Yesterday, Sony finally confirmed the things everyone was asking about since the PSN went down. What happened and was any personal data stolen? Patrick Seybold, Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media at Sony, confirmed via his blog that yes, the PSN was hacked into by outsiders and yours and my personal data was "compromised". Basically, someone has your name, address, email, and PSN screen name information. Sony couldn't confirm if your credit card (saved in your PSN profile for purchases like DLC) information was stolen since the credit card numbers are the ONLY data securely encrypted on the PSN. All other data is free to read once hacked.
Personally, this whole thing angers me for a couple of reasons. First, the fact that Sony took nearly a week to inform us, their customers, that this had happened. Who knows what damage has been done with that confidential information during the past 6 days. Next, it issued a second blog quickly in an attempt to "C-Y-A" when everyone started asking, "When did you know this?" I found an interesting article on PCMag.com that discusses this very issue:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384366,00.asp
Ask yourself this: after the PSN returns, will you feel safe storing any more personal information on your account? For those future customers thinking about buying a PS3, would you buy one now? I have yet to receive that Sony PlayStation Network email. Does that mean my account is safe, or is it just Sony's slow way of working? Sony won't tell me, of course. Perhaps after a week I'll get my email.
Here is a link to the full blog posted by Patrick Seybold regarding the warning of your private information stolen:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/
I heed to every member of this league to read Sony's warning. Each of us has our own opinion on the issue and will make our decision from there.
We have an invisible deadline to complete the season. As we all know, SSFIV: Arcade Edition (AE) will be released as downloadable content (DLC) on the compromised PSN on June 7th. Most of us in the league are hardcore SF players, so I'm sure most of us will be getting the latest version of SFIV. However, some members have said they will wait until the hard disc version comes to retail stores on June 24, nearly three weeks later. We still have not gotten all the full details on how SSFIV and SSFIV: AE will be compatible. Capcom claims that we will be able to choose which version of Ryu we want to play, the Super version or the AE version. I'm assuming it will be an on-screen type setup similar to choosing which Ultra attack you want to use. That possibility creates several dilemmas for the league. We should all be playing the same game and all should be on the same playing field. Arguably, SSFIV: AE is an improvement on SSFIV. Therefore, those that wait to get the disc version of the game will be at a disadvantage to those who buy the DLC. Members that don't plan to buy either will also be at a disadvantage if we can play each other across the different games. Some members will have access to the new fighters, and may want to switch their fighters in the league. This can't be done since we will be playing the season-ending tournament, and there will be no more rankings. Next, all characters are getting "buffed", or tweaked, in some way. Some attacks may now be safe while others may no longer be safe. Either way, those members that wait for the disc or simply don't buy the new version will be fighting a character they are not familiar with after the changes. That creates an unlevel playing field. When the season began, it began with SSFIV, and to remain consistent, it shall end with SSFIV. Rules can be put in place which force all members to only play the SSFIV version, but that seems a bit difficult to police. I don't want to force anyone to play an out-dated version of the game once they spent their money on the new version. Conversely, I will never require a member to buy a new game or DLC just to continue playing the season.
All of these things do not bode well for the SFCCL. So, due to the PSN disaster, we are left with several choices. We can continue with the season as planned with an even smaller time table, quickly re-plan the tournament with the time left, or simply scrap the season at this point.
Another choice is to re-draw the tournament bracket to include those members that want to play. I suspect many members will be lost to the league due to the PSN failure. Some may not want to return, and will result in a lot of un-played matches by members that won't reply to various messages, emails, etc. That will slow down the whole process. We could redraw the tournament based solely on members that request to be included. We could jump right into a 16, 32, or 64 fighter tournament as soon as the PSN is back up. Those that want to play will play, and we dump all the MIA members.
The final choice we have is to simply scrap the season. I have no idea what the PSN will look like when it does return. I suspect some parts of it will not return immediately, and other parts may be forever changed. With the personal and PSN information compromised, some members may not be able to get back online with their screen name. With all this downtime, some players may be itching to play other games online & finally leave SF behind for good. With these factors, it might be best to simply cancel the remaining season and get ready for season 3 after the disc release of SSFIV: AE. Hopefully by late June, all of the problems with the PSN will have been ironed out, and the interest in SFIV will be high again with the release of AE. Bigger interest will result in better participation from league members.
These are the 3 choices I'm contemplating. I am ready to play my matches ASAP. I still enjoy playing SSFIV to this day and look forward to see how the tournament turns out. I fear, however, that I am in the minority. At the same time, after Sony's tarfy admission, I'm not looking forward to jumping back onto the PSN with all of my information. But that's just my personal opinion.
As for the SFCCL, I'm ready to go with one of these three options, but I do want to have the support of the members. Please post your opinion on what you want to do with the remaining part of this season either by commenting on this blog above, replying to the adjoining email, or posting in the SRK SFCCL forum. i'm open to any other ideas you may have on how to deal with his turns of events. I look forward to hearing from everyone and posting the results by the time the PSN returns......whenever that happens. >:(
Good luck to all members and Sony.