PSN Service Restart Date Unknown, No Word on SOE
From Bloomberg.com comes an article posted today (May 9, 2011):
Sony Corp. (6758)’s PlayStation Network and Qriocity online services remain shut as of today, Shigenori Yoshida, a Tokyo-based spokesman said. Sony is uncertain when it can resume the services, Yoshida said by phone today.
The company is in the process of adopting an improved security system and its plan to restart the services fully by May 31 is unchanged, he said. Sony shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services April 20 because of possible data theft by hackers.
The maker of PS consoles had planned to restart partial operations within a week after boosting the level of security system, the company said May 1.
Note: We erroneously reported that PSN service had been restored in Japan based on an ill-informed blog. To date, PlayStation Network remains inaccessible in Japan, Europe, Oceania, and the US now over 17 days since it was taken offline.
Meanwhile we’re just coming up on 7 days that Sony Online Entertainment has seen all of their games, websites, forums, and services offline and there has been no word on their possible return date.
Tags: account security, compromised accounts
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Comments (53)
Halz
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Wouldn’t surprise me if SOE is down just as long as the PSN. Everquest 2 probably won’t be back up anytime soon, it makes you wonder how many people are actually going to stick around the longer it takes. Not good for an already pretty small gaming population.
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isest
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I hate to say this, but the longer they are down the worse it will be. Folks will start to look for other alternatives for fun. I don’t know to many folks who are just going to sit there and twiddle their thumbs going oh well I wish thy were up.
I got a feeling the worst hit will be the eq2x one. There are tons of other alternatives out there.
I downloaded a 7 day trial to rift to help pass the time. I tried to play that game but even after a couple of hours I was glad it was a trial and not having spent 50 bucks.
The fact is folks will try other stuff, and some of them might find something they like better. As for me I have not found anything that remotely holds my interest, I just want me eq2 back.
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Merkor
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Heya, i mean actually i can understand that its need some time. It was a mega lost of Current Data. And server must be secured now! But whats really need is more communication with folks… not let it alone in the dark. Im sume when the Server are up… Only US first. EU was for EQ2 ever last server….
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Monkguy
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I thought Japanese culture was based around honor?
it is not honorable to release identical statements every day to those who trusted you and patronized your business. I feel like we are literally getting shit on twice by Sony, the first time by losing my info, the second time by them not giving us real updates.
So disrespectful.
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Illygirl
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I am dissapointed that it is taking so long. From everything I have read it seems that their main focus is the PSN and that EQ2 is just sitting on the back burner until they decide they want to mess with it. As much as they say they are working round the clock they should have someone on the EQ side helping us out too. It is sad that I feel like we are next in line when ever they decide that PSN is ready to go and I am afraid that it will be even longer for EQ2 fans.
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James
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I’m playing Conan right now for the first first time, and I’ve seen other new people in the channel with names like “Cazikthule”. Everyone in my guild is playing a different MMO right now as a “time passer”. We have a couple playing Rift, there’s one in WoW, and a few playing AoC. There might be others playing other games that I do not know about.
For me, I can’t see not going back to EQ2. It’s still the best game out there, and that’s why I play it. I know many others feel the same way.
For the other games though, such as Vanguard, SWG and EQ1 where players have been playing out of some misguided notion of loyalty to the game, I think this downtime is going to have a very negative effect.
I personally doubt Vanguard will be sustainable after this.
As a side note, AoC actually isn’t too bad.
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camelotcrusade
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Look on the bright side. At least the SOE forums are down too, so it’s not ground zero for raging about the game being down, threatening to leave, and talking about how this is the last straw. 🙂
In all seriousness though, I wonder how many vets out there are like me, having already gotten most of what I wanted out of the game despite whatever new stuff came out, and who was mostly online a few times a week to run with old friends. When they eventually fell off to a trickle, I took a break too.
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epixz
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Mai 31? If it s the same for SOE’s games they might just aswell not bother powering up the servers at all. As much i enjoy or rather dont hate eq2 compare to other mmo i dont want to return to a game that will have lose 3/4 of it s population or be stuck with casual players who s greatest accomplishement was to clear Ascend&Pools.
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Gawd
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What is SOE expected to say in their communication? What REAL UPDATES can they give? Smokejumper took a shit after lunch, causing fear for the cleaning crew? You do realize that FBI is involved, so their communications will be limited.
I’m sure they will let us know when we can log in, and I’m pretty sure they are just as anxious as we are to get things back to normal.
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Lathain
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why eq2 site only talk about playstation ? that have absolutly nothing to see with eq2…
7 days it’s already 6 days too much.
even an armagedon shouldnt have stop the service that long, no excuse.
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Greenmist
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Always emulated EQ1 servers to tide us over.
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Memetank
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Guess its time to quit EQ and move to WoW. Bye Sony, to much BS going on for me to continue to give u my money.
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teeboy
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It’s not the end of the world. I rather they take there time and fix it the best they can, but no matter how good the security is .. if a hacker wants in bad enough, he WILL get in .. and nothing anyone can do to stop them .. they can slow them down, but can’t stop them entirely. A friend once told me .. A lock exists to keep an honest man, honest. So don’t blame sony .. send your lynch mobs after the hackers .. if you can find them.
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Samous
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Wonder if BioWare is not kicking themselves for SW TOR not being quite ready for launch. would be ideal time to launch with so many of SoEs games down, and many of us looking for something to pass the time.
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Marvis
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If SOE would have been hacked by aliens, we at least would have had a chance for Duke Nukem to show up in time… would have lowered the pain for a couple of days.. 😉
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Cretinous
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May 31? Without even a mention of SOE? This does give the impression that paying long-term subscribers are not at the top of Sony’s agenda! While I understand that Sony MUST get things right on restart, this is outside the acceptable recovery window! On the PR side, Sony HAS TO get out regular status updates without forgetting SOE! Right now these poorly-worded PR updates only throw gasoline on the fire, and encourage paying customers to leave.
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Cylaa
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The way I look at it, is when the EQ2 servers do come back up, it will be like black friday at walmart when the doors open. Hopefully the servers can handle it. lol
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Claviarm
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Responding to a part of comment #2 way up there, it’s true that the F2P crowd tends to be more fickle than subscribers, and I definitely think this downtime is going to hurt EQ2X in that regard. However, a very large portion of the players on Extended are vets from Live or from EQ1, and I don’t think they’re going to jump ship like a regular F2Per would.
Heh, this might even be a good thing (for me, not for SOE) by clearing out some of the more… eh… ‘undesirable’ players. ;P
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Lathain
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with like 20 to 35% lost of customer i bet server will handle it very well :p
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kozmic
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can you say, so much for the server merge bringing population back to the servers, just to have it barren again. going to end up being two servers, pvp/pve that is all.
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Murfalad
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Hoping that we’ll get news of things coming back up this week here, in a way the PSN hack being detected earlier should speed things along as whatever they decide to do will no doubt be implemented at SOE.
Afterall, we don’t want to go 22 days without EQ2, as this video showed the result of going 22 days without planetside… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGQHtH6L5D4 🙂
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isest
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Responding to comment 18 & comment 19. I like the idea of the undesirable players moving on to something different. Maybe I can turn on 1-9 channel.
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Frank
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At least while it’s down nobody can cancel their accounts. 🙂
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Steve
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Claviarm – totally agree.
If people are so unattached to this game/hobby that this would make them bolt for good, so be it. Good riddance. Would probably be best for both groups.
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Aeyri
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I’ve been playing Rift with some guildies during the down time, but all of us agree we’ll be returning to EQ2 as soon as it is back up. Rift is a fun diversion – the ‘soul’ system is unique and very customizable. However, the game as a whole just doesn’t seem to have the depth and variety of things to do that EQ2 has currently. Granted, EQ2 has had 6 years to get to the point it is now 😉
I will continue to try to be patient. I understand that what SOE can say may be limited by what the FBI and security firms allow them to say. However, I am also disheartened by the lack of mention of SOE in many of the reports. While PSN is down, PS3 gamers can still play their games (just not with other players online). They can still watch Netflix, surf the web, and play Blu-rays from their console. However, SOE gamers have nothing in the meantime. I understand that there are a lot more PS3 owners than people playing SOE games, but I still wish getting SOE back up was a higher priority. PSN being down is an inconvenience; SOE being down is disabling.
I also wish we could hear something from Smokejumper – a message posted on the EQ2 Facebook, or even a letter sent to some of the larger fansites. It seems like he has disappeared since this happened. I understand he likely can’t say much, but even something to the effect of: “Hey guys, thanks for being so patient and sticking with us. We understand it’s frustrating. Unfortunately, getting the network back up is out our hands, but we’re just as anxious as you are. The devs are hard at working fixing bugs and getting future content ready, and we’re working on a ‘Welcome Back’ package to ensure you all get rewarded for your incredible patience. We hope to see you back in Norrath soon!”… Even a “Hey! Just letting you know we’re still alive!” would be reassuring at this point. Perhaps the EQ2 team is busy fighting with corporate about the delays. Or, as I fear, Sony corporate is overly controlling of their PR messages and is gagging anyone from saying anything unless it comes out of the ‘official channel.’ However, communication, even if it doesn’t really say anything, is crucial. The faceless updates from the Facebook are not nearly as reassuring as a message from someone we know would be :-/
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Sony – What Does Taking May Off Portend? « The Ancient Gaming Noob
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[…] Sony has come out and said that they may not have the PlayStation Network up and going until May 31st. […]
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Gawd
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If you wish to cancel your SOE subscription, call your credit card company and dispute the charge.
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Frebby
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The Sony suits has put the lig on all news, and you can bet your butt every single “news” posted has to go thru several PR people. That’s why there’s so little news. They daren’t fart, cos it could become skidmarks or worse…
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kels
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yar. even on facebook the devs that i have friended are being very very careful not to say anything about the company or the game. and that is sad
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Lerenn
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I don’t think as many people are going to leave as people think, they are giving free time( a month+down time) and there is still subscriptions that aren’t ticking right now. People are gonna come back to finish their subscriptions and not leave.
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Jeronas
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Seriously, what did you guys expect?
Both Sony and SOE have been giving their IT department the dump and let things get totally out of hand!
All their servers are outdated by at least a year software/update/patch wise!
They now have to catch up for a full year. I would be impressed if they can get all servers updated, patched, tested and validated before May 31st.
Don’t hold your hopes up. There is a reason SOE is quiet, as they are 2 weeks behind on PSN. So do your math!
Cheers
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Brienae
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One of my friends has a ps3. Thought I’d mention he can’t access netflix on his ps3. He can’t access the internet at all on it but as you said he still has his games. My husband and I own a wii… we went out and bought a new game to pass the time: Mortal Kombat Armegedon. It’s fun… but I want my fae trouby back and my rat fury… and all of my other characters.
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patty
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my husband has been playing in the eq world since 1998 and myself since 2000.
i re-installed WoW last week, i have yet to activate the game (it cringes my tummy at the thought)-
it amazes me all the * hate * talk about sony…do you people that are hating on them realize that nothing is safe anymore? i mean truly, if you use your CC at a gas pump you run the risk of being hacked, using it on line is same thing, as is going to wal-mart, cosco, even the atm machines..there are endless outlets for your personal information being hacked into. i do NOT blame sony at all for what has happened, i blame the greed of real life people who feel the need to things like this out of spite and or greed.
i miss eq2 , i miss the friends that i have made thur the years, the daily chatter, and the hours of endless fun and or frustration of the game in general..i will wait, i will be back as long as soe continues to put the game out there for us..and i will hate my withdrawls of the game not being avaliable for us atm…and thank them for spending the amount of money they need to in order for us to continue our journey thru the eq1-2 world. i apllaud them for the willingness to spend the money that are for us to do that instead of just saying screw it, we are no longer going to keep the gaming aspect of sony around anymore.
i as well wish they would put more information out there on where things stand, and how things are progressing, but i do not feel like i am * let down* by them becuase i am not getting it…there are just times in life where there just inst enough time in the day for everything one needs to do, and i would rather have them spending that 5 minutes of typing to keep us updated on fixing the problem.
to all those leaving the game becuase of this, i wish you well in what ever adventures you come across, but for me…i have yet to see a game out there with the graphics, story line, adventure then what sony offers in the world of everquest..
keep at it sony, i will be here with my hand on launch, when you are ready
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Charn
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You can also cancel by calling SOE directly. And, if you are calling your credit card company for a replacement card, since we can’t log on, we can’t give them the new credit card number, and SOE will just cancel the account for us. Two birds, one stone . . .
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fs123
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well I hate to say this and it might sound a little racist, I hope nobody takes it as so, but SONY being secretive and not releasing much info is what japanese do, its a cultural thing. If you don’t believe me just look at the situation with the nuclear plants after the earthquake when japanese officials gave little word to the japanese population about possible contamination. Another example is the falty brake system in Toyota cars that led to 10 Americans killed and Toyota was unwilling to take blame at first or do much action at first. When it comes to efficiency japan is #1 but when it comes to customer service they suck balls! I’m sick and tired of SONY’s lies and half truths I hope the Chinese will eat them alive and leave them in the dust they probably deserve to be the #2 economy not japan right now! get your act together guys and soon if you don’t want people to jump ship to XBOX because after all this they look good
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Loyal to a Fault
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I purchased RIFT last week and although it does have those always prevelant “starting out” problems, i see a very solid game with potential. It’s keeping me busy while my hobby… (read Addiction)… EQ2 is down.
I can’t say that i’m not disappointed in Sony for the lack of precautions, but i do know that if there is a will, there will always be a way for hackers to sneak on the ship… regardless of how watertight you make your boat.
But to that end, i say to you, SOE & Sony, I’ve been a VERY loyal customer for over 4 years now, paying far too much for 2 accounts on a game that has seen SOME good changes, but for the most part has just been giving me a “little more” over the years to keep my interest. No spectacular enhancements to play, no spectacular additions to make my mouth drool with anticipation, no innovative Live events, No innovative questing which requires more than a “Go here, take (Item), Push (trigger), Receive (Random loot)” well… Public Quests & flying mounts have given me that “Little more” i guess
You see? I have been loyal to a fault and just like a court order from an old girlfriend not to get within 100 feet of her, that is what i take your “downtime” to mean.
I get it… You don’t want me around anymore. I’m not important to you
You shouldn’t hurt my feelings that way Sony… It makes me sad.
So now my New Woman named RIFT and I are getting to know each other a little more… and who knows. Maybe she will be all i will need. Or Maybe i’ll check out WOW again… I hated it once, but who knows…
I loved you EQ2
Is this really goodbye? 🙁
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me
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Man these damn hackers need to get a F*CKING life and leave shit alone and when the fbi does find them i hope and praythat they get bend over and F’d in the A with no lube they just pisse dbecause theyare lil boys that have hit puberty and nuts aint droped get a clue you f*cktards…….as for anoumous if you didnt have crap to do with it and you say you are good they help out and get the shit solved seems to me these other groups doing this are better and putting yout o shame
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Aeyri
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@Brienae I can still access Netflix on my PS3. It will originally give you an error that the PSN network is down for maintenance, but if you hit okay and try again a few times it will eventually give up on trying to connect to PSN and just let you in. Persistence is key 🙂
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Chris
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psn users can still access netflix. just hit back after it tells you that it cant log into psn. netflix will still sign in from there.
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Brienae
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@Aeyri… interesting. Wish there was a work around for us. I might be evil in this but I don’t think I’ll be telling my friend they can access netflix on the ps3 although they do have a wii…
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Kruzzen
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I sure hope this is not true:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2011/05/09/psn-may-stay-offline-until-may-31/1
May 31st? You have got to be kidding me.
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Lothain
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That says PSN, not SOE.
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kozmic
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http://www.thehackernews.com/2011/05/thn-hacker-news-exclusive-report-on.html
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Kruzzen
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If you have not noticed by now, PSN and SOE are connected. It will effect us whether we like it or not.
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Sneak
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Spare a thought for the Chinese farmers…..
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Lothain
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They used to overlap, but they are not one in the same. News from one is not news from the other. The only way they were “connected”, apart from being owned by Sony, was the fact that they resided in the same datacenter. PSN and SOE are not the same, and won’t come up at the same time.
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Cretinous
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I worry that Sony corporate is completely focused on PSN, and that their fix-it resources are mostly being directed that way. While PSN will survive regardless of downtime (because most people won’t switch their console), SOE is much more likely to suffer major subscriber losses if it is treated as the poor sister system. There’s just too much competition in the MMO market, and I’ll bet the other major games will seize this as a great opportunity. The PR folks at Sony need to be working overtime to reassure the SOE base that this isn’t the case, and I’m just not seeing it.
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fs123
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I actually had hoped that PSN would be up by monday may 9ty, yeah funny huh? now their unconfirmed reports that we will have to wait until may 31st . I say unconfirmed because until now SONY has not made it official on the playstation blog, we still have some hope that it maybe sooner than may 31st. But if SONY screws us like they’ve been doing these past 3 weeks I say fu%* them and switch to XBOX or join the class action lawsuits because it seems to me they arrogantly care less for their customers than we thought
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Rifter High
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Just play rift?
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fs123
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im still holding out that psn will be on sooner than may 31st because it hasn’t been said on the playstation blog and therefore it isn’t official. It seems many websites are announcing that psn well be done for another 3 weeks but they forget SONY has not made that announcement yet. Hopefully by tuesday morning or so SONY will have an update for us all, it’s been friday since they have said anything were due for a message.
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Lucon
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If anyone is interested in trying Rift out while you wait for EQ2 to come back, they just started 7 day trials:
http://www.riftgame.com/en/products/ascend-a-friend/invite.php?voucher=JHQ3TN63XYJCRNXHY2XT&utm_source=manual&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ascend_invite
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Kruzzen
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Wonder if anyone can confirm this. Heard from a friend who talked to Customer Support that they don’t expect EQ2 to be up until next Monday. Anyone else talk to Customer support? Personally I have no prob if that is gonna be the case. At least then it is not stringing us along each day.
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Supdude
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Kiddrick did it….i swear
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