by NorseGamer, HSM Publisher

It’s a somewhat rhetorical question, considering it’s a primarily hardcore Home audience that reads this site, but it still bears asking: if you’ve spent years in Home, investing time and money into the myriad experiences it offers…has it been worth it?

Here’s why I ask: Home, as a social metaverse with no clearly defined purpose, ultimately only gives back to you what you put into it. But what you put into it is largely a matter of what you seek to get out of it in return.

Everyone comes into Home with different goals. For most of us, we never specifically sought out Home; we discovered it, became enthralled with it, and chose to stay. But the moment you make the conscious decision to stay, you have to have some reason in mind as a motive.

That motive doesn’t have to be anything fancy; it can be as simple as wanting to hang out with friends. Or enjoying a particular game. Whatever it happens to be, I’m curious as to whether or not you achieved what you set out to achieve.

Success stories

Of course, this is an easy subject for me to write about, since from within the ranks of the user community, HomeStation has produced a number of success stories. But it’s interesting to look back on that journey; when I discovered Home, I certainly had no desire or inclination to do anything other than have fun. Were it not for a few chance encounters in five years ago, when Home was simply a recreational respite from the real world, I wouldn’t have ended up ultimately leaving a career in resort development, moving away from Hawaii, becoming a Sony video game producer, and meeting the love of my life.

Home was the catalyst — and the conduit — for that journey.

So, for me, though it was a trek I wasn’t planning for or expecting to take, Home ended up being something far more than I could have possibly imagined. And thus I’m genuinely curious how other people feel about their respective personal journeys in Home: with hindsight being firmly 20/20, was it a sojourn you found worth embarking upon?

Did you get what you wanted?

If you came to Home to heal: did you heal, able to move on, or are you still broken and healing?

If you came to Home looking for a springboard into the games industry: did you make it happen? Or do you simply resent those who did?

If you came to Home in search of a good conversation: did you find friends whom you will still reach out to, years from now? Or do they become a part of your past when you and Home finally part ways?

If you came to Home looking for games to play: did you embrace the unique and sometimes quirky nature of Home’s games, spend hours and days and weeks and months and years embroiled in contests — or did you write them off and move on?

If you came to Home looking to serve and give back to the community: can you point to success stories and honestly say you’ve helped someone? Or was it about self-aggrandizement?

If you never bothered to figure out why you kept coming back to Home: did it at least give you something worth justifying the time you spent?

The reason why I’m asking all of this is because I see a lot of angst over the eventual — and inevitable — end of Home. And, candidly, I’m seeing no shortage of people who seem to be stuck in freeze-frame; they just don’t seem to be any different, or any closer to what they wanted, than when they first arrived. This is a bit strange to me; if you know what you want to get out of something, then you spend your time in pursuit of fulfilling that goal. This is especially true of Home; just because it has no overt purpose doesn’t mean that you don’t have to have a purpose within it.

And if, after all these years, you’ve fulfilled that purpose, then you should consider your time in Home a success. Sure, Home will end some day, but so will your own life; it’s a matter of what you do with the time you have that allows you to decide if it was time well spent.

But if you feel your time in Home hasn’t been worth it — if you feel regret, anger, frustration, etc. — then there’s no time like the present to make a different choice: either to achieve what you set out to achieve, or to come up with a new set of goals. It’s not enough to simply be upset that Home might some day be gone; that fear of loss stems from some other emotional imperative. And if you fulfill that internal need, you’ll have a far more psychologically healthy relationship with Home.

I genuinely hope that every single person who’s used Home comes away from it feeling like it was a justifiable experience. Achievement is one of the greatest sensations any of us as human beings can ever experience. Hopefully, you feel your time in Home was worth it; if not, Home is still here — and there’s no time like the present to get started.

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2 Responses to “Has Your Time in Home Been Worth It?”

1. Burbie52 says:

   July 21, 2014 at 2:14 pm

   I went into Home with no preconceived notions of anything since I hadn’t ever been involved in anything like it. What I have taken away from Home is more than I would have ever dreamed possible.
   It has given me friends from all over the world and a lot of good times laughing and playing games. It has given me a place to write about a large variety of subjects, some not even Home related. It has allowed me to experience things I could have never thought about when I first arrived on its shores.
   For all of this I will be truly grateful.

   Reply
2. Atomic Natur says:

   July 22, 2014 at 2:36 am

   When I first got on home day one back in 08 my fantasy of home grew the idea of a small vast world being created all over again excited me. To see a world being created is one of the most best experiences anyone can witness. Watching the phases that home went through excited me to want to know what would be next. The day Central Plaza arrived was the day it all started being created. At that point some of us were completing the cusion challanges and getting free items that would later change who we set out to be in this vastly ever growing universe. The idea of meeting someone face to face with an avatar was something to behold. It truly captured the essence of life when the user would fall into another body and create his or her impression on this newly descovered world. While some took it as a second chance to fit in to a group, others found it as a game and refused to have an intent for this superior world. As time went on more and more users saught to use home as a venting outlet, the life they always wanted but were to scared to be judged in the real world as they relied on how others seen them as. This was an oppertunity to shed some light on how they would of shown themselves to the world. How they would later gain the confidence to mimmic the pros that took place and included them into there everyday life. These people are true to themselves and to others as the corrected faults in there lives and fill the empty spot in there souls with something worth going to and coming back from. Their priority hobby that they valued more then real world judgment. A place where not one person could judge them by appearences but their personality they portray in text and on mic. Followed by the years that went by for most some of us found love, others found dream job oppertunities others found themselves, while the last few left home completely and found nothing for there gain. I am one who got to experience many different things love, sence of belong, the chance to watch as others repeated in my and others foot steps. To help these people find what they truly came on home to find. I will have many life long friends because of home, some alot older then me others younger but in the end having them be there when i have nothing else to do is what i went there to find, knowing them just as much as they know me. creating a group for others in my shoes to find and belong to even after i leave home. by gogobean16 a truly commited home lifer.

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