Sony Defends "Welcome Back" Reward Choices

[Ferrious]

Spoiler: Context and point, tl;dr below

Personally I cancelled all my cards the day the leak was announced. With money so tight I could not afford even the risk that I might lose the details of one of the cards. Because of that I had to go out of my way to secure funding for the week/week and a half it took for my new cards to show up and get activated. I was silly to have all my cards on there, but as they were all added at different times as I moved which account I preferred to use for online stuff I had forgotten to remove the old ones (assuming, ofc, that previous history isn't stored in the PSN).

I have a PSN+ subscription, so the 60-days extra is nice. The games are fairly "meh", I'll pick up inFamous, but as it's like 8 quid in the local supermarket I'm hardly impressed. I probably come out of this about 20 pounds up (about 4 pounds a month for the PSN+ days, plus about 12 pounds for inFamous and some other title - I already own Wipeout and LBP). As it took me around an hour of messing around with banks to get my cards cancelled, and another week-or-so of not-so-mild annoyance at not being able to have easy access to my money (not to mention jigging things around so that stuff that was being auto-paid off those cards, or face "non-payment" fees) I'm not entirely sure 20 pounds covers it.

If you did nothing because your card(s) being stolen didn't faze you, fair enough, this is essentially free stuff. If you had to ensure that you couldn't risk losing money, even temporarily, so had to cancel your cards then it's not really good compensation.

I'll see how I feel once my PSN+ is up for renewal and then make my decision about if it was enough to convince me to stay with it.

 

[Matthew Lynch]

I have a message for these idiotic whiners......SHUT THE FRIG UP!

Sony could have done NOTHING...just flipped the switch and said "There you go.....go nuts" and offered us NOTHING. However they chose to reimburse us with a few games in good faith.

As much as I do not like Sony this is a great thing that they are doing for us.

So take your complaints and stuff them.

When personal information of that nature is jepordized, it's much more of a serious issue than "we're sorry, our bad."

There was great potential for financial loss for people who had their credit cards stolen, and it's preposterous to say "you should be grateful" for what amounts to horrendous security issues and your service being down for an extended period of time.

Imagine if McDonalds accidently gave away your credit card information, then said "sorry, here's a free chicken sandwich." You probably wouldn't have the same reaction.

I will not "take my complaints and stuff them." A complacent customer base means that people can continue to provide shitty service.

All that said, i never use my ps3, and don't have credit card information on my psn account. So fuck yes for free games.

Well said, Ross. I don;t own a PS3 but my little step bro owns a PSP...I was worried someone would use his personal details to rip him off. What Digikid doesn't get is that Sony broke the law when the data was stolen. They were legally required to protect it...and personally I think offering several old titles, several of which are definately already owned by PS3 owners...and offering a 30 day sucscription to plus that then locks you out of anything you brought with it...thats just a slap to the face. At least Microsoft actually does proper apologies...

 

[Woodsey]

"If you're not happy with the content Sony's offering as an apology over that PSN security breach, too bad. Sony's not gonna do anything else."

Nor fucking should they.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

I'm happy with Sony for this initiative. It's a nice gesture to offer free games on top of enhanced security.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Greedy people out there if they actually complain about free games.

It's nothing to do with being greedy. People are complaining because all the games they are giving out are 3-4 years old and so the majority of PS3 owners already have them. I think Sony chose these games for that very reason, they knew most people would already have them and so they wouldn't have to give out as much free games.

If Sony really cared about their fan base and wanted to give away free goods, they would have gave away fairly new games that most people don't already own.

 

[Matthew Lynch]

Im... Im sorry but I need to jump in here. Sony didn't need to do a dang thing over anything that happened but there doing it anyway so deal. If ya look at the statement its even blatently stated that one, the information stolen is both encrypted AND incomplete meaning that even if whoever took it manages to decrypt it it would be useless to them and two, its also very plainly said that the credit card info that WAS stolen was from a very old, no longer used database not even tied to PSN and likely was around before there was the PS3. That means that most of that info would be outdated and useless even before the afformented encryption just from credit cards getting old and getting past their experation date.

On top of all this, Sony is loosing money at this no matter how you look at it. On one hand the loss of customer loyalty is hurting them big already but its something they could weather out and survive. I mean heck, its SONY were talking about here. Sony makes everything from TVs to systems to freaking robots. They could, at any time just DROP playstation and though suffer a bit of a profit dive, definately survive (does no one remember that for the longest time Sony was acually loosing money for each PS3 unit sold?). Also, there gonna be loosing money for giving us these free games anyway. Sure, there old and many have played them, and there published by Sony, but the DEVELOPERS still get that sweet royalty money every time their game is bought/downloaded from Sony even if WE don't acually pay one red cent for it. Thats gonna end up coming directly out of Sony's pockets as is.

In the end there doing this because they want to, not because they have to and we should be grateful for that. Sure, the list of games is small and it would have been nice to just get a credit, but you also gotta see that the games they picked are there at all because they more than likely spent hours debating with the developers who are getting said royalty checks over the issue (it is even possible that Sony could have been trying to get a pardon on the royaltys from the developers for the pack, but thats just speculation. It would explain why the list is soo small though). All of that together would also explain why they couldnt do a flat credit because Sony doesnt 100% own everything avalable on PSN. You can argue that other online games have done a credit in the past (ill bring up that 350 point one again) but thats because they OWN everything involved and dont really stand to loose anything in doing so, especially with an amount soo little meaning that you would acually need to BUY more points to make use of the 350 for some of the really worthwhile stuff, meaning they won out in the end.

I for one am grateful for the offer and cant wait to gain the full benefits of it there are 2 games on the list I dont own (Wipeout and Dead Nation) and Im looking at this as a chance to try something new and mabie even gain a fondness for a new genre I would have never thought about playing before. And so what if the PSN+ benefits go away after 30 days? I never got into it before because I didnt know if it would be worth it or not and now ill have a chance to test it out and see if Id wanna buy it later. As for you all who already HAVE PSN+ keep in mind that Sony said you get 30 days PLUS an extra day for each day that the service is down so you guys get even more!

Im well aware you cant please all the people all the time, and that not everyone is gonna get the full benefit from this (assuming you own all 5 games on the list already) but at least Sony is offering something for nothing when they didn't even need to offer anything at all.

And with that my long rant is over *whew* that felt good to let out and I hope that after all that just one person who didnt like what Sony offered at least sees the logic behind it.

I have nothing against sony...that doesn;t change the fact that they broke the law by letting the data...encrypted or not, be stolen. You don't think that a hacker group that breached the servers of one of the leading software and entertainment developers can't decrypt things?

The law says that they were responcible for looking after that data and as such...they broke the law by not only failing to report something that serious immediately but for letting it happen. The law is the law...and Sony broke it and all they're doing with this free gasme offer is to try and make you forget that they care more about making money then safeguarding your information through keeping their security up to date.

 

[Corporal Yakob]

Oh what the fuck!?! Now I know I shouldn't be too disapointed considering they've gone out of their way to give rewards when they weren't required to and that trying to cater to everyone's gaming tastes is impossible but I was really hoping for free games that would be, you know, interesting! It seems like they've just picked some popular but old games and figured that would be enough: I am very bitterly disapointed at this.

Argh fuck it, I just need time to vent.....

 

[Mxrz]

"The law" - And which laws in particular would that be?

 

[Matthew Lynch]

"The law" - And which laws in particular would that be?

Data protection act.

 

[Matthew Lynch]

-snip-

I have nothing against sony...that doesn;t change the fact that they broke the law by letting the data...encrypted or not, be stolen. You don't think that a hacker group that breached the servers of one of the leading software and entertainment developers can't decrypt things?

The law says that they were responcible for looking after that data and as such...they broke the law by not only failing to report something that serious immediately but for letting it happen. The law is the law...and Sony broke it and all they're doing with this free gasme offer is to try and make you forget that they care more about making money then safeguarding your information through keeping their security up to date.

Its not Sony whos broken the law though, thats what the problem here is. Sony gains nothing from this and I honestly am happy to see that there smart enough to at least do SOMETHING to try and come out of this better than if they had dome nothing. Its the hackers who broke the law. Problem is its just easier to blame Sony because we cant put a face to the hackers. Sony would only be breaking the law if they willingly gave away your info or sold it. If you have proof of that then heck, id gladly rally with you but Sony is just as much a victem as the rest of us. On a secondary note, how long is a credit card active before you gotta get a new one send from it expiering? 2 years tops usually and when you do it comes with a completely diffrent number and security code meaning that, frankly, the info taken is infact useless. We see stupid criminals all the time who can get in and get out but grab the wrong thing, or at least take what they can blindly and get out before there noticed or caught and thats all thats happened.

That law also says they have to provide adequate protection for their data and they didn't...they were using outdated security programs. Sony are liable for damages.

On the subject of credit cards...mine has a 5 year period between expirations...so I would not be shocked to find that quite a few others are in the same boat...makes me glad I don;t have a PS3

 

[Matthew Lynch]

That law also says they have to provide adequate protection for their data and they didn't...they were using outdated security programs. Sony are liable for damages.

On the subject of credit cards...mine has a 5 year period between expirations...so I would not be shocked to find that quite a few others are in the same boat...makes me glad I don;t have a PS3

Ya know what? Im not gonna argue that about the security. But to be liable for damages there acually has to be some, so we can come back to that later if any acually happen, deal? Also, and this is just me nitpicking, but the whole "I dont own a PS3" bit makes me wonder why your even in this topic as it has literally nothing to do with you. As for your 5 year credit card, I will also admit Ive never seen one that goes that long before expiering so that COULD possibly be an issue, but at the same time we dont know how old "Very old" is as far as that database goes. It wasnt connected to the PSN (PSN was just used as a back door) and PSN has officaly been around sence the first online sony ps2 game "Final Fantasy Online" or whatever... Thats like 2004 old. Even in worst case senario that outdates your 5 year limit.

I admit...I don;t own a PS3...but my step brother owns a PSP with PSN access...and I am worried he's being ripped off.

 

[Woodsey]

"If you're not happy with the content Sony's offering as an apology over that PSN security breach, too bad. Sony's not gonna do anything else."

Nor fucking should they.

Amen to that.

I agree completely. There's even a hilariously moronic poster on the blog there who seriously think it's a proportionate response to let everyone download everything in the store for free as compensation...

Even the phrasing of it pisses me off.

People complain about the not acting quick enough, I bet most people have had their details stolen at least once and will never know about it. The response was quick, its gone back up pretty quickly, and they're giving you free stuff.

 

[Vrach]

"We've tried really hard to put together a list of high quality BD games, rather than simply offering cheaper PSN titles. The average metacritic rating for these games is over 84 per cent, so these are high quality games.

Civilization V holds a score of 90 on Metacritic despite being a blistering bile of shite, so I wouldn't hold its standards to define what quality games are. Personally looking at the list they've offered, I'd chuckle at anyone saying they're a great bunch of high quality games and more importantly, they are certainly not a great bunch of highly popular games that would be sought by people on today's market.

 

[Geekmaster]

TLDR: Can't please everyone.

I agree with the sentiment.

Civilization V holds a score of 90 on Metacritic despite being a blistering bile of shite, so I wouldn't hold its standards to define what quality games are. Personally looking at the list they've offered, I'd chuckle at anyone saying they're a great bunch of high quality games and more importantly, they are certainly not a great bunch of highly popular games that would be sought by people on today's market.

At least from your perspective.

 

[googleback]

I haven't played infamous yet so i'm looking forward to it.

when will the store be back up in the UK?

 

[Joshica Huracane]

Sony is giving us free shit... because we went without their free service... for three weeks... wow. They don't HAVE to give us anything.. I'd be happy with the PS Store being back up.

 

[Frostbite3789]

because Sony was asleep at the helm.

Because you work at Sony and know all of their security measures, right? I mean, otherwise that'd be an incredibly ridiculous claim to make, since you'd have now more knowledge on the matter than anyone else.

Its already been confirmed that Sony used out of date security on their PSN servers, hense allowing the breach to occur...I'd call that 'sleeping at the helm'.

Link?

Well, in the community's defense you can't buy much with 350. But yeah, RIOT didn't even need to give it out so whatever.

I look forward to getting me some free games tomorrow.

Which is why patience is a virtue. Sweet sweet on sale tundra Warwick was a nice little bonus.

 

[Matthew Lynch]

because Sony was asleep at the helm.

Because you work at Sony and know all of their security measures, right? I mean, otherwise that'd be an incredibly ridiculous claim to make, since you'd have now more knowledge on the matter than anyone else.

Its already been confirmed that Sony used out of date security on their PSN servers, hense allowing the breach to occur...I'd call that 'sleeping at the helm'.

Link?

By all means http://www.computerandvideogames.com/300332/news/sony-was-using-outdated-security-and-no-firewall-for-psn-says-security-expert/?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-General-RSS

 

[Jumplion]

I don't mind the "welcome back" program, and really Sony had no obligation to do anything like this. They just had the necessity to win back their customer's trust.

To those saying "Oh, most of the loyal fanbase would already have these games!", I dunno about that. It seems a lot of people here have yet to get games like inFamous, LBP, or Wipeout, and the same rings true for other forums I've seen. Not really a substantial statistic, I admit, but I wouldn't be surprised (plus for those who already have the game, the idea to sell in the physical copy for store credit came up, so, yeah.)

I remember an IGN article saying that people who were already PS+ subscribers should get something different, something better for being a "loyal" customer, which I found to be most self-entitled piece of bullshit I've ever heard. Nobody deserves anything "more" than someone else just because they shelled out some extra cash, we were all affected by this disaster of epic proportions equally. Giving "more" to subscribers would only divide the base and show pointless favoritism.

And to those saying "once the PS+ subscription is over, we lose all our stuff!", well.....yeah, sort of. The only real thing that you lose are the free games, everything else you keep. It reeks of a marketing ploy from Sony, but hey, like I said, they really need to win back their customer's trust.

So, yeah, I really don't have much of a problem with it. I doubt they had much of a selection to choose from as offering a free 3rd-party game would have probably caused problems.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

People are HONESTLY complaining about receiving FREE games?

Maybe they should learn: don't look at gift horse in the mouth.

Agreed. There is just no pleasing some people.

I have owned all but two of games being offered in Europe so I will be getting the two I haven't already owned. To people complaining about already having the games, why not trade them in your physical copies if you still have them, in a way you get some of your money back from buying the game originally but with benefit of actually still owning a copy of the game.