Ask anyone with a PS3 or PS4 what one of their favorite websites is, and the most dedicated will probably say downdetector.com . Hell, anyone might say it regardless, since it tracks multiple services. My point is, the PlayStation Network has developed something of a reputation. Start to enter “PlayStation Network” into your browser’s search bar, and it might attempt to automatically complete the query by adding the word “down” to it. It’s a problem with a capital “P.”
At least, with the way everyone complains about it, you’d think the PlayStation Network is the worst, most unstable thing ever. There is some truth to that. I’ve had my issues with Share Play not working, despite the signal being more than strong enough. I was around for the 2011 PlayStation Network Outage. This makes me wonder if the rumblings over other, more minor disturbances are overblown.
Is the PlayStation Network as stable as Xbox Live? Probably not. There do tend to be more outage reports on PlayStation consoles. Microsoft also has more experience with stability, what with Windows and all. But, one has to wonder if people are too critical when it comes to the more minor issues that are Sony’s fault. Things happen. If it’s a problem on the company’s end, Sony usually fixes things quickly. And what company doesn’t have service issues from time to time? Back when I relied on AT&T for internet, I felt blessed when I went a week without having to call about downtime.
It isn’t as though these lesser outages are particularly aggregious either. None of had the staying power of the Outage of 2011. (I felt that needed a bit more gravitas.) At most, they last a day, though I haven’t experienced many that went past an evening. They don’t cut too much into our playing time.
As for the ones that do, the blame for them can’t really be laid at Sony’s feet. The more major outages are the fault of hacking groups like Lizard Squad. It’s difficult for a company to anticipate when antagonistic people may get bored and decide to take down the PlayStation Network to amuse themselves.
A lot of people will see news about people attacking the PlayStation Network and say it’s up to Sony to do more to stop them. Which is all well and good. The company should be prepared to handle and block such attacks, but we also have to remember that a malevolent force set on a course of action is difficult to dissuade. If a group like Lizard Squad decides it wants to take the network down for a period of time, the members will find a way. The best Sony can do is have skilled technicians ready to pick up the pieces.
The PlayStation Network isn’t perfect. Ideally, it should be getting better, especially since the PS4 generation is required to pay for multiplayer support with it. But, I also believe the problems it has aren’t as severe as people make it out to be. There is room for improvement with any service, but maybe users shouldn’t react as if every minor hiccup or few hour outage isn’t some sort of tragedy.