PlayStation Plus: Buying Privilege in Home
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
The world is full of people who pay for privileges.
Privilege comes in many forms, from buying an island or huge yacht, to purchasing rights to an exclusive club or someone’s art or music. There are small privileges we all pay for everyday, even if we don’t think about them as such. The internet and things like Netflix are things that we pay for the rights to, as are many of the other day-to-day things we all take for granted. North America is truly a place of privilege; even our poorest people are comparatively rich to many in the world, and SCEA Home reflects that like a mirror in many ways.
So, why should PlayStation Plus be any different? PlayStation Plus is something you buy to get extra privileges in the PlayStation Store. It allows you access to betas and free downloads for some pretty spectacular games. I became a plus member last May for the first time; when it first came out I wasn’t interested, and I didn’t think that it was worth the fifty-dollar price tag.
Then they came out with ten free downloadable games last spring.
Shown: Massive Savings
One of these games was Infamous 2, and I had already finished the original Infamous when it was given to us for free in the “welcome back” pack — and I liked the game. So I decided that instead of using my fifty dollars to buy just one game on disc, I would buy a Plus membership and get access to many free ones. It was a good decision, as I have since played several very cool games for free, as well as buying Journey for half price.
Now Sony has decided to add some more Home privileges to their Plus members with the new 1.75 update coming this week. We already had x7 as a Home privilege (if you can call it that; the place is too tacky for my tastes), and though I have gone there to look at the great deals and free merchandise in the store there, that is the only thing I do. But now having Plus is going to pay off big time in Home, although there are a lot of people who think it is being done in a bad way. I am not one of them, though, because I’ve already paid for the right to do so — and even if I hadn’t, I would probably do it now for many reasons.
When the update hits, those with Plus will find double the avatar save slots in their wardrobes; it is increased from twenty-four to forty-eight. This is a cool feature to be sure, but the one that most are fussing about is the ability to change your hair and makeup colors in a customizing palette and save your favorites. This is something that has been asked for in Home for a long time, and now only those with Plus will have this privilege. I even wrote an article a long time ago about this very thing because we have been asking for avatar improvements along these lines for quite a while.
More color choices, about time.
Sony is obviously making a bid for more Plus members by adding these improvements we have been asking for, and they have every right to try and boost their sales by any means necessary. I say this because there are many people using Home who never spend a dime in it, or if they do spend, it is very little. Sony has to keep Home afloat somehow, and this is a new tactic they are using to see if people are truly willing to spend money for increased avatar functions.
The one question I have here is if, like the other rights that Plus gives, your extras will disappear if you don’t renew the service each year. Probably it will, which will also give current owners incentive to renew.
In speaking to some of my friends about this new feature for Plus, the biggest objection seems to be that they believe that core changes should be universal for all. While on the surface that seems fair, we need to remember that life isn’t fair and that many who haven’t bought Plus will now just because the more added value you give a thing, the more enticing it becomes. I don’t see this as an attempt by Sony to separate the masses into groups or classes; I see it as them trying to gain back some of the huge costs it takes to run something as massive as Home, and I can’t fault them for it at all.
Servers aren’t cheap, and neither is the electricity to run them or the people to maintain them or the staff to run management over it all. We seem to forget sometimes that Sony needs to make money too on top of all these costs or they could choose to shut Home down completely instead at any given moment — and where would that leave us?
There are many who have said they would be willing to pay for new dance moves, so Sony updated the core client and the developers have provided them. They aren’t cheap, either. I haven’t bought any yet as I have not seen any that interest me, but I know several people who have. But what if this addition of the color palette is just the beginning of what Sony will do for Plus members in Home? What if they start to add new dances and emotes that we have wanted for a long time? Wouldn’t a great service like Plus, where you pay one set price for everything they add as well as the other great privileges you get, be the best way to go? If you keep buying new dances and other things piecemeal, it will quickly add up to more than what Plus costs.
I am hoping that this new wardrobe functionality is just the beginning of what Sony will provide as the year progresses. If last year was the “year of the game” in Home I think I would like to see the “year of the avatar” this year. Many are saying that Home on the PS3 has hit its zenith this year — and with the PS4 coming up, they may be right. It makes sense that Sony would start to add to the avatars now, especially if they intend to add Home to the next-generation console. But even if they don’t, and Home stays here, we have many more years of Home ahead of us in its current format.
I think this will be an interesting ride for everyone, Sony included. When the dust settles after this update, we will see who is left standing, and for some reason I think it will be Sony — because no matter how much people find some of the things they do objectionable, they still provide us with countless free rewards and items and in the long run we all know we love Home and the true reason we come is the people we know and love, not the stuff we accumulate.
January 28th, 2013 by Burbie52 | 10 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.
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Even thou I do not have PS Plus, I have no problem at all the people that PAY $50 a year at least getting bonus stuff. I can’t say for free because they technically do pay for this stuff in the membership fees.
I have Plus membership and there’s no regrets on me. No plus plus icon on my head though for me though. LOL
Why did I get Plus? I have no idea. I don’t remember.
7-3=4 I am tired and had to think about that for a moment. Makes me wonder if I should post. Maybe I was tired when I signed up for Plus membership?
The one thing that Home users have always wanted and gotten is freebies, Home managers have always been willing to give an endless supply for events and holidays as well as promotions because the forums begged for them. Over time the model of “free with purchase” has slowly grown and has worked well for revenues which is what a business needs to grow and survive, I personally see no problem with spending money to get something extra but the forums has changed it’s tune to more of anger toward this change. Other virtual worlds are only successful because they make revenue on upgrades, like Second Life where you can customize to any extreme that you like for a price. Only difference there is the community is allowed to make and sell the upgrades. There really is no comparison though as Home is much more richer and visually appealing, and easier to work with since you do not need computer skills. I pushed for X7 and the exclusivity it has and have been very happy with the results so far except there was no real benefits exclusive to Plus users which there should have been at least in the form of their own private area in the club, the new features are more than I imagined could have been possible and I think it is absolutely wonderful that they will be offered. Problem is the forums is a bunch of whiners nowadays that complain over changes before they happen, nobody but Home management knows what we will see when the update hits and nobody has a clue if it will work. Home is a financial gamble that has grown despite the complaints of the self professed pseudo-celebrities that claim to champion for the benefit of those who are not as fortunate to know better. The reality is Sony needs to turn a buck and I think this will definitely be a big hit for them and help PS+ subscriptions in the process, as you said it’s expensive to run Home and the Dev’s are not responsible for that cost. If users don’t want to spend money they don’t need to but don’t complain when something better is offered and costs money, that’s how the real world works. Free is not an option that can sustain a business and allow it to grow. I’m thankful for all of the free I have been able to receive in the past, enough to spend my money in hopes of new and better functions and experiences down the road which I think this update will be bringing. Until the update happens I’m keeping a wait-and-see mindset and will decide if it is good or not when it comes instead of jumping the gun and prejudging like the forum goers who turned the forum community that I was so fond of into a catastrophe of overblown proportions in a state of constant meltdown. I appreciate and agree with your viewpoint Burbie, Sony will do well with this update and hopefully the changes made will push home to the next console with ease.
^Like
Every social application of Homes type has VIP, all access passes, basically paid for privileges. The ones on home are no way near to the amount of privileges offered on these other applications. Not sure there is enough offered for people to run out and get plus membership, It seems like a thank you to those that have got it. Knowing the uproar that any change makes and the amount of users that imply that if Home does that, im off. then a week later are on the forums saying im going to buy everything released this week woot woot. Im sure the forums will be all doom and gloom until the updates released. Bear in mind though that there is already a lot of your home life is cloud saved already and that if you dont have the plus features will you actually miss them. To me its why worry. To those that would say its about making money, remember home isnt our world its part of Sonys business, without money there is no home.
Re: wardrobe slots expansion for Plus members. I have a thought. I hate this move by Sony. Here’s my take. Some may think that I’m against those that have, that’s not the truth. If somebody ponies up the money for Plus, they are entitled to the many perks and should get them. I think that it should be a movitator for people to buy Plus. Here’s my problem, I think the tendril they entered into Home in was wrong. I know many people that have wanted this for a long time, the extra wardrobe slots. I think that this should have been a core update issue for all, not just Plus users. If Sony had wanted to enter Home in a pay for VIP status way, I think they could have done something far better and more clever than this. I would never begrudge Sony the ability to make money, but in my opinion, this was a bad place to make it. This may be the future, and if so I don’t applaud it. If there has to be a VIP separation, I think it should have not been in something that many users have wanted and all users have. Surely Sony could have gotten a little more creative and done some thing akin to a VIP mall that is an all or nothing concept, one either buys in or not. Is Plus a bargain? Yes. Does Sony have a right to make money? Yes. Am I mad at those with the Plus sign on their gamer tag? No. Do I think Sony should have been a little more creative about their approach and given the wardrobe updates to all and given Plus users another perk? Yes. Will people not like my opinion? Probably not, but that’s the beauty…it’s my opinion.
To me, upgrading to have more than 24 save slots is exactly the type of upgrade that people should pay for. I have tons of clothes and 6 saved avatars. I have been in Home for over 3 years. More than 24 seems like a lot to me.
All these things they are adding are extra perks. Home is still free-to-play. The upgrades are optional. I am going to guess that the number of people who get Plus because of these upgrades is less than ten. I see these as more perks for those who have Plus than a motivation to get people to buy Plus. I could be wrong.
I see an outside chance that it breaks 20, deuce, but I agree with you. There’s not enough here to convince most Home users to get Plus, and there’s nothing here to convince Plus users to enter Home.
If Sony wants to create a paid tier of Home users with access to extra core features, that’s what they should do. People would pay a one-time fee for the extras, and they might even pay an annual subscription fee.
And how does Home benefit from this? I keep seeing that argument, and it leaves me scratching my head. Plus membership fees are spread across all of the PlayStation Network. It’s not as if Home gets the entire $50. I’d imagine the Home share is very small, probably too small to pay for ongoing support, if the lack of ongoing Plus support in EU is any indication.
Ultimately, this is another way for Sony to market Plus, this time by reaching out to Home’s whales.
Agree with those saying this seems more like a thank you to the Plus users that already exist rather than an incentive to buy Plus. Thing is, I’ve been with Plus for a while, and there have been games I’ve passed on in the street because of their prices, thinking I might get lucky and just get it from Plus -- which has happened a few times now.
Where Home is concerned though, they tried an exclusive Plus space in EU and it sunk like a paper boat in the rain. Why? There was nothing there! The forums went a bit mad about “I PAY FOR PLUS AND THIS IS ALL I GET!?” and I kinda see their point, it wasn’t exactly a big effort. This idea of more customizable colours however, is a pretty good idea in my opinion. So people that won’t pay for Plus have a hissy fit about it on the forums, guess what, they’ll either get over it or they’ll buy Plus if it bugs them that much.
I have Plus for my EU acc, because that’s where I game. For me, that’s the bonus of having Plus. Will I buy Plus for my US acc to have a change of colours in Home? LOL! I highly doubt it.
Oh, and while I’m here I’d just like to say that the increase in save slots is pretty useless given the system already in place -- thumbs of my head tells me pretty much nothing of what outfit is saved. Having more of them (to me) is more problematic than helpful.
Oh yeah! Sorry for the double post but I just remembered: the 1.75 update won’t be released this week. It’s been delayed again due to more technical problems.