The PlayStation Home Gothic Manor
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
Who here remembers The 7th Guest?
I recall, when Final Fantasy VII came out, everyone going bugnuts over the full-motion-video cutscenes — and wondering what the big deal was, because I’d been playing CD-ROM games with FMV clips for over half a decade at that point. Anyone who enjoyed PC gaming during the early ‘nineties will recall some great classics like Myst, Obsidian, The Journeyman Project, The Daedalus Encouter, and more. Games which were light-years ahead of anything consoles would be able to deliver until, frankly, the next millennium.
Especially The 7th Guest.
For the young’uns reading this who may not be familiar with the game I’m citing: it was, in a nutshell, a haunted-house puzzle game in which you had to decipher the riddle of the Stauf mansion. Describing this game so tersely, though, is like describing Keane as just a trio of lads from East Sussex; there’s so much more to the story than that. Thanks to some difficult puzzles, outstanding music from George “Fat Man” Sanger, graphics that really were memorable, and some genuinely frightening moments, The 7th Guest was a game that just never got old. For those of you packing an iPhone or an iPad, you can download this classic and discover its awesomeness.
What I remember most about that game, though: the house itself.
The Stauf Mansion
Whereas the haunted house in Uninvited was a somewhat cartoony affair, the Stauf mansion was a genuinely freaky place. I don’t think anyone who’s played that game can ever forget standing at the foot of that iconic staircase. The Stauf mansion was as much a character as anyone else in the game, and you always had this slightly unnerving feeling that you were being watched.
The reason why I’m reminiscing about this game (which, at this point, is nearly twenty years old) — because I’ve been silently hoping and praying it’ll be rediscovered and remade in some form. And because I’m secretly harboring a desire to own the Stauf house as a personal estate in Home.
(Imagine it: owning a personal estate which requires solving puzzles to unlock sections. It’d certainly be more fun than the tedium of collecting pickories at Loco Roco.)
So, when I heard that Home was going to have a new estate, simply called the Gothic Manor, my curiosity was piqued. Would this be the epic-win estate I’d been waiting for?
Alas, no.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad estate. It’s just…underwhelming, in the same way that the Silent Hill movie adaptation was underwhelming. It had all the right elements, and yet something’s just missing.
Some context is in order. I own a lot of personal estates. Not all of them by any means, but quite a decent number. And, if I’m honest, most of them sit unused like clothes from ten years ago. I know I wore them at one point, but really, what sort of paint thinner was I sniffing when I bought them?
I rarely regret any money I’ve spent in Home. The way people moan and rage over microtransactions is, frankly, astonishing to me. That said, I regret many of the personal estates I’ve purchased over the last couple of years. Most of them just don’t do anything. I’m in Home for the social interaction — the wonderful sociological public spectacle that unfolds every day, the interplay of conversations, the fascinating study of human behavior in an anonymous society — so, to me, sitting alone in a personal estate sort of defeats the point of being in Home.
Yes, personal estates have value — just less so to me. And this is one of the reasons why, with the wide selection of estates Home users now enjoy, it’s absolutely imperative for a developer to offer an estate that’s got something unique or different to it. Something that makes it worthwhile to come back. LOOT, in this regard, has done a brilliant job of making their spaces incredibly valuable by offering Entertainment On Demand technology. I’m predicting, right here and now, that LOOT’s portable EOD — when it goes on sale this year — will be a sales megahit, and indeed one of the most valuable virtual commodities in the history of Home.
Another example that comes to mind is Hellfire Games’ Novus Prime Officer Quarters. There’s really nothing remarkable about the space as such — except for the antigravity simulator. That right there is worth the price of admission. Same goes for the TankTop minigame in the Sodium Blaster’s Paradise estate by Lockwood.
A great example, though — and it’s ironically the biggest thorn in the Gothic Manor’s side — is Juggernaut’s Cutteridge Estate.
The Gothic Manor is almost certainly going to draw comparisons to the Cutteridge Estate, and frankly, it doesn’t stack up particularly well. Cutteridge is a larger space with fantastic sound design, multiple rooms, a challenging minigame, weather effects, and the sense of a backstory. It feels alive.
The Gothic Manor, on the other hand, is basically one big room with a small outdoors area, an upstairs landing, and a decent nighttime sky. There are no sound effects. There is no minigame. The whole environment feels static. Christ, our avatars don’t even cast shadows.
Take a look at Jersquall’s preview video to get an idea of what I’m on about:
Oh, here’s something you’ll love. Mansion owners get a bonus room in the Gothic Manor. Now, looking at the manor from the outside, you’d think it’s the mysterious third floor that you can see but not get to. Except you’d be wrong.
The bonus room is little more than a glorified broom closet underneath the staircase.
Yes, that’s right. For owning three pieces of the most overhyped, gauche estate in all of Home’s portfolio — and spending enough money to outfit a small army in order to have such bragging rights — you get access to the room where I suspect Harry Potter was tied up in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. WOW.
I can practically hear Bill Hicks’ laughter as I type this.
To be fair, I don’t really envy Sony’s position right now. They made an aggressive marketing choice with the Mansion by introducing bonus features to other estates, and it’s placed them in a classic Catch-22 situation. If they make the bonus features too desirable, then you have non-Mansion owners up in arms about paying full price but not getting the full monty. On the flipside, if you dial it back too far, you have Mansion owners wondering where their exclusive perks are. It’s a no-win situation. Particularly since, at this point, going back on that strategy would make the more shrill and irrational trolls “critics” on the Sony forum feel like they won, and while I dislike the Mansion, I dislike those people and their recent behavior even more.
So. What are the redeeming factors about the Gothic Manor, and to whom will it appeal?
The two major groups that this space will appeal to are interior designers who like more of a “blank canvas” estate plan to work with, and people who inherently gravitate to the ambiance of the setting. For the interior designers who like the ability to interpret a space, the Gothic Manor is quite ideal. Unless you go through active items like Bill Shatner goes through hairpieces, the new hundred-item limit introduced by Home 1.6 will give you quite a lot of latitude in decorating the Manor to your heart’s content. I personally like the idea of turning it into a sort of Tim Burton restaurant for the slightly deceased, but that’s just me.
And, to be fair, there are going to be some people who will buy the Gothic Manor just because they like the setting. And you know what? I respect that. My favorite estate is still to this day the Log Cabin — one of Home’s oldest estates — and I would’ve gladly paid double the price for it, just because I like the ambiance there so much. There will doubtlessly be people who just like the Gothic setting (particularly anyone who’s a Southern Gothic fan, as the outside setting has more in common with Carolina than Carpathia), and since Home is populated by no shortage of emo teenagers who haven’t the foggiest clue whom Lord Ruthven is but delight to no end in splashing themselves with as much black as they can acquire, I suspect the sales figures will be decent enough.
Although this does little for me, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the estate’s owner has the ability to gift items to visitors, including a rather cool goblet. Whether or not that helps justify investing in the estate, which will retail for $4.99, is a personal matter entirely.
It’s not that I dislike the Gothic Manor. I don’t. It just seems like it arrived two years too late. Were this 2009 or early 2010, I think we’d have a more positive outlook on it. But after some pretty insane offerings like the Space Apartment, Cutteridge Estate and Dream Yacht, the bar for acceptable mediocrity has simply been raised. In a marketplace which demands personal estate innovation — particularly with the onset of new clubhouses for the first time since open beta began — the Gothic Manor just sort of sits there like a bowl of vanilla ice cream. I don’t mind vanilla every now and then, but it’s the crazier stuff that gets my money, even if I have to pay more for it.
The Home Community Volunteers are offering open-house preview tours of the Gothic Manor (which, at the time of this writing, is not yet available for sale) and this is a really good opportunity to get to know some of the new members of the HCV program. If you have any doubt in your mind as to whether or not they provide a good community service, consider that they have to stand there and conduct tours, for hours on end, while snarky journalists like me come traipsing through. And keep in mind I’m unquestionably in the pro-Sony camp; I can’t even imagine the kind of patience it takes to put up with the real jackwagons out there. I’d have to install a Heavy Strike cannon in the manor just to maintain some shred of sanity.
I’m scoring the Gothic Manor a 2.5 out of 5 — right down the middle. And frankly I think I’m being a bit generous.
- Nice filtered lighting effects with the windows.
- It's just anticlimactic. Can't explain it better than that.
January 14th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 27 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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i think too than you are a litlle bit generous^^!
more seriously, the design and features are too poor for an actual estate, the intention is here, but the realisation is far away of the standards of juggernaut, lockwood or loot!
i thinks it’s time to stop the “easter egg” too, it become ridiculous…
In a same way, i would say the same for the nebula spaceship!
these appt have twoo years too late like you say norse!
I agree with you Sorrow, enough with the mansion perks. I think though it might have been a good sales ploy at the beginning,I haven’t seen any of the mansion pieces in the top ten, so I doubt it is helping them sell much anymore, people have moved on.
TO me the idea of having locked off rooms accessable ONLY by solving a puzzle of some kind would drive me rabid.There would have to be some kind of fail-safe entry,even if it was for a price,in case I couldn’t figure out the puzzle.That closed door in the Cutterridge estate still bothers me a little,although Darthgranny did me a huge favor,without even realizing it,when she told me what was behind it and how to get there,still it was worth the cash spent on it.Otherwise I think having unlockable rooms/wings/areas in a personal space isn’t a bad idea.Furthermore,welcome to the dark side Norse,lol.The place where Mansion owners have to justify their purchases of it and where those who dislike it or the rewards attached to it’s purchase make it sound like it’s the re-incarnation of Pol-Pot’s secret prison.If someone doesn’t like the Mansion fine,your entitled to feel that way,but don’t think for 1 second I’ll feel bad about buying it because they can’t get all the virtual trinkets attached to it’s purchase.Actually I’m quite happy with my Mansion purchase as it’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to owning one,unless I hit the Lottery c’mon 5 13 22 36 46 51,lol.
If anyone wants to recreate a church, this is a great space. If you want to get up in arms of the “bonus room” I suggest you take a look at it first hand and be prepared to feel silly about overreacting. It’s a broom closet; I’ve lived in homes with bathrooms bigger than this.
Selling virtual items is about selling experiences. What people have to decide is whether the experience is worth the money. And the answer can be “No.” Not everything can be cheese fondue. From the description, this place sounds more like dry white toast (not having seen it myself).
Part of being able to sell virtual items to consumers is the trust factor. You build up trust by always making sure the item is of more perceived value than the price. For an apartment, this can be as simple as appliances that are interactive (Summer Lake House) or as complex as a 3D version of PacMan (Cutteridge Estate).
In writing they talk about set up and pay off. It sounds like this is space is a little light on both. Make sure they get the feedback.
That’s a really good analogy, actually. In the pantheon of Home real estate, the Gothic Manor *is* dry white toast.
From a hardcore value standpoint, I can see an argument being made in favor of it; it’s five bucks, but that includes the gifts. And for someone who likes spaces which lend themselves to interpretive interior design schemes, it’s a winner.
But, to your point, the perceived value isn’t nearly as high as it would have been 24 months ago. No mini-game? No climate control (or even climate effects)? No sound design? No interactive elements of any kind? The conspicuous absence of all of these features, when contrasted to the much more involved offerings available today, really weakens the perceived value of the space relative to its cost.
Personal theory: this estate, like a few before it, will eventually end up as part of a sales bundle. Buy X estate, and you get the Gothic Manor for free. Or somesuch promotion.
The timing of its release might also be a drawback. We just came out of a holiday season that saw some truly ridiculous content deployed into Home, and thus the Gothic Manor stacks up sort of like a direct-to-DVD movie versus the latest Mission Impossible IMAX 3D extravaganza.
I really dislike picking apart a Home estate — I have no doubt that the people at Sony who put it together did the best job they could with what was conceptualized and budgeted — but it just feels uninspired.
Two years ago, the Gothic Manor would have been a solid performer; today it underwhelms. I suppose that’s a good commentary on just how far Home has come in terms of the quality of its content offerings.
I agree that these are things that people worked on and for that reason you need to tread lightly. But the reality is if they just start to crank out mediocre items thinking that the public will buy anything, the public needs to have their say also. The numbers of sales will probably be low, but make sure they hear why.
I expect this to be in the next value bundle. Although, so was one of my favorite spaces, the Paris Clocktower. So go figure.
BTW, still too busy to take a tour. Gnome Curling is my new addiction.
Generally speaking, I’ll always err on the side of cutting Sony slack and giving them the benefit of the doubt, because they’re the ones who spend all the time putting this stuff together. Some of the consumer feedback I’ve seen out there carries a horrible self-entitlement attitude, and has very little of practical value to offer.
I’ve got the space and I’m more than happy to show it, but I made sure to attend an HCV open house and note the reactions I witnessed there to make sure that I wasn’t just in my own bubble.
The general sense I was able to observe was a sort of “Is this it?” reaction. Not really anything negative or positive. Just sort of…well, dry white toast. Which is why I scored it right down the middle. I’m not going to penalize it just because of the Mansion tie-in (because, frankly, I like the experiment and in general I think most of its detractors are blowing things *way* out of proportion), but it’s really hard for me to give a higher rating as well when it just doesn’t do as much as other recent releases.
The Paris Clocktower is likewise one of my favorite spaces. It’s got lots of *motion* — the gears, the cityscape, the gargoyles — a fantastic lighting scheme, and just something intangible which makes it feel cool. I’ve turned mine into a sort of upscale, ultra-exclusive restaurant.
How’s the Gnome Curling? I haven’t tried it yet, and I’m hoping someone on the HSM team will have a go at reviewing it.
I love Gnome Curling. I don’t think it is a long term love, but it is good for me now. It is deserving of an article.
After reading this and seeing this space for myself I have to agree with the assessments. I won’t be buying this space because though it seems large it is actually very small and lacking in even decorating value in my book, and I love to decorate as everyone who knows me knows.
What is the sense of adding a bed in the furniture pack that will be available here when there isn’t even a bedroom to put it in? That was one of the first questions that came to my mind while there. Then I started to think that maybe they intend this to be a cheaper version of the mansion. where you will buy more parts for a lower prices than the previous one. That might be their intention, I hope so because otherwise this place doesn’t make much sense to me. There are two large stairways that lead to nowhere, not even fake doors upstairs, and that left me scratching my head I must say.
I’m also hoping that there is more to come. Like maybe a wall that slides to reveal a staircase to a 3rd floor? You can obviously see that one exists since its lit up when you view the mansion’s exterior. I was given a tour by HCV PoisonPreed who had placed a soon-to-be released from Mass Media, working (active item) piano. If you’ve played Resident Evil 5’s Nightmare DLC, it might be a game(space)changer. For me, it added the atmosphere that was lacking.
The space is far from a must have for me, but the piano is at the top of my list. I’m wondering if the door to the bonus room can be shut?
I can just imagine hiding myself in there to play the piano as guests arrive. Maybe some smoke sifting
thru the bottom of the door. Hee hee
Thanks PoisonPreed for the perfect display of product
placement and co-marketing.
The space, although inherently short on wow factor will have potential for those who value a design challenge. Or maybe like Burbie and I, hope for more to come.
I hereby nominate deuce_for2 to write the review of Gnome Curling. All in favor, say “AYE”. Let’s make it unanimous.
Does anybody get the feeling like this is a Personal Space created to rival in numbers sales wise the Cutteridge Estate?…
OMG, Norse -- 7th GUEST!
THE perfect personal space!!
If only..
I had the opportunity to tour this space last night (Thank you Y2David!). I find the interior space rather meh, but I love the patio area… the fish pond, the sky with that moon, the scenery… wow! I so wish it was bigger outside.
I seem to be in the minority on this, but I don’t understand why this space is getting such disdain. I haven’t actually visited the Creek Falls apt, only seen the video, but this space seems to be in the same class to me, and Burbie gave that one 5 stars.
I don’t agree that this is a small space. I took a quick tour of the open house, and saw a large main floor downstairs, the upper floor is only about a third as large but still decent enough, there’s a balcony on the second floor with a great view, and also a large outdoor patio.
The lighting effects on the second floor, especially along the windows, are awesome. The ambient sounds outside are perfect. The moon, the starry sky, the foliage, all strike the right note for me. I guess the Gothic theme just doesn’t appeal to many people.
This is a traditional space, at the traditional price point, which is simply intended as a getaway for your and your friends. That’s it, and I don’t see anything wrong with it, nor do I think it should be compared to spaces like the LOOT Space Apt or the Lockwood Dream Yacht which are at twice the price point.
I tend to appreciate the smaller, simpler spaces myself. Unfortunately, I never bought the Winter Villa, nor will I be buying the Creek Falls apt or even this Gothic Manor, because even though the aesthetics appeal to me, the linkages to the Mansion do not. At this point I have such a visceral hatred of the Mansion and the way that it’s been marketed that I will continue to boycott any space that is connected to it -- no matter how tenuously.
I may buy some of these spaces in the EU Home, but not in the NA Home.
We do encourage multiple reviews in HSM, as everyone will have a different viewpoint. I didn’t have time to review Creek Falls myself, but I would have rated it about a 2.5 to 3.0 personally.
Aesthetically, it reminds me of an oversized timeshare unit in the Poconos. The architectural style may appeal to some, but it’s a massive turn-off to me. I’ll admit that the water effects are quite lovely, but the space itself doesn’t have much to offer.
The point you raise about comparing estates that are clearly in different “classes” is an interesting one. Should a five-dollar estate (Gothic Manor) be compared to a seven-dollar estate (Cutteridge), or a ten-dollar estate (Dream Yacht, Space Apartment)? That’s a hard one to answer. The Gothic Manor is a strong value proposition empirically — it’s five bucks, but that includes the gifting — but in terms of *perceived* value (bells and whistles, not aesthetic appeal), it’s bland compared to the more high-profile offerings which got a lot of attention over the holidays.
The Gothic Manor strikes me as an inverted pricing experiment. With so much complaining about upward pressure on pricing, here’s a space with no snazzy features and freebie items for a low price tag. How many people will buy it? Is pricing more important, or is perceived value more important?
There are one or two technical oddities to the Gothic Manor. For one, why is there strong moonlight shining through every single window on all four sides of the estate? The full moon is clearly out front, so the lighting doesn’t jive. In addition, unless some programmer’s subtly intimating we’re all vampires, why don’t our avatars cast shadows?
Terra actually came up with what I think is the best suggestion for this space: turn it into a gothic church. The wide-open floor plan is ideally suited for such an arrangement. Now that “silencieux” is done filming, I may have to do this with the manor.
Well, again, not having actually viewed the Creek Falls apt, I can’t really comment on the “timeshare in the Poconos” perception, lol.
But for me, the aesthetics of any space have very much to do with the “perceived value.” Case in point, the LOOT Space apt, which I also haven’t viewed in person but have seen on video, and am holding off on purchasing. Why? Because even though it has lots of bells and whistles, I’m not sure I would appreciate the aesthetics.
Also, I don’t use Twitter, and would find a Twitter feed annoying at any rate. And I already have the Amaterasu yacht if I want to watch an anime or movie in a personal space, so why exactly do I need the LOOT Space apt? It’s a space that I would definitely want to tour before making a purchase.
On the other hand, I just picked up the Mahjong Apt in the EU Home for about USD$6, which I think is a great value proposition. Not only do the aesthetics appeal to me, but it also comes with a Mahjong game (I’ve been wanting to learn to play Mahjong for some time), so it was a no-brainer impulse buy.
I do think it’s possible to go too far with bells and whistles. A space should have something that makes it unique, but I don’t want or need an arcade in a personal space, nor do I want or need a “Starship Enterprise” communication center in a personal space either.
I would LOVE to have a Death Star space with a mini game so I can demolish Yavin-4 over and over again…I bought the loot space for its perceived video uses. It is kinda big and so far not a fan of the EOD screens, mostly because I haven’t really tried them. The star field is a great backdrop and I can see so many uses for that space(Loot space)
Well, please give me a tour sometime.
your never on anymore, but will gladly show you around. NG is correct in assessing Godzprototype Loot space. It is something to see..
I do agree that aesthetics and personal taste can skew perceived value; my favorite estate is still the Log Cabin, which is one of the oldest estates in Home. No frills, no bells, no whistles. But I absolutely love it, and I would have paid twice the price tag for it.
The LOOT Space Apartment, as a note, has an option to disable the Twitter feeds. I normally have them off, but it’s occasionally fun to see them streaming across the screen. Since the same EOD features are available in the Amaterasu Yacht, the only other “hard” features as selling points are the picture frames that use the Flickr API, as well as the retractable roof and lighting settings.
There’s no question that aesthetics play a strong part in our purchase decisions; a Patek Philippe may have an astonishing number of complications and is generally considered the finest watch brand in the world, and yet Rolex has no difficulty in selling watches of equal price. I’ll admit that I absolutely love the aesthetics of the LOOT Space Apartment; it’s on my shortlist of personal estates that I actually enjoy going back to. But everyone’s mileage will vary.
I’d recommend checking out Godz’s Starship LOOTerprise design, though, if only just to see it. He did an *amazing* job transforming that estate into something that looks like a Paramount set.
See, I don’t use Flickr either. I’m extremely wary of any type of social media, so I guess I’m really not in the target demographic for that space. In order to buy it I’d have to *really* fall in love with it, but really, I think I’d be better off just buying the Lockwood fireworks bundle. I’d probably get a lot more enjoyment out of it.
Use the fireworks bundle at the lot space station…
Really..you had to use my place of origin..the Poconos? Really??
Strictly a reference to the scenery, Sue. If the background was more mountainous and there was different foliage outside, I would have suggested Jackson Hole.
…you could have easily picked out a spot in Maine…hehehehe