Topic
WWMGD? (What would my Glitchen do?)
When I am not on Glitch, I am generally a grim and grumpy sort, a social Darwinist and something of a misanthrope. Working in wildlife/exotic "pet" rehabilitation and cleaning up the abusive messes people make can do that to you, and I've been doing it for much too long. I genuinely do not like people, and mostly consider that the average person would best serve the ecosystem by being rendered into compost. I'll make individual exceptions, but for the most part, I don't have any warm feelings towards humanity. I don't make any apologies for how I feel, and frankly I'd challenge anyone not to end up with a similar outlook after spending enough years in this field.
Somehow in the course of playing Glitch and being subtly guided in the direction of having more game fun by being nice and helping others, I've occasionally caught myself bringing some of this attitude outside the game. It's preposterous, but I kind of like it. What would my Glitchen do? My Glitchen was a whole lot nicer than me, and I guess even a confirmed misanthrope could learn a few things from his example.
No idea how long this is likely to last now that the game has ended, but while it lasted, it made a difference. I don't know of any other game that could have that kind of social effect. Certainly not on me. I wouldn't have thought it was possible if anyone had suggested it to me before I started playing, and I've only just started to think about it consciously.
We've lost a lot more than just a game. Glitch mattered. Here's to hoping it returns in some capacity, and soon. Or at least something enough like it to keep making that difference in people's lives. Because I think it did, in ways I'm not sure everyone has even consciously processed yet. I know it took me awhile to figure it out.
Replies
- I'm pretty nice, but I think Glitch might have made me even a little more nice. What a nice thought to leave the game with!
- Very touching. I hope people at TS read this.
- This was great to read. I hope we can still keep being a little more Glitchy, even without the game to help.
-
(((Sildenafil Citrate)))
One of the nicest posts I've read yet!
I know grumps like you. You are very lovely grumps. :) -
"We've lost a lot more than just a game. Glitch mattered."
I couldn't agree more. Glitch was truly something special, and there's no other game that is quite like it.
I'm sick of destruction and violence. I loved having a game where imagination was king. :) - I've been experiencing and thinking much the same thing.
- I wish I could just randomly give a guy food on the street without being thought of as creepy or trying to poison someone.
-
The experience of being consistently rewarded in-game for doing the nice thing seems to have *actually affected me* in ways I wouldn't have predicted and would have laughed heartily at if it had been suggested to me from the outside.
I don't know what this means on a larger scale. Maybe nothing. But, maybe something. I hope some serious social scientists get wind of the Glitch phenomenon and write a solid retrospective.
I hope even more that Glitch comes back, in some form or other. It made a difference for me, and it's pretty clear that it has for many others as well. I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Glitch actually made the world a nicer place. -
I found the same thing happening to me. I feel like I'm a better person for it. Glitchy mindfulness!
It's interesting how, in this one little place, we were rewarded for being kind to each other -- and then found that spreading into other parts of our lives. Makes me wonder what other changes might happen if more things had a focus on being good to others instead of killing the evil zombie witches, or whatever.
The downside, however, is that when meditating, I occasionally think "People are not so strange" and then crack up and have to start over. But that's a good downside, so I'm okay with it. - What my Glitch would do that I feel I ought to is: frolic!
-
I loved reading this Sil. I know exactly what you mean. I've known Glitch was really, actually different in this way for a while, which is why it's so much harder to see it go.
Video games in general don't contribute to society. People get addicted to them and neglect their lives and they tend to reinforce negative behaviors and appeal to the simplistic lab rat in us. If we were rating a games output in of positive or negative contributions in relation to neutrality, not one single game that I have ever heard of or could dream of every hearing of rates above neutral. Glitch is the first exception. We lived in a world in which positive behavior - not repetitive or self-serving behavior - was rewarded well. Glitch could actually make people into BETTER PEOPLE.
I'm paraphrasing from something I posted in another thread when I say... I hope everyone got something awesome and profound from Glitch; I certainly did!