PlayStation®Home Support

Hello, everyone! For those of you who haven't met me yet, I'm the Lead Moderator for PlayStation Home. We often see many of the same questions about moderation in Home, so I was thinking it might be good to post some basic (updated) info about it.

“Moderation? What’s that?”

What is a moderator?

Moderators (or "mods" for short) are members of PlayStation Home staff whose main role is to make sure everyone is abiding by the rules and playing well with others. In addition to roaming through spaces in Home, these employees of Sony Computer Entertainment are also responsible for processing all of the grief reports submitted by users and handling other related duties. Mods work to create a safe environment where people can play games, socialize, watch videos, and so on.

How do I recognize moderators in Home?

When moderators say something, their words show up in flashing white text, with a tag in front of each line that looks like this: ![MOD]

Sometimes you'll see the white text of a moderator speaking, but you won't see the actual moderator anywhere nearby. This is normal.  Moderators are often invisible so that they can do their jobs more effectively.

When visible, moderators can be identified by their signature Staff Jackets. These jackets are black with blue trim, and have “MODERATOR” written across the back in red letters, and "STAFF" written in white along the sleeves. They also have a Home logo on the front left chest with the word "MOD" underneath in red.

What about Locust_Star, GlassWalls, and Joystick_Warrior? Are they moderators?

No, they are not. Locust_Star and GlassWalls are members of the PlayStation Home Community team, which is responsible for a wide range of community-related activities, such as running community programs, planning holiday events, and ensuring that developers make content that meets the desires of the community.

And Joystick_Warrior focuses on support issues, making sure any technical issues reported are swiftly communicated to the appropriate parties. (If you have a technical issue, please use the Home Support forum to report it, using GlassWalls' Best Practices thread as a guide.)

What about Tempest_Fire and other mods I’ve seen on these forums?

Yes, the moderators that are active in the Home forums are also moderators in Home itself. You may also see some mods (such as Sushi_Pirate or MistaSpin) who moderate other parts of the forums outside of Home.

What are the rules I must follow in PlayStation Home?

There’s a basic summary of the rules posted on a poster in the Hub. 

Keep in mind that people in Home come from a wide range of ages, interests, and personal backgrounds, so you must practice respect for one another at all times. You are expected to refrain from profanity, cultural abuse, and sexual harassment, among other things.

As GlassWalls would say: “Just be cool!”

You can review the complete PlayStation®Home End User License Agreement  (EULA) and the PlayStation®Network Terms of Service and User Agreement  (PSN TOSUA) here: http://us.playstation.com/Home-Rules

Do the rules still apply in private areas, such as Clubhouses or Apartments?

Yes. If someone harasses you in a private space, you can still Submit a Report against them.

“Help! Someone is harassing me or breaking the rules!”

What do I do if someone is harassing me or breaking the rules, but there's no moderator nearby?

Moderators are only human (it's true!) and can't be everywhere at once. If you are being harassed or see someone breaking the rules when there is no moderator nearby, please Submit a Report. 

We review all of the reports we receive, and take action if there's enough evidence of wrongdoing. 

How do I report someone?

To report someone in Home: Press the Select button on your PS3 controller and choose Submit a Report. (You may notice a slight pause when you press the Select button – this is your PS3 taking a screenshot to send with the report.) Follow the instructions onscreen to complete the process.

To report a Private Message sent to you through the XMB: Choose the message and press the triangle button on your PS3 controller. Scroll down the list of options and choose "Grief Report". (Note: You need to be logged out of Home in order to use this option.)

Note: Please submit only ONE report per incident. Even if more than one person is acting up in an incident, there is no need to report each person individually, since we review the entire chatlog for ALL offenders. Submitting duplicate reports just gives us more work and slows down the overall process. (Plus, you can get in trouble for abusing the grief report system.)

What happens after I report someone?

Your report is sent to a central location where it will be processed by the Moderation team. We review all reports by hand, and take appropriate action as needed. In the meantime, you may want to Mute or Block the person you reported, so that they can no longer communicate with you.

How do I stop someone from contacting me in Home?

If you no longer want to see text from someone in Home, highlight a line of their text from the chatlog or click on their avatar, and choose the Ignore option.

If you no longer want to hear voice chat from someone in Home, highlight a line of their text from the chatlog or click on their avatar, and choose the Mute option.

Does reporting really work?

It certainly does! Keep in mind that each report must be opened and reviewed individually by a moderator before any action can be taken, so sometimes there is a delay as we get through all the reports we receive.

“Help! I was suspended or banned!”

I don’t know why my account was suspended or banned. Can I talk to a moderator about it?

If you signed up for Home with a legitimate email address, you will get an email explaining what happened. (That means if you signed up with a fake email address, you might want to change it!)

The moderators you meet in Home will not answer specific account questions. If you have a question about your account, you should contact Consumer Services to discuss it.

I got the email about my suspension or ban, but I don’t understand the reason given. Where can I find out more about it?

This page has a list of the explanations of the different PSN violations. (Note that some of the grief types on that page don’t apply to PlayStation Home.) If you still have questions after reviewing that page, contact Consumer Services.

What are the consequences for breaking the rules in PlayStation®Home?

The consequences vary depending on the offense and the account’s history of prior offenses (if any). The most minor punishment is a warning and a note on your PSN account that this has been issued. For more serious or repeated offenses, your account may be suspended for a certain amount of time or even permanently banned.

My account has been suspended. What do I do?

Wait it out. When the suspension is over, be more careful about what you do and say in Home moving forward.

What if someone files a false report against me?

Don’t worry, we verify all incoming reports for accuracy before taking any action. That means if someone submits a false report against you, you would be safe.

“How can I help?”

Can I become a moderator?

We appreciate your enthusiasm, but you would need to get a job with Sony in order to become a moderator for PlayStation Home. You can check the Sony website to see if there are any openings right now.

That being said, there are still ways that you can help out as a Home user…

How can I help as a Home user?

Here are some examples of ways that you can help:

Set a good example

As a community, we all help set the tone for Home, whether we realize it or not. When new users see people around them acting friendly and respectful, most will do the same to fit in. (Sure, there will always be some griefers and trolls, but the optimist in me would like to think they are the exception, not the norm. )

Report others

If you see someone being offensive or otherwise acting in an inappropriate manner, hit the Select button and Submit a Report. The more (legitimate) reports we receive from you, the users of Home, the more quickly we can take care of problems as they arise.

I have a suggestion about improving the moderation process. How can I share it?

You are welcome to make suggestions in the forums, or send them directly to me. I receive many PMs, however, so I may not always respond to every single one, but I do read them all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay in Home!

- MercuryValentine, Lead Moderator of Home

(Thanks to Sophronia and Tempest_Fire for providing some of the images!)