Poll results: Pico Maintenance

We're approaching the 36 hour mark on Pico's most epic period of server maintenance ever.

Reading comments from the most recent notice of extending the maintenance it seems as though the game came back for a brief moment, but was so laggy that admins has to shut it down again.

People commenting are mad, upset, frustrated and totally out of their minds.

It's been more than a day since Pico went grey. No doubt the situation is a fiasco for Ameba.

When the break first started we asked 'What do you do when Pico is down for maintenance?'. Here are the results so far from our Facebook poll:



For those who keep refreshing the page ... your mouse clicking finger must be really tired. We feel badly for you.

It seems that most people to to other games. Some took the time to comment to tell us which ones:



Why not join in with these guys and gals while Pico is still down?

• Ameba Pigg online (in Japanese)
• Magical Saga on Facebook
• Nightclub City on Facebook
• Pet Society on Facebook
• Pocket God on YoYo Games
• Pokemon World on Facebook
• Transformice online
• Vampire Wars on Facebook

(My personal fav is The Sims Social. They're constantly adding new stuff and it has never had a maintenance break since I started playing 6 months ago.)

Maybe you could also listen to some music, watch wacky videos on YouTube or read a book while we hunker down and wait for the grey veil of server maintenance to be lifted away.

However you spend your time during the break, have a great day. Hopefully, we'll see you soon in Pico.

Gacha: Now and then

At Pico's launch in March 2010, players were introduced to Gacha as a main navigation icon alongside 'Decor', 'Pocket' and 'Shop'.



Pico players could take their chances at the gashapon machine at any place and at any time since it was part of the navigation options.

I'm not sure about you, but I have mixed feelings about this week's changes to Gacha.

As of May 31, Gacha has been removed from the user interface and made into a public room vendor, accessible to those who visit any of the Beginners Plaza rooms.

I can't help but let my curiosity get the best of me, as I wonder what has prompted the developers of Pico to make this change.

Did they need to drive more traffic to Beginners Plaza?
Did they feel this change would make people more aware of Gacha?
Is Gacha still a part of the sign-up tutorial? If yes, how (since it's context has changed)?

Moments after the announcement on the official Pico blog Beginners Plaza rooms were jam-packed and overflowed to 26 rooms (most of which were filled to capacity)! So, it's obvious that we love Gacha.

How do you feel? Take a few moments to let us all know.

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What do you think about Gacha becoming a part of public rooms (as of May 31, 2010)?