Topic
Gamasutra article with Stoot interview
I wanted to share this interview with Stoot on Gamasutra. It made me feel better about the how/why of the shutdown.
www.gamasutra.com/view/news...
Stoot says at the end he might try a game again in the distant future. I had tons of fun with Glitch and if there ever is another game, I sure hope I get to play it.
Replies
- I read this earlier today. It's recommended reading, IMO.
- Thanks for pointing it out Lucille Ball.
- This makes me hopeful that when (if) eventually Tiny Speck puts together another game, it will be just as good as all the best things in Glitch, plus so much more. Can't wait :)
- Hopefully it will be a Glitch like, because this game has been and is amazing.
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Thank You stoot for some candid answers in this article. Also. Thanks for giving it a go.
I have been able to see things more from Tiny Specks view,and honestly making a game has to be so exhausting.
Also thanks to the op for sharing this link. It was nice to read something with real answers to so many questions I had.
I hope they do try again. Under different circumstances and develop something amazing in the same spirit as Glitch. Because we could use a bit more fun weird in our lives. - @ TS - Please, please, please keep all our email addresses and let us know what you're up to, from time to time. Even if it's just to say "Hi!". We'll not have forgotten you. You're family :)
- Thanks Lucille, good read.
- All well and good, I can see some of the reasons why it hadn't work, and I don't think is TS fault for those. They did a remarkable job and shit happened. But I haven't seen anywhere in this interview TS, i.e. Stewart, addressing their lack of ADVERTISING, "murchandising" as a friend of mine would put it. If there would have been some more marketing maybe more people would have heard about the game and thus more would have tried. Maybe some portion would have stuck with it then, who knows? The point is we cannot know. None of my friends have ever heard about Glitch until I mentioned it. None. All gamers to a more or less extent. Even my non-gaming friends and acquaintances have heard of Farmville or World of Warcraft. My father, for crying out-loud, knows about Civilization and Fallout and Mafia Wars, albeit it is less clear to him what do you do in them. So, yeah, I'm kindda pissed that marketing, or lack thereof, hasn't been addressed.
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Thanks for posting this link to the article. I agree with a lot of people that there should have been more marketing, not only to prospective players, but those of us who had been active at one point, then stepped away. I did some early beta testing for this game before its first launch. I didn't quite get the purpose of the game, but really liked the concept - the art, the non-combative approach, the exploring, the various quests. I played for a while when it did launch, and even after it went back into beta. Then got bored with the repetitive and what seemed pointless upgrade to a house or tower. I stepped away at the end of July. I came back after I saw the TS on Twitter that the game was closing. Wow. What a difference 3 months make! I've spent the last week, trying to get as many snapshots as I can of the new worlds and quests. There really should have been more regular emails to Glitchens about recent additions and developments.
It's been interesting to see of many of the art works have been selling on Etsy. I bought the Tree of Ur and will fondly look at it in memory of this game (as well as feel better that I actually bought something that will help TS). I hope Stewart comes back with a new game before long. I think Glitch was just before its time. -
The more interviews and Q&A's I read, the more I understand about the decision. Those of us still playing the game on November 14th were those that "got it". When you read the comments on any broader audience site, there are often comments from players who tried the game and DIDN'T get it.
This is a sample size of one (me), but...
1) Invite-only made sense because if it weren't for the fact that one of my very good friends recommended the game to me so very enthusiastically, and chatted with me as I worked through the first few days, I might have also set the game aside. I stuck in the game long enough for the quirkiness and randomness to get its hold on me, even through the
2) Flash made sense because if I had had to install a game client back when I started playing, I'd probably have postponed starting playing. But the ability to just load a page and start playing was important, and I'm probably not alone in that. -
good news/bad news.
good news: according to the interview, the things i suspected about the closing are correct.
bad news: the best game ever is still closing.
here is what i hope: i hope TS was taking really, really good notes and we'll call this an experiment. i hope this experiment will give them tools they need to bring out the next best game ever.
it's a good dream stoot. i deserved to live. - It made me kind of sad for the most part, to see what they thought of as a failure when I thought it was wonderful. It makes me feel like it sucks that so many things that I love the most end up being unpopular or have to be changed till they're unrecognizable in order for them to be popular. I am sorry that they had to close. I loved this game and I think that if it could have just had more marketing that could have really helped. I know that maybe the people who loved WOW or something like that wouldn't have gotten it, but I beleive that there would have been people out there who would have. I know there's no point in trying to figure out what could have been now, but I really really really hope they try it all again and do something wonderful like this. It wasn't all that long ago that I discovered this, so it really shouldn't be leaving such a hole in my life...but it does feel like it will. The closer the deadline gets the harder it hits... I do hope they find success in everything else they try too, but as selfish as it is, I really do hope that we can one day have a wonderful game like this again....
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This article annoyed me a bit, particularly here:
"For most of its life, Glitch was 'a pretty hard row to hoe to get to the point where you loved it,' he says, and the team couldn't figure out how to get players to that point."
Even during alpha testing, this game had a large, smart, creative group of testers willing to help in any way we could. We posted constructive criticism, new ideas, and sweeping analyses of every aspect of play, and while a few of our ideas were incorporated into the game, we remained a largely untapped resource. -
Yes, BUT...
...what is the street with the giant psychedelic crazy face (not the purple dream) you see in the "things to do in Glitch" video? - It's one of the streets in the Gwen Quest in Jeth Tower. I believe it's the Outer Mind or something maybe?
- I thought it was just what you saw when you drank purple.
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It's too bad you have to be employed in the industry in order to comment. I wish I had been Lex's Greeter. There is so much to this game but most of it needs to be discovered which is something I have really enjoyed. I think though that many people need immediate gratification and hand holding. They are impatient and possibly unimaginative. If they don't have immediate thrills, they just leave. Many new players I have greeted seem to have run through the Tutorial (older, old and new) without paying attention. It's a shame they didn't slow down and explore more. It could be that this game requires more thought and less action at least at first. Many people come here from very different games and really don't have a clue what to do.
I have often been way too talky in my Greets. It's been hard to know just when to stop. I have wanted new players to enjoy Glitch as much as I do but it is not a game for everyone. Sometimes I wonder what brought them here as they seem reluctant to stay long enough to discover anything beyond what Lex did - pet, squeeze, harvest. Apart from all the things there are to do that are built into the game there is also "Imagination". I don't mean Stoot's "Imagination" or Bees' "Imagination", etc. I mean the Players' own "Imaginations". Maybe that was a failure here. Perhaps more emphasis should have been put on self development and creativity. I'm not sure how to promote that but so many players here are very creative. There has been some outstanding art and activities that have all been Player designed using the items and activities that are built into the Game.
I remember all the amazing art in Plexus. There was quite a lot of activity there after it opened. That fell off quite a bit as other things were added to the game. There are some very creative things in Towers including player created games that span the entire height of some Towers. I have attended plays, weddings, special street events, Quarter parties, Ur Tours, Glitch Trains, etc. I enjoyed a large GoC street party with Cubi races. I have seen Cubis sculpted into amazing displays and enjoyed a Groddle wide decorating spree just before Reset the likes of which has not been seen even now though maybe on the 8th or 9th it will happen again. I have read scores of original literature on posts, notice boards and just scattered in the streets. There is just so much to do that you should never get bored. If you do, just take a deep breath, shut your eyes and Imagine.
There are several reasons for the failure and I am sorry it has come to this. That is selfish on my part because this game fills an empty void for me and I want nothing more than to continue to live here. On the 10th of December I will be here in my own Imagination. That may be hard at first but I can dream and I will continue to Imagine Glitch for the rest of my life. - Also, Tiny Speck is not shutting down. The core team will remain.
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I agree so much with you, Brib Annie.
I think the problem with the people who complain that they weren't told what to do is that they were asking the wrong question: they asked "But what do I do?" when they should have asked "What do I want to do?"
I built a tower (that big one in Jethimadh). I built a tower (on my home street). I built a religion (Lemming and Humbaban clergy represent!). I bult the game and I built friendships and I built my imagination. And it made me happy. And it made other people happy. And I wish we lived in a world, like Ur, where that was enough.
I love you all (even Kukubee). Imagine well.
P.S. As someone who has been playing WoW for just under a year now (OMGiants!) after being talked into it by my very best Glitch friend and partner in crime--there's eleven million of us, don't count us all out. - Good article, I hadn't seen it yet. I had tried to persuade some of my friends to sign up, but mostly the mention of a flash-based MMO sparked in them a series of reservations and preconceptions about how much time and/or money that would eat up. Glitch always seemed to be a game that needed to grow on you though, as it was always difficult to explain where all the fun came from.
- It did grow on you....but also there are many ppl out there that look for the non traditional because either the traditional doesnt appeal to them...or they are sick of it. However ppl didnt know the game was here....or if they did they never knew we went to Open Beta and were still waiting for an invite. Stability issues were the crux of Glitch Closing....and since i cant fathom how one could go through a budget so large in not all that many years, i have to presume they pulled the plug while they still had enough to re-develop the game later on, if they so wished...AND give the staff severance pay. As for the learned a lot of things statement from Stoot, hopefully it means he has learned and isnt ready to quit the idea quite yet.....itll be years down the road but i get the impression he hasnt completely thrown the towel in on making a game.....only time will tell.
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I'm going to take the unpopular stance here, and say that there were a lot of things in TS's control that might have been able to stop the closing of the game. Look at the comments in the article - there are signs that Glitch had incredibly poor marketing and initial presentation, which is what turned people off or not even know about the game in the first place. And no, a couple of facebook ads and a confusing trailer are not a substitute for proper advertising. Maybe those people were just morons who couldn't get it. But then it looks like this game would've had a very small playerbase anyways at its current state.
I wish TS good luck on their next game (or chat interface thingy?), and I hoped they learned some things from their time here with us at Glitch. - Stoot is hot.
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I agree with you, Reirei.
You cannot complain that people don't buy your stuff if people don't know about you or you don't tell people you have stuff to sale. And not in a "I got stuff; take it or leave it" sort of way, but "look at my pretty wonderful extraordinaire super-cheap must-have stuff I got for sale" way. -
What I don't understand is when he says that it took until the final four months to make the game fun. So having achieved this state of "fun" he decides that is the perfect time to end it!!
I know I'm not going to be popular when I say this, (I'm not even happy with myself for saying it), but I feel that this article is portraying Stuart quite badly. It makes it seem like just as he had managed to develop the game to a stage where it would be enjoyable he quits. And to me that doesn't make sense. It makes me feel that Stuart gave up on Glitch too easily and prematurely without giving the Open beta stage a chance for people to join up. I love this game, and I love Stuart for creating a game that was and still is desperately needed in the gaming world. But a little part of me still feels.......abandoned. -
Yeah what I don't understand is why the games stayed in beta so long. Look at Plannetside 2, that game doesn't even have a tutorial and it launched. I just feel like we stayed in beta for way to long. Even if the game wasn't truely ready for release yet it should have at least gone to open beta (which it kinda did but no one seemed to pick up on it, not even massively which was your best marketing source).
I think the big problem was people couldn't figure out what Glitch "was about". Of course part of the problem there is Glitch doesn't really have any goals but the ones you make. Which is quite a big problem and the downfall of most mmos.
Glitch has no endgame that you are suposed to be working to. In most other mmos through out all of the early and mid game you trying to gain acess to the endgame. Endgame is where all the raids and the best loot are but in Glitch when you hit the endgame it means you have to make up stuff for yourself to do. Once you hit level 60, made your house look good, and do most/ all of the achivments there was nothing really left to do. Also all the goals I just listed you have no reason to do expect for intrinsic motivation.
OK so Concluding off this rant thing: Glitches main problem was lack of goals, you couldn't keep newbies intrested with the carrot just out of their reach because the game didn't have any carrots in the first place. - Ditto köô┘αròô
- In Glitch, you get to grow your own carrots.
- Or create Giant carrots in Plexus using lots and lots of little carrots lol
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You all know I've been really frustrated with the "second guess Stoot" style threads and it makes me very sad that some of the posts are headed that direction.
I don't think folks who are upset about lack of advertising are thinking about the numbers. I just read a major game developer's blog that says only about 2% of players pay in a F2P game. If Stoot was seeing similar conversion rates, a little napkin math reveals the problem. 500K/month operating costs has been tossed around and with 40-odd employees plus server costs it seems reasonable. Stoot needed 34K molybdenum subscribers to break even. At 2% conversion, he needed 1.7 million players to try Glitch and think it was interesting enough to keep playing. Given how many people thought the game was weird or pointless, he might have needed to reach as many as 17 million people.
There is no possible way the Flash platform could have supported that large a playerbase so there wasn't much point in burning a bunch more money on advertising. In the life of the game there have only been about 120K accounts created (judging by the streets visited leaderboards) and the lag was intense when we gathered anywhere. I don't know about you guys, but any feat where we gathered in Cebarkul pretty much killed my computer. At least I wasn't disconnecting like a year ago, but I think Stoot had the Flash platform as good as it was going to get. Other MMOs deal with this by setting up multiple servers, but then you lose the community aspect of Glitch.
Glitch might have survived on Flash as subscription-only but that business model is dying. LotRO and SWTOR went freemium, Earth Eternal died shortly out of beta, WoW is bleeding subscribers, and Rift is in serious trouble. Darkfall survives on a small but dedicated PvP playerbase but I don't think they release a lot of new content. Wizard101 is the dark horse that's actually growing on a subscription model. Subscribers to MMOs tend to play the new content, unsubscribe, and come back when there is more interesting stuff. We already had players like glum pudding who felt like Glitch lacked "end game" content, and many other players running around at lvl 60 with millions of iMG and nothing to do with it. How many would have stayed subscribed?
So I think Stoot did what he had to. It's ridiculously hard to launch a combat-oriented MMO right now, and a brilliant non-combat MMO was an even harder sell. -
The comments on this article (not here, on the gamasutra site) are driving me nuts! I know haters gonna hate, but way to totally disrespect something they've never even heard of until today let alone experienced...Grrrr.
Particularly: "The game looks pretty awful. Maybe you should've marketed it towards kids."
There's a special place in Naraka for that guy.
</rant>
That is all. - Thanks for sharing.
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The back end of the game is linux/java, not flash, and Ur is so large precisely so that tons of people can play at once without having to load all of each others' avatar graphics. It's simple to instance Cebarkul or to add more tool vendors; the lag you experience when you load new graphics will happen regardless of how many other people are playing the game at the same time.
As of this minute, 184,102 accounts have been created. Approximately 60,000 of them are new as of the last few months; for most of the year there were about 14,000 active accounts. Right now there are 117,798 dormant accounts. A handful of people came back recently to say goodbye to the game, but there were roughly 110,000 dormant accounts for much of the year (I'm giving round numbers because the actual numbers changed from day to day, as more accounts went dormant and new accounts were created here and there). Some are players' alternates, some are staff, and some are testing accounts.
I don't think there's a problem with "second guessing stoot" at this point; we can all see the results of TS' experiment (and by the way, stoot is just one of four founders of the company, and one of about forty-two employees; while he is the guy who does interviews, he is not the only person making decisions!). We have every right to analyze it, as we have analyzed every other aspect of this game for the last few years. Some of us have been attempting to provide constructive criticism precisely because we like the game and we wanted it to stick around for a long time. No one's taking personal digs at employees. Players are just trying to figure out what went wrong. There are many good lessons to be learned here, both from a gaming perspective and from a general business management one. I have a pretty thick skin, especially when it comes to Internet nonsense, but I have always been offended by the large group of players here (and some of the staff, too!) who tell others not to criticize the game, to worship the staff, and to blindly trust that every decision TS makes is the correct one. Clearly, TS has been wrong about a ton of things, and shame on the people who've been telling us to shut up. Perhaps if more people had been vocal about what the game really needed, from a players' perspective, the game's closing could have been avoided. -
You know you said this to me a few times glum, except it was always entirely in your head, there was never any aspect of reality to your belief that Sauce never criticizes TS and attacks any who do. You called me a TS apologist and acted amazed when I criticized something. But it was funny as hell to me, because there are plenty of times I have criticized, even times I led the charge. There are threads I started in the forums for that purpose, threads I participated in, articles I posted to my blog. All with the intent of criticism.
But here's the deal: you felt that way about me because you were hypercritical about everything, including things that any reasonable person would conclude might not be important to him or herself in particular, but certainly didn't negatively impact you. Back when the minimap released, I actually started opening global just to keep track of how long it took you to stop complaining about the minimap because your constant complaining about it was absolutely fascinating to me. It took about three weeks by the way.
So there's criticism, and then there's constructive criticism. Criticism is saying repeatedly "well, I'm glad somebody sees a use for the minimap because I think it's useless" for three weeks -- someone looking to make constructive criticism would have been really unlikely to keep repeating that passive aggressive statement. Such a person would realize that if people find it useful, that's the end of the story: it's useful. So if you're referring to your criticisms, no, I think it's much more likely that not a one of them would have "saved" the game.
The only criticism I've seen that is not based on a lot of assumptions about information we do not have is that going back to beta really hurt them. I doubt anyone at Tiny Speck would argue with that. It killed their media buzz. But your insinuation that all criticisms are reasonable and if only more people had listen to your complaints, if only the game had been designed to please you, if only more people had been complaining, the game might have lived on: it's just a bunch of hot air, hindsight, and self-importance. If it helps you grieve, by all means, carry on.
But people responding to your complaints negatively does not in any way reveal a secret society of TS worshipers. That's the result of your complaints often being unreasonable, knee-jerk, and repetitive: people are going to facepalm at you. -
Well there are times to add to posts and times not... and this is probably a 'not' moment...
However I have to add my bit, 18 months of my life has been invested in this game, which I love, and it's cost me very little. The guys at TS have invested longer and it is their liveli(y)hood and I'm going to miss it all.. .my friends, my global chat, the weird and wonderful people that I've had the opportunity to meet because of this game. Okay the game is closing, the management has made a decision and it is really not our place to second guess them, it's not our money and only our leisure time invested. All I can say is THANK YOU Tiny Speck for giving us something different and special.
The article is interesting and I think good reading, but I don't think it is our place to say this or that should have been done. Retrospect is a wonderful thing and I hope something will come from TS in the future, with that sort of staff it is bound to be fantastic! -
While I think Glitch for the most part has had a lovely community, I've felt stifled and unwelcome due to the huge amount of myopia and groupthink here, and I think that is one (ONE!!!) of the factors that led to this game's downfall.
And I agree 100% with what glum has said. She might be a bit cranky at times, but she has done so much for the community and has really worked hard to try and make this game succeed. I think Glitch is a good case study in what makes a MMO work or not, and both TS and other developers should look at what's happened before trying to experiment with the genre.
I think I can boil down the main causes of Glitch's shutdown to a few points, in no particular order:
1. Flash
2. Lack of advertising
3. Lack of retention of new players/Bad presentation
4. Lack of content for higher level players
5. Bad decisions from the company (Sorry, but TS is not perfect)
Unless we take a critical look at what's happened, I only see more same old cookie cutter AAA MMOs in the future. -
I read the article, I was disappointed in the article, I am still sad to see the game go. That is the bottom line for me. I always got the impression that we were strong-armed (knowingly or not) into keeping the beta crowd (and the new player stream) small and server-manageable. If we had been spurred into finding new players that fit the demographic, I could have come up with a few dozen more (because I came up with a first couple of dozen as it stands).
And I know the universe is trending mobile and staying steady in device-play. I don't own a mobile device I want to play on (besides my laptop that may as well be attached to me by umbilical cord) and I don't have the wall-sized TV with seven gaming stations plugged in. I had thought, naturally, that MMOs were the future. Was I wrong? I do not think I was wrong. I will stand firmly in the camp of "World Not Ready Yet" and say goodbye with whatever gaming dignity I have left. -
A quick none-critical correction @ Glum Pudding. Regarding Stuart being
"just one of four founders of the company, and one of about forty-two employees; while he is the guy who does interviews, he is not the only person making decisions!"
I want to quickly respond by saying that I aim my opinion at Stuart not because he is the spokesperson of the team, no, I direct it towards him because he stated in the shutdown thread that it was his decision (and his alone) to shut down the game. - I love stoot. I hope we marry someday.
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Yes it did hurt them to go back into Beta....BUT......the housing change did need to be done, and ti took a lot of time to implement. Having customization options and moveable furniture....in theory should of helped bring money in. Without it though the struggle for the house you want and the lack of unoccupied houses, and lack of storage,.....the old system just wasnt working. However, I think it MORE hurt the game that we couldnt even invite ppl in for about 6 months....AT ALL. And in turn the game completely fell off the radar. Inviting to the game by invitations should of never been turned off. Also the backlog for invites should of been invited...periodically......and that was very slow too. But the change to img and the houseing changes.....did GREATLY improve the game, it was a huge improvement. There were so many idea suggestions for the game in the Forum that i often wonder if it was indecisiveness....not knowing what direction they wanted to go in.....rather than no direction at all. We wanted more story, we wanted more ways to spend img, we wanted more tools that werent offsite, we wanted more quests and content, we wanted more variety of games and more things to do in parties....so much wasnt done. Was the game quirky, fun, beautiful and a great community....of course. Was it unique and stood out.....yes.....did it have huge potential yes. But it was very slow to get new content....new areas in Ur....those we got.....but....animals?...only 1 vote.....why? We did get some new potions.....but in how long? Some sauces still didnt have uses....spices too.....New games, toys parties and other fun items, should of been added periodically to keep things varied and fresh. And no reason certain supplies at vendors couldn't be rotated as what was carried in a particular Ur month, to create need, ecspecially since we could make most things ourselves. All that aside.....this game had HUGE potential.....had everyone bought at least the cheapest sub...if the game was less worried about money i wonder if more goals could of been reached. Were not going to know....On this side of things we just wanted to help and we weren't given a real indication that things were bad at all....and its frustrating......had we of known we would of tried...we REALLY would have. This game was worth being saved...even with the flaws it had....it really was unique, and it was still quite young.....there was time to work on things....and thats why so many of us were quite upset. But instead we werent given any kind of notice...and when were were told....the staff had already been let go. And THAT to me was the most hurtful part....not only were we given no indication.....when we were told it was already too late....nomatter what anyone could of done......it was not even a remote possibility anymore. It was insulting. I know its a business....but it was OUR home....and many of us had been here a long time, months to years.....i just feel that at the very least ASK and TELL us...we would of tried....at least in trying if we failed....we would of given it our best..... it wouldnt of hurt as bad as it did/does.....and we wouldnt of felt deceived.
(edit)sorry about the length! - Awww Lyrical you've just said beautifully what everyone has been feeling. Totally agree and part of me still clings to the hope that all our responses to the closure will make a difference, stupid really.
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hmmm, I don't feel betrayed at all, so they're not speaking for me.
Also, I don't think being"given an indication that things were bad" is a good message to put out to the market. It's basically saying "hey we're failing in our strategic/commercial/technical goals, please help us".
The article suggests to me that no matter how fervently we love the game, the game itself wasn't good enough at drawing people in, not good enough at explaining why someone should play.
We rabidly refused to invite people when they tried to get this to work in a feat. It wasn't a "glitchy" thing to do, apparently. I'm not saying that the feat in any way caused the game to close, rather it was indicative of the problems it had with growth. -
Perhaps classifying Glitch as a "game" was a big part of the problem. I, for one, never saw it as a game, but as a virtual world. I realize that the moniker "virtual world" brings with it a separate set of baggage, but I think it more aptly describes what Glitch is/was and would set a "players" expectations appropriately.
For a time, with the new housing, furniture and other crafts I was sure we were moving in the right direction.
A virtual world doesn't have to have a point, it doesn't have to have set goals (other than your own), and it doesn't have to have an "end game". It just is. Based on some of the things TS was doing I thought they got this.
After reading what Stoot said in the interview re:quoin jumping I'm not so sure. The fact that TS (or Stoot) saw quoin jumping as an emergent (most fun) part of the gaming experience tells me they didn't quite get it.
I don't want to pile on the criticism train, I just hope whoever out there picks up the torch that Glitch has dropped will keep this in mind. -
I dunno about all this. I have cried many real tears over Glitch closing, but I don't hold any blame for TS, and not because I am addicted to blowing smoke up their skirts. Although that is one of my favorite kinds of smoke blowing, I can't lie about that.
What I do remember is that at the beginning (alpha beginning) I had an understanding that Glitch was going to grow slowly and the team was going to take its time making it right, but when the game launched and I saw stoot doing interviews with major media outlets (was it CNN? Larry King? Conan? Is Larry King still on?), I got a sense that no, indeed, Glitch was supposed to open big and stay big. Either that or the idea was that no matter what "the dude(s) who did Flickr" created next, it deserved a wide audience, even if it was actually just an intensely personal collaborative dream coming true after a long delay.
Not to mention that it directly appealed to the whole heretofore invisible ginormous market segment of adults seeking an offbeat, non-violent MMO that required quite a bit of reading as well as "just clicking". I always saw Glitch as a niche thing that needed to start small and gradually grow by word of mouth, but that is probably really a hard thing to cultivate and protect when it's being grown at the cave mouth of a belching beast of investment funding. That is the only thing I regret, is that it didn't really get to grow the way I understood it was supposed to grow.
I do agree with Goddess Freya--Glitch seems more like a virtual world with tons of extra fun stuff. Or it's a boutique mmo...Trust me when those go viral in 2014, we will all be slapping our foreheads....THAT is what Glitch was...it was A BOUTIQUE MMO.
Well, whatever it was and whyever it isn't anymore, I am going to miss it. And please put me on the permanent beta invite list for the Tiny Speck dinosaur poop shoot. Whatever is next, lemme at it. -
There are ways to urge people to subscribe without coming across as desperate. See for example, the login page for KingdomOfLoathing. They don't have a cash shop; they have a "donation" system in which you get cool items as thanks for donating.
Glitch shutting down was a big shock to their players. Other than the one feat, there did not seem to be a big push to try to get new members. (Did Glitch even go back to being open Beta? How many people were waiting for the re-release?) There didn't seem to be any pleas "If you like Glitch, please subscribe". There didn't seem to be any experimentation with cash shops or ways of generating income. There was a big development team adding new zones etc regularly which is not a signal that the game needs to cut expenses.
I'm not saying that Tiny Speck should have published all of their proprietary information. Nor am I saying that it ultimately made a difference. But we Glitch players do feel slapped in the face with what seems to us like a sudden decision, and we were denied the opportunity to try to help. - Thank you Yendor agreed....i know it wouldnt of been an easy thing to say needing help....but some way of an indication, or giving ppl incentive to buy things......would of been a less pushy way of asking. Still it sound like the money issues were apparent for 6months or longer...easy. And when that feat happened it seemed just like major push...for no reason....plus all the new content and areas seemed to back that up. Yes i know hindsight is 20/20 but many of us had been saying the same things for months if not years. I still think base furniture should of been allowed to be traded but not credit upgraded furniture, as a sort of light restriction to get ppl to want to buy subscriptions. But at the very least....a if you love Glitch buy a sub, and some sort of incentive to buy them...should of been in place long ago. Most Sandbox MMO's are pay models, theres a reason....they have smaller audiences to begin with, and are slow progression games. And the game was in Open Beta for about 3 months it was Sept. or Oct. but no one KNEW it. What worries me is that it seems the staff was in the dark too..as to the financial woes...which raises other questions. But bottom line.....certain things that seem basic concerning income for the game just werent done, and now we sit here wondering why. I know the inside details of everything arent our business and thats as it should be, but some kind of incentive to buy....badly needed to be put in place. I love this game, and i dont regret my time here at all, but its a shame to see it go without a fight. Thats the core of the criticism i think
- Yes it is Lyrical, at least to me it is. I fight for the things i love, and it just seems that there was no attempt to fight to keep the game going, except from the players who have used the forums to voice their sadness and their willingness to help in any way they can. We would have fought but was never given the opportunity.
- To slightly address the "lack of advertising" criticism, it's important to realize that we did run some (sizable) advertising campaigns and saw bad conversion numbers. This meant that meant it was not financially viable. If it costs too much to acquire a player when we buy x million ad impressions, then it doesn't get cheaper just because we buy 2x or 10x impressions - it's just throwing away money.
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Advertising is an iterative process. If you have problems with a campaign, you don't necessarily give up on advertising, but look to tune your target and/or your pitch. That's like saying, "we were writing in Java, but then our implementation had some bugs so we stopped using it."
There seems to be little doubt that Glitch did not make enough of an impression on the core gaming community, which should at least have been aware it existed. Now whether the core gaming community is a good audience is questionable, I admit, but I found out about this game from the launch article in mmorpg.com. -
It's depressing to me that these are the things that I Ioved the most about the game:
"The promise of the game was always just, 'Here's a bunch of mostly beautiful looking scenes and vignettes,' and you can see it and be attracted to it, and start playing, and not know how to get there,” says Butterfield.
Having to figure out stuff for yourself is fun :-) and in such a beautiful friendly place...sigh...
eta: PLEASE CAN'T WE JUST START OVER??? *tearing up again* (I guess I'm back into bargaining stage)
www.youtube.com/watch?featu...