If you’re currently putting hours and hours into creating an LBP masterpiece be careful, because the internet is reportedly alive with reports of masses of levels being permanently deleted or ‘moderated’
The story has come to light on Kotaku
Traffic on the LittleBigWorkshop discussion board seems to back him up. “This just happened to tons of levels in what seems like a matter of minutes, including my own level ‘Failure To Launch.’ ” Says one user. “By the trend I see from the levels I can no longer play from my recent levels on my planet, its all about copyright. Some levels I’ve seen now unplayable due to moderation: Pacman, Batman, and Scrubs related level.”
But your freedom to create absolutely isn’t as open-ended as they’ve implied. And this creates a huge chilling effect on user-created content for the game that was supposed to set a new standard for it.
My level was “moderated” [LittleBigWorkshop Forum, via Destructoid]
My Level has Been Moderated and I Don’t Know Why [LittleBigWorkshop Forum, thanks Robbie]
Getting Moderated? READ THIS! [LittleBigWorkshop Forum]
I though something was odd when my (extremely rubbish) beta created level had disappeared and I had received a notification that my level was being moderated, my level contained a few rudimentary electrified pieces of glass and a couple of sponge swings, if anyone played it they would confirm it was rubbish but it didn’t contain anyone else’s IP or copyright material. Puzzling!
Kotaku extremely worryingly also report
…But Robbie says there are instances of unpublished levels getting “moderated” too. “I’ve never been so infuriated over a game,” he says…
Can they even access your HDD?
My experience of the hugely anticipated LBP is turning very sour, since I purchased my copy I have rarely been able to get online to play others levels as the game has been beset by server problems and upgrades, the controls are less than accurate and often cause death through their ’sponginess’ and the rather dodgy 3D implementation, Sony/MM seem intent on ripping off loyal early adopters with overpriced crap, and now hundreds potentially genius levels are reportedly being wiped with no warning or appeal process, when they openly used user-created IP infringing content to promote the game before launch.
The majority of levels I’ve seen involve at least a hint at someone else’s IP, and the rest of them seem to be there to give Trophys away, obviously IP infringement and Copyright law is serious stuff, but Sony/MM didn’t seem to mind when it was being used to hype and market the game before launch. Over promise & under deliver is the wrong way to do business, of course the removal of these levels may be nothing to do with IP etc, but as there is no communication process yet no one knows
Sony & MM have created a truly genius unmissable game but they are walking a PR tightrope and the early user experience is looking far from that pictured in hype and marketing.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Wow , I dread to expect what I am about to find left ….
Not even on my own, on anyone elses !
Most of the levels I’ve been playing are themed ,how many are going to left ?? I don’t get the copyright 100% , if a level is themed on something else it’s not giving any storylines away , it’s probably going to be a good marketing device !
November 10th, 2008 at 12:22 am
you would expect them to at least let you know whats going on. perhaps warn you to change a particular part of your level within a specific time limit or it will be removed. but then again, thats still no good is it when most people bought this game to let their imagination run wild.
i dont have the game myself, how many user created levels were themed?
cc_star Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:24 am
“how many user created levels were themed?”
The majority
RocketSOL Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:28 am
sorry, i see it now (i re-read it)
i sensed a “who’s this idiot” in your response. ha
cc_star Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:33 am
eh?
Not at all, sorry
RocketSOL Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:42 am
no worries. no need for an apology. if i read the article properly in the first place it wud be orite haha
November 10th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Im guessing that this is some sort of bug or something wrong with the servers.
Yes copyright says that you can’t use other peoples stuff and all that, but nothing in LBP is actually a direct rip off.
A company could sue if they wanted, but I extremely doubt that they would over a user created level in a game.
And seeing as it’s also happening to the non copyright ones too, I think that its safe to say that this isnt to do with copyright but to do with a malfunction.
As for them directly taking the levels from your harddrive. I’m not entirely sure that levels are stored on the hard drive. I’m sure that they probably are, but a lot of it has to do with being connected to the servers.
Whenever you rewind to undo a mistake, it connects to the server to do so. I got a message today when trying to rewind telling me that the server wasn’t responding and so I couldn’t undo the mistake. So maybe that’s why some levels are being plucked from the HDDs.
Oh well.
Hopefully we’ll hear something soon and the problems will be fixed.
Metalgsean Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 5:20 am
That cant be right, ive just been creating for the last 5hrs without being signed in to even the PSN and i could rewind and everything as normal, besides if it was saved only to servers what about all the people who arent online lol But i agree about the copyright stuff, its gotta be some kinda glitch, or maybe the amount of published levels is what keeps messing up their servers and they keep just deleting loads instead of fixing the problems?
SteveTheSkorie Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I doubt they’d delete levels to make room for more.
And I was thinking about people who don’t have online and about how they’d do it. But when you are connected, the game definitely relies on the server. Look the little network icon is always spinning in the bottom of the screen.
But yeah. Until this is resolved, I’m gonna follow you and play offline
November 10th, 2008 at 12:52 am
People have been killed for less !!!!
( Actual truth )
November 10th, 2008 at 1:02 am
They won’t dare to take down my Mega Man level, I would go berserk in the streets.
November 10th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Its probably not a bad thing if they take my level down (not a level really just some rubbish to get the trophy at this point!) as it really is ordinary…..although I did have fun doing mid-air spins on the rocket!!!
November 10th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I disagree about the controls, I find them pretty responsive and predictable
online4ntagonist Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 7:43 am
I agree with that, pretty intuitive and easy going
SteveTheSkorie Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 7:51 am
yeah. I’d agree with that. The only thing I ever have trouble with is when the game chooses which of the 3 layers you have to stand in.
TheDeathAvenger Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I don’t have a problem with the controls either. Once you get used to them, they’re fine.
November 10th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Sony need to change the slogan at the end of their LBP adverts from “play with everything” to “play with everything as long as it doesn’t offend, it’s accessible to all age groups and not made from copyright material”.
fredrikpedersen Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 9:40 am
That’d be a crappy punchline. The storylevels are pretty awazing standalone, and I understand MM must take stuff down if the original producers of the IP/series warns them. Your supposed to watch the storylevels and be inspired, not watch Scrubs and be so.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Bum.
The LittleBigHope is a LittleBitFlaky at the moment.
Pixl1983 Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Bum indeed.
fredrikpedersen Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
The LittleBigGame is LittleBigAwesome and needs no LittleBigHope.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Mm’s response from their forums:
“We’re reviewing the moderating system currently to provide better feedback on why levels are moderated. Primarily, any level that is reported using the grief tool will be checked over by a moderator, at which point they’ll examine it in line with the EULA. If a level is found to be in violation of the EULA it will be moderated and you’ll receive a message to that effect.
We’re moving towards a system where additional information is given, however for the time being if you don’t want your level moderating avoid anything unsuitable for users of all ages and copyright content.”
Also, if you have copyrighted assets as prizes it looks like you’ll get modded too.
hannes_truce Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
to be honest this kinda makes sense. It would be nice though if, as mentioned earlier they gave you an explanation of exactly what has caused your level to be moderated and gave you maybe 24 hours to remove the offending object/part of your level to avoid it getting wiped altogether.
Something like LBP’s level creating/sharing is always gonna have teething problems at first especially with copyright issues, we just have to hope that it starts getting handled a little better than it has been up until now.
cc_star Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
My level never contained a single shred of anyone else’s IP or copyright, there wasn’t anything offensive in slightest (apart from the fact it was so bad)
I would be more than happy for my 5 year old daughter to play it.
But still its been moderated out of existence
The whole teething problems thing doesn’t wash with me, the game has been in production long enough, there was a large open(ish) beta, then there was further fortnights delay (which I personally believe was nothing to do with the track but the fact the product was even more of a mes than it is now)
My experience is pretty far from the the vision of the game I brought into.
So far my personal LBP experience sucks, and the thousands and thousands of comments appearing online around the internet suggest I am not alone in this view.
PLAY.CREATE.SHARE my arse!
Pixl1983 Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I have a feeling the levels getting deleted are all the ones people are flagging. I even wonder if there is any human involvement in the censorship at all. If, like you say, your level had no copyright infringement or obscenity the Mm will have loads of people refusing to upload their work until this is sorted or at least clarified.
Damn the legal system!!!
November 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am
to be honest, this article pretty much sums up why i’ve had no intention of buying LBP.
as with Sony in general it seems these days, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably ain’t true…
November 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I tend to agree with the gripe about the controls. They do feel a little spongey at times and there is a tendency to over-correct your movements (there is, of course a slim chance that I am just crap!). In terms of the modding, I guess we’ll all just have to be a little careful until the situation is cleared up
TheDeathAvenger Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Hey, don’t worry, practice makes perfect. Unless you’re really really really bad. In which case just give up and move on.
hannes_truce Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
you heard him jimmy, we’ve all been saying it! lol
Nah the controls are a little less than perfect at first, but you do get used to it, feels pretty natural to me after the hours i’ve put in! lol
JimmyTruce Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 8:37 am
As of Friday I will probably be placing LBP firmly on the back shelf anyway
November 10th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
My first level got modded and I’ve no idea why, I just got a message pop-up that said it had been moderated and it has disappeared from existence. Which sucks because it was made in the beta so it’s not saved on my HDD anymore either.
My guess is that all of this was covered in the recent change to the online Terms and Conditions that Sony emailed each and every one of us about.
Copyright is a thorny issue and it is really best for everyone concerned if I stay off the subject. Otherwise we end up with a whole rant situation and I get the reputation of being a ranting waffler and we couldn’t have that…
seedaripper1973 Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
oh stop waffling…wheres the rant
November 10th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Never mind all that, anybody else having problems exiting a level in multiplayer this evening? Keeps hanging at zero on the timer for me. :{
cc_star Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 12:23 am
The game doesn’t appear finished. I feel like I’ve paid 40 quid for a beta, despite already being in the beta a while ago
If this continues… I’ve got 2 words for MM.
TRADE and IN
And I’ll buy a pre-owned one in january when they’ve sorted this mess out
JimmyTruce Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Yeah that happened twice to myself and Hannes last night. If there’s more than one of you in the level only one player has to restart the PS3 (or so it seems). Once one player has left, the others can leave normally.
zb100 Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Ah good (or not), it’s not just me then. What a major pain! I let a few of my friends play it via one system at their gaff over the weekend, so they rushed out and bought it (plus PS3) then we try playing it online and blam. Problems a-go-go, not a great impression to be making! I reckon it’s just been the recent patch(es) that caused it.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
this is such a waste of time by sony and mm.
why cant it be only user moderated…