The Curious Controversy of “Noob Away Spray”
by NorseGamer, HSM Publisher
PlayStation Home can be — and is — a haven for a lot of damaged people. This can make it “uncool” to elements of the gaming world at large, but it is something which HSM celebrates: that Home can be a place where people who, for whatever mental, physical or emotional reasons have difficulty coping with the outside world, can use Home to have more fulfilling lives.
There is a down side to this, though: the belief that anything which could be deemed as too emotionally provocative — a velvet rope, a diaper costume, a mankini, etc. — should not be allowed into the virtual society. That only goods and services which are of near-universal appeal, and do not in any way have any potentially negative connotation, should be permitted.
The reality is that some people really do hold on to Home — or, more specifically, their personal idea of what the Home experience should be, as an escape from the rigors (and personal failures) of the real world — a bit too tightly.
What’s caused the latest ruckus? PSTalent’s newly-released “Noob Away” spray.
Personally, I think this is a really hilarious concept. But that’s the catch with humor: someone’s bound to be offended. When you’re telling a joke, someone or something has to be the butt of the joke. And for years, the Sony forum regulars have periodically joked about how cool it would be to have a “noob spray,” “troll spray” or some other such repellant. Which, naturally, makes it only more poetic that when such a blatantly in-humor virtual commodity is actually released, someone on that forum gets their knickers in a twist over it.
But what the heck: HSM thrives on examining Home’s social issues, so why not dive into this? Let’s look at the assertions behind why PSTalent’s “Noob Away” virtual item should not be sold in PlayStation Home, and see if they hold any merit:
1.) The Noob Away Spray will be a deterrent to new user on-boarding for PlayStation Home. Sony is sending the wrong message if it hopes to provide a welcoming environment to new people.
Sony’s already done a hell of a lot to try to make Home more enticing to new users by turning it into a gaming platform, so that a new user would have plenty to do that didn’t require social interaction (quite an interesting move for a social MMO, by the way, but logical when you consider that the console isn’t bundled with a keyboard). And not to put too fine a point on it, but barring Home transitioning to another platform, we’re probably on the tail end of this application’s lifespan; the PS3 consumer base has already had half a decade of exposure to Home at this point, which means a whole lot of people have already made up their minds whether to use the application or not. One new virtual commodity, even if used by someone with malicious intent, will frankly have a minimal impact.
It’s also worth noting that in online gaming communities, social gerontocracy really isn’t anything new. Yes, we were all noobs once; some had bad experiences and left, some had good experiences and stayed. But here’s what’s important to remember: you could strip away every virtual item from Home, and that would in no way guarantee good behavior. Hell, bench glitching should have blatantly proven that to everyone in Home five years ago.
Should “noob” be a pejorative catch-all term for someone in one of the lowest rungs of our virtual society? In a perfect world, no. But it isn’t perfect. Home is a mirror of our imperfections that we bring into it. And no, developers don’t have some sort of moral obligation to refrain from selling commodities which could be used for malicious intent, because damn near anything can be used for malicious intent if you have a mindset to do so.
2.) Sony is encouraging poor behavior by allowing Noob Away Spray into Home. This product exists solely to be used with malicious intent towards other users.
We’re making two awfully big assumptions here:
a.) That noobs are, by default, innocent and beautiful lambs who can’t take care of themselves and must be protected from the evils of cynical veteran users who get their jollies off of belittling others;
b.) That people will buy this item specifically to troll other users.
Look, I know that some people have this escapist utopian fantasy of Home as the perfect society that’s free from all human vices, but seriously: how many discussions have there been over the years about new users running around, behaving poorly, trolling regular users, and generally being annoying? In an MMO that’s free to play and everyone is conveniently and safely anonymous, poor behavior is to be expected. It is a sad truth that the great weakness of Home — the one element of it which cannot be carefully controlled to present a positive image (without turning it into a police state) — is frankly is its own user base.
Will someone buy this virtual commodity with the sole intent of trolling other users? Sure. Someone will. But the same can be said of several other virtual commodities in Home. And let’s keep in mind: this item can’t actually do anything to your account or your avatar. So really the only way these pixels on your screen can be construed as offensive is if you take offense to it. Whether someone chooses to dance too close to you, spray you, spam you with text bubbles or some other method of harassment, the answer is always the same: report, ignore/mute, block if necessary, and move on.
Frankly, I hope that Home users — even those damaged souls who use Home as a refuge — would have a bit more…grit.
3.) Sony allowing Noob Away Spray into Home opens up a dangerous precedent for other, more offensive commodities (a “Gay Away Spray,” for instance) to be created and sold.
A fallacious slippery-slope assertion which breaks down upon further examination. A virtual commodity designed to discriminate against protected categories (ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) would logically never be approved. “Noobs,” however, are hardly a protected category; a noob in this context is simply someone behaving like an idiot, being disruptive, and generally annoying other users. Hence the unspoken social pressure to not behave “like a noob.”
So many debates have raged over the years about what’s appropriate for Home — from a moral standpoint, not just what’s within the rules — and every time, people fail to realize that Home isn’t a moral or immoral equation: it’s an amoral equation. In the real world, good behavior is often enforced through fear: fear of social repercussion, physical reprisal, financial penalty, et cetera. Whereas in a virtual world, where all of this is gone, you really are the master of your Home experience. Some people define their Home experience as going back to a particular game. Some define it as feeling superior about themselves by bench glitching or standing behind a rope. Some define it as nothing more than an intermission between games.
But the one thing we should all strive to remember: just as no content provider in Home is obligated to cater to any one person’s individual view of How Things Should Be, no user is ever forced to endure any sort of harassment. Good lord. Don’t let other people have so much power over your emotional well-being.
The supreme irony, of course, is that such debates only produce one measurable achievement: they drive more eyeballs to whatever the subject of the debate is. And in a fast-paced marketplace such as Home, where all but the hottest commodities are forgotten less than a fortnight after their release, having a product which generates buzz is worth some serious revenue. In this regard, PSTalent is now benefiting from so much free publicity from a few people who are out campaigning against it (in much the same way that HSM’s traffic numbers see a bump every time someone goes on a tear about one of our articles on the forum), and the net result is almost certainly an increase in sales figures.
Personally, I think PSTalent’s “Noob Away Spray” is a really funny idea. Hopefully you do as well. And if it does genuinely bother you, remember that you actually do have the power to let it not bother you. A community should never lose the ability to poke fun at itself.
September 12th, 2013 by NorseGamer | 18 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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Thank you Norse! The community will define Noob Away as time goes by, I hope everyone gives this a read before picking sides
Keep up the great work HSM!
Well said! I saw a picture of this stuff on the EU forums just yesterday and had a chuckle. But I’d also crashed in X7 twice before that so was a bit grumpy and didn’t ask all I could about it. Now I know. And I want some!!!
I suppose you could mull over the connotations of this, as you have here; who will it appeal to, how will it be used…
The truth here though is that “noobs” have been around since before Home, they’re an inevitable part of any MMO or social network and depending on whether that person chooses to stay or go, determines whether or not they remain a noob there or not. You can CHANGE from being a noob, which is precisely why they can’t be labeled as an actual category. What I mean is, you can’t change your skin colour, or your heritage, or your sexual preferences (well, that one’s debatable) but you can stop bring a noob simply by learning. And what teaches better than a heafty dose of spray in the face!?
Made me chuckle but a bit expensive for a short term joke. As regards to it being some sort of politically incorrect item just look around home now. You want a pleasant welcome dress as a noob and see how many times you can say hello before someone says they will report you. Theres always politically incorrect conversation usually involving sexual orientation, religion or physical appearance. Currently I can shoot users with a flame thrower so a spray is hardly any more malicious. Basically all the reasons not to have noob spray are already largely in home already.
When I saw it I thought it should have been labeled troll away spray. Most ppl find them more offensive then noobs, as stated by KrazyFace,noob-status is temporary. Trolls tend to stay afflicted.
Good article Norse.
I agree; if they had named it “Troll Spray” it would have made a world of difference in how this item was perceived by the community.
How about Fam-away
Any good comedian will tell you. Any jokes can be made. Up to an extent of course. What’s important is how you do it and the the audience.
The “infomercial parody” is really funny. It’s well done in many aspects with lot’s of important detail.
First the offender might wear a free outfit but as a limited time reward it could only be considered “noob wear” for few weeks. Now it’s a standard free account troll outfit.
Second the offender controversial action are not related to someone new trying to fit in. What is depicted is a troll, not a noob.
Why call it “Noob Away” then? Because it sound much better than “troll repellant” in the parody and make it much more funny.
But, as someone stated in the forums. Not every jokes can be turned into a good LMO. I don’t have any concern about how the item itself could affect newcomers. Noobs being noobs they just won’t know what was that spray can. The problem I have is the message behind it.
Let me give you an example. A few weeks ago I was at the Cantina. A small group were having fun with a noob and had him walk into a little spot where he got stcuk. Only way out of it is thru the navigator. How old he was? No one know and they surely didn’t care. What is the message send to these people by PST and Sony? Making fun of people, using your knowledge to humiliate others is right, fun and the “kewl” thing to do on home.
If there wasn’t already a significant number of people on home picking on newcomers I probably would’nt have a problem with it. But it’s not the case.
Intolerance, no matter how you sugar coat it or try to justify it is still intolerance. Sure you don’t have to be a noob all your life. But the basic remains. Making fun of and humiliate others just because they are different are not justifyable. And making a profit out of it is even worst.
I understand it’s a joke. When I first read about it I went:
“LOL! … ehh… no.”
The infomercial parody was great. It can be turn into a really good meme. I could make jokes about noobs with friends myself.
But as an item, no.
In comedy. When you want to walk that fine line there is two thing that will help you go away with it.
-Make sure the target somehow deserve it in your audience mind and that people don’t see it as helpless.
Now, If you really want to make me laugh. Ofeer me a LOOT EOD repairmen/marine biologist companion. THAT would be funny.
If I can buy a virtual flamethrower and troll a user, then why is a can of “Noob Away” any different? Because the name tacitly lends itself to anti-social behavior?
Here’s what I keep coming back to: it’s damn near impossible to actually do any harm to someone else in Home. Sure, there’s objectionable behavior — hell, there’s no shortage of it — but it’s not that big of a deal to…well, choose to not make it that big of a deal. Block/ignore, report if necessary, and move on.
Or, as Terra has said more than once, this is why we can’t have nice things.
Actually I think you said it best, or rather, posted it best when you found this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epgPURkd6WQ
Going to call my flame thrower a troll toaster lol
Thank you for showing us such a level of maturity with your constructive critisim. If only the forum folks could keep it to facts with elaborated arguments like you do…
…Ah well. As we say. Haters gonna hate.
I think what it may come down to -- for those of us who do not troll -- is that we want help from Sony and the third party developers to defend ourselves. And we expect better of them. We believe they should be supporting us, the good guys, and not the trolls, by tacit means or other means. Any really, is that so much to ask?
*And
The catch here is that there are actually two issues at work:
a.) The long-standing issue of Home having a significant problem with poor user behavior, and Home giving its users very little means with which to curb such harassment (without creating a solution that’s worse than the problem), and
b.) The right of a developer to sell an item which some may find offensive.
There is likely no question that Home’s greatest weakness, which has driven away more users than anything else, is harassment from fellow users. This was beautifully exemplified by Penny Arcade’s rather uncomfortable comic strip about someone’s first few minutes in Home. It is a shame that Home never deployed a proper blocking system to eliminate user harassment, as that one difference would have likely made Home a far more enjoyable (and profitable) environment.
That said: a developer has the right to sell virtual goods which may be in questionable taste, so long as they do not violate any of Sony’s rules. Mass Media’s Weird Wear is a perfect example of this. nDreams’ mankini may even apply. And so does PSTalent’s Noob Away Spray.
The naming of the item butts it up squarely against a powder-keg social issue, which is why there’s an uproar from some about it: the assertion that there is a moral responsibility to not develop and sell virtual goods which seem to be overtly provocative, in order to protect the “greater good.”
That ain’t how commerce works — certainly not in the real world, and not in this virtual one, either.
It may not be how commerce works, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t how it SHOULD work.
As I said I don’t have any problems with the spray can itself or it’s effect on users. Only with the name and the message it send. Because want it or not. It does send a Message.
That said, I’m not making a big deal of it and won’t loose sleep over that.
WHAT??? It has effects?
I hope the sniffers don’t start huffing it.
fantastic article and fabolous way to put things into perspective !!