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PlayStation (Games) IT

After Unexplained Bans, PlayStation Users Report Their Accounts Have Been Restored (theverge.com) 34

Posted by msmash from the false-alarms dept.
Many PlayStation Network users reported Monday that their accounts were unexpectedly permanently suspended. As of Tuesday morning, many of the people who had received the messages now say their accounts have been restored. From a report: Some of them contacted customer service while others did not, but nearly a day after the issues began, Sony hasn't commented publicly or responded to us about the wave of bans or the restorations that followed. A message to one user read: "This account is permanently suspended from PlayStation Network due to violations of the PlayStation Network Terms of Service and User Agreement."
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After Unexplained Bans, PlayStation Users Report Their Accounts Have Been Restored More

After Unexplained Bans, PlayStation Users Report Their Accounts Have Been Restored

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  • Bots don't call customer service to complain about their account being suspended.

    • Bots don't call customer service to complain about their account being suspended.

      Didn't even catch the rather small summary?

      Some of them contacted customer service while others did not, but nearly a day after the issues began, Sony hasn't commented publicly or responded to us about the wave of bans or the restorations that followed.

      • It could have been a misapplied bot purge that they reversed when they got too many customer support requests.

        • It could have been a misapplied bot purge that they reversed when they got too many customer support requests.

          Or it could have been sun spots.

          Would be nice for the multi-billion dollar organization to open their fucking mouth and say something about it instead of making themselves look even more incompetent.

          • Calm down, it's just a game network.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Calydor ( 739835 )

              Well, it's also access to potentially thousands of dollars worth of stuff in the form of games you suddenly can't play because someone or something decided to issue you a lifetime ban with no explanation.

              • Well, it's also access to potentially thousands of dollars worth of stuff in the form of games you suddenly can't play because someone or something decided to issue you a lifetime ban with no explanation.

                Being Sony, you're lucky they didn't just tell you to start a new account and buy everything again.

                • Truth. I bought a ps5 for the system and the games and I like the controller, not for their fabulous non existent customer service.

                  Woe be if I ever have to contact them again for anything. Thank god all my other problems were self correcting with a power cycle or restarting a game.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by ls671 ( 1122017 )

                Well, it's also access to potentially thousands of dollars worth of stuff in the form of games you suddenly can't play because someone or something decided to issue you a lifetime ban with no explanation.

                Think also of the poor terrorists which apparently use game chats to communicate as seen in many movies.

            • It's a game network with my credit card info.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dgatwood ( 11270 )

            It could have been a misapplied bot purge that they reversed when they got too many customer support requests.

            Or it could have been sun spots.

            Would be nice for the multi-billion dollar organization to open their fucking mouth and say something about it instead of making themselves look even more incompetent.

            This is Sony we're talking about. Never attribute to incompetence that which is adequately explained by malice and abject disdain for your customers just as easily.

            They're probably taking after Microsoft and banning anyone who has played games with a game controller that doesn't have a GenuineSony logo or something. :rolls eyes:

          • I am reminded of an old saying about it being better to keep one's mouth shut and appear foolish than to open it and remove all doubt. If it's a colossally stupid reason, they're better off fixing the problem and not talking about it.

            • Possible stupid answer: They developed a fingerprint system for detecting bots, cheating, or otherwise term-violating accounts. When they put the ban in place, they selected the wrong fingerprint to ban. Or even, while it was good in testing against the test set, in the wild it banned way too many legit accounts.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Bot owners can though.

  • What else is new? Sony is a has-been. They are just dying very slowly.

    • Yes, how anyone could be so lucky to die slowly with a 10 billion dollar operating profit, at that rate our future generations will be happy with General-Mills IBM-Microsoft-Prime+ as their sentient overlords.
  • So you but the console, it does nothing until you sign into an account. Then it still does next to nothing until you get a game. Then you pay for internet. Then you pay for access to basically just the internet again with Xbox Live or whatever Sony does. They can still ban you from that. Then you "purchase" a game or movie. Then they or an AI or a mistake can ban you from your entire account, connection, purchase library, and console itself. So you're paying more to have them control every aspect of your g

    • So how do you get your games on PC? Steam? Epic store?

      Note: There is one answer I know of I'll accept that would validate your argument. I'm curious whether there are more...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by CEC-P ( 10248912 )
        About 50% CDs + modifications to work on 11 and 50% Steam and GOG which don't require an internet connection or monthly fee.

        • Do consoles "require" a subscription? I'm pretty sure you can let it lapse and still play games, similar to Steam in offline mode.

        • Bingo! Sorry for being defensive, the amount of times I got "Steam" as an answer... I too swear by GOG and old CDs.
          Although the last "boxed" game I bought (years ago...) turned out to be a steam installer on DVD. That was a nasty surprise.

          Steam does require an internet connection. Try accessing your library on an airgapped computer. Yes, that is a ridiculous requirement, but one time, the internet went out for two days, and steam decided it needed to login first to enable offline mode. Man I was angry.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jezwel ( 2451108 )

            ...one time, the internet went out for two days, and steam decided it needed to login first to enable offline mode. Man I was angry.

            There is a time and place for hot spotting off your phone, and letting Steam reauthenticate so you can play offline again is definitely one of them.

      • The only one that's likely to last, Arr Matey!

    • Console:
      I buy hardware
      I buy controller
      I buy game
      I buy internet to play online

      PC:
      I buy hardware
      I buy game quality mouse and keyboard
      I buy game
      I buy internet to play online

      I can buy physical media for ps5. I am not required to buy a subscription or buy games via PSN.

      What's the issue again? I'm having trouble remembering what the problem was for people who don't want to use the cloud elements of consoles.

      • Most non free to play games on a PC can be played without an extra subscription, however from here:

        https://www.androidcentral.com... [androidcentral.com] "Only free-to-play games can be played online without PlayStation Plus. "

        By free to play I assume they mean they will charge you some other way.

        Also Gog, they are my preferred platform, lets you not be bound rules stating that if the service suspends you, you are now no longer allowed to play games you have purchased.

        • "Played online". What about single player games? I know on xbox that they don't require a subscription unless you want patches. PS4 used to be this way, I don't know about PS5 though.

      • You forgot the requisite console-internet-subscription for online play. So your list should be tweaked with:

        Console:
        I buy internet to play online
        I buy console-internet-subscription so I can use the internet I already purchased and play with others online.

        PC:
        I buy internet to play online

  • If bans don't happen, you get spammers, scammers, griefers, and generally offensive idiots.

    If bans do happen, there often isn't much in the way of a speedy review process to correct mistakes.

    Either way, the system's going to suck for somebody.

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