Anthony Ortale
Yet another week has passed and the PlayStation Network is still offline. That hasn’t stopped Sony Online Entertainment from making more promises to gamers though. Yesterday on their website, they announced more plans for compensation to all gamers affected by the downtime. Every single player will receive 30 days free plus one additional day for each day the system is down added to their next billing cycle. To go with that, most games are offering free in-game content or bonus events to help make up for lost time. If you have either the PlayStation 3 or PC copy of any of the following games, these are your rewards that you’ll get as soon as everything is fully restored:
· 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, theSlave 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
Some of you may be saying “But I’m a lifetime subscriber! What do I get?” No worries, Sony’s got you covered there too. Each of you will be granted in-game currency in addition to any rewards mentioned above.
· Free Realms players will receive 20,000 coins
· Clone Wars Adventures players will receive 7,500 Galactic Credits
· DC Universe Online players will receive 10 Marks of Distinction
Last, any Station Access subscribers will receive 500 Station Cash in addition to any of the above that’s applicable.
As promised before, Sony is also going to offer free enrolment in identity theft protection through Debix for anyone interested who lives within the US [more information]. Anyone outside the US will also receive similar protection, just from different companies depending on where you live. According to the announcement, Sony is hoping to have the network back up and running within just a few more days. They again apologized for the prolonged downtime and wanted to assure you that they are “working around the clock to restore SOE services.”
Apparently this isn’t enough for some PlayStation 3 owners, as many stores both locally and internationally have reported a tremendous increase in PS3 returns. Video Games Etc. in Cedar Rapids is offering up to $180 store credit for a PS3. They’re also offering two specials on games: Buy two new games and get one pre-owned free, or buy three pre-owned games and get one pre-owned free. That, combined with the new updates coming to the Xbox 360 just might be enough to convince more local gamers to make the switch.
Original Post – Sony Online Entertainment’s website
