Driveclub PS Plus Edition Delayed by Server Issues

FunnyBunny said:
You make great points!

My only distinction is this; players can still buy the full version of DriveClub online despite its broken features. Sony is essentially saying that those 60 dollars for the full version are more valuable than the six or so dollars for PS Plus version. I admit that makes business sense.

But it also sends the message that they are protecting some paying customers at the expense of other paying customers.
Click to expand...

You need to look at it from a slightly different perspective. They're not protecting their customers so much as protecting their bottom line. Selling the full version gets them money. Releasing a demo in a bad state can cause loss of sales (upgrades) due to people making snap judgements based on the broken launch state.

Nothing a large business does is ever done primarily for the good of the people. Profit always comes first. If the action taken just so happens to please the people, so much the better. In this case, any player or PR benefits from delaying the PS+ version is just a side effect of protecting potential upgrades. (At least as far as I see it.)
 
riotous said:
How is "our severs can't hanfle this" a sales tactic for the game?

The fact Sony keeps removing the paid version from the store indicated they certainly aren't doing this on purpose.
Click to expand...

I just checked on PS Store on my PC, and it's still available for purchase.

BruiserBear said:
What's interesting is that they didn't release the free version at the same time they put the paid version up. How would they know there would be server issues before putting up the free version?
Click to expand...

That's the funny thing. It's not as though they posted up the PS+ version for an hour or two, and then subsequently yanked it down in an effort to rein in the online traffic. They never posted it up at all.

On top of this, yesterday's PS.Blog post didn't even mention the PS+ version of the game--but it does mention the paid version. It seems like they never intended to release the PS+ version yesterday. However, this would be a contradiction to the PS.Blog post from October 1, saying that the PS+ version would be available on October 7 along with the other new PS+ releases.
 
Given the reviews, I think this is clearly a sales tactic above all else.

Personally, I'm not even going to bother downloading it now. I fired up my PS4 last night to download it, didn't see it, looked online for an answer, laughed, and pretty much stopped caring about this game right then and there.

Too many other good games out right now to waste my time with hot garbage. I'm completely unclear why so many people are defending this thing. I watched the Giant Bomb Quicklook in lieu of being able to try the PS+ version for myself, and it just doesn't look like that much fun. Which is pathetic for a game that got an extra 10 months in development, but bad game design can't be patched.
 
Cheech said:
Given the reviews, I think this is clearly a sales tactic above all else.

Personally, I'm not even going to bother downloading it now. I fired up my PS4 last night to download it, didn't see it, looked online for an answer, laughed, and pretty much stopped caring about this game right then and there.

Too many other good games out right now to waste my time with hot garbage. I'm completely unclear why so many people are defending this thing. I watched the Giant Bomb Quicklook in lieu of being able to try the PS+ version for myself, and it just doesn't look like that much fun. Which is pathetic for a game that got an extra 10 months in development, but bad game design can't be patched.
Click to expand...
Maybe try it before you decide it's hot garbage. Just a thought.
 
Cheech said:
Given the reviews, I think this is clearly a sales tactic above all else.

Personally, I'm not even going to bother downloading it now. I fired up my PS4 last night to download it, didn't see it, looked online for an answer, laughed, and pretty much stopped caring about this game right then and there.

Too many other good games out right now to waste my time with hot garbage. I'm completely unclear why so many people are defending this thing. I watched the Giant Bomb Quicklook in lieu of being able to try the PS+ version for myself, and it just doesn't look like that much fun. Which is pathetic for a game that got an extra 10 months in development, but bad game design can't be patched.
Click to expand...

I watched the GT review and thought it looked great. I don't know what to believe!
 
Am I alone thinking its odd to allow people to pay money for the game digitally, but won't allow the preview version in a situation like this? More so when the game in question has single-player modes, and they have the ability to limit or disable online modes server-side? This is me being under the impression that the PSN download servers are separate from the game servers.
 
Ridley327 said:
Evolution would have been smart to do a public beta for the game. If for nothing else, the Destiny beta gave Bungie a hell of a lot of data on how to manage server loads for such a massive player base, and that data is useful for any developer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that'd make sense. And hell, for BF Hardline and Destiny it seems like it's been a good marketing tool as well. And since it's Sony's game they could have easily marketed it as a PS+ benefit.
 
Impeccable said:
Yeah, because people are going to buy a badly reviewed game instead of wait for the free version to try for themselves.

Do you even put thought into what you type?
Click to expand...

he's saying sony's thinking people are going to buy the paid version out of a.) ignorance of the supposed free PS+ Version, b.) confusion, or c.) impatience.
 
I'd take an offline demo... I just want to see how the game plays before I decide whether or not to purchase it, but I might just set that money towards something else now.
 
Mugatu said:
It is en entitlement mindset to think that just because you paid for something means that it has to be perfect and completely trouble-free and that the supplier has to move heaven and earth to make your experience faultless -and that's not just with video games. It's just reality.

Yes, you have a right to complain but acting like you're owed nothing but perfection is without a doubt entitlement.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be hard on you specifically but I had to say this because it's one of the things that makes gaming culture so caustic and adversarial.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but if a product does not work properly/the way it is supposed to I return it and get my money back. You are correct I am entitled to a product that works the way I was told it would. Expecting higher standards from companies is not a bad thing. Complaining is how you get companies to change this behavior.
 
It amazes me that properly testing your servers always seems to come after launching the game. This apparently saves them money? Well, you reap what you sow.

They should apologize and then drop the PS+ requirement for this game. What a mess. I'm sure glad I don't care about this game one way or another or I'd be pretty pissed off about it.
 
Agent X said:
at all[/i].

On top of this, yesterday's PS.Blog post didn't even mention the PS+ version of the game--but it does mention the paid version. It seems like they never intended to release the PS+ version yesterday. However, this would be a contradiction to the PS.Blog post from October 1, saying that the PS+ version would be available on October 7 along with the other new PS+ releases.
Click to expand...

If the free version was posted, it was for a very short amount of time. GAF would've been all over it. I was checking religiously, especially after I saw the discounted PS+ version go up. I think they're well aware their game is essentially DDoS'ing their servers and more clients will just make it worse. They made the right call to not release the free version as it would've just made things worse. Where they really screwed the pouch is not preparing (this is why we have public open betas), and not communicating with their customers. I hope people don't lose their job, but it wouldn't really surprise me if Evo was gone after Driveclub =[ Hopefully Sony and Activision will give the devs some time to fix things and turn it around, because from what I'm seeing and hearing, the base game sounds solid.
 
Impeccable said:
Yeah, because people are going to buy a badly reviewed game instead of wait for the free version to try for themselves.

Do you even put thought into what you type?
Click to expand...

some ppl are impatient, i know my plan was to play the PS+ version first but last night, i got so frustrated i actually toyed with the idea of just buying it anyway.

Thank god, im broke lol
 
I personally don't think people would be upset if Sony actually came out and said "we are having issues with the game and our infrastructure that supports it, we apologize for the delay and are working hard to have everything online before the end of the week".

The fact they've gone dark (for the most part) and not really said anything or given any time-frame is ridiculous for a paid service.
This is something clearly Sony has not improved since PS3 PSN, their communication with their customers suck. They need a mouthpiece like Major Nelson to communicate issues with gamers and they are dumping that responsibility on each developer which is so shortsighted for a paid service.
Even if they are having infrastructure issues this whole issue comes off as trying to get impatient people to buy the full version.
 
I don't like the situation at all. Seems like Sony is trying to hide the free version so people will buy the full version (sort of like Microsoft with the 360 version of Titanfall that kept getting pushed back) But whatever, I will play the plus version whenever it comes out. I can wait.
 
What a sad joke. I can't believe I'm paying Sony money for a service this terrible. If their online infrastructure doesn't improve considerably in the next year there's no way I'll continue to subscribe. I can certainly live without the "free" game selection they've been providing for the past several months.
 
Hoho for breakfast said:
It amazes me that properly testing your servers always seems to come after launching the game. This apparently saves them money? Well, you reap what you sow.

They should apologize and then drop the PS+ requirement for this game. What a mess. I'm sure glad I don't care about this game one way or another or I'd be pretty pissed off about it.
Click to expand...

I don't even...

1) It's nearly impossible to test server load under millions of users without millions of users. That's why some games (including this one) have betas, etc. 'Reap what you sow'? C'mon.

2) Drop the ps+ req because it got delayed a couple days? Really?

3) If you don't care, why post such ridiculous assertions?
 
Zalusithix said:
You need to look at it from a slightly different perspective. They're not protecting their customers so much as protecting their bottom line. Selling the full version gets them money. Releasing a demo in a bad state can cause loss of sales (upgrades) due to people making snap judgements based on the broken launch state.
Click to expand...

I understand where you're coming from and you make a good argument.

The only distinction I make is that the PS Plus Edition is not a demo, and not valuing the money I already spent on my subscription to play it makes me less likely to buy the full version.

Some of us here who see our subscription as money spent on the game are disappointed while some of those who see the PS Plus edition as a demo don't understand why. I think that's the main disconnect between the two sides.
 
Megatron said:
I don't like the situation at all. Seems like Sony is trying to hide the free version so people will buy the full version (sort of like Microsoft with the 360 version of Titanfall that kept getting pushed back) But whatever, I will play the plus version whenever it comes out. I can wait.
Click to expand...
I would be inclined to believe this if purchasers of the standard game weren't also being affected by server issues.
 
Kukubski said:
Unlucky for the developer. First the delay, now network problems. Let's hope they can fix it soon.
Click to expand...

DriveClub looks amazing and the PGR vibes have me salivating.

But honestly, the delays, inability to make launch, and network problems are of Evolution's own making. I'm not going to pity them for it.
 
Megatron said:
I don't like the situation at all. Seems like Sony is trying to hide the free version so people will buy the full version (sort of like Microsoft with the 360 version of Titanfall that kept getting pushed back) But whatever, I will play the plus version whenever it comes out. I can wait.
Click to expand...
Yup. Since they pretty much stopped talking about the Plus Edition, I always figured this might happen. So i'm not surprised it's late.
 
What I don't get is... didn't they test this shit? There's no way that retail Driveclub sold that many copies overall.. this is not a HUGE AAA release.. especially with a lot of people thinking it was supposed to be free anyhow (because they didn't realize what the PSN+ version really was).

... so if the retail versions caused a problem.. how the fuck did they not anticipate the millions of + downloads had no chance a long time ago?

Seriously, I get server issues and all... but you're talking what.. 10% of the load was ever going to be retail from the get-go? How do you fuck up that bad.
 
You know I was going to give in to the zeitgeist of this new game launch. But the delayed PS+ version is making me read more and more reviews. All it's doing is making me want to play other racing games.
 
It confirms the following:
- customers buying the retail version = tier 1 customers
- customers of PS+ wanting the free version = tier 2 customers
 
Agent X said:
I just checked on PS Store on my PC, and it's still available for purchase.



That's the funny thing. It's not as though they posted up the PS+ version for an hour or two, and then subsequently yanked it down in an effort to rein in the online traffic. They never posted it up at all.

On top of this, yesterday's PS.Blog post didn't even mention the PS+ version of the game--but it does mention the paid version. It seems like they never intended to release the PS+ version yesterday. However, this would be a contradiction to the PS.Blog post from October 1, saying that the PS+ version would be available on October 7 along with the other new PS+ releases.
Click to expand...

It is common sense.

If the load from the paid version is enough to bring down Evolutions servers, what do you think having 500K people download the free version and then jump online with the free version will do?

Adding load ontop of an overloaded system is not smart.

Love how the absence of common sense is actually turning into conspiracy theories lol
 
etrain911 said:
If it's not coming this month, they should at least find another game to put in it's place.
Click to expand...

If it doesn't even come this month they have bigger issues than we thought.

I believe it will still come out this month, my guess is it will take another week or so for the servers to balance out and then they will drop it.
 
pr0cs said:
I personally don't think people would be upset if Sony actually came out and said "we are having issues with the game and our infrastructure that supports it, we apologize for the delay and are working hard to have everything online before the end of the week".

The fact they've gone dark (for the most part) and not really said anything or given any time-frame is ridiculous for a paid service.
This is something clearly Sony has not improved since PS3 PSN, their communication with their customers suck. They need a mouthpiece like Major Nelson to communicate issues with gamers and they are dumping that responsibility on each developer which is so shortsighted for a paid service.
Even if they are having infrastructure issues this whole issue comes off as trying to get impatient people to buy the full version.
Click to expand...

I agree. Like I (and others) have pointed out, DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition was absent from yesterday's PS.Blog post, but they sure didn't forget to mention the paid version. If they knew at that time that they were experiencing network difficulties and (as a result) decided not to release the PS+ version that day, then they should have made a statement about it in the blog post. It wouldn't be the first time they've amended a blog post for errors or sudden scheduling changes.

The fact that they completely neglected to mention the PS+ version at all leads me to believe this was an attempt to "sweep it under the rug", in hopes that people either wouldn't notice or wouldn't care.
 
I can't understand what can load their servers so much

- No preloading
- No different release dates for different territories (they are lat already in all of them)
- Early october and they already have huge problems with servers. what's going to happen in november and december?
- Still no info about Firmaware 2.0 and if they planned to release it during Driveclub I don't even know what to say.


The only explanation is that evolution servers are too loaded and they don't want to spoil the experience to potential full game buyers making them play an offline game.
 
FunnyBunny said:
I understand where you're coming from and you make a good argument.

The only distinction I make is that the PS Plus Edition is not a demo, and not valuing the money I already spent on my subscription to play it makes me less likely to buy the full version.

Some of us here who see our subscription as money spent on the game are disappointed while some of those who see the PS Plus edition as a demo don't understand why. I think that's the main disconnect between the two sides.
Click to expand...

Assuming you paid full price for a year of PS+ in USD, that's 50.
Ignoring PS+ sale discounts and other perks, let's just focus on the games.

Ignoring cross play bonuses, there are 6 games a month for 12 months. Drive club is in addition to that. So, 12x6+1 = 73 games. $50/73 = $0.69 per game.

If you got ps+ for $30, it's only $0.41 per game.

And again, that's ignoring any other sale discounts and other benefits we've received. So while I understand being somewhat disappointed by the wait, we're talking pocket change.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PS Portal can now stream loads of PS Plus Premium classic games
2
82
4K
onQ123 replied
News Several PlayStation exclusives are leaving PS Plus on PlayStation 5 soon
News  2
70
519
Mibu no ookami replied
FBC Firebreak - Releasing June 17th - Standard Edition $39.99 - Deluxe Edition $49.99 (Also on Game Pass and PS+)
4
92
R3TRO replied
eXtas1s: Fable Has Been Delayed To Fix Technical Issues, Improve Gameplay and Pace of Progression
Rumor 
44
2K
Nonehxc replied
  • Poll
PS5 owners, Do you subscribe to PS plus?
2 3
123
5K
Lith808 replied
Top Bottom