Help me understand why PSN is needed to play this game.

[TheRogueX]

snip

You're directing your ire to the wrong company. You need to be complaining to Sony, not Square. The fact of the matter is, the PS3/PS4 use PSN as a portal to all things online. AFAIK, you can't even use an internet browser without logging in to PSN first. This is how it works on the closed ecosystem of game consoles, and it is not SE's fault.

[nugglets]

Though the original question has already been answered, let me gather all that info together and explain it to you since you seem to be missing it all somehow.

First off, from page 3 "@Nico those aren't sub games so they don't require license checking. The PSN is down so it can't communicate with the SE servers. The other games you can just hop straight on their servers." This is why a physical copy of BF4 will work, but a digital copy won't. No sub, no digital copy, no license check, no need for PSN.

The other, and inherently more ridiculous, aspect is that you are required to log in to PSN to do practically anything requiring an internet connection on a Playstation product. So, though Sony will keep you logged in during PSN maintenance, allowing you to do anything that doesn't require a license check, SE is unable to bypass PSN entirely due to this restriction implemented by Sony.

tl;dr Blame Sony, nothing SE can do about it.

[nugglets]

Also, the same things I said above hold true for Xbox, Steam, Origin... whatever. To the person who mentioned Steams "offline" mode, try that with a game that is an ONLINE game like the ones being discussed. Doesn't work.

[TheRogueX]

Also, the same things I said above hold true for Xbox, Steam, Origin... whatever. To the person who mentioned Steams "offline" mode, try that with a game that is an ONLINE game like the ones being discussed. Doesn't work.

Well, FFXIV can be run outside of Steam, even if you bought it in Steam. You can just run the launcher.

[stuscott]

snip.

It has nothing to do with having the accounts "linked" - this is the way Sony goes about setting their system up and what SE has to deal with to have their product on this console. We use PSN to connect to SE - if you don't like that set-up, don't use a console and play on PC.

[ruskie]

I do wonder though if this is something SE could look into. I've seen Sony mention on occasions that if you logged in by the Nth that you will still be able to play online. So maybe there is some check that can be done with that that would avoid the PSN is offline issue. I mean they sorted out auto updating of the ffxiv launcher on ps4 after a few updates(it now no longer asks me to close it an start it up again - it will automate that step).

[TeaTimeBear]

I do wonder though if this is something SE could look into. I've seen Sony mention on occasions that if you logged in by the Nth that you will still be able to play online. So maybe there is some check that can be done with that that would avoid the PSN is offline issue. I mean they sorted out auto updating of the ffxiv launcher on ps4 after a few updates(it now no longer asks me to close it an start it up again - it will automate that step).

You can bypass maintenance if you happen to be on before it occurred. If OP left his system in before maint he wouldn't have to worry about a lockout.

[Tharian]

the reason that you need a PlayStation Network Account to play Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on a PlayStation (regardless of type) is because you need a PlayStation Network Account in order to access the Internet on a PlayStation in the first place.

What you aren't required to have in order to play the game is a PlayStation Plus Membership, which is something almost every other MMO Game currently available on the PlayStation Network actually requires due to the way that those games manage their in-game currency or subscriptions through the PlayStation Store.

[ariaandkia]

It really makes no sense that we "have" to be on PSN to use the internet. Considering several products don't require it and some products that do have no issue with having the PSN down (or even signing out of PSN) as long as you are already in the app or game.

In all honesty, if SE and Sony were to work together, they could probably make it so that FF14 doesn't need the PSN to be up to play on SE servers.

However, whether or not that will happen is another issue entirely.

[Tharian]

To verify whether you need the PSN to connect to the internet on a PlayStation or not, my best advice would be that during a day that maintenance to the PlayStation Network is actively occurring, that you try logging on to your PlayStation's Internet Browser or the Youtube App (or some other App that uses the Internet but isn't directly tied to the Network) and seeing what occurs. You might be able to get onto the Internet without the PlayStation Network being operational, but I doubt it.