out. -
"building tools to archive and export"
I think this is an important detail, maybe some might have missed it but it stuck out clearly to me.
maybe Ur needs to be on the back burner for a bit. and I think people from all over the place would want to come in, some day. but Glitch has to be ready for them and I suppose Flash could not handle it.
I would like it if the forums could possibly be kept running for a bit longer than just another 6 weeks, so that any stragglers that don't know Glitch is closing can find the large group (900, plus me) are on Facebook. plus there are other groups of Glitchen around here and there, too.
but thats not up to me, of course.
maybe some smart programmers will have some ideas, later, that will allow Ur to exist again.
it will happen when (and IF) it happens.
I think the important aspect of all this for us regular (or not so regular folks) is that we all take a piece of Ur with us, and never forget being here. Glitch is pretty cool, its the 'anti-game'.
and there isnt anything like it online, period.
but for now I think Stoot just needs time to rest, spending all your waking minutes working has to drain you of energy quickly, and its been a long time. -
Thanks splendora for sharing your ideas.
Thanks stoot for sharing your feelings.
It means a lot.
And for what it's worth, I also think that a project which achieved so much, can't be a failure. This is not just the usual kind words to console somebody. I truly believe that something that touched so many people is worth something in itself. And I can definitly tell you, one of the reasons why I joined the game in the first place and stayed there for so many months and happily paid my subscriptions was because of the quirky spirit with those very fine underlaying tones. You can't buy that for money, you can't copy that and you can't fake that. So thanks stoot and thanks to the TS staff for this experience. -
Splendora and Stoot -
Having been involved in a failing business myself (being the SPOKESPERSON for a failing business no less), you guys are so right. It's heartbreaking and complicated and the transparency that so many people demand as investors, interested parties, or even just lookers-on is impossible to satisfy both for business and sometimes legal reasons.
Stoot, I'm heartbroken for you and the team. You have it so far worse than any of us players. You all have my sincerest sympathies and gratitude. You made something beautiful and funny and fun. We may not have played for a "long, long time," but we did play. And it was glorious. -
Thanks for sharing Stoot, sincerely.
... and please "archive and export", I will be there when the Time of the Gathering comes. -
Do you know what I have learnt from playing Glitch? I have learnt that there are others out there like me, that would rather play a game where you casually high-five people that you meet rather than blow their brains out. I thought I was alone in a society where human nature seems to be growing more immoral and selfish and cruel every day that passes.
Respect, kindness, the old 'help thy neighbour' are traits that don't seem to exist in real life anymore (for example, when I hold open a door for a parent pushing a buggy so they can go through first or when I let an elderly person have my seat on the bus I get this look of surprise and distrust from them when all I'm doing is being nice- or being......well.... "me").
Glitch gave me hope, it had/ has such a wonderful community of players, that would rather help than hinder, would rather be kind than cruel and who seemed to share my quirky sense of humour and my (possibly) old-fashioned ettiquette.
So knowing there are others out there in the real world gives me hope that we are not all....for lack of a better word...."damned".
Glitch has made me hate mankind as a whole a little less and for that I'm grateful.
And to Stuart (Stoot):- I've had the priviledge of playing inside your mind and dreams for a while now and all I can say is that you are one crazy bastard! And thank-you so much.
Maybe one day we'll all stumble upon your mind again, and find you tending your small but growing alpaca herd, for Glitch is a dream of pure genius- please hold on to it and don't let it go.
Man.......I'm gonna miss this preposterous game. -
I think what I liked about glitch was that I didn't have to play it obsessively to have fun. Which probably spelled its doom from day one. I wanted to play a game and find a community where you didn't have to consider yourself a "gamer" to fit in. (Why would anyone want to be a "gamer." I like games but I don't play them just to be playing something. I'm a busy person.)
But. It is, I think, the best written game I've ever played. Clever, witty, consistently funny and full of detail and love. And I am certain the people involved can and will go on to do other wonderful things that I look forward to stumbling upon. - *bump
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Sorry Stoot for being judgy. I get it overall. Splendora is right. I guess it just sucks no matter what. You just make a good scapegoat for frustration, you dont deserve displaced anger and confusion.
I already know you would have saved it if you could.
Good luck, and all that jazz. -
To Stoot:
I just want to say that I loved this game. There are few things that I have experienced that will always have a shining place in my memory, because they ended too soon and gave so much joy.
An apartment I once had above a sandwich shop. Firefly. And now Glitch. A game that I loved to play, despair of losing, and am furiously happy that I discovered in time to play as long as I did.
Just know that you do not operate in a vacuum. Everything you do affects other people, and this game impacted so many. I feel that while Glitch may never live again, the inspiration gained from the experience may inspire others to try to recapture the experience in another time in another place on another platform or in a different way entirely. The game may not live forever, but the memories of the game will endure and for that I thank you. -
I said in global chat that, while i was very sad about the end of this sweet, wonderful game, i was not shedding any tears. Well, after reading Stoot's last comments about having to close Glitch, i shed a few tears. I don't know Stoot or TS staff or the players I spent the last year watching, talking to, interacting with but there were some really good times. I will not forget those times, as much as so many hours were "wasted" in the internet while i should have been doing sooooo many other things. I cannot imagine, had I to do it again, that I would have stayed away from the game. For that, I'm eternally grateful to all the participants. I even thank those I disagreed with or blocked or did not ....like so much. Experiencing this game and the community in it made it such a wonderful place even if it wasn't perfect and happy and I only made millions of currants that could just NOT be translated into dollars.
I will celebrate with you, whoever remains in the game, until the end, as much as i can. Just don't expect me to go to all those party invites, mmk ?
Thank you, ever so much, Stoot and TS staff for all your hard work and the fun times you brought. I have great hope that there are chances for you to come back, if not with Glitch, at least with another project. Please let us know about those. I respect your decisions in terms of ending the game, even in the sadness of its approach. You don't need to tell people all that you do and why you do it, or defend it, but it's decent and kind of you to do so. To me, you are an example that others should follow in the way you have run this game. Thank you for being that.
Well, i better run off before I can't stop the babble. Good luck to you and let's party while we are here. Let's do celebrate what the Glitch world has given us. :) -
Stoot, thank you for your honesty. Your email excerpt helped heal some of my pain about all this and I know I'm not the only one. I am sorry to learn that you're grieving more than anyone.
I don't know what you're "archiving and exporting" but if any of this can ever be resurrected then you know we'll be there.
And, hey, thanks for sharing your dream with the entire internet. That's gotta be terrifying. I hope that you can be cheered by the knowledge that this crazy thing you thought up was truly, genuinely loved. It made me happy every day, and not a lot of things do that. I will remember it fondly. Thank you. - If this were some remote mountain pass, and TS staff put themselves on the menu to keep the Glitchnner Party alive, someone would be bitching that their bit of flesh was too damn stringy. I say, stoot et al., this bit is rather tough, could you lop off something nearer to the fatty bits? And pass the ketchup too, thanks.
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I wanted to add my thanks to the ever growing heap of support. There was a reason this was the first MMO I ever was interested in: people helped each other rather than "every man for himself" and the BS that came along with it.
Can't a girl just pet her piggies, mine some sparkly and help keep some Rooks from destroying things? Hi five! -
Stoot, you made a crazy beautiful thing with a beautiful, crazy team and my great respect for you only increases as I see the way you're going about the sad, awful business of publicly ending a beloved dream with style, dignity and huge amounts of integrity and compassion. I am sad along with everyone-- and saddest of all for you and the rest of TS-- but I'm deeply grateful to have been part of Glitch.
Thank you, Stoot and Tiny Speck... and thank you, fellow players. Thank you for absolutely everything. Your hearts are in the right place, and there is more love in the world because of it. -
I too applaud Splendora for saying so well what many of us were thinking.
And Stoot... well, I just got up and came to the forums ready to read more criticism, wondering if I was the only one getting annoyed at the callousness of so many players. Not taking into account the personal side of the situation at all. People without jobs in a bad time for it. Yourself facing the loss of credibility in a failure that was also a personal dream. I closed my bookshop this year - that was my little dream and I still haven't got over it.
But what irritates me most is the desire to intrude into these events, way beyond what's could possibly be considered correct. Playing a game doesn't give you the right to know the personal details of the lives of all involved!
Your mail is even more appreciated, precisely because of that. Thank you. For sharing your dream, for giving us the best game around and for treating the closure like a real gentleman. -
Stoot - I just wanted to say that your dreams didn't fail, technology failed. This just wasn't the right time for them. It doesn't make the heartache or frustration any less. Your dreams are still your dreams no matter what platform on which they run. Even if Glitch closed before its time, you showed the world that games can be something new and different. People don't have to fight or race or constantly compete or pester their friends to join. They can imagine and dream and create and explore and just marvel at the beautiful world you have created. That is truly amazing.
I hope Glitch will be back some day in some form. You've shared your dream with us and we want it to live on too. Not just because it's a fun way to past the time but also because of the friends we've made, the community, and the world itself. It just won't be the same anywhere else.
And dammit, anyone who creates a Hell Bar with THE quote from Satre's No Exit deserves a second chance. ;) -
I totally agree with this statement & just wanted to say "Thank you Stoot & all the Tiny Speck's that worked hard & gave us this "Wonderful World of Imagination", I'm sooo very glad I got to be a part of it... hugs to y'all..
(I hope Glitch will be back some day in some form. You've shared your dream with us and we want it to live on too. Not just because it's a fun way to past the time but also because of the friends we've made, the community, and the world itself. It just won't be the same anywhere else.) -
And if you will forgive to ramble on a bit after I've had my morning caffeine - the world is also just not ready for this type of art. Glitch appeals to people who don't want to compete or race or gain levels just for the sake of gaining levels. It allows people to create the game they want to play. If you want to just wander around and talk to people, you can do that. If you want to build and cook and create, you can do that too. If you want to collect and hoard and buy and sell, you can also do that. If you want to do all those things, you can do that too. It is truly the player's game.
Instead, the game market wants rules and goals and achievements. There are not enough people who want just to experience and create and BE, they want to DO. As the hippy saying goes, we are human BEINGS not human DOINGS. Maybe one day, there will be enough human BEINGS to support Glitch again. I look forward to that day when I can dust off my octopus hat again and hang out with my fellow human beings in Glitch. -
I don't think I'll ever play another MMO. Cooperation and community instead of killing; beauty and silliness rather than stress and struggle—where am I going to find that again?
Please don't give up on the dream, Stoot, despite the pain and disappointment and frustration of this loss. Someday, the right combination of money, technology, and talent will converge and persist.
My hat is off to you and TS for the exemplary way you have run your business. I hope you will not conclude that the fantastic way you have treated your customers is NOT one of the reasons the enterprise was not viable.