Face it. PSU is better than PSO.

[OrangeTippedGun]

PSO was just better during it's time. Aside from PvP (which actually provided little incentive to hack and slash for hours because you could face another player using everything you gained) and the soundtrack, PSU pretty much does everything that PSO did, but better or different. But mostly better.

PSU is too much like PSO and that is mainly the reason why it sucks. A majority of you just haven't realized that yet.
For the year 2000, PSO was, in a way, groundbreaking. It was the first online console game which was also free to play for quite a while. About 5 years later PSU comes out. Changes are made. Changes that were for the better of course. But still not nearly enough to keep up with what most current gen games offered.
Still better than PSO though if you compare both side-by-side.

FLAAAAAAAAAAME ON!

:wacko:

[Delete]

Oh man, I hope your ready for a Flame War Orange, this is gonna get bad.

I can't judge PSO because I did not play it, but looking at it now, I'm like "why do people like this?"
But....(Before I get owned by PSO world).....before I played PSU, I was the same way.

PSO probably was great, I just missed out on it.....>.>

[Jaspaller]

Obvious troll thread is obvious

[OrangeTippedGun]

Oh man, I hope your ready for a Flame War Orange, this is gonna get bad.

Oh yeah thanks for reminding me. Forgot to add somethin' to mah post.

[Delete]

I was being sort of Sarcastic Jas, I know it's obvious ^^

[zfighter14]

Well you know that its just what ppl are use to playing. some ppl rather play PSO then PSU. I stand behind AlexCraig when i say this that if ppl wanted to change over to PSU they would. some ppl just like playing PSO more. but really thats just my oppinon. i prefer PSO over PSU. i did/do (sometimes) play PSU. so i can't give a big put down on on PSU. all is oppion. you say PSU is better i say I like PSO more but not saying PSO is better cause PSU does have some advances that PSO doesn't.

[Magus_84]

In the infinitesimally-small chance that this is not a troll post...do two things for me:

1. Define "better".

2. Somehow change the inherent meaning of the word "different" to always, in all situations, mean "better".

Then you can make this argument in a logical, consistent manner. Until you can do those two things? No dice.

I prefer PSU far, far more. I can't stand to play PSO for more than an hour or so at a time. It's too...clunky.

But there are things in PSO that are done better than in PSU (support techs, I'm looking at you), and things that are different enough from PSU to create an entirely different game experience (min/maxing, mat plans, more varied rare weapons for hunting, etc).

And asking other people who played both (or here, the people who played the PSU demo once, then immediately pulled out the torches and the pitchforks at it being compared to their sacred cow) will get you entirely different, usually entirely-valid answers.

[Outrider]

Well, I played the demo of PSU a few times. It was awful. (And yes, I read the post above mine.)

And then I played PSZero for a few hours, and it's almost exactly like PSO. And it was great.

So, yeah.

But the most important thing is there's really no reason why you should have to pay a subscription for a non-persistent online RPG these days. That's why I'll never play PSU.

[zfighter14]

I just switch between PSO and PSU. when PSO gets boring i'll play PSU for about half hour maybe then get frustrated. so i'd move on to different games for other systems. then go back to PSO and repeat the process. something about PSU that just makes me frustrated lol

[CupOfCoffee]

PSU is just butt-fugly compared to the beautiful art and musical direction PSO had. PSU feels like a generic, Japan-centric space RPG whereas PSO felt like something completely original. That, the myriad technical issues, lack of mags, lack of player base, and ridiculously bad synthing system are the reasons I could never have fun with PSU. PSO wasn't perfect, but at least it was something new. PSU just feels like all the worst parts of PSO combined with bad art direction and a billion empty lobbies. And what's up with all the stupid weapon names? Great, another Sorbu Nubgu Gongli. Awesome.

</troll response to troll thread>

[Magus_84]

That, the lack of mags, ... are the reasons I could never have fun with PSU.

I don't see how "lack of mags" is a bad thing. Is it "lack of something floating behind you?" Use a TCSM or RCSM. Done.

Is it "lack of ability to further customize my stats"? That's a game balance thing. Any time you have the ability to spend (relatively worthless) money to gain several dozen levels worth of growth in stats that generally aren't efficiently boosted by equipment OR LEVELS, you have to rebalance the enemies to match that. Money as a balancing factor isn't a good check on abuse of the system, as is evidenced by the abundance of Charge-heavy builds. When the best option for your hard-earned currency is to burn it to cause more damage, you have a problem.

This is why there's such a HUEG gap between Very Hard and Ultimate enemies, and why ATA becomes so disproportionately important on Ep1 and 2. And why people are so anal about "max stat plans" and the like.

The game is balanced around the assumption that you make use of the tools you have to increase your stats, and it ends up pigeon-holing you to where you have to build a certain way or you can't really compete.

Please explain if your "lack of mags" was referring to a different aspect of them, as they cover several things.

But from a gameplay balance point of view, Mags were atrociously horrible.

[Solstis]

I don't get the point of the topic. The majority of rabid PSO fans won't claim that PSO was/is fun. It wasn't. PSOBB isn't. It was immersive and addictive, though, and the only game of its kind (on consoles) when it was released.

PSU is considered garbage now because MMORPGS are far more common (and less hardcore) than they were when PSO came out. PSU is mediocre, and, agreeing with Outrider, it's ridiculous that Sega charges a monthly fee for a game that they didn't create additional content for. Hah-hah, let's lock content that's on the disk. Rubbish. I don't care what Sega has done lately, they still made people waste, I believe, the full cost of the game in monthly fees before any real events.

That said, If PSU had gone the way of Guild Wars, I'd probably be playing it, and happily. Would I play PSO? Hell no! I'm not stepping backwards into clunky-interface land. Nostalgia only goes so far.

[Edit]: Not to mention that the only reason I even stuck around with PSU for the, what, two months I tried, was character customization. That was the most fun I had playing that game.

[OrangeTippedGun]

inb4close

[deso123]

stop hating on psu im about to waste my money on it you buttholes

[Weeaboolits]

You trollin' or really so defensive as to want to prove that PSU is better than a game designed to be played over dial-up?

[Vanzazikon]

Nice thread, Jshazbot.

[SStrikerR]

Love me some trollin' threads in the wee hours of the mornin. So let's just lock this now, shall we?

[W0LB0T]

Just in case
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/663/reverseth4.jpg
Pathetic Troll is Pathetic

[Kent]

To say that all of the changes made to PSU from the PSO formula were for the better is just folly. There are things that were not problems with PSO that ended up being changed for PSU, just for the sake of making it different. Things like requiring specific weapons to be equipped for casting techniques, flimsy dual-wielding mechanics, and everyone's favorite... Grinding.

None of these really benefit the game much. In fact, they pretty much all hurt the game in most peoples' eyes. Looking at things from the perspective of people who were fans of Phantasy Star Online, gameplay-critical things like this actually make the game much worse to them. Of the few design decisions and changes made to the formula that are good, almost none of them are executed well. Therefore, your statement of your opinion's factuality is incorrect, on a degree other than purely principal. Bad design decisions aren't just good because they're different, you know - if a game becomes successful, it's not because there are things wrong with it.

I think it'll be interesting to see if people are still playing PSU ten years after its original release. People will still probably be playing Diablo II, since Diablo III probably won't make it out by then.

[SStrikerR]

I think it'll be interesting to see if people are still playing PSU ten years after its original release.
I can barely imagine 5. :disapprove:

[AC9breaker]

whats going on

[Nitro Vordex]

This is a great thing to wake up to. I love this board so much.

@OP: You best be trollin'.

@the rest: Y'all are postin' in a troll thread.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

This is a great thing to wake up to. I love this board so much.

@OP: You best be trollin'.

@the rest: Y'all are postin' in a troll thread.

Meanwhile here I am: @everyone: Hey what's goin on in this thread?*gets hosed by flamethrower*

Honestly in my eyes PSO is PSO and PSU is PSU. There are things I HATED about PSO such as lack of character customization, classes, and maps. Heck there are times where I actually fell asleep playing PSO. Actually plenty of times. But PSO had that...certain charm to it. When I played Ep.2 I enjoyed the crap out of it. Especially the jungle areas. Oh dear god do I remember the Jungle area. It was (to me) so colorful and vibrant that it actually became my grinding spot.

As for PSU well, there are things that I love and hate about it. First off is the grinding system. Jesus H. Christ do I hate grinding. ALOT. Same goes for synthing as well. What a grand cock slap to the face when you come back 3 hours later only to find that hard earned Killer Elite board fail on you. Another would be the horrifically slow rate that technics level up. It drives me insane. Along with the "SUPAR RARE" costumes such as the Guardian's Formal and Illuminus Coat that make me wonder "Why can't it just be a drop?" instead of gathering a buncha next to impossible to get items. Aside from these points I love the whole Photon Art and Bullet system. I dunno why, I just do. Oh and the character customization. Pimp your digital puppet is what I say.

To close I ask this question: "PSU, a great MMO or the GREATEST MMO?"

[Powder Keg]

Read: his opinion, etc....

[Firocket1690]

I can just ignore the thread and say majority says otherwise.

Instead, I kindly took the time to read the thread, and.. majority says otherwise.

[Volcompat321]

Nice thread, Jshazbot.

I swear, jShaz is OTG. I need to find proof.

You guys think about it too much. You either love it, or hate it. Period.
Get over the PS series war, it's old, outdated, and pathetic.

[zfighter14]

To recap, you guys think about it too much. You either love it, or hate it. Period.
Get over the PS series war, it's old, outdated, and pathetic.

You got a point

[Ketchup345]

These never go well. I'm pretty sure we don't allow PSO vs PSU threads.