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Sony needs to fix their PSN: Filipino racer is not eligible for GT World Tour due to no Phil. PSN

ULTROS!

ULTROS!

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,474
https://www.facebook.com/669460954/posts/10156979055710955/

Hello Facebook friends and the Philippine community.

I am in need of help. Aug 27th i recieved an email from Polyphony Digital the makers of Gran Turismo and have been invited to race in the 2018 World Tour in Austria this Sept 20 to 23. However, because of the fact that our country does not have a PlayStation Network the organizers of the competition put me as a HongKong representative. With this, most HongKong GT Sport drivers have bashed me, attacked me and harrassed me on twitter. They have all tagged the official account of GT Sport which is @gts_official_jp now there is a big chance for me to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to represent our country in a global eSports competition.

I have given my entire time to practice and put all my efforts into getting to where i am in the World Competition right now and i have qualified with all my honest efforts.

I officially will have an appointment with the Austrian Embassy this Wednesday to get a VISA and i was asking for GT if it is possible for them to send me a formal invitation letter as it is a requirement for the VISA.

I hope that the filipino community, my friends, the filipino eSport community could help me get this spot that i have worked hard for all this time.

*** Please voice out to twitter tagging @gts_online_jp to let me in the competition As they are going to disqualify me mainly because of not having PH PSN***

Thank you to everyone.
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Unfortunately though he was disqualified:

https://www.facebook.com/669460954/posts/10156979925805955/

Thank you for the all out support from friends, PH PS4 community, PH eSports community, my NGR family, Luis Moreno, team WOOFALOOFACKKAAA eSports, my Lallave Motorsports Project family and to everyone who gave their little bits of time and effort.

Unfortunately it is now officially declared from Polyphony Digital that i have been DISQUALIFIED from the 2018 FIA GT Sport championships because we do not have a PH PSN.

This is very hard for me to swallow. All of the time, dedication and effort wasted. :(

Im blessed to have all of you as friends. I probaby have already lost what i knew was my purpose in life, To hopefully have high hopes to become a professional eSports racing driver.... :(

Il be signing off for now. Hopefully soon i could have a photo like this again.

If you want to be heard by GT you can tweet them through @gts_official_jp
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Prophane33

Prophane33

Member
Oct 25, 2017
821
尾張国
While the situation sucks for him, if he entered a contest or competition he isn't eligible for then he shouldn't be too terribly surprised. It's not up to Sony to fix PSN; many countries don't have their own unique PSN network for various reasons or another. If the competition was not open to residents of the Philippines (or rather only open to people from speicific countries), then surely it was somewhere in the official rules, if not that's a shitty thing to do; but again not something "broken" about PSN.
 
OP
OP
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,474
What weird is that there's official support for PlayStation here but there's no PSN support.
 
xxracerxx

xxracerxx

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
31,222
Prophane33 said:
While the situation sucks for him, if he entered a contest or competition he isn't eligible for then he shouldn't be too terribly surprised. It's not up to Sony to fix PSN; many countries don't have their own unique PSN network for various reasons or another. If the competition was not open to residents of the Philippines (or rather only open to people from speicific countries), then surely it was somewhere in the official rules, if not that's a shitty thing to do; but again not something "broken" about PSN.
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The rules: https://www.gran-turismo.com/gb/gtsport/fia2018/detail/

Sounds like he was placed in the Hong Kong category and since only 10 players from each eligible country from the region can go, people called him out as not living in the actual country of registration.

screenshot2018-09-03aijdb3.png
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SaberX85

SaberX85

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,365
Weird, aren't every country in SEA have their own psn store? Complete with their currency and languange?
 
Mr. X

Mr. X

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,495
This seems silly to exclude him due to no 'official' PSN in his country.
 
Riderz1337

Riderz1337

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Oct 25, 2017
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Shogun

Shogun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,442
I mean rules are rules.

BUT it's 2018 for fucks sake, peoples country of origin really shouldn't matter for a gaming tournament.
 

Deleted member 8408

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
6,648
Shogun said:
I mean rules are rules.

BUT it's 2018 for fucks sake, peoples country of origin really shouldn't matter for a gaming tournament.
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It does when said participants are required to travel to overseas locations in order to compete in finals. Getting entry visas for people with certain passports can be a nightmare. It's just how it goes.

This has nothing to do with PSN and everything to do with the competition rules.
 
sym30l1c

sym30l1c

Member
Oct 25, 2017
722
I'm confused. If there is no PSN support in the Philippines, I suppose you can't register a PSN account from there.
So, you must open an account of a different Asian country.
How can he say he was "put as a Hong Kong representative" then? He could have never been a representative from the Philippines in the first place.
He was probably going to be a representative of the country he chose in his account (which, I suppose was Hong Kong).
Did I get this right or am I missing something?
 
Malkier

Malkier

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,911
sym30l1c said:
I'm confused. If there is no PSN support in the Philippines, I suppose you can't register a PSN account from there.
So, you must open an account of a different Asian country.
How can he say he was "put as a Hong Kong representative" then? He could have never been a representative from the Philippines in the first place.
He was probably going to be a representative of the country he chose in his account (which, I suppose was Hong Kong).
Did I get this right or am I missing something?
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Thats what I'm thinking as well.
 
Shogun

Shogun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,442
GHG said:
It does when said participants are required to travel to overseas locations in order to compete in finals. Getting entry visas for people with certain passports can be a nightmare. It's just how it goes.

This has nothing to do with PSN and everything to do with the competition rules.
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True but still if the guy can obtain a visa and travel overseas he should be able to compete. Like you say though it's just the way it goes.
 
Lashley

Lashley

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Oct 25, 2017
60,575
Prophane33 said:
While the situation sucks for him, if he entered a contest or competition he isn't eligible for then he shouldn't be too terribly surprised. It's not up to Sony to fix PSN; many countries don't have their own unique PSN network for various reasons or another. If the competition was not open to residents of the Philippines (or rather only open to people from speicific countries), then surely it was somewhere in the official rules, if not that's a shitty thing to do; but again not something "broken" about PSN.
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what
 
Arthands

Arthands

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,039
Prophane33 said:
While the situation sucks for him, if he entered a contest or competition he isn't eligible for then he shouldn't be too terribly surprised. It's not up to Sony to fix PSN; many countries don't have their own unique PSN network for various reasons or another. If the competition was not open to residents of the Philippines (or rather only open to people from speicific countries), then surely it was somewhere in the official rules, if not that's a shitty thing to do; but again not something "broken" about PSN.
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He was invited, not join. They retracted the invite due to the backlash from Hong Kong users
 
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
Riderz1337 said:
So if I'm reading this correctly people in the Philippines don't qualify right?

He then, as you said, got placed in Hong Kong but doesn't actually live there so was disqualified.
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This. He was not eligible to enter in the first place.

Shogun said:
I mean rules are rules.

BUT it's 2018 for fucks sake, peoples country of origin really shouldn't matter for a gaming tournament.
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There are many legal reasons why restrictions are put on contest entries. It's not as simple as "open it to EVERYONE!!!" Especially when you are dealing with international laws.

Tho, like others, I am curious what Arizona has on the books to disqualify residents there.

Arthands said:
He was invited, not join. They retracted the invite due to the backlash from Hong Kong users
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As per the details shared in the thread, he joined a contest he was not eligible for.

When he qualified for the finals, his ineligible status was discovered.
 
Arthands

Arthands

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,039
Syriel said:
This. He was not eligible to enter in the first place.



There are many legal reasons why restrictions are put on contest entries. It's not as simple as "open it to EVERYONE!!!" Especially when you are dealing with international laws.

Tho, like others, I am curious what Arizona has on the books to disqualify residents there.



As per the details shared in the thread, he joined a contest he was not eligible for.

When he qualified for the finals, his ineligible status was discovered.
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The email he received implies he is representing Asia, not his country.

He was invited to participate, he didn't reach the finals. The event itself haven't commence yet.
 
Acquila

Acquila

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,162
It absolutely sucks, but rules are rules. He should have read the finer points, because stuff like this normally have eligibility clauses.
 

Deleted member 8408

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
6,648
Arthands said:
The email he received implies he is representing Asia, not his country.
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That's not how it works. You represent a country, hence you are asked to select the country you will be representing when you sign up for it.

He wasn't eligible due to the country he lives in. It was discovered after players from HK highlighted that fact to the organisers. An eligible player will now likely take his place. The end.
 
Roy

Roy

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Oct 27, 2017
2,471
I guess this simulates real motorsports in that drivers have to frequently relocate for their careers!
 
Extreme Tactician

Extreme Tactician

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Oct 28, 2017
1,257
Somewhere, out there, beneath the pale moon light.
GHG said:
That's not how it works. You represent a country, hence you are asked to select the country you will be representing when you sign up for it.

He wasn't eligible due to the country he lives in. It was discovered after players from HK highlighted that fact to the organisers. An eligible player will now likely take his place. The end.
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He didn't select a country. He was given one. Did you even read the post?
 
Prophane33

Prophane33

Member
Oct 25, 2017
821
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MRORANGE said:
what
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Can't fix what's not broken, in this context - if indeed the tournament is not open to countries without PSN representation. Sony has no responsibility to create an expensive network in countries/markets they don't want to expand into. On one hand it sucks that they push their products/services in countries that don't have 100% usability of them; on the other hand, the alternative is that nobody in certain markets would have access to Sony products and services outside of the grey market.

So my response to "Sony needs to fix their PSN" in this case is: No, they do not.

Arthands said:
He was invited, not join. They retracted the invite due to the backlash from Hong Kong users
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In that case this is indeed really shitty behavior on behalf of the tournament organizers and participants. It's one thing if there was a rule against it, it's another if it's just a response to salty behavior.

Edit: Though it does seem more and more like this was a violation of the rules on HIS part.
 
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
Extreme Tactician said:
He didn't select a country. He was given one. Did you even read the post?
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The posted rules do not list the Philippines as an eligible country of residence. From the details in the thread and linked online, he represented himself as being a resident of HK through his PSN account of choice.

Prophane33 said:
In that case this is indeed really shitty behavior on behalf of the tournament organizers and participants. It's one thing if there was a rule against it, it's another if it's just a response to salty behavior.

Edit: Though it does seem more and more like this was a violation of the rules on HIS part.
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No, it's not shitty behavior on behalf of the tournament organizers. The tournament was open to residents of certain countries. If you performed well in a qualifier, you got an invite to the later rounds. The qualifiers were done per country, and the invites were per country, to the top players, as per the rules.

Since he was not a resident of HK, he was not eligible to compete. Once this was discovered, the invite was correctly rescinded, as per the rules.
 
SMD

SMD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,341
Prophane33 said:
Fair enough. So once again, OPs claim that "Sony needs to fix their PSN" is hyperbole.

Yeah, it sucks for the guy, but rules is rules.
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This is a really weird take based on circular logic. The options are don't have an online account or get lumped into another region. What's the point in esports if you're restricted by borders?

It's 2018, every country should have its own PSN now.
 
Arthands

Arthands

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,039
GHG said:
That's not how it works. You represent a country, hence you are asked to select the country you will be representing when you sign up for it.

He wasn't eligible due to the country he lives in. It was discovered after players from HK highlighted that fact to the organisers. An eligible player will now likely take his place. The end.
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It sucks that he wasn't eligible after they invited him just because he lives in Philippines, and that he is representing his country despite that the email state he is representing Asia.

Prophane33 said:
Fair enough. So once again, OPs claim that "Sony needs to fix their PSN" is hyperbole.

Yeah, it sucks for the guy, but rules is rules.
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The keyword should be 'improved' here. Sony should improve their PSN to support more countries properly.
 

feroca

Banned
May 12, 2018
823
Is like a real-life region-lock

He had a PSN account from a different country, he entered under that account, he made it, turned out he's not from that country, so he couldn't participate.
 
Prophane33

Prophane33

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Oct 25, 2017
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尾張国
Enter the Dragon Punch said:
it's me. it's my choice whether or not Sony fixes PSN but I don't let them
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IF something is broken then its obviously their problem. In this case there is nothing to "fix". Would it be nice for PSN to be in every country? Heck yes. From a consumer's perspective it would be ideal, but from a pragmatic view of the way that corporate finances work it's not gonna happen anytime soon. No need take one sentence out of context, though I could have been a bit clearer.
 
hibikase

hibikase

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I mean it's not a matter of "fixing" PSN. Contests have legal requirements to fulfill, and if Sony hasn't cleared up the legal stuff in a given country there's not much more that can be done.

In Quebec we're always specifically excluded from non-Quebec NA contests because they never bother to clear up the additional legal requirements with our gambling board, so I know this pain all too well.
 
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duckroll

duckroll

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Oct 25, 2017
11,745
Singapore
ULTROS! said:
I find it strange because Sony here sells PlayStations officially and they just opened a PS focused store.... But still no official PSN support, and the Sony peeps say "oh just sign up for an HK account or whatever".
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Do you know if it's really Sony that's selling it, or if they're using a local distributor? Because that's what usually screws local customers the most - when big multinationals don't want to bother operating in the country themselves and just cut a deal with a local distributor for physical distribution without bothering with the infrastructure. Nintendo distributes in SE Asia using Maxsoft here in Singapore and it's a big joke. For Sony, all the countries which have PSN accounts and stores are served by Sony themselves. That includes proper warranty support, servicing, publishing and distribution, etc.
 
OP
OP
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,474
duckroll said:
Do you know if it's really Sony that's selling it, or if they're using a local distributor? Because that's what usually screws local customers the most - when big multinationals don't want to bother operating in the country themselves and just cut a deal with a local distributor for physical distribution without bothering with the infrastructure. Nintendo distributes in SE Asia using Maxsoft here in Singapore and it's a big joke. For Sony, all the countries which have PSN accounts and stores are served by Sony themselves. That includes proper warranty support, servicing, publishing and distribution, etc.
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For the PS focused store, I don't know if it's Sony and I'm assuming it's just a partnership (I haven't been there) because it's iTech putting this up and that they're selling official PS merchandise (I've corrected my statement instead of they to the Phils).

As for Sony selling PS products here, there's actual support since there is warranty and servicing.
 
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