Going Through the Chop
by ted2112 HSM team writer
I fly a lot, and one of the things I hate about flying is the ten-thousand foot chop. When you take off and are ascending to your comfortable cruising altitude of twenty-five to thirty-five thousand feet, you go through a thermal layer that usually rests at about ten-thousand feet. Traveling through this makes the plane move about in all kinds of unpleasant ways. It usually only lasts for ten minutes or so, but sometimes those ten minutes can seem like an eternity.
Why am I talking about aeronautics? Well I kind of see the ten-thousand foot chop as where Home is right now. Home is in a place of uncertainty. We are all strapped in, back in coach, being bounced around. Sure, our pilots have a flight plan, and they know where they are going. But we passengers back here are totally in the dark. We sit patiently waiting for the “ding” and the announcement from the flight deck, letting us know all is well. We have bought our ticket and want to know if this is a flight to a wonderful new place — or a flight to nowhere.
We have been talking about the future of Home now for a while. People on both sides of the issue have had plenty say, and have made many valid points. However, here in this information gap, where there is no communication at all, we see the weird stuff start to happen. For the record, I am firmly of the opinion that the Home concept will be moving to the PS4. Whether or not all my stuff makes the trip with me, or if it’s even called Home, is a different thing entirely. I’m not so much concerned about a PS4 Home as I am about PS3-PS4 compatibility, and whether we will all have to start over again as noobs.
A Growing Perception of Home
I have big concerns about Sony’s lack of communication ticking off a large and very dedicated fan base for good, and hurting the Home brand. I have seen it happening already. There is panic in the forums, and a general feeling of uneasiness is causing a chain reaction of people not spending as much as they used to, at a time when developers are cranking out content and need the income more than ever. If I were part of the third party development group for Sony, I would be a trifle upset right now. This will be impacting their bottom lines big time, and it’s just starting.
There is also much debate about whether we are entitled to our stuff after some kind of change happens. I don’t want to touch that one with a ten foot pole, but I can say that there are many kinds of investments. The least of them is money. The real investment, the one to which everything else is secondary, is our time. Many of us have invested quite a bit of time into making Home the success it is, and in doing so we have been made a vested partner, officially or not.
Have we got our money’s worth from Home? Yes, of course we have — but that’s not the real issue. We all want to see Home succeed now and in the future because the essence of Home is the community we all belong to. The Home software on your console and on the servers is simply an interface. We, the community of users, are the real Home.
And our destination is?
I know Sony has a lot on its plate right now. Rolling out a new platform is no easy task, and I am sure that they have their hands full. I am also getting the sense that the PS4 will have a tiered buy-in membership system, and if Sony wants the dollars from one of its core bases, it can’t shut the door in that core’s face.
I think it’s great that we are going to have a PS4! I can’t wait to get my hands on one as soon as I can. However, there are a lot of eyes on Home right now, and many would be very gun shy about spending much money on PSN and downloadable content in the future if existing customers were to be thrown to the curb in the transition.
I truly want a happy ecosystem. I want a place where developers are making money and pushing creative boundaries. Where console sales are brisk and our favorite game franchises have a place for years to come. I want to see the PlayStation take its rightful place as an all-inclusive entertainment hub. But I also want it to be a place where the customer is treated with respect.
The opportunity is here and now — if we can do this right, the sky is the limit. There is a right way and a wrong way to make this transition. Unfortunately I have no power to do anything. I’m here with you, strapped in, back here in coach, waiting to get through the ten-thousand foot chop.
March 4th, 2013 by ted2112 | 4 comments
ted2112 is a writer and a Bass player that has been both inspired and takes to heart Kurt Vonnegut words...."we are here on planet Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different."
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Great article and I love the “going through the chop” analogy. When there is is so much unknown and people don’t know what’s going on, they make speculations about the future. Sony isn’t telling us what’s going except they announced the PS4 and told some basics. Maybe they want everything to be a big surprise, so they wow everybody! I know right now I am holding off on spending any more money on Home because I don’t know the future for sure. The new upgrade makes me feel positive, but only time will tell. If we were to start over and lose all our stuff, I would be very upset as I am sure a ton of people would be. I spent countless hours decorationg and countless money buying clothing, furniture and spaces and I would not want to lose it. For now, I will fasten my seat belt, brace my arm rests and prepare myself for the 10,000 foot chop. I will wait for the news and hope it will be really positive.
Great article. Sony is not saying very much at all. Period, about PS4. We have not even seen the new console. As far as home goes. home is on PS3 and users have not heard anything about Home leaving P
S3. No news is good news. Updates are still going and so is Home.
Until we hear anything different.
Sony never says much, even at the best of times. They should have a company name-change from Sony to Stoney -- coz let’s face it, asking them anything is LIJE talking to a damn wall!
My first inclinations when they implemented the data migration were positive, it even made sense. But now all this talk of “what you buy on PS3 digitally won’t be carried across to PS4″ is all very negative.
The devs of Home might still have a good enough customer base that they’ll make money even with some of us holding off, but I for one, will likely not be buying much in there until I know where I stand. And given Sony’s Montel-like qualities of communication (*ahem* NOT!) I expect it’ll be around about another 6month’s to a year before I can begin to make an informed decision. Key word there, and something a lot of companies dont want you making; informed decisions.
*EDIT*
I have no idea what LIJE is, ask my stupid phone…
That’s “like” not LIJE. -_-