Online Multiplayer without Playstation Plus

[roycruse]

I bought my PS4 second hand.

Ive had it for a few months now and ive played all the following games online :-

Need for Speed Rivals,
Call of Duty: Ghosts,
Tomb Raider,
Killzone

But I have never bought a Playstation Subscription of any kind...

Is it a bit of a con that playstation mislead you into signing up to playstation plus to play online when infact you dont have to.

Im confused?

 

[VV1LLC]

The option to charge is left to the developers, some games don't use the paywall... Like Final Fantasy or the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online... I really did not know about these... Thanks for the info...

But trust me, PS+ is well WORTH it's asking prize...

It gives you Free games EVERY month... For ALL your PS Platforms... (PS2, PS3, PSVita and PS4) I currently have in my Library 23 Vita games available and I dont even own a Vita! (That will change soon tho )
The free content is well worth the asking prize and it goes without mention that they also have discount on a lot of games. Thief is currently 50% off

So at $50 Dollars for a year, its a great buy!

As for the misleadingness, I also am a bit confused... Again, I did not know about these titles not needing PS+ to play online...

 

[Oberon]

Free to play titles shouldnt need PS+ but pay games like Ghosts,BF4 etc you do need PS+.
And agree with VV1LLC,PS+ is not just for online MP,you get free games and discounts,and dont forget it carries over to PS3 and Vita so if you have those systems you benefit even more.

 

[roycruse]

but pay games like Ghosts,BF4 etc you do need PS+.

Setting aside the debate as to if its good value or not as I'm sure it is for many people.

But how come I seem to have unrestricted access to online multiplayer without a PlayStation plus subscription.

I have owned every PlayStation console since the original PlayStation and have had a psn account since my ps3 but have never paid for a plus subscription.

I hear people talk about online play needing a plus subscription but that doesn't seem to be the case for me.

Any ideas why I'm getting free online play?

 

[don_bidarian]

Well I know there is a trial 14 days plus available for those who never had a plus.
Maybe that trial got glitches and lets you play infinitely?

try other PS+ features and see if those work for you. Maybe they charged you PS+ and you dont know it.

 

[roycruse]

I've double checked I havnt subscribed to plus. And I have not. Im not on a trial either.

Friends who have plus subscriptions have an icon next to their name in the friends list. I do not. I cannot get any games from the store for discounted or free prices as per a plus subscriber.

But I can play any game online ??

Is it possible the person I bought the ps4 from had a plus subscription and even though the ps4 has been fully factory reset its ID ie Mac address or something is being picked up as authorised on the network.

?

 

[KMJ_84]

Is it possible the person I bought the ps4 from had a plus subscription and even though the ps4 has been fully factory reset its ID ie Mac address or something is being picked up as authorised on the network.

?

No, purely because the PS+ membership is locked onto your SEN account/PSN ID

 

[VV1LLC]

Very odd indeed... But hey it works for you...

I still think you would love PS +

 

[don_bidarian]

I'm gonna try to see if I can play online without PS+, see if it works for others as well.

Which region are you playing in?
also did you purchase any DLC?

 

[Oberon]

Yep,odd indeed then. Perhaps there is a glitch in something that lets you play online roycruse.As you said,you cant access free games from PS+ only play online.
Id still be careful,one day it might catch up with you and Sony may want payment,who knows.

 

[roycruse]

Which region are you playing in?
also did you purchase any DLC?

Im in the UK and only DLC i have downloaded was those crappy free minigames in the playroom. Ive never purchased anything (not since over a year ago on my ps3)

Im reluctant to start the free trial of Playstation Plus as i seem to have a good thing going here - my main reason for posting was to find out if any others without Playstation plus subscriptions were able to play any of the games i have played online too. or is there something freaky going on with my console.

 

[wonderings]

Good to know, I thought to play any games online was going to cost the membership fee. Glad its not exactly that way.

 

[roycruse]

My "free" access to online multilayer ended last night. For no reason at all the games I had been playing for the last couple of months all started telling me I needed a plus subscription.

The ONLY feasible explanation is that when buying a second hand console any plus subscriptions online play eliment must be assigned to the PlayStation's unique ID and whilst I had no ability to get other plus content from my non plus account. The PlayStation its self was authorised to play online.... Even after a factory reset.

Looks like I will need to decide whether to subscribe or not now.

 

[Oberon]

Looks like I will need to decide whether to subscribe or not now.

Well,if you play online often then you must,if you wanna continue.
Bonus's are as already have been mentioned,free games from PS+ that also carry to PS3 and Vita (if you have any of those defo worth it) and discounts.

Honestly though,I dont think its a huge amount for a year (in any country) for anyone that has an income anyway.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[VV1LLC]

Once you make the decision, you'll be wondering why you didn't do it sooner! Trust me!

Next week we're getting:

Batman: Arkham City (PS3) | IGN Score: 9.5
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (PS3) | IGN Score: 6.7
Mercenary Kings (PS4)
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD (Vita) | IGN Score: 9.0
Stealth Inc.: A Clone in the Dark (Vita) | IGN Score: 9.2
Velocity Ultra (Vita) | IGN Score: 8.4

 

[Dmadman72]

My "free" access to online multilayer ended last night. For no reason at all the games I had been playing for the last couple of months all started telling me I needed a plus subscription.

The ONLY feasible explanation is that when buying a second hand console any plus subscriptions online play eliment must be assigned to the PlayStation's unique ID and whilst I had no ability to get other plus content from my non plus account. The PlayStation its self was authorised to play online.... Even after a factory reset.

Looks like I will need to decide whether to subscribe or not now.

Was your PSNid new? By that I mean did you just create a brand new id that has never been registered before? I am not saying it's the same as the 360 but there when you created a new id you would get a month of live free. it could be done 3 times per console. Just a thought, might be something similar?

 

[roycruse]

My psn id is not new - had it for years since i bought my ps3

but i did create 2 new accounts for my kids as previously they had sub accounts on my ps3.

i dont think it could have been a month free though as i created these accounts in january...

 

[roycruse]

ive signed up now

 

[don_bidarian]

I think you used your trial.

Anyway my trial also ending so I might get 1 year subscription next month.

Although right now deals for PS4 free games are not good, PS3 gets much cooler games for free.

 

[roycruse]

Trial is 14 days and was being offered to me once this 2 month period of free play ended so definitely not the trial.

If you think about it. When you buy a plus subscription your ps4 gets authorised to play online not the account.the account gets authorised to access the free and discounted content but all my other accounts for the rest of my family can play online without signing in as me.

The guy I bought my ps4 from owned the console 6 weeks, my bet is 4 weeks before he sold it he bought a 3 month subscription to plus.

He reset the console when I bought it and I created my 3 new accounts. As far as psn was concerned these were 3 extra accounts on the same ps4

He no longer owned a ps4 so didn't sign in on any other console so there was no way of knowing his account wasn't still on the console.

That's my theory anyway and the dates and timescales all fit.

Far more likely than I got a free 60 day trial and when it expired I'm offered another 14 day trial.