The Home Trophy Question
(Editor’s note: this article was originally published on April 7, 2012. Following the recent announcement of trophy support for PlayStation Home, we are rerunning this article.)
by ted2112, HSM team writer
Bing-bing.
Yes, it’s that sound that gives us a little rush. That two-tone piano sequence that is strangely and wonderfully appealing.
I love to hear that sound; to me the notes say, “Good job.” I think that if businesses somehow piped in that trophy noise, the workforce would suddenly feel better about themselves and become far more productive. Trophies have seeped their way into just about every aspect of gaming, so it begs the question: Will trophies ever come to Home?
The trophy achievement system came into our lives in July 2009 with the 2.40 update. Even after the update, it took gaming companies many months and in some cases years to introduce trophies into their games, and whether you like it or not, they are here to stay. Just about every game that comes out now has trophies, and this includes other gaming systems as well. The XBox Gamerscore tracks achievements in XBox live is a slightly more aggressive version of the PSN Trophy system.
I’ve got more trophies than youuuuuu!
Is it a bad thing? Who knows; not me. But I can say that it does bring out the competitive side to many gamers. I am a level six with 212 trophies, and that puts me in the middle of the pack on my friend list. I am more of a casual gamer, so I think that is a fair assessment, but a few on my friend list are epic gaming warriors with thousands of trophies. I know there is no way in hell that I can come close to that, but at the same time I love to earn them.
Slowly but surely the trophies have covered most if not all newer games and have in fact started to become backwards compatible. For example, I went to replay one of my old favorite downloadable titles, Flow, by thatgamecompany. When I played the game I ended up getting rewarded with about half the trophies in the game. I didn’t even know Flow had trophies; it certainly didn’t when I first downloaded it several years ago. I also just bought the Silent Hill HD edition, and what do you know? Those two old games in the set both are now trophy-enabled.
The idea behind trophies is like a loyalty reward system: you play, you get rewards and you are awesome! It’s bragging rights in digital form. Most institutions have similar reward systems, ranging from frequent-flier programs to hotel points. The military uses the wearing of ribbons on uniforms. You don’t need to tell a soldier they are brave — I am sure they know that — but the ribbon on their chest is a kind of public acknowledgment to that ideal.
The other reason behind trophies is money. You want recognition, you’ve got to shell out some bucks and buy a game first.
Let talk numbers for a moment. Sony does not publish their user numbers, but using some gonzo math and a little Pareto Principle we can make a ballpark guess. I would like to state for the record this is an educated guess; it solely represents this writer’s best estimate and in no way reflects HSM or Sony.
Since most games follow the same power law distribution system we can calculate things when we only have a few points to work with. I’m estimating that at any particular moment roughly 40,500 people are on Home. I got this number by looking at Second Life’s numbers that Linden Labs does make public; Home and Second Life have surprisingly similar numbers — twenty-three million and twenty-one million registered accounts, respectively. You make some adjustments and wango, tango, presto we have a glimpse at an estimated population on Home right this second.
Now, the question is: could this number rise with the use of trophies?
The answer is an absolute yes.
New games are added to Home now on a regular basis. The developers who spend small fortunes and resources making them want as many gamers to play them as possible. Home has a very large and loyal population, and we generally embrace new games and buy the extras, but think of all those gamers and trophy hunters out there on the PSN that might run to Home to play a new game with the promise of trophies, particularly seeing as how Home is free to access? Think of what an extra thirty-million people coming to Home would do?
Social gamers may dislike them, but trophies could drive numbers…
Now that we have all of that reeling around in our heads, we need to ask ourselves if it would be a good idea to have this explosive growth in Home? On one hand I look at Home as mine and I don’t want a ton of trophy hunters stinking up the joint, but at the same time with all those numbers would come more of everything — more money, more developers, more games, more spaces and a more secure future for Home. Those of us who love this place will continue to, as we always have, make sure Home is living up to what it should be.
What’s your opinion of enabling trophies in Home? Assuming it’s technologically feasible, do you think it would be a great idea or a Home apocalypse? Personally, I say bring it — but please do it right.
So, friends, I leave you with this: my personal debut trophy list for Home. Please feel free to add your own. Ah, think of all those happy little trophy sounds!
Explorer: Download a personal space (Bronze)
Super Explorer: Download five personal spaces (Silver)
Intrepid Explorer: Download twenty personal spaces (Gold)
Big Spender: Spend fifty PSN dollars (Bronze)
Photographer: Take a picture in Home (Bronze)
The Spielberg: Make a movie in Home (Silver)
Wardrobe Warrior: Acquire one-hundred clothing items (Bronze)
Friendly: Make a friend (Bronze)
Socially Hip: Have five friends (Silver)
Ultra Hip: Have twenty friends (Gold)
Cogs Crazy: Complete the cogs game (Bronze)
Happy Yeti: master the Yeti vs. Hunters game (Bronze)
Bronze Goggles: get to level ten in Aurora (Bronze)
Gnome Guru: Win five games of Gnome Curling (Bronze)
Quest Master: Complete a Home quest (Bronze)
Troll Hunter: thwart a troll attack in the Hub (Gold) (Editor’s note: that made us laugh)
Literary Master: Read an HSM article (Platinum) Bing-Bing!
March 11th, 2014 by ted2112 | 6 comments
ted2112 is a writer and a Bass player that has been both inspired and takes to heart Kurt Vonnegut words...."we are here on planet Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different."
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Great article!! To start, Home is the only game I play on the PSN so sadly I have no trophies and am a Level 0. While in some ways that is cool to me, I would love to level up and earn trophies. So trophies coming to home would be an awesome idea. Another trophy you could earn is finishing Loco Island (gold). Like MuiMui Master. The troll hunter is hysterical, i agree!!
So back to trophies on Home, I am a collector at heart and I could see getting crazy about earning them so it would make me come online more often and also try more games out. I hope someday they come to Home, it would be cool.
Great read!!!
LOL that is awesome. I do wish Home had trophies. I have a few,
Happy feet: win a session in DDR
Crossing Over: Use both avatar genders
Humane society: Adopt a pet
Fung Shui: Decorate one space
Fung Shui sensei: decorate 5 spaces
fung shui master: decorate 20 spaces
Dolphy whisperer: win a dolphy race
Movie Night: watch a crackle movie
Film Buff: watch 10 crackle movies
Couch potato: watch a movie or a tv show in a personal space EOD screen
Party Monster: Host a party
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Great read as always Ted. I am not much of a trophy seeker either, like you I play for the enjoyment of the game itself, but you have made some valid points here. People who are obsessed with them would probably come into Home and get the easier ones like the friends and playing the games available to them, whether they would spend the extra cash necessary to buy a lot of stuff like spaces and decorate them is a toss up.
I think many would come in to get the free ones, then if they decided that they liked the other stuff they saw in Home they might stick around for the rest and become a user. There are a lot of determining factors here for all of this like age, ability to spend dollars, and so forth. Interesting article.
Nice writeup with good thinking. But I don’t agree with all of it.
Trophies for buying spaces? Why not just sell trophies? Trophies for making friends? I don’t think so.
Trophies for playing games sounds good, games like Pirates Cove and the Hudson Dolphy game.
Buccaneer: get to level 10 in Pirates Cove as a gunner (bronze)
shiver me timbers: sink 10 ships as a captain in Pirates Cove (Silver)
Flipper: Win a race in the Dolphy game (bronze)