Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Except in LittleBigPlanet, where it’s copyright theft and will be moderated (i.e. deleted), thus sending thousands hours of effort from dedicated fans to the digital scrapyard. It may be necessary, presumably to prevent Sony HQ from being besieged by angry legal threats, but it’s now threatening to seriously damage the phenomenal buzz surrounding LittleBigPlanet. Fortunately, something is being done about it.
LittleBigPlanet’s global community manager is seeking redress some of the problems by improving the moderation process:
“The level moderation process is something we’re continually improving. The small percentage of levels moderated have been done so after the community has reported them using the Good Grief tool. We never moderate levels that have not been reported in this way. The vast majority of moderated levels were due to offensive material, however we are evolving the way moderation happens to ensure that creators are made aware of why their level was blocked. More to come shortly.”
It’s extremely good to know that Media Molecule is doing something that’ll improve transparency in the moderation process, because it’s clear that many users are finding their levels rendered useless for reasons unknown.
However, from the delicate wording it doesn’t sound like these improvements will do much other than stop people distributing levels filled with giant willy monsters. While we can live without the towering phalluses (funny though they are), it’s a massive shame that some of the more creative LittleBigPlanet adaptations of Super Mario, God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Heavenly Sword, Sonic the Hedgehog and so on, are obviously still ripe for the chop.
Such levels are not made to ‘steal’ copyrights; they are paying homage to the originals. What exactly did Sony expect to find when it released LittleBigPlanet? That all the users would be good little boys and girls and wouldn’t dare draw inspiration from classic games, the things they love and the things they see around them? That they wouldn’t take their Kratos sackboy and make an appropriate level? Daft.
The official LittleBigPlanet message boards reveal that there’s a very serious row brewing in game’s community and the moderators. A great deal of damage control will be needed to stop players from giving up entirely. And remember, these aren’t the small-time casual players that are getting upset – these are the talented folk who are putting in the time to perfect their creations and share them with others, the very people who should be the backbone of the entire game model.
Out now | £45 | LittleBigPlanet (via PlayStation Blog)
