Stewart Butterfield
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Glitch's creator on the game's failure: 'Too foreign of a concept'
If you're looking for just one reason why Glitch is sunsetting, you're out of luck. If you're looking for many, many reasons why Glitch failed, then all you have to do is pull up a chair in front of Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield and listen to him talk. Butterfield spoke with Gamasutra about the myriad of reasons why Glitch didn't take and ultimately had to be shuttered. "Ultimately if I have to identify one thing as the problem -- I don't think there is just one -- but if I had to choose just one," Butterfield said, "I think the game was too foreign of a concept for most people." He pointed out that while there was a devoted fan base who "got it," marketing the title presented severe problems throughout most of the game's lifespan: "There haven't ever been other non-combat MMOs that are based on absurdity, humor, and whimsy. I'm not sure anyone has the specific expertise in making this thing work." Other failures that Butterfield identified was a lack of fun gameplay until recently, the decision to do the game in Flash instead of for mobile platforms, large expenditures of money, and Tiny Speck's big team drawing salaries.
MMObility: Glitch's beta grows, charging along the way
If you have been fortunate enough to be included in the Glitch beta, then you might be aware that the developer, Tiny Speck, has really been tweaking, twisting and pushing the game into shape over the last few months. Not only was housing recently redone, but fantastic new housing pieces have come along as well. You can now craft store booths, cash registers, and signage. This means that styling your personal space has become one of the most popular pastimes in the browser-based sandbox. There are new hairstyles, new skills, and ways of showing off your wonderful new profile, including "snaps" -- snapshots taken from in game to be shared, social-network-style. There's so much going on in the game, I am beginning to wonder a couple of things. First, why aren't they inviting new players in yet? Second, why are they charging for this "beta"?
MMObility: The 16 MMOs in my pocket
I have a smartphone that is pretty much filled to the brim with actual, functional, persistent MMORPGs. Some of them are three-dimensional romps through massive worlds filled with dungeons and dragons; others are representational browser-based games that work through the phone's native browser; and the rest are hardly nothing more than a few dots on the screen and impressionistic gameplay. Still, they are MMOs. I love having access to them, and over the last year I have actually grown to love simple, clever design and basic artwork over almost anything else. Forget Guild Wars 2; we'll hear enough about that to make us choke. Sure, it might be a fun game, but I'm a tech guy from the Bizarro universe. I prefer to see how little tech I need to game with. I want to push the limits even lower. Anyway, it's springtime here in Texas, so it's time to clean out all sorts of crap from my life. I organize all of my hundreds of songs, films, movies and art pieces and get my digital life in order as well. This process includes tweaking my current line-up of basic technology and downloading any updates for the games that exist on those devices. It's time to cull the weak and glorify the wonderful.
Glitch wants to give you a free house
Massively went gaga for quirky Flash-based sandbox MMO Glitch when it launched last fall, so we were dismayed when it unlaunched just a few short months later. Who unlaunches a game? Tiny Speck, that's who. The company sent the game back into beta for systems overhauls, including more robust housing, as Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield told us back in December. This week, in a question-and-answer session on the official forums, Butterfield explains just how the new housing system will work. For starters, everyone will now begin the game as a homeowner. Existing players will be transitioned from their current, static homes into new base models, which can be upgraded (horizontally, vertically, and thematically) as players invest Imagination and undertake crafting projects. Players will even decide which types of gardens and animal pens will surround their abodes. There's a whole lot more to the Q&A, including bits about economy overhauls, player-generated content, and the end of Lord of the Rings Online-style neighborhoods, so sandbox aficionados should review it or the summary in person. [Thanks to Saucelah for the tip!]
MMObility: The year in mobile
What a year, huh? We gamers have seen a lot of changes, but especially in the mobile market. New devices came and went, technologies spread out even further in the world, and MMO gaming established itself on the smallest screens possible. Of course, the mobile market is not as large as the standard MMO market, but it is definitely growing. As more devices appear, more players come to fill up the games. Our phones are not what they used to be, even five years ago. They are now truly tiny and powerful computing devices that are always connected. A player can literally live all of his digital life on one small device. If we look at the laptop and netbook market, we see even more growth and power. All of these devices need games to play on them, and MMOs fit perfectly into the mobile lifestyle. Click past the cut and I'll recap many of the best stories from Massively's mobile coverage!
Global Chat: November 27-December 3
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! We're all about communication in this week's Global Chat, and whether that's communication to and from developers or communication with NPCs, it's important to gaming fans who love to know what's happening and why. Our readers had plenty to say on the subject last week, so follow along after the jump to see some of the best of what was said!
MMObility: Tiny Speck explains Glitch's big unlaunching
If you've kept up with Tiny Speck's unusual browser-based game Glitch, then you might be familiar with The Announcement. The developers have decided to unlaunch the game in the hopes of retooling and redesigning many of its core features. I'd bet that this decision was not made lightly, not at all, but I wanted to get more of an insight into the decision. Thankfully, Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield was prepared to give us just that. Even after speaking to him, though, I am still a bit confused about the announcement. Is my confusion due to the fact that many developers would never do such a thing as going back to beta, or is it the offer for full credit and subscription refunds that boggles me? Either way, players have to find their comfort zone with the announcement and decide what they want to do. Click past the cut for my thoughts on the interview and feel free to leave your own in the comments section!
Glitch dev lashes out against Zynga's business model
Not all social games developers are in love with Zynga's business model. Some are bucking against what Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield is calling a "scorched earth policy" that will do far more harm in the long run than what helps the industry now. Butterfield is the co-founder of Tiny Speck, which recently launched the sleeper MMO hit Glitch. While both Glitch and Zynga's games are browser-based and use microtransactions to fund the titles, the similarities end there. Butterfield says that he is adverse to how Zynga creates artificial walls in its games: "The fundamental design of the game became 'Here's a stop sign in your gameplay, you can stop now and come back in a day, or you can keep on playing and it will cost you three bucks, or a buck, or ten bucks, or whatever it is.'" Butterfield called Zynga's approach "unsavoury" and said that it leads to burned-out players and a "lame future" for the genre where gamers are unwilling to return. Ultimately, he predicts that people will forget Zynga's efforts entirely: "They won't be as into it as someone who's playing WoW is in to WoW, or someone who's playing EVE is into EVE, or even someone who's playing Civilization IV is into Civilization IV. It's a much lighter touch." For more Stewart Bufferfield goodness, make sure to check out our interview with him on Massively Speaking!
Tiny Speck's 'Glitch' MMO launches today [update]
Update: if you're having trouble getting in (it's open to all, but there might be a wait), Tiny Speck has set up a "fast pass" site for Joystiq readers here. Glitch, the cute browser MMO set inside the minds of giant monsters, is officially opening up to the public today at 10AM PDT after a long beta period. The game is the work of Tiny Speck, a new company formed by Stewart Butterfield, Cal Henderson, Eric Costello, and Serguei Mourachov, four co-founders of Flickr. It's a free-to-play game with subscription and virtual currency options, both used for avatar customization items. Speaking to me in a phone interview yesterday, Butterfield claimed that the game is playable in a casual style, but also accommodates players interested in a more intense experience. "We wanted to have enough depth to capture the imaginations of people who want to go deep," he said. "There are 1000-plus items and 90 skills." Glitch has potential for emergent gameplay, which he compared to Eve Online, though he was quick to note that it's not as combat-oriented as Eve and more fun to actually play. For example, he related an anecdote from the beta, about players creatively using a "notes" system. "Early on, some of the richer players started a bank, with an alternative currency that was based on notes," Butterfield said. "They just guaranteed the notes with their supply of in-game currency based on the timestamp and the person who created it."
Katamari creator to work on Glitch MMO
Tiny Speck has just added one of gaming's wunderkind developers to the team working on its Glitch MMO. Keita Takahashi, renowned as the brains behind Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, left Namco Bandai last year and has been keeping a low profile ever since. He's also apparently been having serious discussions with Tiny Speck, and founder Steward Butterfield says that Takahashi has a lot in common with the existing creative team. "We shared the same values -- deep beliefs in curiosity, humor, absurdity, and above all a belief in the positive power of play," Butterfield told GamaSutra. Glitch is a browser-based side-scrolling casual MMO that is currently undergoing beta testing. The game will launch sometime in 2011 according to the its official website.
Glitch entering beta stage
According to a new post on its official website, Glitch is finally entering an official beta phase. What's Glitch? It's a browser-based side-scrolling MMO from Stewart Butterfield and Cal Henderson, better known as the co-founders of Flickr. Glitch originally began its alpha testing phase a year ago, and Butterfield writes that while the developers didn't anticipate such a lengthy delay prior to the beginning of beta, the time has been well spent. "Hundreds of features have been added -- and nearly as many trimmed or re-thought -- thousands of pictures drawn and animations made, hundreds of thousands of lines of code written, all of it powered by support, feedback, patience, (and impatience!) from our testing community," Butterfield wrote. He also mentions a substantial infusion of capital as well as the fact that Tiny Speck is hiring, so regardless of the delay, it seems as if the title -- and the company -- is building up a head of steam. Check out the full details at the official website (where you can also sign up to be a tester).
Flickr founder's MMO takes place inside giants' imaginations
Early this year, Flickr cofounder Stewart Butterfield unveiled a new company called Tiny Speck, and teased its first project, a side-scrolling MMO called Glitch. Originally announced for late 2010, it's now due in early 2011. The Glitch site has relaunched with new information and a new trailer, which you can see after the break. The game is being made with the backing of investors including executives at LinkedIn, Groupon, and Google "For a really long time," the song in the trailer explains, "eleven giants walked around. They thought of funny things, until their thinking came alive. And that's what this game is: you're inside their thoughts. Go and make them bigger, and we'll play for a long while." Said "giants" are a group of grotesque, many-eyed creatures, and "making their thoughts bigger" seems to entail increasing skills in several categories by interacting with animals and objects found throughout the world. As they explore the world, players will have to fight off attacks from "the Rook," a group of evil birds who "can appear and attack plants, animals or players in the world," Butterfield told VentureBeat. "It can warp them, and players have to do some work to heal the injured animals and plants around the world."
Flickr co-founders giving MMO design a second try
Before Stewart Butterfield and Cal Henderson launched the successful photo site Flickr, they tried their hands at MMO design. Back in Flickr's early days, they ran Game Neverending, an MMO that closed about nine months after the launch of Flickr. They're back, this time with an eye toward developing a browser-based, sidescrolling MMO with the hopefully ironic name of Glitch. The game is described as an exploration in "the minds of eleven great giants walking sacred paths on a barren asteroid who sing and think and hum the world into existence." While Glitch has a simple, youthful feel at first glance (check out the teaser trailer), the developers are aiming for players in their 20s and 30s. Don't expect all of the simple graphics to remain, either. The Glitch site mentions the avatars in the game, saying "Those are placeholders, an early prototype we're using for testing." Glitch is expected to launch in late 2010. You can sign up for private alpha testing now, and expect a public beta this summer.
