Sunday in the Park with Seal

by SealWyf, HSM Editor

It’s something I never would have predicted.

Here we are, in a world where we can visit any kind of virtual landscape, from the hyper-realist to the surreal — islands suspended from hot-air balloons, militarized space stations, post-apocalyptic deserts, or a magical shopping alley from the world of Harry Potter. We can live in any kind of space a designer can imagine and a programmer can render. And we are all going totally gaga over a city park.

I’m also amazed by the universal comparison of Acorn Meadows Park with our beloved, much-mourned Central Plaza. “This is the new Central Plaza,” says just about everyone, including me. But the two spaces are really quite different. The Plaza was a hub, a world-between-the-worlds, with direct exits to the Bowling Alley, the Theater, the Mall and our own Harbour Studio apartments. Acorn Meadows Park is connected to the Hub, but so are many spaces. Central Plaza had a dance stage with music, and a big central multi-player game — Saucer Pop, or a special promotional or seasonal amusement. Acorn Meadows has nothing like that. Its games are diffuse and solitary — drink three kinds of coffee, ride the little train, walk your dog, run the races. So why the constant and approving comparison?

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park

What we’re seeing here is a stunning demonstration of what really counts in Home. Whiz-bang technical gimcrackery is all well and good, and will attract some attention when it appears. But what we really want, what we crave, is a pleasant place to meet our friends, which includes some kind of low-key amusement. And one of our best models for that is a well-designed city park.

The great parks of the world were created in an age when getting away for the weekend was not an option. People needed to experience nature, but they needed to be able to do it at the end of a short walk or at most a street-car ride. The country had to come to the city. And, in many of the world’s great cities, it did — in the form of the great urban parks. The best of them are masterpieces of social landscape design.

As a California girl, my two great formative parks were Griffith Park in Los Angeles and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  Griffith Park had some great attractions. The Los Angeles Zoo is there. And the Griffith Planetarium, with its slightly dusty science museum, was among my favorite childhood haunts. I’m sure that place is one of the reasons I went into science.

Golden Gate Park also had museums — I worked in one of them for twenty years — but its real glory was its panoramic open spaces. The park is one of the treasures of San Francisco — the heart and soul of the city, as much as the Bay or the iconic bridges. In size and diversity, it resembles Central Park in New York City, another classic example of how well-designed open space can humanize an urban area.

Study for "La Grande Jatte"

Study for “La Grande Jatte”

When I first arrived in Acorn Meadows Park, I found myself thinking of Seurat’s famous painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, and the Stephen Sondheim musical it inspired, “Sunday in the Park with George.” The painting and musical capture the sense of blessed relaxation from the toil of the week, the intensity of sunlight, the coolness of shade, and the fascination of water.

The same intensity and long vistas were designed into Acorn Meadows. The designers who made this space understand parks, and what is important about them. The sense of place, the illusion of actually being outside, is stunningly convincing.

But we don’t visit spaces in Home just to get the illusion of being somewhere else. All Home’s spaces do that, from the sleek, ultra-modern Hub, to the grunge and rubble of “No Man’s Land”, to the eye-stretching desert expanses of Sodium. You go there, and you are no longer sitting in your living room holding a controller. Suddenly, you are somewhere else.

So now you are here. The point is, do you want to stay?

And, while you are staying, what are you doing? Are you playing a game? Are you wandering around being bored? Are you so bored that you are annoying strangers? Are you chatting with your friends? Are you making new friends, and spontaneously forming groups?

park04What we loved about Central Plaza, and what we love about the Park, is that it makes social interaction easy. I’m not sure what it is about those spaces, but you feel it immediately. Wandering around alone is pleasant. But it’s hard to stay alone here for long. You run into people you know, or people you don’t know come up and introduce themselves. And not in a trollish way — in the Park, I have yet to experience the kind of aggressive sexual come-ons that make many of Home’s spaces uncomfortable for females. And I have not yet seen any obvious fam recruiting.

What I do see are groups. On my second visit to the Park I ran into a gathering of Hamster Freedom. It was great to see them in such large numbers, and many of them remembered me from the Homeling Art Shows and other events. We had a lovely chat before they headed to the stairs to take group photographs. Just today, I ran into what was obviously a “chopper club” — a group of avatars on identical motorcycle LMO’s lined up on a bridge. That’s them in the photograph. They were there as long as I was in the space, well over an hour. And, despite their “Hell’s Angels” appearance, they were perfectly peaceful.

park03Much of yesterday afternoon was spent in a one-on-one conversation — an old friend who was once Homeling and had drifted away, falling off my Friend List in the process. She recognized my avatar name, and we sat on the grass under the oak trees, catching up on old gossip and comparing notes. It was very peaceful, except for the occasional animated Dr. Pepper machine that wanted to join the conversation. Aside from those surreal, only-in-Home moments, it felt very much like sitting in a real park.

Three times in two days’ visits, I have been approached by very nice, extremely polite gentlemen who wanted to strike up a conversation. Not to get a “date” or an in-Home girlfriend — just to share thoughts and observations about the Park, Home, and life in general. One of them ended up on my Friend List. (All three of them would have, if it were not so very, very full.) It’s so nice to have a place in Home where that kind of thing still happens.

So why is this space so seductive? I can point to some specific attractions.

park05First off, it’s the first space we have that really works with the new locomotions. Granted, full-sized motorcycles are not really at home on park paths. But they work a lot better here than they do in the cramped indoor spaces of the Hub and Mall. And it’s an absolutely superb space to bring out your skateboard, your bicycle, or your horse. Having a speedy locomotion makes the races a lot easier, as well as a lot more fun. There are other benefits as well. I’m here to tell you that racing the little steam train on a flying broom is totally awesome!

Second, the dogs are great! VEEMEE’s dog companions have always been superior, and the new batch are totally endearing. Their postures and movements portray a happy, healthy, enthusiastic pet. They are even better in the closed Dog Park, where their joyous boundings and barkings add to the fun.

Third, the quest system is well-conceived and amusing, even though large parts of it are still buggy. I do look forward to being able to roam the lake in a swan boat, or the paths on a tandem bicycle. Even the train and the food stands don’t always work. And now my Profile says my next level (level 7) won’t be reached until I hit 1.2e+05 Experience Points. I think that’s 12,000, and I only have 1,500. Well, I’m sure that will be fixed eventually. I’m having a lot of fun with the races.

park02But none of that really explains why we love this space so much. There’s just something about it — something intangible — that makes this the poster child for successful social MMO spaces. It’s not much of a game. And it’s not an intensely imaginative landscape, like Aurora. It’s just… comfortable. And it brings out the best in people. I intend to spend a lot of time here.

The question inevitably arises, how this already lovely space can be improved. The first priority, of course, is to fix the bugs. We know that all complex spaces have growing pains. We get that. But we will be sorely disappointed if several weeks go by without swan boats.

The second thing I think this space needs — and I say this carefully, because it would be terrible to destroy what might be a delicate balance — is music. One of the strong points of the old Central Plaza was that it had a place to dance. A band shell and dance floor with casual, dance-friendly music would be a nice addition.

park06My third request is a blatant fit of nostalgia on my part. Both of the iconic parks of my childhood — Griffith and Golden Gate — had beautiful antique carousels. I have loved carousels ever since. If one could be added to what is probably already a tight memory budget, it would be much appreciated. And it would be even better if a “grab-the-brass-ring” game could be included.

But, on the whole, VEEMEE got this place spectacularly right. Acorn Meadows Park — not the Hub, and certainly not the Mall — is the new beating heart and soul of Home. Seal will be spending her Sunday afternoons here for some time to come.

 

 

 

 

May 13th, 2013 by | 5 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer, who has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is obsessed with creating new aesthetic experiences in PlayStation Home.

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5 Responses to “Sunday in the Park with Seal”

  1. KrazyFace says:

    It goes to show that when you listen to the community, and put in the effort to give what’s been asked, as a company, you will get back your efforts in full pay -- and then some. I know that a lot of developer executives have this idea that ” the masses dont know what they want”, and I’d go with that to a certain extent. However, Acorn Park has just proven that (even when things dont work as they should) when the main users of Home are listened to, great things can happen.

    Your question of aesthetics in comparison to the norm in Home; why is it that even with infinite possibilities of environments from our imaginations do we all fuss and awe at a “regular” park space? The humorous irony is not lost on me here, but it’s also very telling of what people who use virtual reality as an escape and form of relaxation points out. That is, sometimes, the best escape from our harsh realities, is just another one we can relate to in the same way -- minus the reminders of what makes our lives harder.

    Personally I like Acorn Park because of its similarities to a place I used to go as a kid too, the mini train being the biggest similarity. Although the park I went to had what we called The Dutch Village -- a playpark on an island in the middle of the lake accessed via an ordinate bridge, or boat/pedalo. And for some reason I always had a fascination with the massive green houses there, and the wishing wells. Oh! And the aviary with exotic birds! And the bouncy castle! And the MASSIVE “Ranch” playpark! And, oh, I’d better just stop now…

  2. Burbie52 says:

    I agree with your suggestions for new additions Seal. I think the bandstand or shell would be a great addition, people love music and if it could be appropriate music that wasn’t too loud and raucous, yet could be danced to. There should also be more than one tune so as not to become too boring after awhile.
    The merry go round would be cool too, it was always a staple in many parks and would add more realism to the area.
    Nice article Seal.

  3. SealWyf_ says:

    Thanks, Krazy and Burbie. This was written over a week ago, and I’m still very much a “park-a-holic”.

    My Homeling colleagues had an additional suggestion for new park features: a big climbable rock similar to “Homeling Rock” in the Sodium Hub space. Everyone loves getting on top of things, especially if they are not really supposed to do it. A few simple-to-glitch benches would probably be popular as well, for the same reason.

    By the way, in case it’s not apparent from the small images, I Photoshopped some of the pictures into fake Seurats. Click of them to see them full size, in all their pixellated pseudo-Impressionist glory.

  4. dblrainbowgirl says:

    I agree on the locomotions and think group-based ones like the picnic blanket offer a lot interactivity to the park. I think it would be interesting if someone added tai-chi or yoga locomotions, just to see if you could get groups of people doing them together in the park.

    I’m not sure if this could work, but in the musical sense the space could have ‘concerts’. (this also opens up vendors to more dance move selling points). You could have a “big band” concert with virtual guys and gals doing swing-dancing…a “salsa music” concert paired with Latin dancing…etc!

    • SealWyf_ says:

      I believe we are getting some yoga poses from Lockwood next week. I can totally see a “Yoga in the Park” gathering.

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