Rediscovering #plink - a tiny part of Web history
The new PLINK! says hello!
#plink just got a facelift. Here is the story.
Almost two months ago I got a mail from Paul Kinlan, Wizzy Web Warrior @ Google, asking if he could use an ancient YouTube video of #plink for a blog post.
For you who don’t know what #plink is, here is the original description:
Plink is a multiplayer music experience with a super intuitive user interface. Simply by clicking and moving your mouse you create music in real time.
You can play by yourself or together with three friends (or strangers).
No hassle, just plain fun music creation.
The topic for the blog post was the ten year anniversary of Chrome (the browser, you know), and the evolution of the Web API’s such as websocket, web audio etc.
#plink was one of the very first creative Web Audio applications, got featured on Chrome Experiments (#313) when that was a thing. It was a door opener for Dinahmoe that led to several larger music related projects, such as JAM with Chrome and This Exquisite Forest.
#plink revisited
Paul’s mail put #plink top of mind again, and we took a long good look at #plink the original. Ugly as hell, exactly the same design as when launched 2011 (!). To our defense I must say: it was an experiment, it wasn’t supposed to live for 7 years without any updates. But things happened, lots of other projects, less and less related to music and it was more or less forgotten. Last year we got some spare time and got a beta version out but then even more things happened.
But it was a happy reunion! And although I have played it an infinite number of times through the years it is still oddly addictive. What is supposed to be a quick test easily becomes 5, 10 , 15 minutes of jamming with strangers from around the world, “wasting” my “valuable” time.
And not only my time, millions of others’. No matter what time of day there is almost always someone there. The total number of visitors the first couple of years was on average 4,000 per day, with a record of 120,000 the day it got to the front page of Imgur. Over the years it sums up, today there has been a total of 10 million sessions while we have been busy elsewhere…
Addictive Simplicity
So what is the secret?
- #plink is super simple. No instructions needed, you get how it works immediately.
- you cannot do anything wrong, everything sounds great and everyone feels like a musician.
- you are playing together with other people. Internet is a lonely place, and pretty dark if you think YouTube comments is representative for the state of humanity (#plink comments excluded). #plink lets you connect and communicate with people in a non verbal way. And now and then you really get something cooking together with someone, a soul mate that you will never meet in real life.
- The music created, well, it might not be anything to release on an album, but it is hypnotic, meditative, combinewithsomedrugandyoullneverleave-kind of experience. Addictive.
The r/plink subreddit
The game is pretty good. But could you make us change the name?
Mine was “Stupid Ant” and I don’t appreciate that.
From the update mentioned above we learned that users can get a little emotional when you change something they like. As someone on the r/plink subreddit kindly put it:
…but honestly pretty much every change to the gameplay is a mistake
so it is a little nervous to present…
The new PLINK!
It FINALLY got a new design which I love, by our Sr AD Cankat Oguz. But it is still the same sounds, the same mechanics, and as simple and intuitive as always.
The biggest change is that we have added private rooms. It is the number one feature people have asked for. Setting up a room is a breeze. Now you can explore the more subtle nuances of the pentatonic scale without any n00bs crashing the party!
And for all the feedback we have received: we really appreciate your support and enthusiasm. We are sorry that we have been slow to respond, and that have haven’t released an update earlier. And for the changes in the new PLINK! that you don’t like, we are sorry for those too!
But we are supper happy and proud in any case!
A tiny part of Web history
Or at least Chrome history. Being mentioned in Paul’s blog post about the evolution of the capable web is a true honor! I think it is safe to say that #plink is now a verified part of Web history!
We hope and think that the new PLINK! will be a worthy successor.
And if you don’t agree, then go retro, stay retro, stay #plink.
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