SOE Promises to Make Amends to PS3 MMO Players for PSN Outage

[Logan Westbrook]

SOE Promises to Make Amends to PS3 MMO Players for PSN Outage

Does free stuff and special events make up for not being able to play a game you bought? SOE is rather hoping it does.

Sony Online Entertainment says that it has a number of special events planned to thank players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms for their patience while work continues on getting PSN back up and running.

These events will commence on Saturday 30th April, although that is presumably reliant on PSN being back in action by then. SOE did not go into a whole lot of lot of detail about the events would be, except for a Double Station Cash day - Station Cash being the currency used across all SOE MMOs - for its entire portfolio. SOE also said that it was working on a separate plan to "make good" to the DCUO and Free Realms players affecting by the PSN problems. Again, what this actually means is unclear, but as DCUO has a subscription fee, some free play time would seem to be a fairly safe bet. Full details of these plans will be available on the game's respective websites soon.

These outages will likely prove to be quite costly for SOE. Not just in terms of lost revenue - although that probably won't be an insignificant amount of money - but also in terms of consumer confidence. In fact, of the two, it's probably the latter that SOE will have to work hardest to recover.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/#!5796075/whats-the-psn-downtime-mean-for-mmo-players]




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[Matt_LRR]

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Hmm, playing online, or identity theft, one of these is the greater customer sevice blunder. I wonder which it could be?

-m

 

[fabiosooner]

I wonder if MAG players shouldn't be compensated too. It may not be a MMO in the strictest sense, but it is a multiplayer-only title at the end of the day. It doesn't require a subscription, but it can't be played in any way, shape or form right now. Where to draw the line?

 

[robert022614]

I really hope this is not restricted to MMO players because people from every genre were affected.

 

[Zenode]

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Hmm, playing online, or identity theft, one of these is the greater customer service blunder. I wonder which it could be?

-m

Even if they built the worlds most secure system and it got hacked people will still think they didn't try hard enough.

OT: So they should get compensated, but I do agree with Matt in that Sony HAS failed to protect the user information of EVERYONE and that something should be done for all these people as well, its not everyday that all your personal information gets stolen...

 

[Steve Lovell]

I don't.care about dc online universe, my girlfriend has recently had money stolen from her account, am waiting for confirmation that credit card info has been stolen before I point fingers

 

[Harbinger_]

Thats all well and fine for promising to make amends to those who couldn't act as your cash cows for a while Sony but what about those of us who had our personal info and credit info swiped?

Also while you're at the making amends part SOE maybe an apology for making shit games too.

 

[sunburst]

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Hmm, playing online, or identity theft, one of these is the greater customer sevice blunder. I wonder which it could be?

-m

I think they are trying to downplay that part. Shifting focus from a comprehensive security failure to an MMO outage must seem like a great idea. Considering the level of outrage, it's not going to work in the slightest. But they can still give it a shot, right?

 

[luvd1]

Hmmm. Let me think. So now someone have enough personal information of mine to get a credit card, run up a large bill and I get the bill leaving me in massive debt, destroying my credit rating, as well as cleaning out my account. And you think giving me a free pair of smart gloves for my dcu online hero comes close to making amends for this boo boo......... Will they have claws?

 

[Leg End]

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Hmm, playing online, or identity theft, one of these is the greater customer sevice blunder. I wonder which it could be?

-m

w00t, go Matt.

OT: Ehh, kind of sad non-MMO bros don't get jack. :/

At least we have a technical guarantee of PSN being up by then.

 

[Steve Lovell]

If Sony is serious about making amends then the first thing to do would be give EVERYONE 3 months free of playstation plus

 

[Shadie777]

Sony, when you try to make amends you have to make amends to EVERYONE on psn, not just MMO players.

 

[Therumancer]

It could be interesting, I play Free Realms occasionally, it's more of a mini-game collection with a graphical chat room involved. I bought a few things from their cash shop as well simply to support MMO development for consoles, even if I generally detest cash shop games.

I might pop in to see what they have planned on the 30th. If it's just better deals in the cash shop or something like that, I'll doubtlessly pass though.

 

[Harbinger_]

If Sony is serious about making amends then the first thing to do would be give EVERYONE 3 months free of playstation plus

I hope there is a cash equivalent to your option as I wouldn't keep my information with a company that had it all get swiped.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

From what I heard about DCUO Sony did everyone a favor by preventing people from playing it.

How about amends for losing all the personal data?

 

[mew4ever23]

It's a start, Sony, but like Matt said:

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Sony owes ALL of the PSN users something for failing to adequately protect their personal and credit card information.

From what I heard about DCUO Sony did everyone a favor by preventing people from playing it.

How about amends for losing all the personal data?

Oh SNAP! XD

 

[Ironic Pirate]

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Hmm, playing online, or identity theft, one of these is the greater customer sevice blunder. I wonder which it could be?

-m

Yeah, this. Also, I don't play that fucking game, Sony. I'm not actually sure if anyone plays that game, so how about making amends to more than .01% of your user base? Maybe Playstation plus for a month for free, or a free downloadable game for everybody?

I'm just glad I used PSN cards...

 

[Kingsnake661]

How about some special stuff to make up for failing to secure the personal info and credit card numbers of your entire goddamn userbase Sony?

Hmm, playing online, or identity theft, one of these is the greater customer sevice blunder. I wonder which it could be?

-m

You know... blaming Sony for getting HACKED is like blaming a guy for getting mugged... He could have done this, he should done that, if he'd done this instead... Could a, should a, would a... I don't blame a crime victim for being a crime victim, BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, waiting a week to let people know you got jacked and *we* did as well, that's what i take issue with in this story.

As far as i can tell, *i'm* ok, my card i used on the PSN is closed out, no charges on it that shouldn't have been on there, new card coming, no harm no foul, but, hehe, i'm not sure when/if i'll be confident enough to buy stuff off the PSN again. It'll be gamecards and prepaid credit cards for them from now on, and with how lazy i can be.... I doubt i'll be spending much money with them ever again. (Oh, that's a neat looking inde game... oh, i have to run to the store and get a game card to buy it... eh... never mind... No really... I can be that lasy once i get home from work. LOL. poor inde companies...)

 

[Matt_LRR]

You know... blaming Sony for getting HACKED is like blaming a guy for getting mugged... He could have done this, he should done that, if he'd done this instead... Could a, should a, would a... I don't blame a crime victim for being a crime victim, BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, waiting a week to let people know you got jacked and *we* did as well, that's what i take issue with in this story.

Different situation. This is a company that we, as consumers have entrusted with our personal information with the understanding that our information would be kept private and secure. That our data has not remained private or secure represents a violation of that trust by Sony, and a failure of service to their customers.

This isn't akin to a guy getting mugged in an alley. It's much more like an armoured car service getting knocked over and your cash being stolen out of the back because they failed to ensure the doors were locked and a guard was present. You trused them to transport your property for you safely, and they failed to protect it from theft.

-m

 

[Scott Guthrie]

free stuff will do me... i never really use psn