Glitch, the innovative web-based MMO which has a large group of SL users, is "unlaunching", i.e. going back to beta -- that's the bad news. The good news is it's doing so partly to improve the first-time user experience (sound familiar?), and also in part to add something all those SLers in particular will love: User-generated creation tools. Specifically, writes Glitch CEO Stewart Butterfield on the company blog:
The second and larger task is to give those players who have gotten over that initial hump and fallen in love with the game — spending dozens or even hundreds of hours playing — the creative tools that they need to change the world in more tangible ways: building whole new locations themselves, designing new buildings, setting up resource flows and forming flexible organizations to create bigger things together.
Excellent news which Stewart hinted at a couple months ago when I interviewed him. As for existing Glitch players who've purchased currency, they can get a discount if desired: read about that and more here.
Hat tip: Boing Boing via Rusalka Writer.
Unlaunching back to beta is not going offline. Did you miss the part that says the game will be open 24/7 pretty much except small downtimes?
New registrations restricted yes. New content and stuff and all that, yes. But the moment they "unlaunched" they also launched a bunch of new skills, street projects started up again in 2 areas. I've been busier in Glitch "unlaunced" than I have been in weeks.
Posted by: QueenKellee Kuu | Friday, December 02, 2011 at 11:23 AM