Class Dismissed
by Susan, HSM team writer
PlayStation Home apparently has evolved into an expansive gaming and social network — and, add to that a mixture of extremely diverse, if not radically social individuals. And, soon after, you get social classes: art imitating life, it seems. I use the word apparently because I have chosen to subscribe to a notion that we are just a small community of people gathered together, searching for the names of fun and adventure — not a collective of individuals that have been divided up into classes by our social and economic positions.
Whenever I go into Home I have always managed to keep myself entertained in a variety of different ways. Whether it is something as simple as just sitting on a chair at Pier Park and talking to people, or by using my metaphorical black PSN card combined with expendable income to buy whatever I want, it’s the thrill of becoming part of a virtual environment where I can escape some of the ideology that infests those who live in the realm of that we call the real world.
Unfortunately, that mindset I had been looking to avoid found its way into fabric of the PlayStation Home community: social classes.
We are not born racist, homophobic, rude, or inconsiderate — and becoming a member of those classes comes through the choice to subscribe to the teachings of parents, friends and basically society in general, coupled with our own experiences. But as soon as we pop out of mom we are automatically, instantly and without choice placed into a tier of social classes which are based on parents or our family’s economic status in the world. Later on in life, the government continues to remind you of our social status through programs such welfare, WIC and Unemployment Insurance, while through life the Internal Revenue Service has been there to ensure we think we know our status/position in the economic class.
I don’t agree with this notion of being placed into categories. Never have. And I don’t know if I ever will. Unable to at this time change the way society works or thinks as a whole, I have chosen to go along in order to get along — but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. In Star Trek First Contact, Captain Picard states that the drive for economic prosperity wasn’t the the goal in life; it was for the betterment of society and of oneself. I like that. I would much rather be bestowed the title of an artisan, musician, librarian, or educator any day of the week than be dubbed something labeled as lower, middle or upper class.
For this article I will acknowledge two things:
1-Social classes do exist on PlayStation Home, and
2-I don’t care that they do, let’s stir up some chat stew and talk about a social class people are calling whales.
I’m not talking about an avatar LMO, but instead the term being applied to people who spend large amounts of money in PlayStation Home. Whales — high rollers, as originally called by the casinos — are a select group of individuals who typically wager huge lots of cash while at the casinos, and the definition of that term varies from each establishment.
You might be a whale in Las Vegas at the Californian, but at the Wynn you’re probably small fish. At the Paradise Casino you are given free chips to play with and can eventually win enough to get into the VIP room — and then, before you know it, you’re at the High Rollers suite. Or, you can be just like me: use real cash and buy the chips and items you need to get to those places. You can be at the top of the list in winnings there and still not be a whale. The chips stay at the casino, which stops you from using them anywhere else. You might be considered a whale at the Paradise Casino, but we are talking about PlayStation Home as a whole.
So: what does it take to be considered a PlayStation Home whale?
Is it about how many pieces of real estate you have purchased, or is it about the value of the properties? Not too long ago, a young man came up to me at Sportswalk while I was sitting at my usual spot, and he began to inform me how he is a Home baller. Giggling inside and wanting to hear more, I asked him what that meant. He stated that he had ten personal spaces and all the Mansion pieces, and then asked me how many personal spaces I had. Oh, and then he continued by asking if I wanted to be his girlfriend and join him for a private party for two at his place.
Lend me a hand — I need a triple facepalm for this.
After declining his, um, smooth advances, I told him how many spaces I owned at that time: eighty-nine. His response? “Daamn!” And then he beat a hasty retreat to another scene.
Using mommy’s credit card a couple of times doesn’t make you a baller, any more than pretending to be female in Home makes you an actual object of desire.
A few days after that, I got to thinking and started to add up the cost of all those spaces. Over $500). Which was more or less my daamn moment. Then I counted all of my furniture items, inventory items, et cetera — everything I had collected from day one. Which, at over 3200 items in 3.5 years, took a while. I then added up the cost of it all, which I will not repeat here.
I didn’t stop there. I added up the cost of everything that has been or was being used for PlayStationHome: PSN cards for giveaways/gifts, five PS3 consoles, Hauppage PVR 1212, Sony Vegas 11 editing software, After Effects and Adobe editing software, PS3 keypad, another PS3 controller, PS Plus, PS3 extended warranty…
It adds up.
I started to think I might be a Home whale. Then I met a woman at Pier Park whom we’ll simply name “Moira”, as she wishes to remain anonymous. We got on the discussion of our inventory items, and eventually I came around to asking her how many personal spaces she owned. She fired back with a resounding 135.
One-hundred and thirty-five. Christ, I didn’t think there were that many estates in all of Home. A quick trip to AlphaZone 4 quickly corrected that, though.
She went on to say that she’d been in Home for almost six years, and has probably spent over $15,000 in her time here. I told her that there are people who would almost certainly consider her a Home whale — a notion which she cast aside, saying that she just bought stuff to have it. Because she can.
I like her.
We talked about how casino whales get all the good comps and exclusive privileges. The casinos cater to the whales’ every need. Is that true for PlayStation Home in general?
I began to wonder. We do have some spaces that have privileged access if you own the appropriate items needed for entry. There are always developer parties and other social media outlets where developers can be located, giving away codes to the community — but anyone has that access. If a person is to be considered a whale on Home, shouldn’t they have better access to the developers? If I were a Home whale, should I be allowed to get what I am asking to pay for and have them make it, just because I want it? Do I have the right to email Lockwood, for instance, and expect them to design and create for me a new jet ski for my Dream Hideaway just because I own everything Lockwood?
Not a chance. And that’s the trap: the entitlement attitude which can so easily and insidiously creep into a Home power user’s mindset.
Thing is, I’ve found no way to discern what constitutes a Home whale. Two people can look at the same image and not see the same thing. I enjoy Home for what it is and don’t need the added complexity of real-world social classes to mess it all up.
If you think you’re a Home whale and flaunting your so-called wealth makes you happy, good for you. Tell me you spent $1,000 last month; I don’t care. Tell me you are spending your time trying to improve Home and educate the community through news and social events, and then I care. 
Can a person who does nothing but looks for and owns all of the free rewards on Home, and thus spends zero money, be considered a whale? Nebulous. Doubtful.
I started this journey seeking out the answer of what a Home whale is, but I ended up having more questions than answers. If you are looking for information on what is for sale on PlayStation Home or what rewards are out there to find, do what I always do and go to AlphaZone 4. But I would like to hear from the community on what they think a Home whale is.
I will finish up with a piece of a stand-up comedy from 1992 by comedian George Carlin as it sums up my thoughts as well:
“I’d like to talk about some things that bring us together. Things that point out our similarities instead of our differences, ’cause that’s all you ever hear about in this country is our differences. That’s all the media and the politicians are ever talking about: the things that separate us, things that make us different from one another. That’s the way the ruling class operates in any society. They try to divide the rest of the people. They keep the lower and the middle classes fighting with each other so that they, the rich, can run off with all the (expletive) money. Fairly simple thing. Happens to work. You know, anything different, that’s what they gonna talk about. Race, religion, ethnic and national backgrounds, jobs, income, education, social status, sexuality. Anything they can do, keep us fighting with each other so that they can keep going to the bank. You know how I describe the economic and social classes in this country? The upper class keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes. The middle class pays all of the taxes, does all of the work. The poor are there just to scare the shit out of the middle class. Keep them showing up at those jobs.”
December 6th, 2013 by Susan | 7 comments
Susan is a team writer for HomeStation Magazine, co-founder of the award winning media group-AvatardProductions, a PlayStation MVP and a Home Guide. PSNID SCEA/xx96791DEATHxx-SCEE/oXx_EnIgMa_xXo. An avid PlayStation Home user, she is most often found setting land speed records at the Sodium 2 velocity racetracks, sitting at the Pier Park or playing with the R/C vehicles at Acorn Meadows Park.
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I have no counter argument here. In-love with this article. Speaks volumes about me as well, as I own so much “crap” on Home, I just get it because I like them.
As the subject states to all that feel they are “Ballin'”: Class Dismissed.
ballin..lolz..its like the term swag..Men have swagger, boys have swag!!
I know a LOT of people in Home who own basically every space and most of the other things like locomotion and clothing items and furniture. They are like the woman you met, they buy these things because they can and they enjoy themselves by decorating and fashion. Even the guys I know who fit this category only do it because they are enjoying the fun they can have with it.
The idea that owning stuff makes you better than anyone else is a myth and silly to say the least. We are all humans, full of frailties and all subject to the same issues that humans have, like health issues and the ups and downs of our emotional lives and our spiritual ones. You can’t take it with you after all, so when Home dies or you do the whole thing is moot. Just enjoy Home as best you can and use what you have to help others if you can and you will find this Home experience a much richer one.
I am amazed at the amount of people who posses a lot if not a majority of all the items available here on Home just because they can..and they don’t flaunt it either..
Good point Sue. There are social classes on home, and I have a few whale friend s myself lol. But they are the mist down to earth people would would ever meet. On the other hand I’ve seen avatars being total snobs around Home , and they don’t really own that much. I have a saying , what you are in real life you bring to your avatar, wheat her people realize it or not. Its always a pleasure when I do see you on Home.
Me to Honeycomb…I have run across people who flaunt their wealth and IDK, expect us to bow down or something..
Ive got over 100 spaces all furnished with very little duplication of furniture items and dont consider myself to be a whale, I consider my purchases whether it will add anything to my home experience or not. i think a home whale would be someone that just blindy buys whatevers new this week just because they cant be seen not having the latest stuff. Having the mansion doesnt gain you friends, wearing a diamond suit doesnt gain you friends. It those things that put you in a class, or maybe not a class, maybe it defines the type of users that will interact with you. Me and a friend did a little experiment. dressed in an outfit of reward clothes and purple beards, another user of the opposite sex wouldnt give us the time of day. We then changed back to our normal outfits and she added us as friends. I also found that the spaces that get the most attention arent the most expensive but the ones with region free rewards that are available in just one region, like villians liar or virtual tennis. Those got as many people asking for an invite as any top dollar premium space.