Preview of the Club Construction Kit
by SealWyf, HSM team writer
“Call me Ishmael,” said the man across the table. “At least in print. I’m not supposed to be here.”
I sipped my chai tea latte to hide my smile. An investigative reporter has to put up with a lot of drama, especially in the touchy field of software leaks. If my informant wanted to prove he had read Moby-Dick in high school, who was I to argue? And if he wanted to pretend his company was named “Pequod Gaming Systems, Ltd” I was willing to go along with the game. After all, there’s more than one kind of legendary white whale.
For what “Ishmael” had come to this downtown DC Starbucks to show me was a Leviathan of epic proportions. It was nothing less than a leak of a major subsystem of post-beta Home: the Club Construction Kit.
Please read that again. Three words. Club, as in clubhouse, fam, mafia, Collective. Construction, as in you can build things with it. Kit, as in a set of tools. For the construction. Of clubs.
As a member of the Homelings, the largest and most complex club in Home, I understood the potential. In open-beta Home, basic clubhouses are purchased for five dollars at the Estates store. They are better than private apartments for club halls, because they can hold 32 people. Members can use the clubhouse without the owner being present. And the club owner can appoint administrators to do the day-to-day scutwork of adding members. However, only the club owner can delete members. And only the club owner can decorate the clubhouse.
I don’t have to tell any HomeStation reader that the present clubhouse is the dullest, drabbest, emptiest space imaginable. It’s like a dorm room from my college years, blown up to barn proportions. The walls are white. The light is flat. And there are no picture frames. For a person obsessed with holding in-Home art shows, this last omission is particularly galling. It’s the reason that all Home art shows have to be held in private spaces, with all the headaches that entails.
But the reason for this omission is obvious once you think of the mechanics of picture display in Home. In a private space, the furnishings are stored on the owner’s hard disk drive, and broadcast to guests. Those downward-pointing arrows you sometimes see in frames mean that pictures are being downloaded.
In clubhouses, the furnishings are stored on a central server. This is why the club owner need not be present – each club member receives a download from Sony Central. But pictures take up a lot more storage space than standardized sofas. Sony just can’t spare the storage for pictures in free clubhouses. There’s no margin in it. And so, no frames.
But now the rules were changing. “Tell me more,” I said. “Will there be picture frames?”
SCEA testing prototype Home interface
“There can be,” said Ishmael, his gaze sliding sideways toward the door. “It’s a Construction Kit. Picture frames are one of the options. They’re part of the rental agreement.”
Rental agreement. Uh, oh. Monetization. I should have known that was coming.
Ishmael explained the concept, and it wasn’t as bad as I had feared. With the Club Construction Kit, picture frames are an option. That is, you don’t have to use them. And you only pay for what you use. If you want image storage (or music storage, or video storage) on Sony’s servers, you pay a monthly rent, presumably modest, for a few gigabytes of space in the cloud. If you don’t want it, you don’t pay. Simple.
And you won’t need pictures to make your club beautiful. Like I said, it’s a construction kit. A kit with options. Lots of options. Which Ishmael was spreading out on the table in the form of color 8-by-10 glossy color prints of concept renderings stamped “DO NOT DISTRIBUTE”.
SCEA Homeling Mothership Clubhouse (CONCEPT)
“Is this a space ship?” I asked, picking up one of the images. The drawing was sketchy, but I recognized curved metal bulkheads and round-cornered windows with stars beyond.
“Yes, that one’s for our more Fluidic customers.” Ishmael grinned. He knew whom he was talking to – had known when he called to set up our appointment. Am I speaking to Commander SealWyf? he had said, his voice crackling on the receiver, and I felt myself falling down the rabbit hole.
Now, in the Starbucks, I held a dream in my hand. Holy cow! I thought. Motherships! Wait ‘til General Nos hears this!
What I said was, “Indeed.” I tried to look inscrutable.
“There are over fifty architectural options planned,” Ishmael stated as he gathered up the pictures and dropped them back into his briefcase. “Conference rooms, castles, mansions, yachts, Moon bases, campsites, movie theaters and lecture halls. And one specifically designed as an art gallery, with twenty-five well-lighted, eye-level picture frame spots.”
Damn, he really did know who he was talking to.
Redesigned view from Hollywood Hills House
“Can you at least give me an image for the article?” I pleaded. “The Mother-, er, Space-ship would be nice.”
“Sorry. It would be worth my job to do that.”
I didn’t remind him that it was worth his job just talking to me. It might scare him off. “What else can you tell me?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
What he told me had me hyperventilating. Like, improved admin functions: the club owner will be able to delegate full authority to others. Full authority, as in the ability to delete members and add furniture. The software will remember which sofa belongs to whom. There will even be an option to transfer ownership to another person for a one-time transaction fee. The club members and furniture would remain, undisturbed, though the members would have to verify they wanted to continue under new ownership. No re-launched MotherShips, ever again.
“I’ve saved the best for last,” said Ishmael, fishing in his briefcase for another photo. This one showed an avatar in Central Plaza, wearing the default blue tee and a silly grin. But, over his head, was a glowing sign like an HCV’s “Guide” badge, which said, “Chairman, Chess Club”.
“Club badges,” Ishmael explained. “Customized by the club owner. How would you like to go to a gathering with ‘Commander, MS 16’ above your head?”
“They’re hand items, right?” Damn, I would have to give up my giant cotton swab. But it might be worth it.
“Or…,” and his eyes slid sideways, “…how about a sign that says, ‘just.imagine’?”
Dang. The guy had done his homework.
“Okay, you’ve sold me,” I said. “When do we get this? I mean, when does Open Beta end?”
Ishmael shrugged. “Do you think they tell us that? We’re just developers. But it should be soon. Better get this article out there as soon as possible.” He stood, lifting his briefcase. “In fact, I suggest it would be best to post this article on the first day of April.”
It took me about ten seconds to catch on, while Ishmael stood there, rocking back and forth and grinning.
“Wait a minute – are you saying this is… a hoax?”
“Had you going there, didn’t I? You don’t think Sony will give us anything this cool, when they can keep selling those lame clubhouses?”
He was heading toward the door. I stood up, jostling the table and knocking over the chai tea latte.
“Ishmael!” I called.
But he was gone.
April 1st, 2011 by SealWyf | 9 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer by day, and an officer in the Homeling Collective by night. She has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is utterly addicted to PlayStation Home.
Great story Seal! You had me going and I knew it was April Fools!
GLORIOUS!!!
*smiles hugely*
… hate April 1st…
We can dream.
Who in their right mind plays April Fool jokes anymore?
Is silly hoom custom, Seal thinks. ::bows::
This whole day every years makes me die a little. But nevertheless good job HSM team.
EPIC! Imagine that! Great story Seal!
that would be a wonderful idea. as it is, i use my clubhouse for a different idea. one thing that has always bothered me about the apartments is that if your signifigant other is in their apartment, you have to ask for an invite. so i made my clubhouse our home. we’re the only two with keys and our other accounts are linked to it too. we can come and go as we please, change, etc. ive decorated it like a house too. kitchen, dining area, living room, bed room, rec room, even a bathroom. i change it around every once in a while as not to get stale. and since we’re eight hours apart, i tend to fall asleep with a rubber band on the stick. but how to wake someone up from across the world? easy. getting sleepy, i turn up the volume. sit down by the boom box. it gets turned on and i fly out of my chair in shock! someone from around the world can wake you up. WOO HOO!!!
I love this idea, backarch! I’ll have to send a suggestion to “Ishmael” that they include “jointly-owned apartments” in the Tool Kit.
I forgot to mention that one the improvements is the raising of club limits: the number of clubs you can own will be increased to five, while the number in which you can be a member will be raised to 25. That will be almost sufficient.