Speaking of Glitching…

by Kassadee Marie, HSM team writer

The first glitch I ever saw on Home was performed by people who had their avatars standing, instead of sitting, on the bench at Central Plaza. I wanted to be able to do that with my avatar so much! But I didn’t know any of those people, and I knew better than to ask. I instinctively knew the first rule of glitching: don’t ask strangers, don’t tell strangers.

Eventually, someone in my Hamster club did show me how to do the glitch and I almost cried the first time I made it up to stand on the bench with the others. And it felt like it really was me. I had arrived!

I’m not much of a glitcher, and I’ve never purposely found one on my own, unless you count standing on the presents under the Christmas tree at my Harbor Apartment. I went under the stage at the Visari Throne room by accidentally falling off a fountain seat. I loved to float furniture and ornaments, although that cherry tree floating in the sky at my Japanese Apartment was not my doing. It just happened when I was trying to fit it into that low-ceilinged space, I swear!

I’ve never merged an outfit or ghost glitched through a wall or into space. The hardest glitch I ever did was the rail walk at MuiMui. I failed at that complexly timed glitch about fifty times to every time I succeeded with it. I do the simple rail walk at my Paris Clock Tower Apartment every now and then for old time’s sake. I did enjoy the coin toss glitch at the old mall and the Playground, and I’ve been over the fence at the Playground, too. I’ve done the wall walk at the Little Big Planet Playground and at the Pixel Junk space. And I’ve done the combined wall walk and rail walk at Red Bull and been under the water there and up on some of the rocks. I’ve danced on the bar at Scorpio’s and climbed a lot of things at Sodium.

I remember these times not for the sense of accomplishment they gave me, but for the sheer joy of glitching experience. I’ve had to depend on others. I’ve been lucky to have met some really great glitchers who were willing to share their glitching discoveries with me. My favorites are when you are teleported out-of-bounds. I have seen some amazing sights “out there.” There is beautiful scenery in some of these spaces that you can’t see from in-bounds. There are details that can only be appreciated from close up. I’ve seen signs left by the designers which can’t be read from the regular areas given to us in our estates. They knew we might get there. Why? Well, to quote George Herbert Leigh Mallory, “Because it’s there.” We humans do love a challenge.

(Editor’s note: pro-glitching advocates often point to “Easter eggs” left by programmers as a sign that they endorse glitching. It can also just be something left by a bored coder who figured no one would ever see it.)

I’ve been delighted, amazed and thrilled by some of the glitches that have been shared with me. Thank you, friends, for gifting me with these experiences. I have been truly fortunate.

Recently I stood on the royal barge at the Pharaoh’s Tomb and I felt like an Egyptian queen. I’ve stood in the dark in the secret room in the Paris Clocktower Apartment, on the roof at Andy’s Room in a garden of cherry trees, high in the air on the bridge at the Playground, in a tree outside the fenced area at the mansion garage; on the road at the Tycoon’s Penthouse, where I was run over by a two dimensional car; on the sand of the beach near the Dream Yacht; underneath the Midnight Glade, where there is a hidden gift machine; in the water at Neptune and touched a whale; and on the water at Planetland with a large group of friends. I’ve hidden inside of the tree at the Waterfall Terrace space.

I’ve danced in the air at Tropical Escape, The Dragon’s Lair, the Sunset Yacht, and other estates. Sitting with the fairies in the treetops at the Chamber Apartment was a lovely time and I just wanted to stay there for hours and enjoy the experience. Being on a different floating island at Aurora Island and at the Dolphy Room and looking back at the in-bounds space was a surreal feeling.

The in-bounds space at Primarch’s Vigilarium is tiny, but once you step out of bounds the location expands to a wonderful size. There are some intricate details out there that you can’t see through the estates’ window. It would seem the designers went into such detail because they expected us to step out that window and see those details close up.

I could write another whole article of a thousand words on the controversy of glitching. Does it do harm? Slow servers? Cause crashes? Is it just for fun or is it to look superior? Does Sony hate glitchers because they do harm or love them because they spend money finding, doing and sharing glitches? Check almost any week on the Sony forum and you can find a discussion of glitching in one form or another, with people on both sides of the issue.

Myself, I don’t have any sure answers. I don’t have the technical knowledge to even surmise. I will say this, I can only imagine that if Sony patches a glitch, it was harmful — and if they leave it alone, it’s not. So, by all means glitch on, and please invite me!

April 28th, 2012 by | 9 comments
Home is endlessly entertaining to this California girl. Kassadee has been in Home for about four years, and loves almost everything about it (with a few notable exceptions). She spends way too much money there, and perhaps too much time... Someday she will travel the world and write about the people she meets and the places she sees.

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9 Responses to “Speaking of Glitching…”

  1. Burbie52 says:

    Nice piece Kass. I am not a glitcher at all and have not done any of my own except the float when it was around. I have seen any that amaze me though and I wish someone in the developers world would consider making a space that was specifically for the glitchers in Home to use at will. I don’t know if this is possible at all given the coding and all that, but I know that the friends I have who do this consider it a creative endeavor. The love to think “outside of the box” so to speak and take it very hard when their beloved glitches are taken away.
    I know that this is usually a by product of them fixing holes in the system and I can’t blame Sony for this at all, they need to try and keep the stability of Home as a whole strong. But I still feel bad for my friends who feel like their creativity is being stifled. Good read Kass.

  2. Zeroscythe says:

    I have heard that a lot of the recent glitch patching was politically motivated. Apparently there is a transition in management going on right now at certain levels within Sony, and that certain people in positions of power are looking to “clean up” the glitching within home. My core experience in Home revolves around glitching. The more they patch, the more that experience degrades for me. I have to admit though, when they patched the GG about 2 months ago, I felt like there was a challenge put out to the entire glitching community to once again reinvent the ghost glitch. Overall though, all of the recent patching has pushed me away from Home and back into PC gaming. I have faith in the community though, that we will always find a way to exploit new glitches and provide some kind of glitching experience to Home users…

  3. KrazyFace says:

    I don’t get it at all. The way I see it, it’s a bit like looking at the back if the canvass, or seeing how a trick is done. It irks me quite a bit when it happens in a game in particular, like seeing the threading of the universe, it removes me from that world’s immersion. I guess I just see Home as a place for socialising, rather than play. If I want to play, well, I have a PS3 right here!

    I’m not saying you’re wrong for enjoying glitching, far from it! I just wish I could understand why. I honestly think that those who enjoy that kinda thing would be better suited (and much happier) in someplace like Second Life. If you find Sony have patched Home into a durable program in another year, you should go check out Second Life.

    • BONZO says:

      I can understand the appeal, but you are right. I’ve spent a lot of time before just trying to glitch or trying to figure out a way around obstacles or those invisible walls, but once you do you either fall through the floor or see the facade. Much like walking through a studio lot and seeing that the buildings are only one wall, and there’s nothing on the other side.

  4. Kassadee Marie says:

    I wish I could show you the pictures that I’ve taken at friend’s glitched spaces. The wonder of sights you can’t see from the inside; the details you can see up close and the little Easter eggs that have been left. I’m looking to expand my Home horizon, not spoil it.

  5. Zeroscythe says:

    I personally enjoy glitching because of the challenge involved. Being able to see beyond walls or through objects doesn’t really destroy the virtual experience for me because I know that they aren’t real to begin with. Maybe we just see things differently. I guess I see glitching as more of a puzzle than anything else, with the reward being access to an area that I had to work to get to. One of the best experiences I had was when the Great Edo Nippon space first launched, and wondering if it was possible to get up on those blue tiled rooftops. Well it took me about a week, but, eventually I was able to get up there and run across the highest rooftops, take some really nice pictures, and enjoy a section of the space that people very rarely visit. I guess I just enjoy it for the challenge and reward.

  6. CMCSAVAGE says:

    What hidden gift machine? LOL

    • Kassadee Marie says:

      The picture I took there of the underneath gift machine is very dark and it would be impossible to see it if published with this article. It is under the “floor” of the space and you have to glitch to see it. I was told that the gift machine you can see is a “dummy” and the real one is under the space. I don’t know if this is true or why it would be, but I’ve also been told that the Dream Yacht has a “real” gift machine under it.

  7. FEMAELSTROM says:

    I gave up on glitching long ago for several reasons. The first was because all the people I met in my early days were mean and rude and I came to associate glitching with trolls. I know that’s not the truth now, but it still left a foul taste in my mouth. 2nd, no matter how much somebody points at me, and shows me how to do a thing, I just never seem to find the way to do it. 3, I hear that there are some grand sights to be seen at the Eden’s Vigilarium, but you need a transporter and that takes up 22 slots and that place is the hallmark of of my decorating. I can’t take out 1 item let alone 22, and many of my places are maxed out as it is in that respect.4, I agree with KrazyFace, I like to work within the boundries of what I am given. Good write, alien to me as I can’t / don’t do that, still a good write.

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