Comments on: When the Honeymoon is Over

By: keara22hi

keara22hi — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:46:39 +0000

I could write a tome
About the fun in Home
This story never ends
Because of you, my friends

Each week there’s something new
To meet, to try, to do
I know I’ll never quit
I can’t get over it!

By: julie_love

julie_love — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:50:04 +0000

Two people in particular I’m thinking of drifted away after major life changes. The first had a baby when she was 20 and moved in with the father. When she left she said that she felt that she really needed to grow up and be as responsible as possible as a Mom. We exchange email and XMB messages every couple of weeks but she doesn’t feel like she has time to spend in Home. She gave her account to her younger sister.

The second friend was the nicest funniest guy I met on Home. He was on Home all the time and for the first year I knew him he didn’t have a job. Let’s just say he wasn’t a highly ambitious person. He met a girl where he lives and she uhh… persuaded him to get a job. Since then they’ve moved in together and he just doesn’t get on Home. I have to assume he’s spending all his time with his (now) fiance.

We’re still friends and exchange messages, but I doubt if either of these close friends will ever come back to Home and spend the amount of time that they used to.

I think we have to accept that in Home as in real life people’s circumstances change and with those changes the way they use Home will change.

By: Kassadee Marie

Kassadee Marie — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:08:09 +0000

I can only believe the people you mention who disappear must not have made the kind of friends that I have. It would take a major life change (like the inability to talk or type) to keep me from coming back to Home to see my friends.

By: Olivia_Allin

Olivia_Allin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:35:11 +0000

My love of my friends on Home is the main reason I come back. But helping stranger, meeting new people and the randomness of Home also keep it fresh for me. You never know while Home is loading, just what will be waiting for you. To misquote Forest Gump… Home is like a box of chocolates… but I would add it like a box of chocolates that you eat while riding a roller coaster in the dark and you are wearing thick mittens and are on Nyquil.
Each piece of chocolate that you think you are reaching for may have been mixed around and the mitten keep you from know by feel if you grab the piece you were hoping for. And the NyQuil, I threw that in just for fun… heck the whole thing sounds fun or something you would see on Fear Factor and the pieces of chocolate would be replaced by bugs… Now I forgot where I was going with this… Oh yeah, Home will always be fresh as long to me because every time it is something new! Forget the whole Fear factor part. Oh, and mmmmm chocolate.

By: julie_love

julie_love — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:32:30 +0000

Great article Kassadee. The cycle I’ve observed where people get bored with Home has been pretty similar.

They start out visiting Home frequently, often multiple times a day. They buy clothing and personal spaces and chase every new reward.

Next I notice that they stop getting on Home to chase rewards, but they still do buy items and spaces.

Next they stop buying spaces, and stop visiting Home every day.

Then they stop visiting Home frequently and I sometimes see them playing games, but rarely logging into Home.

Then inevitably they just disappear from PSN for long periods of times. Sometimes they send a farewell note to friends before they delete everyone, but sometimes they don’t and just disappear.

I don’t know if there is anything the Home team can do to retain these people because it seems that life changes frequently lead them to stop visiting Home.

By: ted2112

ted2112 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:47:43 +0000

This is a great point. I agree! I think in life you get sick of things, even stuff you love. One of my favorite albums is blood on the tracks by Bob Dylan, but if that’s all I had it would get old. Thank god there is many more Dylan albums to keep it fresh. For me Home keeps it fresh by changing it up and that keeps me coming back after that first wow factor is over.

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:28:24 +0000

Very nicely done Kassadee. I agree with much of the sentiment here. I love the social aspects of Home, the gaming is secondary to that. I like to find new and interesting people in Home and we occasionally play games together, though I had actually never played a game with others til I found friends in Home to play RDR with.
Home has added a lot to my life, friends, fun, laughter and a different take on what is truly real in life.