Written by Stegofreak; PSHG Guest Contributor
Last week I took the opportunity to celebrate the work done by a number of developers and publishers in nurturing Home into the service that it has become. However, in spite all of their efforts Home would not be the place we’ve come to enjoy without the input of the playing community itself. It is perhaps fitting then that this article is published in the week that The Spotlight has made its way onto Home’s EU servers. Just as with the gaming industry as a whole, Home is more exciting because we share it, enjoying that ‘unpredictable’ factor that comes with sharing an experience with other users.
Of course such community creativity isn’t unique to Home, for years the gaming industry has been home to innovators and experimenters, taking the tools provided by developers and turning them into something more. Games like Minecraft and Spore have shown that there is a wealth of creativity among the gaming community whilst the fact that Rooster Teeth’s excellent ‘Red vs. Blue’ series has just celebrated its 10th birthday shows that it has the legs to continue running well into the future. Only recently, with Blueprint: Home and Home Tycoon, have Home developers directly addressed this growing market. I must admit that I splashed out on both these services as soon as I could just to see what I could do with the tools provided.
The arrival of these services, however, marks not the emergence of creativity in Home but instead a bright future for it. For years Home apartments have offered us the chance to share our own individual creations with our friends, whilst the growing range of fashion items have allowed us to display our individuality to the community at large.
These are my party shorts…and cape
Just last week I was standing in the Bingo hall of the Casino space waiting for a friend when an avatar dressed as Kickass rode by on a cupcake. In what other situation would that line make any sense? What I love about Home is how the tiniest user-driven tweaks can change the experience you have.
While the advent of the PlayStation Network has brought about this wonderful unified Home community, the fact that you’re reading this article proves that it has spread beyond the bounds of the service itself. Last week I sang the praises of ‘Xi’ as an activity in and of itself, but it offered something more than a thing to do for a few weeks. It took Home users to forums by the hundreds to share information and solve puzzles;
doing wonders for the creation of a larger Home community. Now off-Home sites like here at PSHomeGazette, offer regular articles and hold events that just wouldn’t be possible without the input of the community (though I’d like to see more reference to Home in the mainstream gaming media.)
Sometimes we might get carried away with the bigger picture and miss out on the little things that make Home the unique and inviting place that it is. Take Home, make it yours and celebrate what we, as a community, have made of it.
You hit the Nail on the Head. I agree that Home Tycoon and Blueprint have given us a bit more involvement, yet at what Price? (and yes I know that’s a bit off subject) Sadly even though it has evolved a bit in the past few years, the early stages of HOME were even more community based until they realized they could make more money off us then was necessary to run the program. Even though we have some more freedom with the two applications, we are still very limited in our community. Its getting better yet its still not really fair. The Devs and Sony take advantage of us the people on a daily basis. Xi was not stolen yet it was by no mean implemented in the manner it should have been and Both Blue Print and Home Tycoon are way over priced. Even though we the community love HOME and what it might hold in our futures and our pasts, the Gaming community as a Whole view HOME as a Laughing stalk in the gaming community. We should take a step back and ask why? Is it the High prices, or Lack of Games, or the Drama that surrounds the community? It prospers yet at what Price? I feel we the community do not speak out as much on the right channels to see better changes made, yet maybe that just me. Being a victim of the Corporate take overs with Ndreams and Sony puts me in a difficult place to be un-bias. Home has come a long way since 2007, yet there is still unfair practices, and sexist society content. Gamer’s are Men and Woman, Boys and Girls… yet we are seeing more Sexist stuff now, and less Games. Even though there are hundreds of Games in HOME, we see more Sexist clothing and High prices on that stuff then we see games. The Community needs to take even more initiative I feel… Granted I know there are lots of Involvement, yet we deserve even better. Because we are such a great community. There is no Place like HOME… yet we can always make it a more inviting place that is comfortable for all… Make the best of it, I do, yet I think others and I deserve better. We deserve more respect for what we are… whether that be a gamer or social icon. (I prefer the Gamer’s yet all should be welcome. I wrote a huge thread in 07 on the possibility of the social network know as HOME being good for the Disabled, yet I feel the gamer’s should take back the program for obvious reasons.) Being the Laughing stalk of the Gaming world is never a good thing, and that is why we do not see as much media in the real world on HOME content besides the PS Blog. They look at us as fools and for good reason. As Stapler has said “fools will soon be parted with their money” We didn’t catch the problems soon enough, especially with Broken items and Shotty or Sexist content built by the Devs we praise so much. Speak up, speak out, and Hope for Better HOME days… I know I do every day. My ideas and Gaming input are used on a daily basis with no credit (not that I ever did anything for credit) and they make money off us with out great effort. If this is what Gaming and Gaming Social networks are to become, I don’t know how Long I will stick around. I left once, Its always an option. With that said though, I have made what I hope to be life long Gaming Friends in PS HOME, and I will always look at all as individuals that deserve respect unless they disrespect me. I have stated many times in HOME forums that SONY and HOME would be nothing with out us the People. And it is very True… yet please take a step back and look at where we are taking this application in the long run… I will not call a 10-15 dollar price tag as a micro transaction, I will not call big boobs and half clothed Avi’s as respectful. I would not call an Actress that is one step away from being a porn star a role model. If we the community want to be respected we need to hold ourselves in a more respectful place in the gaming world. Now that I have written more words then the Article its self, I think I will stop… I’m getting a bit angry, and being angry about HOME is not healthy. Make it yours? YES!!!! Make it acceptable and respectful for everyone? YES… I would like this to come to light in the future… Even though my friends respect me in HOME and in Gaming… HOME Devs and Sony do not show me the Respect I feel I deserve as a Community Member… We deserve better…
Signed with heart…
Patchex
I assure you Patchex that your comment is not at all off subject. In fact you’ve mentioned a few things that I’ve planned to approach in future posts to this column (eg. Home & The Gaming Community and The Price of Home.) In many ways there is a correlation between some practices in Home and practices within the ‘social gaming’ sector itself. I’ve been looking at prices of game items and considering whether or not I’m willing to pay the price. At the same time, I do from time to time find myself surprised by items costing less than I expected.
Yes there are a few items that surprise me as well… I see that the New Arcade cabinets for Vita and HOME are well priced in HOME, and sometimes the Clothing and furniture bundles are well priced (especially in X7 club) Yet for someone like me in HOME the gaming stuff is often over priced, honestly I could care less about the Clothing and furniture items. I want Gaming, and often they come with a hefty price tag if the game is any good. Don’t get me wrong, I am willing to pay for a good game, yet the amount is what I am worried about in the future. Just for instance a note on Xi 2. Xi was free because it was an experiment, and I think they also knew they could not charge for something that was not completely theirs. Yet when I approached Ndreams Joey about cost before Xi 2 came out, he told me on the forums to Wait and see what all we get with Xi 2. If someone prides themselves on Items in HOME, then yes it was worth the almost 10 dollar price tag for the first event. Yet for someone like me who cares more about game play and team work then the Price was wasted. Almost ten bucks for a game that had holes and was more of a task rather then a game was not worth the price. Another example is HOME tycoon. I have talked with them a few times on Facebook, and I get the impression that they will continue as long as they make tons of money. Here we have a great Game… yet its price (even though the base is free -thanks for that by the way if your reading Helfire. I did take into consideration that the base was free) for in game items is outrageous. Even if you only play the game half to its full potential your dishing out more then 25 bucks
I own a copy of the Real Sim city 2000 for under 5 bucks… the only thing its missing is that HOME tycoon has is a Leader board (might I add that its a total Joke… only big spenders and kiss asses are listed there) and Co opish Play. So in other words… instead of Placing us in the game to be social and gamer’s they are putting us in there to monopolize on the Friend Chain and want for items (in other words the game has become a greed thing)… its not because the game is original, Sim City was a childhood fav of mine. Its because they know the Friend Chain will bring people in, and sadly that ploy is working against us, not for us. The community I mean… Of course the Devs and Sony are making a killing, yet when all is Said and Done, where does that leave us the everyday HOME goers? Yes we finally got a game worth our time so to speak, yet at a very very High cost… and I do not look at that as a Positive move in the right direction. I love games, and I love my Friends… I don’t like being used as a cash Cow.
Patchex