Do You Think Top Tier Gear Should Be Customizable?

[Red Ring]

Just thought about it so I'm spamming a thread about it. Usually everyone in PSOBB with any brains at all is wearing the top tier gear aka everyone running around with aura field, electro frame, excal, heaven striker, etc. Do you think this time around the uber rares should be more player customizable? Maybe make them look different, have the attributes you prefer, etc. They did that some with s-rank weapons and a variety of rares with different benefits but overall highest damage, defense, resistance, tagging, range, concentration, etc is what makes the player use certain items which makes the variety much more linear. I mean a frame that keeps you from getting poisoned by flowers is all cool and all but if its other stats are garbage it's just a joke rare.

[Seth Astra]

I would like something of an expanded version of the extend code system from PSP2. People would still be running around with the same stuff, but not everyone's would be the same. Just a few ideas for potential effects one could add:

Increased special/heavy attack hit rate.
Faster attack speed.
Longer range for guns.

Again, just some basic ideas, but you get the idea. Each person could (for a price) tune their equipment to their preferances.

[Chaobo99]

Yes. I don't think anyone would really be against customizable rares, but there is always that someone...
But then again uber rares are generally special in their own sense and shouldn't be customizable physically but certain customizale advantages might work.

[Justyn_Darkcrest]

I love the idea, and would like to see it added provided they have a balanced system for the customization. i.e. not making one status the "best" and make it so players can cater to their style a little more.

[Kyrith_Ranger_Pso]

I like the idea of changing the look or a bit of the stats, maybe you could have a shop where you can buy colors for your weapons or armor (if the armors visible at all unlike most of PSOs armor). or possibly you could make a design and get it imprinted on a weapon or a shield of some kind, that would be awesome.

[Kent]

I wouldn't be against having a slot and unit system for weapons, similar to how frames and armor have them - of course, this is assuming that the units that can go into weapons are different than the ones that can go into frames.

[Chaobo99]

Maybe have each weapon have an appearance slot, and/or a stat slot. If you add color and the change in color is viable, then the physical appearance changes and have super rares have units only they can use like..hmm.. "Dark Aura- only usable by the J-sword. Adds a mysterious aura around the blade. Dark Resistance +5" or something like that...

[lostinseganet]

If they did that them all the high level people will start looking the same. Keep fashion seperate from stats. What would be nice is some news caster telling everyone what most people are earning so that more people will try to be a bit orginal.

[Kyrith_Ranger_Pso]

have super rares have units only they can use like..hmm.. "Dark Aura- only usable by the J-sword. Adds a mysterious aura around the blade. Dark Resistance +5" or something like that...

im not sure i like this idea, i want to be able to use units on lower level weapon as well.

[Chaobo99]

I meant that special weapons should have their own special units because they are unique. Lower level weapons can still have their color/stat changes and everything but special weapons should retain their specialty.

[Jinketsu]

I actually like what Chaobo's getting at. A special set of statas/cosmetics unique to the special and rare weapon/armor. It makes it possible to have the same stats with different effects, so that everyone can hunt and search for that special combination that makes them the most happy.

Granted, it may cause a severe headache grinding for rares like that all the time, but that's half of any game after a certain point anyway :P

[Kent]

I meant that special weapons should have their own special units because they are unique. Lower level weapons can still have their color/stat changes and everything but special weapons should retain their specialty.
Wouldn't it make more sense though, for special weapons to just have their unique properties as innate things?

That way, whatever weapon customization there may be (if at all) would be a more universal thing, but rare weapons could still keep their own level of uniqueness, without attempting to further complicate the matter.

[MAXrobo]

i really like the idea of having weapon slots. but i think that they should work on all weapons like on armors.

I agree with kent, the unique weapons should have the abilitys as part of the weapon, not a seperate slot. all that would happen if they did that is force people to hunt for 2 rare items just to make the weapon at its best. everyone would want the super rare slot that only fits in their super rare weapon, so everyone's weapon would end up the same. which is what we are trying to avoid.

what might work is having a rare slot that works with all weapons, but gives a small bonus to certain weapons/classes. for example, a slot adds +50 ATA, but if equipted on a spread needle/shot class it increases ATA by +60. or maybe it makes your shots look like there on fire. I think that would let people costomize their weapons without making everyone want the same thing.

[Kent]

I think it'd be more interesting if we stayed away from weapon slots giving stat bonuses like frame slots. That is, while units that go into armor may increase your stats (like ATP, DFP, etc.), units that go into weapons should have very different, but still relatively-small effects: Things like bonus critical hit damage, increased accuracy gain from performing combos, more knockback when performing heavy attacks, enhanced status effect chances (if the associated weapon can inflict a status effect), etc.

Likewise, this could also be extended to barriers, which could grant a variety of special effects that happen when you block (such as a small bonus to HP or TP, or pushing back enemies around you), but could easily also be fitted with units that boost elemental resistances (instead of having them equipped onto frames, that is) - things that are pretty much solely defensive (whereas weapon units are largely-offensive, and armor units run the gamut, but are mostly passive effects).

It could end up making things pretty interesting, I think - especially allowing for players to further-customize their equipment to suit their particular playstyle.

[Lance813]

Kent, please apply for the SEGA position and make this game...

Seriously though, this game better be good or I'm going to lose it. If they stick this on a console (which they better) the online should revolve around a visual lobby and some sort of way to implement a trading feature, such as an auction house.

That would be lovely.

I would like to see a new Pioneer ship (Pioneer 3 please?) have a separate part of the shops area (which should be bigger and the same brand of that good ole' futuristic PSO art style) to have an equipment workstation, or a customization kiosk. In there, items could have certain values manipulated, as Kent stated, which also give a visible change to a piece of equipment. Like, a sword-type weapon, with a Zonde multiplying stat change via kiosk, would gain a visible electro radiance and have a chance at paralyzing a foe. How about? A shield or barrier, receiving a boost to the dark attribute, gives off a radiant dark energy when attacks are blocked.

With all of the standard equipment in PSO looking, exactly, the same minus the part of the weapon with Photons being a different color... there is room for customization.

Look at all of the names for store-bought, non-rare defensives in PSO:
Freeze Barrier, Flame Barrier, Solid Shield, Hard Shield, Ultimate Frame... etc.

They all look the same. Now give the player upgradeable equipment early on, while also giving rare items the same kind of options.

Weapons could live up to their names and not be the same thing over and over again... This also happened in PSU. (but that game sucked, anyways...)

A Flame Barrier with a fire visual. Cool.
More of the same recycled crap. Meh...

I would love to see grinding becoming more expanded upon, such as, grinding certain stats while capping the most obvious and making them into one-of-a-kind weapons. That would make this game's weapons true to their PSO counter-parts.

PSO was marketed as a game of the future. Its both aesthetically pleasing, and in its right, the first online game of its kind. Hell, if its not made with the same devotion PSO was made with, I assure you that SEGA is doomed in their quest to seek out their former glory.

Long live PSO.
God save the queen PSO2.

Seriously though, PS3 and 360 pl0x. No Wii.
Realistic, non-animu faces... What you wear helps or defends you in some way, keep this in mind.
Give me console graphics, to the max.
Install the game on HD for consoles... MUST.
HU. RA. FO.
MAGs... Make them sweet as hell...
Red boxes. Lots of them.
You said "area customization." Throw it at me.


As a PSO fan, I digress...

[bns1991]

I think that they should be customizable to some extent, maybe in a way that you can add an attribute bonus that can be added to the equipment when you find it.

[MAXrobo]

they should bring back some sort of system to upgrade attributes like in gallon's shop in PSO. it sucked in PSU and PSZ that when you finally got a super rare weapon, you ended up having to go find another one because it had no attribute.

[ANIMEniac]

most mmos tend to have this issue. i personally love the idea, but with certain rares customizing them would defeats the purpose of the find, so i think something like giving customizable color schemes or auras around the weapon would be nice. but you dont want to re skin a j-sword into a Red Sword cause that just defeats the purpose

also i LOVED S-rank weapons because not only could you name them and grind the mess out of them and give them a special, but in a game of dumb luck 99% of the time, it was one of the few items that you could just put real work and skill into getting and be rewarded for it fairly.

[Randomness]

I would like to see a new Pioneer ship (Pioneer 3 please?)

This part might be hard to justify, due to already-released games: PS0 takes place on Coral, long after the death of the civilization that launched the Pioneer projects. Or at least, its heavily implied in the final level.

I'm all for visual customization. I do not want my appearance limited for the sake of stats, with the exception of high-level weapons/shields (But not armor, that can stay as aura stuff, and with an off option, maybe)

I could go for even unique-looking rares to have some customization. For instance, having Amore Rose's flower be recolorable to a degree. (Probably presets. Regular weapons should be more customizable I'd say)

[ANIMEniac]

It took me a second, but then i realized that was a Zero and not a "O" lol

[Lance813]

This part might be hard to justify, due to already-released games: PS0 takes place on Coral, long after the death of the civilization that launched the Pioneer projects. Or at least, its heavily implied in the final level.

PS0 may take place after the PSO era has come to an end... BUT lets not forget that Coral was supposed to be in a decaying state during the time of the Pioneer project. Coral, as a planet suitable for life, (as far as the AUW timeline goes) should have been almost, if not, inhabitable around the time Pioneer 2 landed on Ragol.

Yeah, most of the characters that caused what happened in Ep. 1&2 were dead before you even get to the surface of Ragol... But that should have some influence on a game titled "PSO2" which SoJ is calling the sequel to PSO.

Hell, the only story in PSO was in the side-quests. The side-quests made PSO epic! If you take the plot holes from Episodes 1 & 2, then mix that with Ep. 3 and the events of Ep. 4 you have a HUGE story-board to work with.

If you want me to call it like I see it, then listen up:

PSO2 can't afford to be anything other than a direct (in some way) sequel to PSO. More-so than PSU was at least...

Ragol was in its birthing stage as a civilized planet where they left off... And by civilized I mean that monsters were still an issue in places that were built by the men and women of Pioneer 1.

Lets be real for a second... The great evil, Falz, was destroyed in Ep. 1. There is no reason to bring him back via Dark Fish reskin like the reincarnation in PSU.

Now of course this game needs a final being or boss; that's how PS games work. Please for the love of all things living and deceased give us some originality. Episode 2 was all about the monstrosity that one man became if you did the back-story... That was fucking cool!

Heathcliff Flowen was certified dead... This was something that made PSO so dark and interesting.

I don't want to have the SEED even be mentioned in this game... So far they are one of the worst central enemies of any game I've played. Sure, Helga made them alright, but you got to admit that a giant, lab specimen/Caves boss injecting enemies with a sap via many stinger-like protrusions( for lack of better knowledge as to what 'exactly' they are...) to make the monsters its drones and enrage them is a far better idea than just throwing in re-skinned SEEDlings...

I'm just saying... Dark Falz is dead. I've killed IT so many times in the past 10 years to strive for some creativity...

Back on the topic of equipment... I didn't realize how far off topic I was until I looked at the topic...

S-Ranks would be very nice and would also bring back a beloved game mode. (C-mode) PSO2 could really use a weapons system reminiscent to that of Borderlands. Sure there would be the rares that would be the same for everyone but having randomized percentiles be given to a weapon that drops from a certain enemy would make hunting less grind and more find. (It rhymes...)

I'm not saying add a generator into the game that would give you "OVAR 17 BAZILLION" weapons... but a small one would be nice. :wacko:

[ANIMEniac]

it was always my understanding that Falz was never 1 entity, but the idea of darkness throughout the universe, similar to Sin from Final Fantasy 10. he has been the center evil since the genesis PS games i thought, and even in PSZ. in PSU, the fact that the final boss was Falkis, and Not Falz, clued in to it being a side story or alternate universe.

that being said, Heathcliff's story would be the result of falz switching ultimate hosts from RR Rico to Heathcliff. and in turn, Falz is now free to find a new suitable host [in PSO2] now that heathcliff has been defeated in Ep.2, and this sub-carnation in Ep.4

again, thats just how i took the story, and i may be off cause i havent actually played the original PSes in great detail

[MAXrobo]

it was always my understanding that Falz was never 1 entity, but the idea of darkness throughout the universe, similar to Sin from Final Fantasy 10. he has been the center evil since the genesis PS games i thought, and even in PSZ. in PSU, the fact that the final boss was Falkis, and Not Falz, clued in to it being a side story or alternate universe.

that being said, Heathcliff's story would be the result of falz switching ultimate hosts from RR Rico to Heathcliff. and in turn, Falz is now free to find a new suitable host [in PSO2] now that heathcliff has been defeated in Ep.2, and this sub-carnation in Ep.4

again, thats just how i took the story, and i may be off cause i havent actually played the original PSes in great detail

this was kinda my understanding of the story.
i would actually like to see dark falz return in some other twisted form like in ep1&2. i enjoy seeing how he warps and mutates his hosts body from game to game (now that im re-reading this, it sound rather grusome).

back on topic...
i never had the chance to play PSO online. could someone explain what was special about the S-rank weapons and how they worked?

[Lance813]

it was always my understanding that Falz was never 1 entity, but the idea of darkness throughout the universe, similar to Sin from Final Fantasy 10. he has been the center evil since the genesis PS games i thought, and even in PSZ. in PSU, the fact that the final boss was Falkis, and Not Falz, clued in to it being a side story or alternate universe.

that being said, Heathcliff's story would be the result of falz switching ultimate hosts from RR Rico to Heathcliff. and in turn, Falz is now free to find a new suitable host [in PSO2] now that heathcliff has been defeated in Ep.2, and this sub-carnation in Ep.4.

Dark Falz =/= Olga Flow

Falz was destroyed for the first time in Ep. 1 and made no appearance in Ep. 2. The thing that Heathcliff Flowen mutated into was a genetic experiment. Flowen had come into contact with the parasitic gene during his trek down Ragol. When the main party of Pioneer 1's task force opened the doors to the underground spaceship, or the Ruins, Falz had killed the entire party minus Flowen who managed to excape with his life and wounds that would eventually kill him. The wounds that Falz left him with were "life-like" and seemed to mutate and grow on their own. What made the wounds act like this were actually the influence of D-Cells in his body. D-Cell were the darkness of Falz and how IT created ITs personal bodyguards aka the hostile creatures on the face of Ragol. The D-Cells had mutated his body and Dr. Osto Hyle used him as a petri dish of sorts. He created biological weapons, and the various species of monsters inside the Seabed lab using the gene that was mutating Flowen. As Flowen's life came to an end, (as he knew it...) Osto had merged the Artificial Intelligence "OLGA" with Heathcliff as a last ditch effort of trying to control him. This failed...


Well... Flowen's body was tossed down the "Failed Experiments Pit." The AI Olga keeping what was left of his trapped consciousness alive. Laying in wait. Just conscious enough to relay signals to Pioneer 2 in hope of someone to come put it out of its misery...



In short... (TL;DR)
Olga Flow was made by men using a gene taken from Falz. Not Falz switching host bodies from Rico to Flowen.
Falz died in Ep. 3...

[16085k]

It doesn't bother me that everyone uses the same stuff in pso. I suppose it would be cool if you could make your items look different, but not really necessary.

[Checkmate]

I'd like to see weapons that have certain traits to them, AKA Stun have a possible lightning glow/flash to them. Weapon that does poison? Green acid drop from the hilt to the tip. Chainsaw Blade? Simple chainsaw sound effect. Also, something that another MMO already does is allows you to skin your armor/weapons from other items found/created for a very small fee. Allows you to keep your OP weapon but get rid of the ugly look of it... or have it match your shoes/outfit/purse.



back on topic...
i never had the chance to play PSO online. could someone explain what was special about the S-rank weapons and how they worked?

They were "high starred" weapons you aquire as a reward from C-Mode or Challenge Mode completion and also with good rank (no easy feat in some cases). Weapons of your choice. You could customize the name of them. You could customize effects to them. They had respectable stats. You could grind them to +99. However, they looked like basic, ordinary weapons of it's class. You wanted to have one. Anyone could get them. That is all.


Oh Lance, I love the pic in your sig... it was my desktop background for a solid 9 months :P

[Lance813]

@Checkmate
Its was mine back when I made the sig. Its changed since then.

I just hope I'm happy with this game in the end and I can finally receive the thrill I've been wanting from a PSO sequel for around 7-8 years...

[SquashDemon]

I think with any online game, one of the biggest focal points should be customization. I don't really think anyone likes being shoehorned into looking exactly like everyone else. Honestly I think the best weapons in the game should not only have several different options for functionality, but also for appearance, Like an extension of the S-Rank Gear from PSO

Elective Elements, Effects, and a choice between different variations on the appearance, In my opinion, would be a HUGE boon to the game and it's immersion. People LIKE identifying with their characters, and choosing certain aesthetic values for their weaponry as well as their appearance can only help that.

Of course, PSO2 will need a lot more than that before it can be a good game, *coughcoughwritingstaffcoughcough* but that's a story for another time.

[Wayu]

BTW, there isn't just one 'Dark Falz', or 'Dark Force', the original name. According to the original PS games, Dark Falz was just one Dark Force. Olga Flow may have been another, I dunno, but chances are there might be some other incarnation. Lastly, Portable 2 Infinity's story line will, in some way, connect to PSO2. That is confirmed.

I quite like this weapon customization idea. Sort of like the Extend Codes of PSPo2, but taking that further and mixing it with the item synthesis function of PSU and doing something else. I'm not sure what that 'something else' should be, though.

For example, the Serpentes handgun and its twin version, the Obsidian, changed color completely after extension. I want to think of it as something like Army of Two, where certain upgrades to your weapons do different things. Since PSO2 will have to incorporate this into melee weapons as well, though, it would be difficult to brainstorm and design near-fully customizable weapons and gear.

I will say, though, that I'm pretty sure shield lines/weaves will make a return. That means they'll have little to no aesthetic changes to the characters besides the patterns and colors of the patterns.

-Wayu

[Crystal_Shard]

It would definitely be fun if you could get a single distinctive weapon customised for your characters after some major trial like the Challenge mode (preferably if you could solo it though) but I think having weapon slots or their like would be great to have on normal weapons as well. Extending weapons like PSPo2 is pretty fun, and we could do with more custom options.

Perhaps for the new generation of "S-Ranks", you could select a specific weapon model, even if the stats are different, and add a number of tweaks like status effects/special attacks?


BTW, there isn't just one 'Dark Falz', or 'Dark Force', the original name. According to the original PS games, Dark Falz was just one Dark Force. Olga Flow may have been another, I dunno, but chances are there might be some other incarnation.

From the little I know of the original Japanese version, wasn't the Profound Darkness the amalgamation of a race of dark beings who were contained in the Algol planetary seal by their light counterparts? The english version messed with the original story in some areas - the part about Lutz for example - and changing "race of dark beings" into a simpler Dark Force/Profound Darkness and "race of light beings" into the Great Light was just one of the more important things that was affected.

I think Lance is pretty correct in that Olga Flow is not Dark Falz part deux, but simply an overgrown D Type, like a giant Delsaber with a supercomputer for a brain. And the only return of something like Dark Falz was Amplum Umbra in Episode 3 from my understanding of it. I never had the chance to complete Episode 4 unfortunately, so I don't know much about that part of the story.


I will say, though, that I'm pretty sure shield lines/weaves will make a return. That means they'll have little to no aesthetic changes to the characters besides the patterns and colors of the patterns.

I'm keen to have Shield Lines and Weaves added to PSO2, as it means costumes will be separate from high end gear, but canon-wise, I see some potential pitfalls. We never saw such technology in the original PSO, so unless the tie in to PSPo2/PSPo2i does some kind of transfer of technology (and please have this happen many years after, Sega. It would be lame for Pioneer 2 to sudden grab Gurhal tech as soon as it arrives without several years to have it assimilated naturally), it would be odd to have it appear out of nowhere. I just hope there will be some kind of plausible explanation.

[Kent]

Lastly, Portable 2 Infinity's story line will, in some way, connect to PSO2. That is confirmed.
Where as this confirmed?

I quite like this weapon customization idea. Sort of like the Extend Codes of PSPo2, but taking that further and mixing it with the item synthesis function of PSU and doing something else. I'm not sure what that 'something else' should be, though.
Well, PSU's synthesis does not deserve to exist: It was a poorly-designed idea that managed to make an already-severely-flawed game even worse.

A large part of the reason behind the abolishment of a synthesis system is the fact that it's just not fun to find random item parts that you have to keep and hope you ever find the others (and by the time you do, it'll probably no longer be a good piece of equipment for you). When people simply find whole pieces of equipment instead, they're able to immediately make use of that equipment as a resource, on the field. Having item synthesis as being a main attraction for the procurement of items serves only to detract from this, and muddles the experience as a whole (this is why it was removed from the Phantasy Star Portable games).

I really think that, as far as functional attachments/units go, it's important that it be maintained that inserting them into weapons is in no way permanent - it should be just as hot-swappable as armor units are in PSO, particularly because this would really allow people to trade off a weapon they've gotten their use out of, without having to worry about the stipulations of the attached units making the weapon less valuable to prospective traders (because what one class or player may customize a weapon for may be completely different from what another would).

[Wayu]

Where as this confirmed?

I really think that, as far as functional attachments/units go, it's important that it be maintained that inserting them into weapons is in no way permanent - it should be just as hot-swappable as armor units are in PSO, particularly because this would really allow people to trade off a weapon they've gotten their use out of, without having to worry about the stipulations of the attached units making the weapon less valuable to prospective traders (because what one class or player may customize a weapon for may be completely different from what another would).

I mean item synthesis as a method of 'inputting' stuff into weapons. Maybe I chose the wrong comparison, but the item synthesis system is the closest thing that comes to mind.

Flip through the PSPo2i discussion thread in the PSP section of the forums. It's somewhere within the last...uh, 30 ^^; pages or so. It's one of Mikest's (Mike) posts.

-Wayu

[MAXrobo]

there could be a system where insted of grinding, each weapon can use a certain number of weapon "materials". this would work similar to using materials on your character, but insted it augmented your weapons stats. different weapons could each use a different number, similar to how various weapons had different max grinds. also if you bought/traded a weapon from someone who had upgraded it, and you didnt like his changes, there could be something like reset materials that set the weapon back to its original stats.

[Kent]

I mean item synthesis as a method of 'inputting' stuff into weapons. Maybe I chose the wrong comparison, but the item synthesis system is the closest thing that comes to mind.
Well, in my mind, it would be exactly like how people put units into armor slots. Something you can just do wherever, from the equipment menu.

Flip through the PSPo2i discussion thread in the PSP section of the forums. It's somewhere within the last...uh, 30 ^^; pages or so. It's one of Mikest's (Mike) posts.
Sounds like a wild goose chase, to me.

[Mitz]

It'd also be nice to see gear being altered in a less gameplay-enhancing way. For example change the color or other properties of your gear, allowing your character to be unique in more ways. I really think that was one of the factors that made PSO so great was customization and this would be a great step towards achieving the same 'vibe'.