Home Glitches, and Accidental Art
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
Glitching is a part of Home life. Although not nearly as prevalent as it was in Home’s early days, we still see it in personal spaces a lot. There is a whole community of people who make a point out of making each personal space they buy a glitched-out masterpiece. Looking for the “soft spots” in a space’s structure is a meta game for them.
There are many people in Home who love to glitch, but this article isn’t about them, it is about the glitches that Home creates all on its own. I love to photograph and document these things because at times they can be strangely beautiful and weird all at once. Lately I have seen quite a few, especially in the new content we have been getting in the way of public spaces.
I went to the Charms game from Pottermore the other day — at least, I tried to. Here is what I saw when I arrived. I was in a dark cave with several others and I was able to walk out into a pinkish-white void where I eventually fell past the actual space I was supposed to be in to play the game. At least, I think it was that space. You will find that as the featured picture above. The sad part about this is it happens to me every time I go there, so I am unable to actually play the game.
When Juggernaut’s Serenity Plaza came out I went there to play the great MiniBots game and was immediately thrown into a replica of the arena they gave us for free; at least part of me was, anyway. I was melded through the floor and my feet were hanging above the plaza. I had to leave and go to my apartment to get out of it, like I do with all the glitches I encounter.
Saw a great one at Lockwood’s Kingdom of the Skies the other day. Sometimes I am not able to play the game at all; the flying carpet doesn’t register for me ( the fix is in from what I understand). I was able to play for a time and collect jewels for the genie but after I gave him the booty I wasn’t able to target the game — but the full array of carpets was there for my viewing pleasure, stretching out into the air.
These types of occurrences are not common for me but have been happening in many spaces from many different companies for as long as I have been in Home. I have several pictures of these anomalies and I think they are just a part of being in a beta that is not quite done yet. When developers are given new tools they like to play with them and stretch the envelope a bit. This leads to malfunction, and thus the things we encounter.
Some of the older ones I have seen are the most beautiful ones I have experienced. There is my favorite picture of all the ones I have taken over the years. It happened in Granzella’s Southern Beach public space. It wouldn’t load for me and all I got was ghosts on a blue horizon, some of them walking up the paths above. I called this one “Stairway to Heaven”.
I got a very interesting perspective at nDreams’ Aurora once. I went through a warp gate at the moment I was supposed to be timed out of the game and when I got through it, this is what I saw. I think it is as though I am in the air looking down at the floor area. Hard to tell what the perspective is on some of these.
Another recent one I encountered was just the other day, and I wasn’t the only one who had this one happen. In fact, several people present had this one. We were having a fashion show at the Glittering Sands Beach that was still decked out for the Tanabata event. and about half way through I started seeing trails. I felt like I was having an acid flashback or something, and then I noticed that the actual scene around me had a doubled picture if I angled my camera right. The effect was likely caused by so many people changing clothing several times for the show; at least, that is what we are speculating.
Home is a very diverse place, filled with things to do and discover. Home glitches are just one of them and I find it to be a fascinating occurrence when I get to see one and document it. Photography in Home can be a wonderful meta game, and there are so many wonderful things here to take pictures of. I think the creators of Home had a inkling of what was to come, otherwise they wouldn’t have provided us with cameras as a tool right from the start of Home.
I hope you have enjoyed my little hobby; go explore and find some of your own.
September 5th, 2013 by Burbie52 | 2 comments
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
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I so agree about glitching being a meta game itself. I bought several personal spaces just because I figured out how to glitch them through friends.
I feel that several developers have left in known glitches because they know it helps sell personal estates after the initial rush wears off. For example the dream yacht’s huge island glitch.
Glitching is fun and who doesn’t like to be in the know!
See more hacked users than glitchers now. Still a few in well known areas though