When the PC/PS2 servers closed back in April, PSU GMs offered the suggestion that the closure would actually be better for the game in the long run. With Sega focusing resources on just one version of the game, maybe the US/EU servers could catch up to the Japanese servers. The remaining Xbox 360 players were thrilled.
Almost six months have passed since then, and the Xbox 360 PSU landscape looks very different. Aside from the release of the supplemental update in July, there have been few, if any, glimmers of hope to even suggest that the US/EU servers are catching up. Since the release of the supplemental update, the regional servers have received exactly two new (conditional) missions and a few updates to the GAS feature. There have been no content updates in September.
Now it looks like players are starting to wake up and face reality.
Sega of Japan has announced that there will be no maintenance this week, despite the fact that the Japanese PC/PS2 servers are starting their fourth anniversary event this week. Players do not seem to be taking the news too well, as evidenced in this thread on the official forums.
In the days after the PC/PS2 server shutdown, we blogged a little about the blind faith that some members of the Xbox 360 community had in Sega to deliver on the pledge to catch up to the Japanese servers. It should be mentioned that PSU GMs never actually promised to do such a thing. So I'm not sure why players are expressing anger and frustration now about something that was never going to happen anyway.
The Xbox 360 servers will never catch up to the Japanese servers before closing -- I'm almost certain of that, and if I'm wrong (not likely), then so be it. Before long, the next Phantasy Star console game will be released, and the Xbox 360 PSU servers will vanish into nothing, leaving behind all of the unreleased content. If you don't think that won't happen, consider the fact that Sega of America did it once already with PSO: Blue Burst. It will happen.
That's the new reality of playing Phantasy Star games online in the West. Welcome, Xbox 360 community.
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