by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer

Funny story: I hate leveling systems in games. I really, really do. Some games require them, but I have sat firmly in the trenches of the “never put a leveling system in Home” camp since I first heard rumors of it. In fact, I had a whole article written about the evils and social ills of a Home-based leveling system.

There was talk (in my article) of the apocalypse and technology rising to eradicate man…then zero hour struck, and in my eyes I saw the whole of Home dissolve like a fog in the summer heat. With bated breath and a lot of lip biting, I waited to see the undoing of Home, and to be able to write this very article that would give me the glorious moment of,  “I told you it was a bad idea.” But, like Y2K and the end of the world that was projected back then…nothing happened. In fact, it sort of caught me off guard as it was introduced so quietly.

So I examined the ‘horrible’ idea in the Home navigator menu. Oh, all I had to do was try the duel or tutorial at Pottermore, play some Scribble Shooter  or Ice Breaker (which I own), and tour four places around Home (Loco Roco’s Mui Mui Ship, Wipeout public space, Resistance public space and Little Big Planet’s derby).

I did these things and got a prize. Then I leveled up and…bing…got a prize, leveled up again and guess what? Prize.

Okay, so my article was starting to lose ground like a sand castle at high tide. All the implications for the death of Home’s social scene, all the misgivings that I feared, were fading like a bad politician’s credibility. As I re-read the article I was writing, I saw that I was making edit after edit, adjusting my stance like a dancer juggling chainsaws.

After seeing the leveling system in Home, I can openly and happily say that I am a big fan. Real big, actually. It is a great replacement to the Hub’s activity board. In fact, Sony implemented this new system and truly made it so that the community’s activity board can actually be deleted. For this I stand and give Sony applause — with a few caveats, though.

As great as the system works, there are some bugs.

This is the “dreaded” challenge screen.

First let’s look at the basics of the new system.

When one enters, there are three panels to examine. The first is the users progress with small bits of information about prizes and tasks as well as the duration of the current sessions. The next panel is the task panel. Here it informs the user of the tasks they can perform to gain 100 points per task with a total of three tasks daily for 300 points maximum. Do a set of tasks, get points and eventually one gets prizes. It really is very simple.

The tasks vary, and in the first installment there are tasks that include a few objectives at the Pottermore space — those being the Charms game, where one flies a feather through a set of rings, along with the Broom races, and the wand battling and tutorial. The other tasks are playing Scribble Shooter in various modes for various achievements — the hardest being a pacifist mode, where one has to make it to the end boss without firing a single shot (this one is trying for me). There is a tour that one can take of older public spaces. There are activities that are at the bowling lanes and pool tables at the same place.

After getting a set amount of points, the player can then access prizes. These range from male and female clothing items to house decorations and even the grand prize of an estate. The system is a fun one, and though there have been some glitches, it seems to be a well thought out system that lets the users have some fun either in public or private places.

Me, when I realized the fun.

There are a few issues that have arisen in the new system: some are glitchy, and some are ideas that should be expanded a little to accommodate the users better. The glitchy part: some people have complained that they are getting error messages that inform them that they are done with the game as a whole, when in fact they are still able and need to play to get remaining items. It may not be a big deal, as it hasn’t seemed to affect the games and points standings, but it does confuse the player.

The bigger issue is this — and though not really a glitch, it is an issue a lot of users are complaining about — the locations where people have to go that are public get so overloaded that many cannot play the games as there are times that the game prompt does not even show up to access. Some of this is solved with the addition of games and tasks that can be performed in private estates, which also suits those tastes that desire to play minimally in public. The thought that comes to mind is this: perhaps Sony could expand the play to include more spaces, thus thinning out the people at any one place. I have been able to get in everywhere I want to go, but often with great trouble.

There are some issues I personally have with the thought that in some games we have to play with others, as I (mostly a solitary gamer) would like to do the tasks and leave, with little or no footprint socially with strangers. I would like to do more games like the Pottermore wand tutorial: simply walk in, do it and leave, not so dependent on others (or, moreover, strangers). I read the words of those in the chat log at some of these places and I am not the only one that thinks this.

After completing all the challenges and getting all the rewards, I can say with my stamp of approval that this was and is a great idea. And, on a side note, the Castle Durrant is a fine place, well crafted and definitely worth the  daily effort required to get it.

I got this cool place, thanks Sony.

The issues listed should not discourage anyone from playing the games. They are fun, and Sony did hit very close near the center ring on this one. The leveling and reward system is great, and made me a convert. I hope that the next round is as fun and similar in difficulty.

Great job, Sony; the quests are a reward unto themselves.

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