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Giant Bomb Video Game News
Video Game News, Stories and Updates for the PS3, XBOX 360, PC, PSP, Wii, and DS
Added by Ryan Davis on Nov. 17, 2008
As anyone who has presided over an internet community can tell you, the key to success lies in moderation. Allowing people to express themselves is essentially what it's all about, but it needs to be within a reasonable limit, a precarious balance that can be difficult to strike. This has been a hard-learned lesson for Sony, which has been having a hell of a time in LittleBigPlanet with the copyright-infringing nature of Mario's Law--the rule which dictates that, whenever a game allows for user-created content, it will be used to recreate some portion of World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros.
I can't really fault Sony for being nervous about potential for litigation that's inherent to LittleBigPlanet's level editor, though it seems that someone has gotten a little overzealous with what's getting pulled. Kotaku most recently reported that Sony has put the kibosh on the user-made level Azure Palace, a move that has stoked the fires of frustration within the LittleBigPlanet community. Here's a quick run-through of the level, which seems like one of the better showcases for LittleBigPlanet that I've seen. See if you can spot the problem, something I'm having a hard time doing.
It would seem to me that, even if there were some copyright issues with the Azure Palace level, it'd be worth gamble just to inspire other would-be level designers. The game itself is pretty smartly wired to allow the community some level of self-moderation, but I get the sense that Sony had no idea the amount of thoughtful post-release vigilance this game was going to require. It's really unfortunate that LittleBigPlanet has been so continuously tainted by disc recalls, connectivity failure, and content issues. This was supposed to be our big feel-good game of the season, something innocent and approachable that showcased some creative and inclusive technology, as well as the community's best intentions. Instead, it's turned into a high-profile internet forum dispute.
UPDATE: Sony has restored the Azure Palace level, bringing peace and balance back to our universe. Or, at least, it's a step in the right direction.
I can't really fault Sony for being nervous about potential for litigation that's inherent to LittleBigPlanet's level editor, though it seems that someone has gotten a little overzealous with what's getting pulled. Kotaku most recently reported that Sony has put the kibosh on the user-made level Azure Palace, a move that has stoked the fires of frustration within the LittleBigPlanet community. Here's a quick run-through of the level, which seems like one of the better showcases for LittleBigPlanet that I've seen. See if you can spot the problem, something I'm having a hard time doing.
It would seem to me that, even if there were some copyright issues with the Azure Palace level, it'd be worth gamble just to inspire other would-be level designers. The game itself is pretty smartly wired to allow the community some level of self-moderation, but I get the sense that Sony had no idea the amount of thoughtful post-release vigilance this game was going to require. It's really unfortunate that LittleBigPlanet has been so continuously tainted by disc recalls, connectivity failure, and content issues. This was supposed to be our big feel-good game of the season, something innocent and approachable that showcased some creative and inclusive technology, as well as the community's best intentions. Instead, it's turned into a high-profile internet forum dispute.
UPDATE: Sony has restored the Azure Palace level, bringing peace and balance back to our universe. Or, at least, it's a step in the right direction.
Filed under :
LittleBigPlanet
60 Comments
Someone over at the Little Big Planet forums said that the Azure Palace level is actually back up now. No word on the World of Colour level that got pulled around the same time though.
My main complaint with this game so far is the complete shitty-ness of the online. It's been pretty much unplayable for me, and I quickly beat the "story" mode, so there's not much else to do with it.
That level's awesome looking , whats the point of me hanging onto my copy of the game after beating story mode if i cant play super awesome levels like this one. Cause boy does this level look awesome.
All of this is really sapping the wonder out of LittleBigPlanet. The only reason I picked it up is to see all the crazy stuff the community throws out there but if a considerable portion of that stuff is being destroyed for no clear reason I may just stop playing it entirely.
I noticed World of Colour was pulled as well. This really frustrates me. How can I trust Sony with my creations if they have a chance of being deleted for no reason? Sony hasn't given us clear guidelines on what is right and what is not. World of Colour?! Come on, that was a magnificent creation and I couldn't possibly find anything offensive or copyright infringing in that masterpiece. What's worse is that I have spent over 30 hours creating video game music levels for the community to enjoy. It's not a matter of IF my levels will get pulled, but WHEN. In the meantime, I'll ditch the creation aspect of the game (which is half the fun) until the rules are clearly defined.
I'm pretty sure Sony pulls content to analyze it and then puts them back up because there are a lot of levels that have been pulled but were put back up.
I'm baffled at how Sony have the right to remove content from the level creators and get away with it. I can understand (to a certain extent) protection rights for others' intellectual property, but don't these user generated levels have a ceratin degree of their creator's own intellectual property in them?
I guess I'm just whining since this is an opportunity Sony missed for me to buy into the PS3. I'd be quite hacked off after spending hours (or days in the case of the level footage) on a level to get it deleted from my own console.
Plagueseason, if the online is so shitty and unplayable, then how in the hell do I have the trophy where you have to COMPLETE 150 user made levels, and I got it 2 weeks ago. Pretty hard to accomplish that on unplayable servers....
Now about the story, I'm glad you posted it Ryan, it was bullshit for them to take down Azure palace, but hopefully soon they will get things together. And remember, There is nothing really like little big planet on the consoles and so a lot of these problems have never been delt with before. So I think we should give Sony and MM a little slack.
The over the top moderation from Sony has me suspending my purchase of Little Big Planet, as well as the purchases of just about everyone I've spoken too regarding these newest crop of issues. I remember Cliffy "Dude Huge" B, talking in an interview a while back about the pros and cons with the current line of consoles. While he was mostly happy for having mod support in Unreal Tournament 3 for Ps3, I did agree with his statement that the Ps3 for being "open" and more flexible versus the rigid nature of Xbox Live.
The recent Sony moderation over Little Big Planet is an amazing step, *ahem* leap backward in regarding to user generated content. While the PC has had it's run-ins with copyright issues regarding mods of popular properties, let's face it. LBP is ridiculously tame. I'm not seeing any highly produced, lavish, over the top remake of Fallout 3 in LBP. I'm sorry, it's not going to happen.
It's also worth mentioning that you can't eat your cake and have it too (mmm. cake.). Your giving a product that revolves around users generating their own content. Now your going to suppress all forms of what you deem is inappropriate from a copyright point of view. After watching the video for Azure Palace, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're not ready to do that. Instead it seems you've unnecessarily frustrated your customers, (and future ones, which is double bad.) and I'm sure you have ticked off your rare supply of exclusive developers. This is just bad all the way around.
The recent Sony moderation over Little Big Planet is an amazing step, *ahem* leap backward in regarding to user generated content. While the PC has had it's run-ins with copyright issues regarding mods of popular properties, let's face it. LBP is ridiculously tame. I'm not seeing any highly produced, lavish, over the top remake of Fallout 3 in LBP. I'm sorry, it's not going to happen.
It's also worth mentioning that you can't eat your cake and have it too (mmm. cake.). Your giving a product that revolves around users generating their own content. Now your going to suppress all forms of what you deem is inappropriate from a copyright point of view. After watching the video for Azure Palace, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're not ready to do that. Instead it seems you've unnecessarily frustrated your customers, (and future ones, which is double bad.) and I'm sure you have ticked off your rare supply of exclusive developers. This is just bad all the way around.
Azure Palace is back up Mr. Davis. Turns out it was just being "moderated" i.e checking to see if it was infringing on anything etc. So NOT pulled completely.
Although, World of Colour has been moderated...though probably will be back up soon like Azure Palace did.
One things for sure, Sony needs a better way of going about moderating levels.
Late story. But I hope this article gives Sony even more trouble for that moderation process. They're beng too strict.
World of color, Azure Palace, both gone?
Seriously WTF.
How Sony or MM handles this is gonna be an example of how we should think about either Sony or MM on these type of matters from now on.
Being optimistic, the case may just be that there is a code in play that if enough people report a level for whatever reason it just gets pulled for no reason. This would be the most cost effective way to have a moderating service in play without having people actually do much work(hence its cheap). If that is the case then they should obviously abandon this code by having another update of some kind.
BUT, that would only be true, if a new patch was released and shit like this stops happening. Or Sony/MM comes out with a statement saying my bad we wrote bad code.
However, if we start seeing levels similar to world of colors and azure palace offered as a DLC, then Fuckin Bullshit.
If the actual reason was some fake blood around or something, Fuckin Bullshit.
Seriously, Sony, why do you keep insisting on shooting yourself in the foot?
Seriously WTF.
How Sony or MM handles this is gonna be an example of how we should think about either Sony or MM on these type of matters from now on.
Being optimistic, the case may just be that there is a code in play that if enough people report a level for whatever reason it just gets pulled for no reason. This would be the most cost effective way to have a moderating service in play without having people actually do much work(hence its cheap). If that is the case then they should obviously abandon this code by having another update of some kind.
BUT, that would only be true, if a new patch was released and shit like this stops happening. Or Sony/MM comes out with a statement saying my bad we wrote bad code.
However, if we start seeing levels similar to world of colors and azure palace offered as a DLC, then Fuckin Bullshit.
If the actual reason was some fake blood around or something, Fuckin Bullshit.
Seriously, Sony, why do you keep insisting on shooting yourself in the foot?
I don't think litigation against Sony or MM is likely for content resembling copyright material. It would be a PR nightmare for the plaintiff, which could be viewed as stomping all over the game community for no real reason. There is a certain, albeit fucking huge, amount flexibility the core market will support before a backlash. Remember, enough angry people means the potential loss of a lot of money.
I would suggest the likely culprit for level removal is either trigger happy moderators or a system (griefing) that simply does not work; or both. I honestly don't believe Sony combs through LBP levels for "potential" copyright infringement, though I could be wrong. Besides, Sony isn't making money off these levels and the worst that could happen is a request for removal by the lawyer(s) representing the other party.
yeah this really pisses me off....the entire spark to LBP is effectively monitored in and out with Gestapo efficiency. It's not just copyright content, it looks like anything decent gets scrubbed. Hey, well at least they didn't take the '11161$% Trophies here!' levels.
I haven't touched the game since this has started happening. I know Sony/MM are thinking they already bagged the sale so why not just lean towards the (overzealous) safe side with these things, but come on. This just breeds ill will with what could have been one of the most dedicated fan bases ever.
I haven't touched the game since this has started happening. I know Sony/MM are thinking they already bagged the sale so why not just lean towards the (overzealous) safe side with these things, but come on. This just breeds ill will with what could have been one of the most dedicated fan bases ever.
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