Tag: Sony Online Entertainment

PSN and SOE: They’re Coming Back Today!


By the time you view this video, PSN may be activated in your area. Today begins phase 1 of Sony’s restoration services for the Playstation Network, rolling out in various countries and states one by one. Players will be able to sign into the Playstation Network and download a patch and reset their passwords (this is mandatory). Gameplay services are also being restored on the PS3 and PSP, as well as access to services like Hulu, Netflix, the friends system, and Playstation Home.

If you live in the states, check out this page to see if PSN service has been restored in your area.

On the Sony Online Entertainment side of things, service appears to be restored. Those of you with subscriptions will see that your next billing period is listed as “45 days,” from an unknown billing source. For your games you do not subscribe to, you will see 45 days free game time listed as “pending.” I was not subscribed to DC Universe at the time of the shut down, and I still received 45 days free.

There are a few perks not mentioned in the previous announcement players can take part in. In Everquest, for example, housing decay has been deactivated for 30 days. Either way, welcome back everyone! PS3 users have a bit more to wait, but PC Station users can dive right in.

PSN and SOE: They're Coming Back Today!


By the time you view this video, PSN may be activated in your area. Today begins phase 1 of Sony’s restoration services for the Playstation Network, rolling out in various countries and states one by one. Players will be able to sign into the Playstation Network and download a patch and reset their passwords (this is mandatory). Gameplay services are also being restored on the PS3 and PSP, as well as access to services like Hulu, Netflix, the friends system, and Playstation Home.

If you live in the states, check out this page to see if PSN service has been restored in your area.

On the Sony Online Entertainment side of things, service appears to be restored. Those of you with subscriptions will see that your next billing period is listed as “45 days,” from an unknown billing source. For your games you do not subscribe to, you will see 45 days free game time listed as “pending.” I was not subscribed to DC Universe at the time of the shut down, and I still received 45 days free.

There are a few perks not mentioned in the previous announcement players can take part in. In Everquest, for example, housing decay has been deactivated for 30 days. Either way, welcome back everyone! PS3 users have a bit more to wait, but PC Station users can dive right in.

DC Universe Merge: “I Think I Get It” Edition


DC Universe may still be offline in all areas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it, right? A few weeks ago, I mentioned an announcement by Sony Online Entertainment that the game would be merged into four “super servers,” each servicing one platform in one area (so PCNA, PCEU, PS3NA, and PS3EU). Sony mentioned in the announcement that the merge was unorthodox, and the exact details have been rather confusing up until late. Hopefully I’ll be able to explain it better.

Rather than having four traditional servers, DC Universe will operate much like Guild Wars or Champions Online. For instance, entering the PC North American server will place the player in one of several Metropolis’, based on factors including PVP preference, presence of league members, and other factors. The instance queuing system, however, will pool players from each instance, meaning my PvP character and your PvE character can be grouped up to fight Harley Quinn in her instance.

So the amount of servers is remaining the same, the only difference is that players will connect via a single hub (per area/system) and distribute from there. This system will also allow for cross-server queuing and will remove the need to reroll characters just because you discovered your friend plays on the PC, but on a different server.

So Sony was right in not calling this a “server merger” but rather a “server melding.” I wish they’d better explained it from the start but we all can’t get what we want.

DC Universe Merge: "I Think I Get It" Edition


DC Universe may still be offline in all areas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it, right? A few weeks ago, I mentioned an announcement by Sony Online Entertainment that the game would be merged into four “super servers,” each servicing one platform in one area (so PCNA, PCEU, PS3NA, and PS3EU). Sony mentioned in the announcement that the merge was unorthodox, and the exact details have been rather confusing up until late. Hopefully I’ll be able to explain it better.

Rather than having four traditional servers, DC Universe will operate much like Guild Wars or Champions Online. For instance, entering the PC North American server will place the player in one of several Metropolis’, based on factors including PVP preference, presence of league members, and other factors. The instance queuing system, however, will pool players from each instance, meaning my PvP character and your PvE character can be grouped up to fight Harley Quinn in her instance.

So the amount of servers is remaining the same, the only difference is that players will connect via a single hub (per area/system) and distribute from there. This system will also allow for cross-server queuing and will remove the need to reroll characters just because you discovered your friend plays on the PC, but on a different server.

So Sony was right in not calling this a “server merger” but rather a “server melding.” I wish they’d better explained it from the start but we all can’t get what we want.

SOE Compensation Details


While Sony expects to have services returned soon™, the company has detailed their plans for compensation on the official SOE website. As mentioned previously, all players will receive 30 days free game time, plus one day for every day the service is offline, plus the following items. These offers hold for both PC and PS3 users in their respective games.

  • DC Universe™ Online: Batman™ and Two-Face™ Inspired Masks and 30 Marks of Distinction
  • Free Realms®: Free daily items (7 to collect)
  • Clone Wars Adventures™: Count Dooku v2 Outfit
  • EverQuest®: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Rare Mob Spawns and Double Faction Gains
  • EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Guild XP, Loot Bonanza, and City Festivals
  • Vanguard: Saga of Heroes®: A series of Double XP events
  • Star Wars Galaxies™: Bounty Hunter Statue, a miniature model of Boba Fett’s ship, the Slave I™
  • Magic: The Gathering – Tactics™: Four of each of these spells: “Ivory Mask”, “Duress” and “Angelheart Vial”, plus 500 Station Cash
  • PoxNora®: Limited edition Carrionling, Welcome Back 5K Gold Award Tournaments and two Draft Tournaments, plus 500 Station Cash
  • For our lifetime subscribers, we’ll grant in-game currency; specifically 20,000 coins for Free Realms, 7,500 Galactic Credits for Clone Wars Adventures and 10 Marks of Distinction for DC Universe Online (in addition to the items listed above).
  • And finally, our Station Access subscribers will receive 500 Station Cash, in addition to the subscription time and items listed above.
Also, US based subscribers are being enrolled in identity theft protection through Debix, which you can read more about here.

PSN Service Aiming For May 31st.


At this juncture, I’m just waiting for Sony to pull a card from Duke Nukem Forever and just label the PSN service as being restored “when it’s done.” To those of us who do a lot of gaming on our Playstation 3, or to PC users who subscribed to one or more game on Sony’s Station service, it may feel like forever ago that the Playstation Network and Sony Online Entertainment services went down. The PSN has been down for almost twenty days, while Station service was pulled one week ago.

According to Sony, the service is aimed for restoration by May 31st, a date that does not specifically include the Station service. It is worth noting that this is “full service,” and that Sony has expressed intent on restoring partial service (online gaming, store) as soon as last week, so you may see bits and pieces of the PSN coming up before the end of the month.

You can read the Eurogamer announcement here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-09-sony-psn-restoration-targets-end-of-may

More on Sony as it appears.

PS3: Compensation. No PSN This Week.


Those of you who play DC Universe on the PS3, of whom are planning on coming back to the game once it comes online, may be interested to hear the details of Sony’s “Welcome back” package. Announced on Sony’s Facebook page, the plan includes:

  • 30 days free game time.
  • Plus one free day for every day the service was interrupted.
  • And the mask you see above.

I hear if you play your cards right, Shigeru Miyamoto will come to your house and play Super Smash Bros. (but only the N64 version) with you. Actually, I’m being told Shigeru Miyamoto is from Nintendo. My apologies for the mistake. I’ve been tracking down the Free Realms and Massive Action Game, although the Free Realms guys have not released any compensation details, and the Massive Action Game guys haven’t talked about the downtime at all, as far as I can see.

And finally, a Playstation Network update. According to an article on CSMonitor, a Sony rep has announced that the Playstation Network will not be back up and running “this week.” There has not been an official announcement on the Sony blog, despite the article being published yesterday, so take the news as credible at your own risk.

At this rate, players will receive almost two months of free DC Universe game time on the PS3, with PC SOE users reportedly receiving 30 days free game time plus one day for every day the service is offline. There is still no information as to when the Sony Station service will be returned.

Sony Station Offline Today Pending Investigation


Good morning, folks. Those of you attempting to log into any of Sony Online Entertainment’s games may be asking yourself, “why can’t I log into my favorite SOE game?” or “why am I asking a non-Sony blog why their services are offline?” Of course those of you who came here before checking Sony’s website will have missed the following announcement:

We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday).

I call the joke on Sony Offline Entertainment, it’s mine. I’ll be watching for further announcements later today.

PS3 Services Returning This Week


Finally some good news for our PS3 players of DC Universe, Massive Action Game, and Free Realms (the latter of which I for some reason ignored on the past articles relating to the PS3 outage). According to the Playstation Blog today, services will be returning to the Playstation Network this week and, as expected, compensation will be coming along with it. Players will be given free downloads of select software of unknown name or quantity (perhaps a free digital download of DC Universe to bolster subscriber numbers?), 30 days of free PSN Plus, and that:

Additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

In addition, Playstation users will undergo a forced update if they want to be able to sign into PSN:

In addition, PS3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service.  As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

You can read more on the blog link above. No news yet on compensation for DC Universe or Free Realms subscribers.

Super Servers Sounds Better Than Server Merger


I have a new goal: Find the guy who writes Sony’s press releases, and hire him to the MMO Fallout team. In an announcement today on Sony’s website came the revelation of four “super servers,” to reduce queue times, delivered in a much more positive fashion than “we’re merging servers.”

We have heard your concerns about queue times on the servers. This game is about people playing and fighting together so we feel your pain. Sometime in the next month, we are going to test new technology to meld all of our US and European PC and PS3 servers into four Super-Servers, one for each platform in each region.

This news couldn’t have come at a worse time, what with Sony not only going through layoffs, but also the continued downtime of the PS3 DC Universe since the 20th.

This announcement takes me back to what I said in January:

Will this be one of the few MMOs whose population doesn’t crash one month after launch? I’m not holding my breath, but let’s hope for the best.

DC Universe is a fun game, but since launch I’ve had to question its long term viability. The leveling to end game is fast, and Sony really went off track in terms of the game’s social features.