Where Did They Go?
by Keara22HI, HSM team writer
What happens when a major attraction in Home disappears?
Example: Central Plaza (or Home Square, for those of you in Europe and Asia) is the unquestionable hub of activity in Home. Yet what happens when it is co-opted by Sony for usage in promoting a major game release?
Don’t get me wrong: the Helghast makeover of Central Plaza is quite amazing. As Home spaces go, it’s easily the most immersive, realistic experience in all of Home. It deserves all of the praise it has earned.
And yet.
It is also true that, generally speaking, one would not have a pleasant conversation in the middle of Dresden when the bombs were dropping, as lovely as that town is. Central Plaza’s current makeover is an example of a social space being completely redone to suit a gaming purpose.
And when Central Plaza is not the cheerfully banal urban park, with the ideal temperature and suspiciously unchanging sunlight, where do those displaced people go?
As was discussed in Burbie’s recent article, “Home, Why Do We Stay?” — long-term users often stay in Home for the social scene, not the gaming scene. So where do they go when the necessity of promoting a game interferes with the social setting?
Irem’s Seaside of Memories seems like one obvious candidate. I was about to suggest Sully’s Bar as well, but a friend of mine pointed out to me that she no longer hangs out there since the ability to glitch the bar was removed. Regardless of which side of the glitching debate you fall on, there is no question that it takes surprisingly little to dramatically alter — and, indeed, risk losing — repeat clientele, and the revenue they represent.
(An ancillary example of this might actually be SCEA’s own message forum. The transition from Lithium to Jive was not exactly handled with the greatest panache, and while the new forum continues to improve, one has to wonder just how much traffic was lost — perhaps permanently — to other message boards.)
The greatest example of the Law of Unintended Consequences, of course, is the removal of the EA poker rooms.
Now, before you get all rabble-rabble: this article isn’t a thinly-veiled rant about the poker rooms and Sony’s lack of communication on their mysterious removal. Aside from the fact that everyone’s tired of that subject at this point, the editor wouldn’t publish such a thing, anyway. Rather, this article seeks to find out where those people — and their dollars — went to.
Where they don’t go are the places that Sony anticipated: Godfather’s poker rooms attracted almost none of the EA poker room pals beyond the first few weeks. The Brimstone poker tables were purchased, tried, and dumped into storage. After a few rallies and numerous rumors, the poker players began to trickle out of Home. At first they would check back every few days to see if the EA Sports Center had returned. Then it became once a week after updates. Then – every few weeks. And then some left permanently.
My own friend list was packed with the Poker Posse and other poker club members, 99 in all. I was the ‘keeper of the list’ to send invitations to open tables to players who were standing by waiting for seats to open up. I was close friends with all of them.
After the end of December, I checked and the list had dwindled to 86. Apparently 13 had left Home, left PS3, closed accounts and disappeared. I still had the ability to send messages to the ones who remained. I sent a simple message: “Where Are You?”
I waited a week and 35 replies came in. I went back and looked at the list – many of the people I had sent the message had not signed in for weeks, and, in some cases, months.
And the 35 answers were poignant, resigned, and sorrowful. I compiled the answers, and here are some interesting results:
- Nine are now playing High Stakes Las Vegas Poker Game.
- Nine are racing dolphies.
- Four are bowling.
- Three are playing Hot Shots Golf.
And the following Home activities were named once each:
- Sodium Hub
- Godfather’s poker room
- Midway 2
Here are the activities outside of Home, of the respondents who listed multiple activities:
- NETFLIX
- Poker on an iPod
- SIMs
- Magic the Gathering
- Gran Turismo 5
- Dead Space 2
- Call of Duty
- Modern Warfare 2
- Re-playing old PS3 games
In addition, four people said they do not bother with the PS3 at all any more, except to drop in once a week to see if the EA Sports Center has returned.
So: why did these people react in ways I doubt either Sony or EA anticipated? Because for most of the people who frequented those poker rooms, the attraction of the EA Sports Center was not poker. Here are some direct quotes from those who have left Home:
“Poker was really the glue that held a bunch of us together.”
“I have found other avenues to replace poker up to and including removing my PS3 from online use.”
“I have been playing High Stakes Poker but this has proven problematic with many freeze-ups during game play. I rarely go to Home anymore and most of my chat time has moved completely off PS3 to other online vehicles.”
“I rarely use my PS3 anymore for gameplay or social networking.”
“Only so much dolphy racing and mini games that I can bear.”
“No more PS3 – at all.”
“I come back occasionally to check out new sites like Midway 2.”
“No more Home: the games are childish and I don’t feel the same connection.”
“I raced dolphies for awhile and tried to find other things to do. So I’ve been playing and replaying old games. and don’t go on Home very much anymore.”
“The new games are aimed at teens – so no more Home. We quit completely when they ruined Brimstone by adding stupid loud noises.”
In addition, almost every response ended with, “I miss my friends.”
Some of the die-hards are still on the Sony Home Forum pleading for updated information. Others have given up on poker and found, as I did, another group with the ‘glue’ to make Home interesting.
Case in point: the surprise birthday for Sekhemrera, planned and executed by the poker pals in the EA Sports Center poker rooms. I do not think any of us will ever forget that day. It is what friendship in Home is all about.
That day we loved each other.
And in some cases, literally: see below the picture from the wedding reception in Home for Tonya and Luke, two killer poker players.
The point is: it was group dynamic that made the attraction of the EA poker rooms as addictive as nicotine. Many players were there daily, playing for hours, and building friendships that were unshakeable. It was like “Cheers” – the bar where ‘everyone knows your name’. Take away Sully’s Bar and would hundreds of people quit coming to Home? Even with the implied connection of Star Wars enthusiasts as a draw for the Cantina, would hundreds of angry fans demonstrate all over the public rooms in Home if the Cantina disappeared overnight?
No one else understood that the Godfather rooms would not work as a substitute unless EA completely reworked that system to duplicate what had been in the Sports Center: bankrolls of chips that carry over from one day to the next, leader boards, and easy communication at the tables.
There is no question that things change. The neighborhood I grew up in as a child no longer exist. At my age, most of the friends I grew up with are dead. The very industry I worked in, as a highly-compensated executive, no longer exists. So, yes, change is the only constant. My hope, however, is that the forces behind Home recognize that there are very real social repercussions behind something as simple as a makeover of a public space, let alone its removal.
The primary repercussion: the risk of lost revenue.
From a business standpoint, it would seem logical to try to ameliorate this as much as possible.
Example: saying, in essence, “They don’t need EA poker rooms — they can buy the Brimstone game if they want poker,” was as disingenuous as Marie Antionette saying, “Let them eat cake.” The Brimstone game had to be placed in a personal space or club, not a public area. This meant that, unless there were enough players on the same Friend Lists in Home at the same time, it was difficult to fill a table. And, once again, no way to keep chips you won to play another day in another room.
Yes, the rumors say there were severe problems with the poker rooms. I do not intend in any way whatsoever to slam Sony or EA for problems that appear to have been created by malicious individuals for their own fun and profit. I have been told by two people in Home, both of whom swear they were not personally involved, that the EA poker rooms kept crashing because hackers were using those rooms as the launch spot for Item Server Exploits, entering other Home regions and stealing items. One of these individuals is reputed to have stolen 1500 items!
Another rumor is that there were so many complaints about cheaters and ‘drama divas’ in the poker rooms that it was easier just to close it down that to try to deal with all the Reports.
Bear in mind, these are rumors – not proven facts. But it behooves the companies involved to know that these are the stories that have been circulating for some time now.
And why should Sony care? Because the loss of these people from Home and from the PS3 represents a financial loss to Sony. The poker pals for the most part were mature (over 30), employed, using their own credit cards in the Mall, and buying personal spaces, furnishing club rooms, and putting on a daily fashion parade that must have made the developers ecstatic. When they weren’t playing poker, many were buying the new games like Heavy Rain and playing them.
Table small-talk about ‘Hooo boy, I got my credit card bill and saw I spent more than $100 in Home last month,” was not unusual. Even if we cut that in half to $50 and multiply by the approximately 500 poker players who frequented those tables, that is $25,000 per month in lost revenues. Or more than a quarter of a million dollars a year. The economic impact is about the same as if the entire Homelings group disappeared tomorrow.
Can the poker rooms return and will everything return to what it was? I doubt it. It has dragged on too long. BUT – can Sony and their developers learn a valuable lesson from this: attractions that encourage ongoing team activities, not just for the duration of one game but for years, are the basis of a strong social/gaming network. A lot of people under 21 come to Home for the freebies and the mini-games. But the ones over 21 are attracted more by the relationships they form. The under-21 folks are still in school; they have contact with others on a social basis daily. But the over-21 group is out of school, locked into a job where they meet very few new people, hungry for conversations and relationships, and looking for places with activities they enjoy and people to talk to.
Imagine you are a 32-year-old female, recently divorced, working in an insurance company office in a major city who likes to meet people, talk, get dressed up and go out, have a group activity that is ongoing (hmm, sounds like line-dancing in Austin). She has a PS3 because she likes to play games like Heavy Rain and has been gaming since the Atari days when she was a kid. She finds Home – and what is there for her to do in here? Developers, start thinking along those lines. There are millions of PS3 owners (average age buyer is 43) who are adults and who would spend time and money in Home if there were activities that scratched this itch.
Bringing this back full-circle, then:
Is Central Plaza really the best spot for game promotional events?
Oh, the business logic, at first glance, is obvious. Practically everyone goes to Central Plaza. It’s guaranteed to gain more exposure, over a longer period of time, than building a dedicated space (such as the Xi Museum) for the promotion. Possibly less expensive, too.
But let’s dig underneath this for a moment. The Killzone mini-games in Central Plaza are free. So there’s lots of exposure, yes, but how much measurable revenue?
Conversely, how much revenue is lost from Central Plaza “regulars” who go there for the social scene and have instead moved elsewhere in Home, and thus are not visiting the commerce point there?
Again: none of this is written as an anti-Sony diatribe. Home is a wonderful experience, and let’s not forget that it is a for-profit commercial venture designed to support the sales of video game titles and other peripherals, first and foremost. But it is also worth asking whether or not a closer examination of the social aspects of the Home experience — and, in fact, catering more towards those aspects, as opposed to simply placing all of the emphasis on developing the gaming elements of Home — might in fact yield greater long-term profitability.
February 10th, 2011 by keara22hi | 24 comments
Keara is also known in Home as DarthGranny. She is a wicked little old lady with a wild sense of humor.
100% agreed,i still see no good reason y both the social and gaming aspects can’t b pursued simultaneously 2 the utmost.Even better would b a combination of the 2,which is exactly what the EA Poker room was.Yes there were cheats,i know of ppl the messaged each other their hands 4 instance,but it was in my view a test of my poker skills,i proved 2 myself i was a decent player if i could win at a blk table knowing 4or5 of the players were communicating their cards.Sadly i 2 believe its been far 2 long 2 resurrect it and have it go back 2 the way it was,but its far from 2 late 2 make something that blends both aspects into something that ppl will pay 4 and b able 2 form lasting friendships by playing.I just dont c y sony isnt doing more of that kinda thing,the closest thing i see atm is the dolphy races,but they r over in a brief time and then u wait 4 what seems like 4ever.If the gf2 poker tables were seriously intended 2 replace the EAPoker room some1 goofed and goofed badly and the brimstone tables dont allow u 2 meet new ppl the way EA did.I believe it was the 2nd or 3rd day on home that i met my very 1st friend,Darthgranny,there as well as many others that i now or once called friend so im probably biased here but i firmly believe something that captures the same essence that room had could potentially b a huge cash cow that sony could milk 4 years 2 come if it so wished.R.I.P. EA Poker u r sorely missed.
Personally, I’m boycotting Central Plaza until the war is over. I’m going to Seasideor the Mall Plaza to meet new people.
Yeah,ive spent much less time in central plaza lately since the promotion started.This is not a blend of social and gaming interests but a full on gaming experience and honestly i can’t wait til its back 2 normal or on 2 the next game.
The loss of the Ea Sports center was truly a shock, and it is to the discredit of Ea and Sony to be quiet about the reasons why.
One thing that bothers me about home is the weekly bombardment of purchasable items vs. maintenance and core upgrades.
I think its cool that Sony has allot to offer your avatar. ( even if it comes with a price tag)
whats not so cool is, it seems Sony has given up on remodeling some of the old spaces and upgrading the avatar.
Lets start by giving the avatars more movement, interaction with the environment and with other avatars,- anyone up for some flexibility? Currently our avatars are as stiff as a corn-dog on a stick.
After an avatar makeover, I would like to see Sony go back and give some of our favorite old spaces a makeover too. With new interactive items,features, exclusives and games.
Come on Sony!! What good is all these virtual bars in home, when you can not have any interaction -- but sit, stand, or text chat?
Lets face it the small list of dance moves and cheesy emotes are yesterdays tech. Its time Sony goes back to basics and upgrade the core of home.
I think it’s worth repeating: what makes Home addictive is not the games and virtual content; it’s the friendships we form here.
The EA Sports Poker Rooms were prime locations for meeting new people in a gaming context. The combination of a challenging card game, easy table-talk, portable bankrolls and seasonal leaderboards, which reset every few weeks, was unbeatable. If EA is not returning, I hope some developer can reproduce that formula elsewhere in Home. Until that happens, I’ll be spending my Home time with the Homeling Collective.
Ah, Sullys… When I first discovered Home, it truly was like the ideal mashup of Cheers and Coyote Ugly; everyone knew your name, and all the girls (ahem, “girls”) danced on the bar. The handful of long-standing friendships I have made within Home (these are people who I have made the social connection with and took it out beyond the realm of Home) date back to those days. On the surface, there wasn’t anything there of any merit to keep us coming back -- no games, no free rewards, nothing. It was just the interaction that kept us returning back for more. It was such a devastating blow to us that fateful day in October of 2009 when they did the core update and took our favorite (and for the majority of us, only) glitching spot away.
I don’t think I bothered really staying in any public space for very long once that happened, and in fact took up region hopping as a result. When I did go on US Home, it was to go to private spaces for parties and karaoke (yes, karaoke on mic in Home is possible -- expect much hilarity to ensue). Some of my friends went off and found new connections in the aforementioned EA Poker Rooms. I can’t imagine how devastating it must’ve been for them to lose their favorite hangout twice. Sure other spaces came; the Singstar space, EA’s Club Fight Night, Ratchet and Clank, Irem, but none of them had that “X Factor” (if you will) that made us want to stick and call it our new Home. And just like Keara described, people left, and for the same reasons she described in her article.
Fact is, this is a very common occurrence, especially in the internet social scene. Change even the smallest thing in a forum or network, and it can in fact leave a huge (and permanent) mark upon the community who frequents it. In some cases, it can affect it so greatly, the space stops existing, and the domain is abandoned. These things happen out in the real world too, but the accelerated timeline of the internet makes it all the more noticeable.
Thank you for a very interesting morning read, Keara.
With the recent change/demise at Hudson, one has to wonder what will happen to the dolphy races. Dolphy racing has become a very social scene for a lot of Home users, and it would indeed be a shame to lose yet another public space in Home that so wonderfully combines gaming and social elements.
Mike’s earlier comments, by the way, were spot-on. This magazine has been beating the drums for months about seeing a core client update that enhances the *social* aspects of Home, and we firmly believe that if it is done correctly (i.e. offering new dance moves and gestures as for-download purchases), Sony could make quite a bit of money off of this.
Gah! I hadn’t heard about that.
http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a302849/hudson-entertainment-closing-down.html
wow bummer I hope the Japanese owners don’t
shut it down there. I know a lot of people who would be angry at that one. After all we bought a dolphin space and lovingly raised and raced them like the virtual pets they truly are. This is not good.
I guess this means I won’t be getting “My Aquarium 2″ any time soon. (whimpers)
I got into an interesting conversation with someone at the mall today. He works for Sony as a programmer for places like Home. I asked him straight out if we could get more items in our personal spaces or not, since I have heard varying reports on this. He said that it was not only possible but that it will happen, but not til next year
He said that Sony isn’t really focused on Home right now, and what part they are focused on is more fixing errors that are here and getting the spaces they have planned for error free and up and running, such as the Steampunker space we have heard about. He said that’s why we don’t see a lot of new items from Sony themselves in the stores right now. They are more concerned with what they already have on their plate.
I loved the article Keara as always. I didn’t play at EA as much as you did, but it was always fun when I did. And I can feel for the people that are so upset that a place they loved seems to be gone forever.
O.O
Causes one to ponder more than a few things where removal of spaces and/or items goes.
Sometimes Homelings liked to hang out in the Warhawk space. Simply because it was somewhat unused and generally quiet. While am understanding to the why part of its removal, am not particularly crazy about the how part. Not much notice, no send-off… *sad face*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh7ZcvdJ1Bo
Now… there was some talk on the SCEA Home forums about changing up the arcade games in the Bowling Alley because users were bored with the same old games all the time… games like ECHOCHROME. How would that affect Homelings? And how much would Sony actually care? Would they care enough not to remove it? Would they replace it with a new Echochrome game?
And what would the Homeling population do if Homelings (the community) was to cease existence on Home? How many Homelings would just leave Home? Obviously there are many Homelings who are involved with other things Home, who would likely carry on, but personally cannot imagine spending time in Home without Homelings
.
::fights down panic attack::
Losing access to the Echochrome suit would indeed be a major blow to the Collective. I would like to think that the Home management would make other arrangements — a new Echochrome game, as you suggest, or simply making the suit a free item in the Mall in perpetuity. But if they did not, I don’t think it would spell the death of Homelings. The avatar modifications are what really matter; as the recent wedding showed, you can easily recognize a Homeling in a suit or dress, while a human in Echochrome simply looks absurd. The Collective would adapt and move on.
However the larger question remains: does Sony care or notice how their customers are using Home? Do they see it as a product they provide, “take it or leave it”, or as a cooperative venture, an ongoing experiment in building a virtual community?
We have to accept we won’t have our world forever, or that it will forever remain unchanged. Echochrome may leave. Home itself may be discontinued. We have to cherish what we have, while we still have it, and hope there will be somewhere else to go once it is gone.
True,but we should do as much as we possibly can 2 preserve the good times while they r still going.Its much easier 2 preserve something than it is 2 resurrect it from the dead or 2 try 2 re-capture the essence of it in something new.Honestly atm it feels like sony says”take it or leave it”more often than not,which is how many once giant companies started down the road 2 failure.If sony continues with that”take it or leave it”attitude eventually its competitors will catch on and do what they seem unwilling 2 do,offer a total gaming experience in a social setting.
“However the larger question remains: does Sony care or notice how their customers are using Home? Do they see it as a product they provide, “take it or leave it”, or as a cooperative venture, an ongoing experiment in building a virtual community?”
The single most important question ever asked by HSM. Right there.
The challenge, I think, is that Home was not designed as a self-contained virtual world unto itself (such as Second Life, Entropia, etc.), but rather as a support tool to promote sales of gaming titles and other paraphernalia. Since its purpose is different, it must — out of necessity — slant itself towards gaming-derived revenue, first and foremost.
Our hope, with HomeStation, is that we can help encourage developers to continue enhancing the *social* aspects of Home. There is quite a lot of profitability to be had there.
Although Im terrible at Poker, (Hard to believe that my father was a card & Backgammon player) I loved the social aspects of it. Even the brimstone table was fun, I didnt really care that much about my credits falling all the way to zero, I just loved the fun and the laughter. I have been to EA Poker rooms but could never get a game it being so busy. (Which isnt a bad thing)
Gambling is now banned on Second Life, for reasons that Linden labs could never get a look in. (ie. Take percentage in a clubs earning) with their gaming machines.
I’m sure the poker rooms wasn’t removed for that particular reason. But it is a shame.
If they ever do bring the tables back I hope they incorporate the voice chat features because if i remember , you couldnt communicate while playing the games.
Wow, i lose my laptop for a bit and things go kaboom?lol. so hudson went boom and now they actually going to remodel the bowling alley?? WOW! while i would be sad to see the dolphy space go (see my review on it ^_-) it seems that once the space loses it’s license it will probably join the EA poker room
while this is truly saddening, it is the way of the world and also it’s miniature model we call Home. All things end.even the most epic ones.
Now as for the bowling alley remodel, while it would be a good thing( i personally like the other regoins better) the loss of icebreaker to me is a mute point not many play it or would care if it was gone.
but the echochrome game..that transends anything to do with the homelings(while i do see how it would be a terrible blow to them) THAT game is home history!And out in that “Real life” some people play they protect history. So perhaps if the Home Devs saw how much those games (or at least the items won from them matter) they might take another course.
perhaps like seal said putting the items in the mall would make some happy, i personally think some things in home should just be left alone. by all means, gut and refurbish the bowling alley. Add new games! but what’s the harm in leaving one lone echochrome and icebreaker game in the corner? Like that odd lil galiga machine in the corner of the local arcade keeping pac man company?i think we should give them at least that
Being on home only a year i must admit im ignorant,no shame in being ignorant only shameful if u choose 2 remain so,about the history of this game.If i may b so bold,id suggest that maybe u could do an article on its history.Then maybe more ppl would care about its future,i 4 one would find such an article fascinating.
I second what cthulu93 said. That sounds like an epic article, and DJ_Tenchu is the guy to write it!
Agreed. Doo eet, Tenchu!
We talked about this before, Tenchu. You are the only person I know who could do this. Please! See you at staff meeting today.
The EA Sports Poker rooms were the best space on Home. Now I mainly visit Home infrequently to play a game of chess in the mall, or a poker game in the Godfather room. I’ve explored other areas of Home, and they don’t have the same appeal. Now my PS3 is used mainly for disc games and movies (discs and Netflix). It’s a shame EA/Sony do not see the potential of the poker rooms. It was truly a unique experience to play a fun game, but the social interaction was by far the element that all the other spaces in Home lack. During poker, you talk & converse while you wait for your turn, and that is what made it great. Bit by bit we got to know other players, and became online friends.
Your Welcome for any help I might have put into this
At the time you e-mailed me your question about where displaced Home users go, Keara had already completed development of this article. However, the sentiment behind that question is one which several users have expressed, and we’re glad that we were able to provide some coverage of this topic.
Thanks again for reading HomeStation!