Anti-Social Games
by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer
As we all know, there’s a huge number of games in Home. Most of these games are centered on the thought of Home being a social landscape; this, for the most part, is a plus that many of us really enjoy. This is the basis for many of the in-Home games we partake of, with those that we call friends on our friends lists as well as strangers we come across in various public space games.
As Home has evolved into a social gaming environment, there is a group of people that Sony and developers have sadly overlooked.
There are people in Home who don’t want to — or can’t — deal with others, have been overlooked, and almost penalized for their lack of friends on their friends list. For lack of a better term, and with no disrespect intended, let’s call them individualists. These are not ‘broken’ people, at least not more than any other soul on Home. These are simply people that may have a hard time making friends in a realm that is sometimes replete with rude and ugly trolls. Some may be scarred from real world situations that make the facade of Home more comfortable. Some may be people who are just gamers, wanting to achieve goals and tasks in Home, and of course there is always a myriad of other reasons that would make a person not want to be social. Whatever a person’s reasoning, there is a statistically significant group of people in this realm who want to simply stay away from others and are content with their isolation. These people may want to buy estates and play the public games, but are faced with what may be a concept they don’t like: having to deal with people. Unfamiliar people that are not their friends.
I have personally known a few of these people in my walk through this great social landscape of Home and have come to recognise the need Sony has to accommodate this group. Or, at the very least, the revenue that could be gained from such an endeavor.
A big issue some individualists have in Home is that so many of the Home rewards are centered around the group dynamic; for the average individualist, they will never get these rewards, simply because they do not have enough friends or don’t want to deal with strangers in public places.
There are certain private estates that offer special items for having achieved certain friend counts in them. I have to admit, I cannot list the items from personal experience as I have never been able to get a full house gathered in one home. The times I have gained an item from such an activity have been because I went to someone else’s estate. The thought is this: though we have the concept that some homes give out prizes to those that can fill the room, and this is in the spirit of the social environment, Home and the developers that program the spaces seem unfairly biased against those with no desire to socialize or to those that have small friends lists.
Though fun, it is hard to get the bonuses if you are alone.
Another place that this was punishing was the Winter Fest, put up for Christmas as a holiday promotion. The space was great, and when one was ready and willing to brace themselves and deal with the population at large, this was a fun place, full of games and prizes to be gathered. There was a dueling game that was worth 25 points a round (win or lose). There was a kissing game worth 25 points also. Two games were worth 50 points: the Parade and the dance game. These all helped take big chunks out of the scores needed to obtain the masks available.
The penalty is this: the solo items, the eating game, and the skating game were worth no points, and the sleigh ride is worth a mere 15 points. This means that for the solitary player in Home, the task of getting the masks was a far more daunting one. In my humble opinion, I do think it would be fair to make a game like the ice skating worth points that a person could accomplish the same goals as those with friends, just as a solo endeavor. Leave the choice of social interactivity up to the user, rather than penalizing the individualist for not wanting to go through the hassle of socializing to achieve a goal.
The recent Mahjong apartment has a game that rewards players for having multi-player matches, which again seems to penalize those that have either the inability or lack of interest to make or be with friends. There are items given for single-player matches as well as multi-player.
One could contend that Home is simply doing an aggressive job of pushing people together into social arenas. Sony is trying to draw out the community spirit in all of us by making the more quiet of us have to come out of our shells and play community games. The idea is a good one and worthy of applause, but there should be a path that the people wanting solitude can still acquire whatever perks are available for the multi-friended in the realm of Home.
I commonly tell people around me that Home has to be the world you want it to be; do what you want and be who you want to be. But there is a restriction from the developers: when a person buys a house with a perk for filling it to the maximum occupants, this is a perk a solitary owner can ever get. It is a bad feeling to those that do not have enough friends to not be able to gather the same rewards as ‘popular’ people, and to many it harkens back to the possibly dark days of social outcasting in high school, where popularity is the currency.
An example of a good place for those wanting the solo experience.
To contrast this, I applaud Mass Media’s Midway games. They are, by design, single-player games that anybody can wander into and play. The Midway, in its carnival atmosphere, is designed for the individualist to enter and play any game to its end. The games are also set up so that any solo person can gain all the prizes. It is up to the player and their skill sets at this point. Other games that allow a single player to enjoy the experience are the classic Aurora, Orb Runner, Tycoon and F.U.B.A.R. These games understand the want for some people to play alone and get the perks with out having to have a friends list to aid in the endeavor.
To date, Granzella is a mixed bag. The Defend Edo game in the Edo space is designed to give points whether one plays single or with a friend (or simply as a stranger in group). This aids in the solitary player enjoying a solo game, if they so desire, while allowing the more social-minded to enjoy a multi-player game. The fossil hunting game in the South Island Retreat space is a great example of allowing a player to achieve goals alone. The one place that there is a penalty is in the wedding chapel game, where a person needs to get married to acquire the levels of wedding rings available.
Home is a great place to come out of one’s shell. This is a place that, if used correctly, can really boost one’s self esteem and morale. However, there has to be a part that the developers themselves recognize: the need for some to be alone and still experience the fun of the games and perks here. Let the socializing happen organically, when a person wants without penalty. Let those that have no friends by design or by circumstance be able to gain the same goodies as those with a huge friends lists. This has to be a wide-ranging world of various paths that lead to the same goal of fun and comfort and still be treated as an equal, not penalized by rules that favor one group like the popular and seem to afford no luxury to those that have few if any friends. Home should be fun for all people, regardless of the list of friends, and the developers should see that those with small lists would like the wonderful commodities that people with long lists are able to get.
For every popular kid, there was a kid struggling in the shadows in high school; we should do better here to not replicate that, even for the freebies.
January 23rd, 2013 by FEMAELSTROM | 6 comments
FEMAELSTROM came to Home in June 2011 and never wanted to leave, even at weekly maintenance when he usually gets booted. The sand box environment appeals to the explorer in him and often is out and about as he ‘geeks’ out dressed like some sort of sci-fi character, while he people watches in popular public spaces. An artist and writer, FEMAELSTROM loves making friends and meeting people. He loves sci-fi and decorating Home estates and loves to respond “here” when people ask “where are you from?” in public places.
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The problem from the developer side is we want to have people play with each other so we have to reward it. But it should not be that one behavior is rewarded to the exclusion of all others.
Specifically I see that the problems is largest when requiring multiple players is a gateway to progressing. I do not think that is good in the general sense.
I am the guy who got blasted for making Solitaire on an online, multiplayer platform. I then went to the other end and made a 24 player game. I think not all achievements are for all people just as all games are not for all people. But I promise that no game we ever do will have a multiplayer gateway to progressing further. Point made. Point taken. Great article!
I really think you struck a chord with this article. I’m one of those anti-social gamers; the idea of gaming online -- say like in a COD scenario, for example -- is anathema to me. If I want to play a multiplayer game, I’d rather the person be sitting beside me (something I sorely miss in this console generation). In Home, as in real life, I don’t really see the need to have a gregarious social life, not to mention that when I am on Home, with the lone exception of meetings, I’m not always technically present -- meaning I’m either watching the EOD while I’m doing magazine work, or I’m letting my son have a go driving my car around in Home Tycoon.
I still play games in Home, I still spend (lots of) money in Home, and to a lesser extent, I still socialize in Home -- I just happen to do it on my terms, instead of what is widely considered to be the normal economic model for Home.
Definitely a thought-provoking article.
Thanks for the response Terra, one thing that I sorely miss as well is the shoulder to shoulder of two player. I raced against a friend in Gran Turismo 5 and it was fun, but with him being in Canada and me in the southwest U.S. there was a lack of fun because there used to be something about playing against someone and seeing their faces as you got your rear handed to you or did the handing, or the fun of distracting your opponent on the sofa with a handful of well tossed potato chips. I do miss split screen two player.
Mercia is another game you can play and win everything alone and so is Salt Shooter. I haven’t unlocked my Sunset yacht yet with filling it up guests and I have owned it for years now. Sometimes being popular and knowing people isn’t the problem, it can be all about peoples availability when you are in Home.
I agree with your premise that people should be allowed to experience Home any way they like, be it alone of with friends. Nice read Strom.
Liked this article. My first six months or so on Home was totally Solo. I played alot of Sodium 2. I think Home is a place that can be fun alone if your a creative person that liked to explore.
Home is a social animal however and I think if you stay on Home long enough, you will end up making friends! Great read!
Home started with everything being set up for single players only. Then there was very few multiplayer games or rewards on home. I agree everything should have the ability to complete singularly but i want as much multiplayer as we can get.