Poll: Is the PSN's "Welcome Back" Program enough?

[andrewfox]

Answer the thread question as stated. Poll question is acting up.

For those who have limited knowledge of PSN's "Welcome Back" Program check here to read up on the specifics.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1168890p1.html

Now, down to brass tacks.

Here's a quick rundown of what information SONY knows to have been stolen:

Name
Address
Country
E-mail address
Date of Birth
PSN / Qriocity ID and password (!)

And that?s just the info that SONY knows leaked. They also admit that the following may have leaked:

PSN profile data
Purchase history
PSN / Qriocity security questions and answers

Worst of all, though SONY doesn?t have any reason to believe that credit card info has been compromised, they can?t guarantee that it wasn?t.

So with all that information stolen, with gamers raging over SONY's lack of action, SONY offers a pittance of a few free games and some Playstation Plus subscription time.

Is it just me, or does this seem like a back-hand to the PSN community?

 

[Condor219]

Most of that information was public access for me. I don't have their credit card on file, and even if I did, I would have made one phone call, made a quick cancellation and change, and been completely secure once more. And they're giving me inFamous, LBP,and 30 days of PS+, among other things, for simply not having internet connectivity for a few weeks? I want this to be a yearly thing, if the rewards are like that.

 

[Radeonx]

For me? Hell no.
Getting a max of $60-$80 worth of stuff is not worth possibly getting an identity theft attempt against me and having all of my personal information leaked to the hackers.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I'd have gone back even without the 'Make good' program.

I mean, hell, pretty much all of your personal information is already extremely compromised if you've EVER put it anywhere on the internet. (My grandfather was a Private Investigator, and I helped him out with it after he started to lose his sight. You would be AMAZED at what you can find out with minimal information. I/He/We could get all of that information and MUCH more with just your phone number, license plate number, a five year old address, or name/birthdate.)

Edit: Also, if you have a Myspace, Facebook, or any other social networking site account...well...yeah.

 

[Vanbael]

I think this is a good gesture of faith to the community. I'm a gamer, I like games. Personally, I would have settled with credit to the store, but the games are a huge thank you. I'm more than happy for the games.
You can literally find all that info in a phone book about me.

 

[andrewfox]

I'd have gone back even without the 'Make good' program.

I mean, hell, pretty much all of your personal information is already extremely compromised if you've EVER put it anywhere on the internet. (My grandfather was a Private Investigator, and I helped him out with it after he started to lose his sight. You would be AMAZED at what you can find out with minimal information. I/He/We could get all of that information and MUCH more with just your phone number, license plate number, or name/birthdate.)

But en-masse? We are talking about 20 million plus users information. Not to mention that lingering problem of credit card information theft? I'll find the article again. Apparently, this information leak has been moved to the the number two spot in the world.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Most of the info is easily obtainable anyway and it doesnt take too much effort to change your card details, and we dont even know for sure they were stolen.
Considering they could have chosen to do nothing at all, some free games is definatly nice

 

[Kopikatsu]

I'd have gone back even without the 'Make good' program.

I mean, hell, pretty much all of your personal information is already extremely compromised if you've EVER put it anywhere on the internet. (My grandfather was a Private Investigator, and I helped him out with it after he started to lose his sight. You would be AMAZED at what you can find out with minimal information. I/He/We could get all of that information and MUCH more with just your phone number, license plate number, or name/birthdate.)

But en-masse? We are talking about 20 million plus users information. Not to mention that lingering problem of credit card information theft? I'll find the article again. Apparently, this information leak has been moved to the the number two spot in the world.

Not en-masse, but a few hours on Facebook could net me a few hundred credit card and social security numbers.

Now, I'd never do something like that, but...really, if you don't want to be vulnerable, you can't ever put anything truthful online. Of course, it's pretty much too late for everyone (And impractical to lie about everything all the time).

Besides, look at it this way...with so many people's information stolen, what're the chances that they'll eventually get to your name? (I was one of the people whose information was stolen, but again, I'm not broken up about it at all. All of that information was public domain anyway.)

 

[emeraldrafael]

Considering that they're workign with identity theft protection agencies, This is just icing on a cake.

 

[psicat]

Considering I never blamed them for someone else illegal action, and wanted nothing in return, more than enough.

 

[mjc0961]

If it was all they were doing, no it wouldn't be. In fact, I don't give a shit about the welcome back program. I won't be downloading any of the free games for either PS3 or PSP (the selection all games that have been out so long that if I had any interest in them whatsoever, I would have bought them already), and I'll be acting like I don't have 30 free days of PS+ and just ignoring everything I see in the store with that gaudy gold + logo and "free" next to it.
Yes, I'm dead serious about that, BTW. My PSN ID is on my profile here, go watch it if you want. You won't see Dead Nation, Wipeout HD, or anything that's free on PS+ get added to my list of played games when the store comes back online, and you won't see me get any trophies in Super Stardust HD (which I've never owned or even played the demo of, so I have no fucking clue why it's even on my trophy list, but it is for some unexplainable reason).

Nope. It's the really sweet identity theft protection package Sony claims they're getting for us that makes me happy. I just wish they'd hurry up with that. Yes, like many people have already said, that information was already out there for people to find. But still, the fact that people who obviously don't have the best of intentions now have that information to either use themselves or sell off to someone else doesn't really help reduce the risk that something bad will happen, does it? Everyone was already at risk anyway just because that's sadly how things are today, but PSN members are now at a greater risk of having their identities stolen, so as far as I'm concerned "it was out there anyway" isn't an acceptable solution to the problem.

But to answer the last question in the OP, yeah, I do think the actual "welcome back" program does feel like a bit of a backhand. It all seems like a not-so-subtly disguised way to get more money from people. A free month of PS+? Yeah, that's just long enough for people to download some of the free PS+ games that the service will have on offer and get them hooked on those games just in time to yank the PS+ subscription away and leave those games disabled. Now if you want to keep playing, you either buy the game or buy more PS+ time. Either way, money in Sony's pocket.

And then there are the other free games that you get to keep regardless of what you do with PS+. Let's take a look at two of the games on this list, shall we? LittleBigPlanet and inFamous. LittleBigPlanet 2 has been out for a few months now, and LittleBigPlanet has LOADS of DLC in the form of a few level packs, but mostly in costumes. Give people a copy of LBP for free, and next thing you know they're buying tons of new costumes and the sequel. Then there's inFamous. Anyone else remember when inFamous 2 is coming out? Oh yeah, next month. Give them the first game for free, and if for some reason they actually happen to like that awful game, oh look here's another one that just came out, buy buy buy!

So yes, I do feel that the welcome back thing is a bit of a backhand. But it's a backhand I don't care about and am happy to ignore as long as Sony comes through with the identity theft protection. That's all I want from them. Well, that and trying their best to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[MAUSZX]

There is a rumor there will be free games, I would like Final Fantasy Tactics

 

[Jkudo]

@mjc
Hahahaha. The list is the exact one i would have made. How do you appease customers while trying to minimize losses? Perfect list for that, and i will be getting lbp and wipeout. I might like lbp enough to get the sequel. What's wrong with discovering a game you like and buying a sequel? If people enjoy themselves and sony get to minimize losses then isnt that a win? I cant get angry at sony for a great business decision, especially when i get free stuff. By the way i loved infamous, truly awesome game and i think giving it out for free is wonderful. If more people become fans then yay! If it drives sales up then good for sucker punch.
Looking forward to ps+ as well, and yes sony hopes that if you like the gservice you will sign up, once again smart decision. They are not forced to buy it, it's the equivalent of test driving a car. Its not something i would consider immoral. I will take the subscription gladly and play stacking, sam and max, and red johnson. I've been considering ps+ for a while.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Most of that information was public access for me. I don't have their credit card on file, and even if I did, I would have made one phone call, made a quick cancellation and change, and been completely secure once more. And they're giving me inFamous, LBP,and 30 days of PS+, among other things, for simply not having internet connectivity for a few weeks? I want this to be a yearly thing, if the rewards are like that.

this, all that information is out there already, and hell if a bank had this happen the most they do is a "oh, we had a hack, we just advise you to switch your card, thanks!" which there is nothing wrong with that but still, sony when the extra step by far in this, fuck off greedy people who feel self entitled about this

 

[scnj]

Yes. To be honest they could have done nothing, but I'm pleased they actually did something.

 

[Catfood220]

To be fair, I'm more than happy with what Sony has offered as compensation for PSN being down. So far, all I've had to do is change my passwords and cards, which was hardly what you would call hard work and played my way through Mass Effect 2 (which at times did feel like hard work). Other than that my life has been uneffected, so if Sony want to give me free stuff, thats fine but I don't expect any more from them.

 

[Johnson294]

Yes, considering it's free anyways, and the only information compromised was things you can already find in a telephone book... I'd say it's more than enough. They're offering around $50 of good quality games.

 

[Hiphophippo]

It is for me, yes. They dont' HAVE to do any of this. Most companies do little to nothing. Also, outside of information anyone could get out of a phone book being stolen I haven't been put out by the whole deal.

So it's basically just free stuff for nothing to me. And I always like that.

 

[KFalcon]

Yes, because most other companies wouldn't give full games for free in such circumstances.

 

[SoranMBane]

I think it's a pretty good deal. A larger selection of games to choose from would have been nice, since I'm only interested in three of the games they're offering for free and I already own two of those, so one of the two games I end up getting is going to have to be something I probably won't ever play. But, you know, what right do I have to complain about free stuff when the worst inconvenience I experienced was not being able to play Portal 2's co-op for a month?