When it was announced that the Xbox 360 Phantasy Star Universe servers would be shut down, many expected that they could simply jump over to the Japanese PC servers. If Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst was any indication, the PSU servers in Japan would stay up long after the US/EU servers shut down.
Not this time.
Sega of Japan has announced that the PC servers for Phantasy Star Universe will be shut down on Thursday, September 27, just three weeks after the Xbox 360 servers go down for good. This will end all official online support for the game worldwide.
After Sega gradually phased out PSO support in the United States, Europe, and Japan, the end of PSU seems rather abrupt by comparison. Perhaps this is an admission that the game was not as good as Sega had hoped it to be. In any case, this means that the focus will now be on Phantasy Star Online 2 only, which hopefully translates into regular content updates and better support.
The Phantasy Star Universe era is about to come to an end. Hopefully the era of PSO2 will be more enjoyable and far less frustrating!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Sega Reveals First-Month PSO2 Statistics
Sega of Japan has released some statistics for the first month of official Phantasy Star Online 2 service.
According to an announcement post on the official Japanese Web site, over 730,000 people have registered to play the game as of Thursday, July 26. Approximately 200,000 of those accounts were registered after the game was released in Japan.
In addition, Sega says that the number of concurrent connections to the game peaked at over 91,000 players on July 7, three days after the game officially went live.
Because of this, Sega says that they are considering expanding Phantasy Star Online 2 service into other countries. The game has already been announced for release in the United States and Europe early next year.
Not mentioned was the number of accounts paying for premium content, though the announcement seemed to indicate that Sega is pleased with the free-to-play strategy so far. Hopefully the US/EU release will see similar success.
According to an announcement post on the official Japanese Web site, over 730,000 people have registered to play the game as of Thursday, July 26. Approximately 200,000 of those accounts were registered after the game was released in Japan.
In addition, Sega says that the number of concurrent connections to the game peaked at over 91,000 players on July 7, three days after the game officially went live.
Because of this, Sega says that they are considering expanding Phantasy Star Online 2 service into other countries. The game has already been announced for release in the United States and Europe early next year.
Not mentioned was the number of accounts paying for premium content, though the announcement seemed to indicate that Sega is pleased with the free-to-play strategy so far. Hopefully the US/EU release will see similar success.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Comparing Western PSO2 and PSU
Now that official confirmation of region-separated servers has been made public, there's been a lot of debate in the community as to whether or not Phantasy Star Online 2 is doomed to be a repeat of PC/PS2 Phantasy Star Universe in terms of content and support.
Obviously there's no way we'll know the answer to this until the beginning of next year, when the servers go live. Still, I'm inclined to believe that support for PSO2 will be much better than it was for PSU.
First, consider the fact that PSO2 is free to play. This is the most important point because it drastically increases the pressure on Sega to provide a product that is well supported and fresh content-wise.
In a subscription-supported game such as PSU, players can look at the lack of updates and/or support and question where the money is really going. Players that feel the service is inadequate can cancel their subscriptions, though they lose the ability to play the game. This might result in a small subset of players that continue to pay the subscription in the hope that things will get better, despite the fact that they aren't really getting what they are paying for.
This will not be the case with PSO2. If players feel that they aren't getting the proper level of service and/or support, they can stop paying for premiums and continue to play the game. That subset of unhappy subscribers in the first scenario is gone—people won't pay until things get better. Thus, Sega can only continue to bring in the money if they keep players happy from the start. This also means that the majority of the money generated from the Western game should be "reinvested" in the Western game, not funneled to the Japanese servers.
Then there's the issue of PSU itself. Sega's history of managing the PC/PS2 side of PSU is well documented and well understood by all. Surely Sega knows that players are not likely to be fooled again with PSO2. Any sign of a prolonged slip-up, or an increase in the content gap, and it's straight back to the Japanese servers for most. Again, this problem is easily solved by managing the game properly and keeping players happy from the start.
The beginning of 2013 will be an exciting time for all PSO2 players. Hopefully Sega will rise to the occasion and deliver a service that makes the game popular and profitable in the United States and Europe. The important thing to remember is that the PSO2 community needs to at least give the US/EU version of the game a chance. All of us are skeptical (and we have every right to be) but there's no point in making a final judgment before the game even gets here. Wait and see what happens... we might all be surprised!
Obviously there's no way we'll know the answer to this until the beginning of next year, when the servers go live. Still, I'm inclined to believe that support for PSO2 will be much better than it was for PSU.
First, consider the fact that PSO2 is free to play. This is the most important point because it drastically increases the pressure on Sega to provide a product that is well supported and fresh content-wise.
In a subscription-supported game such as PSU, players can look at the lack of updates and/or support and question where the money is really going. Players that feel the service is inadequate can cancel their subscriptions, though they lose the ability to play the game. This might result in a small subset of players that continue to pay the subscription in the hope that things will get better, despite the fact that they aren't really getting what they are paying for.
This will not be the case with PSO2. If players feel that they aren't getting the proper level of service and/or support, they can stop paying for premiums and continue to play the game. That subset of unhappy subscribers in the first scenario is gone—people won't pay until things get better. Thus, Sega can only continue to bring in the money if they keep players happy from the start. This also means that the majority of the money generated from the Western game should be "reinvested" in the Western game, not funneled to the Japanese servers.
Then there's the issue of PSU itself. Sega's history of managing the PC/PS2 side of PSU is well documented and well understood by all. Surely Sega knows that players are not likely to be fooled again with PSO2. Any sign of a prolonged slip-up, or an increase in the content gap, and it's straight back to the Japanese servers for most. Again, this problem is easily solved by managing the game properly and keeping players happy from the start.
The beginning of 2013 will be an exciting time for all PSO2 players. Hopefully Sega will rise to the occasion and deliver a service that makes the game popular and profitable in the United States and Europe. The important thing to remember is that the PSO2 community needs to at least give the US/EU version of the game a chance. All of us are skeptical (and we have every right to be) but there's no point in making a final judgment before the game even gets here. Wait and see what happens... we might all be surprised!
It's the end of the world!
First we had hacking (with some cool drama on the side) and now confirmation of the PSO2 servers being separate.
Clearly it is then end of Phantasy Star outside of Japan. I mean just look at a few of the topics popping up over at Sega's forums. First we have this one with the terrible servers aren't global news where someone suggests to not support the game at all. I for one think this is a great idea. I mean Sega gave some pretty bad support for PSU and clearly we all know they can't change so we shouldn't even give them a chance. Plus this is the perfect way for us to say to Sega: "please don't bother bringing these types of games outside of Japan." Who likes playing games in a language they can understand? Nobody that's who! This is a brilliant plan with no way it could ever backfire.
Also you already have other posts where people have already decided to stay with the Japanese version of PSO2. We all know we can't trust Sega of America right guys?! (or maybe they already bought a crap load of Ark's Cash).
Now to be positive for a moment:
On the other hand... what if Sega can really pull it off? With the servers separated maybe we'll see AC prices adjusted. Sure with the Japanese version we have to take in account of the poor exchange rate but the pricing is pretty bad; you want $16 for a month of the premium set? Nope. Plus if the servers were global Sega would probably be lazy and just make 1 USD / 1 Pound / 1 Euro, etc = 100 AC which would make it slightly cheaper but still not be all that great. Now if Sega can get the premium set price under $10 (5 would be ideal) and lower the pricing for that AC lottery deal we could have a real winner here.
Then maybe we could see PSO2 on Steam and maybe even take advantage of Steam trading (Sega already has a free to play game that uses it too). It would help the game get some much needed publicity.
Sure it may not be perfect but you know what? I don't want to jump through all these hoops to play and pay for a game in language I can't read (in addition to the the whole price/exchange rate thing I said earlier). As long as I get some entertainment out of the English version of PSO2 I won't be too disappointed. Probably.
Clearly it is then end of Phantasy Star outside of Japan. I mean just look at a few of the topics popping up over at Sega's forums. First we have this one with the terrible servers aren't global news where someone suggests to not support the game at all. I for one think this is a great idea. I mean Sega gave some pretty bad support for PSU and clearly we all know they can't change so we shouldn't even give them a chance. Plus this is the perfect way for us to say to Sega: "please don't bother bringing these types of games outside of Japan." Who likes playing games in a language they can understand? Nobody that's who! This is a brilliant plan with no way it could ever backfire.
Also you already have other posts where people have already decided to stay with the Japanese version of PSO2. We all know we can't trust Sega of America right guys?! (or maybe they already bought a crap load of Ark's Cash).
Now to be positive for a moment:
On the other hand... what if Sega can really pull it off? With the servers separated maybe we'll see AC prices adjusted. Sure with the Japanese version we have to take in account of the poor exchange rate but the pricing is pretty bad; you want $16 for a month of the premium set? Nope. Plus if the servers were global Sega would probably be lazy and just make 1 USD / 1 Pound / 1 Euro, etc = 100 AC which would make it slightly cheaper but still not be all that great. Now if Sega can get the premium set price under $10 (5 would be ideal) and lower the pricing for that AC lottery deal we could have a real winner here.
Then maybe we could see PSO2 on Steam and maybe even take advantage of Steam trading (Sega already has a free to play game that uses it too). It would help the game get some much needed publicity.
Sure it may not be perfect but you know what? I don't want to jump through all these hoops to play and pay for a game in language I can't read (in addition to the the whole price/exchange rate thing I said earlier). As long as I get some entertainment out of the English version of PSO2 I won't be too disappointed. Probably.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Oh Well: PSO2 Will Have Region-Separated Servers
Many players were clinging to a shred of hope that Sega would make the right decision in this case, but it was not to be.
Gaming website 4gamer.net has posted an extensive interview with Phantasy Star Online 2 producer Satoshi Sakai regarding the development of the game and its future in Japan and abroad.
The unfortunate news comes at the end of the interview, where Sakai mentions that players in the United States and Europe will be on the same servers, which will not be linked to the Japanese servers.
This is definitely disappointing, but I suppose that it might not be much of an issue if the regional servers get regular content updates and proper support from Sega. A repeat of Phantasy Star Universe will be unacceptable; the players that went through that mess know better now, and will surely jump ship at the first sign of neglect. If Sega wants PSO2 to be successful in the West, it simply cannot afford to treat its US/EU players like second-class citizens.
Of course, Sega may be able to handle PSO2 differently thanks to the lack of console support (especially Xbox 360, which would have been a major stumbling block). But we won't know for sure until the game actually goes live.
This news isn't all that bad, though. When the US/EU PSO2 servers inevitably close prematurely, we can all just go back to playing the Japanese version of the game!
Gaming website 4gamer.net has posted an extensive interview with Phantasy Star Online 2 producer Satoshi Sakai regarding the development of the game and its future in Japan and abroad.
The unfortunate news comes at the end of the interview, where Sakai mentions that players in the United States and Europe will be on the same servers, which will not be linked to the Japanese servers.
This is definitely disappointing, but I suppose that it might not be much of an issue if the regional servers get regular content updates and proper support from Sega. A repeat of Phantasy Star Universe will be unacceptable; the players that went through that mess know better now, and will surely jump ship at the first sign of neglect. If Sega wants PSO2 to be successful in the West, it simply cannot afford to treat its US/EU players like second-class citizens.
Of course, Sega may be able to handle PSO2 differently thanks to the lack of console support (especially Xbox 360, which would have been a major stumbling block). But we won't know for sure until the game actually goes live.
This news isn't all that bad, though. When the US/EU PSO2 servers inevitably close prematurely, we can all just go back to playing the Japanese version of the game!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Sega of Japan has announced that the Phantasy Star Online 2 servers will be undergoing emergency maintenance this evening to deal with an exploit that caused various NPCs to be moved to unreachable locations within the lobbies.
Excerpts of some lobby chat transcripts being posted around the Internet appear to incriminate English-speaking players in the incidents. Some of the posted logs show a group of people talking about "punishing" Sega for not providing internationally linked servers.
Please explain to me how this accomplishes anything. Sega hasn't even said anything one way or the other on the topic of linked servers. And if the idea is still being considered, the actions of these script kiddies will probably convince Sega not to have them, if nothing else. I guess most of these people don't have the brains to realize that, though.
In the meantime, Sega has banned the accounts of at least 75 users confirmed to be cheating. It's nice to see that swift action is being taken to deal with the problem.
If you see script kiddies running around on the servers, take screenshots and report them!
The topic of linked servers for PSO2 has sparked a lot of good debate and discussion. We've mentioned it several times on this blog. The community has engaged with Sega on Twitter, Facebook, and in online petitions in an attempt to make the argument for international servers. And if Sega chooses not to have them, there's no excuse to throw a temper tantrum about it. People are allowed to be upset, but ruining the game experience for other players as a result is just plain sad.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Here We Go Again, Maybe
As we've already posted, today was the day – Sega has officially announced a Western version of Phantasy Star Online 2, the official web site is now live, and Edward was hinting at a PSO2 announcement after all.
But we won't see the game in English until sometime in 2013. How exactly are players supposed to respond to this news?
A 2013 release is, in the best case, six months away. That gives players six months to progress through the Japanese version of the game, develop character(s) and enjoy the latest content, and decide that the English game is not worth their time. That's also an implicit indication that the game servers will not be linked internationally. It's a possible (and probable) gap in content between the English and Japanese servers.
Of course, six months is only the minimum. The release will probably be further away than January.
Did Sega learn anything from Phantasy Star Universe?
Of course, absolutely no detailed information was provided about the game, so for all we know, linked servers are still possible (though I wouldn't hold my breath for it). And, in a post on the official PSU forums, Edward mentioned that Sega is trying to figure out how to address content gaps that appear when the game goes live in the West. So I guess there is hope.
Though I'm happy that an English version of PSO2 has been announced, I'm extremely nervous that the 2013 release will kill the game before it even gets here. A lot of people (myself included) are already playing the Japanese version—will any of those people care enough to start all over again six months (or more) down the road? Will their money be saved to buy premium content on the English servers, or will it be spent on the Japanese servers where it will do more good?
If Sega wants to keep players interested in the English version of Phantasy Star Online 2, they should start talking.
But we won't see the game in English until sometime in 2013. How exactly are players supposed to respond to this news?
A 2013 release is, in the best case, six months away. That gives players six months to progress through the Japanese version of the game, develop character(s) and enjoy the latest content, and decide that the English game is not worth their time. That's also an implicit indication that the game servers will not be linked internationally. It's a possible (and probable) gap in content between the English and Japanese servers.
Of course, six months is only the minimum. The release will probably be further away than January.
Did Sega learn anything from Phantasy Star Universe?
Of course, absolutely no detailed information was provided about the game, so for all we know, linked servers are still possible (though I wouldn't hold my breath for it). And, in a post on the official PSU forums, Edward mentioned that Sega is trying to figure out how to address content gaps that appear when the game goes live in the West. So I guess there is hope.
Though I'm happy that an English version of PSO2 has been announced, I'm extremely nervous that the 2013 release will kill the game before it even gets here. A lot of people (myself included) are already playing the Japanese version—will any of those people care enough to start all over again six months (or more) down the road? Will their money be saved to buy premium content on the English servers, or will it be spent on the Japanese servers where it will do more good?
If Sega wants to keep players interested in the English version of Phantasy Star Online 2, they should start talking.
ITP: I complain about PSO2 client orders
The optional client orders don't bother me too much, since you know, they're optional. I don't mind kill x amount of monsters or collect x amount of yellow boxes that waste inventory space. Although I am still not too fond of the collecting orders (more on this later). The ones that annoy me are the ones to unlock content aka Koffee's client orders.
Lets start with the orders that unlock free orders. I know this could very well be just me but I've never been a fan of this whole time attack thing. I enjoy taking my time playing rather than rush through to make the time limited. Then to top it off beside having to finish a mission or two with a time limit you need to collect two random items which also in a way is not really that fun. Almost forgot about it but the order to unlock hard mode is a bit silly as well, with having to defeat bosses on the different planets 5 times. If I meet the level requirement to play the levels I should be able to play them without having to run around to complete this time waster.
Next are those collect items unlock stuff orders like the one to get a Mag, expand weapon palette and sub palette, and to increase the level cap. Holy crap these are the worst and I haven't even gotten to the worst of the worst yet. These fetch the useless items quest just flat out suck when used to unlock new features.
The order to unlock the Mag took a while but at least common enemies dropped the items needed. While the order for the weapon palette expansion is annoying since the item only drops from that stretch snake boss. I haven't played the game much but so far I beat that thing at least 10 times since accepting the order and only found 2 of the 3 items needed. I haven't even gotten to the order for the sub-palette yet and I'm not looking forward to it.
The most ridiculous one is the order to increase the level cap from level 30 to 40. While I haven't reached level 30 yet I assume (please correct me if I'm wrong) this order becomes available once you hit level 30. Sound like a terrible idea, lets hit level cap, require collect of absurd amount of worthless items so you get no EXP during the whole thing. And seriously 90 items per planet, that's a bit much, yes? This doesn't really sound fun to me and I can only imagine that each new level cap order will be worse than the last.
Bonus complaint:
While this has nothing to do with the client orders I must say I really hate "Code: Collect." It seems like it exists only to annoy, requires too much backtracking, and feels worthless compared to the other Code events. That is all.
Lets start with the orders that unlock free orders. I know this could very well be just me but I've never been a fan of this whole time attack thing. I enjoy taking my time playing rather than rush through to make the time limited. Then to top it off beside having to finish a mission or two with a time limit you need to collect two random items which also in a way is not really that fun. Almost forgot about it but the order to unlock hard mode is a bit silly as well, with having to defeat bosses on the different planets 5 times. If I meet the level requirement to play the levels I should be able to play them without having to run around to complete this time waster.
Next are those collect items unlock stuff orders like the one to get a Mag, expand weapon palette and sub palette, and to increase the level cap. Holy crap these are the worst and I haven't even gotten to the worst of the worst yet. These fetch the useless items quest just flat out suck when used to unlock new features.
The order to unlock the Mag took a while but at least common enemies dropped the items needed. While the order for the weapon palette expansion is annoying since the item only drops from that stretch snake boss. I haven't played the game much but so far I beat that thing at least 10 times since accepting the order and only found 2 of the 3 items needed. I haven't even gotten to the order for the sub-palette yet and I'm not looking forward to it.
The most ridiculous one is the order to increase the level cap from level 30 to 40. While I haven't reached level 30 yet I assume (please correct me if I'm wrong) this order becomes available once you hit level 30. Sound like a terrible idea, lets hit level cap, require collect of absurd amount of worthless items so you get no EXP during the whole thing. And seriously 90 items per planet, that's a bit much, yes? This doesn't really sound fun to me and I can only imagine that each new level cap order will be worse than the last.
Bonus complaint:
While this has nothing to do with the client orders I must say I really hate "Code: Collect." It seems like it exists only to annoy, requires too much backtracking, and feels worthless compared to the other Code events. That is all.
PSO2 heading west
In 2013. Nice to hear this news but there goes any hope of global servers. Now I wonder how updates for this game will be with such a large gap from the release of the Japanese version.
In a post on the official Sega forums Edward@Sega commented about the gap in content between the two versions:
In a post on the official Sega forums Edward@Sega commented about the gap in content between the two versions:
"There is already a focus in addressing the content gap. It was absolutely a problem for PSU. We want to make sure that it doesn't happen again."Sorry I'm fairly pessimistic about this after playing PSU; as much as I want things to work out I'll believe it after I see it happen.
Monday, July 2, 2012
PSO2 Open Beta Ending
Sega has announced that the open beta test for the Japanese version of Phantasy Star Online 2 ends this Tuesday. Regular game service begins with the formal release on Wednesday.
Incidentally, the game will be receiving its first official content update in the maintenance leading up to the final release. A new field will be added, the level cap will be raised to 40, and additional story elements will become available.
Sega has also announced payment options for purchasing Arks Cash. Curiously, major American credit cards are accepted, including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.
Unfortunately, there was no such announcement for an English version of the game. Now would be a perfect time for Sega to surprise everyone!
Incidentally, the game will be receiving its first official content update in the maintenance leading up to the final release. A new field will be added, the level cap will be raised to 40, and additional story elements will become available.
Sega has also announced payment options for purchasing Arks Cash. Curiously, major American credit cards are accepted, including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.
Unfortunately, there was no such announcement for an English version of the game. Now would be a perfect time for Sega to surprise everyone!
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