Is anyone else a HOME beta tester?

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

I got the email from Sony that I was selected as one of the beta testers for the current version of HOME. I'm trying it out now and already I find some issues:
1- Hardly any diversity in the create feature. I made my avatar (kinda quickly) and didn't put too much thought into it but after just 5 minutes running around I have seen about 6 guys that look like I do. Not cool when you're boasting of 14 million PSN accounts.
2- Each location (Mall, Theater, etc) is a separate download. HOME, by itself, blocks off over 3 gigs for use so assuming these sections are not included you're looking at (Mall is 35 mbs, Theater is 9mbs) maybe 4 gigs worth of space taken up. It doesn't even dent my 500 gig system but this is not good news for the 40gig users. And there are other sections which I haven't gotten to yet.

I'll play around in it some more and post more in the morning.

Shino · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 8:28 am Post subject:

yeah I got in too... but I don't use it much.
I have the same issues you do with it.

Ultrawolf · Mr. Roarke Gender: Joined: 04 Jul 2003

YAY SECOND LIFE err....Home!

Shino · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject:

Ultrawolf · Mr. Roarke Gender: Joined: 04 Jul 2003

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

A few days later (and some honest attempts to try it out) and I am not only NOT impressed but I just don't like it. Cobbie and I were on at the same time the other night and I couldn't even find him. I did, however, find maybe 100 people that just danced the whole time and tons of juveniles with pornographic names. It also amazed me the amount of people I saw saying "This is great!" when all they were doing was standing around typing to someone else. I'm assuming this is targeted at younger users and/or users without PCs of any type. The whole "your apartment" idea I just don't get. You get a one room "flat" with a few pieces of furniture that no one can really come into. You can have the same conversation outside. And why do people actuallu sit down to have conversations? Do they really think their avatars are going to get tired standing or something?

I can see the work that went into it (having stores for microtransactions) but it's a monumental waste of time (the stores aren't open and have no stock!). Even if it reaches the point that it was advertised at (being able to show off your trophies, etc) it would be dumb. You can "see" those same trophies online just by pulling up someone's profile. It's not like they're going to get a different trophy than that. Right now, HOME simply consolidates some of the things you can already do on your PS3 (chat, compare trophies, send emails/IMs. etc) instead of doing anything new and worthwhile. Sure you can get a bunch of you in HOME and sit together and say "let's all play Burnout" but when you turn on your PS3 you can see who's playing Burnout (or any other game) already anyway. HOME is simply another synonym for REDUNDANT.

I believe the "delay" was simply because after looking at it, Sony realized "this is a hunk of garbage" and is possibly trying to make something out of it worth selling. As it is now, that's gonna be impossible.

If this turns into a pay area to download, I am warning everyone against it now. Unless it's $2 or less, it's a rip off.