No, not a Pier Park — a park. As in Central Park. A public space which has no overtly commercialized reason to exist. Oh sure, it can have one or two commerce points in it, just as the old Central Plaza did. And if you feel compelled to toss in a mini-game, so be it. I’d be happy with the old Saucer Pop, personally. But make the space itself one which is aesthetically relaxing and enjoyable to be in, and serves no function other than to facilitate and promote socialization between citizens.”

This article was written on March 16, 2012.

Thirteen months later, I am vindicated.

I know that you Americans endure far more advertising than we do (‘KONAMI’ )

But do we really need this plastered to every wall, nook and cranny that i walk nearby or into?..

It’s kinda funny Norse, cos me and Burbie DID talk about perhaps having a park area and a small area of which you can take your companions to walk around in. (HEARITWOWS Warhorse rampaging through the field..as an example) And yes there could be stalls in which you can buy new pets / Companions and any accessories to make them have that extra bling or a new scripted ability or animation that can be displayed and used only in this area space. (Throw a stick or ball to a dog.. watch t run off after your ball or stick to see it return promptly to drop item at your feet, to start the the animation loop gain as soon as you hit your X button on the object. I’m an older demographic of Home, and I’m sure many older users are happy with just a space to sit and chat.. why not have a small outdoor cafe with quaint tables and chairs. The power of the PS3 console and its graphical technology could very well have you believe you were in a real space, with birds twittering, leaves / snow falling (seasonal changes)

Yes, I can agree with Jack Buser being right about Home having gaming as a way to motivate the many hormonal teenage males out there, as a means to communicate. But the older users, after heavy gaming sessions of Call Of Duty or Skyrim, are just as happy to sit and hang out somewhere and talk.

Virtual Reality from a SecondLife user’s standpoint also, is about ‘Experiences’
It wasn’t so long as last weekend, where i had the pleasure of visiting a fully working, recreated ‘Beatles’ Museum, it led to many conversations with my Virtual Wife kandi, talking about the many album covers that were perched on the wall of (presumably) John Lennon’s Home (complete with the white ‘Imagine’ Piano)

I suppose I’m lamenting the fact that Home’s citizenry, at large, isn’t better behaved; a more civilized Home population wouldn’t have necessitated the removal of the plaza, in favor of something like the Hub. And I totally get the Hub; it makes perfectly logical sense, and it does a much better job of moving people from point A to point B than the old plaza ever did. Perhaps the park idea is simply a rare bit of emotional whimsy, then.

You know what I miss? The Singstar VIP. Because it was a semi-restricted space, like the Observatory, it was (almost always) blessedly troll free. I suppose that’s the only way to have a public park environment that would be blessedly serene and peaceful.

Chain Swing, though…gah.

It would be nice to have a park with a bridge and a pond.

I see no reason why a park couldn’t have small kiosks labeled with what they sell.

Central Park had sunshine most of the time and fresh air. The Hub doesn’t, well… maybe it does but I can’t notice it. It smells funny and I don’t mean humorously.

There are still a couple of great spots to sit and watch avatars roam by in Home. The cafe chairs near the Theater entrance in Pier Park are an ideal spot. The tables outside of the Sportswalk bar would also be ideal, if they’d turn off or turn down the music that blares over them. Aurora and the Lockwood Publishing Showcase also offer some excellent spots for those who want to have a seat and see who stops by.

This park suggestion is doomed to fail, for the same reason that Central Plaza was doomed to fail. If there’s nothing to do in a space, people will find their own entertainment, which usually involves harassing someone or glitching something. When spaces have a purpose, either to promote a game or a developer, they become an immediate turnoff to those who dislike that game or developer, which shaves back the troll population by a bit.

It’s certainly not bulletproof--Playground has games and a dance area and still contributes no shortage of drama. The same holds true for Siren, but most of that space’s problems could be fixed by putting a proper queue system on the game.

Ultimately, you have to respond to what the users are telling you. In the case of generic, purposeless spaces like the old Central Plaza, the users have told the rest of the community that these spaces are a place to troll and harass. That’s a sad commentary on the way that far too many people behave, but it’s also something that a smart designer will respect.

In this regard, The Hub is brilliant. You can’t really be anywhere in the main part of it without feeling like you’re in the way of something, which encourages people to use what’s there or loiter elsewhere. Moving the dance floor to the outside area gives the trolls a place to operate away from more civilized users, as opposed to the old Central Plaza design, which encouraged free-range trolling.

Do I miss Central Plaza? Of course. For all of its faults, it could be a fun place to meet people, and you could always count on “Chain Swing” to raise your spirits. But it belonged to the flawed early vision of Home, which failed to recognize the problems that a small, stubborn, immature segment of the community could create. Ultimately, it had to go. Replacing it with something similarly formless will bring back all of the problems that Central Plaza was once notorious for.