Home Q&A. Not everything Homey

[bapenguin]

The Three Speech Blog (http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=325) has a Q&A with Sony regarding their upcoming Home platform for the PS3. It appears it's not quite like the MMO most had envisioned, currently there is a maximum of 64 people in a lobby/room at a time.What’s the function of the lobby and what is the maximum number of users that can be in a lobby?
“The lobby is the central meeting place where you can meet new friends or arrange to meet old friends, before transferring to a private meeting place. The current maximum of concurrent users in a lobby is 64.”

Another thing that is current is the inability to launch games directly from Home. Can you enter a game like MotorStorm quickly through Home without having to travel to the specific MotorStorm lobby?
“Currently, users can find each other in Home, and then arrange to go off and play MotorStorm at the same time. Eventually, users will be able to meet in Home and seamlessly launch into a game of MotorStorm. Similarly, users will be able to exit to Home directly from the game.”

There's no word really if this is just stuff that won't be included in the beta, or if it actually won't be included in the October launch of the service. If the second quote holds true for an October launch, then that's pretty dissapointing.

[Zawath]

Sounds like the public lobby will be absolutely useless. There's no point in hanging there if it only supports 64 persons.

[ProfPuppet]

Not being able to jump right into a game is a very strange thing not to have right off the bat.

[bapenguin]

Not being able to jump right into a game is a very strange thing not to have right off the bat.

Yeah that was the thing I was most excited about.

[Gorvi]

Not being able to jump right into a game is a very strange thing not to have right off the bat.

Right now we still don't know if that will be just in the beta, or in the actual launch in October. I'm at least still curious and I'd really like to get into the beta in April. Hopefully if someone on EvAv can get in so we can get some first hand impressions.

[Johan]

I think folks need to take a deep breath, remember where we've been over the past few years with Sony and their promises, and wait for the damn thing to actually be released before falling over themselves in lustful impatience for what could very well be a limited experience.

Time will tell. Deep breaths, folks.

[rein]

Or, glass half full.

Can you enter a game like MotorStorm quickly through Home without having to travel to the specific MotorStorm lobby?
“Currently, users can find each other in Home, and then arrange to go off and play MotorStorm at the same time. Eventually, users will be able to meet in Home and seamlessly launch into a game of MotorStorm. Similarly, users will be able to exit to Home directly from the game.”

[KidCactus]

Hopefully if someone on EvAv can get in so we can get some first hand impressions.
From the beta EULA:
In keeping with the aim and spirit of the Trials, you must:

keep the contents of the Trials confidential as between you and us and not discuss them with anyone beyond your close friends and family and other Trialists. In particular, neither you nor your friends and family shall discuss them with anyone linked to a competing format and/or any news and/or information services or on any chat-line (whether on television or radio, in newspaper or magazines, or via the Internet or any other medium).

Do NOT talk about Fight Club.

[CaptStu]

From the beta EULA:

Do NOT talk about Fight Club.

Yeah right. That won't happen. :rolleyes:

[Knite]

umm

so I can use home to find my friends and play a game with them, except, I still need to find my friends if they aren't in the "special 64" and I still have to find them again in game?

So what is Home doing for me then?

[Johan]

So what is Home doing for me then?

We probably won't know that for sure until it's actually out. Until then, who knows...

[KidCactus]

Yeah right. That won't happen. :rolleyes:
I'm not saying information won't leak, just that we probably won't see any EvAv'ers posting first hand impressions.

[CaptStu]

I'm not saying information won't leak, just that we probably won't see any EvAv'ers posting first hand impressions.

Maybe, maybe not.

[Yeti2005]

I don't think anyone expects the Beta to be perfect so that's not a problem but I do hope they quantify when the greater than 64 limit will be available and when you'll be able to launch games from Home. Nothing pisses me off more than vague statements like "Yes we'll eventually have that functionality but I can't tell you when or even narrow it down to what year."

[Roc Ingersol]

I still don't get it.

[Ph00p]

Home is just a new advertising medium not a service to help you, but one to help sony with all the ad spaces.

[DangerousDaze]

The problem with jumping in and out of games is that there's no API for either Sony or the game devs to use as yet.

I thought the bigger complaint would be this comment:Users receive points for in-game achievements.;)

[Itchyeyes]

Good God. Leave it to Sony to take an absolutely fantastic idea and totally break the best parts of it. I wish I could remain optimistic about the final version, but Sony has a history with this kind of thing and I'm not going to be holding my breath.

[NoName]

I'm not saying information won't leak, just that we probably won't see any EvAv'ers posting first hand impressions.
That's why we have the subscriber's forum, safe from the world of search bots ;).

[Watership]

Go second life!

[Schnoogs]

Did people really think that the Lobby would somehow accomodate the entire PS3 userbase?

[Itchyeyes]

Did people really think that the Lobby would somehow accomodate the entire PS3 userbase?
No, but I think people were at least expecting something on par with other MMO experiences like Second Life and WoW. 64 people is prohibitively small and pretty much strips the Home lobby of its most compelling feature. 64 people is not a "virtual world"; 64 people is a chat room. Like I said before, I'd like to remain optimistic about the final product, but with Sony behind the wheel I find that optimism difficult to maintain.

[Schnoogs]

No, but I think people were at least expecting something on par with other MMO experiences like Second Life and WoW. 64 people is prohibitively small and pretty much strips the Home lobby of its most compelling feature. 64 people is not a "virtual world"; 64 people is a chat room. Like I said before, I'd like to remain optimistic about the final product, but with Sony behind the wheel I find that optimism difficult to maintain.

I didnt realize a compelling feature of MMOs was having large rooms full of people.

What would be acceptable? 128? 256? 512?

At what point does it completely tax the systems ability to independently animate and update that many characters across the net. Theres a reason most online games have a 64 player bound.

[Itchyeyes]

I didnt realize a compelling feature of MMOs was having large rooms full of people.
The compelling feature of MMO's is that they make the game feel like a living breathing virtual world in habited by real people. That's what defines the genre. 64 people does not feel like a virtual world to me, and it certainly doesn't feel like the vision that Harrison outlined in his keynote the other day. The Home that Harrison outlined in his keynote was a groundbreaking application. It was something completely new for consoles that offered an experience you couldn't get anywhere else. The Home discussed in this article is something completely different.

Sony does this every damn time. The announce a concept or piece of hardware and tell you how incredibly groundbreaking it is going to be then release something that is a mere shadow of the vision they have painted. Perhaps, in its final version, Home will achieve the goals that Phil set for it, but I sincerely doubt it now.

[Grimmjow]

Iono...64 people seems fine to me, I can see them having doorways to other lobbies so that eliminates a shytload of people being in 1 lobby, and being able to launch the game from Home is also fine with me, it would be nice to exit straight into a multiplayer lobby but hey everything in the world is not peachy these days.

[SalaciousPuck]

I could care less if it's 64 or 6,400 in a world. This 2nd Life stuff isn't going to appeal to 5% of the PS3 early adopters.

They better put more thought into the online game matchmaking/friends list setup than the virtual furniture, or the PS3 is going to become more and more irrelevant. Also, is there any confirmation that there isn't going to be an online fee? Is Home's 2nd Life stuff just a justification to go to the XBL, pay as you go, model?

[Grimmjow]

I could care less if it's 64 or 6,400 in a world. This 2nd Life stuff isn't going to appeal to 5% of the PS3 early adopters.

They better put more thought into the online game matchmaking/friends list setup than the virtual furniture, or the PS3 is going to become more and more irrelevant. Also, is there any confirmation that there isn't going to be an online fee? Is Home's 2nd Life stuff just a justification to go to the XBL, pay as you go, model?

Well they already stated it was free, in another thread we "assumed" that the standard service would be free but you would have to pay for premium items.

[DangerousDaze]

I could care less if it's 64 or 6,400 in a world.So you do care?
This 2nd Life stuff isn't going to appeal to 5% of the PS3 early adopters.
So the Second Life stuff will appeal to 95% of early adopters?

The base Home will be available via the XMB for free, though it will take half a gig of precious disk space if you want it.

[Podfork]

I think it's worth keeping grounded in reality. When news like PSHome or LBP hits and is popular people have a tendancy to run away with their imaginations following the seeds of the ideas shown. Before you know it, these ideas become expectations and then necessities - irrespective of what may have originally been said by the source..

..what then seems to happen is a sense of being 'ripped off' or 'let down' because the ideas/expectations that people created for themselves don't become reality and, once again, people start talking of 'broken promises'.

I think it's great such enthusiasm is present but I've seen soooo many instances of people getting carried away on speculation and being disappointed with reality and then looking for someone else to blame.

[Grimmjow]

I think it's worth keeping grounded in reality. When news like PSHome or LBP hits and is popular people have a tendancy to run away with their imaginations following the seeds of the ideas shown. Before you know it, these ideas become expectations and then necessities - irrespective of what may have originally been said by the source..

..what then seems to happen is a sense of being 'ripped off' or 'let down' because the ideas/expectations that people created for themselves don't become reality and, once again, people start talking of 'broken promises'.

But isn't that always the case? (ie. people thought the march update was going down on the 8th) People thought that due to a rumor/website posted it up as a rumor and people was upset when it didn't happen. There upset because they fooled themselves.

[Itchyeyes]

I think it's worth keeping grounded in reality. When news like PSHome or LBP hits and is popular people have a tendancy to run away with their imaginations following the seeds of the ideas shown. Before you know it, these ideas become expectations and then necessities - irrespective of what may have originally been said by the source..

..what then seems to happen is a sense of being 'ripped off' or 'let down' because the ideas/expectations that people created for themselves don't become reality and, once again, people start talking of 'broken promises'.

I think it's great such enthusiasm is present but I've seen soooo many instances of people getting carried away on speculation and being disappointed with reality and then looking for someone else to blame.
Except this isn't speculation. Harrison specifically talked about the ability to invite people directly into a game in his keynote. This isn't a case of people getting carried away with speculation, this is just the same old Sony over-promising and under-delivering.

[Grimmjow]

Except this isn't speculation. Harrison specifically talked about the ability to invite people directly into a game in his keynote. This isn't a case of people getting carried away with speculation, this is just the same old Sony over-promising and under-delivering.

It seems to be some miscommunication somewhere down the lines, but of course people are going to jump the gun and be like THEY LIED, F THEM, THEY OVER PROMISED!

[jadkins555]

It's also important to note that in a Game Trailers interview (http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=2185) Phill Harrison was asked if they hope to keep Home for free forever and he said "we've made no statements about forever". That could be to cover his bases in the future, or that they plan on charging after a set period of time.

[Johan]

It seems to be some miscommunication somewhere down the lines, but of course people are going to jump the gun and be like THEY LIED, F THEM, THEY OVER PROMISED!

This is why educated consumers (in this case, gaming enthusiasts) should be skeptical and patient, waiting for reality to catch up with hyperbole, and for features to actually come true in real life.

The sky isn't falling...but it's certainly not crystal clear, either. The truth is that Sony, moreso than either MS or Nintendo, has had a recent track record of major stumbles in matching eventual reality with their preview hyperbole. Let's let this play out and see if it's still exciting and awesome when it's actually in use. Until then, skepticism is the wisest response.

[MaiXu]

Buh, don't let facts and development goals get in your way, go buy a PS3 because why not yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

PS: Any new Killzone 2 info/shots/lies?

[Grimmjow]

This is why educated consumers (in this case, gaming enthusiasts) should be skeptical and patient, waiting for reality to catch up with hyperbole, and for features to actually come true in real life.

The sky isn't falling...but it's certainly not crystal clear, either. The truth is that Sony, moreso than either MS or Nintendo, has had a recent track record of major stumbles in matching eventual reality with their preview hyperbole. Let's let this play out and see if it's still exciting and awesome when it's actually in use. Until then, skepticism is the wisest response.

I totally agree, they have had a bad record, I will admit that. Thing thing is alot of people don't have patience to wait things out, personally I can wait until its released to know how its going to work for myself, its nice to see something early and all but in general a person wouldn't know how it would work for them unless they tried it themselves.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Did people really think that the Lobby would somehow accomodate the entire PS3 userbase?

Well, back in 1999 Everquest (now owned by Sony) did pretty well at getting about 2500 people online within a single world. Plus, that one had many monsters as well plus the ability to make groups dynamically.

Now, 8 years later on the PS3 they seem to be capped at 64 people per world.

And, I fully expect there will be more than 64 people using the PS3's. And, I absolutely expected Home to be able to service the entirety of the PS3 userbase; at least technically. I expected it to offer services, and make life easier while assembling a group of people to play together.

If it doesn't accommodate the entire PS3 database, it is inherently limited. At the same time, WoW handles almost 9 million monthly subscribers. Given that they also provide content and foes, guilds and raids, groups and solo hunting, you would think Sony would be able to go past 64 within a limited online world like Home. It's not an mmo; its a front end to one.

I agree with the others who said that it sounds like work to get into the world, work to get the right group of 64 or less, and then more work to reassemble that same group within any game.

It's still Sony; it's still about "potential" and not delivered goods, and the "potential" just dropped a lot in my eyes.

[IrishWhiskey]

“Currently, users can find each other in Home, and then arrange to go off and play MotorStorm at the same time.Now thats just some serious weaksause.

I know they intent to change it "some point in the future", but even if you can launch into the game from Home someday, that doesn't mean you'll join into a multiplayer game as a party.

Its the attitude that bothers me there more than anything else. Who needs a unified friends list or ability to use a PS3 social networking service to create multiplayer groups? Lets just have them all tell each other when they should meet up in a game, have them search for their totally seperate in-game names and accounts, and hope it all works out. Whereas we all know the more steps removed you are from online part forming, the more likely there is to be problems and "Wait, Dereks in the wrong lobby, hang on guys. Alright, I AFK gotta take out trash. Alright Dereks back lets go. Wait Chets gone, we gotta wait for him. Are we doing Blood Gulch? I hate Blood Gulch. Lets do Rockets. Rockets suck." etc, etc.

And 64 people at once is small. Given that the graphics and possible user actions are quite limited, I have no idea why it isn't bigger.

[sprankton]

Did people really think that the Lobby would somehow accomodate the entire PS3 userbase?

It still can, because 64 is about the number of PS3 owners.

But seriously, I thought it was cool looking from the start and it is, but Game 3.0 is a joke. Home has some cool things and some potential, but its second life on your PS3.

[motor]

Well, back in 1999 Everquest (now owned by Sony) did pretty well at getting about 2500 people online within a single world. Plus, that one had many monsters as well plus the ability to make groups dynamically.

Now, 8 years later on the PS3 they seem to be capped at 64 people per world.

That is really disappointing. What makes it even more so, is that half the difficulty of writing an MMO is making sure that the experience is the exact same (if I do 5 hp of damage to a giant rat and you run over and look at it it has lost 5 hit points). Since they don't need to worry about that they really should have been able to write something that had a larger unit limit.

Also, maybe jumping directly into games might be something that needs to be added to a game (so only new games get the feature), but to me that is one of the key features. That way my clan can make a "club-house" that we use as a staging area before going into a game against a rival clan.

[Wolvie]

Say what you want about XBL being "text heavy" but at least you can join games easily from the dashboard.
Sony needs to work this in to have people take it seriously as an XBL contender.

[the soUL TRAder]

This is why educated consumers (in this case, gaming enthusiasts) should be skeptical and patient, waiting for reality to catch up with hyperbole, and for features to actually come true in real life.

The sky isn't falling...but it's certainly not crystal clear, either. The truth is that Sony, moreso than either MS or Nintendo, has had a recent track record of major stumbles in matching eventual reality with their preview hyperbole. Let's let this play out and see if it's still exciting and awesome when it's actually in use. Until then, skepticism is the wisest response.

Gotta agree here.
If people would just stop drinking the Kool-aid, you wouldn't have to try and upchuck it later.

Home is a great concept; but, gamers know, even more than most hobbyists,
great concepts can be "doggie-styled" into lameness when implemented poorly.

Only 64 to a lobby might not be an app-killer, but it doesn't really jibe with the way it was presented last week.
Even though a free "bolt-on" to help gamers connect to a community would NEVER be anything BAD, the way Sony is hyping it like the "next big-thing", just reminds me of their same old, same old.

Either way, especially for the communities such as this, it shouldn't be hard to get 64 EvAv players into a lobby, at least that would be interesting, and maybe save on some of the bandwith here ;) .

[Utils]

Kid Cactus is probably having a porn party in his apartment right now.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Either way, especially for the communities such as this, it shouldn't be hard to get 64 EvAv players into a lobby, at least that would be interesting, and maybe save on some of the bandwith here ;) .
But, what about if you have a few hundred people from this board who all want to go gaming in various games? You need to have a management system to have multiple EvilApartments, one for each game? Or genre? Or for chatting only? How about moving between them? What if you wan to play with people who are common to here, as well as Ars? Or, having a competition?

Of course, it would never happen that everyone happens to want to play the same games at the same time either. Like, the day LittleBigPlanet releases.

Then, I look at guild and raid management from every mmo. Shouldn't Home be providing the tools to deal with the management of grouping? Who goes where, in which group, at what time, in which voice or text channels?

There are very good and real issues to be solved, Home could do that but it doesn't sound like that is really what it will be.

[lockwoodx]

Yet again this just proves Sony was all hype and will be no follow through.

[IrishWhiskey]

Incidentally, I find this pic absolutely hilarious

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/03/sony-ps-home2.jpg

This is what Sony imagines Home to look like. People using proper names standing around chatting about gaming in full, articulate and grammatically correct sentences.

As opposed to a bunch of people running around attempting to hump each other, all dressed gansta or like slutty girls with names like xXxSNYPRL334xXx or mAsTaPlAyAFoLIF using aol'er shorthand that makes them sound like giberring idiots, while hurling racial epithets, dissing console and music choices, and calling each other fags.

I'm not here to hate on Home, I just think it would be funny if they posted screen shots of what it will actually looks like. You know, populated by people from PS3 Chat forums

http://i.somethingawful.com/u/acetone/ww_03_04_07/03_04_07_16.gif
.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

What if Home really was an MMO that considered other games as instances? What would it run like, and what would be the expectations?

If it was Everquest (personal experience example), it would be like everyone (up to 64 guild members) meeting in the guild lobby. Everyone joins voice or text chat channels, and possibly joins a raid. Then people zone or port to one or more hunting grounds.

The technical term for "sucky" would be described as a system in which the zoning to other content required you drop from the current system, and loaded another game manually; all the while dropping you from the chat channels you were in as well as the groups. Then you load "other content" (ie another zone, or anotehr game), and try to get everyone back into the same group, while also remapping their old names to new ones. Not everyone uses the same name across all PS3 games, do they?

Looking back, when I saw PS3 Home, I saw a cool 3d front end that would deal with the management of grouping and playing together, but the more I look at it the less I think that it will work out that way.

Sony would have to run a very tight development ship; clear rules and software for dev's to implement, so that all groups made up in the Home front end can easily (transparently) migrate to each game; and from the game back to Home, and then to another game (possibly after making minor changes to the group as some people leave and other join).

That sort of game management has clear value. I think it would be worth paying extra for. Give me something like that, and I will pay $5 a month. It clearly adds to gaming, by reducing management of the online grouping.

I just don't think that it is where Sony is going in the near future (such as the next year). They don't seem to have the rules in place to get all the game devs to follow a pattern.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

@ IrishWhiskey -- that's hilarious, and way too true.

I look at that picture and I would be the one running around pointing out that So-and-so is only wearing bowling shoes! Cheap rentals! Nerd! Can't afford your own booties?

[Hugenex]

I don't want this home thing at all. I really don't have time to play this on PS3. all i need is streamlined interface which combines features that home has to offer. Please i
can't play Barbie House... it's just not wise.

[NeoSuplex]

Jester was the best part. "Well said."

[BlackPete]

Incidentally, I find this pic absolutely hilarious


Very true... you just KNOW it will look like another version of myspace with text that barely resembles Engrish (much less English).

Yet on the other hand, it'll be strangely interesting... in a car-wreck type of way.

[Headcase]

Jester was the best part. "Well said."
:D
Either that or "thats what you are right a gay lord"

[Jack B]

Did people really think that the Lobby would somehow accomodate the entire PS3 userbase?

I didn't think there were more than 64 people playing PS3 games online, so well, yeah... ;)

Just kidding! But seriously, I did think it would be a hell of lot more than 64 max. Not sure it really matters thoiugh. Is the idea to go to the home lobby and and hang out with random people or is it to take advantage of watching videos or ads while standing next to other random people?

Could be fun. "Hey Bob, want to go hang out in the Home lobby and watch some game trailers?". "Ok, let's go!".

The "show me" your apartment thing doesn't really rely on 64 players or 2 million. That still works.

The playing pool or arcade games with random people still works too unless you can't find anyone of the other 63 who'll play with you. I wonder if others can hang around the table and watch you play pool. Could be fun. Put your quarters up and wait for the winner. Plus, the beer is cheaper in your own living room than at a real pool hall.

There are still lot's of advantages to Home.

[Jack B]

It's also important to note that in a Game Trailers interview (http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=2185) Phill Harrison was asked if they hope to keep Home for free forever and he said "we've made no statements about forever". That could be to cover his bases in the future, or that they plan on charging after a set period of time.

Well, I'm pretty sure the Beta will be free. ;)

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Home definitely has my interest - I'm curious to see where it goes.

[Vanthar]

I love how people were saying home should be able to support 8 million people since WoW can. Have you ever been in a large raid and seen how shitty the servers can get? It took Blizzard a long time to nail down the lag and crashing from large groups of people being in the same zone. 64 people to me is just like a zone in WoW. It's not that big of a deal for 64 people to be in a lobby.

What is a big deal is that you can't simply invite/join into different games. Although, if games weren't made for it to begin with it really is impossible at the moment. Sony has a lot of work on their hands and I'm interested to see if they can actually pull this off.

[MaiXu]

Jester was the best part. "Well said."

The best part was the first guy, on his "gay faget" rant, actually edited the comment. For clarity, I suppose.

[MORGiON]

mmm, this info has been available for DAYS!!!

so stop acting like the info was just released. I was reading it with my brother on Saturday in Australia, Its now Tuesday.

Nothing has been hidden from you, no slight of hand. This time Sony has done nothing wrong, but the children at EvAv still have to complain.

Please just grow up, If you want to constantly bitch about something how about a real problem like the beloved X360's VERY HIGH failure rate. Instead of complaining about a free service that hasn't even entered into an open beta yet.

[Jack B]

mmm, this info has been available for DAYS!!!

so stop acting like the info was just released. I was reading it with my brother on Saturday in Australia, Its now Tuesday.

Nothing has been hidden from you, no slight of hand. This time Sony has done nothing wrong, but the children at EvAv still have to complain.

Please just grow up, If you want to constantly bitch about something how about a real problem like the beloved X360's VERY HIGH failure rate. Instead of complaining about a free service that hasn't even entered into an open beta yet.

If this hurts your eyes/ears, don't read it. There has been a lot of intelligent discussion about what Sony has said Home is and isn't. Also, lot's of predictions about what it means for the PS3 and how it may or may not be used once it launches.

That's what we do on EvAv... Gaming News with an Attitude. You'll find opinions here you agree with and those you don't. That's the way it works.

[MORGiON]

If this hurts your eyes/ears, don't read it. There has been a lot of intelligent discussion about what Sony has said Home is and isn't. Also, lot's of predictions about what it means for the PS3 and how it may or may not be used once it launches.

That's what we do on EvAv... Gaming News with an Attitude. You'll find opinions here you agree with and those you don't. That's the way it works.
Sorry, I did over react.

I know Sony had done some stupit shit of late. But we finally got some good news.

Between "rumors" about LittleBigPlanet not being for PS3 (After the Sony presentation!) and people ripping the shit out of home (if you don't like it don't use it, use the XMB. But they would have to actually own a PS3 to do that!)

It just got a little frustrating. There are some of us who are looking forward to the PS3 (When realeased here in OZ). Since the info was released the other day all most people seem to be doing it bitching and complaining about nothing.

How about the possibilities of what we can do with it. It's more than just a 3D lobby service. I looks like a cool place to pass time, sofar we have pool, bowling & some arcade machines (I admit the arcade machines don't look to compelling).

If we want this to be sucessfull & fun we need to join in, give feedback etc... to help shape this service. Sony has started off on the right foot, lets try to keep them from tripping.

BTW, whats all this crap about Porn etc... The lobbys are restricted with the ability to make anyone you want disapear. Your own private home may not be censored in any way, but the parental controls on sub accounts should give parents a way to monitor or stop this.

[Utils]

Between "rumors" about LittleBigPlanet not being for PS3 (After the Sony presentation!)...

Hahaha! What!? Wait, why is the word rumor in quotes? Is that really going around?

Nice.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

I love how people were saying home should be able to support 8 million people since WoW can. Have you ever been in a large raid and seen how shitty the servers can get? It took Blizzard a long time to nail down the lag and crashing from large groups of people being in the same zone. 64 people to me is just like a zone in WoW. It's not that big of a deal for 64 people to be in a lobby.

Ummm, no. 64 people at a time is a huge issue since it is reasonable to assume that PS3 might someday have 10 million people using it, and many of those online.

You are severely oversimplifying the issues. No, 64 people in a zone isn't a big deal, but 10 million people logging in at about the same time on a Saturday morning, all creating instances of 64 or less, and automatically sharing content (ie creating custom zone content) could be somewhat slow. That would be roughly 150,000 instances to maintain, including voice/text chat.

Not only that, but I would think that you need to be able to navigate between those instances fairly easily, since you might have friends in more than one Home instance.

For you to equate zones in WoW to the PS3 Home, you would have to remove server restrictions on WoW so anyone can group with anyone else at any time across any server. Then ask questions like ... how do you actually meet up with groupmates or for a raid? How do you all go to somewhere new, when you have to drop out of WoW to load another zone (game), and remake your voice/chat channels, and the names of your friends change from zone to zone (since Sony expects each game to have its own online system your friends names can be different from game to game).

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Ok, so it appears that the lobby area is capped at 64 people, and new instances are automatically generated as instances fill up. This isn't new technology, several games do that for their newbie areas before you grow up enough to join the big world. The problems I have with those is that its so hard to meet up with anyone in particular, and dropping the world or losing connection means you get put into a new instance when you get back in again. Its a very transient world that way.

Rooms or apartments are limited to 16 people at a time.

At some time they might add halls for groups between 16 and 64 people.

From some other site. (http://******.com/gaming/home/ps3-home-information-overload-243658.php)

[Jack B]

Sorry, I did over react.

I know Sony had done some stupit shit of late. But we finally got some good news.

Between "rumors" about LittleBigPlanet not being for PS3 (After the Sony presentation!) and people ripping the shit out of home (if you don't like it don't use it, use the XMB. But they would have to actually own a PS3 to do that!)

It just got a little frustrating. There are some of us who are looking forward to the PS3 (When realeased here in OZ). Since the info was released the other day all most people seem to be doing it bitching and complaining about nothing.

How about the possibilities of what we can do with it. It's more than just a 3D lobby service. I looks like a cool place to pass time, sofar we have pool, bowling & some arcade machines (I admit the arcade machines don't look to compelling).

If we want this to be sucessfull & fun we need to join in, give feedback etc... to help shape this service. Sony has started off on the right foot, lets try to keep them from tripping.

BTW, whats all this crap about Porn etc... The lobbys are restricted with the ability to make anyone you want disapear. Your own private home may not be censored in any way, but the parental controls on sub accounts should give parents a way to monitor or stop this.

Nice post. Yeah, I agree, Home is very exciting. It's not all it can be yet, but over time, maybe.