Why Do We Have Alternate Accounts?
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
Do you have more than one account on Home?
Be honest, now; I’m sure many of you have them. I do.
Why do we do this? Personally, I have three accounts for various reasons, all of them valid ones, but I am sure there are others who do it of reasons of their own, some good and some bad.
I have a main account that is the original one — Burbie52 — which is where I spend most of my time, energy and dollars. I’ve been in Home for quite a while now, and she has collected a number of the rewards and other things Home has to offer. This is the account that started the Grey Gamers, and the one where I met my first friends and started writing here at the magazine over eighteen months ago. Were I to lose it, this is the one that would hurt the most.
The other main account I have was created because of our lack of a lengthened friends list. It simply became impossible for my club to expand any further without adding more slots. Now I am quickly reaching that place where I may have to add another one, as I am constantly having to shuffle people to add new members or friends I meet while I lurk the halls of Home on this account. I invested a small amount of money on her, so her wardrobe and personal spaces are sorely lacking, but she suits what I needed. I must say the “welcome back” pack that we received from Sony was very welcome to add to my inventory here.
One reason I’ve heard about from people who have multiple accounts is for privacy. There are times when we might want to go into Home or play a game or watch a movie without interruption from people messaging or having a name pop up in the right-hand corner of the screen during a movie every time a friend appears online. Having a private account without any friends is one way to do this.
My “free” account
I also created what I call my “free account” — this was done for the sake of a couple of articles I wrote a while ago. One dealt with the perception that girls get treated better in Home than males, and the other was about how much free stuff I could collect in Home in less than two weeks. This is a male account which I based on my son, and “he” is still collecting rewards for games and the like whenever something new comes out that is worth the time invested, like the recent Ted promo in the Hub.
All of these accounts are in SCEA Home. But I also have one in each foreign region — EU, Asia and Japan. I rarely visit them, though. They were created mostly out of curiosity, but have become quite a boon when I want to write about what is going on there that is different than we are experiencing here in North America. I don’t own much of anything on these accounts other than a few free things and my default clothing, but as I said they are mostly for information on what is happening elsewhere; I find this invaluable sometimes.
Trolling – One bad reason for alternate accounts
There are many reasons why people have alternates accounts — some of those motives are, frankly, not so good. I have come across many trolls here in Home who will harass people, then flaunt the fact that they don’t care if they get banned because this is what they call a “throwaway” account. This type of behavior is unconscionable and there should be a special way to report them so that all of their accounts are affected in some manner. The very fact that they created an account to go bother people just out to have a good time in Home shows what type of person they are, and it is one we don’t need in Home. I wonder how many people have met one of these when first arriving in Home, only to leave and never come back. That is a lot of potential revenue lost for Sony and all the developers.
I was speaking to some people the other night in Japan and one mentioned the fact that they have alternate accounts because they like the people better in different regions than their own. They go to Japan because it is a quieter environment, and they like the different public spaces they offer in contrast to Europe or America. They spend money in these accounts also, so I think that although it is essentially against the Terms of Service to have an account in a different region, as they are helping that region’s economy, it isn’t really an issue for Sony. As long as you behave yourself they don’t care if you do this, as has been shown by many of the people who publicly do this.
One of the people I spoke to said they like the people they meet in SCEA Home better than Europe. This surprised me, as we here in the USA have a bad reputation when it comes to social behavior. They went on to explain it has to do with the language barriers they face in EU Home. It is hard sometimes to find another person who speaks English, as there is such a melting pot of different cultures there. They find it much easier to come to America where everyone more or less speaks it, and they love our content as well.
A good friend of mine from Europe told me that he comes to North America because he has made such good friends here. I wonder how many people from different regions could say the same as a reason why they do this; they come out of curiosity and they stay because they meet good people and make friends they cherish. I would imagine this is one of the major reasons this occurs, as the social side of Home is a big part of why we come and stay in this virtual society.
When Sony created this place I don’t think they were sure what would happen with it. After all, it was an experiment, something that had never been done before on a game console and hasn’t been duplicated since. But the huge new influx of content and changes in the environment in Home have shown us that they are starting to realize that not only can they make money here, but they can expand their brand awareness and make a lot of happy customers in the bargain. The mere fact that many of us have and use alternate accounts to get the most out of this place shows that we love it and will continue to do so as it grows and evolves.
August 10th, 2012 by Burbie52 | 6 comments
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
I was talking with a friend in EU Home just yesterday about this, she insisted that EU had a much better “vibe” to it than NA, and that I was mad for spending so much time over in NA with “all the yanks”. I guess it’s down to a very personal preference then, to what we as individuals would like from our Home experience. Maybe in the future Sony should brochure each region and ask new users which one they’d rather spend time in based on a small survey or something, rather than feeling like a bit of a cyber-criminal for having a preference to certain content, people or even timezones.
Makes the account figures and user numbers inflated as well, which is good for Sony short term but long term it means losing 1 user for whatever reason, could mean losing 4 accounts. It does tend to be a Home thing rather than the done thing though. Probably means Sony have no idea how many single users Home has though, which is worrying because its becomes a perception to how viable something is and not based on fact. Not a bad sales tactic for those involved with duplicate sales on multiple regions but same user.
I have 3. I use them for a few reasons, chiefly there was a time that I wanted to roam Home alone (ha ha get it? Home alone) anyways, I used them to do so as well as to hang out with people and not be seen. I spend no money on the 2nd and 3rd accounts, FEMA gets it all. Bbut with the advent of groups like the Gray Gamers and others, I keep mostly to FEMA.
I thought about checking the other regions out, mainly because of the culture involved. I hear the Japanese know how to party!
I don’t know a whole lot about what goes on in Europe, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting.
Some of my friends that do region hop come back with excellent experiences to share. And some of my friends are from other regions. Small world isn’t it?
I do have two official alternate account. One to gift myself and one in EU.
Owning a 2nd PS3 and two account is fun when you have a friend visiting. Especially when they dont want to leave and you know they’r not into gaming
I used the EU for privacy but many friends know about it now and friended me there. lol I dont see the language as a barrier since most people speak english anyway. Au contraire… French being my 1st language it’s nice to see a little more of it. And I like the United Nation feel of it.
I think a lot of people get an alternative account, for region hopping alone. No matter where you are, the grass is always greener on the other side. Great article Burbie!