What Don’t I Like About Home
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
Recently, we were all challenged by our editors to write a thousand words about anything in Home — and the less we knew about the particular subject material, the better.
Sounds weird, right? But it was meant to stretch us as writers. The rules were rather simple: constructively write about something you don’t like or have never experienced much in Home. Because even for a publication like this one, which has exhaustively covered Home for years on end, there are still areas within it which we individually have not visited and thus not experienced.
And that brings up a question: why?
Why are there parts of Home which we just decide not to visit? Why don’t they appeal to us? And what have we thus missed out on?
I decided to think on it for a bit before deciding what to write about. I tried Sodium2 first, as I am not a racing fan at all, but for the life of me I couldn’t come up with much to say about it. I love SodiumOne and Salt Shooter though. I finished the game in a week, helped along considerably by ace pilot Grimm. That game is one that I think is overlooked by many people now, with all of the newfangled stuff being released in Home each week, but it is one of those games that always keeps giving back; you can earn Sodium credits there every time you play, forever. I like a lot of the stuff you can get from VICKIE with those credits, but I wish they would add 
more new things for those who have been playing it for a long time.
(Perhaps Sodium will find new life in Avakin, Lockwood’s new social MMO. It would make perfect sense for them to port over one of their most successful and visible IPs to their new venture.)
So back to the subject at hand: what is there in Home that I don’t like? Having been around for over three years, I have been pretty much everywhere that Home has to offer in the way of games and places. True, there are many I choose not to frequent, such as No Man’s Land or Uproar – though the games themselves are fine if you like that type, which I don’t. I’ve never been a shooter fan, and though I have played a few in my time, they are always RPG hybrids like Uncharted and Red Dead Redemption.
The other thing about going to these areas is that unless you have the gear and are already an expert, you don’t even get a chance to play, as those who are good at it already and have the gear will kill you before you get a chance to do anything at all. This quickly gets boring and pointless. They need to partition the new people from those who are good at the games to give them a chance to learn it, and thereby gain new users and money for their coffers hopefully. You don’t want to cater to existing whales so heavily that you exclude the possibility of creating new ones.
If I am honest, the thing I like least in Home is some of the behavior. Being an older female and parent, I see some of the people in here acting like kids with bad attitudes, even if they aren’t kids any more, and I cringe.
When you stand behind a rope and taunt people who can’t pass, that is a childish act.
When you harass someone just because they are new to Home, it is a childish act.
When you treat a female avatar as though she is some kind of object rather than another human being, that is a childish act.
All of these are things that make me want to take the perpetrators over my knee and give them a well deserved spanking. I know that some of the people who act this way are truly children who just don’t know any better, but there are others who do — and I feel like there is no excuse for them at all. I find this especially true about those who taunt people from behind ropes as though having the ability to spend a bit of money makes you special. Sorry folks, it doesn’t – and the way I see it, you are embarrassing yourself, though you might not be smart enough to see it.
Ha Ha! You are too lame to get in!
We were all newbies once. I know this has been said many times, but I think that people need to be reminded occasionally that if we want to see Home stick around for a while, we should encourage and help new people as much as possible, not the other way around. If they become good citizens of Home and start to invest time and energy here, chances are they will also spend money eventually — and that is good for all of us. Home is in a very unsure position right now; no one truly knows if it will be ported over to the PS4, though we can hope. The more new people that we can entice and bring into the fold, the better chance Home has for a future. Sony and the other developers will follow the money: that is what they are here for, after all. Contrary to what some people seem to think, developers (including Sony) aren’t charities.
(Editor’s note: so no more whining about paying for Xi, kids.)
Bad behavior in Home is par for the course, unfortunately. It has been thus since Home began. Heck, it was one of the major reasons they took public mics out, though I am truly glad they did from the reports of those who were here when Home began. If there is one thing I truly dislike in Home, it is they way that people use the shortening or spelling of words to get around the censors. We all know what they are saying even if we wish we didn’t.
I find swearing to be a sign that you don’t have a very well established vocabulary. I gave it up when I had a child many years ago; it is easier to do than you might realize, as all it takes is thinking before you speak. For some it seems to be a way of life; they just don’t know any better, and they abuse the words as well as the people around them. They seem to forget that though they might feel they have the right to say these things, I also have the right not to hear them. This is true in real life as well as Home.
Not pictured: Civility, politeness.
But this kind of behavior isn’t going to go away any time soon in Home; there are just too many people out there who weren’t raised with any manners or to care about others besides themselves. The only thing that we as regular users can do here is be a better example, and though it pains me to say it, keep our mouths shut except in extreme cases when a report is in order. Adding fuel to a fire does nothing, and they aren’t going to listen to you anyway. Sometimes I wish I could take out that virtual belt and spank them, but I have to keep my cool and walk away instead if possible. I rarely report people because the Mods who are out there have a lot on their plates already.
Home is truly a microcosm of real life, so we deal with the good and the bad. We can hope for change, but given the human condition, I doubt we will see much. So just we should just move on when confronted with these things and enjoy Home in our own ways. Leave the kids to play alone.
May 31st, 2013 by Burbie52 | 3 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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Great article Burbie. I too find that I love most of the places on Home, and like you, it’s the behavior of the people that so many times makes a place unfriendly. I remember back to the Diesel beach public space. It was a cool place to be and being as I am in southern California, I thought that it was a well rendered beach. The one element that made it very bad and on my avoid list was the people there. The developers on Home make great places and granted in the thought that we all have different tastes, there are places I don’t care for, but all are fun and well made. To bad we can’t get a ‘spank’ emote, I’d use it on a few folk I see, but how fast would that be used for bad? Great read.
It never ceases to amaze me how similar Home and the “real world” are. The best and worst of Home are the best and worse of real life. Great job with the 1000 word challenge Burbie!
Superb read, home has always seemed to amplify the best and worst, I dont think it helps that there is two extremes in the way home is portrayed by some of its users, some say that hate it yet still turn up and others say it can do no wrong, both sides cause they own set of issues for home