Considering jumping ship to PC-JP. Haven't got the slightest

[Broodstar1337]

Since I'm tired of being left with my dick in my hand on the 360, I figure I'm gonna try another import. I've done an import before when it came to Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, but I've never done one for the PC. Not knowing the slightest bit of Japanese doesn't help much either, but I need a solution to the shit I had to put up with recently.

First things first, I obviously need a PSU PC import that I figure I might be able to get from Play-Asia.com or something. But what do I have to do to my PC to get it to play Japanese imports, if they're even locked out by regions in the first place? How do I set up a Guardian's Account relatively painlessly?

How's the community? How many English-speaking people play this? Will the Japanese players give me a chance? Is it worth my while is what I'm trying to ask...

[Inazuma]

the game will run fine on your pc but you will need to install japanese keyboard support so you can type japanese. i know you dont speak it, but you will need to type out japanese when you use shop search. its very easy to set this up so dont worry.

there are quite a lot of english players on the jp ver. and thx to aoi, there are lots of new ppl. i dont play w/ many eng players usually but i would estimate maybe 30 ppl or something.

everything should be fine for you cept for one thing: you need to learn katakana. once you do, you will be able to read most of the text in the game, and also use the shop search.

[Kamica]

On 2007-10-11 12:22, Broodstar1337 wrote:
Since I'm tired of being left with my dick in my hand on the 360, I figure I'm gonna try another import. I've done an import before when it came to Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, but I've never done one for the PC. Not knowing the slightest bit of Japanese doesn't help much either, but I need a solution to the shit I had to put up with recently.

First things first, I obviously need a PSU PC import that I figure I might be able to get from Play-Asia.com or something. But what do I have to do to my PC to get it to play Japanese imports, if they're even locked out by regions in the first place? How do I set up a Guardian's Account relatively painlessly?

How's the community? How many English-speaking people play this? Will the Japanese players give me a chance? Is it worth my while is what I'm trying to ask...



Not knowing the slightest bit of Japanese doesn't help much either

You don't really need to know any Japanese to be able to play the game. All you need is basic understanding of katakana. Go here to practice:
http://www.ichigo.se/kanaflash/kana.swf

Select the "katakana" bubble and uncheck the accented and double boxes. Just do 100 or so per day until you memorize basic. Then move onto accented katakana and learn that. After that, you are done!

First things first, I obviously need a PSU PC import that I figure I might be able to get from Play-Asia.com or something.

Yeah. You can order the game from play-asia. You do NOT need version1 in order to play AoI.

But what do I have to do to my PC to get it to play Japanese imports, if they're even locked out by regions in the first place?

You PC should be able to play imports right away. What you DO need to do is to install japanese IME so that you can type in japanese. It would be a whole lot easier to help you do this in the irc channel so that we can help you step by step. Go here for info about connecting to the importer channel:
http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=116260&forum=20

How do I set up a Guardian's Account relatively painlessly?
The hard part is setting up an account. The easy parts are to register your CD key and to get a guardian's license. American credit cards are usable for this. We can help you easily with all of these processes in the previously mentioned irc channel.

How's the community? How many English-speaking people play this? Will the Japanese players give me a chance? Is it worth my while is what I'm trying to ask...

The import community is nice. There are at least 30+ of us. You can see a sample of the people who play the game here:
http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=155370&forum=20

Playing in Japanese games? Its fine if you use the preset commands to communicate. You can be silent for the most part and get away with it. However, I have found that I have very rarely needed to play in jp parties. Theres always someone to play with unless you are online at an awkward time.

Is it worth your while? I think so. I wouldn't have gotten nearly the same experience if I had chosen to go to US instead. Joining up as a new player is easier than ever. The exp values you get from killing an enemy has almost doubled. You will be a high level in no time.

[Garnet_Moon]

Don't call it jumping ship... call it stepping through a portal to an alternate dimension where everybody knows your name, the beer is free, the chicks are easy, and the random people encounter is magnified by a grand number; regardless what U.S. platform you're on.

Once you go JP, you probably won't ever go back to the NA version. Well, that is until you get frustrated with their constant nagging to return and play with them because they don't wanna migrate.

http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[AxelgearVII]

Best decision you'll ever make. There should be more people brave enough to face these squiggly lines.

[Broodstar1337]

On 2007-10-11 13:09, Kamica wrote:

First things first, I obviously need a PSU PC import that I figure I might be able to get from Play-Asia.com or something.

Yeah. You can order the game from play-asia. You do NOT need version1 in order to play AoI.



As far as AoI is concerned, does that include all of the original content; all the worlds, items, missions, that stuff?

[ashley50]

On 2007-10-11 14:43, Broodstar1337 wrote:

On 2007-10-11 13:09, Kamica wrote:

First things first, I obviously need a PSU PC import that I figure I might be able to get from Play-Asia.com or something.

Yeah. You can order the game from play-asia. You do NOT need version1 in order to play AoI.



As far as AoI is concerned, does that include all of the original content; all the worlds, items, missions, that stuff?


yes

[Broodstar1337]

On 2007-10-11 13:09, Kamica wrote:

First things first, I obviously need a PSU PC import that I figure I might be able to get from Play-Asia.com or something.

Yeah. You can order the game from play-asia. You do NOT need version1 in order to play AoI.



As far as AoI is concerned, does that include all of the original content; all the worlds, items, missions, that stuff?

[CelestialBlade]

So now everyone's jumping ship to the JP version? Just what we need, even *less* people on the US servers. Don't kill your own server.

[Broodstar1337]

Well, I'm gonna miss the fT I built up on the 360... for a little while anyway...

[ashley50]

On 2007-10-11 15:01, Typheros wrote:
So now everyone's jumping ship to the JP version? Just what we need, even *less* people on the US servers. Don't kill your own server.


well...the US servers have F*(ked up economy anyways due to Haxeta and the hacking way back. (PC/PS2)
You can't buy anything decent for a cheap price, esp for newbies

Lots of idiots and assH*&^s too





<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ashley50 on 2007-10-11 15:21 ]</font>

[Broodstar1337]

On 2007-10-11 15:19, ashley50 wrote:

On 2007-10-11 15:01, Typheros wrote:
So now everyone's jumping ship to the JP version? Just what we need, even *less* people on the US servers. Don't kill your own server.


well...the US servers have F*(ked up economy anyways due to Haxeta and the hacking way back. (PC/PS2)
You can't buy anything decent for a cheap price, esp for newbies

Lots of idiots and assH*&^s too





<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ashley50 on 2007-10-11 15:21 ]</font>


Yeah... my recent phishing attack was the straw that broke the camel's back. I like to think I had pretty good stuff and losing it all at lvl 69 makes it really hard to pick up the pieces. Not to mention SoA isn't willing to throw me a bone and give me compensation or anything...

[DraginHikari]

As if the console wars wasn't bad enough... we don't need a reigion war on top of it >>

[Schubalts]

Guys. He is leaving the 360 servers, not the PC/PS2 servers. The 360 population can take a population drop.

[Garnet_Moon]

On 2007-10-11 16:27, Schubalts wrote:
Guys. He is leaving the 360 servers, not the PC/PS2 servers. The 360 population can take a population drop.


Yea, they still have 2 full universes compared to the half universe on PC/PS2.

They won't be hurting too much. At least not until Huxley comes out... then it's up in the air. If Halo dropped the pop this much, I can't imagine how bad Huxley is going to rape the PSU servers. Even if it's for just a short time.

[Schubalts]

Probably not much, seeing as Huxley is an MMOFPS and looking at how well Planetside did. It better be a superkickassawesome game if anybody is going to pay monthly to play an FPS when pretty much every other FPS has free online play.

[Broodstar1337]

On 2007-10-11 16:45, Garnet_Moon wrote:

On 2007-10-11 16:27, Schubalts wrote:
Guys. He is leaving the 360 servers, not the PC/PS2 servers. The 360 population can take a population drop.


Yea, they still have 2 full universes compared to the half universe on PC/PS2.

They won't be hurting too much. At least not until Huxley comes out... then it's up in the air. If Halo dropped the pop this much, I can't imagine how bad Huxley is going to rape the PSU servers. Even if it's for just a short time.



I'd be more concerned about The Orange Box, Unreal Tournament 3, and Mass Effect right around now...

[PJ]

On 2007-10-11 14:08, AxelgearVII wrote:
Best decision you'll ever make. There should be more people brave enough to face these squiggly lines.



Sorry Axel. I particularily like being able to read my language.

[Itsuki]

On 2007-10-11 21:21, PJ wrote:

On 2007-10-11 14:08, AxelgearVII wrote:
Best decision you'll ever make. There should be more people brave enough to face these squiggly lines.



Sorry Axel. I particularily like being able to read my language.


Most people that make the jump, after a couple months, can usually atleast partially read all the items/weapons/etc. It doesn't even take that much effort.

[A2K]

Compared to Halo 3, all those other games are barely a blip in the radar. The biggest release before was Gears of War, and that didn't do anything to the server population. H3 is a juggernaut--and on a whole other level entirely in terms of pull.

[AxelgearVII]

On 2007-10-11 21:21, PJ wrote:

On 2007-10-11 14:08, AxelgearVII wrote:
Best decision you'll ever make. There should be more people brave enough to face these squiggly lines.



Sorry Axel. I particularily like being able to read my language.



So do I. I wont sit here and pretend I didnt make a sacrifice. But overall, it paid to bite the bullet. Once you can get over the hump of reading item names, you can play comfortably. If I can learn katakana, anyone can. After a while, it just clicks.

[PJ]

Well, the next point would come from the fact that I started on the US Server, and my characters are there, and I've already put considerable effort into them. (I know, I'm using, "My," as the... noun, but I mean, people already on the game)

But a lot of people have a lot of time and money to play both, too, so yeah.

[Itsuki]

On 2007-10-11 22:02, PJ wrote:
Well, the next point would come from the fact that I started on the US Server, and my characters are there, and I've already put considerable effort into them. (I know, I'm using, "My," as the... noun, but I mean, people already on the game)

But a lot of people have a lot of time and money to play both, too, so yeah.


While it definately isn't for people that have very limitted time. At the same time, you have to consider that the exp is larger on the JP server, and atleast during this first month, maybe extending longer, there will be people running lower level runs. I don't think anybody that started on the JP server had any trouble getting to reasonable level quickly. Many are already approaching their 60s and 70s.

[Xencia]

Reading this topic,made me want to check it out too. Spent some hours this afternoon learning all the basic and accented katakana from that awesome little site posted. Just would be nice to have the better voice choices,not be behind in updates,no wait for AoI,etc.

My questions would be:

How hard is it to find an english group there?
Would primetime be the only real possible time to play?
How is the lag,considering the servers are waaaay over there?

[Itsuki]

How hard is it to find an english group there?
Would primetime be the only real possible time to play?
Depends... I mean, theres not a whole lot of us. So if you make enemies, then you'll find it hard. But if you make friends, then it shouldn't be too bad. But generally speaking, its pretty dead during the day, and hard to find english speaking parties outside of night time (maybe... 6-7pm EST till say... 3am EST). Other than weekends of course. But even then, there may be only 3 or 4 english speaking parties running in the main group.


How is the lag,considering the servers are waaaay over there?
The lag is definately more noticable than on the US servers. Especially for tech users, which will see a long delay when pre-loading techs. Hunters may also notice the delay when using launching type moves. I'd say its atleast twice that of the US server on average.

[pikachief]

On 2007-10-11 22:16, Xencia wrote:
Reading this topic,made me want to check it out too. Spent some hours this afternoon learning all the basic and accented katakana from that awesome little site posted. Just would be nice to have the better voice choices,not be behind in updates,no wait for AoI,etc.

My questions would be:

How hard is it to find an english group there?
Would primetime be the only real possible time to play?
How is the lag,considering the servers are waaaay over there?



yea lag is more noticeable, soloing is alot easier on AOI,(or at least to me it is) and just try to get as many importers and US speaking cards as u can and u shouldnt have much trouble since at least 1 of us is always online http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Broodstar1337]

My copy of AOI has shipped and hopefully I have it within the next couple days...

[Alisha]

when ive tried learning katakana in the past i could never make any sense of the resulting romanji maybe i need to take a different aproach to learning it. then i could actually understand the stories of all those super robot taisen games i play.

[Yusaku_Kudou]

This isn't quite the same, but I've been considering just getting a JP 360 and PSU just so I can play it in Japanese. I've always played PSO in Japanese since 2001 and it just seems weird with all that English. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

And to the post above: you're going to need much more than Katakana for those games. Bandai always uses kanji everywhere without furigana. You pretty much need to be Japanese literate.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Yusaku_Kudou on 2007-10-12 08:46 ]</font>

[Kamica]

On 2007-10-12 08:34, Alisha wrote:
when ive tried learning katakana in the past i could never make any sense of the resulting romanji maybe i need to take a different aproach to learning it. then i could actually understand the stories of all those super robot taisen games i play.



Katakana knowledge is strictly for items and menus. That is because many of words used in this game are foreign based. So all the items and menus (for the most part) are kept uniform with each other. Stories are typically told in hiragana/kanji.

[Xencia]

Just ordered mine too,figure I can at least try it out,since I have alot of time on my hands currently.

Also not bad that I would like to get better at the katakana,and eventually branch out. Immersion would help I'd think. If nothing else,it'll stop me from forgetting.

[Broodstar1337]

For items and whatnot, I'm probably just gonna end up putting together a katakana guide. I can distinguish items by their symbology and star rating, so if I ever need to look for an item in a player shop, I can just check out how it's written out, reference katakana symbols to an english counterpart, and then type away.

At least until I can learn without it.