1. too many issues for it to be enjoyable for me anymore. the beta was a blast, at least it worked!

   offline it’s great, the levels that come with it are just fine, the building your own levels is fun. having mates over and playing co-op on your sofa is a laugh.

   but!

   what isn’t fun is your levels being deleted for no reason, having to sign out of PSN to play stuff saved on your moon, the horrible lag issues when playing online, the servers refusal to let you upload anything but the smallest levels, the play/create/share scores never being updated, the lack of ability to delete corrupted picture files in your profile online, having to reboot the game due to failed copy/move freezes, the corrupted save files… Ad nauseam

   you know, these are not small issues due to it being a new title, these are fundamental flaws that make the title nothing more than a hassle.

   Sony wants Sackboy to be it’s mascot, i can see that now, a great idea that’s hyped to death only for it to be delayed endlessly, and when it comes out it doesn’t do what it promised and is basically borked. i can think of no better mascot for Sony personally.

   sorry for being so down on this, i really wish i could have said it was a wonderful, fun and innocent experience but it just leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth after waiting nearly two years for it.

   
   Comment by mobiletone — Nov 11, 2008 @ 6:13 pm

2. Sorry to read your issues, ‘tone.

   Sounds like the major selling point for you for “LittleBigPlanet” was the user-creatable content, and this appears sub-standard at present.

   Have you tried commenting on the Media Molecule blog, or via a strongly worded e-message (to ) to vent your frustrations?

   Is the lag down to your US import using the US servers from the UK? Or are you connected to a European server?

   Or, indeed, have you now bought a UK version of the game?

   In any respect, there’s no place like Home…

   BFN,

   fp.

   
   Comment by fanpages — Nov 11, 2008 @ 6:20 pm

3. [Sigh]

   “(to )” should have read “(to hello _at_ mediamolecule.com)”…

   
   Comment by fanpages — Nov 11, 2008 @ 6:25 pm

4. I’m actually still really enjoying the game. BUT. I do agree with the lag, I tried playing online with a friend last night for the first time and it just wasn’t worthwhile. The other BUT, is the create. Last night I actually tried making my first level and I made about 4 houses and a botched creature… and the theremometer was half full??? Are the levels in the game really made with the same restrictions that I face or have a made some stupid mistake somewhere?

   
   Comment by IvanFoul — Nov 11, 2008 @ 6:42 pm

5. @ fanpages - yeah, the whole creation/online side was the seller for me, i am a creative monkey you see. i have written to MM on several occasions and blogged their site, they have yet to reply at all about my issues. nothing in any of my levels infringed any copyright or was offensive either, for a change

   it makes no difference whether i use my pre-recalled USA copy or my UK copy. see that’s how much i loved this game!! the servers seem to be global, i’m guessing that could be the problem, logging in with USA or UK accounts changes nothing either. both versions use separate game saves and patch save files and the DLC is region locked.

   spending four days trying to upload my new level was the last straw. i deleted it all off my harddrive last night. i’ll bother playing it again if they bring some new patches to the party and sort the issues out in the future.

   i’m spending my life hunting radioactive molerats until then

   @ IvanFoul - the therm % does seem to be pretty random at times, take my last un-uploaded level as an example, it took 30hrs to make and pushed the bar up to around 90-95%, even when i dismantled it into 3 separate mini levels each one still racked up at least 75%, 3×75 = 225%!! try not using a lot of stickers, i found that wrecks the % best to use one huge sticker to cover an area rather than half a dozen small ones. copying and using the same model saves % space too, so maybe use the same house three times, rather than build three separates houses? i suspect the actual game levels use much more memory than the ones we are allowed to create too.

   
   Comment by mobiletone — Nov 11, 2008 @ 7:11 pm

6. I’ve only heard a small handful of issues with LBP like what mobiletone commented on. After patch v1.3 my online play has been very smooth with two or three players. (Yet to get a 4th person in the mix yet.) But the story mode doesn’t seem much of a story. The levels are still awesome, but I completely agree with mt on that one.

   I am kind of disappointed that the Play/Create/Share scores aren’t there, as I thought that was a very nice option in the beta.

   I’m finding great levels to play online but not finding many people who play levels online. That may be because of the hours that I usually game though.

   I have my sister as a roommate, so it’s nice for those x2 levels or x2 Trophies for both of us, but I would like to see more just random online players. The few I have found have been good sports and have become PSN friends.

   The game has really captured my heart. I’m currently at work, sketching out designs for my first level. I think I’m about 20% done on the way to my desired goal and story ending.

   The controls can be annoying in some places, but they can be dealt with or resolved through play testing your level. It’s only gotten in the way on some of those 100% & don’t lose a life levels, but usually they’re good enough.

   
   Comment by tdh — Nov 11, 2008 @ 7:48 pm

7. @ anyone with a Maestro card - i’ve just got off the phone to Sony and it seems that since the last firmware update the Store is no longer working with Maestro cards, it is a known issue and they are working to fix it. i asked if i could use a pre-paid Mastercard, to which they replied ‘i could try. but we don’t know if they would work’

   looks like i’m not buying anything from the Store for a while now either.

   
   Comment by mobiletone — Nov 11, 2008 @ 8:02 pm

8. I would suggest you get back to the plethora of other titles out in October, November & December then!

   But in the meantime, some light (refreshment) reading containing an attempt to clear-up the confusion between a soft drink & a popular beat combo…

   [ news.spong.com/article/16554/Media_Molecule_Puts_Number_to_Level_Deletions?cb=771 ]

   —
   Media Molecule Puts Number to Level Deletions
   New moderation method in the works
   11 Nov 2008

   The “Media Molecule is deleting LittleBigPlanet content” that we reported yesterday has taken another turn. This time MM developer, Sam_Protagonist, has attempted to clear things up.

   Before we quote the lad, however, we’d suggest you have a quick look over at the LittleBigWorkshop site and select ‘Games’ from its ‘Inspiration’ section. The site is an SCEA production and totally official. We nipped over for a look. What we saw were user created images of:

   Dizzy, Kenny from South Park, Devil May Cry, Ryu, Venon, Darth Maul… the list goes on. One cheeky chappy called Celticrebel, has even posted an ‘Inspiration’ featuring Mario smashing a hammer down to the left of some text stating, “The Ban Hammer”.

   What we’re pointing out here is that even on an official Sony site, there would seem to be a plethora of copyright/trademarked Sackboy creations.

   So, what does Media Molecule have to say? Here, as posted on the US PlayStation forum is Sam_Protagonist again. He is responding to a user who wants to know if the use of the word ‘Oasis’ would result in a level deletion as it relates to a band name. Says Sam:

   “Your examples aren’t quite accurate, here’s a better example -

   “Oasis is the name both of a band and of a soft drink (at least in Europe), however any level using the title ‘Oasis’ would be absolutely fine right now unless it included music by Oasis the band, or the likeness of the drinks bottle.”

   Then things hot up a little, “There is a lot of exaggeration at play here with exactly what’s going on with moderation. Firstly, no level is moderated unless it has been reported using the Good Grief tool, at which point it will only be blocked from online play if it is in violation of the EULA.

   “To date there have been fewer than 200 levels which have been blocked - considerably less than 0.5% of all the levels published. The great majority of moderated levels were removed due to containing obscenity.

   “Secondly, even if a level is moderated you will still be able to access it offline on your moon, and make changes if you know where the problem was, before republishing.

   Finally, if your level is moderated you will receive a message informing you that it has happened - if you don’t receive a message, it hasn’t been moderated. Try searching for your PSN ID to find all the levels you’ve published.

   “There is work to be done on improving the communication of why levels have been moderated, and this is underway, however this is not as widespread as you may have been lead to believe, and it does not affect levels you have locally.”

   Let’s hope this new system happens rapidly because the furore over moderation methods will only escalate otherwise.
   —

   Point of discussion:

   If a level is deleted because of infringement of copyrighted material, how do Sony know that the owner of the copyright hasn’t created the content?

   They rely on the general public reporting a violation. They must work fast to check every copyright in every region. Not even the official offices who handle copyright certifications can undertake this process in such a short timescale.

   Sounds like a situation where the police have to arm themselves with weapons to control the public who have easy access to them… but only considering the consequences of not introducing tighter controls in advance when it is too late.

   But we haven’t mentioned the US so far, so doing so would probably set a “president”.

   A debate for the masses at the very least.

   I think we’ve come here before.

   It must be the cobble[r]s excuse (above).

   BFN,

   fp.

   
   Comment by fanpages — Nov 11, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

9. @ fanpages - i don’t think they’re being entirely truthful there, levels ARE being pulled just for what they are called, doesn’t seem to matter if the content of that level contains anything relating to that title or not.

   i tested this theory with a couple of little levels, obvious baited titled, silly fun game in the level, and lo, both of them vanished within two days. neither contained anything offensive and it was 100% original design stuff.

   “you will still be able to access it offline on your moon”

   o’rly? i have found you have to physically log out from the PSN to be able to do this otherwise you just get a ‘failed to load’ error, so you can’t even invite friends back to your pod to play the level on your moon.

   anyway, i’m getting back to playing MidnightClub again at least that does what it says on the tin.

   
   Comment by mobiletone — Nov 12, 2008 @ 8:21 am

10. I have “finished” single player, some of the later levels are bordering on “Mega Man” levels of hard

    Still have to find all the prize bubbles and ace levels to unlock all building materials, costumes, stickers etc… So that will keep me busy…

    Online however is PANTS, so pants it justifies capitals…
    Lag most of the time, had two lag free sessions, but even then when I text chat that was lagging
    “Failed to load level” for about 60% of user levels,
    Prompt to leave feedback for levels you already have left feedback for…
    Search brings up results different to what you typed…
    Some of my hearted levels don’t appear in my info, so can’t find them again…

    As for the user-generated stuff, the levels that have really got me interested (so far) are the homages to other games, but they are now being taken down…(one based on Ico blew my mind - its still up for now) Also most user levels I have played are broken by the physics doing something unexpected which happens regularly…
    Most (not all, have played some real gems) of the levels are cack, poorly tested, lack of checkpoints, but its early days…

    And when making levels myself I tweak items before I place, but sometimes have to tweak again… As after I placed them they reset, so I effectively have to do everything twice…

    The content cap seems to fill up rather quickly so it (seems) I can’t make levels as complex as I want - something on par with Mm’s levels… More hands on time building will confirm this though…

    
    Comment by Mr. Monkey — Nov 12, 2008 @ 10:52 am

11. I really enjoying it so far, however have found some levels quite frustrating due to either controls or my reactions (which from the looks of it need to honed to Ninja level) on some of the levels. Not really had much luck with creation so far, but then it’s a learning curve!

    Tried online once so far with a mate, and found that the level ran fine until the end whereby we got stuck at the Score Board and both of us unable to take us back to the Pod! We had to physically quite the game back to XMB and re-load! Also had some lag issues on the co-op story levels….. suppose it’s early days though?

    
    Comment by Monkey Rimmer — Nov 12, 2008 @ 2:22 pm

12. I have enjoyed playing LBP so far and so has my girlfriend, which is a definite bonus! But as for it being accessible by everybody is maybe a little optimistic, my girlfriend doesn’t play on many games and so she finds anything more complex than a run jump and grab a bit too tricky, often ending in frustration when all our lives run out! Maybe this is not such a bad thing though as being too easy will put most people off?

    From my experience, I live in the UK, own a UK copy, but have found online to be laggy with 3 or more people in a level, this usually ends up in death when trying to judge a jump at a constantly changing speed!

    My favourite aspect of the game is the physics, I think they’ve got it spot on, it really makes the platforming enjoyable with lots of laugh out loud moments. My least favourite aspect of the game is how frustrating it can be at times, with the controls of shifting between planes often leading to an unavoidable death, combined with a set amount of lives per checkpoint means repeating the whole level over again.

    Whilst I found it suprisingly good how ‘connected’ the whole game feels, jumping around from level to level, seemlessly partying up, etc, I was dissapointed by the lack of ‘in your face’ statistics for how well or bad your doing, maybe thats just me?

    Overall I am happy I bought the game, but I can’t help but feel de-motivated by the last minute delay the game suffered, removing all the momentum of excitement I once felt for it.

    
    Comment by KD — Nov 12, 2008 @ 2:28 pm

13. I’m enjoying it so far. My favourite part so far is the small score challenge levels. I managed to get 5th place on the meerkat one with the fireballs. I’ve not seen any problems so far but I’ve not been online much. It’s been fun to play my PSN friends online. I’ve also ordered a 4th dualshock 3 controller as I reckon this will be a great 4-player-on-one-system co-op. The only one on PS3 (?). So it should be a laugh this weekend!

    
    Comment by reakt — Nov 12, 2008 @ 4:23 pm

14. So… a game that used Solid Snake, Kratos, killzone man, motorstorm man & whatsherfacewith-the-red-hair, as major publicity as to the crossover nature of the game and now if i was inclined make a level based on them characters, the levels get deleted?

    
    Comment by IvanFoul — Nov 12, 2008 @ 6:31 pm

15. @9 ['tone]:

    Yes, does sound a LittleBIG Odd.

    I’ve still got my “Midnight Club: Los Angeles” title sealed, and GAME have now dropped it to £24.99!

    See you on the streets soon.

    @14 [IvanFoul]:

    Cool! You can play as Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud fame?

    Yes, all those characters (including Nariko from “Heavenly Sword” [#1]) & more (penguin, frog, shark, gorilla, and, erm, the free downloadable sack-eating plant for starters [and other courses]) besides coming to a ‘Store near you soon, but violating copyright if you intend to put them in any environment that isn’t recognised as solely for Sackpeople.

    (Whilst we are on the subject… care to bet how much we’ll be charged for “Lilly Pad”, “Hugo”, “Great Blue”, “Frost-E”, and/or the combined “Animals Costume Pack”?)

    Perhaps Sony don’t want to get into more legal issues with taking user-defined content (that belongs to them as per the End-User License Agreement everybody online in sackland confirmed they accepted) with the intention of selling the level(s) across the globe but then finding that one element of the design invalidates their right to do so as the intellectual property belongs to someone else.

    One can only imagine the fuss if part of the soundtrack included spoken phrases from a copyrighted publication set to music that meant that Jonathan Ross had to be on garden leave for 3 months, Russell Brand elected to resign to go back to filming two Hollywood movies before he got the ‘Sachs’, and the original ‘artist’ formerly known as “Voluptua” got her 15 minutes of fame (out) in the “lads mags” this month with not so much of a ‘handy thank you’ to anybody… not even her Granddad. Or did I dream that news story cross-over a few weeks ago?

    I’ve not tried to design my own “LittleBigPlanet” level yet… it’s sounded more & more like I’m not going to bother unless I can get clearance for a scene inside a burlesque dancing club with ‘goth vampire stripper’ sackpeople entitled “Satanic Sluts Extreme”.

    I think having my handiwork ‘pulled’ would be very distressing. Almost as upsetting as realising that a member of my family had been in the company of Russell Brand on three occasions.

    Oh well, PAIN “Movie Studio” update is definitely released later today.

    I’m looking forward to hearing The Hoff sing “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” & launching a man in a cow suit at Buzz.

    Be careful out there. You never know when you’ll get a pat on the head…

    BFN,

    fp.

    
    Comment by fanpages — Nov 13, 2008 @ 12:53 am

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