Phantasy Star Online 2 -- Beta Live, 3 Invites Available From Those Already In Game

Fiaryn

Casts are best. Kill all humans.

chocobolicious

I love Phantasy Star. I do. I just sometimes wonder why I take it so seriously when, in fact, at one point my superior in knowledge and power was a roof.

Yes, I learned how to save the solar system from a roof.

I feel accomplished.

Gilder

I wonder if this will have a horrible rare item drop rate like the first one. Because for all we know the fixed drop rates in the other games might have been to separate them from PSO. After all, isn't PSO known for never giving you anything you want? Or it's known for teasing you with a red box and then haha BITCH it was just a photon drop!

Goddamn Excalibur you piece of crap. How in the hell did I get the mag cell off the episode 4 boss which is apparently super rare and I can't get the sword it goes with?

chocobolicious

See, the later episodes and such were much nicer.

Original PSO and PSOv2 were always ?SPECIAL WEAPON.
"Cool!"
<get back to town, have it examined>
"Heres your Varista/durandal/DB saber/final impact"

Ohoh, then it mixed it up and suddenly... a talis!
..because no one uses cards.

God that game made me so sad sometimes.

Edited: The talis being in ep 1+2 for the GC I believe, which was the next logical step after the DC version. Just now getting into Blue Burst. Good times, Im enjoying it a whole lot.

Kupi

At least it wasn't like in V1, the weapon's bonus damage against specific types (Native, A.Beast, Machine, or Dark) applied to your total ATP instead of just the weapon's ATP. That meant that it didn't matter what the weapon's stats were, it only mattered that you had a high % against the type of thing you were fighting. Plus, at high levels, you had enough accuracy to hit anything even if the weapons ATA was crap, meaning you saw everyone-- Hunters, Rangers, and Forces of all types-- using Mechguns. And nothing else.

It was slightly better in V2 and beyond, but still-- multiple hits dominated every other factor.

chocobolicious

Like I said, Srank mechs... or an Srank spread needle. god challenge weapons were so broken in V2.

Course I think needle became RA only in the GC versions and later... Man I should play more phantasy star portable 2. anyone else have it? Its ronery solo ;;

Reynolds

I remember being friends with the first American to get to level 200 on the GameCube version. His character had the ID that found rare mechguns, and he just collected the highest level version that had not only ludicrous +hit% but also the 'spend Meseta to crit with every shot' ability. I still have at least one pair on every character I got past 100.

Being in a group where all four characters were continuously doing max damage nine times in a row was hilarious. Everything died nearly instantly, including bosses.

V Faction

I can't be the only guy who wanted S-Rank weapons just because of the ability to name them ridiculous things.

chocobolicious

I want to say the first person to 200 on the Dreamcast servers was probably.. Blueblur?

He spent like 12 hours a day doing heat sword runs. Pretty crazy stuff.

Reynolds

I never did any of the rank stuff, I wasn't really interested. On DC I know there were tons of hacked copies of a few, all with really stupid or XTREME names.

chocobolicious

I got a Srank needle from cmode at one point. Simply because after 23893285873256 mine runs, bastards wouldn't cough one up. Sometimes that games desire engine was brutal.

VampireCactus

I am super cautiously excited for this. I have so much nostalgia for PSO. And since I got into it fairly late and before I got over my internet shyness, I didn't really even get to experience it to its fullest. I still listen to the music.

I hope they really go back to what made Phantasy Star Online great with this one: the atmosphere. The gameplay is really the only thing that I can say they (in some ways) (kind of) (okay maybe not that much) improved with Phantasy Star Universe.

What really gave PSO staying power for me was the combination of the amazing music and the simple and implicit storyline in a rich and intriguing environment. They created a world and a setting with just enough info to give my imagination free reign on the details. PSO let the world do most of the talking rather than slapping you in the face with shitty dialogue and plot. The ol' "Show, don't tell" rings true. That's what an online game like PSO2 needs. Players' imaginations will always create a better image than a poorly written, poorly translated, and even more poorly voice-acted plot.

chocobolicious

Indeed. I loved the subtle story in PSO. The later chapters were very nice as well, puzzling out the Red Ring rico stuff from the small transmissions and all that.

...time to load up more Blue Burst.

AaronKI

My girlfriend agreed to co-op Blue Burst with me in exchange for playing a few games I'm tired of with her. Hopefully the targeting and camera aren't too clunky for someone who's never played before. My nostalgia is pretty forgiving, but I still keep trying to push the right analog stick on my gamepad to swing the camera around.


Edit: I played a bit of Blue Burst's story mode. It looks like they reworked it into a series of quests/chapters that give it more of a narrative. For those who prefer to play through the story classic style, though, you can still do that from the main teleporter... you just won't get the intermissions where you report to the principal.

Chapter 1-1 Spoilers:

Spoiler:

The amount of wolves they throw at you in the final room is almost hilarious. On top of that, they lock you in the room so the only way out is to either finish off the seemingly endless stream of enemies, use a telepipe, or die.

It's also neat that they re-used the metal cylinder from a puzzle in the game's beta to block off areas.

blaze_zero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcE1ZMt-kss&feature=player_embedded

New video is up.

spookymuffin

That's the same video we've been seeing.

Also, I got back into PSP2, after finding my PSP in a drawer. I forgot how much fun this was, or why I stopped playing. I plan on grinding through it this week while on a trip.

chocobolicious

After doing most of the single player stuff, I need some people to play online with, I think. I'm not terribly high level, but I grind like a champ. Anyone else still play this online?

blaze_zero

Huh, for some reason I remember the original video being different. Did it have the English subtitles?

Oh, and chocobo, let me just log onto the PSN and then

Elimination

Will this game come out for NA? Considering how badly PSU did over here. Is there even any ballpark release dates?

Gilder

It almost definitely will, because Sega doesn't seem to have qualms about releasing Phantasy Star in the states and the land up north. No idea on any dates though. They claim the game is pretty far along, but we don't know for certain.

Elimination

Well it certainly looks really far along. In the video at the end it also sports a 2011 release date for japan.

Gilder

I think the top is just saying there's an alpha test sometime in 2011. Oh actually now that I think about it, I seem to remember in Japan that they were doing some kind of contest thing to get into the alpha/beta for the game. You got a code when you purchased PSP2 Infinity I think.

chocobolicious

Summer alpha test for PSO2. Or that was the original plan. There was lots of ways to get a code. Including being on the PSU servers before they closed, previous PSOBB account, etc.

milk ducks

Voth wrote: »

I don't like the way the series headed after ep2 but it's certainly exciting news.

Phantasy Star 4 remains one of my favorite games of all time. It was one of the first RPGs I played as a kid, and I still go back and play it sometimes, because I love it so much. It's up there with Chrono Trigger as one of the best, most well-polished and extraordinary games I've ever played. Phantasy Star Online was great fun for a little while, but ultimately, it never did much for me. The C.A.R.D Revolution was such a bizarre departure from everything else they'd done, but I still enjoyed it (until I realized there was no point in getting all the big rare cards, since some of the starting gear is the best in the game: Dragonslayer, Partisan, Pouilly Slimes, etc).

V Faction

We said several times that this time the stage is not set in Ragol. However, in P-Spec we mentioned how there might be some connection to Ragol somewhere in the world. This “space fleet”? What is their purpose for traveling through space. The name of the ship, “Oracle” has a significant meaning. Pay attention to this. What about the “stars”, what about these “unknown planets” what could this be?

In addition, players are not “Hunters” nor “Guardians” nor “Little Wing”. The text in the promo movie said “The Arks” . (Please keep in mind this Arks is not related to the Arkz from PSO Episode 3)

The existence of this “enemy” that is hostile to players; This adventure that takes place in Infinite space, what awaits us here?

And within the promo movie, new costumes were drawn in PSO’s likeness. We aimed at having a new setting coexisting with some PSO nostalgia. Now certainly there will be character creation. All the characters you saw in the screenshots were made in Character Creation. Because recent online games have you create characters even to the finest detail, we are working hard here too.

And the screenshots, it seems people were shocked when they saw it. The impression gave off this “airy feeling” or “realistic” quality. Even though many of our staff members weren’t from the PSO era, many of the visual elements are different from Gurhal. The screenshots were to give off the impression of a new, PSO-like game. We wanted viewers to feel “adventure” and if you saw the promo video and you felt that, then our goal has succeeded.

As a reminder, we have said many times that what you’ve seen so far is only one part of the whole picture. There’s more information to be revealed in the future, and we can’t show what that is at the moment until it’s ready

PSO2 is on the PC platform, with that you can expect jam packed fun! I think now I can increase all of your expectations! Remember the deadline to submit your alpha test applications is coming up on May 20th, so get those entries in!

http://bumped.org/psublog/

CheesecakeRecipe

Massive update! Character editor has been revealed, and even in the game's early stage the amount of customization is simply insane.



Or how about, say, some teasers showing off some more hints of how combat will be like?




...or if videos aren't enough, have a ton of new screenshots!

EDIT: Dang youtubes not showin up right. Also man we are due for an OP update.

mageormike

Very nice! Thanks for posting these. Looks like it's coming along well.

With a character creation system such as this just think of the possibilities of what you can make. I've had a lot of fun with PSP2 Infinity but this will be a great return to the series roots. I can't wait

SciJo

My question regarding any game with Online in the title remains: will it require a monthly fee?

chocobolicious

Most definitely. Is my best guess.

CheesecakeRecipe

I dunno, I want to believe that Spiral Knights is SEGA testing the waters on Free to Play styled games. I have no doubt PSO2 will be a retail $50-$60 initial investment but I want to believe that they'll see the success that many games have going a free route with insignificant microtransactions-as-shortcuts and go that route.

I am of course, living in a dream world.

mageormike

This will likely be my only game that I play once it comes out. If it costs monthly to play I will have no qualms, especially if that means that we get more content overall. :^:

The Dude With Herpes

I tend to agree with the assessment that Spiral Knights is kind of a water tester for Sega for a F2P model they could use with PSO2. They have to realize that the competition for fully featured games that charge a monthly fee is simply too great at this point for the model to work on anything other than AAA MMO's (this is my personal opinion anyway); F2P is the way to go for smaller games like this (by smaller I simply mean not WoW or SWTOR).

Or maybe I just want to play for "free"

Gilder

You know if Sega would actually ever give us the sponsored events and items then maybe they wouldn't need to charge a monthly fee. See, when they advertise with neat stuff in the game nobody cares because it's funny and we like it. Then they get money for having the Colonel from KFC be your partner. Instead though we don't get that, we don't get pizza hut weapons, and it's a crapshoot if we'll get any events at all. But maybe removing product placement is somehow making them money? I guess if they approached KFC they probably weren't making cash off it. Plus there's also the fact they still charge for the japanese versions. Basically what I guess I'm saying is that they should use the sponsors they get to get rid of the monthly fee, but they're just too damn greedy to do it in Japan and in other countries they just get rid of most of the sponsors.

chocobolicious

It isn't like sponsorship pays that well. I think you're overestimating that by a lot. God forbid they charge people, to make money, on a game they spend millions developing and bringing up to graphical 'snuff' for the current generation.

People would bitch if it was F2P and the cash shop offered anything that wasnt merely cosmetic. People would bitch if it didn't offer anything that wasn't purely cosmetic. I'd rather they just charge a flat sub fee and get it over with.

Gilder

Well that brings up the issue of what you're paying for when you buy the game. I'm of the feeling that I pay my part for the development and production of the game when I purchase it. It seems to work for every other game out there without monthly fees. If I pay a monthly fee then it should be going towards maintaining the servers, keeping the game cheater and hacker free, and I guess if they need money to pay the product placement then it goes towards that too. Sega falls short on all those levels though. NA/EU always has less servers than the JP version (PSP2 had one universe in NA), cheating is rampant, and the sponsorship is usually removed except for some magazine items. So what is the monthly fee going towards? I just think sponsorship could cut down on it a little, because it's a little ridiculous to pay for an edited game with only two populated servers that if you don't go to an obscure one you'll be overrun by cheaters and spammers. What's really weird though is that PSP2 was the game with all the sponsorship, and it's the free one!

Anyway I still wish they would announce PSO2 for a console. I guess it's not likely to happen though. Don't they want my 360 to overheat and melt from the hours I would spend playing the game?

Grimthwacker

Boob sliders! YES!!!

. . .

. . . *ahem* I mean, I am very intrigued by these new videos and would very much like to hear the news that Sega will be localizing this, hopefully on consoles as well. It's great to see the action will periodically be spiced up with random events mid-mission or run, and the way Rangers and Forces use third-person-shooter style mechanics when attacking from a distance is a nice move.

The Dude With Herpes

Yeah, I think if my $60 supports a company when I buy a game that doesn't have a sub fee it should be considered in the equation for something that is ongoing too.

I don't think just because there's an online component it that initial payment isn't worthwhile for the company.

Besides, pretty much every MMO out there that was even semi-successful in the first place that went F2P has reported vastly increased revenue from doing so.

I'm not saying I wouldn't pay a sub fee. I paid for PSU for 2 years, more actually I think if I take into account PS2 and 360; but I'm not gonna go look up my bank statements to find out. I'm just saying that for Segas own benefit they should go with a F2P model. I honestly believe they'll have more players and even people casually buying something in a store now and then will net them far more money than seriously reducing the potential playerbase by having the barrier to entry of a monthly sub fee. Hell, they could even have a monthly fee like they do with other F2P MMO's, on top of the F2P model; give them some perks, more character slots, free cash store money each month; whatever. It has worked elsewhere and it could work for them.

It's not a matter of some entitlement. I want to give them my money here. I will by buying the game outright, and I will (I'm sure) regardless of how they monetize the game. I just think it would work out better for the players and for Sega if they went with a F2P model.

And yeah, while I'd really like a console version announced, it'll probably only happen if it is successful on the PC; so we'll see.

chocobolicious

F2P models do make money, yes. Then again, so do sub based games. Being that its instanced based, I don't think PSO would make as much money off of vanity items or similar as you'd think. I'll take Vindictus as an example. Or even Spiral knights. Both seem to be on the 'alright' side of things as far as money goes (Though spiral knights makes the mistake of requiring the purchases to actually play more than x times a day.) but they obviously dont make as much because people aren't as likely to spend money on stuff they cant show off. Now I could be wrong and PSO could be going totally instance-free. I havent been following as closely as I'd like. (Because I want to be surprised!) but... eh I'm just a simple person. I know if its 'Free to play' I'll be spending more money than a sub fee (I spent 40$ on Spiral Knights my first week.) so its really a sticking point that F2P is only good for casuals.

Mostlyjoe13

I'm curious what the estimated system requirements for this will be...

blaze_zero

http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-features/

Hurray for new info!