14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Sony in charge of the PlayStation Network says that it has not introduced the ability to change names on the service, ignoring the pressure coming from the community because it would allow gamers to maintain their tendency to behave negatively as long as they can get away with their actions.
Shawn Layde, who is the president and chief executive officer of Sony Computer of America, claims that many gamers are tempted to misbehave and grief their competitors and even their companions online, and a simple and quick way to change their username would encourage them.
Apparently, the company is at the moment exploring some ways to deal with identity change on the PlayStation Network that would make it easier to have a flexible identity, while also making it clear that offences are tied to an account.
He states, “It’s terrible that you have to make decisions on a service sometimes by optimizing around the bad actor. I hate that we have to do that. So we’re trying to balance that between… the 99 percent of users going to have a good experience, how can we help make that happen without giving one more tool to the bad actor to go in and ruin the experience for others?”
Almost all big gaming communities, from those formed around the PSN and the Xbox Live service to those that evolved around MOBAs and other competitive titles, have problems with griefing.
Sony wants to use PSN to promote the PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 has managed to become the best-selling home console of the current generation and the PlayStation Network has been one of the main selling points for it, with a host of applications and services from third parties on offer.
At the same time, the company has introduced its own initiatives, ranging from PS Plus to PlayStation Now, and more similar services will be offered in the future.
If the quality and the behavior of the gamers who are involved with the PSN declines in the coming months, it might convince some users to abandon online play or to become less involved with multiplayer, which could in turn make other gaming consoles more attractive.
At the moment, both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are competing for the money of those who are aiming to buy a new console in the run up to Christmas, with price cuts and bundles more important than the quality of the associated communities.
