Over the Christmas period the PlayStation Network suffered a lot of downtime due to various issues, with the main being a certain group DDoSing the servers which meant players could not connect. It would have been a frustrating time for those who wanted to use the online services, especially as many would have got PS4s for Christmas and this would wasn’t a great first impression. Sony has acknowledged what has happened and has offered a little compensation for all those who were affected.
First off PS Plus members, including trial members, will get five days automatically added to their accounts for free. It hasn’t gone live just yet, and if your membership runs out before it is applied Sony will still add the five days to your account. Secondly all PSN members will receive a 10% discount code to use in the store, and this will discount will apply to one purchase. That means you can put as many items as you want in your basket, with the 10% coming off the final total Again this isn’t live yet, and it probably won’t come into effect until after the bulk of the January sales are over. The codes will likely be sent to your emails so keep an eye on your inbox.
Source: PS Blog
Starman
Nice gesture, though xbox wasn’t down as long I wouldn’t be surprised if ms offer something similar. Should be due my month gold soon as part of the Halo compensation.
fillip2k
I want sony to buy me a new house and send ladies of ill repute around to make up for this! Personally my life is in tatters having had to actually talk to my family over this family holiday period rather than shoot fools in the face (I hope sarcasm was appropriately evident)
My personal opinion is that this time an effective refund of the days lost is fair and the 10% discount has meant I will get the Drive club Season Pass which I’ve been umming and ahhing about over the break…
double-o-dave
Exactly this ^
Just minus “I hope sarcasm was appropriately evident” & we’re there ;)
fillip2k
I say sarcasm but secretly I’ve been checking every 5 minutes to see if any dodgy looking ladies are coming up my driveway…
But alas no…. :-(
mclarenrob2
The 5 days extra is good, but the 10% off is a waste of time. They’ll actually sell more content and considering the prices are already extortionate, it’s just profiteering from the downtime.
Bah humbug.
B_Cambo
Happy with that basically getting the 5 days was lost back for nothing and an extra 10% off online is a wee bonus, cant really argue with that.
MrBiron
It’s fine by me. PSN was down for about 3 days so an extra 5 days PS+ seems fair.
Some people will moan but it wasn’t Sony’s fault. There is nothing they can do about a DDOS attack. My only complaint is the lack of information and updates from Sony when this kind of thing happens.
leeroye
Sod compensation, well its not really compensation anyway. Give us some assurances that the improvements to PSN that were promised at the announcment of PS+ being compulsory are going to become a reality.
Sad Panda
I think this is a massive kick in the teeth to be fair. My mate could not access the store to redeem his prepaid plus card due to the PSN being down. It didn’t stop them from auto renewing his subscription and charging his card.
How many others that got playstations last Christmas are in the same boat?
Forrest_01
Not many I would imagine. Most people I know turn off the auto renewal!
Out of interest, why did your friend leave it on?
leeroye
I highly doubt most people will be aware to turn it off. It should be off by default.
Sad Panda
as said below, he wasn’t aware of it. Continuous Authority is a bastards trick and is there to screw over less savvy people like my mate. While he is being ribbed mercilessly by the lads over this, it’s a practice I disagree with, there should at least be a reminder email a week or two beforehand so people have a choice.
Forrest_01
Oh, for what it’s worth I entirely agree (especially about the email thing as that would be so easy to do!). Different strokes for different folks I guess – Whereas I check all T’s & C’s (& getout clauses) & generally research bits & pieces when entering into a subscription, contract or similar, others do not necessarily do the same.
freezebug2
I was away from the scene at the time of crime and didn’t suffer any disruption so for me it’s all bonus codes and three melons. Shite outcome for new adopters though with paltry compensation to make up for the huge disappointment after likely months of anticipation.
pdannysan13
Well…it’s all water under the bridge at this point. My thoughts now go to how to best spend that 10% discount. If it applies not only to 1 game but the entire list in your basket it’s good.
If I remember correctly each year Sony has this sale where if you buy for 30 pounds you get 5 or 10 pounds back ? Do I remember correctly.
That seems to me the best moment to use this voucher.