1.75: What Happened?
by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer
Here in this magazine, we are what you would call a Sony-friendly publication. We do not stoop to the lows of the angered fanboy, ranting in the forum at every little hiccup that comes to be expected in software based games or environments. We try to flex our brains to ask questions and deliver thoughtful criticisms when necessary.
Today is one of those days. Allow me first to say the good.
Sony has delivered to us a unique environment that so many of us have enjoyed for so many reasons that are far too many to count. Home is a place where we make friends, game, and live a virtual life in which we can buy homes and commodities. We can dress as we want and role-play as so many different costumes. We can be anything we want to represent. We can represent ourselves as real as we want or as far from, at our leisure. Those with body issues can choose to depict themselves as real as they want or alter their body as desired. We can hide those thing we consider flaws of ourselves and still roam a virtual play land that is fun for so many. For these reasons, I applaud Sony for the creation of Home and that they gave us such a great place that we can all enjoy for free. Thank you Sony; you have my deepest gratitude for a brilliant idea that has been so much fun for me personally.
This is how many of us on Home feel right about now.
Now, the not so warm and fuzzy.
Sony implemented the update 1.75.
For so many this could be the end of the article. For many that are out there, and they have spoken, that is enough to stir a pot of anger and frustration, especially on the forums. I will not simply tear into Sony without thought or regard though. That said, the unintended circumstances have gotten people so disheartened that it is openly visible in public spaces. I have seen on far too many occasions where strangers are standing and lamenting the update. Many people are reporting that they can’t even get on Home and that their arrival took many attempts, and for people that have spent money to enjoy the adventure of Home, this is a denial that they will not tolerate.
Others are livid about the fact that despite hours (if not months) of working on setting up their inventories of clothing, furniture and companions, they were tossed about in a fashion that makes it impossible to arrange and keep arranged (even with favorited stars) – and for those with many items, this makes it a daunting task to sift through the massive virtual pile for just the right item. I know personally that I have a lot of items, though in regards to some of my friends’, my inventory pales in comparison. It is a labor to load it all up in the storage file to look for one item.
This is my wardrobe, now where’s my jaunty hat?
Another group is enraged and worried that games like Defending Edo and the Loco Roco Island have stripped their owners of points. I know of a gal that has had her points zeroed out at the “Defend Edo” game, as well as people that have lost progress at Loco Roco Island. I am an avid player in Edo and still play there, though I have a distinct fear that I will play and find myself without any points.
I know of people that have contacted companies like Lockwood and nDreams to be surprised at the level of commitment that they have to make things right with the people that can spread the word, good or bad about them. A Sony response is that the incidents between Edo and the update are unrelated. This does not sit well with the skeptical audience simply because this issue of losing points was non-existent prior to the patch.
There are many issues that people are complaining about, and it is my belief that the community needs a more defined answer of what is going on with all these issues. Frankly, we have (most of us at least) paid a lot of money to further enjoy the experience that for the most part is a grand and happy one.
This is where the whole problem starts.
Another important issue is that I do have friends that are holding off spending on items in Home or buying PlayStation Network cards. They are afraid or concerned that they cannot trust that the system, as it stands, will not simply toss new items into the sky high pile of virtual items and make it impossible to “favorite” or keep track of new items. This has the very bad effect of possibly affecting the independent developers that count on the constant cash flow that comes from consumers; having faith and trust in Sony to make sure that the system we have fun in, and have invested large amounts of money in, will run smoothly.
At present, it does not. In fact, I know of somebody that is unable to even get in to Home, and this is a new problem that has spawned since the 1.75 update. In fact, many people are having trouble logging or staying in Home. Many get frozen in wardrobe or furniture, or companions lists, then get booted with new and amazing error codes.
This brings to mind a thought. There are many major corporations where this kind of error would result in job losses, and there are major corporations that make certain in offline test-bed scenarios through hours of testing and quality control that events like this do not happen. It’s be assumed that these check points are in place, but with that in mind, it’s obvious that these checkpoints have to work better and be more effective before the updates are put into action and implemented. This truly is not good craftsmanship.
All any user of Home wants is to be informed as to what is happening with our Home sweet Home, and to have it fixed. We have paid a lot of money for the fun and have invested a great deal of time in the experience of our friends and our lives.
Now a time of peace and patience as Sony works on the problem, isn’t Book from Firelfy just the right man?
As the rational voice of some of the people on Home, we know that this was not some evil plan that was hatched as by someone twisting the end of an evil mustache. We know that there is a lot to look at in the many lines of code, which can be a daunting task and challenge. Silence from an entity like Sony, though, only makes the users nervous, angry and jittery, in spite of long-term plans for Home.
This has turned into a case where many of the people on my friends list are actually playing disc based games as opposed to spending time in Home, and some of these people I am referencing, rarely spend time out of Home and in gaming. After all, time spent out of Home, is time that the developers are not getting income and revenue. I know that for myself, a huge fan of Lockwood, Granzella and Juggernaut, I am holding on to my money, simply because I do not want to buy an article of clothing that may get lost in the huge pile I already have. This is a critical factor to the developers on Home, especially smaller or budding ones.
All we want, for those of us that are having problems, and that seems to be most (if not all) of us, is a resolution and future attention to the details that it seemed were not in place with this update. For many this is not a fun or enjoyable place right now, and the part that bothers us is that it was prior to the update that held so much promise. We love Home, but we need help because a lot is wrong and the masses are mad and becoming a little uninterested. Many have a lot of opinions that are obviously rage driven and wrong, but there are many elements that one has to consider.
Whatever the opinion, something has gone wrong, and the perception of Sony being uncaring is not being defended by the company itself. They have to stand up, make a comment to clear the air, and make the masses that use their program feel like there is an official input from the entity in charge – as well as a fix in progress. That, more than anything, will show the customers there is better attention to the product Sony puts out.
March 10th, 2013 by FEMAELSTROM | 2 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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Well said. I may have vented a little in the EU forums myself, it’s the downfall of having a big mouth I guess…
But I’m past the point of anger now and have moved into “disappointed” mode. However, what this 1.75 fiasco has done is just bring back my inner gamer. That’s a great thing for me personally, but a really bad thing for the devs of Home. There are already items I haven’t bought and forgotten about, and for as long as Home stays in its current state, I’ll be waiting to see when it becomes safe to spend again. Until that happens, Home will just get further and further away from me in importance I’m afraid.
I truly hope that for the sake of LKWD, nDreams, Juggernaut, LOOT etc, Sony can fix this before others like me let Home float off like a pyre headed for Valhalla. Good luck Sony, right now the only thing holding this together are the serious Home fans, for every new user that comes into Home during this period day by day, is just another lost potential customer that will tell their friends that Home is nothing more than a broken mess.
Nice read Strom. I’ve been very lucky about my stuff not being a mess, but I know several who are still fighting with it. I want to touch on a point you made about people holding back on buying. This has the potential for being a huge problem and could have far reaching effects for the future. I hope they take it seriously and work this out sooner than later. Also, after the PS4 questions get answered and the fixes come in for 1.75 I think we will see things return to normal.