PSU Life span

[hazerdous]

How long do you think psu has, with all these new mmo and fps games comming out. Also psu updates are just getting slower; not saying they can or can't help it but a lot of people are leaving psu.

[fay]

seriously, im going to say it has another 6 months MAX

[Kizeragi]

1 year. As long as SoA are making some sort of profit, they'll keep the servers running. It's just a matter of time until that changes though.

[GreenArcher]

Probably 2 years.

To any nay sayers, you need to realize these few things:

Blue Burst''s last 6 months were with maybe 30 people on the server
PSOX was essentially empty for at least the last 6 months as far as I know.

We still have a population that's larger than Blue Burst's ever was. We still have a long way to go with PSU

[ashley50]

who knows?

we cannot predict or see into the future, only time will tell.

[chicken105]

1-2 years. 1 year if there at the rate they have been doing since April. (delay of PA updates was moved to Late May mag 1) 2 years if they actually get there act together.

[Kylie]

Well, I think the servers will stay up for at least three more years, especially if another expansion is released, but whether people are still playing or not is a mystery. Judging from this poll, it looks grim.

[Tavian]

I'll be around till they close them, however long away that is.

[Aisha379]

1-2 years. 1 year if there at the rate they have been doing since April. (delay of PA updates was moved to Late May mag 1) 2 years if they actually get there act together.

This is what I'm guessing. Assuming there is no expansion.

I'm betting each potential expansion would add on roughly 2 years.

[amtalx]

The servers will be up for another 3 years at least. I give it 1 more year of having a viable population.

[Kylie]

The servers will be up for another 3 years at least. I give it 1 more year of having a viable population.
Stealing my answers... :-P

[SStrikerR]

I wonder how many times a topic like this has been made.

[Noblewine]

I hope PSU stays up for about 4 yrs or longer. Even though things look grim for everybody alot of people have stuck around and continued to play. I think its surprised Sega regardless of how far behind we are in getting updates.

Where's "Who cares?" I wish you add that in the polls.


I wonder how many times a topic like this has been made.

Too many times and its spreading like a poison. ><
I'm getting tired off seeing them too.

[Complex_Jao]

sega can make it work if they just try...and if they try i give it another 2-3 years

[xBladeM6x]

This game still has 4+ years on its hands. With the need for having to finish all the content up to level 200 monsters at least, and getting to level 200. Then on top of that, they announced another "Expansion". (Potential level 300 Stuff) And also, we have Way more players now, then PSO did, and that ran for 7 years.

There is still a lot of time left to go, and the people who say this game won't last long, are just giving into the stupid idea that this game is horrible when it obviously is not. If you are one of those said players, these are probably the reasons why:

1: Your gear is crap and are satisfied with 10% everything.
2: Your gear is 50% 10/10 "OMFGLAWL" from obsessing about "BEING TEH BEST!!", that you really forgot what it was like to just play and appreciate the game, and try to have fun.
3: You are a troll and have nothing better to do but be ***.
4: You are a follower onto what a few people said, and now truly believe everything is ruined.
5: Or the least offensive one, you just got bored because you are not easily amused, and need a more hands on experience.

(I stress #2) .... Wait .... That didn't come out right.. ^^;

Anyways, this game has a lot of life left, and I am embracing every minute of it.

[Trey]

If things stay the way they are i bet PSU will be gone in about a year
i hope sega's next Phantasy Star will bring more people around to play it :D

[Genoa]

Well the way it's looking for PC/PS2... I can't say how much longer. It's very irritating how I can even go to White Beast's mission counter in universe 2 and try to find an open S2 party and not find ONE!!
I remember looking through a list of games and making sure "hmm, I'm a non-techer, I would prefer to find a team with a techer" or "hmm, I'm a techer, lets see if there's a party who NEEDS a techer"
<______>
I wouldn't mind merging with the 360 servers to save our population. It's not like PC users will be able to tech-spam lag them anyways with the new update coming soon.

[Eleina]

PC/PS2 - 6months
Xbox 360 - 1 Year
JP PC/PS2 - ?? Years

[Xefi]

PSU has ended for me & Cz. I'll come back to
play this game again once there are some
decent updates.

As for how long this game will last, i don't think
it can last much longer. PC/ps2 ver. might be the
first victims to be forgotten, and xbox360
will far soon afterward. PSU will soon be a
thing of the past...lost & not found again.

[TheOneHero]

5: Or the least offensive one, you just got bored because you are not easily amused, and need a more hands on experience.

I lol'd. I do hope I'm not the only seeing the humor here.

Anyway, I really can't say how much longer PSU will be around for. If SoA's performance doesn't change I would think it'd be around much longer, even though they "have" to release level 200 cap.

What's all this stuff about another expansion? Last I heard, not all the data from AoI has been given to the players. It'd be stupid to release another expansion when they still have a decent amount of stuff yet to be released from the previous one.

Oh yeah, percents are only there for looks, obviously.

[Marron_Shido]

I well I for one, am not quitting! I will ride this out, good or bad. I still don't see how people can think SoA can realistically keep things a float if everyone cuts out like this. It's like a run only the bank, if too many cash out at the same it crumbles. I main problem is still this, people who claim they 'quit' PSU but still gripe about it on the forums endlessly. If you quit a game, quit it, but don't raise hell on the forums for those who chose to stay and ride it out. Freedom of speech is one thing but trolling and gripping about a game you don't play any more is just plain silly. I'm sorry if I offend anyone by this, I'm just sick of all this negativity and will do what I can to fight it.

[DAMASCUS]

There are three ironies I would like to point out:

- Doomsday seems much more likely to come soon on the PC/PS2 but the US Populace includes XBox 360, so there is nothing to worry about for a long while.

- The reason there seems to be a problem is that this game is just too addictive. Like PSO before it, its so easy to log in out of habit and not necessarily play the game as much as just visit with friends online. At some point friends get busy and you are left burning the midnight oil hunting rares and leveling PAs. Burn out is a huge factor, but burn out from a game that is so fun that it gets highly redundant without regular content unlocking and updates, not to mention implementation of events.

- By far the funnest time I had on PSO is something they could easily implement on PSU but it would mean making levelling PAs moot. I'm of course talking about Challenge Mode. Bring it back SEGA!!

[Genoa]

There are three ironies I would like to point out:
- By far the funnest time I had on PSO is something they could easily implement on PSU but it would mean making levelling PAs moot. I'm of course talking about Challenge Mode. Bring it back SEGA!!

Yes, I agree that my funnest times were also on PSO > PSU. However, I found what made PSO so "epic" in comparison (for me at least) was the difficulty. I mean, you can actually die in that game :O
PSU... who doesn't have 10 scapes?
Seriously, these magashi's are the hardest thing PSU's ever seen, where PSO has plenty of difficult missions. As well as ?SPECIAL WEAPON just being 100x more :-o Exciting? Than finding a board... then hoping it works... and if it's melee and it DOES work... that the % is complete shit <__________>

[Marron_Shido]

Yah I really wish they would just stop selling Scape Doll in NPC shops. With the death penalties gone now, it would make the game more a worthy challenge. If they want to have Scape Dolls, let people find them during missions; like in PSO. :D

[engelsein]

agreed

[Tetsaru]

Yah I really wish they would just stop selling Scape Doll in NPC shops. With the death penalties gone now, it would make the game more a worthy challenge. If they want to have Scape Dolls, let people find them during missions; like in PSO. :D

Seconded. This reason alone seems to account for most of the lack of difficulty in the game. Scape Dolls should be rare and non-stackable, just like they were in PSO, imo.

And to think people used to complain about them being so expensive... and the ever-raging war between those who kept them at all times, and the people who refused to carry them... I actually had someone blacklist me for questioning why he didn't carry scapes at that time... >_>;

[Shou]

No, seriously, it has been dead for a while... fuck Sega... this may have killed entire series for me. Just quit...

[Dark Emerald EXE]

I found what made PSO so "epic" in comparison (for me at least) was the difficulty. I mean, you can actually die in that game :O
PSU... who doesn't have 10 scapes?
Seriously, these magashi's are the hardest thing PSU's ever seen, where PSO has plenty of difficult missions. As well as ?SPECIAL WEAPON just being 100x more :-o Exciting? Than finding a board... then hoping it works... and if it's melee and it DOES work... that the % is complete shit <__________>

The main parts of this entire comparsion ^_^
I kinda agree the difficulty was fun on PSO thats what made it a alot more difficult

aww now i wish they had an Ultimate difficulty for psu :(

[Genoa]

PSU's mechanics are very nice. I like it's graphical interface, the way they implemented Skill PA's for Melee weapons, different elementals for weapons, elemental bullets, more techs and very diverse techs, many player types with various combinations that are interchangeable, the new beasts, the enemies (for the most part...), all sorts of things that PSU has over PSO

Yet PSO was still more fun for me because of simple things like difficulty and rare hunting.
PSU's melee weapon system is a joke in my opinion.
You find a nice melee weapon board, you make it (if it doesn't fail, just like guns and tech weapons can do) you have to hope it has a high%. Not only that, lets say you DO have a high % for that weapon. Now it's ONLY good against it's weakness and is horrible against the same element.
Where guns and tech-weapons, it simply has to succeed... All weapons can grind, but melee gets screwed the most in my opinion.
Oh, let's not forget Armors requiring a BUNCH of items... with a LOWER success rate...
There's a lot to love about PSU, but I find PSO had less to love but it the love was definitely stronger =/
And I really like PSU...
I still play PSO on a regular basis as well though, and I've had a good 6 years of PSO. I've NEVER played ONE game that long.

[xBladeM6x]

I lol'd. I do hope I'm not the only seeing the humor here.

Damn You. :-P lol

[Marron_Shido]

Seconded. This reason alone seems to account for most of the lack of difficulty in the game. Scape Dolls should be rare and non-stackable, just like they were in PSO, imo.

And to think people used to complain about them being so expensive... and the ever-raging war between those who kept them at all times, and the people who refused to carry them... I actually had someone blacklist me for questioning why he didn't carry scapes at that time... >_>;

I'm glad we agree on something Tets. :D In any case I think this would be an entirely different game if Scape Dolls were available only available by finding them and not be being stackable as in PSO. I think we would see a lot less people soloing if they couldn't always start the bosses with 10 Scape Dolls. :D

[Dark Emerald EXE]

Yet PSO was still more fun for me because of simple things like difficulty and rare hunting.

Its kinda funny since in PSO if you REALLY wanted the rare enemy.....you just did the telepipe trick which is similiar to just abandoning mission on PSU only difference is, with the telepipe trick....you dont start over in the mission(for those who didnt play PSO)

[Gobolino]

I will stay whit PSU until end

[Marron_Shido]

Me too :D

[cdubb19]

yeah i say this game doesn't have much longer i know i havent been playing that much with all the new games that have been coming out. I think this game better do something because i will be playing champions online when it comes out.

[Seority]

It'd dead to me just as it is for everyone who's licence have been canceled.
If they, for some reason, start updating us with many things and not screwing up, I'll concider it's life again, but for now, it's gone.

[Aisha379]

There seems to be some confusion on what constitutes as "dead".

If its having a respectable amount of players and updates, then I'd say the PC version is on life-support right now and will last maybe another year or two (assuming no expansion, once again).

If its actually having the servers shutdown, though, then I'm thinking a fair amount longer.

[Danny_Dark]

PC/PS2 - 3 Years
Xbox 360 - 3 Years
JP PC/PS2 - 20+ Years

Fixed...

[lainofthewired]

The servers will be up for another 3 years at least. I give it 1 more year of having a viable population.

What the heck? The PSU for pc/ps2 barely has a population now!:-x

[lainofthewired]

Six years is a long time to play one game.:-o I doubt that anyone will play thisss one that long.^^;

[fay]

i think i heard that sega only wants to run the game for 5 years.
this is two years in just now so it should only have 3 years left of it.

i realy cant see it lasting that long however.
pc/ps2 is more or less done for as peopel say. even the 360 population is dropping fast lately.
i actually find it rare to see one universe full these days

[Rambo!]

IN all honesty I liked PSU and i keep tryinhg to find reasons to play and you know what I CAN'T. This game is on its way out and I say it has MAYBE another 6 months to a year

[RemiusTA]

its just so sad too. This game's population would be great if it didnt feel like they TRIED to drive us away...

[TheOneHero]

its just so sad too. This game's population would be great if it didnt feel like they TRIED to drive us away...

From a dear friend of mine...

http://ffkingdom.netfirms.com/pso/comic9.htm

I would think, if you could play your online characters offline, like in PSO, more people would play and the game would last longer.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

http://ffkingdom.netfirms.com/pso/comic9.htm

This basically sums it up

[TheOneHero]

This basically sums it up

It's brilliant because he made it at the end of PSO's lifetime, lol.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

It's brilliant because he made it at the end of PSO's lifetime, lol.
Let it be known at this set of pictures can be used for future Phantasy Star games
*stores in time capsule*


XD

[Ethateral]

i realy cant see it lasting that long however.
pc/ps2 is more or less done for as peopel say. even the 360 population is dropping fast lately.
i actually find it rare to see one universe full these days
It's only the past few days or a week give or take, on 360, has there really only been one universe full. That's because Sega has this uncanny ability to release content on other game release dates. IE: Saint's Row 2 and Fable 2. Thus people will go play the crap out of them and come back to PSU a week or so later. (I bet The Carnival will be released when Gears 2 comes out too. >____>; ) Normally, we have almost 2 universes filled. During events it's a lot more. What, 3-4? =/ At least on 360 it is.

Aside from that, PSU has a long time left. I say a good 3-5 years. Either way, I'm going to be here till they close the servers. It's just too addicting and fun to let down. <3

[Yusaku_Kudou]

I voted all three options, because I could.

[Splash]

Hmm, I would say at least 3 more years. 4 years would be great, but I'm not too sure with that.

[Ithildin]

Meh, what a mixed response. Who knows..?

[CandleJackGv2]

After 2 years, I'd say PSU has atleast 1-2yrs left in it if SEGA is Lucky.

[lostinseganet]

I want psu to be finished up and redo PSO with all the psu trimmings. i feel that there are some good things in psu, but I want PSO BACK! Redo the whole thing. Fleash out all the old story and make it cooler.Better graphics and butt physics will be expected. New content past epsoide 4 and 16-64 player cooperative play. That will give this supposely MMO some massive multi player.

[Green_Bandit]

I think they'll let it play out and just cut it off when the time comes like PSOX.

[mizukage]

PSU as in the Phantasy Star Universe should last more than just several years, but if you mean the first game in the series, I think most people don't even play it anymore. Currently, there is a second game: Ambition of the Illuminous which is still playable since it has Episode 3 online, a third game: Phantasy Star Portable which is coming out March 2009 and also a Phantasy Star Zero made exclusive for Nintendo DS, the bestseller portable gaming device that features PSO interface. Considering that the PSU universe has expanded to a 4-game series, not mentioning a possibility of future sequels and spin-offs, its going to be everlasting! (^-^)

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

PS0 is not part of the same series as PSU and PSP.

[Padium]

I might as well add what I think:

I have played WoW, and comparing my experience on that game to what I have heard of PSU, I can say the following:
1) PSU has a screwed economy that is turning people away, WoW has some very nice features that most players hate that PSU would benefit from. Item Repair, something that would be the bane of everyone's existance, paying 10k + meseta after every run just to repair each item you have used. More consumable items. Things that cost money at an npc shop and are very useful, as well as things that are only dropped that can be consumed for bonus effects. And maybe an auction house style thing where all users items are shown side by side and users have to compete for their items to sell. These are things WoW has that keep its economy very stable.
2) Add the ability for users to craft more than just weapons and armor, and have different crafting classes. This would make it so that players had to interact more to get the most out of there online experience.
3) Add more weapon customization, possibly through a crafting class, and make it cost meseta to use.
4) Get on top of updates, and make your updates more reasonably timed.
5) Start caring about your online population: this game could outdo WoW if sega actually cared enough to make that happen.
6) Listen to what players want and start creating more of that content.
7) Create an exploration mode where people can explore the worlds without doing missions. This would make the game so much more appealing, and that is one thing I loved about PSO, and PSU could do it sooooooo much better.
8 ) Create in game events that are extremely hard and require a party of more than 6, and make an update so these parties can exist for those missions.
9) Take this list of ideas and build from it so that you community actually loves you back.

Those are just a sample of what I think could be improved, and PSU has more potential than any other online game I've played does. All sega has to do is make a few improvements and it could be a mainstream game competing with WoW for the #1 MMO spot.... And personally, I feel more attached to the Phantasy Star universe than the Warcraft universe.

[Jian-Zero]

The bad news is that I believe PSU and AoI is dead or dying. Even the Japanese servers appear losing population base. Its quite clear that SEGA does not know how to run a MMO type game, this stuff should be left to smaller more agile companies like Nexon or NCSoft.

Now the good news is that Phantasy Star as a brand will go on and even prosper. I think it has found its voice, a successful formula to hitch on. Unfortunately to you all, it involves a portable platform, like a PSP or a Nintendo DS. I don't think the portable Phantasy Stars will end with PS-P and PS-0, assuming PS-0 will pull out another hit like PS-P.

Ironically, once SEGA sees the numbers from the portable games, they will get tempted to do an MMO game again. After all, anyone who sees the numbers from WoW (11 million users and counting, with 15 dollars each month from them).

For that reason, they will probably won't let go of PSU even if they're losing money. The game essentially becomes a test crucible for them to experiment and hone MMO ideas that could set in a later stage for a new revamped MMO. That means putting the game on life support, while they update the game with "ideas" that are in fact experiments. You the player has become a demographic test subject while they figure out what works and what does not.

[lumia fanatic]

i reakon it will be longer then 2 years because they have so much stuff to still give to us

[sephiroth115]

all I have to say is I was on last night and out of 3 pages of partner cards I had 4 people on

[Jian-Zero]

What you can be assured of, of a reasonable high certainty is that SEGA will never close the PSU servers down, not even the PC/PS2 side, until the AoI story is finished.

In Japan, people have a different set of ethics than they do here in the US. For example, in Japan, it is believed, and customary, that one should finish their story. They don't for example, cancel TV shows midseason if the ratings are low. Even the low raters are allowed to finish the story. The Japanese believe that every show enters a contract with its audience, and the author or show has to finish the story in behalf of the audience. This applies to anything from novels to drama tv series to anime to manga, practically any form of narrative.

For Japanese, they find it dishonorable in fact, if a show is canceled without finishing its story. I remember a Japanese friend telling me this when he was shocked that a number of American TV series he has been following, never ever showed their just conclusions or endings. In Japan, such events would have been inconceivable. They seriously believe that all things must be seen to their conclusion.

[EggandI]

I played PSU from beta till a year after release, couldn't stand it anymore(I had barely been playing 6 months prior to canceling). Now I'm back playing on a certain PSOBB priv server and loving it more than ever. PSU just felt soulless, can't tell you why, but it did. The slow updates don't help either. Wasn't really a fan of all the new mechanics. As for it closing down, from what I've seen another 2+ years is certainly possible, the population though..yeah.. that's not going to last much.

ps0 is sounding good, should have been a ps3/360 game. Phantasy Star on a 3.5 inch screen, yeah I don't think so. Oh well, back to BB :D

[Syndrome]

Maybe if they would have linked the jp/us/eu severs like they did on PSO so we'd get all the updates when the Jp players did it would have made SO many more players stay. Last night at around 8 pm (which I would assume should be peak hours) Leo (360) only had 4 stars... Can't even fill one universe anymore...

[Hajnal]

Maybe if people strayed away from White Beast every once and a while(and I'm not just talking about when there is an event/spotlight on a certain mission), it would be a bit more fun. I got really sick really fast of seeing the entire population sit around one lobby 24/7. If I saw a party in a different area it would suprise the hell out of me @_@ PSU sucks because there's no REAL variety in anything, I always felt as if I was just wasting my time spamming attacks over and over on silly toads all day long. This is just my opinion though, others may feel differently on this subject. :p

I think SEGA should just make a new old school Phantasy Star RPG. THAT would make my day<3

[Tetsaru]

I'd say PSU's lifespan is dwindling at best... another year tops.

If Segac really is secretly working on a new expansion (which I know we're due for), they'd better hurry up and release it, and give us a metric fuckton of new things to do, because this game COULD be really awesome, IF Segac actually gave a rat's ass about it.

[ARASHIKAGE]

Last night at around 8 pm (which I would assume should be peak hours) Leo (360) only had 4 stars... Can't even fill one universe anymore...

Wow... Everyone on PC/PS2 looks at comment with jealousy.
Peak time for pc/ps2, fri or sat night (hell, even during an event) doesnt even get 4 stars on a given universe. We are lucky if we get 2 stars full.
I knew you 360 guys had a larger player base but, filling universes is like the stuff of ancient folk lore to us.

[Syndrome]

Wow... Everyone on PC/PS2 looks at comment with jealousy.
Peak time for pc/ps2, fri or sat night (hell, even during an event) doesnt even get 4 stars on a given universe. We are lucky if we get 2 stars full.
I knew you 360 guys had a larger player base but, filling universes is like the stuff of ancient folk lore to us.

But it isn't saying much when 90% of our population is either in GC 4th floor or white beast spamming "PSYCHO WAND 4 SALE 98746438683468993847948746876438768648368468347 MESETA W4C!!!" I mean come on, it's a video game, you don't need that amount of money, and there are plenty of level 50-100 level people who could use that cool stuff (myself included) who simply do not have that kind of meseta. Hardly anyone actually plays anymore, and when they do, it's the dreaded white beast. That brings up another thing, I know that not everyone that plays is on this site, but with everyone here that complains about WB, you'd think youd find a decent amount of players elswhere...

[Shou]

Lolwat? Pwand boards sell for only 40 mil now wich is a good price. its not that hard to make money. dont be lazy.

[animeoutlaw]

All sega has to do is make a few improvements and it could be a mainstream game competing with WoW for the #1 MMO spot.... And personally, I feel more attached to the Phantasy Star universe than the Warcraft universe.

I think the game is pretty nice. And I agree with the persons comment. It does have top MMO potential. I think if people would just enjoy it for what it is and spread the good points of the game, that it would really start to pick up. Rather than everyone playing the worlds smallest Violin saying, "Woe is me. I want, I want, I want. Boo-hoo, SEGA sucks.". And it's not impossible for the game to hit the top spots.

I used to play a Turn-based Tactical MMO for 3 years called Dofus. The game is flat ass 2-D graphics, no real quests ((And the ones they give you dont even tell you where to go and what you need to find, almost like riddles)), and all you do is grind, grind, grind, LITERALLY. And all so you can hit level 200 ((Which takes years)) and save up Millions of Kamas to buy the best gear. That being said, the game has a population for 4 million +. And it has no where near as much too offer Content Wise/Character Customization/Story Line as PSU ((And the PSO Saga of games in general)).

AND let me add that Dofus never gets new content updates almost EVER. The newest thing they have added in 3 years is a new island made for level 150+ characters ((which offers nothing but an endless grind on hard ass monsters)). The rest of the time they just nerf spells because of bad game balance.

How did that game get so popular? Word of mouth. Lets be honest, maybe 2 of you have ever heard of that game from looking at an advertisement banner/review on a gaming site. But the people that do play it think very highly of it, just for the fact that it's simply fun to play and they like that kind of gaming experience that Dofus has to offer.

They enjoy it for what it is. Even if the game has a lot of aspects that just piss the elder players ((as well as new ones)) off to no end, they still tell their friends the good points as to why they play it, "Nice people, fun battles, fun group game play, etc.". Instead of spreading filth and doing nothing but bad mouthing the game, a lot go as far as to glorify it's good points. That having been said...

Maybe if people would tell friends and others about the good things PSU has to offer(( to new players and EXP gamers)) then the game would start to take off more, we would see a rise in the population, and popularity of the game. But, as some say, negative thoughts bring only negative energies. And if you think positively, then good things will happen.

I don't think its ONLY SEGA thats running the game into the ground ((if that was the case then Japanese servers wouldn't be way more populated like I have seen people post about on these forums)). I believe that the general game populous is equally at fault for the games decline. SEGA can try as hard as they can to keep the game above water. But if all anyone is ever going to do is talk about the things they hate about the game and bitch, complain, and whine.

Rather than speaking of the things that made them fall in love with the game to begin with; then everyone on these forums is correct. It will probably fizzle out in a couple of years, but not at SEGAS fault alone. Yes, maybe they are falling behind on things. THAT is their fault. But what makes a game is a loyal population of members that spread the word of how fun the game is and can be. Reguradless of their own personal opinions about certain aspects of the game you may not be too pleased about.

And if you really have just lost that lust for the game, then that would be a sign to move on to other things. Instead of putting "Dooms Day" ideas in peoples head of how it's all going to fail and there is no saving it JUST because, you personally, are unsatisfied with the way the game is currently.

That all having been said, I think there is still hope for this game with the good qualities that it has. It just needs to be shown a lot more love from both the players and SEGA equally.

((Sorry for the page of text, I'm sitting at work with nothing to do and got carried away <3 xP))

[BahnKnakyu]

You PC/PS2 players need to see the way SoA treated PSOBB.

The opening launch was pretty successful. They got AOL to sponsor it and they even brought in MA1 as a *free* OPEN BETA. That was an awesome way to market the game. Then delays after delay killed the population, you can sit there and wag your finger at the population all you want for whining too much, but guess what, they're the ones complaining and quitting, and you're the one sitting there looking like a holier than thou pompous asshole.

Stuff like the delay of Ultimate, the extremely lame Yahoo mag prize for MA2, the repeated downtimes during weekends with little to no response time until the next coming days, the inability to keep haxorz at bay, one after another after another disappointment killed off the community slowly. MA2's Yahoo Mag prize REALLY killed it right there - that was the biggest slap to the face SoA gave the PSOBB population.

History is repeating itself with PC/PS2. You can plug your ears and scream LALALALA and pretend that the population isn't dying and SoA is losing interest in the game as much as the players are, but it's happening. SoA didn't learn its lesson. The JP Server population is dying too - not as much as here since most of the universes at least have one star, but it's going. Oh, and contentwise, a majority of Ep4 content WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO US PLAYERS. The US/EU PSOBB server shut down before everything was released.

MA4 didn't even make it to the states. PSOBB JP is still alive (although their population numbers are very small) and stuff's still being released. PSOBB JP outlived its US counterpart by a year - 2 years since that's when the PSOBB population REALLY started to decline.

Same thing is happening here. JP gets most of the content that's on the disc, US players are being left in the dust. More players quit, less money for SoA = less incentive for them to update the game.

I strongly urge those who think this game has 4+ years left to rethink this. The X360 population has a healthy amount left (which will allow it to greatly outlast the PC/PS2 population) but I've been told by my X360 friends that the population is declining - it's just not as apparent since Uni 1 usually has 5 *.

2-4 years max for PSU, and that's only if Sega of America and Japan STEP IT UP.

[Sol_B4dguy]

Servers will stay up for who knows how long.

Population-wise? PC/PS2 barely gets 1 1/2 stars on Caelum at peak times, which leaves me thinking that it won't last much longer. I'm giving it a year, tops. I can't vouch for 360, however.

[animeoutlaw]

They should just find a way to merge the PS2/PC/XBOX servers. Then there wouldn't even be an evident problem.

That, or they should do a mass genoside on the PC/PS2 servers and whipe everything out. Then the people that still want to play the game can just remake their character. And all the people that bitch and complain will just go away. Then atleast the poor servers can die in peace.

[RedCoKid]

Going by past history (thanks gamefaqs and PSOW)...

PSO DC: 1/29/2001 - 10/1/2003 = 975 days
PSO GCN: 10/29/2002 - 4/1/2007 = 1615 days
PSOX: 4/15/2003 - 4/22/2008 = 1834 days
PSOBB: 6/23/2005 - 3/31/2008 = 1012 days
PSU: 10/26/2006 - ???

...Sega with shut down the servers in March or April. But which year?

If PSU ends on 3/31/2009, PSU lifespan would be 887 days
If PSU ends on 3/31/2010, PSU lifespan would be 1252 days
If PSU ends on 3/31/2011, PSU lifespan would be 1617 days

March 2009 would be pulling the plug faster than they did on the original. Not likely, but in the realm of possibility.

March 2010 would be about average length for the PS series, but in the past Sega had been running at least 1 other online game concurrently. Neither of these first two options would bode well for the future console versions of PS, despite what Sega told 1up recently.

March 2011 would allow Sega to entice PSU players to transfer over to a new online Phantasy Star (PS3/360/PC?) launching in spring (JP) and fall (US/EU) 2010.

[dtp]

lets be honest pso was much better. i would give psu eh 6 mos to 1 yr. there hasnt been a decent update in who knows how long. theres really nothing to do on the game anymore. BUT there is always more to do in pso! unless a good update comes out or an expansion, i wouldnt say it will last too much longer.