Broken Functionality
Editor’s foreword: HomeStation has a hard and fast rule that if you bring a problem, you must advocate a solution. We do not allow this publication to be used as a bully pulpit for someone who seeks a public cure for a private ail. As a Sony-positive, Home-positive and developer-positive publication, we do occasionally wrestle with where the line should be drawn when one or more of those three are criticized, particularly if the author is emotionally-charged and no clear solution is advocated.
Candidly, the article below flirts with the penumbra of what HSM allows. However, it is being published for two reasons: Home does face some very real and potentially widespread issues — which we would be remiss if we simply glossed over — and this article does indirectly touch on a much larger issue: the subject of virtual “ownership,” not just from a strictly legal point of view, but a consumer confidence point of view.
“Y’know, I remember a time when things were a lot more
Fun around here
When good was good, and evil was evil
Before things got so………fuzzy.”
Don Henley, Garden of Allah
Ever had to say something unkind to somebody that you loved?
Try as you might, you are faced with the daunting challenge of having to tell that person something that may anger or sadden them. If you are careful and diligent to do the best you can, the recipient may realize that the criticism is meant to better them — and, by extension, your relationship with them.
This is one of those days.
First, a deep apology. Here at the magazine, we are indeed a Sony-friendly publication. We’re not paid to be, and certainly not in a blind, sycophantic way. We just chose to posture ourselves as a Sony-friendly publication in the belief that there is no reason to be snide and acerbic to the platform providers; instead, we can address issues in a mature and responsible manner.
With that in mind, it is time to address a few issues that are currently setting some fans’ ire ablaze in a way that could result in a lack of consumer confidence which might affect not just SCEA and SCEE, but the third-party developers contributing content to Home as well.
Below are some examples of the issues that erode the confidence of monetizing users. The simple fact is that we need satisfaction and help that only Sony and the developers can render.
First, one very simple concept to establish. If anybody, and I mean anybody, walks into a brick-and-mortar store or goes online and makes any purchase, and that purchase is broken or in any way missing described functionality, the place that sold it is obliged to remedy the issue and make the consumer happy to come back, by way of repair, refund, or replacement. I can speak of my own experiences with places like Best Buy and GameStop; both companies have taken great strides in my dealings with them to ensure that I walk away a happy and satisfied customer, ready to deposit my hard-earned money with them again. Because of their treatment of me, I do just that.
Unfortunately, right now, many users cannot say the same of the dealings they have with either Sony or some of the developers for Home. There could be a certain dismissal of the user base if Home was entirely free, but in reality, many have spent a lot of money, only to have items removed without compensation. Or, perhaps worse, spent money and not received the desired items to begin with — or have the item not work as advertised.
Anybody that would write an article of this nature has to cite some examples, in order to put a face behind the claims, and establish a verifiable truth. So here are a few examples of the problems plaguing some Home users presently.
A friend of mine (we’ll use “Bob” as a pseudonym) recently purchased a set of acorns from VEEMEE for use in their park. He never got them, and at the price of $8.50 ( for various packs to make it one transaction), he was moved to contact VEEMEE through the Sony forums. Through the discussion, he came to understand that the help would have to come through Sony, and not VEEMEE.
This is a rare and odd move, as most of the developers are more than willing to help with little or no problem as they see it as a good public relations move to satisfy one customer that can spread the word of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Joey, formerly of nDreams, was renowned for his helpful attitude and readiness to aid any and every one with an issue.
Now, granted, Bob does admit that he cannot provide the actual receipt for the transaction, but can provide other proof by way of a transaction number. This did not placate VEEMEE, and they are leaving it to Bob to seek remedy through Sony. This is unsatisfactory to Bob, and as he is an avid user of the support forums, his message can and will spread through the forums, potentially losing sales and interest in VEEMEE commodities if others feel that it is too risky to spend real money and possibly not get the items they have paid for.
As a final note: Bob did get his acorns, but via what turned out to be a much longer process than he should have endured, and would have never happened if the transaction had gone through conventionally. Unfortunately, another friend of mine made a similar transaction, with the same result of not receiving the purchased acorns. For both, their confidence in VEEMEE has been put into question, and they, I can personally vouch, are both people that are large volume buyers of Home goods. Now their next PSN cards may find their ways onto other developers.
(Editor’s note: VEEMEE may not have had much control over the matter. When a user purchases a virtual commodity, that entitlement metadata has to be conveyed to the user account. Without getting into NDA-restricted specifics, it takes a while to corroborate user-supplied information, investigate and diagnose the root cause if a problem is actually discovered, and determine an appropriate course of action.)
Another issue that has reared its very ugly head is one that is now being felt by the users that should be valued most: the heavy volume buyers. There are people in Home that buy on a weekly basis, and they buy a lot of the new stuff in package deals and separately. These buyers pick up the latest in everything, from wardrobe and fashions and costumes to furniture and LMOs. The part that is stirring up user anger is that now, after all the brand loyalty, and all the effort and especially the real money spent, their inventory is bogged down to the point that for some, it is unusable.
The time it takes to both load the list of active storage and see the thumbnail previews has become so long that the user often loads into Home as they do other things like shower or eat. What bothers so many is that there was never a warning or a caution that this was either an eventuality or a possibility. Perhaps Sony did not know that this was going to happen — but now that they do, perhaps it is time to remedy the issue and help those that most support Home.
One things that has gotten some bothered is that Sony seems to leave estates in a bad state of disrepair, though it is a well-known fact that they are broken or in some cases not even accessible. The cases for this claim are the Dolphy Room, Loco Roco space and Heavy Water’s Avalon Keep, as well as Heavy Water’s Emo Ray space.
Frankly, when a space is faulty, it should either be discounted or get a disclaimer attached to the estate description to ensure that the unsuspecting buyer knows before buying that there is something amiss. Heavy Water potentially really offended a lot of buyers, as their presence was very welcome within Home; yet after they stopped developing for Home, they failed to maintain the spaces or games that they produced and charged real money for. I do not own Emo Ray, but those around me that do attest to the fact that it does not work. Heavy Water’s other transgression is that they sold add-on estates to the Avalon Keep, which are actually inaccessible to the owners. Whether it is Sony’s responsibility or the developers involved, there needs to be a remedy and fix for those that want to enjoy what they bought.
Another issue: recently, Evil Tree Studios closed its doors for business and left Home. Whether they shut down as a company or simply left Home for greener pastures is unimportant; what is important, though, is that with it went my items that I purchased. Gone from every estate I placed them in. Gone from my inventory, gone from storage. Gone. And with their disappearance is also the money I spent on them.
Bye-bye, real-world money.
A friend of mine bought much more from them. And her stuff? What happened to it? Poof! Gone from her inventory, too. Gone like it was never there, and for her, she had spent far more than me. I went to the forums to see if people were having trouble, and others were, too. Unfortunately, in the usual cacophony and typical confusion of the forums, the topic got mashed in with a separate and unconnected topic of people losing items that they bought through the Player Inspect option. I feel for those people and their loss, but it diluted my issue — which is why I am bringing it to this platform. It is, frankly, outrageous that there can be this kind of lack of attention to detail and oversight to issues that affect us, our buying habits and consumer confidence.
There is a sense that because Home is free we can’t always complain about things; but in this case, I can complain, and loudly. These are items that I paid for, and without much response or input, aside from the usual “We will look into it” platitude, it becomes a matter of whether I stop spending and having that hopeless “it is what it is” feeling that we just got taken. What can you do?
I’m asking, politely, what Sony as the platform provider is going to do to help consumers when demonstrable issues are raised. There are many of us with real issues who have spent real money. Yes, there are errors in Home that we should try to tolerate — after all, Home is a large platform that supports a constantly-moving sea of people that are always talking and typing and buying — but when it comes down to it, there are some aspects of Home where Sony has glaringly dropped the ball.
I love Home. I think that what Sony has done is huge. They created a large and elaborate virtual world that we can all play in and have fun meeting others. We have a type of working economy that we can shop in and have a lot of fun in. There are games to play and spaces to explore. In all that, it’s great, but there are real issues here that Sony has to address.
The simple fact is that we do have a voice: our pocketbooks. Not in terms of boycotting Sony or a developer, no, but rather the fact we have all bought virtual commodities with real money, and that should give us a voice when the expected service or product isn’t delivered correctly (if at all). We have all gone to the local 7-11 or game store and bought a PSN card, entered the code for $10, $20, or $50 and perhaps in multiples. Many times. This alone gives us the voice that Sony needs to hear, just as if I had bought any other Sony commodity and discovered it was broken.
When people lament that they have bought items which do not work or are downright inaccessible, and the developers are gone so there is no rectifying the issue, that’s a bit of a problem. That’s akin to saying that your food from a restaurant is bad, but the chef left, so simply eat the food. Unacceptable. If an item is sold by a developer through Sony, there has to be responsibility and checks and balances down the line, and the responsible party must address the issue.
We want to support the developers and buy their products and push a great idea with the hopes that it will be seen as a viable option to move onto the PS4. Home is fun for many, and a lifeline for so many others. But these issues are becoming more and more common and less attended to.
Sony, developers and those that will determine the ultimate fate of Home: there is a brewing sense of customer worry about that moment when they are ready to press X on that purchase. Will it come through? If not, can or will anyone help?
Am I the only one facing this issue? Why should I spent another red cent on a virtual experience, when I cannot count on anybody helping me when I need it?
Know that we are simply looking for the fix only you on your end can provide. We come with some broken pieces in hand, knowing that you can fix it. Please help. The next step is yours.
April 19th, 2014 by FEMAELSTROM | 13 comments
FEMAELSTROM came to Home in June 2011 and never wanted to leave, even at weekly maintenance when he usually gets booted. The sand box environment appeals to the explorer in him and often is out and about as he ‘geeks’ out dressed like some sort of sci-fi character, while he people watches in popular public spaces. An artist and writer, FEMAELSTROM loves making friends and meeting people. He loves sci-fi and decorating Home estates and loves to respond “here” when people ask “where are you from?” in public places.
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As a longtime Home user I can agree with much in this article. It is the developers responsibility to put up a working item, estate, LMO and the like.
The issues within Home are Sony’s responsibilities. Here is what I have noticed over the years. Home users remember these things. They know the devs who make good and they know the ones that burned them just as well.
I would like to see developers taking on their issues with their products head on. Starting in the Home general and Home Support forums.
Just a side note, Some of the Evil Tree items have started to return, You can find out more in the Home Support forum thread; “If you’re missing Player Inspect items”.
Sony is currently working on PI missing items, Validation freezes and they are fixing Home Users manually on the latter. Looking for a patch at a later date.
Jers
This is why I left Home years ago, because even then the writing was on the wall.
One thing I want to mention, now that I’m on the development side of things: there are way, *way* more moving parts to Home than anyone realizes. A lot of “Why don’t things work THIS way?” consumer questions — including questions I personally asked here at HSM over the years — are simply answered with, “Oh, *now* I get it,” when you see how things are behind the scenes.
This is not to excuse or trivially dismiss the points raised in this article. At all. But the truth is that it takes *time* to investigate and confirm an issue, identify the root cause, and determine the best method of correction. During that time, there’s usually not much more you *can* say other than, “We’re looking into this.” It can be a frustratingly neutral response, sure, because it doesn’t convey the reality that behind the scenes, a lot of people are working — hard — to figure out what’s going on.
Keep in mind it’s hard enough for one development studio. For SCEA and SCEE as the platform providers, the logistical magnitude of this issue is multiplied fifty-fold. This would, I imagine, present a very real challenge when it comes to satisfying user expectations in a timely manner versus the sheer scope of the tasks at hand. The best thing we can do, as consumers, is diligently (and politely) report an issue, with as many details and reproduction steps as possible, and allow the support staff to run their investigation process.
Granted, there’s still the larger issue of consumer confidence in a marketplace that periodically displays functionality issues, and that’s a topic I’m hoping will be discussed in a subsequent article.
I agree to that as well, Norseling
Also, It does not help that some raise issues by saying very little about their issues. They need to get in there and stand beside their Home neighbors and give drawn out indepth details that help identify the problem. The more details the better in these cases. Just do so in a respectable way please.
FEMAELSTROM, Nice write up. From the heart and I like that. I would say that it was a plea for better service across the board more than anything else. Respectable journalism non the less.
With the client software changing to add more features, some things break that worked when they shipped. So having zero bugs all the time is impossible.
But once a bug is reported, the developer should do their best to fix it. Many items and spaces have been abandon due to financial considerations.
At Game Mechanics we do our best to fix all reported bugs and issues. If we can do it, the other guys can as well. The problem I see is that the public does not stop buying things from developers who don’t fix their stuff. There is little discussion of who the “as is” developers are and who are the developers who continue to advance items and spaces after they have been released. Without that kind of thing that effects the bottom line going forward, they are unlikely to change.
This article is a great step forward about a topic that should be discussed more.
There are some up front devs out there and John you’re one of them. There have been many times that we as consumers wished for just enough transparency to let us know when things are getting fixed. We rarely see it but it’sunderstandable to a certain degree but I can count off dozens and dozens of issues and broken things that are still issues years later. Simple explainations would sometimes suffice in those cases but Sony wouldn’t have it. I have seen both sides of the coin and I know that bending would had helped keep a bunch of Home spenders around longer.
It is what it is and I honestly always pulled for communication, direct enough to at least let consumers know ”we are on it”and on the other hand I understand our forums more than anyone being there regularly since 2007. They are the best of the best and most passionate and then you have the few you can count on one hand who have to ruin everyones experience with rubbish that completely embarrasses the faithful.
Still, as you mentioned communication with developers is welcomed and appreciated much. Thanks for the likes of you guys.
If it were me running the show, I would have a list of reported broken things and not let developers release new items until all the old problems were addressed or a plan to address them was approved. The policy would be a lot more involved than that, but that would be the general rule that needed to be followed.
I like that a lot
Couldn’t agree more, but I also know that there would only be a few developers left and any chance of brand new groundbreaking products would diminish.
During the last bad winter storm in my neck of the woods, we lost power for several days. When you called the power company you got a recorded message saying they had no information when power might be restored. I know they were working on it, but the communication didn’t exactly leave you feeling great.
I feel this is what it’s like in Home sometime. Sure, they are trying, but in a communication void people will make up their own mind and all they know is they got broken stuff.
Thank you, telling a friend what he does wrong is not easy.
I’m not sure about not letting devs publish anything until everything is fixed… We might be left with not even a handfull. But. A list of broken items and repetted offender, yes.
The specific case that worry me the most is Heavy-Water. I understand company can go down or leave. I bet on the wrong horse and now I’m left with only a shell of what Avalon Keep was. Problem is Avalon Keep is still in the store and people buy it. Unaware new users for a good part.
Every week we see a new thread on the forum from someone who bought it, called Sony.. to be told to go on the forum…
As if we (users) could fix it…
Broken/unsupported items should be removed from the store or given a discont as well as “disclaimer”.
All broken product should removed and refunded. Any functionality changes should be addressed and allowances made or refunds given. If I’m sold something that’s says I can do this and in 6 months time it can’t then I should be offered something even an apology in some cases would be good. The problem I foresee with this is if it effects so many items and spaces what will it do to development. Take the EODs in the UK that I bought expecting to be able to watch crackle, now that service is finished in the UK, there’s 5 personal spaces and 20 odd TVs that have lost the one function I use the EOD for, is it they fault, not exactly even though both are subsidiarys of Sony they are separate companies. Should they be penalized. Nope because these were forward thinking ideas pushing home to it boundaries. These items even though they are not broke they have lost the functionality I brought them for. The dilemma is I paid real money for something I won’t use now. But I don’t want cutting edge development to stop. Want do I want, just someone to say we are sorry but heres a sneak peek of our next best thing and because of issues you can buy a week earlier or something. Well done veemee for responses to this