LittleBigPlanet lets gamers create their own worlds, but some say that its developer is cracking down much too harshly on potentially infringing content.
Amateur level designers say that the developer of Sony's recently-released PlayStation 3 game has been yanking their creations from the servers if the levels contain references to existing television shows or videogames. And once the levels are gone, users aren't given the opportunity to remove the offending content and republish – they've got to start from scratch.
LittleBigPlanet is a platforming game in the Super Mario style that offers a powerful selection of easy-to-use content creation tools. Once a new level has been crafted, players are free to publish it for the general public to play.
But some users have found that their levels have been "moderated" right off the servers without warning, and they've turned to the official LittleBigPlanet forums to vent their frustration.
"I had items ... that other people created of Sonic the Hedgehog and a Metal Gear Solid character," said one user. "They couldn't just delete those items, they had to go and take the whole level?"
Players haven't received any sort of warning or explanation, only the post facto message that their work has been removed. And they aren't given the opportunity to simply erase the offending content and try again. The level isn't deleted from the user's hard drive, but Sony won't allow you to upload it again.
Some users have found that if they back up their work by copying it to a different file before uploading it to the servers, they can upload the copy if the original is pulled.
But with hours of work often being lost, it's only natural that there's a great deal of frustration. However, developer Media Molecule doesn't seem to be giving its players an inch in this debate.
"If a level is found to be in violation of the EULA it will be moderated," said the game's senior community development manager in a forum response. "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."
Sony is actively working with gamemakers to officially incorporate characters and settings from their games into LittleBigPlanet. Said partners would likely not be happy if users were creating that sort of content without authorization for free, so that's a very good reason for the company to be absolute sticklers about this.
But not giving users the chance to remove the offending content and re-publish their level without it seems a draconian measure – and profoundly anti-consumer, considering that the current policy is to flush their hours and days of hard work down the drain permanently and without warning just because they didn't read the fine print on the EULA.
So if it seems bizarre that a game centered around molding the imagination into a vivid, interactive landscape would slam the brakes on that exact sort of creative output, remember: It is selling inch-high virtual T-shirts for $5. Is anyone really surprised when content that could potentially be monetized gets pulled?
Image courtesy Sony
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