by Susan, HSM team writer

“Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.”- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I don’t know if it’s just me, but lately it seems like the PlayStation Home moderation team is never around when you need them. Not that I can say I have run into any in the past two years, but I don’t really hear people talking about how they had been banned and had created another new account — at least, nowhere near as much as I used to.  I use to see people spout out those words like it was a badge of honor — sometimes boasting they had been banned multiple times — and that being banned had somehow elevated them onto the next tier of being a PlayStation Home “bad boy”.

That was a couple of years ago. That was when saying the words to the effect of stop it or I will report you actually had me seeing people stop and run away or just spawn out of the space all together without as much as a goodbye or good day. When I see these people today, I begin wishing we could turn our facepalm emote into a face-slapping one and send them back to their mothers, crying. I would get more satisfaction out of that than having to resort to submitting a report on someone. I guess that, metaphorically, when you report someone, it could be construed as pulling the hand back for the face slap and when Sony acts on the report they complete the follow-through with some pain left behind to remind you of your no-no.

The problem with that thinking, for me, is one never knows if Sony ever follows through. And they advise against contacting them for a follow-up.

You never get any type of message saying your report was being looked into or dismissed as nonsense. In all the reports I have submitted, I have never received a message asking for more details about an incident. They might be good at their jobs, but how do they know that I am reporting someone for going around PlayStation Home telling people his age is nine years old when all you have is other for an option for that type of accusation? This thinking of mine came about because recently I have seen witnessing an upturn in violations of the Terms of Service (TOS) we all agreed to adhere to: http://us.playstation.com/Home-Rules.

You’ll know when you’re in trouble.

For those of you who don’t know how to report someone: it is as easy as pressing your Select button on your controller. That will open up what’s called a safe screen, and you will find submit a report on the bottom of the menu options. Simply follow the directions to complete the report.  An activity log is created and goes back a few minutes the moment you press Select, so be timely in your reporting. PlayStation Home moderators (who are Sony employees) review the activity logs and eventually decide on what action should be taken.

The moderators not only enforce the law in PlayStation Home but also the PlayStation Network and your usage as a whole in general. In Home, moderators remain invisible. Maybe the moderators are working with the NSA. Who knows? Years ago I was unlucky enough once to have to have been put in a time-out. I even think I may have received an email, saying I was labeled as a repeat offender. You don’t get an email showing the evidence against you or when your PS3 is getting fixed, but they send you one when you’re being punished. And it seems their decision is binding. There is no route to an appeal for your case, and Sony’s advice is for us to suck it up and wait out our punishment. Period. So, basically, it’s a summary judgment against you.

Learning all that years ago has molded my behavior to what it is today. The Home user base is very socially dynamic and economically diverse, and one has to learn restraint and patience when engaging with such a collection of diverse individuals. For me, what comes from that mindset is the latitude I have started to give people in regards to their actions in the community.  What were cuss words when I grew up are commonplace today, and I have better things to do than play Home Deputy.

But when those same words come from someone who’s (supposedly) a nine- or ten-year-old in Home, then that gets my attention. My only recourse is to report them for a violation. When I see the same people repeating the same offenses for days or weeks, and with me submitting reports on them, I have begun to raise the question as to what has happened with all of the moderators?

Nowadays, with Home’s future in question, have they begun to cut back on the staff or the need for focusing attention on this virtual society they helped create? How many moderators are there, anyways? It is rare that you will ever see a moderator actually on PlayStation Home. The one I had the chance to “listen” to had my avatar frozen close to a wall inside the mall at Central Plaza while he was telling me to behave — or else.  I couldn’t look around or move. I wrote down their name, said my yes-sir, and when I logged off Home, began an attempt at a back-and-forth dialogue — which I guess you’re not supposed to do, either.

Someone told me that the moderators have thousands of daily reports to sift through, and I am hard-pressed to be convinced otherwise. Even if it were true that they are so busy on other things, and that’s why things seem to be getting by them, then why it it seemingly happening now? People are modifying the letters in chat or on their PSN IDs on Home to come up with colorful colloquialisms that go beyond obscene. People utilize exploits and hacks with a level of public boldness hitherto unseen. You can get harassed to the point you feel the need to leave that space and have your time on Home completely ruined. Why should we be the ones to suffer while others can go on continuing their abusive behavior?

I have gotten used to the possibility that the moderation team for Home has a set of standards they believe is the correct ones, and who am I to question? I choose to utilize this console for my entertainment and agreed to adhere to their rules. They decide what is an infraction of the rules and what isn’t.  When I find myself in the company of others that conduct their affairs in a way I find offensive, I usually just put them on ignore and continue with what activity I was doing.  If your having some issues controlling your emotions with other people in a discussion, may I suggest spending a few seasons of meditation at Lockwood’s Serenity Lake. I have found that location to be relaxing enough to channel that negative energy elsewhere, and have learned to take everything in moderation.

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