December 2, 2008December 3, 2008

“SACK IT TO ME”…Weekly Answers to the LBP Community’s Questions

Over the past weeks, we’ve been reading lots of forum posts, comments to blog posts and news posts and even heard questions coming into our consumer services hotlines. To better serve the community, we’ve decided to provide a weekly update on the hot topics and answer the burning questions you all have.

First off, wanted to introduce “Sam_Protagonist” to everyone. He’s our global community manager for LittleBigPlanet and our eyes and ears for all things community. You can find him interacting on the EU and US forums providing updates to the community. Keep a look out for his forum posts and occasional LBP News Site posts for the latest updates.

So for our first installment of ‘SACK IT TO ME’ – we’ve decided to summarize some of the major topics the community wants answered…

Moderation
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.

Servers
We hope you’ve noticed that over the past few weeks, we’ve been working away and our servers are now much improved – from the updated scoreboards to the connection speeds. Just know we’re constantly looking to improve the experience and your feedback has been very helpful. Additionally, below are a few online stats for your viewing pleasure:

# of user generated (UG) levels = 177,657
# of comments = 1,093,491
# of times Story levels have been played online = 36,661,881
# of times UG levels have been played online = 22,463,892
# of levels played online = 59,125,403

Play Create Share stats & Search Functionality
Now that the servers are stable, we’ll continue to improve the “Share” experience. We’ve heard your requests to get better search functionality to find levels and getting the PLAY, CREATE, SHARE stats up and running on the Info Moon and have put this on the top of our list. So stay tuned for a few announcements

In the meantime, there are a few ‘other’ ways to find some cool levels:

LBP Review League (US Forums)
LittleBigPlanet Stages (an un-official list on Facebook)
“10 LBP levels you have to play” (GamesRadar.com)
“Top 50 User-Created LBP levels” (UGO.com)
Search for LBC1 levels and help judge the first LittleBigChallenge: PS3 Second Anniversary

LittleBigChallenge: PS3 Second Anniversary Updates
We’ve been excited to see all the posted “LBC1” level submissions for our first in-game LittleBigChallenge, so much that we wanted to share a few of the ones that caught our eye. After reading the forums, looks like we struck a nerve with a few of you thinking these updates are unfair publicity to the selected. Wanted to re-assure you that our intention to highlight a few of these levels, is to celebrate the creation of a variety of levels from a variety of creators – NOT to indicate any frontrunners or winners. Judging is completely separate from these updates and the evaluation of these levels will take into consideration a creators creativity, game design, innovation, use of tools, etc – NOT just “hearts” and “plays”.

As an insight to the evaluation process, we plan to first collect the formal e-mail submissions, list out the levels w/ various stats (on the server side), then have our judges spend a few days to play thru and judge levels and award the top 5 creators for this challenge.

Also, check back on Friday where we’ll list out the submissions-to-date, so you can spend the weekend playing the Challenge levels.

Day 1 T-shirt
Finally, some of you are wondering what happened to the Day 1 T-Shirt mentioned in the past. This was available in other countries for (equivalent of) $4.99, but we decided to hold back its availability in North America as we evaluate if such a unique item (RARE + $4.99 + time-based) is appropriate for our PS Store. There may be other RARE items like this in the future, so check back on future DLC announcements.

… We hope this answers your current batch of questions. Comment away below and let us know what else questions you want answered for next weeks batch…

Comments are closed.

195 Comments

14 Author Replies

supersnake52
December 3, 2008 at 2:17 pm PST

This is great and all, but i’d like to see something concrete to show me that the servers are really being made better because since I’ve had this game I’ve only been able to play about 4 online games because i can never connect to players. I tried to play with my friend and the lag made it unplayable. I just want reassurance that these problems will be fixed because the game is sooo fun online and until it gets fixed, im not sure what reason i have to play the game and feel as though i have wasted my money in a way :/

Thanks
- efong
  December 3, 2008 at 4:30 pm PST
  
  Just curious, but what kind/speed of internet connection do you and your friend have? Are you and your friend using a wireless router? If so, what make/model?
  
  Thanks,
  -E
teh_g33k
December 3, 2008 at 2:28 pm PST

For Microshock: Try using small (hidden even) amounts of fire or gas to get your desired rumble.
eid3tic
December 3, 2008 at 6:30 pm PST

efong, why ask for the make of the router, speed of the connection, and whether it’s wireless or wired?

Trial 1
I use a belkin router. Connected to it by wire. Hit Lag.

Trial 2
Belkin router again. This time wireless. Hit Lag.

Trial 3
D-Link router. Wired Connection. Hit Lag.

Trial 4
D-Link again. Wireless. Hit Lag.

Yes, I think the problem is the router.
No offense, but I think the problem is server-side for a lot of people.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 11:46 am PST
  
  Hi eid3tic,
  
  Was just curious – the more info we have, the better :)
  
  I understand your connection might be fine in all 4 situations… but I\’m also trying to figure out what the connection is like with the people you\’re connecting to (that is, the problem might be with the person hosting).
ctg867
December 3, 2008 at 6:41 pm PST

The servers, level search system, and inability to download user levels are the reasons why I put LBP down and picked up Left 4 Dead on 360. I’ll pick it back up later, but now I’m just downloading free costume packs.

But what’s with the DLC? The free costumes are cool, but the paid ones are weak. If you come out with a $5 MGS4 pack with a level, a few costumes, and some stickers/items to unlock, I’ll buy it. But if you think I’ll spend that much on one costume, you’re mistaken. What is this, Oblivion horse armor? Didn’t know I went back in time to mid 2006 when this crap was acceptable.

I love LBP, and I’m ready to support by buying DLC, but I wont be nickel and dimied on costumes that can be put together by one guy in an hour. And don’t challenge me on that, because I’ve seen that level stuff done before in front of me.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 12:04 pm PST
  
  Hi ctg867… are you a cool team guy? If so, HOOYA!
  
  As a lowly Associate Producer, I don\’t get much say on matters of pricing, but to be honest, $5 seems reasonable for rare content… but, this is from a guy who placed a $100 bid on a LittleBigMiniature billboard (and still lost the bid).
  
  I think the cool thing is that Media Molecule is not only thinking about the average LBP player… but also the true FANATIC! :)
  
  Hope we come out with something that will pique your interest.
  
  -E
  
  PS – Anyone have a LBP billboard they want to sell me?
lorddshadow
December 3, 2008 at 8:43 pm PST

are levels downloadable? i’ve been looking everywhere for an answer. i heard authors could make them available for people to download to their hard drives to play whenever. my psn is shahanasalam btw. thanks in advance if you answer this!
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 12:06 pm PST
  
  Yeah, check out \”Cool Levels\” while connected to the Playstation Network.
lorddshadow
December 3, 2008 at 8:46 pm PST

oh and i’m fine with the paid costumes! i bought the chimera and the free ones are excellent! i’m fine with paying for them since you guys made such an amazing game. thanks mm!
givemeADAM
December 3, 2008 at 8:50 pm PST

At risk of sounding like a total fan boy (although i guess I am one) I wish people would drop the whole issue over the cost of downloadable content on the PS Store. So what if a costume is a couple bucks? Are you all really that unaware of what MM has done for us? The amount of time and effort that was put into making LPB is mind blowing and thats just from what we actually get to see. Sure we paid 60 bucks for the game but by now i’ve easily played 60 dollars worth and I have enjoyed every second of it and i plan to play tons more.Thats exactly why im completely willing to pay a few bucks for a costume. With the amount MM has given us i feel we owe a little back. Just think about it. those few bucks could be going toward keeping the servers running so we can keep sharing or, even more exciting, they could be going toward the development of the next MM project. Gamers really should be more supportive of the gaming industry and the creative minds that bring us constant entertainment.

Keep working hard MM.

P.S. keep an eye out for Pokemans World. It’ll be my first published level and I really think it’ll be a worth a run through..especially if you appreciate Pokemon.
GonzoBobH
December 3, 2008 at 9:37 pm PST

First off, Mark is pretty awesome — taking all your grief and griping.

I thought he had it bad over on the EoJ forums, haha.

Dudes, if you don’t like paying for DLC costumes — don’t pay for ’em. At least there’s free stuff.

This is a pretty awesome game; appreciate that. And cut Mark some slack.

@SugarDave — perhaps we should call you VinegarDave, though other thoughts come to mind. Like Richard, haha.

Anyway, a quick shout to all of you that took the time to make some custom levels — thank you very much. I have really enjoyed the user generated stuff. Thanks and happy holidays all.
Yoh
December 3, 2008 at 10:32 pm PST

First of all I want to say I love the game, when I played the beta I love it and it’s really cool to play with friends. My friends and I got the game when it was released from Amazon and got the fastest shipping just for the 1st Day/week t-shirt and then hearing it had to be purchase was really disappointing, so I hope next time you guys post something like that leave it clear for everyone because I love the game and still play it but I just feel kind of cheated. Thanks for the updates and hope the servers get better, and also the search tool needs a lot of improvement, hope to see that soon.
DJ_DTM
December 4, 2008 at 1:03 am PST

I have just one question today Mark..

1. will the game breaking ” Wheel of doom ” glitch ever be fixed?

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 11:50 am PST
  
  it will be… even if it kills us… :)
Stoffinator
December 4, 2008 at 4:52 am PST

The pricing for the DLC stuff sucks big time. Probably the biggest pain with this generation of consoles. Milking its customers.

But the other news is great, and impressive numbers on the levels for a game people are saying is a failure.
supersnake52
December 4, 2008 at 7:06 am PST

“Just curious, but what kind/speed of internet connection do you and your friend have? Are you and your friend using a wireless router? If so, what make/model?

Thanks,
-E”

Im using a BT voyager 2091 wireless router and using wifi with 100% signal strength. My friend also has a wireless connection but im not sure on the details of his. My speed is around 2mb.

I play warhawk and bf:bc and burnout paradise fine online, and have played burnout online with my friend no problems.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 12:11 pm PST
  
  Hey supersnake52,
  
  Thanks for the info – I will pass this on and hopefully, we\’ll figure out what\’s going on in your situation. If you ever happen to have your friend\’s info, can you pass that along as well? I forgot to ask… was it just you and your friend? Or were there other people in-game with you?
  
  Thanks,
  -E
morbo1803
December 4, 2008 at 7:28 am PST

for the record… i bought the first week t-shirt…never used it yet… anyway, i was really aggravated when i came to my local EBgames (which in US had pre-order items) and found there were no pre-order items here in the Norwegian EB-games, but at Games you got a free t-shirt….. damn that…(and yes i am aware that this is a US blog but nonetheless)
superchriswebsite1
December 4, 2008 at 10:35 am PST

When can we play the levels in the European Adverts?
luggasuggah
December 4, 2008 at 11:24 am PST

Will the ice tool which we have seen on vid’s be available on the psn?
Sehlat
December 4, 2008 at 11:29 am PST

Will you address the 1080 issue? People who have 480/1080 only TVs are forced to play your game in SD, please help by adding scaling support.

See Forum Theads:
http://forums.littlebigworkshop.com/lbp/board/message?board.id=pod&thread.id=347&page=1

and

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=1543693&page=1

For more details.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 12:15 pm PST
  
  Sorry… just hearing about this now. I\’ll ping the team and see what they have to say (keep your fingers crossed).
  
  Thanks,
  -E
somedude5892
December 4, 2008 at 12:44 pm PST

I have an Idea I would like to toss at Sony and Mm about they moderation of all the really good levels based on other IP’s

Now lots of rumors fly all over the internet but the word on the street is that LBP levels that are based on a another IP are copy right infringement.

example: if a “Resident Evil” level was made it would be deleted.

My Idea I have is instead of deleting the “Resident Evil” level maybe you could allow Capcom to put ads on this level.

The way this could work would be on the level description while your waiting for the level to load.

Right under the authors description could be a small simple picture or even a video of a new game coming out by Capcom.

Heck the PS3 is online anyways why not have a link on this ad that could open up the web browser so a person could go and buy this game!

I think this is a good idea because

1 since Capcom could get free ads up they would be less likely to get mad someone for “infringement” issues.

2 both you, Sony and the game company would make a lot more cash tossing ads at people every five seconds.
somedude5892
December 4, 2008 at 12:44 pm PST

Lots of those really great levels have over 100,000 hearts and plays.
That’s a 100,000 people seeing that ad tons of times a day.

If this is a terrible idea please try to come up with something else. all of us here in LBP really want to play all of those fantastic levels.

Thanks.
morbo1803
December 4, 2008 at 2:19 pm PST

except for the fact that from choosing a level and actually playing it takes about three seconds it’s a good idea… but if it means i will have to wait longer to play the levels because an ad is thrown at me i’ll be pissed….
Superdupermonkey
December 4, 2008 at 5:15 pm PST

How much longer are you going to avoid answering the question if you intend on ever patching the game to support 1080i for those of us with 480p/1080i TVs? It’s a legitimate question with a lot of people waiting to hear answered before purchasing your game. If you would like better sales for your game, why not start with all these people with these TVs that are still on the fence.

Or has Sony forced you into not talking about this subject at all, because god only knows how long they have refused to say anything on the topic of their PS3 lacking an upscaler.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 12:19 pm PST
  
  Sorry… first I\’ve heard of it. Hope to have something for you before the Christmas break.
  
  -E
DJ_DTM
December 5, 2008 at 6:56 am PST

As always—-
when the serious questions pop up SONY farts in the room takes off..

What a joke.
teh_g33k
December 5, 2008 at 7:09 am PST

Is there any word on what the latest update did? Or what it was supposed to have done?
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 12:22 pm PST
  
  Just prepping for more DLC.
  
  -E
luggasuggah
December 5, 2008 at 7:47 am PST

morbo1803 u should have bought youre game at play.com.
i only had to pay about 400nok and i got nariko.

yes, i am from norway
teh_g33k
December 5, 2008 at 2:08 pm PST

Well, well, well, efong. Now you’ve got me intrigued. Can you say anything else? What kind of DLC?
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 3:11 pm PST
  
  Well… I\’m bound by pain of death, so can\’t really say much other than it\’s EFF\’IN SWEET! But, really, what do you expect me to say… I\’m a fanboy AND I\’m drinking the company Kool-Ade. Hopefully you guys will agree.
  
  Any votes on what you\’d like to see??? The SCEE producers have pretty much bent over backwards to get some really cool content lined up, but I\’m sure they would be happy to pursue more :)
  
  -E
Harerazer
December 5, 2008 at 4:14 pm PST

@givemeADAM
Don’t bother even uploading the Pokemon level. I would love to play it but it will be “moderated” aka wiped out before you can finish the theme song.
I’m working on one also but have decided to skip the uploading process that is oh so BS.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 4:19 pm PST
  
  Well, we\’ve hopefully addressed the overzealous moderators – give it a shot now and if it gets taken down, please let me know and I\’ll look into it.
  
  Please be aware that levels are still being moderated for things such as racial insensitivity, depictions of torture/violence, and sexuality (you might be able to do these things on your own moon… but please don\’t publish them for the little ones to see).
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Sehlat
December 5, 2008 at 4:56 pm PST

Many thanks for your quick response regarding the 1080 only TVs. Many of us have been trying to get through to someone with an ear at MM/Sony since your open beta. As I understand the PS3 SDK has some support for the upscaling we need.
Failing that hopefully the team can drag some Sony Ninjas in to help out. Uncharted and Burnout: Paradise developers managed to patch the issue for their games. I can’t believe MM or Sony would be happy to realize one of the pinnacle games for this system and generation only supports half the HD standard for TV inputs.
- efong
  December 5, 2008 at 5:02 pm PST
  
  Totally understand… who knows, it could be a simple fix, but it\’s just not making it to the right people… or it could be a OMG, we have to rewrite the rendering engine. I guess we\’ll find out together ;)
DAbsinthe
December 5, 2008 at 8:49 pm PST

My level fabric funhouse from DAbsinthe has been locked on my moon for nearly 2 weeks. It is not offensive or break any copyright laws. If it is the prizes I’ve got I will change them. Either way I cannot even delete it or change it. So for the love of all that is holy either unlock NOW or at least give me the ability to delete it. I will not make another level until this is resolved !!!!!!! Free my level !!! It was my first and I spent a week on it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 10:42 am PST
  
  I\’ll have our Online Support team try and look this up and figure out exactly why it was moderated.
  
  Thanks,
  -E
- efong
  December 10, 2008 at 3:03 pm PST
  
  I haven\’t been able to locate a \”DAbsinthe\” on the reporting system. Having OLS check as well.
teh_g33k
December 6, 2008 at 6:08 pm PST

@Harerazer & @givemeADAM
funny you should mention a poke-level–my Pokemon Hunting level’s been unmoderated since week one.
givemeADAM
December 6, 2008 at 9:35 pm PST

@teh_g33k
Thank god. I was really hoping it wont get moderated…I’ve put way to much effort into it… but it wouldn’t keep me from doing other work either way. Its awesome you made a Pokemon level too. I’m gonna go play it.

Also, thanks for the info efong
ravencrow
December 7, 2008 at 1:38 am PST

sorry this is about this blog. every time i leave a comment i get moved to a blog browse page that shows error -404 just what happening there ? O and LOVE LBP the problems it got your working out . keep up the good work as for continent.Like more things to hold in hand .
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 10:44 am PST
  
  Not seeing this problem, ravencrow. What web browser and version are you using?
  
  Thanks,
  -E
barrico
December 7, 2008 at 3:52 am PST

thank you for addressing the 1080i issue.

we hope that you can update us soon about the fix, either on a positive or negative.
please don’t do what is sony doing by ignoring this issue as if it is not occuring.

we will respect you more, if you just told us weather this issue can be solve or not.

as for the game it self, is MM gonna release another levels beside the story ?
like an additional downloaded pack, or you will be concentrating solely on customs and stickers.

finally, this is by far the best next gen. game i have ever played.
thanks for it, thanks for usual supprt.
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 12:21 pm PST
  
  Still trying to get the info to the right people, so hang tight.
  
  MM has been busy with new DLC since launch – costumes, stickers, levels, mechanics, materials, create tools… the list goes on and on.
  
  Glad you enjoy the game :)
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Statix
December 7, 2008 at 8:14 am PST

Regarding the PS3’s 1080i upscaling issue, it’s extremely doubtful that Media Molecule would need to rewrite its rendering engine in order to support 1080i output. Several PS3 developers have already implemented 1080i output in their games either post-release or very late in development, such as the case was with Uncharted, Burnout: Paradise, and Turok.

There IS indeed scaling hardware present within the PS3, but it requires special developer attention and some extra codework to utilize. The following technical article from Beyond3D.com (the game developers website) should prove to be helpful for Media Molecule and any other devs looking for a way to implement 1080i upscaled output in their PS3 titles:

http://www.beyond3d.com/content/articles/16/
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 12:24 pm PST
  
  Yeah, I doubt it will require something as complicated as rewriting the rendering engine (was trying to point out how hard or easy it might be).
  
  Thanks for the link – I think it might really help :)
  
  -E
nosecoaster
December 7, 2008 at 6:58 pm PST

Speaking of the Day 1 shirt, I preordered my copy of LBP from gamestop and have yet to receive the code for the GoW costumes…the employees at my local Gamestop told me to call Sony, which was a spectacular failure. Are the codes for those costumes still being made?
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 12:27 pm PST
  
  I had heard there were issues with codes being redeemed before the content was available… have not heard of a problem with codes being issued (I thought the keys were on GameStop cards available when you picked up your copy of the game?)
  
  I\’ll check with our Marketing and PR.
  
  Thanks,
  -E
teh_g33k
December 8, 2008 at 8:00 am PST

Before you post this week’s Sack it to Me–can I beg for acknowledgement that the max profile size recognized as too small? Items (and now my levels even) have been deleted all over the place, but it’s never enough. I don’t have room to do anything on an imagined-but-not-created LBC1 level.

PLEASE up the max profile size! Please?

Seems like it would be by far the easiest thing to do on your bug/request list.

Pretty please?
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 12:40 pm PST
  
  Yeah, that max profile size cap went in pretty late in the game… it\’s there to help prevent level corruption – we\’d be creating really complex objects, and without warning, our level/game data would become corrupt.
  
  I use to be able to create my truck level really easily, but when the max profile size cap was enabled, I had to figure out \”creative\” ways around the cap (which I did). If ever there was a lesson in game design to be learned from this, it would have to be \”create efficiently\” – it\’s something that every good programmer, designer, artist (and in some cases associate producers) learn early on in their career. ;)
  
  This is something I personally want to see fixed ASAP, but since there are ways to create really complex objects, it\’s fairly low on the fix list :(
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Enforcer_X
December 8, 2008 at 11:03 am PST

@132
I am not talking about now!
If you actually took the time to READ my post you would see I was talking about launch.

Currently I have no problems with any of the mentioned games except LBP and they themselves have said functions are disabled on the servers.

Also if you paid attention you would see the well documented server issues with all the above mentioned games, minus KZ2 of course.

Not sure where you live but there isn’t really a big selection of ISP’s to chose from out there and being only about 3 major internet backbones as long as your ON the internet close to your advertised speed your ISP is doing it’s job.

Therefore your comment adds nothing, but thanks for trying.
teh_g33k
December 8, 2008 at 2:27 pm PST

@efong
i’m not quite sure I understand. I’ve seen the “this object is getting too complex” before, and there’s always been ways to get around it and make my desired creation. I’ve also maxed out the level complexity thermometer, and found ways to be more efficient and squeeze a little bit more in there. Both these limits I understand and accept, but the full profile baffles me. At this rate, it looks like I’m going to create another profile so my kids can inefficiently create to their heart’s content, and I can delete their stuff from my moon. Of course that means they won’t have convenient access to the objects and costumes I create. It just seems silly to have to go to those extremes to allow the two of us to fully enjoy such an otherwise family friendly game.
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 3:42 pm PST
  
  Sorry… different problem then I was thinking about :(
  
  Thankfully, I haven\’t run into this issue. I\’ll poke QA to see if they have more details.
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Sehlat
December 8, 2008 at 2:39 pm PST

Some more 1080 stuff, here is what Criterion said about their patch for Burnout Paradise to fix the issue:

“With the latest SDK Sony freed up some memory. We’ve upgraded to this SDK and made use of the extra memory to scale the 720p game to 960×1080 as part of the very final post-process render stage in the game; this 960×1080 video mode uses the PS3 hardware scaler to upscale the image horizontally to output at 1920×1080.

Source:
http://www.criteriongames.com/article.php?artID=70

Just FYI so you’ve got as much ammo as possible once you do find out who is in charge of the render button.

Thanks again
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 3:43 pm PST
  
  More ammo is always appreciated :)
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Agapetos
December 8, 2008 at 3:42 pm PST

Hello fellow Sack persons.

Why did the Kratos Level pack only come out in US??
i live in denmark and here we didnt get any codes at all, Why is this??

from what i see on the net, people are selling this codes, some cost more then the game does, people are sharing accounts, and i guess people gets ripped off because of this, i dont think this was what they wanted to do, i think they should think of this before they made this pre order thing, will we in europe get to buy the kratos level pack at a later time on PSN?

i am making a greek themed level and i could really use the stickers, i bought a PS EYe Cam but the quality of the stickers you can make there isnt much to talk about, also its hard to know what you can take pictures of and not get moderated since there is no good guide line to this.

hope to get an answer :D

but if not thanx for taking the time to read this atleast :)
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 3:48 pm PST
  
  I don\’t have the details on the agreement that was made for pre-order content, but would love to make it available to everyone. I\’ll see if I can get more details on the subject.
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Agapetos
December 8, 2008 at 4:21 pm PST

oh thanx for the fast answer :)

i just think its silly that people are exploiting the fact that we can get them to their own gain. if we could buy them on PSN store after a while and people was given this info, then people would definitely wait, instead of risking they PSN accounts and buying over priced Codes on Ebay.
hope the Kratos sticker pack comes on psn in the future
because it would be nice to have those columns for my Parthenon building :)

i think the prices of the costumes on PSN are fair so no complaints there.
but there should come free ones from other game companies since they should look at it as a free commercial , since if you love the costume or pre-made level by them you would probably go out and buy theyre game afterwords,.

well just an idea.

thanx again for answering :D
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 6:51 pm PST
  
  I totally agree… again, trying to find out if these packs are exclusive or if they\’re \”embargoed\” and can be made available to everyone at a later date.
  
  Unfortunately, there are a number of pressing \”fires\” I\’m dealing with at the moment – yes, it\’s going to be a long night…
  
  But, fortunately, this blog is a welcome distraction from the stress of game production ;)
  
  Thanks,
  -E
teh_g33k
December 8, 2008 at 4:35 pm PST

@efong
Thanks for the answers–even when you don’t have an answer or are bound not to tell. I really appreciate feeling like my voice is being heard. You’re keeping my addiction to lbp alive.

So…that being said, might the latest update preparing me for DLC that will blow us away have something to do with Home?

And can you tell us any more about the tools, etc that MM,s been working on since launch?

By the way, do you play on the same servers we do?

Thanks!
- efong
  December 8, 2008 at 7:06 pm PST
  
  No sweat – we all know the feeling and we\’re all doing our best to answer anything we can.
  
  Unfortunately, the next bit of DLC does not have anything to do with Home :( Just curious, but what exactly were you hoping for? Home compatibility? Or something else entirely?
  
  Unfortunately, can\’t really discuss anything new – 1) I don\’t want to steal anyone else\’s thunder 2) these things may be functional, but there\’s no telling how long before they\’re fully QA\’d or how much they\’ll change by the time they\’re released 3) our lawyers are mean and require legal review before they\’re placed in our game ;)
  
  My wife and I play on the public server (the same one you are on). I totally thought that since I knew the create tools, that I would have a huge head start on user generated levels and that my level would be really popular… what I didn\’t realize was how quickly you guys would catch up, or how creative you guys were (or maybe I just over estimated how creative I was). In either case, your levels were way better than mine :)
  
  Thanks,
  -E
teh_g33k
December 8, 2008 at 8:20 pm PST

I understand you can’t say too much. About home, there’s just been a lot of talk about it lately, and it sounded like the next batch of DLC was something entirely new–like something I/we wouldn’t have ever thought of, so I let my imagination go nuts and some kind of LBP area in home is what I came up with.

Sorry you have to work late for us–I know I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate it. Working late always sucks man.

So about the Kratos level pack–there were no levels, right? All I got were costumes and stickers.

And about your rockin’ levels–any particular level I should look for?
- efong
  December 9, 2008 at 10:55 am PST
  
  Nope, there was no level included with the pre-order… but there were stickers to help make your own levels.
  
  No levels I want to advertise ;)
  
  Thanks,
  -E
ravencrow
December 8, 2008 at 8:41 pm PST

testing
Shrineart
December 8, 2008 at 10:06 pm PST

I’m going to tell my husband about this tonight. I don’t think he knows yet that you guys are answering questions. He’s been pretty bummed ever since one of his Video Game Tropes level went off the radar. It’s not “officially” been moderated but it’s pretty much in limbo since he can’t republish it no matter what he does to it.

I love this game and I hope to see improvements made to it because I’ve really enjoyed playing it. I’ve already made one level I want to post but I’ve neglected posting it because I’m afraid it will be moderated for no reason.

Earlier in the posts someone mentioned making a Pokemon level and one of you guys said to go for it. Is copyrighted material okay to use now? I thought it was still taboo to have things that even remotely resemble copyrighted material. Even in homage. (Which I personally think is silly but I understand there are laws in place etc.)
- efong
  December 9, 2008 at 11:55 am PST
  
  It\’s a complicated stuation, involving several countries (and many lawyers) but I think we have it sorted out (at least for new content). We should have a work-around for old levels that have already been moderated (check back for updates).
  
  Thanks,
  -E
teh_g33k
December 9, 2008 at 11:26 am PST

No levels to advertise, eh? I’ve got a couple I’m happy with, but nowhere to advertise. What do you recommend?
- efong
  December 9, 2008 at 11:55 am PST
  
  Well, advertise it here :) I\’m sure we\’d all be happy to take a peak and rate it!
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Agapetos
December 9, 2008 at 12:25 pm PST

from what i can see the DLC this week will be the capcom SF2 costumes
Agapetos
December 9, 2008 at 12:32 pm PST

but i would rather have oogie boogie from nightmare before x-mas since he is allready a sackboy hehe or maybe smurfs since they should be about the same size as the sackboys, when are the x-mas /santa suits coming?? we all know they will come at some point they always do :) hehe
hope before x-as or else we will have to wait a year to use them :)

cheers efong keep up the good work
and keep us informed when the people get back to you ;)

is there ever going to be water we can use in our level in LBP? that would be sweet :) hehe would be cool with rocket boat races ;)
- efong
  December 9, 2008 at 2:20 pm PST
  
  Those are some really cool suggestions – I\’ll be sure to pass them along (I know my wife would love both of them) :)
  
  Christmas stuff? I have no idea what you\’re talking about ;) (keep your eyes on the blog in the next week or so).
  
  No plans at the moment for a water material (if that\’s what you\’re asking). However, you can get creative with what\’s currently in-game (MM has several forms of \”water\” that will hopefully be inspiration for you). I can only imagine the amount of physics calcs that would be required… talk about memory \”leaks\” ;)
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Shrineart
December 9, 2008 at 12:33 pm PST

Thank you for the response! I understand the copyright issue is complicated. My biggest concern, like most of the LBP community, are the levels that were taken down with no copyright infringement.

I know you’ve been getting a lot of these requests but if you could check into this I would much appreciate it. My husband’s level that is pending moderation is called Video Game Tropes 4; Escort Missions. His PSN is Gojira345isDante. Between the two of us we could not find one thing that falls within the field of being unacceptable. The level has been down for about two weeks and he is unable to see if it has been reviewed.
Shrineart
December 9, 2008 at 12:35 pm PST

I know you’ve heard this complaint before but there have been people who have had their levels down for a month or more. There are so many people who have quit the community because of this problem. We both think this game has awesome potential but it’s problems like this that really dishearten us.
- efong
  December 10, 2008 at 11:17 am PST
  
  We completely understand and appreciate you guys hanging in there for us and our LittleBigGame. We\’re literally working around the clock to get these issues resolved.
  
  Thanks again,
  -E
Shrineart
December 9, 2008 at 12:37 pm PST

I work for a large company myself. When our customers have an issue with one of our products we have a system in place that allows them to submit a ticket on it. We have engineers that review these tickets in 36-72 business hours and report back to the customer their findings. Why couldn’t we have that in place here? Tickets for issues during play. Open tickets made using the good grief tool in which both the reporter and the level creator would be contacted.
- efong
  December 10, 2008 at 11:22 am PST
  
  We do have a ticket reporting system for our customer service team (if that\’s what you\’re referring to).
  
  We\’re constantly trying to improve our moderation tool (we\’ve gone through several iterations since launch).
  
  Thanks,
  -E
Shrineart
December 9, 2008 at 12:38 pm PST

You would need teams of level reviewers. You says these levels are being played through when they go into the pending state my husband’s level is in. Is there a time frame in which they’re played through? It would be nice if there was. Right now it seems, from my end, that you’re either understaffed in your level review section or that your level reviewers also have other job responsibilities that keep them from this task. I have worked for a ticket review section. I was a rep who contacted customers back with the results of their ticket. This system would work well for you and would give you the information you need to fix these problems. I mean, you’re asking us what our router information is etc. It could be part of the ticket. Required information. I think it would make the process easier.

Sorry for the quad post but the character limit got me.
- efong
  December 10, 2008 at 1:36 pm PST
  
  Yup, in some instances, all three regions that have to review content. I’m trying to have our guys in Online Support look up the status of your level, but as you can imagine, they have their hands full
  
  Sorry for the wait,
  -E