Does SOE owe you in-game compensation?

"Everyday we take the Massive daily posts and bring them to Dragoon discussions. We would like to thank Massively for their original content."

The recent announcement by Sony Online Entertainment of a compensation program for users affected by the downtime of its MMORPGs presents lots of opportunities for discussion. In some quarters, players have praised SOE for lining up double XP benefits, events, and one-of-a-kind items. In other cases, displaced vets are complaining about the sheer unfairness of it all, as well as the perceived inadequacy of the reward items offered as an olive branch.

Underlying all of this is the question of whether SOE owes anything to consumers aside from honest billing practices and identity theft protection services for those actually affected by the breach.

If nothing else, the fiasco serves as an interesting case study not only for PR disaster prevention and MMO IT practices, but also feelings of player entitlement. How about it, Massively folk? Do you think SOE owes you in-game compensation for your lost leisure time, or are you content with freely available identity theft protection programs?

TH