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Thoughts on Playstation Home
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8 product reviews
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12. December 2008 @ 19:03 |
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Yesterday, like many of you, I waited on Pins and Needles for the Release of the Open Bete version of Playstation Home. Its been a good while since any free MMOEnviroment has been so well hyped to the mass public.
And today, like many of you, I find myself rather disappointed. I don't approach this disappoint with the typical concerns however, none of that "they can't moderate people's speech and it's hard to tell who' talking so I can mute them" crud.
I'm simply upset because all of the closed beta videos that Sony released promised us a bunch of features that are, as of yet, completely and utterly missing from the game.
For example, where is the quick text feature? You know, the thing were you would press R1 and string together quick sentences out of setance fragments like "How do I" > "change" > "my clothes".
And speaking of Clothes, what the heck happened to the small army of clothes that users were able to choose from in the Closed Beta videos? We were seriously cheated on clothing options, and I for one would much rather have "millions of clothing possibilities" provided to me for free, than have to pay real money for three more shirts and two more pair of pants.
And while we're discussing being shortchanged, I'm almost furious that the virtual TVs, Picture Frames, Virtual Boomboxes, and anything else that would allow you to actually customize your apparentment - have been completely removed from the game.
But all of these issues do not even compare to the sheer lack of activity for you to participate in within Home. Sure there's pool, bowling, and arcade games. But good luck ever getting access as they're always crowded and Sony figured it would enhance the realism of the enviroment to have 30 people crowding an arcade machine wanting to play, but no one can because the guy who's using it went to the bathroom.
I was, however, lucky enough to get to play the coveted EchoChrome game, and while I only played for 6 minutes, my score passed 8000 and I was told I had recieved a new item 8 times -- but only 4 items showed up, the shirt, the shoes, the gloves, and the pants. By my math, that means I'm still missing 4 items. I've checked all the furnature categories as well as my personal inventory, and they're all missing.
This problem is increasingly annoying in the "Uncharted" enviroments, where you need to punch in a key code on a door to move from one area to another, but there's one guy trying to figure out this code for ever, starting from 00000 and working their way up - not to mention the 14 people crowding around them.
The Home we saw in the Closed Beta is NOTHING like the Home we were given yesterday, and I for one am disappointed.
So I have this to say to Sony: If you're going to spend a year delaying a release, all the while doing your best to hype up the public, you should really do your best to deliver on that hype. I had my hopes and was utterly disappointed.
Here are a few thoughts for you to consider:
1) Bring back the clothes and furnature (my complaint isn't that some items are premium, boo hoo, I can just go on without those items, my problem is that even if I forked over money and bought all of your premium items, I'd STILL only have a wardrobe with like 11 shirts in it.
2) Bring back the applicances, picture frames, and other content-sharing furnature you promised us.
3) Put some serious thought into making arcade games and such run in their own isolated player instance.
4) You told us that we would be able to display our trophies within our appartments, so the lack of this ability is rather disappointing.
5) We were supposed to be able to unlock content from other games, such as the "Heavenly Sword" T-shirt and other items such as wallpapers and ornaments. I have pretty much every good PS3 game sitting by my PS3 and none of them have given me any extra content.
6) It might be a good idea also for you guys to bring back the little over-head voice icon for when people are talking, that way, I'll be able to find out who's cussing up a storm or playing horrible music and mute them, as opposed to having to leave an area.
Sort these things out and maybe I'll stick around in Home long enough to pay attention to all the spam you guys are shoving down our throats.
But this is just my thoughts on it, and honestly I'd love to hear other people's views on Home. That said, whether you agree or disagree with my post or not, you've got opinions so you may as well let them be known here. Who know's, maybe a Sony rep will actually take note of this thread in time...
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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12. December 2008 @ 20:22 |
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They're likely still doing load tests, and being a beta its easier to add things slowly so you can thoroughly bug test them instead of dumping everything into at once and having a nightmare of bugs that would take months to untangle.
Again people are treating this like its the full game its still a beta its not suppose to have everything, because that's not how it works. People are still essentially in there to beta test not to just have fun, personally I wish they would have kept it closed until they were done a lot more of the features so we wouldn't have people complaining about it everywhere.
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8 product reviews
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12. December 2008 @ 20:52 |
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Your points, though noble, are irrelivant to the situation. The objects and activities had already been throughly tested within the close beta. I'm not like 99% of people out there saying that should add new things - that would add to load strain - what I'm saying is that they should have kept the features shown in the closed beta.
Load strain is minimilistic for shared spaces because, just as in GTA IV, the server load is split across all participating PS3s. Don't believe me? In GTA IV gound a tug boat on the shore and watch everything in the area get all laggy. Repeat the stunt in free mode with 4 people standing by and everything will be smooth sailing.
My suggestions neither increase the server load strain nor do they require debugging. All of these items and services offered in the closed Beta were working fine just days prior to the release of the Open Beta. There is no reason why they should be unavailable.
The base game engine has not changed, only options and scenery have changed, and therefore the items and functions that all worked fine before, will work just fine now - all they have to do is re-introduce them.
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SDF_GR
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1 product review
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12. December 2008 @ 20:52 |
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Give sony some time, as canuckerz already said, is still BETA.
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Member
8 product reviews
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12. December 2008 @ 20:54 |
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My main thing is this: If Sony hadn't told us what to expect, and then failed to meet the very expectations they, themselves, set - I wouldn't be as disappointed.
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12. December 2008 @ 22:21 |
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Originally posted by Vicious88:
My main thing is this: If Sony hadn't told us what to expect, and then failed to meet the very expectations they, themselves, set - I wouldn't be as disappointed.
Here's Penny Arcades take on home. It's pretty damn bang on.
The Beta for Playstation home is now available to everyone, and now you know what I know: this is what happens when your marketing department tries to make a game. Here is everything you need to understand about Home, if you should accidentally launch it from your XMB: press and hold the Playstation button in the center of your Dual-Shock or Sixaxis controller. From the menu that appears, select Quit.
There are things about Home that are simply beyond my understanding. Chief among these bizarre maneuvers is the idea that, when manufacturing their flimsy dystopia, they actually ported the pernicious notion of scarcity from our world into their digital one. This is like having the ability to shape being from non-being at the subatomic level, and the first thing you decide to make is AIDS.
If you approach an arcade machine and there is a person standing in front of it, you will not be able to play it. Likewise, if you see people bowling and think that bowling is something you might like to do, you probably wont be able to. Unable to play arcade games like Ice Breakers and Carriage Return the first several times we logged on, these games had begun to take on an epic stature in our minds. These were gushing fonts of liquid fun, habit-forming and dangerous - for the good of our virtual society, the supply had to be controlled. When we were finally able to play them, we learned that they were the equivalent of browser games.
There is nothing about the experience of using Home to suggest that you are actually moving through a single, contiguous environment. It is very clearly a handful of walled off zones, where you are confronted by incessant load screens in a desperate search for stimulation. From the moment you enter one of their ultrahygenic "amusement regions," it's clear that all life has been burned away. You get the sense that this is a place in which no interesting thing could ever happen.
There is already a growing school of Home apologetics, fostered by the same Order of Perpetual Masochism that lauded the rumble-free Sixaxis at launch and suggested, hilariously, that Lair and Heavenly Sword were videogames. They're under the impression that because something is free, this places it on some golden dais beyond censure. It's no virtue to give away something that no-one in their right mind would buy. Sony has no idea what this world is for, and that ambiguity infuses every simulated millimeter of it.
This is the terrible secret that roils beneath their false universe: it is nothing more than a cumbersome menu, a rampart over which you must hoist yourself to accomplish the most basic tasks.
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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12. December 2008 @ 22:39 |
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Originally posted by Vicious88:
Your points, though noble, are irrelivant to the situation. The objects and activities had already been throughly tested within the close beta. I'm not like 99% of people out there saying that should add new things - that would add to load strain - what I'm saying is that they should have kept the features shown in the closed beta.
Load strain is minimilistic for shared spaces because, just as in GTA IV, the server load is split across all participating PS3s. Don't believe me? In GTA IV gound a tug boat on the shore and watch everything in the area get all laggy. Repeat the stunt in free mode with 4 people standing by and everything will be smooth sailing.
My suggestions neither increase the server load strain nor do they require debugging. All of these items and services offered in the closed Beta were working fine just days prior to the release of the Open Beta. There is no reason why they should be unavailable.
The base game engine has not changed, only options and scenery have changed, and therefore the items and functions that all worked fine before, will work just fine now - all they have to do is re-introduce them.
The features shown in the trailers haven't been in the closed beta for months apparently. I only got in a few days before the open beta arrived and there was less stuff than in the open beta.
@ Bawango
I do agree that that matches the current situation in home, but after it gets a few more months to develop things should get alot better. The fact that only one person can play an arcade game at a time, however realistic, is very annoying.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. December 2008 @ 22:46
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Member
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13. December 2008 @ 05:37 |
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"6) It might be a good idea also for you guys to bring back the little over-head voice icon for when people are talking, that way, I'll be able to find out who's cussing up a storm or playing horrible music and mute them, as opposed to having to leave an area."
Funny. I see people's mic icon when they're talking... There you go, 1 down 5 to go. Seriously, if you want something done, I suggest you use the "report" feature under Home's menu. Only if they listen. LOL.
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ps3lvanub
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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13. December 2008 @ 17:59 |
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Vicious88 I totally agree. I personally wasn't that bothered about PSHome. I decided to give it a go anyway and surprise surprise, we learn that Phil Harrison is a hobo. They promised us to be able to display all our trophies off to our freinds. We don't get that. And the fact that the have the cheek to ask £4.78 for a virtual room and plant is just bloody scandalous. Not trying to flame, but they're are times when I think the thought: "Why didn't I get a 360?"
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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13. December 2008 @ 20:04 |
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Originally posted by ps3lvanub:
Vicious88 I totally agree. I personally wasn't that bothered about PSHome. I decided to give it a go anyway and surprise surprise, we learn that Phil Harrison is a hobo. They promised us to be able to display all our trophies off to our freinds. We don't get that. And the fact that the have the cheek to ask £4.78 for a virtual room and plant is just bloody scandalous. Not trying to flame, but they're are times when I think the thought: "Why didn't I get a 360?"
-> IT IS STILL A BETA <- All of the features arent there. And about the prices they may be stupid but no one is forcing you to buy anything, and you can win clothes for free off of the arcade games.
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ps3lvanub
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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14. December 2008 @ 08:29 |
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Originally posted by canuckerz:
Originally posted by ps3lvanub:
Vicious88 I totally agree. I personally wasn't that bothered about PSHome. I decided to give it a go anyway and surprise surprise, we learn that Phil Harrison is a hobo. They promised us to be able to display all our trophies off to our freinds. We don't get that. And the fact that the have the cheek to ask £4.78 for a virtual room and plant is just bloody scandalous. Not trying to flame, but they're are times when I think the thought: "Why didn't I get a 360?"
-> IT IS STILL A BETA <- All of the features arent there. And about the prices they may be stupid but no one is forcing you to buy anything, and you can win clothes for free off of the arcade games.
AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO WHAT ME AND VICIOUS HAVE SAID??? We understand it is still a beta. What we are both annoyed at is the fact that the closed beta had more everything than the open beta and what I am annoyed at is the fact that when we get a pretty much stable version that ISN'T A BETA they will not, in a month of Sundays, Make accesories free, cheaper or winnable.
My point is that even if we had all the premium for free, 600 more arcade machines, 13 more bowling alley's and a mansion instead of that bland penthouse, it would only marginally improve Home and in the words of Cpt. Price: "...it's not hard to improve on garbage. Try again."
IMPORTANT: If you hate Sony for being so corrupt, copy this image into your signature too!
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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14. December 2008 @ 13:07 |
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Originally posted by ps3lvanub:
Originally posted by canuckerz:
Originally posted by ps3lvanub:
Vicious88 I totally agree. I personally wasn't that bothered about PSHome. I decided to give it a go anyway and surprise surprise, we learn that Phil Harrison is a hobo. They promised us to be able to display all our trophies off to our freinds. We don't get that. And the fact that the have the cheek to ask £4.78 for a virtual room and plant is just bloody scandalous. Not trying to flame, but they're are times when I think the thought: "Why didn't I get a 360?"
-> IT IS STILL A BETA <- All of the features arent there. And about the prices they may be stupid but no one is forcing you to buy anything, and you can win clothes for free off of the arcade games.
AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO WHAT ME AND VICIOUS HAVE SAID??? We understand it is still a beta. What we are both annoyed at is the fact that the closed beta had more everything than the open beta and what I am annoyed at is the fact that when we get a pretty much stable version that ISN'T A BETA they will not, in a month of Sundays, Make accesories free, cheaper or winnable.
My point is that even if we had all the premium for free, 600 more arcade machines, 13 more bowling alley's and a mansion instead of that bland penthouse, it would only marginally improve Home and in the words of Cpt. Price: "...it's not hard to improve on garbage. Try again."
The stuff you saw in all the trailers havent been in the closed beta for months, its not like they took it out last minuite for the open beta. And the fact that you were going to have to pay for that stuff was well known pretty much as soon as home was announced. Theres plenty of things to be won off of arcade games and they're just the start.
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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14. December 2008 @ 13:26 |
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As a matter of fact, the open beta actually has more than the closed beta in terms of areas that you can go to. The closed beta didn't have the Farcry 2 or the Uncharted places.
I'm not really big on paying for stuff though, however, it's only like $0.50 for clothes and the only house available is only $4.99, so it's not too bad...
But what am I talking about, I downloaded it all for free on the closed beta... =) lol
But dang people, cut Sony some slack. I'm sure it takes alot of work to develop all of this stuff. And I guarantee if Sony released the tools to develop for Home to the public, 95% of PS3 users wouldn't even know where to start. But that's just my view on it.
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ooZEROoo
Senior Member
4 product reviews
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14. December 2008 @ 17:45 |
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My main complaint...Where the hell is the SOCOM room?
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Member
8 product reviews
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15. December 2008 @ 15:26 |
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There seems to be some misunderstanding as to why I made my post...
I'm not suprised that I have to pay for premium items, that's not anything unexpected.
I'm not suprised or upset about the fact that they can't seem to moderate the user dialog or the fact that they spam us constantly, once again, that wasn't anything unexpected.
I'm upset over the notion that they specifically told us we would have abilities, that WERE ONCE THERE, and have been removed.
These items and abilities were working fine - there was no need for them to be removed, they did not change any of the base server engine, and therefore, there would be no compatibility issues that needs resolving previous to their re-implemitation.
To put this in Moronese, for those of you who have problems speaking English; Nothing has changed about the game that would require them to remove these items or abilities. If a TV, picture frame, or radio was available and working for the closed beta, than it should be available and working in the open beta, as there is no need to have ever removed them. Even if the items were premium, I don't mind spending a dollar or two to get some TVs in my apartment.
Continuing in Moronese: The told us how "quick text" would make communicating without a headset or keyboard quick and easy - that we could just string together sentences by browsing through menus - and there is no reason - whatsoever - for that feature to have been removed.
Yes, I'm mad that I can't move on in the Uncharted area because of the billion people crowding the keypad trying to guess the code by starting at 00000 and working they're way up. Yes, I'm mad that you can hop on an arcade machine and then drop your controller and go eat lunch, all the while occupying the arcade machine from anyone who might actually use it.
But what am I really mad about?
The fact that the closed beta had more features, abilities, items, and furnature than the open beta. The whole point of testing these items in Closed Beta was so that they would be ready for release with the Open Beta - are you following me on this? I've got some crayons around here somewhere if I need to draw anyone, including Sony, a diagram or something.
I'm not saying that Home is evolving fast enough to meet my needs, and I'm not saying that the production of these items or abilities does not require a high attention to detail and/or an amazing ammount of computer scripting - all that I am saying is that they had HUNDREDS of things already done, and already working, all of which seem to have just been flushed down the toilet, because it's sure as hell not in the Open Beta.
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3. June 2009 @ 00:58 |
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I stumbled on this tread again, and I decided it was worth some updating.
6 Months ago, I was disappointed in Home because of the lack of Clothing, furnature, and features.
I am pleased to report that there have been absolutely no changes since then.
Yes, sure, some of you might say "Well you can get more clothes and trophies from certain areas" and while that might be true, I counter with this: Remember the videos we all watched as we anxiously awaited the Home Open Beta? Remember how the Sony Spokesperson who walked us through the old central lounge, showed us a vast collection of clothing and furnature?
Well, there are still absolutely NO picture frames, TVs, or radios available to the average user of the game.
It has been SIX Months -- so saying that Sony needed time to re-incorperate everything into the Open Beta is absolutely crap. They promised us the ability to share music and video, an ability which has been removed. They promised the ability to use QuickText to string together sentences out of phrase segment menues. They promised us an enviroment we could enjoy -- and they have failed miserably.
Rather than spend 6 months making zones that are completely useless 90% of the time, they should have focused on fulfilling their promises to us, the users. They should have focused on fixing this horrible concept that something can only be used by 1 person at 1 time.
I fired up Home after 6 months of ignoring it, and I somehow managed to fool myself into believing that it would have been improved somewhat. I should have known better.
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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3. June 2009 @ 01:30 |
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Indeed, I expected more out of sony for something they drove on so hard. They seem to have pretty much abandoned it and the only real updates have come from the other developers making their own space. They need to get off their ass and finish it or at least do something with it.
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bigo93
Senior Member
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3. June 2009 @ 05:24 |
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Yeah at first I had a bit of fun playing the games, but I;ve only played bowls and the arcade games, trying to get a free pool table is almost impossible! I'm sure Home has different districts I mean how are you going to get every user in a country into one place, but then how do you go from one to another?
Movement in Home seems rather slow, running from one building to another makes it look like you are suffering from some sort of lag.
So yes I too am disappointed with Home.
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bulldog44
Newbie
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8. June 2009 @ 08:14 |
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I dont see the point of playing arcade games on ps3 home when you can just play cod 4 or something.
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bigo93
Senior Member
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8. June 2009 @ 11:47 |
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Oh the recent update added some toy helicopters to play with! :P
Also says there should be a maze but cant find the pad which is supposed to teleport you there.
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emugamer
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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8. June 2009 @ 12:46 |
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Originally posted by Vicious88:
I stumbled on this tread again, and I decided it was worth some updating.
6 Months ago, I was disappointed in Home because of the lack of Clothing, furnature, and features.
I am pleased to report that there have been absolutely no changes since then.
Yes, sure, some of you might say "Well you can get more clothes and trophies from certain areas" and while that might be true, I counter with this: Remember the videos we all watched as we anxiously awaited the Home Open Beta? Remember how the Sony Spokesperson who walked us through the old central lounge, showed us a vast collection of clothing and furnature?
Well, there are still absolutely NO picture frames, TVs, or radios available to the average user of the game.
It has been SIX Months -- so saying that Sony needed time to re-incorperate everything into the Open Beta is absolutely crap. They promised us the ability to share music and video, an ability which has been removed. They promised the ability to use QuickText to string together sentences out of phrase segment menues. They promised us an enviroment we could enjoy -- and they have failed miserably.
Rather than spend 6 months making zones that are completely useless 90% of the time, they should have focused on fulfilling their promises to us, the users. They should have focused on fixing this horrible concept that something can only be used by 1 person at 1 time.
I fired up Home after 6 months of ignoring it, and I somehow managed to fool myself into believing that it would have been improved somewhat. I should have known better.
I did the same thing as you. Fired it up after 6 months, expecting enough new improvements that might keep me entertained on a Sunday evening before bed. Well, I was on for about an hour......not entertained though. Trying to search for something new that would peak my interest. Nada...nothing...squat.
I think I got a free apartment or something. But it's empty. Walking around is slow and lame. I know you can teleport to different locations, but it would be nice if walking in the environment was at least something you wanted to do once in a while. I might see the potential if the character physics was more like a game (like uncharted or infamous). But my guy's movement feels like a stick figure. It's painful to see him walk. It's like he's prairie-doggin' it to the lavatory. Is it necessary to improve the character movement and environment?...probably not. After all, Home is not a game. But it would add some redeeming qualities to the whole concept of the currently empty and useless world that is Home.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8. June 2009 @ 12:47
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Specops70
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8. June 2009 @ 14:29 |
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Sucks balls.......
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