Echo Chronicles: A Homeling Looks At Content
by SealWyf, HSM team writer
“Homelings began with an outfit and idea,” said phats. Seal took notes. She had never heard the Collective’s history stated so concisely.
The outfit was the Echochrome Suit. It has been available continuously since Home’s closed beta, a reward from the Echochrome arcade game in the Bowling Alley. One beta tester, buddy118, looked at it and had an idea: This would be a great outfit for playing an alien! He created a bald, big-eyed avatar to go with the suit, and transformed himself into Mother, the first of the Homelings.
It was a joke at first. By all accounts, closed beta Home was extremely boring. People made their own amusements, using the open mic to troll in Central Plaza, glitching onto the scenery, and starting random costume-based organizations. Most of those early clubs have died. But the Homelings stuck around, and thrived. Along the way, they ceased being a joke. We are now a Collective based on fun, friendship and respect for all in Home.
But, having begun with a “look”, the Homelings are still obsessed with their physical appearance. We have a specific officer, our Cogniscienti, kozfear, who is tasked with defining the “Homeling aesthetic” manifested in our dress code. Every Thursday brings excitement as we scan the new virtual content for items that “look Fluidic” — that will fit in with the Homeling aesthetic.
Most new content is useless to us. Homelings simply don’t look right in jeans and t-shirts, bikinis, or diamond-dripping suits. To be accepted, an object needs to match one of our two major premises:
- We are space aliens, dammit;
- We’re actually rather funny
The “space alien” has been part of Homeling culture since buddy118 looked at Echochrome and saw a spacesuit. Since then, there have been two main interpretations of the Homeling identity: either we are fearsome beings out to conquer Home, or we are friendly, but clueless about Earth culture.
I call these two branches of the Homeling aesthetic “the dystopic” and “the playful”. Anyone who has been reading my articles will know that I fall squarely on the playful side of the equation. It’s why my usual hand accessory in Home is a giant Cotton Swab.
Here are some of the major “high points” in Homeling physical culture, as provided by the virtual content of PlayStation Home:
The Bubble Machine (Sony)
One of the few items of Homeling gear provided by default, Bubble Machines have become a major item of “playful” Homeling culture. One of our common public activities, the “Klent Circle”, involves doing the Rave Dance around one or more Bubble Machines. Any time Homelings gather, Bubble Machines will usually appear.
The White Kimono Skirt (Irem)
This is one of the few vital Homeling items that has been lost. Even before Irem Square appeared in NA Home, world-traveling Homelings brought the White Kimono back from Japan. Once Irem Square arrived in North America, the free White Kimono Skirt became an optional part of the uniform for all Homeling officers. The loss of Irem meant that the supply of White Kimonos has been cut off. We are still trying to find a replacement. (Note to developers: if you make one, we will buy it.)
The Cotton Swab (Lucas Arts)
A Monkey Island spinoff, the Cotton Swab has become a favorite Homeling accessory for those who think that weapons just send the wrong impression. And it’s always a great way to start conversations. “Is that a giant Q-Tip? Where did you get that?” It’s like walking a cute dog — random comments can lead to friendships.
Light Sabers and glowing batons (various)
For a spacey, but less silly look, glowing sticks are the way to go. There is a wide variety of glowing hand items in the Mall, from replica Light Sabers from Lucas Arts to several kinds of glowsticks and sparklers. Homelings love things that glow in the dark. At least I know that I do. For the more martial among us, the glowing fantasy weapons from Lockwood are a popular addition to Homeling costume.
Glowing Eyes and Eyepatches (various)
Speaking of glowing things, the luminous eyes from Lockwood were a wonderful addition to the Homeling wardrobe. Glowy eyes fit well with either the dystopic or playful side of the aesthetic. Although the green ones are definitely scary. I’ve added some to my “serious” black General’s outfit, for those times I want to make a strong impression.
An even stronger impression is given by the many Homeling officers who have adopted eyepatches as part of their uniform. The implication is that they are back from the wars, and it was a tough fight. This accessory is most common among the officers who survived some of the more difficult episodes of Homeling history.
The Anime Style personal space (Sony)
If I had to pick one personal space that was Homeling to the core, it would be this one. It’s definitely on the dystopic side of scale. But you can really imagine Homelings living here, gazing out over the city and hatching evil plans of Home domination (just kidding). Most Homelings own this space, and some use it as a substitute clubhouse for meetings.
Spaceship Walls (Loot)
Designed as movie-set components, the modular Spaceship Walls from Loot are the perfect way to dress up a clubhouse as a MotherShip. They’re a little fussy to work with, but the result is worth it. I’ve also seen them used to great effect in the Anime Style and Silicon Lounge personal spaces.
Disco lights, Trance Lights, Smoke Machines and Lasers (various)
Once you have your MotherShip, you need to light it. The various disco lighting rigs can give a dull space an exciting sci-fi look. The more lights you can pack in, the better. Try dropping some so they tip over and shine in unexpected directions.
Jellyfish (Hudson)
The floating Jellyfish headphone item was adopted enthusiastically by Homelings. It’s free (always a plus for us), it’s alien, and it’s funny. The only downside is that, as a headphone, it can’t be worn by officers unless they can find a headphone classified as something else, such as glasses. You don’t see as many Jellyfish on Homelings as you did when they were new, but they are still around.
Planets (Loot, Lockwood)
I love the Loot Planets. But why are they sitting on the floor? With a little glitching, you can get them to float. But why should we have to? Just a question for the developers, in case they ever want to re-issue them. That said, they made MotherShip 16 wonderfull “spacey” until the repair of the simple floating glitch made them impractical.
I’m also fond of the floating Sun and Earth lamps from Lockwood. These do float (although I wish they were higher), and they rotate. Downside: they are lights, so they have to fit into the eight light allowance for a space.
The Novus Prime Officer’s Quarters personal space (Hellfire Games)
Space. The Final Apartment. These are the voyages…. Sorry. I got carried away. This is a very Homeling space. And, with some manipulation, you can get outside and stand among the stars. What more could any space alien want?
The Silicon Lounge personal space (Lockwood)
What I do go for is the Silicon Lounge, which manages to be sci-fi without being specifically outer-spacey. I love the vast spaces, and the way high-tech interactive surfaces are combined with low-tech items like fires and carpets. It’s also a dark space, so glowing objects look terrific. A number of Homelings have set up Assimilation spaces in their Silicon Lounge apartments.
Holographic Wings (Lockwood)
One of the newest items to be enthusiastically adopted by the Collective is the holographic wings from Lockwood, which they consider to be “track wear”. Wings in general are controversial among Homelings; we are neither birds nor angels. But these are high-tech, sci-fi wings. As a hand item, they don’t disrupt Echochrome. And they look great in dark spaces. Expect more of these in Homeling gatherings in the future.
Active Camera (Loot)
Homelings are relentlessly creative. We love documenting our activities. A number of us have video capture devices. There are dozens of Homeling videos on YouTube. But the addition of video capture to the Loot Active Camera has sparked a surge of creative activity. The staff of MotherShip 27 is producing two Homeling talk shows. Expect to see more Homeling video content as we explore this new tool.
Elemental Monsters Magic Circles (Hudson)
These new glowing disks have become all the rage among Homelings. They have that Fluidic sci-fi look, they glow in dark spaces, and one of them is free. If they weren’t a hand item, I might adopt one. But I would hate to give up my beloved Cotton Swab.
The Future
Part of the fun of being Homeling is playing with the content Home provides. Yes, it can be frustrating when a beloved item, such as the White Kimono Skirt, vanishes forever. And one of the Collective’s greatest fears is that the Echochrome Arcade Machine will be retired, and our signature costume lost.
There’s no sign of it happening soon. But the future is unknown territory. However, if Echochrome vanishes, we will find a replacement. It’s our avatar modifications — the bald head, the alien features — that really define the Homeling look.
But what if we face the opposite situation? What if Home moves in the direction of Second Life, and lets users design their own content? What if we could create the Homeling aesthetic, rather than depending on found objects?
Too much freedom may not seem like a problem. But it could become one. It is the conflict of the collage artist versus the painter: instead of recognizing the objects that fit our needs, we would have to decide what our needs are, and design new objects from scratch.
If buddy118 could have designed anything to create a space alien, would he have made Bubble Machines? Or giant Cotton Swabs? Jellyfish floating above the head? Somehow, I doubt it. These things are eccentric and quirky, not prototypical sci-fi gear. But it is these odd, funny objects that help make Homelings fun to be in, or to watch.
I’m not expecting Second Life-style user content in Home any time soon. But it’s interesting to think about: What would we make, if we could make anything? Meanwhile, we wait and watch, and check the weekly content updates. We try on new items, and debate.
But if nothing appeals to us this week, there’s always the next one. We have 52 “Christmas mornings” every year, each one bringing surprises. And with all the content pouring into Home, some of it is bound to be Fluidic.
November 10th, 2011 by SealWyf | 12 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.
Yes. Love all that stuff!
Well written Homeling glory = personal favorite
Great article Seal. I have been around all of you long enough now to have been able to see some of the evolution of your dress styles. I don’t think that Sony will ever take away the EchoChrome suit because they are very well aware of the Homeling existence in Home and they like your positive influence as a group. That combined with your buying power will keep them from taking away this staple in your clothing diet I think.
Long Live Homelings!
I was shocked to see the Hamster suit among the “clearance” items. I can’t imagine what Sony is thinking. They should, at least, leave the hammie head. Great article as always, SealWife. Thank you for giving us your insights to the Homelings.
I agree Kassadee I don’t know how Hamster Freedom is going to recruit new members without at least the head being left in the store.
I would love to see user generated content in the form of costumes and avatar customization in general, but it would mean the overshadowing of big name content creators like Lockwood. I’m hoping this becomes a reality though.
Very well written article indeed. great work General Seal. Love the article.
oops i see a picuture of Nana in the background, i will take payments in bacon, oh, and wonderful article MamaSeal
Bacon on the way, Nana!
I’m delighted by the response to this piece. I had thought of it as a deadline-meeting no-brainer, but its appearance happened to coincide with the announcement of much early Home content being retired, and my little article suddenly become topical.
For what it’s worth, I predict that the Hamster head will stay. I suspect what happened was that someone in Sony did a database search on “older items that aren’t selling very well” and didn’t run the results by someone knowledgeable in Home’s user-created culture. Everybody loves the Hamsters, and you can’t have Hamsters without their iconic head. What this episode has taught us is how dependent we are on virtual content in our creations. It’s humbling, and a bit scary.
Homelings lost their white Kimono Skirt (the main marker for officers) when Irem went under. The Pharaoh Skirt, an item used by many male Commanders, is on the current chopping block. We don’t see Echochrome leaving any time soon, but if it does, we will adapt. What really defines the Homeling look is the all-white color scheme, sci-fi accessories and the avatar modifications — no hair, invisible eyebrows and distorted, alien features. As long as these modifications are possible, we can be recognizably Homeling.
And if they aren’t? What if some future dystopic version of Home made us all choose perfectly proportioned human faces? Then we would still have our core “idea”, respect for all in Home, and our sense of fun. Homelings are eternal. Or at least very persistent.
You sound just like me a bit there.
I hope that’s a good thing.
Home is a lot more interesting since I joined the Homeling collective. . .the items spoken of in the article are a major part of what I acknowledge as Homeling atire. . .what is no more I hope will be replaced in store or substituted. . .and what is still. . .I hope stays . . .ditto Nos. . .and uh?? would you share the bacon Bananamuffin???