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Want to add "getting my PS3 permanently kicked off the Internet" to your list of accomplishments? All you have to do is act like a big enough jerk while fooling around on Sony's upcoming Home service!
Peter Edward, director for Sony's Home platform, outlined the dos and dont's of acceptable Home user behavior during a speech at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival on Tuesday. A posting over on GamesIndustry summarizes a few highlights from the presentation.
"It's a hard line to draw" says Edward "because we don't want to be walking around telling everyone off for saying 'bloody' -- so we've got to strike a balance there."
"We're going to be relying on users assessing what's appropriate to them" continues Edward. "If [users] have been subject to behaviour they don't like they can complain about it rather than we walk around as virtual police."
Repeat griefers however should consider themselves preemptively warned.
"Ultimately we know a user's details, we know machine details and we know where they live. If you really feel like you've been abused or that someone has just shown wholly inappropriate behaviour then you are able to complain about it. If you really, really misbehave you can have your console disconnected at a machine level, so you would actually have to move house and buy a new PS3 before you could get online again."
Word of Sony's rough justice policy is certainly interesting, proving as it does just how seriously the boys and girls at Sony QA are taking the question of user experience. Those who plan on experiencing Home in a hassle-free way will no doubt be thrilled to hear about the 'no trolling' policy. Naturally, the disciplinary restrictions aren't meant as an outright threat. The Powers that Be only plan on invoking the ban hammer in the most extreme of cases. Says Edward: "[A total Internet ban] is something we would not want to be doing very often -- but as a disincentive to mess round too much it's in our power."
Don't let all the disciplinary talk scare you though... Sony's still onside with their plan to create a Home experience compatible with an adult gamer's sensibilities (which is smart considering the number of M-rated sponsors like Durex Marlboro and Bacardi who have already demonstrated a pronounced interest in participating in Home's brandable environment). Edward explains that over-18 gamers will have their identity verified through the mechanism of Sony's existing PS3 login process and thereby receive permission to explore the more mature areas of the network.
"It's relatively simple to be confident that somebody is over 18. [I]t's no problem to have areas that are only open to those aged 18 years' and over. We are able to do that quite comprehensively, we have access to the log-in data that they use for the PlayStation Network. [A] large proportion of our demographic is over 18 so we will make a point of catering to that demographic -- we certainly don't want to dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator."
But, Edward concedes, that fact still doesn't mean that Home is going to be as unfettered as the Internet at large.
"Undoubtedly there are going to be some things and some brands that we are not going to want to be involved in the environment at any stage."
Peter Edward, director for Sony's Home platform, outlined the dos and dont's of acceptable Home user behavior during a speech at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival on Tuesday. A posting over on GamesIndustry summarizes a few highlights from the presentation.
"It's a hard line to draw" says Edward "because we don't want to be walking around telling everyone off for saying 'bloody' -- so we've got to strike a balance there."
"We're going to be relying on users assessing what's appropriate to them" continues Edward. "If [users] have been subject to behaviour they don't like they can complain about it rather than we walk around as virtual police."
Repeat griefers however should consider themselves preemptively warned.
"Ultimately we know a user's details, we know machine details and we know where they live. If you really feel like you've been abused or that someone has just shown wholly inappropriate behaviour then you are able to complain about it. If you really, really misbehave you can have your console disconnected at a machine level, so you would actually have to move house and buy a new PS3 before you could get online again."
Word of Sony's rough justice policy is certainly interesting, proving as it does just how seriously the boys and girls at Sony QA are taking the question of user experience. Those who plan on experiencing Home in a hassle-free way will no doubt be thrilled to hear about the 'no trolling' policy. Naturally, the disciplinary restrictions aren't meant as an outright threat. The Powers that Be only plan on invoking the ban hammer in the most extreme of cases. Says Edward: "[A total Internet ban] is something we would not want to be doing very often -- but as a disincentive to mess round too much it's in our power."
Don't let all the disciplinary talk scare you though... Sony's still onside with their plan to create a Home experience compatible with an adult gamer's sensibilities (which is smart considering the number of M-rated sponsors like Durex Marlboro and Bacardi who have already demonstrated a pronounced interest in participating in Home's brandable environment). Edward explains that over-18 gamers will have their identity verified through the mechanism of Sony's existing PS3 login process and thereby receive permission to explore the more mature areas of the network.
"It's relatively simple to be confident that somebody is over 18. [I]t's no problem to have areas that are only open to those aged 18 years' and over. We are able to do that quite comprehensively, we have access to the log-in data that they use for the PlayStation Network. [A] large proportion of our demographic is over 18 so we will make a point of catering to that demographic -- we certainly don't want to dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator."
But, Edward concedes, that fact still doesn't mean that Home is going to be as unfettered as the Internet at large.
"Undoubtedly there are going to be some things and some brands that we are not going to want to be involved in the environment at any stage."
Talk about it.
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