As expected, Sega will not be performing server maintenance this coming Friday. The news was initially reported by Sega of Japan's Xbox 360 PSU site (untranslated).
Sega has promised to release new content within the next few weeks. Whether or not they actually do it is another story altogether, and I imagine a lot of people are getting very annoyed at this point.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Update Kiss of Death II
If last week's Mission Spotlight announcement wasn't enough to destroy your optimism, then you're in for a treat today!
The latest and greatest update killer, the "Great Gurhalian Cup Tournament", was officially announced on the PSU Events page today. It's basically a huge time attack competition being run by the PSU GMs, with prizes that are hardly anything to write home about.
Now here's the treat: The event runs for the next three and a half weeks, until December 18. This does not bode well for updates in the month of December at all. Consider the fact that Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall in the two maintenance weeks following the end of the event, and we've potentially got a huge problem on our hands.
Sega of America would like to have you think differently, though, with this little quote from their FAQ thread on the official site:
We'll see what happens, but I'm not holding my breath. Sega said this about MAG 2 as well, and we all know how that turned out.
Anyway, if you enjoy time attack contests, a registration forum has been set up on the official site. Only the first 32 teams on each server group (PC/PS2 and Xbox 360) are being accepted. Otherwise, be prepared to tough it out with the same old stuff until January (or cancel, of course.)
The latest and greatest update killer, the "Great Gurhalian Cup Tournament", was officially announced on the PSU Events page today. It's basically a huge time attack competition being run by the PSU GMs, with prizes that are hardly anything to write home about.
Now here's the treat: The event runs for the next three and a half weeks, until December 18. This does not bode well for updates in the month of December at all. Consider the fact that Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall in the two maintenance weeks following the end of the event, and we've potentially got a huge problem on our hands.
Sega of America would like to have you think differently, though, with this little quote from their FAQ thread on the official site:
Q: Will this tournament delay any upcoming content?
A: Negative, ghost rider! This tournament will run alongside upcoming additional content updates to PSU.
We'll see what happens, but I'm not holding my breath. Sega said this about MAG 2 as well, and we all know how that turned out.
Anyway, if you enjoy time attack contests, a registration forum has been set up on the official site. Only the first 32 teams on each server group (PC/PS2 and Xbox 360) are being accepted. Otherwise, be prepared to tough it out with the same old stuff until January (or cancel, of course.)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Update Kiss of Death
The chances for an update this week aren't looking good.
Neither the Japanese nor the American PSU site has been updated with update news this week, and we're only five hours away from maintenance time, so it's unlikely that anything will happen.
And for those people that were holding out hope for a content update, the new Mission Spotlight will probably help to kill it. Her Secret Mission gets the Spotlight this week, and we get nothing.
I mean, anybody who's been paying attention for the last three months knows that a Mission Spotlight is never held in an update week. Ever. News of a new Mission Spotlight is just as bad as the "regular maintenance" posts, because you just know nothing's coming. And so it goes again this week.
Let the exodus begin.
Neither the Japanese nor the American PSU site has been updated with update news this week, and we're only five hours away from maintenance time, so it's unlikely that anything will happen.
And for those people that were holding out hope for a content update, the new Mission Spotlight will probably help to kill it. Her Secret Mission gets the Spotlight this week, and we get nothing.
I mean, anybody who's been paying attention for the last three months knows that a Mission Spotlight is never held in an update week. Ever. News of a new Mission Spotlight is just as bad as the "regular maintenance" posts, because you just know nothing's coming. And so it goes again this week.
Let the exodus begin.
Nothing says no update like "Mission Spotlight"
GM Edward@Sega has posted about the new mission spotlight. Apparently it takes place at Her Secret Mission, for those of you who care.
Make it stop Sega. We want a real update not this. Seriously I don't want to do this anymore.
Make it stop Sega. We want a real update not this. Seriously I don't want to do this anymore.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Acknowledgment, Some Action
After days of endless criticism and complaint on the official PSU forums, Sega of America has acknowledged that the lack of update content in recent weeks might be a problem.
In this thread, Sega employee and occasionally-GM Clumsyorchid has asked players for feedback on what kinds of content they'd like to see in upcoming weeks. Personally, I'm just holding out for any significant content update at all - I really don't care what kind of content it is.
In related news, there's still no word this Wednesday on whether or not the game will see a content update this week, though Sega of Japan's PSU site for XBox 360 was updated today with an announcement (untranslated) for Wednesday 11/26. It appears to be information about a server maintenance next week, but the details are vague at this point. Stay tuned.
In this thread, Sega employee and occasionally-GM Clumsyorchid has asked players for feedback on what kinds of content they'd like to see in upcoming weeks. Personally, I'm just holding out for any significant content update at all - I really don't care what kind of content it is.
In related news, there's still no word this Wednesday on whether or not the game will see a content update this week, though Sega of Japan's PSU site for XBox 360 was updated today with an announcement (untranslated) for Wednesday 11/26. It appears to be information about a server maintenance next week, but the details are vague at this point. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
In-Game Support?!
Apparently, Sega GMs decided today to show up in-game for a "player support" session. In an in-game announcement, players were invited to come and discuss their issues with the members of Sega of America's GM team.
With one minor exception:
Are they kidding? For most players, updates are the only issue right now! Sega knows it, too, or else they wouldn't have put that request in the announcement explicitly.
In any case, don't expect that message to stop anybody from asking about updates at this point. It'll be interesting to see what information (if any) surfaces from this little gathering.
With one minor exception:
Are they kidding? For most players, updates are the only issue right now! Sega knows it, too, or else they wouldn't have put that request in the announcement explicitly.
In any case, don't expect that message to stop anybody from asking about updates at this point. It'll be interesting to see what information (if any) surfaces from this little gathering.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sega of Japan's Twisted Logic
Earlier today, I was reading the continuing complaint-fest over at the official Sega PSU forums when a thought came to me about the company's handling of the US/EU game.
Through the first few rounds of Phantasy Star Online, Sega elected to put players from the United States, Europe, and Japan together on the same servers. They added features like Word Select to enable players to interact with one another, regardless of language spoken. And for three versions of the game, all seemed well.
Sometime between PSOv3 and PSO:Blue Burst, something must have happened over at Sega. Instead of putting all players worldwide on a single set of servers, the company decided to separate the Western players from the Japanese by staggering the release of the game several months and giving them their own servers to play in.
This release model was repeated in Phantasy Star Universe and PSU:Ambition of the Illuminus, and will most likely be repeated in future Phantasy Star online titles as well. But why?
I've long believed that Sega of Japan's primary goal in segregating the US/EU and Japanese players was to keep the US/EU population from hacking the game to bits (this was popular on the worldwide PSO releases) and thus (allegedly) ruining the game for Japanese players.
That's fine with me if the service and support is equal for both versions of the game. But this is not the case for PSU. And it's defeating the purpose of Sega's decision to separate the servers in the first place.
Lately, the lack of updates on the US/EU side of the game has been pushing more and more people to import a copy of Japanese PSU and jump into their servers. Apparently it's gotten pretty easy to do nowadays -- if you've got a valid credit card in the States or Europe you can register an account.
I don't get that at all. I thought Sega of Japan wanted to keep the US/EU players off their servers, but by running the Western version of the game so poorly, it's like they're inviting us to come play with the Japanese. It's nonsense, and raises the question of why they're even keeping the servers separate at all. Even the XBox 360 servers are US/EU/JP -- so what's the big deal?
This is a business decision that the US/EU players will probably never be able to figure out for sure. But if Sega of Japan doesn't take steps to improve the service in the West, it's a decision that will backfire on them in a big way.
Through the first few rounds of Phantasy Star Online, Sega elected to put players from the United States, Europe, and Japan together on the same servers. They added features like Word Select to enable players to interact with one another, regardless of language spoken. And for three versions of the game, all seemed well.
Sometime between PSOv3 and PSO:Blue Burst, something must have happened over at Sega. Instead of putting all players worldwide on a single set of servers, the company decided to separate the Western players from the Japanese by staggering the release of the game several months and giving them their own servers to play in.
This release model was repeated in Phantasy Star Universe and PSU:Ambition of the Illuminus, and will most likely be repeated in future Phantasy Star online titles as well. But why?
I've long believed that Sega of Japan's primary goal in segregating the US/EU and Japanese players was to keep the US/EU population from hacking the game to bits (this was popular on the worldwide PSO releases) and thus (allegedly) ruining the game for Japanese players.
That's fine with me if the service and support is equal for both versions of the game. But this is not the case for PSU. And it's defeating the purpose of Sega's decision to separate the servers in the first place.
Lately, the lack of updates on the US/EU side of the game has been pushing more and more people to import a copy of Japanese PSU and jump into their servers. Apparently it's gotten pretty easy to do nowadays -- if you've got a valid credit card in the States or Europe you can register an account.
I don't get that at all. I thought Sega of Japan wanted to keep the US/EU players off their servers, but by running the Western version of the game so poorly, it's like they're inviting us to come play with the Japanese. It's nonsense, and raises the question of why they're even keeping the servers separate at all. Even the XBox 360 servers are US/EU/JP -- so what's the big deal?
This is a business decision that the US/EU players will probably never be able to figure out for sure. But if Sega of Japan doesn't take steps to improve the service in the West, it's a decision that will backfire on them in a big way.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Looking to Next Week
Almost everyone now seems to be painfully aware that there will not be an update this week. I guess this really shouldn't have surprised anyone -- the fact that Sega chose to let the Halloween update run for three weeks (until Nov. 21) suggests to me that they would not have any content ready to go until then.
Which brings us to next Friday. The Halloween lobbies are scheduled to come down at that time -- but what then? Something's got to give soon. As I've mentioned numerous times on this blog, I think that the future of this game is riding on next week's maintenance.
Look at it this way: Thanksgiving is two weeks away. It's almost a sure bet that Sega of America will not want to do any maintenance on Friday of that week. Last year Sega compensated for the Thanksgiving holiday by doing maintenance on a Tuesday, but there were special circumstances surrounding that update (the release of Ambition of the Illuminus). I doubt that will happen again.
That brings us into December, and kicks off a month of holidays and short working weeks. Given Sega's track record over the last few months, how many times do you think they will want to do maintenance? I see only three Fridays where they could possibly do any updating at all, and I bet they won't take the servers down for more than one of them.
In other words, maintenance weeks from now until the end of the year will probably be few and far between -- despite the "every two weeks" plan Sega reps tried to push back in September. That's why next Friday's maintenance is so crucial. If no new content is pushed onto the servers at that time, I expect that a lot of people will just quit for awhile -- or maybe for good. Who's to say that new content won't arrive until January? There is nothing that would kill this game faster (you know, besides a server crash).
Of course, we wouldn't even be talking about this if Sega would just update the game on a regular basis. Unfortunately, that's apparently too much to ask for these days.
Which brings us to next Friday. The Halloween lobbies are scheduled to come down at that time -- but what then? Something's got to give soon. As I've mentioned numerous times on this blog, I think that the future of this game is riding on next week's maintenance.
Look at it this way: Thanksgiving is two weeks away. It's almost a sure bet that Sega of America will not want to do any maintenance on Friday of that week. Last year Sega compensated for the Thanksgiving holiday by doing maintenance on a Tuesday, but there were special circumstances surrounding that update (the release of Ambition of the Illuminus). I doubt that will happen again.
That brings us into December, and kicks off a month of holidays and short working weeks. Given Sega's track record over the last few months, how many times do you think they will want to do maintenance? I see only three Fridays where they could possibly do any updating at all, and I bet they won't take the servers down for more than one of them.
In other words, maintenance weeks from now until the end of the year will probably be few and far between -- despite the "every two weeks" plan Sega reps tried to push back in September. That's why next Friday's maintenance is so crucial. If no new content is pushed onto the servers at that time, I expect that a lot of people will just quit for awhile -- or maybe for good. Who's to say that new content won't arrive until January? There is nothing that would kill this game faster (you know, besides a server crash).
Of course, we wouldn't even be talking about this if Sega would just update the game on a regular basis. Unfortunately, that's apparently too much to ask for these days.
Surprise! No maintenance this week.
GM Edward@Sega has just posted this wonderful news. Although it's not much of a surprise since we are all familiar with this no update BS by now.
Anyway his post:
Oh, wow no server downtime!? I doubt anyone gives a damn about that with the game in its current state. I rather have my update.
In before the next failure spotlight.
Anyway his post:
Hello everyone --
Just to let you know, there is no scheduled maintenance for tonight... so, no server downtime, either.
Continue playing!
Oh, wow no server downtime!? I doubt anyone gives a damn about that with the game in its current state. I rather have my update.
In before the next failure spotlight.
Friday, November 7, 2008
The no update filler is here
I'm sure you guys all know the drill by now. Anyway the next mission spotlight has been posted which takes place from 11/7 to 11/13 at Seed Awakened. How exciting!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Friday's Update: Another Nail in the Coffin
The late word this Thursday afternoon is that Sega will not be adding any new content to PSU in Friday morning's update, despite rumors earlier this week that something was coming.
I can't say I'm surprised by this news, considering how utterly ridiculous the update schedule for this game has become. If things don't change soon, this game is as good as done in the West.
Unfortunately for Sega, there's not much time to turn things around. I estimate that most people will give them until the end of November before taking off forever. With Thanksgiving in three weeks, Sega effectively has two more chances to set things right (at least for the short term) by putting out some new content.
If Sega of America is interested in keeping this game alive, they had better act fast.
(The original announcement from the JP PSU Xbox 360 website can be found here.)
I can't say I'm surprised by this news, considering how utterly ridiculous the update schedule for this game has become. If things don't change soon, this game is as good as done in the West.
Unfortunately for Sega, there's not much time to turn things around. I estimate that most people will give them until the end of November before taking off forever. With Thanksgiving in three weeks, Sega effectively has two more chances to set things right (at least for the short term) by putting out some new content.
If Sega of America is interested in keeping this game alive, they had better act fast.
(The original announcement from the JP PSU Xbox 360 website can be found here.)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Stealth Maintenance Changes (and Breaks)
As is often the case in update weeks, Sega has managed to sneak a number of changes (besides the Halloween lobbies) into the game.
First and foremost, there seems to be a rumor floating around that the LV150+ Rappy Latan rare drop, the Pumpkin Trick, may not be findable due to a bug. Whether or not this bug is exclusive to the US/EU servers remains to be seen, but somehow it doesn't shock me that Sega would find a way to screw up even the very tiny Halloween update.
On the bright side, boss boxes in Bladed Legacy are fixed, according to this announcement on the official forums. That should draw people away from White Beast -- for at least a little while.
Finally, a few players have reported that boss box item drops in Electronic Brain S have been adjusted, and apparently a new ridiculous typo has been introduced to the game.
Joining the ranks of "Jigo Booma", "Go Bajilla", "Stag Cutralli", etc. is "Nel's Soul", a botched reference to Nei of classic Phantasy Star fame. With references to Nei (spelled correctly) already existing in the game, I honestly have no idea how that could have slipped past Sega's translators. Maybe they've been reading/watching too much Bleach lately -- but that's no excuse -- fix it!
One more bit of potential disappointing news before closing out this post: the fact that the Halloween update is sticking around for three weeks (until Nov. 21) can't be a good sign for future updates. If in fact no new content is released until then, expect all hell to break loose.
First and foremost, there seems to be a rumor floating around that the LV150+ Rappy Latan rare drop, the Pumpkin Trick, may not be findable due to a bug. Whether or not this bug is exclusive to the US/EU servers remains to be seen, but somehow it doesn't shock me that Sega would find a way to screw up even the very tiny Halloween update.
On the bright side, boss boxes in Bladed Legacy are fixed, according to this announcement on the official forums. That should draw people away from White Beast -- for at least a little while.
Finally, a few players have reported that boss box item drops in Electronic Brain S have been adjusted, and apparently a new ridiculous typo has been introduced to the game.
Joining the ranks of "Jigo Booma", "Go Bajilla", "Stag Cutralli", etc. is "Nel's Soul", a botched reference to Nei of classic Phantasy Star fame. With references to Nei (spelled correctly) already existing in the game, I honestly have no idea how that could have slipped past Sega's translators. Maybe they've been reading/watching too much Bleach lately -- but that's no excuse -- fix it!
One more bit of potential disappointing news before closing out this post: the fact that the Halloween update is sticking around for three weeks (until Nov. 21) can't be a good sign for future updates. If in fact no new content is released until then, expect all hell to break loose.
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