One of the new updates to Home was advertised as improving startup speeds after the first logon you make post-patch. This is somewhat true, the client no longer sits around at a load screen before actually getting into the caching of content part. It's still slow as hell to log on in my opinion, but at least it's a bit faster.
Staying on the topic, let's just for fun brainstorm on what improvements a redesign would need. I'll start: - Jumping and climbing! Ideally, if Home could implement the climbing mechanics of The Saboteur or inFamous (though obviously on a smaller scale), I would probably be using it a lot more - just think of climbing on top of a skyscraper to find a couple of dudes and join in on their discussion. 'd be awesome. - Also, I'd really look forward to faster servers. The loading/downloading every time you have to enter an area is just sheer annoyance - Oh, and get me a fucking haircut with long hair! How come the longest hair on a male avatar goes to his shoulders? I can't depict myself in this! Disclaimer: It's been months since I last was on Home, and have no idea what's happening there "
Area zoning is much much faster. The initial load time's about the same, but at least they've cleaned up the world map and turned it into a XMB-style display that's a million times faster and easier to navigate.
They've also done a pretty good job at giving a ton of freebies, almost every area has something that will give you some free items. The newer Irem space has a ton of free items and stuff to wear and put in your apartment. Other game-specific areas have a lot of items to give, and it seems that developers are finding some interesting ways to give them to you. Some of the newer games are actually quite interesting to play.
The original vision was actually somewhat interesting. Back when Phil H. was on board, Home was more of a virtual environment than the virtual three-ring circus it is today. Central Plaza looks like someone just took all the little bits of crap they built for various events and didn't want to waste, and threw it all together in one noisy obnoxious zone. It's supposed to be a central hub area, but it's the one place I avoid going into at all costs.
Also the planned integration with the Playstation.com website was really interesting, creating almost like a PlaystationBook type of social page. Yes, one MORE social tool is annoying, but it was neat seeing a demo of Phil snapping a photo during a keynote, uploading that to the portal site, and having that appear live in the picture frame in Home. Not sure why they shelved all of that in favor of the current style of service, but I guess this is easier to administer and manage.
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