My opinions of PSU

[Padium]

I love the Phantasy Star series as a whole, but for some reason it seems to me as though Sega is lacking. I think PSU has the potential to be the most popular online multiplayer RPG, and even top WoW, but Sega has to do a lot of work to get it to that point. The following is pulled from another thread because I think it is better suited to a thread of its own.


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.

What are your thoughts on what Sega should do to make PSU a competetive game when it comes to keeping players? Also, send all your suggestions to Sega, they might eventually do something if enough people email or write with the same ideas!

[Genoa]

I haven't even played WoW but I agree for the most part.
But it's all really just "if only" since I highly doubt Sega will make any attempt to make the Phantasy Star (online-game) series as sophisticated and interactive as games such as WoW. Sega seems to be VERY different for user interface.

[Trey]

i actuall believe sega was "kinda" going in the right direction but then they screwed it up
my thoughts on how this could have been better

1)most important one if only there was an actual "WORLD" not this lobby stuff i guess that would be just like WoW in a way?
2) i guess u can call the casino a mini game; but MINI-games could have been AWESOME!!! in this game i mean it IS the future,right?
3) i love the character customizing THATS awesome! sega did a great thing there!
4) i think the "MY ROOM" feature was AWESOME!!! if only u could do more u know :/, for example; take the restraunt room ticket if only u could actually sell food and make money off of it but then u would have to do all this complicated stuff of improving food items cause food items are punny :/
5) PM's all i can say is is that there alright not the greatest thing :/ i miss our MAGS!
6) im just goona throw this out here this is based off of my opinion but i know alot of u folks here played Final fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, so im pretty sure u remebered about magic fusion. Man if thay had this in the game that would be some EPIC!!! STUFF!!!!

thats all i can think of on the top of my head but these our my opinions!

[ForteGunnerW]

Gee, where have you been the last 8 months... i agree about the lack of updates but i seriously dont like WoW

[chaoskila]

Gee, where have you been the last 8 months... i agree about the lack of updates but i seriously dont like WoW

join jp.
i want to but im short 50 lol

[Sinue_v2]

I think PSU has the potential to be the most popular online multiplayer RPG, and even top WoW

That could never happen. Even if Sega was still completely on top of their game and did everything perfectly - allowing PSU to live up to it's full potential, PSU would still never be as popular as WoW simply because it isn't really tailored to accommodate western audiences. One of the great things I really appreciated about Phantasy Star Classic was just this design choice. Along with many of the Star Wars references, Phantasy Star I took a few not so apparent design choices from Star Wars as well - such as the blending of Eastern and Western lore, customs, and traditions and mixing them into their own new and consistent concept. (I.E. The Jedi, for example, reflect both Buddhist and Samurai design elements - but set in a backdrop of a traditional Western Sci-Fi - especially with the Empire which I believe is a reference to totalitarian dictatorships such as Hitler's Germany which have shaped Western mindsets and politics for the last 70 some odd-years) PSII took a more artistically Japanese design path, while allowing the atmosphere and storyline to be crafted by Western Horror and Sci-Fi concepts. H.G. Well's "The Time Machine" comes to mind. Plus, you can't really discount the whole Dark Force/Falz/Profound Darkness similarities with H.P. Lovecraft's works. Dark Force has even been shown in PSIV (which had the strongest Lovecraftian influence on our favorite ancient elder god) with small tentacles on his face in the Elysdion scene.

Etc... etc...

I don't get this from PSU, and it's one of the things which has always really bothered me. The design choices are heavily Japanese oriented - and the storyline seems to craft it's atmosphere more from generic children's animes like Naruto than any western source. This is clearly evident in the episodic nature of the offline mode and numerous anime references. This automatically pidgeonholes PSU to a somewhat niche market in the west and more than likely turns off gamers who aren't accustomed to, or have a bias against, that style. I don't think the merits of the game fully realized in potential would be enough to overcome that hurdle.

Right from the outset, PSU simply wasn't designed to a appeal to a world-wide market.


6) im just goona throw this out here this is based off of my opinion but i know alot of u folks here played Final fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, so im pretty sure u remebered about magic fusion. Man if thay had this in the game that would be some EPIC!!! STUFF!!!!

Eh, forget Crystal Chronicals. I always thought it would have been neat to impliment a form of PSIV's combo system. Wherein, say, party members working together could "charge" their attacks to allow other party members to synchronize their attacks. For instance, against an Ice Enemy that you can't blow back, a Force could charge Foie while the FiGunner positioned himself in front of the Force. When the FiGunner preformed Tornado Dance, it would add a fire element bonus to their attack. Or, if they still had Wind techniques, a Force capable of launching small tornados could charge their tech while another Force cast GiBarta on the charging Force - resulting in a whirlwind of ice shards or a firestorm in the case of Foie-type techniques. Or even completely new attacks. This would really help promote team-play.

[Darklighter]

If they actually advertise PSU who knows what would happen. That is the only advantage a worthless crap game like WOW has over PSU. WOW gets woven into the mainstream as THE online RPG. Unless you go out of your way or are a fan of Phantasy Star you will not even know PSU exists. PSU is easily the most fun online RPG to play even with the "faults".

[JAFO22000]

I don't think it was ever Sega's idea to try and best WoW and, quite frankly, I'm glad they didn't do that. This game was meant to be casual and "pick up and play"; an RPG game without the boring minutiae of the "hardcore" RPGs.

I think that they should've concentrated on the console market. Why spend money and man hours trying to cater to a PC AND a Console market?

I'm not too sure about Japanese gamers, but I suppose that the majority of them who play this game play on their PS2 (correct me if I'm wrong on this). Why even include the PC in the plan for this game? There are WAY too many other Online RPGs for PC players to choose from. A company will have to come up with a pretty spectacular online RPG to wow the masses of this commmunity. On the other hand, the console systems only have a handful of Online RPGs . A company would not have to make an especially spectacular game to get console people to play as there is no other competition. PSU falls right into this category. Add it that PSU is a pretty casual type game and it fits right in with the console environment.

[Padium]

The focus of what I said is not to best wow in any way, but rather to improve on what is already there... I personally think that we should all put in a ticket suggesting all improvements we have for the game. If everyone on PSOWorld does this, we could potentially sway them to make some improvements on the game, and make it an actually competetive game that can spread by word of mouth as well as advertisements, rather than just by knowledge within a cult market.

[Sinue_v2]

I personally think that we should all put in a ticket suggesting all improvements we have for the game. If everyone on PSOWorld does this, we could potentially sway them to make some improvements on the game

I think a better idea would be have everyone write down the improvements they want to see for the game on a piece of paper. Then send their "tickets" to someone who would collect them all up and take them out and burn them. At least you'd get some useful heat from the fire, which is more than you'll ever get out of Sega.

They've made it abundantly clear that they don't care.

Maybe... MAYBE you'd get some kind of reaction from them if you crafted those "tickets" into an effigy of Simon Jeffery before you burned it while customers screamed and stomped on it - like some of those rather ticked off fellows in the middle-east are prone to doing - and then send a video tape of that to Sega. Though I wouldn't keep my hopes up for a reaction being any more than a half-hearted "Thank you for your concern" letter and a few extra shots of tequila missing from Simon's liquor cabinet at the end of the day.

[Syaoran_69]

We're not the JP players, they probably won't give a shit what we say.

[amtalx]

*sigh*

While none of the OP's ideas are bad, making a game isn't as simple as taking a list of things you want in the game and just putting them on a screen.

[One Hit Blunder]

While I normally rather lurk than post, I just wanted to say this:

I played WoW and WAR for a considerable amount of time, both of them really suffered from two very important things. Those being:

1. It takes way too long to get from Grinding point A to Grinding point B
2. From the beginning it might not be possible to interact with your friends because they are playing a different race and are in another starting area.

PSU does neither. Not only can you join an instanced mission in about 30 seconds, a few minutes longer if you want to Join a party that's running it, but since there is no actual World and instead a series of lobbies to populate player avatars, the community as a whole always seems immediate and close no matter where they are on the Server. While it lacks in variety and depth, PSU provides an experience that can be enjoyed in spurts of maybe 15 or 20 a session as opposed to maybe the 1 or 2 hours it takes in traditional MMOs to actually do something involving and exciting. (IE: instances)

Unfortunately that same lack of depth leaves only a few compared to the market for traditional MMOs to actually want to play the game for a long period of time. With Sonic Team being it's only real form of support and development, the series is not going to be anything other than a mediocre MMO anytime soon. Even though we all may love it to death.

[DreXxiN]

That could never happen. Even if Sega was still completely on top of their game and did everything perfectly - allowing PSU to live up to it's full potential, PSU would still never be as popular as WoW simply because it isn't really tailored to accommodate western audiences. One of the great things I really appreciated about Phantasy Star Classic was just this design choice. Along with many of the Star Wars references, Phantasy Star I took a few not so apparent design choices from Star Wars as well - such as the blending of Eastern and Western lore, customs, and traditions and mixing them into their own new and consistent concept. (I.E. The Jedi, for example, reflect both Buddhist and Samurai design elements - but set in a backdrop of a traditional Western Sci-Fi - especially with the Empire which I believe is a reference to totalitarian dictatorships such as Hitler's Germany which have shaped Western mindsets and politics for the last 70 some odd-years) PSII took a more artistically Japanese design path, while allowing the atmosphere and storyline to be crafted by Western Horror and Sci-Fi concepts. H.G. Well's "The Time Machine" comes to mind. Plus, you can't really discount the whole Dark Force/Falz/Profound Darkness similarities with H.P. Lovecraft's works. Dark Force has even been shown in PSIV (which had the strongest Lovecraftian influence on our favorite ancient elder god) with small tentacles on his face in the Elysdion scene.

Etc... etc...

I don't get this from PSU, and it's one of the things which has always really bothered me. The design choices are heavily Japanese oriented - and the storyline seems to craft it's atmosphere more from generic children's animes like Naruto than any western source. This is clearly evident in the episodic nature of the offline mode and numerous anime references. This automatically pidgeonholes PSU to a somewhat niche market in the west and more than likely turns off gamers who aren't accustomed to, or have a bias against, that style. I don't think the merits of the game fully realized in potential would be enough to overcome that hurdle.

Right from the outset, PSU simply wasn't designed to a appeal to a world-wide market.



Eh, forget Crystal Chronicals. I always thought it would have been neat to impliment a form of PSIV's combo system. Wherein, say, party members working together could "charge" their attacks to allow other party members to synchronize their attacks. For instance, against an Ice Enemy that you can't blow back, a Force could charge Foie while the FiGunner positioned himself in front of the Force. When the FiGunner preformed Tornado Dance, it would add a fire element bonus to their attack. Or, if they still had Wind techniques, a Force capable of launching small tornados could charge their tech while another Force cast GiBarta on the charging Force - resulting in a whirlwind of ice shards or a firestorm in the case of Foie-type techniques. Or even completely new attacks. This would really help promote team-play.

I just want you to know that in about every single post you make, you win. Good day, sir.

[Padium]

*sigh*

While none of the OP's ideas are bad, making a game isn't as simple as taking a list of things you want in the game and just putting them on a screen.

I do realize this, I am a CS student at the University of Waterloo... I also know, from my families strong business background, that where there are a few more bucks to be made than what could possibly be lost in a worst case scenario, there will always be the man power there to create said event. And this game with Sega, if they'd realize it, is said event.

[amtalx]

I do realize this, I am a CS student at the University of Waterloo... I also know, from my families strong business background, that where there are a few more bucks to be made than what could possibly be lost in a worst case scenario, there will always be the man power there to create said event. And this game with Sega, if they'd realize it, is said event.

So you should know that with the exception of 4, 5, and 9 (which aren't directly related to in-game content) every one of those requests is completely beyond anything resembling reason for a game that has been out for 2 years. If you take a company, say Blizzard, that has virtually unlimited resources, then maybe.

[Padium]

True, but even if they through out one feature per patch, it would slowly help the life of the game, and bring about new players, or work on all of them and release a bundle of them with a new expansion, and pre expack patch.

As well, we should all still put in tickets with our ideas, because if even some of them get added to a patch, or even if patching becomes more frequent, something will have been acomplished.

[amtalx]

My point is that adding features to an existing code base that wasn't designed to support them takes more time than you think. Sorry slick, but that CS degree isn't going to teach what its like to work on commercial applications. I'm speak from experience, not trying to be a negative d-bag.

[Padium]

I do completely agree with you, I tried retrofitting a game I wrote in turing so an older computer of mine could run it... It was hell to do, and ultimately that game was infixible.

I personally like to think that with potential, not everyone gets to be an astronaught when they grow up, but everyone has the potential to help achieve a greater goal, and without the guys on the ground, that astronaught would never get into space. Even if the guys on the ground don't get any of the glory of that achievment.