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[Slavik81]

I recently came across the image below, and I can't help but think how awesome Home could have been. That's a picture of the part of Home that I wanted the most: the trophy room. Videos on the walls of some of your accomplishments, 3D trophies in your trophy cases...

What happened? The entire Home project seems to have had trouble. I wasn't in the beta, but it sounded like the project was at a stand-still for an entire year before a barebones version was released to the public. Even after all these months and a number of updates, the Home that exists today is not the product I imagined back when it was announced.

Has the goal of the project changed since it was announced? Did it suffer from the loss of an internal team? Or did I just never understand what they were planning in the first place?

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Endless beta will do that.

 

[TheSeks]

Seriously, the trophy room is all I want and they can't give us that. :|

 

[makingmusic476]

What I want to know is what happened to streaming videos with your friends at your apartment. That would actually make Home useful, and the feature was announced when Home was announced. It was actually a standout feature for me.

It still isn't here, and in the meantime it has already made its way onto other consoles.

A trophy room is probably the thing I'd want second, and it would add value to both Home and Trophies. Make it an add-on to your apartment. That'd be nice.

 

[NeoUltima]

I think aside from trophy room its all there(well mp game launching isn't universal I guess). It sounded better on paper and video...but trying it for yourself it gets boring...of course, yeah...trophy room is what we all wanted. They could at least give a 3d trophy if you platinum a game, or maybe for some golds trophies.

 

[edgefusion]

I don't think even the team working on Home knew what they were planning to be honest. It seems to me like a plan Sony came up with, demoed way too early then lost interest but decided to go for a release anyway because the Sony fanbase had latched onto the idea. It doesn't feel like a very well funded project and it almost certainly isn't in capable hands. I highly doubt we'll see it make a transition to PS4, maybe the concept of what Home is but it's in too much of a mess right now to be salvageable.

EDIT: Sharing video in your homespace with friends was a promise made when Sony was feeling rather down in the dumps, eating lots of Ben & Jerry's while drinking a bottle of Jack and dreaming of a brighter future. It was just a hook to get people interested, they knew the legal aspect of it would totally kill the idea.

 

[OnPoint]

 

[Slavik81]

I think aside from trophy room its all there(well mp game launching isn't universal I guess). It sounded better on paper and video...but trying it for yourself it gets boring...of course, yeah...trophy room is what we all wanted. They could at least give a 3d trophy if you platinum a game, or maybe for some golds trophies.

I think it would REALLY help if it took less time to boot in to Home. That really should have been one of their primary design criteria, but it doesn't seem like it was.

I don't think I'd use the trophy room if it took as long to reach from the XMB as a Home room does.

 

[evolution]

It has its audience, and it seems to be making money for sony. Trophy room would be cool but i think it would lose its appeal fast.

 

[Slavik81]

It has its audience, and it seems to be making money for sony.

Exactly what I'm saying. I thought Home would be a service for me, but it seems they're now focusing on someone else (with moderate success). The question is how or why did that transition occur? (if it did at all)

 

[paperheart]

Trophy room isn't going to happen now. Though, that was the only reason I was interested in Home in the first place. The chances of them doing that now are slim to none, since developers wouldn't want to go back and make 3D trophies for their games. Though, a team from Sony could be dedicated to just making 3D trophies, but I doubt that. Hmm... I also think Home needs more stuff, cause there's no point in it right now. I went in Home recently, walked around, and that's basically all there is to do, just walk around and look. I think Sony needs to make Home exclusive Wii like games. Games that are all multiplayer and fun. Also, not having the games have waiting lines would be better as well. Whatever they are doing with Home now, they just need to make incentives for people to want to go into Home. As of now, there's really nothing exciting about it. :/ It had a lot of potential, though.

 

[NeoUltima]

I think it would REALLY help if it took less time to boot in to Home.

This is true. Sometimes I feel like going in for the hell of it but that stops me.

I still kinda get a sense that their ultimate hope is to make this the 'xmb' of ps4(normal xmb on virtual psp). The potential for micro transactions that way would just be enormous. Just using ps3 version as a giant test.

 

[Pandaman]

did lair even get a trophy patch?

 

[Blablurn]

did lair even get a trophy patch?

nope.

 

[Sophia]

It doesn't seem like my own individual "home" within it is terribly usable nor customizable. Same with the avatars in Home.

 

[CadetMahoney]

so are they still "making millions" on home? I find a hard time believing that personally.

 

[sykoex]

I don't understand the clamoring for what basically amounts to a glorified model viewer. I don't use Home, but when I think about what it is, a bunch of themed zones for upcoming games populated with mini-games and stuff (I.E., the RE5 zone, Uncharted zone, Pixeljunk zone, etc), that seems a heck of a lot cooler than standing in a room, with maybe someone on my friends list looking at a 3D dragon.

 

[Blablurn]

too bad they never added the feature to steam videos which you can watch with your friends.
btw, can other people even enter your own own? where is the fucking point it's all about random spaces now.

 

[msdstc]

so are they still "making millions" on home? I find a hard time believing that personally.

All those objects sell like crazy. Sign on at any given time and look at how many people are wearing custom items. These things cost sony literally nothing to make and host and they just sell them at ridiculous prices. Imagine all the items these people buy, just hundreds of dollars invested.

Sadly the fact that it's such a success is killing any chance for change. The original concept was like a sims online only better, because you could interact more and it was free. Plasmas in your home for streaming videos, customization of your character and home space, which included- decorations, tvs, radios, video game cabinets which were playable. All of this plus a trophy room, which would give extra incentive to get trophies.

Well it fell well short of that. The core problems for me are the lack of items. If they gave out update packs with a good amount of furniture, wall papers, clothing, etc. I would probably play it more. Also the ability to share videos/music, etc. would add incentive. There are a handful of other things I had imagined for it, but I guess it was all wishful thinking.

 

[KnightM7]

Its just too ambitious for this generation. Its suppose to be like a virtual hub, so everything has to be as fast as the 360 blade going up, or the XMB when you press the PS button. Heck even when you actually wait for the thing to boot up you'll still be waiting more if you gotta download new areas etc.

 

[Pandaman]

nope.

thats a shame, i'd like an excuse to play it again.

 

[Slavik81]

I don't understand the clamoring for what basically amounts to a glorified model viewer. I don't use Home, but when I think about what it is, a bunch of themed zones for upcoming games populated with mini-games and stuff (I.E., the RE5 zone, Uncharted zone, Pixeljunk zone, etc), that seems a heck of a lot cooler than standing in a room, with maybe someone on my friends list looking at a 3D dragon.

What's the point of any trophy? It's a physical representation of your achievement. I mean, you're being a bit reductionist. What's the point of the current trophy list? It's just a bunch of words in a list. The point is what it reminds you of. And a 3D model of the dragon you killed is a nice complement to the a 'you killed a dragon' text blurb.

Plus, I expected some cool things. Like, see that TV on the wall? Maybe it could be playing captured footage from when you earned an achievement.

 

[NeoUltima]

Well it fell well short of that. The core problems for me are the lack of items. If they gave out update packs with a good amount of furniture, wall papers, clothing, etc. I would probably play it more. Also the ability to share videos/music, etc. would add incentive. There are a handful of other things I had imagined for it, but I guess it was all wishful thinking.

I got a nice Galaga arcade machine for downloading and playing the namco arcade museum demo. Supposedly there were 3 more cabinets you could get from it too.

Of course I could never get it to actually work...Maybe it was a glitch idk, but I recall getting an error message or something when I actually tried to play it. It makes a nice decoration I suppose though.

 

[sykoex]

What's the point of any trophy? It's a physical representation of your achievement. I mean, you're being a bit reductionist. What's the point of the current trophy list? It's just a bunch of words in a list. The point is what it reminds you of. And a 3D model of the dragon you killed is a nice complement to the a 'you killed a dragon' text blurb.

Plus, I expected some cool things. Like, see that TV on the wall? Maybe it could be playing captured footage from when you earned an achievement.

The nice thing about the list is that it's easily accessible, so you can easily see yours and your friends accomplishments at a glance. Who wants to load into Home just to see if their friend got the trophy on level 4 for Game X. I'm just saying no trophy room isn't the reason Home sucks.

 

[Slavik81]

The nice thing about the list is that it's easily accessible, so you can easily see yours and your friends accomplishments at a glance. Who wants to load into Home just to see if their friend got the trophy on level 4 for Game X. I'm just saying no trophy room isn't the reason Home sucks.

Oh, of course. It's one of many things about the present incarnation of Home that's very different from what I imagined when it was announced.

It's just a good example because it doesn't exist even in part, and because it was one of the features that many people particularly looked forward to.

 

[Apath]

They should stylize the models more and add a jump command.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

I love luring men by using an attractive female avatar, and then springing my ugly man-trap on them.

 

[noah111]

So.. just wondering, but if they added a trophy room very similar to what was originally shown at the old GDC event, would the hype level suddenly return to the same levels they were at when Home was announced? Don't think so... the same concept from that GDC event is what we have now, just with many missing pieces and overall flow.

I was in the beta since May 07, and believe me it was really, REALLY awesome that whole time, mainly due to the fact that there was a community (much like this forum). Once it started going more and more public, it started becoming more and more, quite simply, 'meh'. If this forum accepted users instantly after registration, and weren't as strict with rules, then it would fall apart slowly as well. This is similar to what I experienced in Home throughout the year or two of extensive use.

Until Home becomes more streamlined, fluid, etc then it will continue to be a niche thing. It still has an awesome potential though.. but honestly, that light is dimming with every Home update to me.

 

[NeoUltima]

I love luring men by using an attractive female avatar, and then springing my ugly man-trap on them.

That really is the funnest part of home when ppl do that :lol

 

[B1gg_Randall]

I love luring men by using an attractive female avatar, and then springing my ugly man-trap on them.

thats mess up!!!! :lol

 

[major_killjoy]

I love luring men by using an attractive female avatar, and then springing my ugly man-trap on them.

That never stopped me.

 

[Revelations]

I love luring men by using an attractive female avatar, and then springing my ugly man-trap on them.

:lol Awesome.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

:lol Awesome.

I saw a video of it online a while back and had to try it myself. I tried to play "hard to catch" and once they took the bait, I switched avatars and all the guys around me either walked away quietly or ran. It was pretty satisfying.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

The only time I ever log onto Home is when there are some new rewards available in the game for free. I haven't really found a reason to spend more than 30 minutes in there except when screwing around with friends.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Ah, Home.

 

[RiotPelaaja]

What I want to know is what happened to streaming videos with your friends at your apartment. That would actually make Home useful, and the feature was announced when Home was announced. It was actually a standout feature for me.

It still isn't here, and in the meantime it has already made its way onto other consoles.

A trophy room is probably the thing I'd want second, and it would add value to both Home and Trophies. Make it an add-on to your apartment. That'd be nice.

I asked about the video / photo in your own space over a year ago from Sony UK's head of Home and the answer was not surprising - they are not gonna allow people to show their videos, because they could show whatever porn etc and even though that's someones private space, they cannot allow that...which I can understand from Sony's perspective.

 

[Virro]

I was trying to get in the PS Store today and accidentally clicked on Home. This precipitated me smashing buttons frantically so I wouldn't have to sit through 5 loading/updating screens before accepting my fate and being confronted by my vanilla avatar, a white-walled apartment, and a lamp.

Last time I hopped in Home was for the UC2 space opening... which was a nightmare. Super laggy, got a cheesy dagger, most appealing thing there were the awful arcade games... if you can even call them that. I've seen more complexities on TI-83 calculator games. Home has been a huge disappointment to me, and such a departure from the kind of revolution/system-seller they originally suggested it would be. At this point, I think they've pretty much cut their losses on the project... at least it seems that way.

 

[Dabanton]

I love luring men by using an attractive female avatar, and then springing my ugly man-trap on them.

A female was the first person i made on home as they at least looked normal.

Walking around is a hoot, as guys see your Avatar and try to say hello. :lol

 

[BlazingDarkness]

They promised loads of good stuff, but delivered shit on a stick. Quite simply, they failed.

 

[goldenpp72]

I still remember proclaiming this to be the biggest turd ever when announced, with ensuing laughter that this would change the world

Soon as the beta hit it was like a dud bomb

 

[Dabanton]

Anyone remember when Wollan used to hype Home up making ridiculous amounts of threads about it.

Also when some people on Gaf used to actually sport Home avatars.:lol

 

[Corran Horn]

A female was the first person i made on home as they at least looked normal.

Walking around is a hoot, as guys see your Avatar and try to say hello. :lol

:lol Its great. I rarely use home but when I do I always get messages on my PSN

 

[IonicSnake]

My biggest problem with Home is that it takes forever to log in and when it's about to finish I get an error returning me to the startmenu.

 

[panda21]

the creepy gap advert avatars are the worst

plus none of the supposed features that would have brought psn up to the features of live (parties/cross game chat etc) never materialised afaik.

 

[TTP]

My biggest problem with Home is that it takes forever to log in and when it's about to finish I get an error returning me to the startmenu.

Did u delete and redownload the client?

 

[panda21]

oh and this:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385165

 

[IonicSnake]

Did u delete and redownload the client?

Hmm, no I didn't. I'll try that, thanks.

 

[Fersis]

Phil Harrison left Sony , thats what happened.

 

[Racer30]

Home optimized for SSD on playstation 4 would be awsome!

 

[borsdy]

Phil Harrison left Sony , thats what happened.

He loved Home, it brilliantly realized their ambitions!