http://ift.tt/2f6qNZe
Monday, October 31, 2016
Gaming saved my life, and i'd hate for someone to tell you that video games are pointless.
Sorry this isn't a sick gif or photo, but i thought i'd share my story to my fellow gamers who grew up the way i did. And to anyone who lives with someone who is making you stop playing games if it's your only form of relief, tell that person to fuck off.
As a kid, i loved playing my Sega Genesis. It was like being introduced to crack as kid to be honest. Going from console to console such as the PS1 and PS2 to eventually the first Xbox was like graduating in it's own way. I'm 21 years old working a government desk job, wrestled all 4 years of high school, and had plenty of friends. But all of my good memories with friends and family was bonding over video games.
Whenever i felt depressed over a family loss, losing a girl, or any sadness, i had my xbox and games to cheer me up. Like cheer me up in the way that i actually felt like things were going to be okay you know?
Anyway, i've been in a relationship for almost 2 years and during this time my fiance hated that i played. She thought it made me irresponsible, and that i didn't want to pay any attention to her. Keep in mind the most i would play when she was home was an hour tops. I loved her, but that one hour really helped me wind down from all the stress and occasional anxiety i'd have.
Anyway, our relationship got worse and just last weekend, i moved out. She had gotten physically violent with me for the second time. And after years of verbal abuse as well, it really has taken a toll on me since. i wasn't confident anymore, i thought people who played games were losers to be honest..
After moving back with my family and after unpacking the only thing that wasnt set up was my Xbox and Tv. So i figured why the hell not..it's only been a year or so since i got a good gaming session in!
I decieded to buy battlefield one and told a couple buddies of mine to get online. And for the first time in a long time, after all the laughing and playing, things felt..i guess normal again. I felt just as happy as my 14 year old self playing old Halo games. I had almost forgotten i got the shit kicked outta me the day before, and all my worries felt at ease.
Truth is, i'm still planning on going to therapy after all the verbal abuse as well. But I just thought i'd share my story that if anyone ever tells you video games are stupid and pointless, that maybe you can relate to my story and realize that person you're talking to is wrong. I should be alot more depressed right now, by playing games and talking with friends has been my greatest coping mechanism ever. If playing makes you happy, then don't let ANYONE take that away from you. Your happiness is yours, and yours alone.
I made a guitar remix of one of my favourite games for Halloween, Luigi's Mansion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCel4cmihUQ
Sunday, October 30, 2016
My PSN account got hacked this morning. Sony support has given me only two options: eat $450 in fraudulent charges and be unable to use my account for 6 months, or dispute the charges with my bank and have my account banned forever.
Update 5 - RESOLVED:
I received a call from an Escalation Analyst at Sony today! He let me know that they had performed an investigation regarding my account, and concluded that my credentials had become compromised. The IP was traced to somewhere in Europe (he didn't specify). He let me know that Sony would make sure that my account was taken care of. He also assured me that the Sony HQ had been made aware of my situation, and that they'll be examining the details to see if there ought to be a change to their policies.
I'm glad to have my situation resolved, but I'm more glad to see the positive outcomes that have come as a result of this blowing up. I've received many messages from Redditors who have become aware of and/or donated to the charities listed below, and many more from users taking extra precautions to protect their accounts. I think all gamers benefit when the game company giants are competing, and while my situation was unfortunate, I don't think Sony is malicious or evil. They're a big company with millions of customers and employees, and sometimes things fall through the cracks.
I've been made aware of a feature request for two-factor authentication in Sony's ideas board. If you have a PSN account, throw it an upvote!
Update 4:
I received some messages from (I presume) customer service reps at Sony, telling me to message a particular member of Sony's support team on their forums. I've done so, and s/he is looking into the situation.
Wow... I never anticipated this would blow up as big as it has! I appreciate all of the messages of support. If this moves Sony to reconsider their policies and invest in better account security, it'll all be worth it.
Update 3:
I've received several offers from Redditors willing to gift me copies of the Last of Us and other games / credits, and I can't express enough how much I appreciate it. It's nice to remember how many good people there are out there. I make a decent living, though, and I'll be able to take care of this either way. My goal here is bring attention to a few of Sony's bad customer service policies in the hopes that they'll change them, and to encourage them to add more security measures to PSN (such as multi-factor authorization, which is supported by both MS and Steam).
If you feel the desire to give, I'd be thrilled to see donations to a worthy charity instead, such as Child's Play or Able Gamers.
Update 2:
This post was briefly taken off of /r/gaming. I have no idea why. Now it's back!
Update: I was advised to contact @AskPlaystation over Twitter (with this thread in the tweet). I did so, and they directed me to chat. I wasn't terribly optimistic that it would help, but I gave it a shot. Here's the transcript. Nothing has changed, and they won't do anything about it. If you have a minute and a Twitter account, I'd love it if any / all of you could tweet @AskPlaystation with a link to this thread! Some folks are adding the hashtag #PlayersBeforePolicy - that sounds like a good idea to me.
TL;DR: My account got hacked, running up over $600 in charges. Here's the conclusion after running through the Sony support gauntlet.
They can only refund up to $150.
I can dispute the charges with my bank, but that will result in my account being banned.
I cannot unban my account, and will thus lose my purchases ("but you only have the Last of Us and some of our free games, so it's not a big deal")
Whomever hacked my account deactivated my PS4, and activated their own. Customer support will only permit one activation every 6 months. I'm locked out of logging into my own account on my PS4 for six months.
Chat transcript: http://ift.tt/1MumRLg
This morning, I started receiving emails indicating a number of purchases on my PSN account.
As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately clear that my account had been hacked. I immediately logged into PSN and removed my card from the account, changed my email and password, and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and my bank.
The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150. He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered.
He also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated. When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account.
I called customer support, hoping for some clarification. The agent informed me that there is indeed a refund investigation underway, but that it will be limited to $150, and that it would be credited to my PSN wallet, not my bank account. Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I'm completely locked out of my own account until that date. I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account. I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I "only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games," so it's not a big deal.
Absolutely furious. Change your passwords, everyone. Better yet, don't have your credit card on file with Sony - if something were to happen, you won't be taken care of.
Clarification edits:
- If you read the transcript, 'Malcom' seems to indicate that the full amount could be refunded upon completion of the investigation. I called to confirm this, and the supervisor I spoke to informed me that there was a maximum of $150 even after investigation.
- Apparently, this has been happening to others too, lately.
- Another one!
- And another one!
I've been playing the same game of Civilization II for almost 10 years. This is the result.
I've been playing the same game of Civ II for 10 years. Though long outdated, I grew fascinated with this particular game because by the time Civ III was released, I was already well into the distant future. I then thought that it might be interesting to see just how far into the future I could get and see what the ramifications would be. Naturally I play other games and have a life, but I often return to this game when I'm not doing anything and carry on. The results are as follows.
-
The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation.
-
There are 3 remaining super nations in the year 3991 A.D, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands.
-The ice caps have melted over 20 times (somehow) due primarily to the many nuclear wars. As a result, every inch of land in the world that isn't a mountain is inundated swamp land, useless to farming. Most of which is irradiated anyway.
-As a result, big cities are a thing of the distant past. Roughly 90% of the worlds population (at it's peak 2000 years ago) has died either from nuclear annihilation or famine caused by the global warming that has left absolutely zero arable land to farm. Engineers (late game worker units) are always busy continuously building roads so that new armies can reach the front lines. Roads that are destroyed the very next turn when the enemy goes. So there isn't any time to clear swamps or clean up the nuclear fallout.
-Only 3 super massive nations are left. The Celts (me), The Vikings, And the Americans. Between the three of us, we have conquered all the other nations that have ever existed and assimilated them into our respective empires.
-You've heard of the 100 year war? Try the 1700 year war. The three remaining nations have been locked in an eternal death struggle for almost 2000 years. Peace seems to be impossible. Every time a cease fire is signed, the Vikings will surprise attack me or the Americans the very next turn, often with nuclear weapons. Even when the U.N forces a peace treaty. So I can only assume that peace will come only when they're wiped out. It is this that perpetuates the war ad infinitum. Have any of you old Civ II players out there ever had this problem in the post-late game?
-Because of SDI, ICBMS are usually only used against armies outside of cities. Instead, cities are constantly attacked by spies who plant nuclear devices which then detonate (something I greatly miss from later civ games). Usually the down side to this is that every nation in the world declares war on you. But this is already the case so its no longer a deterrent to anyone. My self included.
-The only governments left are two theocracies and myself, a communist state. I wanted to stay a democracy, but the Senate would always over-rule me when I wanted to declare war before the Vikings did. This would delay my attack and render my turn and often my plans useless. And of course the Vikings would then break the cease fire like clockwork the very next turn. Something I also miss in later civ games is a little internal politics. Anyway, I was forced to do away with democracy roughly a thousand years ago because it was endangering my empire. But of course the people hate me now and every few years since then, there are massive guerrilla (late game barbarians) uprisings in the heart of my empire that I have to deal with which saps resources from the war effort.
-The military stalemate is air tight. The post-late game in civ II is perfectly balanced because all remaining nations already have all the technologies so there is no advantage. And there are so many units at once on the map that you could lose 20 tank units and not have your lines dented because you have a constant stream moving to the front. This also means that cities are not only tiny towns full of starving people, but that you can never improve the city. "So you want a granary so you can eat? Sorry; I have to build another tank instead. Maybe next time."
-My goal for the next few years is to try and end the war and thus use the engineers to clear swamps and fallout so that farming may resume. I want to rebuild the world. But I'm not sure how. If any of you old Civ II players have any advice, I'm listening.
Edit: -Wow guys. Thanks for all your support. I had no idea this post would get this kind of response. -I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my efforts. Whether here on Reddit, or a blog, or both. -Turns out a whole subreddit has been dedicated to ending this war. It's at /r/theeternalwar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)