Beta Glitchin’: From Greetings to Get-Togethers

This guest post was written by Hannah Jones, who’s interning at Tiny Speck for the summer. Thanks for the post, Hannah!

Since the early days of Alpha, Glitch players have been using in-game features in all sorts of creative ways to collaborate and contribute to the community. As the world has grown, we’ve noticed an increasing number of awesome projects and gatherings come together on our forums and our streets. With all this creativity in the air, we wanted to share the word on some of the most exciting community-initiated projects, and how they’re shaping the experiences of other players in Glitch.

The Greeter Program

Some of these community activities stem from how new players are introduced to the game. A while ago, some of our early players decided to get together and create a program to welcome newcomers to the world of Glitch. They wanted a way to help show these new players that Glitch is all about discovery, exploration and the fact that one can play however they wish.

An informal program at first, the Greeter program is now supported by Tiny Speck. New players receive the choice to summon a Greeter after they finish their tutorial. These volunteers from the community act as guides by helping the newbie through some fun introductory exercises, sharing their tips on discovery and making buddies (never underestimate the power of a good hug with an Emotional Bear, or a bestowal of some Random Kindness upon a fellow Glitch).

The Greeters also answer any questions that the new player might have and imbue them with a sense of exploration for the wider world that lies beyond. Because every new player is curious about different things, their adventures will be unique to them from the very beginning of the game.

As much as greeting gets new players started on their path of creativity, it’s the help of other players around the game which makes exploring and making buddies special. The Local Chat channel allows players to communicate with anyone else on their street and is a great way to meet people as they stroll around the world. After taking the plunge and buying their first home, players often receive a warm welcome from the entire neighbourhood eager to greet the newest resident. During a recent test, one of our Greeters encouraged a shy newbie to be friendly, so they headed off, and within only a few minutes, messaged the Greeter back saying “I just hugged someone and they gave me 80 butterfly milk! We’re now mates! Wow, easier than I thought”. :3

End of the World Parties

Community gatherings and projects are another great way to get to know other players. Some are spontaneous, like the “apocalypse” parties at the end of each test period. These shindigs normally start an hour before the test ends, and can bring hundreds of Glitches to one location just by word of mouth. At these parties, players generally share food and drink, start conga lines, chat and say bye until the next test.

Like any great party, there is always an element of spontaneous fun. At a recent party, we gave the players a “ball” to a party (in the image above), which moves when a player hits it, and everyone started “worshipping” it. Before that players created an awesome game called Bombardier and another time organized a beauty pageant to award the best-looking Glitches.

Group Projects and Art Installations

Some player-initiated gatherings and projects require coordination, and the Groups system allows for this: players can set up public, invite-only, or private groups which allow for discussions outside of the game. The community finds them particularly useful for planning such events as private parties, or even orchestrating something completely different such as art installations.

For example, Glitches recently discovered a “floaty” physics bug in one of the new seam streets, where dropped items would remain suspended in the “goo” between neurons. As soon as this was discovered, creative players used it to their advantage and started spelling words and drawing shapes with items laid out in the air. These projects sparked a wave of art installation enthusiasts who use their Group to plan and prepare next pieces of art, which crop up all around the world of Glitch.

Other interesting projects include the ‘Glitch National Bank’, which was set up using notes dropped in random locations. The notes included unique codes which could be sent to a ‘board member’ of the bank and redeemed for plenty of currants (the Glitch currency). The value of the notes depended on what time they were minted, of course.

Scavenger hunts also happen throughout the world, where players track down and return hidden notes for all kinds of rewards.

The most recent project announced in the forums is a Glitch version of ‘Secret Santa’. Participating players show their interest in the forum topic, and are each privately messaged a potential partner. The players then send back an item (or a bag full of items) via the frog delivery service, and the project coordinator resends the secret gifts to the intended Glitches. It’s this sort of community spirit we love! :)

So, why not get involved in a cool project? Or… gather some pals, brainstorm an awesome plan, announce it, and let the fun begin!

Other recent blog posts

• Glitch HQ — Revamped interface, mail, imagination, and more
• Progress Report: April Releases
• Bigger, Better, Brighter
• Progress Report
• Glitch HQ updated — and now on Android!
• Progress Report: March Testing Release
• The Big Unlaunching
• Our One Month Anniversary
• Zombies and Shakespeare: Happy Zilloween!
• Why it's taking you so long to get an invite