SOE Begins Restoration of Services

UPDATE, May 14, 7:15p.m. EDT: SOE has slowly begun restoration of their services.

SOE - Restoration Announcement
SOE - Welcome Back Program
SOE - Recent Updates

SAN DIEGO, May 14, 2011 - Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) announced today that restoration of its game services will begin today. The phased restoration will include the return of nearly all of SOE's portfolio of online games, the reinstatement of SOE's game forums and websites, and added functionality to require players to reset their passwords.


For details on the hacker attack that has kept SOE down since May 2 and compromised the personal information of players, check out SOE's brief FAQ and all of our previous coverage. See this article for the May 12th news on the "Make Good" program details.

During the downtime you are welcome to join us in ZAM's IRC chat. Feldon of EQ2Wire also has set up a ZAM IRC java applet that you can use.


Game-specific May 11th updates:

EverQuest: Players with an active house will be credited one month of upkeep costs and the inactive period will be extended from 90 to 150 days.

EverQuest II: All houses requiring rent will have one month added free to help offset any costs incurred during this outage.

Free Realms: The Free Realms birthday event and the New Member Bonus Bonanza will be extended to give everyone a chance to participate in them. Don’t worry about your farms; they’ll be taken care of too!

Star Wars Galaxies: All Galactic Civil War point decay has been suspended and inactive citizen removal time temporarily increased by 14 days. Item and vendor expiration timers have also been increased by 14 days.

Vanguard: One day for each day lost will be added to every player's Upkeep Bank to help offset any costs incurred during this outage.

Comments

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servers wont be up today
# May 11 2011 at 2:47 PM Rating: Decent
Dosnt "the severes wont be up today" make it seem like there was a chance they would be up? Like they didnt know it would not be up? To tell people no not today every day seems strange. I would think they knew yesterday or the day befor it would not be up. So why tell us every day that it isnt up?
servers wont be up today
# May 11 2011 at 7:50 PM Rating: Decent
nako75 wrote:
Dosnt "the severes wont be up today" make it seem like there was a chance they would be up? Like they didnt know it would not be up? To tell people no not today every day seems strange. I would think they knew yesterday or the day befor it would not be up. So why tell us every day that it isnt up?



Well my guess on this subject remains the same from day1 of this problem.

SOE/SONY is pulling the ultimate troll on us with their canned/late everyday message.

I am really starting to feel bad for the ZAM site for putting up with the rants.But since sony site says nothing at all we must come here.
servers wont be up today
# May 11 2011 at 4:57 PM Rating: Decent
Why?

Well my guess would be that they want you to wait until the services are back up. If they came flat out and said they wouldn't be up for X amount of time, say 3 weeks. There would be a lot of people who'd go find something else to do. It's likely they feel that by stringing people along day by day they will prevent some people from finding other ways to fill their time. If everyone just waits around for servers to come back up, then they will diminish the impact the down time has had on over all number of people willing to keep paying a subscription fee.

So, shortest Q & A version =

Q. Why

A. Money
Closing Accounts?
# May 11 2011 at 2:28 PM Rating: Decent
All of you guys that are closing your accounts, are you still expecting SOE to offer free time when the servers are back up?

Think about it. Sony are going to be hammered financially by this and going from past experience with them I'd suggest they will be looking for any possible way to reduce the number of freebies (and hence cost) they have to give out.

Don't be surprised when the servers come back up and you re-open your account if SOE suddenly start treating you like a new account holder and claiming that because it's a new account, you're not entitled to the free play time they are talking about.
Closing Accounts?
# May 11 2011 at 3:02 PM Rating: Decent
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384 posts
Kahonen wrote:
All of you guys that are closing your accounts, are you still expecting SOE to offer free time when the servers are back up?

Think about it. Sony are going to be hammered financially by this and going from past experience with them I'd suggest they will be looking for any possible way to reduce the number of freebies (and hence cost) they have to give out.

Don't be surprised when the servers come back up and you re-open your account if SOE suddenly start treating you like a new account holder and claiming that because it's a new account, you're not entitled to the free play time they are talking about.


No offence but I would sooner miss out on a free month than have someone running up my Credit Card so I can get a free $15.

Now since for safety sake many people have changed their CC's because of SOE's failure to protect the details and since the servers are down so we can not update our credit information then I would have to think twice about dealing with SOE should they try and treat us like new customers due to their failure.

At this point in proceedings SOE's credibility is wearing pretty thin I am not sure trying to shaft what is left of their loyal customer base would be a good economic move.
Closing Accounts?
# May 11 2011 at 2:41 PM Rating: Decent
Kahonen wrote:
All of you guys that are closing your accounts, are you still expecting SOE to offer free time when the servers are back up?

Think about it. Sony are going to be hammered financially by this and going from past experience with them I'd suggest they will be looking for any possible way to reduce the number of freebies (and hence cost) they have to give out.

Don't be surprised when the servers come back up and you re-open your account if SOE suddenly start treating you like a new account holder and claiming that because it's a new account, you're not entitled to the free play time they are talking about.



thats what happens when a company is hacked for cc info
smart people shut the card off before they are ripped off by the hackers
it wouldnt be a new acct if it wasnt for sonys hack
or should i have kept my cc alive till hackers get into it or wait till sony charges my card for another month so that im paying them to get free time for my loss of game and cc information
Closing Accounts?
# May 12 2011 at 4:05 AM Rating: Decent
corwin155 wrote:
thats what happens when a company is hacked for cc info
smart people shut the card off before they are ripped off by the hackers
it wouldnt be a new acct if it wasnt for sonys hack
or should i have kept my cc alive till hackers get into it or wait till sony charges my card for another month so that im paying them to get free time for my loss of game and cc information


Woahhh, slow down a bit. Did you actually read my post? If you did, can you tell me where I mentioned getting cards stopped? It was nothing to do with stopping cards or not stopping cards, and everything to do with the number of people that clearly don't intend to stop their cards but do intend to stop the payments to SOE either by closing their accounts or contacting their banks.

My cards were all stopped within minutes of the news of this breaking, I find it incredibly sad that others haven't done the same.

My post was related to the SOE fan-boys that are defending Sony while demanding increasingly pathetic compensation ("Oooh, I want 10000000000 double XP pots and a full set of T4 raid armour"). It's clear from the posts that many of these people haven't considered cancelling their cards but they are now whining because they are being billed and are now talking about closing their accounts (go read some of the posts again and check the names attached to them)

When all this is done the majority of people will receive diddly-squat from SOE. Those that do receive anything will receive the absolute minimum that SOE can get away with. They don't give a stuff about their customer-base, never have and never will. We are a large corporate piggy bank and nothing else. If they did care, this wouldn't have happened.
Da a foxhacker still be lurking in the henhouse?
# May 11 2011 at 2:27 PM Rating: Decent
I'm just not all that worried if them hackers stole a few dollars from me with my credit card that was nearly limited out anyway. Heckfire, our crazy government takes alot of our dollars whenever they want to, so I'm sorta used to that. What I'm really most worried about is that they mighta thieved some of my stuff on my character! Yep, that would probably agitate me. So if'n they did, would some of ya'll that be quiting mind replacing them little bling blings before ya go? <hugs>
Billed?
# May 11 2011 at 2:24 PM Rating: Decent
I am curious about the people who have been billed since they shut down the servers. I don't pretend to know the inner workings of banks, but here is my experience.

My bank authorized payment to SOE for one of my four accounts in the days preceding the server shutdown. Typically with SOE, it takes them at least 4-6 days for the payment to actually clear, which is slower than most other payments through my bank. That account still has not been paid out by my bank even though authorized. My best guess is that the billing server was shut down between authorization and the actual transaction.

On Sunday afternoon before the servers coming down, I purchased HOT for the last of my accounts. That authorization was approved by my bank, but, like the subscription fee, has not been payed out.

The three other accounts were due last week during the shutdown, but none have been authorized or payed out.

From what I am seeing, the billing system seems to be shut down and I am not expecting to be billed until it comes back up. The money is in the account to cover them in case I am wrong, but seems odd that so many are being billed and I am not.
SoE Pool for restored service
# May 11 2011 at 2:11 PM Rating: Decent
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93 posts
http://soepool.com/

Try and predict when they come back up by leaving a comment with your prediction. If you win you get 500,000 Plat on the Firiona Vie Everquest Server.

Though it sucks if your not on the FV server. We finally get some love.
Hmmm.
# May 11 2011 at 2:05 PM Rating: Decent
Aye from what ive been reading it will be next month EQ will be back .
pretty much canceled my cc few days after they went off line , and gave us Hints too.
i figured if loggin info was there , good chance cc info was too.
Hopefully SOE / EQ dev team will get chance to work on the bugs the new security system Sonys putting in place .
been playing that online old paper game , and its just not the same as EQ heh



Edited, May 11th 2011 4:06pm by corwin155
Hmmm.
# May 11 2011 at 1:39 PM Rating: Decent
Looks like the predictions of a end of the month re-launch of SOE / PSN is looking more and more realistic. What I've done since the outage is now I have a new Credit card and playing older games in the time being. Real life actually gotten busier over this month so it looks like a hidden blessing. :)

I really hope SOE / EQ dev team is working on bugs while the servers are off line during this outage.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 1:10 PM Rating: Decent
so its ok that sony didnt protect the customer's cc information ?
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 2:33 PM Rating: Decent
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60 posts
corwin155 wrote:
so its ok that sony didnt protect the customer's cc information ?


It really depends on what your viewpoint is.

Legally, it boils down to something called, "best practices of the industry". If Sony's security met that somewhat fuzzy and shifting concept, then the information was protected. If Sony's security didn't comply with best practices then legally they did not protect the information.

Morally, no they didn't and nobody else does either because it wasn't 100% secure. Nobody's security is 100%. Not even the financial institution that issued your card.




Edited, May 11th 2011 4:36pm by Bariag
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 5:56 PM Rating: Decent
This is like those little signs in the supermarket parking lot that say "Not responsible for damage from carts"...you know what? They ARE, the sign doesnt absolve them of the risk.

Similarly, Sony cannot play the, "We had the best security" card and hope the lawsuits go away. Many corporations have been destroyed by similar negligence. In the end, if enough people wanted to, they could force Sony into bankruptcy. Despite what the Sony apologists on the board say, Sony IS legally responsible if someone is defrauded out of money.
*** UPDATE ***
# May 11 2011 at 1:00 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
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90 posts
Look, I think people would just like to see communication from a company that is accepting their money each month to provide a service which, at this time, is not being provided. How about updating your own webpage with updates. The last update posted to your own (SoE) website was a week ago...Unacceptable. If the same clown that suggested that I Google SoE, Everquest, EQ Hack etc. again wants to throw in his 2 cents worth...do us a favor..."DON'T!!!"

Look, just be honest and as one post stated earlier, stop treating us like a bunch of 5 year olds and just tell us the real truth about what to expect and give us a reasonable expectation. That's it!
____________________________
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 12:59 PM Rating: Decent
so your saying it was all the hackers fault
It was sony who didnt protect your cc information
im saying both are at fault
hackers for stealing the information that sony should have protected
two wrongs dont make sony in the right
and like i said before eula's are to protect the company not you

Edited, May 11th 2011 3:07pm by corwin155
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 9:16 PM Rating: Decent
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63 posts
Don't forget the third party at fault here...You!
Did you give Sony your credit car info? Yes.
Are they a fraud protection agency that protects consumers? No.
Were they victims of a crime? Yes.

That being said, how many other companies do you purchase products or services from using your credit card?
Do you trust them with your personal information? I would hope not. Any criminal minded deviant at any small business or large corporation anywhere that has your information on file could access that information and use it if they wanted to.
It's up to you to protect yourself from things like this so yes you can say Sony may be somewhat liable, the hackers definately should be put behind bars for the criminal act, and you should blame yourself for trusting someone with your personal and financial information.
what if?
# May 11 2011 at 11:32 AM Rating: Default
You hear alot of people saying they been charged and still no eq..Maybe if all these eq players should call up there banks and request to have a block on SOE so you wont get billed.Maybe SOE will work faster so they can get their money.
what if?
# May 11 2011 at 12:25 PM Rating: Decent
Ok you know I have seen post after post where people are still getting billed. Have you stoped and thought that it may not have been SOE. My account was to be billed on May 2nd and have not been billed and 2 of my kids accounts was to be billed on the 10th and they still have not been billed. I am thinking your CC maybe one of the ones that got stolen you should check on that.
what if?
# May 11 2011 at 11:46 AM Rating: Decent
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61 posts
Closed remaining accts a few min ago.

Ive had TOO many accts over the yrs, in the past, I used to pay 2 yrs at a time, then as money got tight, less and less.

Used the 858 number, wasnt a long wait and closed remaining active accts to prevent billing, I asked if it was gonna be stopped with out my call, the answer was no, it was scheduled for billing still.

IF and when services come up and IF I feel like it ill take another look but for now my $$ can be spent elsewhere.

10 yr veteran, botter here, dble xp or some other lame crap wasnt holding my interest (max lvl max aa up to date gear), no I dont hate SOE, how does that go? its not personal, its just bussiness, Ill hold on to my 15 per acct for now.

Its hard during hard times to justify playing an on line game but paying and not playing well thats just retarded.

what if?
# May 11 2011 at 11:52 AM Rating: Decent
22 posts
Congratulations!

Glad you're moving on, saving money and hope that you find fun and excitement in another game.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 11:24 AM Rating: Default
Over the last 10 days or so I have followed the news reports and some of the forums regarding Sony, hackers, and the networks being down. Some of you have had insightful, intelligent responses and commentary about our shared situation. Some of you are venting your frustrations in a way you find appropriate (by the way - thank you for not beating your spouse, shaking the baby, or kicking the family pet over this matter). And some of you, well, might I suggest some professional help ...
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/
http://www.angermgmt.com/

The biggest concern that I see posted is about the lack of communication from the Sony Corporation or its employees. Sony (as a corporation) needs to choose it words very carefully when it comes to the release of information regarding this matter, not only to help prevent confusion but also to prevent the further weakening of its reputation within the community. As for communications from the employees - most major organizations have two agreements that potential employees MUST agree to sign as a condition of their employment. One is an agreement that restricts the communication (in ANY form) with media sources for any reason without the permission of the corporation. These sources include television, radio, internet, and social networks (just to name a few). The other agreement is one of non-disclosure. That means the release of information regarding policies, procedures, products, and etc is restricted without the permission of the corporation. In almost all cases, failure to comply with either of the agreements will result in (and is not limited to) termination of employment. So, what it comes down to is that no one is going to risk their job or family well-being so that you can find out if or when you can play a game today.

That brings up the question about Sony not caring about the SOE players. Ok, the PSN people did spent hundreds of dollars on the system plus additional money on the game itself, but after a while most of these players move on to something else. The online players are a bit more dedicated to the games that they play. We form long term commitments, upgrade both hardware and software as needed, and provide a consistent overall cash flow greater than the 25-30% population would reflect. Either way it looks good on a stock report. So, in its simplest terms, Sony does care in as much as we pay their salaries and would like to keep us happy enough to remain their customers.

Now we come to compensation to help keep us happy. You'll take what they offer - there are no negotiations here. You may think that YOU deserve more for YOUR inconvenience, but you don't. There have been statements about compensating players accounts 1 month plus 1 day for every day that the network is down. That seems more than fair and benefits everyone affected. I personally do not agree with the idea of giving players a level 90 character as compensation - that character did not do what it takes to earn the level and is an insult to the players who developed their characters. Experience potions and multiple experience days are a waste to a players character who has already earned their levels. Any compensation, if any, would have to be fair to everyone.

When will the networks be back online? They will be down for as long necessary and will not be back up one moment sooner. Sony is working within its means to correct its failings. When dealing with security issues it's not like you can just run down the store a pick up a copy of Norton's and install it. Recognition of potential weak points and holes must be done. Then either the existing software will need to be rewritten or new software will need to be developed to eliminate the potential access points. Investigation and innovation takes time. Some people out there posted their solutions to the problem claiming it was an easy fix, I say to them ... STEP UP -
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=JRKV0B&ff=21&APath=2.21.21.0.0&job_did=J3F4GV6PLHHGXQC9WWF
or SHUT UP.

As for the information that may or may not have been obtained by hackers, it is your responsibility to monitor your own situation and to take action as necessary. As a responsible adult you should have been monitoring your bank accounts, credit/debit cards, and credit reports for abnormalities already. Then, if you can PROVE that YOUR specific information has been accessed or tampered with you should be taking measures to prevent further damage. This would include (but is not limited to) contacting your banking establishment, the credit bureaus, Sony, and an attorney to see what options are available to you to help resolve the issue.

Thank you for allowing me some of your time.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 12:05 PM Rating: Decent
Nicely reasoned and well written but it is precisely the lack of updates that is ruining Sony's reputation at this point, not the fact that they were hacked. They are a big company and have many experts who work for them and resources at their disposal. At this point in time they should know what happened to them and have an action plan and an implementation schedule in place. If they do not then there are crippling problems at Sony. It is the perception that there is no plan in place, the idea that they still do not have a clue about how they were hacked or how to stop it in the future that is killing them. As we all know it is not just EQ that is down but the PS3 is just a big paperweight now. It will not even play a blu-ray dvd. How long will that situation last? I will say it again: It is the lack of information that is undermining Sony's reputation and it is doing far more damage than the actual hack ever did.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 11:57 AM Rating: Good
you are so wrong on many things your pointing out
1. you cant say its your responsibility to protect yourself for cc info
most of us do that, but its sony's responsibility to also protect that information
im sure they didnt post their corporate cc info on those same servers
2. sony makes you say yes to everything their lawyers mumbo jumbo for eula's
or you dont play
so most of that is to protect the corporation not you
you cant make ppl say yes to eulas then not protect the information you've given them to play their game
no wonder attorney general's around U.S are turning up the Heat on sonys practice of making your cc info available to hackers
3. im not just paying for sonys game, im paying for security of a safe game.
you can say all you want about sonys eula saying its your responsibility and not theirs
well if im paying for a service it better be safe or attorney general gets involved
and sony needs to be audited by every states attorney general if they think its ok and not their fault that your cc info was stolen from their servers
i blame the hackers for stealing that info , but it was sonys responsibility to keep that information safe
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 1:06 PM Rating: Decent
21 posts
And you can also choose NOT to give the CC info and play a different game. They don't force you to do anything you don't want to. It's YOUR choice to play EQ, YOUR choice to buy the game, the subscription and continue to play. They just offer it to you.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 12:37 PM Rating: Decent
I am sorry that corwin155 misread or misunderstood my post.

I said that it is your responsibility to monitor your credit/debit card activity. You entrusted Sony with the protection of the card information, it then becomes your responsibility to see that trust was not misplaced.

I have at no time made any mention of the EULA. Simply put, you must read and then agree to the license agreement to be able to use the software and have access to the gaming servers. No one forced you to "say yes" to anything. If you don't like the EULA or any of the conditions contained therein you don't have to play.

Credit card information was NOT "made available" to hackers. Any personal information was obtained illegally.

A crime was committed against Sony ... this was done electronically ... but still no different than walking into a bank with a gun. Safety and security is a matter of perspective.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 11:52 AM Rating: Decent
You prove SOE's incomeptency on many areas. If they had posted half of what you stated in the main page and time to explain their situation, most people would have went with it. It is not their disclosure agreement that employees signed preventing SOE to do better communication with customers. They just have many things going on same time and CSR is just not important part. This is where they are failing. No, SOE DOES NOT CARE. It is not a person. It makes a collective decisions. It CARES the customers' subscriptions and will do what they can to please its customers. Once the PSN and MMO comes up and they will realize they just lost 15%-20% of MMO populations. And SOE will blame on hackers instead of its aweful customer relations. SOE MMO populations will suffer for sure.

Nice posting. Too bad that SOE cannot do half of job you did in 10 minutes.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 11:49 AM Rating: Decent
Avatar
37 posts
They could of posted "Gone Fishing,Back when we got our limit!"But they must have some sort of idea of an ETA.But agreed .. what ever they offer is fine, but I don't think the will netgotiate.We could go to Fanfair enforce... browbeat em Face to Face..just a thought.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 11:46 AM Rating: Decent
22 posts
Well stated post which I can almost completely agree with your post, the statement of responsibility being the one partial differing point. But that's neither here nor there.

Bottom line is this, you basically wasted the time and effort in typing that up and providing the links you have. Just like I am now.

The ranters and ragers simply have not, do not and will not subscribe to common sense and practicality. They want what they want right now and will continue to post rage posts to that effect.

If their anger hasn't subsided to a rational point by now, it won't, no matter how much sensibility you, me or the next person preaches at them.

It's simply better to leave them be. Maybe hope that their anger plays itself out. Or they finally find a breaking point and actually cancel their subscriptions and move on.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 11:46 AM Rating: Decent
I think it's awesome that the job link you provided was posted 4 days after the hack.
Your Time and Mine
# May 11 2011 at 5:23 PM Rating: Decent
try a week and 4 days
About their net loss...
# May 11 2011 at 11:17 AM Rating: Default
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61 posts
Quote:
so they are eating a net loss of 1.828 - 2.598 billion... sony is financially screwed as it is, without looking at the numbers, check the wiki on them... kind of depressing...


so thats the loss of income for 2 months?, now multiply that same number by 10 and that would give you what they make over 1 yr even with 2 months worth of not charging?

Anyone know why it even costs what it costs for their services?

to offset the cost of gas?...........
to compensate for a different set of inflation?........
to pay for more staff?..........
cause their expansions are expensive to deliver (what was that one offer they had like 60 70 80 90) for a collecters DIGITAL edition?.....

For those that are out there throwing the word greed around if and when some poor kids asks for a god damn xp potion..... yeah right, your on it man.

One guy even went on to say that our 50 cent a day loss is petty.... dumbass needs to borrow a calculator and multiply 50 cents by however many of us are paying said 50 cents, here is a hint its a F@$K ton.

likestonuke
# May 11 2011 at 11:07 AM Rating: Decent
I know Likestonuke and let me tell you...she is always right...love to my favorite wizard in the game...

Laeff
likestonuke
# May 11 2011 at 11:18 AM Rating: Decent
Thurmon wrote:
I know Likestonuke and let me tell you...she is always right...love to my favorite wizard in the game...

Laeff


This does not change anything we still evac after you die =)
likestonuke
# May 11 2011 at 11:52 AM Rating: Decent
Lmao Likes, so true so true, but its okay i still love ya.
eta?
# May 11 2011 at 11:00 AM Rating: Decent
Really I think what would satisfy most people here is a better set of updates.

I wake up, do some crap in the morning, check ZAM and cross my fingers while doing so. I am then shattered into many small pieces and must find other things to do to fill the time. Like someone else already said, one can only do so much gardening and yard work. Truth is the garden out back will feed 100's this year thanks to EQ being down. But it probably would have been that way anyway :p.

The point is, I would like to skip that morning ritual and not check back for however long it takes to get the game back up. I just want a date, one that I can definitely plan around. Anyone who plays EQ knows that the game requires a fair amount of time management in the real world to play, and this is just killing everyone who does that.

Say the game won't be up until a certain date, that way we can go on with our lives in the meantime and not have EQ tentatively scheduled only to be pushed farther away.

I am fine with the compensation as of now, I just want to plan my time accordingly and this is not doing it for me.
eta?
# May 11 2011 at 11:09 AM Rating: Decent
It's possible that the reason we're being drip-fed information like this is because it's going to take quite some time to fix and they're concerned about spooking people away by coming out and saying, "Look it's going to be down for a month". They're probably spooking more people away by giving the impression they're ignoring their consumers with this tactic, but there we go.

Either way, this is SoE - I'd get used to seeing these kind of updates until whatever final outcome occurs.
eta?
# May 11 2011 at 11:22 AM Rating: Decent
Aye i agree with you
this is soe they like to ignore eq players
eta?
# May 11 2011 at 11:16 AM Rating: Decent
It is like a little kid asking to go do something. You don't tell them "we are going to the park at 4:15 pm the drive will take 15m and unloading the vehicle 5 so we will be playing on the jungle gym at precisely 4:35 pm." No, you tell them when they ask, 20 minutes more!, or 5 minutes more! Or, "we're almost there!" This is what SONY is doing, but sadly we are not children and can easily handle, (and prefer) a slightly more complex answer than they have been providing.

I honestly feel slightly insulted at the way they have chosen to speak to us.
WTB
# May 11 2011 at 10:36 AM Rating: Decent
/ooc WTB update on situation... PST =)
A little honesty
# May 11 2011 at 10:35 AM Rating: Decent
A little honesty would be nice...every day its the same message and the game isn't up yet. I think they have a better idea of how long this whole process will take, I think they should just give us an honest answer so that peeps aren't checking every day just to be let down yet again. Also, its funny that the only thing working in their whole system is the automatic bank drafts, thats fked up, they really shouldn't be charging people, thats just wrong on so many levels.
more
# May 11 2011 at 9:46 AM Rating: Decent

likestonuke is kinda right , i am on the 3 month plan to pay, how are they giveing me any free time the plus 1 day is a joke. infact what would they do if i was to say, i would not pay for may since i have not played? thats is a nightmare . they will never refund me , but i am sure they would love to credit my account. if i play/pay for 365 days where is the free? are they going to check my account, and thin see they own me so that months bill is less than normal? if so thats every account they have since the downed servers . there stock has droped 43.some pct. how much stuff like this can they aford . ppl say they are makeing money hand over fist . not if all there stuff is down. {Oh yeah there still charging ppl for stuffs whin the ppl are getting Notta thing}. how else do they pay the ppl to keep billing us .to me its ether the bigest joke or a scam and atm i am "laughing" hard .
more
# May 11 2011 at 10:27 AM Rating: Good
Botkin wrote:

likestonuke is kinda right , i am on the 3 month plan to pay, how are they giveing me any free time the plus 1 day is a joke. infact what would they do if i was to say, i would not pay for may since i have not played? thats is a nightmare . they will never refund me , but i am sure they would love to credit my account. if i play/pay for 365 days where is the free? are they going to check my account, and thin see they own me so that months bill is less than normal? if so thats every account they have since the downed servers . there stock has droped 43.some pct. how much stuff like this can they aford . ppl say they are makeing money hand over fist . not if all there stuff is down. {Oh yeah there still charging ppl for stuffs whin the ppl are getting Notta thing}. how else do they pay the ppl to keep billing us .to me its ether the bigest joke or a scam and atm i am "laughing" hard .


even if you subscribe for a year, you will still get the extra time, all they do it extend the renewal date. the people that state they are making money hand over fist because of the subscription cost have absolutley no idea of the financial resposbilities and what EBIDTA is.

youare 100 percent corrct they will not refund you - read the financial trems of service for your subscription, you already pay for time that you don't access the system the subscription gives you access 7x24x365, so unless you play all those hours then you are being charged for time ot used. the fots ststem that the system will not be avaialable at all times.

The stock has dropped because of this - the major loser here is the company and the stock holders - the player is not losing anything but access to their addiction. In the long run this is going to have a major impact on the company and the stockholder.
SOE Really?
# May 11 2011 at 9:18 AM Rating: Default
Guys and girls from SOE, REALLY!? Guys, you should have already had the games fixed by now! You've caught the crook (I hear on the radio from my dad), and said you only had to fix the games. Whats up with your guys' brains? Every day you say," Oh.. Ooops... Duhr its not up... Duhr... Wait patiently... Duhr..." Seriously? No really, every day its down. If the games aren't back up this weekend, I'm going to convince MANY people to quit your games and move on. This is rediculous.
SOE Really?
# May 11 2011 at 10:37 AM Rating: Good
22 posts
WoW!

Seriously? No really, every day its down. If the games aren't back up this weekend, I'm going to convince MANY people to quit your games and move on. This is rediculous.

How are you going to convince me, to quit a game I have played since 1999.
Do you understand how may thousands of dollars I have invested in this game. I have bought each expansion when they came out, and $10.00 to $15.00 a month for 12 years. Not counting other things i have bought for in game.

I think i will through it all away because some girl is mad the game is not up as fast as she would like it to be.


I want the servers up to, but I am not going to quit the game because of this issue or because some spoiled little girl is upset.
the problem
# May 11 2011 at 8:54 AM Rating: Decent
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344 posts
I think because they built all of their games to depend on an old pay/database system they need to fix that and then also recode parts of every one of their games. Remember that the game doesnt just check account database at login. It also checks whenever you do something that requires you bought the expansion. IOW its going to be a nightmare to fix properly, and when the servers do finally come up expect them to go back down again when a flaw/exploit is revealed.

I remember there was a time when the game forgot that some people had bought one or more expansions and many people were rolled back to level 50. It took a month of petitioning to get my character fixed. This is like that except worse.
MMO comparison
# May 11 2011 at 8:21 AM Rating: Decent
As a follow up to one of my previous posts:

Rift: kinda sucks so far. Reminds me too much of WoW, I'm just clicking buttons with no real strategy. The beginning of the game is confusing and stupid, and doesn't really suck me in. It tells you you are a manufactured person and that you MUST SAVE THE WORLD! I can guaruntee right now I won't feel like that as I am playing. In EQ I am one of many adventurers just living in a really cool world, I don't have any objective other than to live well. And that's what makes EQ so awesome. However, I've only played for about one (frustrating) hour, so the verdict may still be out.

LOTRO: Really really fun for about 25-30 levels (which takes WAY less time than your first char's 25-30 levels in EQ). After that, you might have saved up enough turbine points purchase an expansion (I wouldn't do evendim if I were you, I didn't enjoy it) and then can move on to the high 30s low 40s. But at a certain point (if you are a free player) you just run out of things to do that are worth your time. I ended up doing skirmishes for like 4 levels in a row (getting about 1/4 of a level per skirmish) and it was alright, but there are only 2 you can do.

I have tried LOTRO, Rift and WoW now (over the past, I don't know, 2 years?) and I can honestly say nothing comes close to EQ for me.

I don't know if nostalgia has something to do with it (I started playing when I was like 13, in 2000), but I have never found a gaming experience like EQ. The depth and scale of the game is downright daunting. I know there are people that can absolutely dominate the game, and solo all the raid content from previous expansions, but I have never been that player. I'm a pretty causal player (have a couple chars in the mid 70s, and have been playing progression lately), but the way the interface and the game mechanics are set up is superb. When I click on a spell I actually understand I'm doing that, as opposed to clicking one button for "sword swing" and the one next to it for "fireball". I think the main thing that draws me back, however, is how authentic the world of EQ seems. I know its not really applicable to call a fantasy world "original" because everyone really just steals from Tolkien, and thousands of fantasy writers have constructed their own worlds, but I feel that they have come up with a really cohesive world that's FUN to be in.

See you all on Flippy as soon as the servers are back up!
MMO comparison
# May 12 2011 at 12:43 AM Rating: Decent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U2cZ2cEY1Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Om5iEuRfw
MMO comparison
# May 11 2011 at 11:32 AM Rating: Decent
When I finally gave up on EQ1 just before Underfoot came out, I knew I needed to find another game. I signed up for every beta test i could find, and in the end, came out enjoying the EQ2 extended server more than the original EQ experience, all 9 years of it.

It goes back to you can't make everyone happy, ever. EQ and EQ2 were/are tailor made for the PvE junkie. EQ's massive world and history provides for a real roleplaying experience, even with the grindage. EQ2 just built on that same foundation, but targeted your more casual player. In my game wanderings, I found that most games follow the WoW model of trying to balance PvP anf PvE while trying to keep the 'I WANT IT NOW' crowd from jumping ship. Trying to keep everyone happy also means everyone has to sacrifice. In an old guildies' blog rant, he once said the newer games just didn't have push. You never got that same sense of 'holy f%#k' from beating a WoW boss as you did camping Inny for 6 days. WHich is probably true for hardcorers. As I haven't done any hardcore gaming since Luclin came out, I can't really say. What I can say though is that WoW, Allods, LOTRO, DDO, and the like all made me feel confined and tied to quest progression and my charcter development was just incidental. DDo was probably the best out of all of them. It kinda felt like morrwind, but with 2d6 hit points.

Until the Sony servers come back up, I've given up on finding an EQ2 replacement. Nothing on the market is really big enough or its utterly witless in it's quest drudgery.

I've found that World of Tanks is really fun for about an hour or so every other night, but for the most part, I'm looking for old classics. I may even get my 64' out of the attic and play some Bard's Tale 2 and Wasteland.
MMO comparison
# May 11 2011 at 8:42 AM Rating: Decent
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Rift doesnt feel like a world to live in so much as a space to do battle in. The combat complexity is there but the world is not believable.
MMO comparison
# May 11 2011 at 8:58 AM Rating: Decent
I could definitely see that. I am going to give it more of a shot Thursday night when I have some free time, but I am unimpressed as of now. Thanks for your 2 cents though, seems like a very accurate statement.
enhhh
# May 11 2011 at 7:51 AM Rating: Default
downloading LOTRO as i write this (only 9hrs to go)
1. sony cant make an eula saying they are not responsible for your lost cc data, they would like you to agree to it but its not legal and they know it.
2. i canceled my card but rest assured sony will not let you get the 30 days plus 1 day for each day down w/o cc information.
3. sony will not be up till 10 days after the last person cancels said cc's
or if they dont it will be june before they are up
4. sony doesn't care about soe as much as they do for psn being 77 million rather then 25 million for soe, so good chance psn will be up way before soe
5. no i dont know if june is date they will be up , but i do know how sony treats soe people
6 thnx sony for taking my money so that hackers could steal my cc info
7 let the flamers begin
enhhh
# May 11 2011 at 11:36 AM Rating: Decent
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309 posts
corwin155 wrote:

1. sony cant make an eula saying they are not responsible for your lost cc data, they would like you to agree to it but its not legal and they know it.


Cite your source. A recent EULA case in the 8th district court stated that even if the EULA is BS and they (the judges) WANT to side with the consumer, they are not legally allowed to do so and the EULA's stand. Like it or not, they are legally binding.

Also see ProCD, Inc v. Zeidenberg and Microsoft v. Harmony Computers.

The trend of rulings is, and accordingly the law is, that if you agree to a contract (which a EULA is) under your own free will, that's it.

corwin155 wrote:
3. sony will not be up till 10 days after the last person cancels said cc's
or if they dont it will be june before they are up


Please cite your source, I'd be quite interested in reading about this. I was unable to find any information when I looked.

corwin155 wrote:
4. sony doesn't care about soe as much as they do for psn being 77 million rather then 25 million for soe, so good chance psn will be up way before soe


This inferred opinion implies that Sony does not at all care about SOE. I'm positive that Sony does in fact care about SOE, they just don't deal with customer relations very well. If they didn't care about SOE, they'd do one patch on EQ per year and it would be 5 minute fixes. Instead, they keep the game fresh, updated, and balanced. With that said, do they care MORE about PSN than SOE? Probably, based on the press releases lately when SOE hasn't even been mentioned. Therefore, this opinion is probably accurate. Just adding my little coefficient there.

corwin155 wrote:
6 thnx sony for taking my money so that hackers could steal my cc info


Don't forget to thank any place on the Internet that has taken your money via credit card. There's no such thing as a hack proof system that is connected to the Internet. Of course, you should ask yourself if you used a pre-paid credit card to protect yourself against this sort of thing. If you did not, than you do bear part of the responsibility, no matter how small.

corwin155 wrote:
7 let the flamers begin


I'd rather they didn't.
enhhh
# May 11 2011 at 12:54 PM Rating: Decent
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269 posts
Your citations have to do with the legal question of the resale of games. Those decisions would have NO bearing on questions regarding negligence in the protection of customer data.

You will find NO legal citations absolving any corporation from harm due to negligence based on a EULA.
enhhh
# May 11 2011 at 8:34 AM Rating: Good
Scholar
36 posts
One thing to remember about PSN is that it's a free service where SOE is a paid service.. Paid will be up before free will.
enhhh
# May 11 2011 at 9:44 AM Rating: Decent
PSN may not bill you monthly for use but it is not really a free service. The cost is built into the price of the online games, of which PSN is an integral part. So long as it is down multiplayer games that use the service are crippled. That will translate, to some degree at least, to fewer people buying purchasing online games and thus less revenue for Sony. It also damages customer goodwill for millions of people who have already bought PSN enabled games which will also impact future revenues. Taking all that into consideration, even without direct subscription fees the PSN outage is likely a bigger issue for Sony in terms of how it affects the bottom line.
ALTERNATIVE TO EQ
# May 11 2011 at 7:07 AM Rating: Decent
I am sort of surprised. One thing speaking as a former military network administrator intruisions are attempted frequently and often times successful regardless of the security in place. Just as fast as you find a way to block them they find another way in. For those of us in computer security think of it as job security. I have heard a lot of complaints over the last week or so that are to be kind amusing. Some hae been chanting FREE EQ FREE EQ or that the EQ game is dead. Think about it what incentive would they have to provide free EQ. None no buisness advantage. Compensate us for down time and frustration yes but people please be logical and understand that SOE is a buisness and EQ players bring in a huge revenue compared to the cost of maintance required to keep the game running. No CEO in their right mind would discontinue a product that is still making a profit unless the cost to maintain out weighs the revenue. Basically either decide to stay or decide to go but thinkng that any of us really care is crazy. Does this intrusion by hackers hurt SOE rep of course it does. I am in the camp that I would rather EQ takes it's time improve it's security prcedures and come back better prepared to deal with hackers. In the meantime I am playing a game called DDO (Dungeon's and Dragons online) which is a decent substitute for my EQ fix.

Marley Plainsworker
Nameless Server (or whatever it is called since the merge)

Edited, May 11th 2011 9:09am by FEYOST

Edited, May 11th 2011 9:11am by FEYOST
ALTERNATIVE TO EQ
# May 11 2011 at 7:22 AM Rating: Default
+1

Wife & I have been playing LoTRO and liking it. It will do untill EQ2 comes back up.



Billham Bongofury formerly of the Nameless
ALTERNATIVE TO EQ
# May 11 2011 at 7:17 AM Rating: Default
Ahhhhmmmm excuse me. Just a quick question about your post. Are you playing the "FREE" DDO game? That would be Dungeons and Dragons FREE online?
Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 6:27 AM Rating: Decent
28 posts
So what games are you playing to pass the time?

NHL 10, be a pro mode here. Might start up American Mcgee's Alice, too.
Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 10:27 AM Rating: Decent
My partner and I are playing Rift and loving it. We bought the game after SoE had been down a week, just prior to the free trial Rift is offering now. The world is colorful but not WoW Cartoonish, the character models are fantastic, and the multiple change on the fly class builds are very nice.

Its not EQ but we may very well stay here a bit. I'm sure we will be back to EQ, I think .. we're ouching a bit from Sony's lack of communication and the red headed step child treatment SoE customers are receiving. I think giving whomever is in charge of PR and customer relations the boot would be a grand start in order for Sony to get sorted, lol.
Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 7:12 AM Rating: Decent
Been playing a lot of old favorites that I have ignored like Civilization 4 and DDO (Dungeons and Dragons online)

Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 6:36 AM Rating: Good
Ryzom http://www.ryzom.com/en/

( It's free to play up to lvl 125 in all skills and I've been playing for 8 days and NO WHERE near that level)

You can modify all your skills including harvesting. You can also modify the stats on your crafted items by using different types of mats. Player housing as well, but I've not gotten that far yet. Seems to be mostly adults and I've seen GM's and CSR's in the time I've played. Actually in the Newbie area helping people.

Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 7:10 AM Rating: Decent
Katey wrote:
Ryzom http://www.ryzom.com/en/

( It's free to play up to lvl 125 in all skills and I've been playing for 8 days and NO WHERE near that level)

You can modify all your skills including harvesting. You can also modify the stats on your crafted items by using different types of mats. Player housing as well, but I've not gotten that far yet. Seems to be mostly adults and I've seen GM's and CSR's in the time I've played. Actually in the Newbie area helping people.



Thanks! I decided to use your link and am now downloading it. Might as well give it a try while servers are down and stuff. ^_^
____________________________
EQ1: Gooshy: http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1870652
EQ2: Gwenythe: http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/468152233422
Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 8:01 AM Rating: Good
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641 posts
Having fun playing the free version of Lord of the Rings Online, it's a familiar world and does a great job of giving me my EQ fix.
Lots of EQ refugees on the Brandywine server and overall good people.
I like it.
Tried out Runescape, very detailed storyline but I didn't like the movement controls and several times the gold seller spam was beyond annoying.
There is nothing like EQ for the lore or the zone details, even in the old world zones.
I hope things get back to normal soon.
____________________________
Donbayne 100 Rng - Uinian 100 Dru - Breru 100 Sk - Nyenie 82 Brd - Ruusan 76 Clr - Braru 75 Mag - Syqen 100 Shm EQ Stromm/Luclin
Your game?
# May 11 2011 at 7:55 AM Rating: Good
If you have questions or need help with Ryzom http://www.ryzom.com/en/
just send me a tell. I'm still in the newbie zone. Katerynna is my characters name.

SOE vs WoW vs whomever . . .
# May 11 2011 at 6:15 AM Rating: Decent
All games have the same potential issues. Technology is changing so fast and everyone is just out of reach of the next bug or hack.
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