I got a great email today:Hey,Sorry to hear that nigga! I once got suspended for hate speech because I said "Let me bend over and take it in my ass like a fruit." I was horsing around with people I know outside the boundaries of others view. However a mod saw it I assume and bam. Hate speech. Not knowing what the fuck I did when I received this suspension, I called the tech support line and forced the guy to tell me exactly what I said. It was funny to hear him recite that exact line back to me, since my suspension happened like 3 days later. I forgot I even said it. I don't think "fruit" is really hate speech, same as nigga. It's all in perspective. Hate speech is reserved for... well, people who hate.
I just tried to sign into my PSN account to find I have been suspended. I called Sony to find out what I had been suspended for, and they told me that I was quote "performing a 'hate-speech' on July 2nd". I found this hard to believe. When I picture a 'hate-speech', I think of someone standing on a soap-box spewing hateful ideas or views towards a particular race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. I asked Sony's representative to elaborate what happened on the incident in question. They said I used a 'v' in the word fuck to bypass their filters, for that I am guilty although that is hardly suspension-worthy. But the funnier part of this so-called "hate-speech" was the part where they said I was calling people "niggers". Now, I have never called anyone a 'nigger', I am an African-American and I use the word 'nigga'. I am sure that with today's popular culture, you are probably very familiar with the similarity and the difference in the 2 words. When an African-American refers to another African-American as 'nigga', it is the equivalent of using the words 'dude', 'brother', 'friend',("That's my nigga"), or if you use it in a different way it can be the same as 'person' ("That nigga's crazy"). We both know what the word 'nigger' means, so we won't get into that.
Looking back at this whole hate-speech thing makes me remember the countless times I dressed my avatar up as an Arab man. When I signed into Home as an Arab male, I was appalled. I was bashed by everyone, male and female, young and old, noob trolls and well dressed veterans. They bashed me for being a Muslim, insulted my faith, my culture, they stalked me, some even sent me messages through my XMB even after I signed off of Home! I reported them multiple times via the in-home select button deal, I sent messages via the XMB to the Community managers, I was so fvcking offended. I got not one apology from anyone, not a message back, nothing, just more abuse when I went onto Home as that particular avatar.
So now they banned me from signing into their network because I wasn't talking like I would talk to my Grandmother. I made no "hate-speech", maybe I used a little inappropriate language at times, but it was far from a hate-speech. As a Muslim, they assaulted the core of my existence, my faith, countless times and I feel they should be held accountable for letting that behavior go unchecked while I get hammered on for using a couple inappropriate words they want to jumble around and call a hate-speech.
If you want to go on a little experiment again (I remember somewhere you were going to assume the role of a teenage girl), you should dress up as an Arab man, go on home and feel the pain and persecution of what an American Muslim must go through. The hateful and downright offensive things home mods will slip under the rug will astound you. I'm never signing back into Home again, when my suspension is lifted I'm deleting the application and creating a new account.
I remember reading somewhere on this blog "Sony is this generation's Sega", I think that hits the nail on the head and after their bullshit "10 year ps3 life-cycle" is complete we will be playing Sony games on Nintendo and XBox. They better pray Apple don't feel like jumping into the game world, we'll be using those Sony 3d game discs as coasters. "Make-Believe", yea, make believe your ships not sinking Sony!!!
As many have seen, J-T-W-NY is an outspoken critic of Home, as well as a Home user. Recently she was banned for account scamming.... which she never did. According to the folks she dealt with when trying to fix her account, there was no reason for the banning. Her words:A mystery. Seems anyone willing to speak out against Home has a bad day. More of these as they happen.Abolished from Home
My nightmare began on Friday, May 28th. I had been in Home that morning. But I logged in again in the early afternoon and found that I could not log in. I received the "You cannot use PSN with this account" with the (8002A231) code. I phoned SONY to find out what the suspension was for and it's duration. I honestly thought it would be a week to a month for "text abuse" because I recently was in a discussion with someone about whether the word "negro" is meant to be a slur or not.
Imagine my surprise when, after being shuffled through several people, I finally received the answer. I was told that my account is "abolished," given a permanent suspension for "account scamming." The rep told me, when I asked what "abolished" meant, that there is no hope for my suspension being lifted.
I asked for details, and he told me it stemmed from an incident in Home on May 21st, the previous Friday, where I was trying to find out people's passwords and get into their accounts so I could use their personal information on a website that generates PSN codes.
My heart sank and my mind went reeling at this false accusation. I thought that either an honest mistake was made or someone was out to get me.
Several times I asked which website and which user's account I supposedly hacked. He didn't know. H said there was no more information except the charge and date. I asked him what I said on May 21st. Perhaps I said something that was misconstrued, I reasoned.
I was placed on hold while the customer service rep looked up that information. After fifteen minutes on hold he comes back on and tells me it will be a while, and offered to call me back. I told him that I'm fine waiting on hold. So I go back for another twenty minutes.
He finally comes back on and is looking through something on his screen. I'm not sure if he was searching actual chat logs (which wasn't likely) or looking through comments and words that were flagged by the mods. He finally arrives at May 21st and, after a pause, says "this is strange. I can't find anything. This is the strangest thing I've ever seen."
He mentions lifting the suspension and releasing the account, but he needed to speak to the "Home people" before doing so to find out what is going on. He apologizes for the upcoming Memorial day weekend and for the long wait I'm going to have but promises to call me back next week.
I wait. I phone SONY on Tuesday and am told the rep is looking into it. The rep I spoke to calls me on Wednesday to tell me he's not forgotten me and is waiting for a response from Home. Thursday passes and finally on Friday June 4th he calls, and tells me that my account has been unsuspended and I can use it now.
I did ask if there were an explanation for this, but he told me he doesn't know. The impression I got from my conversation is that he asked, but the Home people didn't tell him the reason for this. I found it interesting that our conversation ended with rep giving me his personal number with the admonition to call him if anything else happens in the future.
Without concrete information it's difficult to draw conclusions from this incident. It could have been an honest mistake, but the extremity of the charge and the severity of the punishment suggest otherwise. I sometimes think it is a response to my defending of artform-fazeone on my blog on May 22nd, but it's all speculation. However, I am happy that I reached a caring customer servic rep who took the time to look into the matter and correct it for me.
keeps freezing and kicking me and my friends off only have for two days I want a refund You shouldnt be selling things that are defective seems illegal somehow I just wanted games for us to play and we cannot play them in this space should be ripped out of estates
Hello! First off, let me ask you, please don't post my name on your blog. I don't want to risk losing my position. I am [name removed] from the forums. I don't do too much on Home section forums, because frankly they are full of idiots. I actually never heard of this blog until after I saw multiple mentions of it on the secret moderator parts of the community forums. Let me say, I don't use home, and I don't have it installed. It's far too lame to really get into. I spent maybe a week wandering around it trying to find people to play street fighter with. I'm unsure why home is even needed to find other players, because truth be told, most games have easy to manage ways of meeting people IN THE FUCKING GAME. Home is a useless disaster and I applaud you for tearing into it, even if you enjoy using it or whatever. I wanted to let you know that even though I am a mod, I think your blog is awesome. It's really unfair that they went out of their way to block you. And yes, they did block you for no other reason then the fact that you present a risk to their profits. Playstation makes good money off stupid people. That's why they hired Lithium. Don't think just because someone is a mod that they like Lithium. They don't pay me a damn dime for the countless hours of nitpick patroling I do. All money in Lithium's pocket. Please keep up the good work and don't let them get you down, because you scare the hell out of them!
I've been in a series of emails with the nice folks of The SoSe Project. According to them: (Trimmed to the point)Hello Home watch staff. You may or may not heard of us. We have been running home exposures for over... well since Closed beta/Day 1 of playstation home. Only on its users. At times we encountered Mod discrepancies but that wasn't our main goal.
our Members have been attacked by inside politics within' sony. We have video evidence as well as text evidence that 1 of PlayStation Top home Moderators "Locust_star" has been using Members to help bully people into Violating Sony's Terms of Service.He's doing this to help his cause to "ban" members from playstation. He's actually Using a Frosty. Yea i said it, a Fucking frosty... The lamest out of them all. With that said They Targeted The SoSe Project because of the controversy and its Popularity with its continuous gestures to make a mockery of playstation home as a whole.
The shit we have on locust star for now is just the Frosties admiting to conspiracy and Snitching.
Darken12-nl, a lil bitch from the netherlands helps Locust_star with conspiracies. If you can get a troll around her (she talks and tells all her business in public) then you can get her to admit shit to you yourself.
Locust_Star was off duty on home hanging out with the frostys. Not sure of the Psn but we know the mod or mods where there. Friday... Darken was makin accusations and bullying purposely. Next Day 1 account goes down. Get a call from GW. Saying that locust is aware about a incident and is baning 2 other accounts. Darken did admit to bullying and calling sony and making false alligations as well as havin a relationship with locust star. Monday, Another account gets hit. and finally tuesday the SoSe account goes down when it doesnt sign in! Simply because darken claims to have a close relationship with locust. it doesnt make her special. It just puts another open case between User/employee conspiracies.
I like all of the MODs, now with the exception of Allojal as of last night. Last nght, Allojal made my character freeze in place, and then warped me to his / her personal space and stand against a wall, not being able to move for like 20 minutes while only saying two things to me. I have also seen AdamPwns talk about this and his videos of it on Youtube. The MOD should have just told me what I did wrong instead of isolating me from my friends. This is ridiculous. I understand they are doing their job, but it is a completely immature way to do it. They have too much power, and I believe that Allojal is going beyond his responsibilities. But then again, that's just the power of the Mods.Oh, and by the way, ABBREVIATIONS FOR PROFANITY COUNT TOO!
That's why I got teleported lol.
Not that the "stand in the corner and think about what you did" crap isn't outdated, but isn't it excessive to do to CUSTOMERS?
Via email:Hi,Regarding the last two entries from the U.K. region, there is no doubt many of us are suffering throughout all regions of Home. Being from Australia, i have also been subject, along with many others i know of, and have witnessed first hand the wrath of the holy father NERO !I`m not here to complain that i have been banned on occasions for doing no wrong, as i have glitched many times and been banned for it, although . . . the times i have done no wrong, my emails always refer to "glitch" as being the reason for my removal.Along with many other issues i have faced, this particular incident revolves around the issue of "favouritism banning" and "cling on immunity" which i believe this site is becoming very popular in the EU region for recently.Basically, yes, this occasion i was banned for glitching, as many do when there is a swarm trying to access a new location, which in effect makes it difficult to see what you are attempting when there is many there to restrict your vision. Because these things take time, many hours can be spent at the one location.Noting the prescence of the holy father NERO, and his cronies who are beginning to become ever more frustrated with the amount of people gathering and hindering progress to the new location, midnight has passed in this time, and i am surprised to see i am denied access to the psn, along with some friends who were also present at the time.Logging on with one of my other PS3`s several hours later, i am stunned to see the same group with the lord also present, though, minus the obvious people which are not included in the exclusive community circle of friends, which you come to learn in time who is and isn`t a part of the higher society.Ofcorse most of these people were dressed in exclusive attire which went hand in hand with the short tempered and untastefull remarks to others to make way for their exclusive access to the location.Seeing others being warped/teleported to other locations of the map was a clear sign to take a step back and observe or come back another time.I could go on and on with both this occasion and/or many others which are witnessed by many time and time again, day in day out, BUT . . . . there is too many scenarios alrerady there for all to see which would be deemed unconcienable by most.So . . . i end by saying more and more of us are now taking measures to record and aquire evidence of such circumstances and it`s only a matter of time before these gods of home slip up, AND WE ALL WILL BE HERE WAITING FOR YOU AND YOUR EXCUSES !!! GOOD LUCK !!!Kind regards,[name removed].(the unholy one)
Dear SCEE,And here's SCEE's reply. Sounds very similar to the halfassed bullshit excuses they give in America:
I wish to make a formal complaint about the moderator AKA_NERO and to appeal against this ban. I did nothing wrong aside from express the opinion that the standard of moderation on Playstation Home is inconsistent. Another user was also present who was insulting to myself, FORKLESS, but I noticed he was a friend of AKA_NERO's and therefore no action or warning was given to this user. In fact NERO pointed out to me that Forkless was a voluteer for SCEE. Does that mean he is ammune from the terms and conditions that are applicable to the rest of the home community and they can say and behave how they please?
Frankly, I think behaviour like this is unfair and on NERO's part extremely unprofessional and it just reinforces my opinion that moderators do get it wrong. I was under the impression that Moderators are actually paid employees of SCEE and there to do a job, not to socialise with friends and have groups of favourite users who they turn a blind eye to when they are being offensive to other users? The TEXT & VERBAL ABUSE cited below I find quite laughable as I did not verbally abuse anyone who was present, despite NERO calling me a "troll" and saying he wanted to "facepalm" me. I want this matter reviewed and this ban over turned because I was unaware that having an opinion (Moderators on home dont do a good job) is against the terms and conditions so I havent breached the terms and conditions. NERO's unprofessional behaviour however has done nothing but tarnish the reputation of SCEE. I look forward to your prompt response and if it is not to my satisfaction I will be taking it further with senior Sony computer entertainment executives and possibly even the national press.
kind regards
[name removed]
Dear Julian,So it seems this mod has been at it for a while. Also, we are all so sick to death of these double standards in Home. One user gets away with something, others don't. Usually the ones getting away with abusing other users are clinging to moderator scrotum so tight they might as well be a third nut. The fact that this user couldn't express their opinion under fear of retribution is an outrage.
Let me start by reassuring you that we do not show favouritism to any users. Whether they are volunteers, friends, family or other. Everyone has to adhere to the same policies we've set up within SCEE. Our volunteers are even more susceptible to this as they have to set the example with their behaviour for other users.
I have further investigated the matter you raised and have found that the Moderator aka_Nero has acted according to our standards. The challenging behaviour you expressed towards other users, including Forkless, was wholly unacceptable. It was at this time the moderator aka_Nero explained to you that your behaviour falls under the header 'Trolling', which is a breach of our terms and conditions. He asked you to mind the language you were using, which you ignored.
Further more he explained to you, in detail, that we do not show favouritism within our moderation policies and it was at this point you decided to personally verbally attack the Moderator aka_Nero and other Moderators in general, thus ignoring the warning to be mindful of your language. It was also at this point the Moderator aka_Nero 'facepalm'ed' (himself). I have spoken to him about this and this will not be happening again. I regret that lapse of professional behaviour and I hope you will accept my apologies in this.
If however you find that people, including moderators, are offensive, you can make use of the tools within Home that allow you to report a grief. Which will then be looked at and acted on accordingly. No one is above our policies, although in this case, the moderator in question has acted accordingly.
I hope I have answered your question fully and that you'll understand we will not be overturning your suspension which will end on the 25th of November.
Kind regards,
Vincent
Vincent Boon
Community Team Leader
+44 (0)20 7859 5541
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited
http://eu.playstation.com
I'm sure there are already plans to change it, however I hope it is changed soon. The mod jacket and the new racer jacket look very similar. In fact, my friend was held by a moderator for wearing it. As amusing as that is, it'd probably be a good idea if they didn't do that.Reminds us of this old gem, where mods removed people from places they were legitimately allowed to be. How is it that the moderation staff is so blatantly unaware of Home's functions & Updates?
Hi, Just to let you know, if you haven't already spotted my posts to the blog, I've been banned from the PS forum after just 5 minutes of posting, I used the home-watch sig jpeg, not sure if that had anything to do with it, as I'm not sure if the geniuses at Lithium have extended the puerile behaviour regarding home-watch across the pond the here in the UK yet. (Home watch update: It appears Lithium doesn't extend their pitiful moderation services to the UK forums, we believe this user was just confused as to who runs what. For future reference we will refer to them as the UKMODS until a better and more correct title can be found) I was complaining about corrupt mods after being banned for glitching, which interestingly I CAN'T DO, HAVE NEVER DONE, AND HAVE NO DESIRE TO. Unbelievable, the mod in question is called AKA_NERO, my new id I called AKA_NEROS_ATURD, so I'm not sure if that might have played a part either. Either way, this ban is completely for fabricated reasons, this mod harrasses and bullies one of my mates, and because we was all together yesterday that's why I think this shit has happened.I also mentioned Homewatch and it's brilliant exposure of corrupt mods and their special suck-up friends. Anyway, i asked for who I should talk to so I could get hold of screen shots as proof, and also I wanted the name of the mod who had witnessed me doing this. Hidden agendas and clearly a pissed off customer are not the qualities Sony devote their customer services too, I am beyond furious. And for the record, the other peeps in the group also got banned for the same reason, and nobody was doing anything! Sony = Arseholes.I did a bit of digging, and found a topic posted by the author of thise email, but it has been removed: Official PlayStation® Community -PlayStation.com: English Forums: Staff Room: Removed Posts: COMPLETELY UNFAIR BAN
Love the blog btw,
[name removed]. aka [this one too]
I have never been banned, ever, so this came as a total shock. I believe this is a direct result of being on home on 16th March, virtually all day, just hanging out with my mates. When up pops this mod in Home Square called AKA_NERO. He is infamous for being a catergory 1 asshole, and is regularly surrounded by his suck-ups and cling-ons, who in turn snitch on anyone they overhear 'dissing him, or them for that matter. (Home-Watch Note: Sounds very familiar, we have some trolls like this here.) I was with a very good friend Spankie_Jizzard, Z-Pint and a few others doing nothing more sinister than hanging out and chatting mostly crap like you do. Soon as AKA_NERO spots Spankie he starts making remarks designed to provoke a reaction, we all move to the other side of the square, cos this dude has thrown numerous bans on Spankie, the last one because he was snooping on our conversation again, and he saw that Spankie had said that most of the mods in Home were ineffective. Nothing more than that, no name calling, no childish crap, just that, and that was in response to us all talking about sex pests, and how nobody ever does a damn thing about it, despite reporting it. So by now I guess you're getting the general idea. Anyway back to the day in question. Now you know how when you move from one area to another and the chat log changes to include peeps in that area? well interestingly despite being waaayyyyyy over the other side, AKA_NERO kept popping up with inane and sarcastic remarks into our conversation! We all started discussing that we found it interesting that it's one rule for some and a totally different rule for others. We weren't being offensive, just [speaking] generally how we all felt more than a little bullied and intimidated, and how childish and unnecessary it all was. By this time I had really had enough of AKA_NEROS goading so I left, along with a few others. Yesterday morning I get up and check my email, this is what was waiting for me:
PLAYSTATION®Network: 1-day Account Suspension
From: Grief_Report@scee.net
Sent: 17 March 2010 15:03:01
To: [removed]
Dear [name removed],
We are contacting you regarding your PLAYSTATION®Network account and your
recent online activity.
On 16/03/2010, your online activity in Home was in serious breach of the
PLAYSTATION®Network Terms & Conditions for the following reason(s): Glitch.
As a result of this unacceptable behaviour, your PLAYSTATION®Network
account has been suspended for 1 day.
This temporary ban will be lifted on 18/3/2010. Please be aware that any
further breaches of the service Terms & Conditions may result in a longer
or even permanent suspension of your account.
We ask that you use this time to reassess your online behaviour so that you
are more considerate to other PLAYSTATION®Network users when you join us
again online. We hope you can appreciate our obligation to the community as
a whole and to the rights of other users not to be subjected to disruptive
or offensive behaviour.
Yours Sincerely,
The Community Team
So you can imagine my anger, I immediately knew it HAD to be him, I don't even know how to Glitch. He clearly just thought "oh I'll throw that in because the chat log doesn't show her saying enough of anything to warrant a ban." I immediately try to log onto the forums, but wait I can't because my account is suspended! So I can't even hop onto a forum now and ask questions? So I create another ID, I log on and hop into a forum, I did not save it nor copy the text. I stated that I wanted to know how I could find out a couple of things, a screenshot as evidential proof, the mods name, etc. Then I went onto say how enlightening Home-watch blogspot is, as it seems that Nepotism and corrupt behaviour by the mods is rife, and that if it stretches from one side of the globe to the other, then Sony SHOULD be concerned. They have a public image they like to portray after all. I asked who mods the mods? It seem to me that they got a free reign and do whatever they want. I also asked if any other forum user had experienced this. At the bottom I included the Home-watch signature jpeg and sat back to wait. Approximately 3 minutes after posting I hit refresh to see if any new posts had been made, and that's when I got the "YOU HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM THIS SITE" waffle. Anyway, incredulous I fire up the PS3 and try to sign in, stunningly enough the new ID is banned. What is also interesting is that I haven't received any grief report for the ban via email, nada, zip.
You will see the timestamp on the email showing 15.03pm. By 15.05pm today I was on the phone to Sony. I had checked to see if the ban had been lifted, it had not. I speak to somebody called RAM, Indian dude. I explain i want 3 things, a screenshot, the name, and the ban lifted immediately. He try's to fob me off saying he will "escalate it." I respond no he won't, he will tell me the managers name right now, he will also lift the ban right now, the other 2 things I'll wait for. He puts me on hold for 8 minutes, nice touch on a premium rate number. Anyway, he comes back and tells me the supervisors name. He then tells me he can't give me a screenshot. I ask why, he responds that "we don't have that information." I immediately call him on that, referring to the chat logs that are searchable way way back. I also inform him that as a very senior manager in the IT industry for a very high profile company, that he should exercise caution if he thinks I can be blinded by "tech talk." He maintains I can't have a screenshot. I ask for the mods name, not surprisingly he also refused this. Again I ask why, I get the same response. I point out that as a consumer I have a LEGAL right to know who my accuser is, even the cops send you pics of yourself if you break the law! Are Sony above the Law now? Seriously?
I now point that its over 24 hours since the ban was imposed, it clearly says ONE day on the email, now my school taught me that 24 hrs = one full day/night period, or has Sony got a whole other secret clock that we know nothing about? I point out that they are in direct breach of their own T&C and are also operating outside of the Law according to Trading Standards. IT'S IN WRITING MORON! I also advise that I will be emailing the CEO, jack_tretton@playstation.sony.com and will also be Cc-ing in Trading Standards to ensure the email doesn't "get lost". Ram maintains that I will be contacted in due course via email telling me my account has been reactivated. By now my teeth were itching and my eyes were bleeding. However, being a tenacious kinda chick I also asked for the Supervisors name, he eventually comes back and gives me the name. I then ask for his supervisors bosses name. Ram directly asked me why do you want all this information? what's it for? I respond with gritted teeth that it's my right to know, so please find out I'll hold. Another five minutes pass, have now ground teeth into stumps, he comes back, he gives me the name, and now for the best bit. I ask for the bosses job title. A relatively easy question to answer I think. He says, and I quote "he is the manager of the supervisor" OH MY GOD. So I say ok Ram, if I were to write to this gentleman, would I address it to Phil Rampley. Manager of the Supervisor, Sony, London? SERIOUSLY? I really wanted to ask Ram if he was on day release from idiot club. I end the conversation there. Remarkably enough upon ending the conversation I check my network account and good God above it's working!
"That's odd. Is that really what happened when BuggieTechnica left? I don't think I was there when it happened.
EDIT: Come to think of it, I don't even know anything about what happened to BuggieTechnica. I asked about it on PSN Home Watch, but nobody answered. Anyone care to fill me in?"
"EDIT: Come to think of it, I don't even know anything about what happened to BuggieTechnica. Anyone care to fill me in?"
Violating the rules and policies of the community, with actions such as spamming and posting inappropriate content. Your ban will last for 30 days effective 03-15-2010. Please do not attempt to evade your ban in any manner, as doing so will only serve to increase the length of your ban.
When your ban has expired, please refer to the Official Rules of Conduct and the New User Guide to review the rules and policies of the community. Additionally, please adhere to these rules and policies in the future, as future infractions will result in an extended or indefinite ban period.
Written by: Kapow
We all know Home takes a long time to load. I'm sure somebody somewhere is working on it (if not SHAME!!!!!). As we buy more things it just seems to take longer to load.
So let's get creative and have some fun with it. Post things you can do while you wait for Home to load. If you wish to complain about load times, please post in one of many other threads. This is for fun, please keep it that way.
Things You Can Do While You Wait For Home To Load;
Go outside and have a smoke
Time a 7 minute egg (last time I checked it took about 7 minutes for it to load for me)
Write a letter to your mom
Read War and Peace
Start a smoking habit
Read all the newest posts here in the Home section
Catch up with everyone on Facebook
Tidy your town in Animal Crossing
Find Waldo
Cure cancer
Now add yours.......
Ok, seems like a normal thread, I see no harm or foul here. A fun little thread about the things you do while you wait for Home to load, ok, cool. But wait, what's this? It seems the fun police arrived to put a stop to this thread. the reason:
Let's keep it directly related to Home. No game style threads please.
