September 1st Site Update [Archive]

RemiusTA

Sep 8, 2011, 11:10 AM

I get the feeling these guys play their own game allllll daaayyyy.

I'd really hope so...otherwise, it'll be terrible.

I wish they got someone else to play the demonstration, though. That girl doesn't show me anything I haven't seen in every single video leaked during the Alpha Test. Female Newman Hunter Loli. Hunewearloli might as well become a new class of it's own.

Anyway, that aside, im kind of underwhelmed at the animation work. At first i thought it was very good, and it is; but the lack of unique animation isn't going to sit well with me. Everyone run, jumps, idles, and seemingly even attacks the exact same. I'm going to blame it on "Alpha", but somehow i doubt they'll put anymore attention into it.

Which is especially unfortunate, seeing how everyone on that alpha seemingly picks the same class anyway...which means there really won't be much of an escape from picking something else, which was one of my main reasons for class hopping on PSO. That would be one hell of a detail of PSO to ignore. It would be amazing if i could be a Humar, in a Fomar outfit, except with Humar animations to boot. Although this won't make a difference at all if Humar and Fomar animations are identical.

Dongra

Sep 8, 2011, 11:32 AM

which was one of my main reasons for class hopping on PSO.
I'm with you on this one. The different animations not only gave the player a reason to try out different classes but also to try out different weapon types as well. It was great using daggers on a Hucaseal since her animation was not only unique but vastly superior as well. I wouldn't mind seeing some classes specialize in particular weapons the same way forces did with specific tech sets, but this is unlikely.

Zyrusticae

Sep 8, 2011, 11:40 AM

It's worth noting that the sheer volume of unique attacks is probably going to be something of an order of magnitude higher than the original PSO.

PSO had, what, the three hit combo for every weapon type, and then some unique attacks for specific weapons, and that was it?

Then PSO2 has 3 PAs per weapon (at the moment, there may be more added down the line), which automatically multiplies the workload by 4. Then you have the fact that every race can be every class, which again increases the workload by a massive factor. Then there are the balance issues of different timings between different class/race combinations, etc., and it quickly becomes obvious that it's really not viable for serious development resources.

That being said, I sure as hell wouldn't mind seeing it show up again, even if it's only for basic attacks. But just seeing the difference in how much work is required makes me wary. (Heh, and people wonder why games cost so much more to develop nowadays...)

RemiusTA

Sep 8, 2011, 12:24 PM

It's not so much that every race/sex can be every class. For some reason, they've decided that every race/sex/class combo IS a new class, which i was against for this very reason.

The PA's dont have to be different, only the base attacks. The PAs are animations in themselves -- im pretty sure they're just going to port the skeletal animations for every class. So PA's dont really count. And they don't have to make every class type have completely unique animations. They just need unique animation sets that are unique to your character. Even if you can change your base (hunter/force/ranger), your race/sex still has specific animations for certain weapons.

See, it's not much different than PSO when you really think about it. No matter what class you pick, the fact that you are a Female Newman, or a Male Human will never change. So now all it really boils down to is what to make each class stand out in.

-Newmans can have unique animations for weak but fast weaponry, but the majority being in Force weapons. This covers Hunewearl, Fonewearl and Fonewm from PSO. I think the only classes in the game that would require specific animations would be Hunewm and Ranewm/Ranewearl for Technic Casting. (since Fonewearl and Fonewm go with that whole "jester" look, it'd look out of place for the other classes.) Make a default (but unique) casting set shared between newmans if they're not Forces.

-Human Hunters can have unique animations spread through each class, being the middleground (but most of them in Hunter/Ranger. Fomar had fast un-armed animations, and Fomarl was the weapon girl. See how that easily translates?) (Although in PSO, nothing Humar really had was "unique" because they were the class everyone based "default" off of, lol.)

Females can have the most unique animations set in Rangers. (this covers Ramarl), Males have the most in Hunter. Male Humans get unique casting animations if they choose Force.

- Casts? Dont know, they didn't really have unique anything. This is a game where they can get creative. I'd say, give them heavy weapon animations for all classes. (Swords, Axes, Launchers, Cannons, blah blah). They're categorized for their strong builds, so make them proficient in handling heavy weaponry.

Or they could be awesome, and just slightly alter their PA animations or something. I dont know. Casts always had other features to set them apart, like traps, trap vision, recovering HP, special attack bonuses, ect.

Astarin

Sep 8, 2011, 12:31 PM

I'm only halfway through the video, but any idea what the character with blue hair is? So far I haven't seen a decent close up, but they were wielding a sword and don't seem to have any hunter clothing on that I, at least, don't think I've seen before? Obviously correct me if I'm wrong lol.

Edit: Oh, wow, is that a HUnewm, or a HUnewearl with a new outfit?

The character with the blue hair is a male Newman, wearing the FOmar outfit. It's really hard to tell what class they're playing at this point, but it did look like it could be a hunter.

I'm with RemiusTA, in that I'm getting awfuly sick of just seeing HUnewearloli videos. Has no-one picked ANY other class? Even the Force vids I've seen all seem to use that outfit. I mean, I realize they're probably working with a limited number of available weapons, but yeah, I'd be great to see something... more.

GCoffee

Sep 8, 2011, 01:28 PM

Come on, guys. Those characters were going to be deleted after a frikking week, and everyone was aware of that. Nobody will pick his classes based on looks in the real game, but most people would go for the sexiest eyecandy available if it is only going to be for a week, and that is me included.

RemiusTA

Sep 8, 2011, 02:38 PM

Nobody will pick his classes based on looks in the real game

Heh heh.

BIG OLAF

Sep 8, 2011, 02:57 PM

Heh heh.

Yeah, really. I, personally, am picking HUnewearl mostly based on looks. I thought that was pretty obvious.

Arkios

Sep 8, 2011, 03:12 PM

Ditto, I have always, and will continue to always pick my character(s) based on looks.

sugarFO

Sep 8, 2011, 03:27 PM

I'm picking my character based on looks and cuz I love magic users. FOmarl frilly dress here I come!!! (which I'll make pink of course)

Zyrusticae

Sep 8, 2011, 03:34 PM

That's a funny statement.

Well, toss me in with the folks who pick based on looks. I played a FF newman in PSU, for cryin' out loud!

Alnet

Sep 8, 2011, 05:02 PM

Given how pretty this game is, I can't imagine someone not picking their characters based on looks. Playing this game while ignoring the potential for pretty would be like riding the proverbial elephant in the room into the next room, through the wall without acknowledging it.

Lyric

Sep 8, 2011, 05:20 PM

I'm with the lot of you. I'll...probably be rollin a HUnewm, among other things. Haha.

NoiseHERO

Sep 8, 2011, 05:23 PM

I make characters identical to my orginal characters...

So that means I'm never picking newman...

Mag-X

Sep 8, 2011, 05:51 PM

I'll be playing a RAnewearl. Will I be useless compared to RAcasts and RAcaseals (or even human rangers)? Probably, but my character will be adorable, and that's really all that matters.

Covane

Sep 8, 2011, 07:18 PM

I have no idea what that cute girl in the video is saying, but she is mesmerizing.

Spellbinder

Sep 8, 2011, 07:30 PM

I get the feeling these guys play their own game allllll daaayyyy.

I believe it. :P He mentioned somewhere in the second video he played for 6 hours straight all night.

Enforcer MKV

Sep 8, 2011, 09:02 PM

I have no idea what that cute girl in the video is saying, but she is mesmerizing.

loooooooooooool

----------------------------------

Anyway, on with what I wanted to say....

GUNDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM, LAAAAAAAAAUNCH!!!!!

I love the look of Racast.....

And on that note, guns + robots that look like gundams = WIN!

Massamix3.0

Sep 8, 2011, 10:08 PM

Some things about the gameplay that really stood out for me.

-The Telepipe makes a return. Fantastic. Love the ability to return to town if I need a vendor or if everything hits the fan.

-This game looks absolutely beautiful. The weather effects are also very vibrant and noticeable. That was something I was worried about.

-The Cast ability to hover around is a nice touch, especially for RAcasts. With this ability, we don;t have to stand in place to shoot, making us much less of a target, and most likely giving us a bit more solo-ability.

-Jumping into a pool to warp to the quest area is a nice touch. Seems very Mario 64-esque in nature, but I still like it.

-It looks like chat macro's got an overhaul and seem to function more like WoW macros. This is, in my opinion, a good thing, and gives you a bit more character control overall.

-Finally the ability to jump. I'm grabbing my C-Bringer's Rifle and heading for the high ground :D

As for character creation:

-Not sure what the 3rd from the top was. was that supposed to be like...Beasts?

-It's nice they added a few templates to start with. If you know what you want, but not necessarily how to create, it, this should take out a lot of the guess work.

-The creation is really in depth, and I'm particularly thankful for that. I noticed you can even choose two accessories now, which is good, because I like hats and glasses.

-I like the option they added to change your class mid way through the creation process. That way, if you have second thoughts, instead of scrapping your tedious work, you can just class swap.

-Seems like the skill counter functions on a progressive tree system, were you must have certain abilities to advance to others, and it splits off into different areas depending on what you get. This usually provides for even further class customization.

Sorry about the wall of text, but there was a lot in those videos.
Also: B>Subtitles

Kion

Sep 9, 2011, 12:25 AM

13:34 (first video) boobies part
Sakai: and now we come to the boobs
Girl: Wow, so detailed! Was this your idea Sakai?
Sakia: *Embarrassed* um.... yes.

Zyrusticae

Sep 9, 2011, 09:39 AM

13:34 (first video) boobies part
Sakai: and now we come to the boobs
Girl: Wow, so detailed! Was this your idea Sakai?
Sakia: *Embarrassed* um.... yes.
Quoting because lmfao

chaos-shadow

Sep 9, 2011, 10:25 AM

Oh, in the second video, when you go to pick a mission, it will tell you the EXP versus Meseta in ranking? Like, E EXP + F Meseta? That's pretty neat.

Eclipse5632

Sep 9, 2011, 09:41 PM

There's something I just thought I'd point out since I didn't see it in this thread yet. I dunno if this got added in PSU after I stopped playing or if it was in any of the PSP games, but in the video they mention Free Missions, which are like some sort of endless mode where you're in an area with no real mission, but the important part is that once you clear an area of enemies, you can leave and go back and there will be more enemies there. Useful for grinding for items/levels.

Also...

13:34 (first video) boobies part
Sakai: and now we come to the boobs
Girl: Wow, so detailed! Was this your idea Sakai?
Sakia: *Embarrassed* um.... yes.
He doesn't actually say whether or not he was the one that came up with it.

NoiseHERO

Sep 9, 2011, 09:55 PM

There's something I just thought I'd point out since I didn't see it in this thread yet. I dunno if this got added in PSU after I stopped playing or if it was in any of the PSP games, but in the video they mention Free Missions, which are like some sort of endless mode where you're in an area with no real mission, but the important part is that once you clear an area of enemies, you can leave and go back and there will be more enemies there. Useful for grinding for items/levels.

Also...

He doesn't actually say whether or not he was the one that came up with it.

Someone did mention this once, but it was in a sea of posts in some other thread. I think those are also the multi party areas!

Serephim

Sep 9, 2011, 10:00 PM

I wonder why the titty slider gets so much attention. I thought it was nearly standard at this point.

Eclipse5632

Sep 9, 2011, 10:56 PM

I think those are also the multi party areas!
Really? I didn't get that impression from the video, but I could be wrong. It seems kind of silly to me if they only put in multi-party areas for grinding.

NoiseHERO

Sep 9, 2011, 11:34 PM

Really? I didn't get that impression from the video, but I could be wrong. It seems kind of silly to me if they only put in multi-party areas for grinding.

Either that or some of the areas like that are multi partied. I've heard so little on the field concepts. But in general a they sound like you walk in and/or walk out when you want like you said. @_@

lostinseganet

Sep 10, 2011, 02:35 PM

I wonder why the titty slider gets so much attention. I thought it was nearly standard at this point.You can choose size, shape, roundness, and...perkyness? divider

Enforcer MKV

Sep 10, 2011, 04:01 PM

You can choose size, shape, roundness, and...perkyness? divider

Oh, they are so gonna use "freedom of creation" to justify such in-depth breast control.

Ah, creative freedom is great, isn't it?

kyuuketsuki

Sep 10, 2011, 05:22 PM

Oh, they are so gonna use "freedom of creation" to justify such in-depth breast control.

Ah, creative freedom is great, isn't it?
Why yes, yes it is. :D

Serephim

Sep 10, 2011, 05:53 PM

I still don't see why this is so "amazing". Breasts come in all shapes, sizes and perkiness. If you're going to give someone the ability to alter the fat on their bodies, then not giving them the ability to alter the shape of the breasts is just kind of odd.

NoiseHERO

Sep 10, 2011, 08:29 PM

They don't put all that effort into the breasts because they're Japanese, they're Japanese because they put effort into the breasts.

I dunno if seeing foreign women with huge tits hit japan THAT hard or something,(cause that country is flatboard world) or if it's just because they're perverted in general and the trend/trope/fetish grew.

But it's not Japanese if it doesn't have someone with huge tits.

Zyrusticae

Sep 10, 2011, 08:48 PM

I have to second Serephim here.

There's nothing odd or perverted about giving fine control of the shape and size of the breasts. Especially when the breasts are such a noticeable visual facet of any female character (yes, even more than the face - prove me wrong, I dare you!). Both APB and EVE Online have the feature, though with a much, much narrower range of size than PSO2 (because apparently flat-chested women deserve zero representation in the western world of gaming).

Saying it is in any way related to the developers being Japanese, or affirms the fact of the developers being Japanese, is just pure silliness. Female characters should always have some variety in that area, otherwise it's just, well, weaksauce customization. Why should your players have to simply deal with your decision that everyone is small, or everyone is average, or everyone is large? And how is it not jarring when every female character is walking around sporting D-cups? Not only does it trivialize the size (since EVERYBODY has it, it is now entirely not special at all), it makes every single female character look similar in build because they can't change the size of those knockers (Age of Conan, I'm lookin' at you!).

You ask me, it's an essential of any game with decent character customization. Omitting it would just be poor form, period.

yoshiblue

Sep 10, 2011, 08:58 PM

I never saw it as a problem. People have dealt with a one size ordeal for years. Why would the feel of the game be weaker? Its just a luxury. The only reason I can think for this to be added its the minor eye candy for men and a dream size to not thinking of the back pain for women. This is a action game though so unless you like spending your time in the lobby or waiting on someone in game, its not really important.

Zyrusticae

Sep 10, 2011, 08:59 PM

Just a luxury?

You could say that for all the character customization in the game.

I don't buy it.

yoshiblue

Sep 10, 2011, 09:01 PM

I revised it before you posted lol. Yeah thats what I thought you would say so I revised it.

IB4 department of redundancy department

Zyrusticae

Sep 10, 2011, 11:16 PM

What I said still applies to your revised statement. :p

I even edited my post for it. Redundant redundancy!

Edit: Okay, to elaborate, any thing you can say about the relevance of boob size can be said about any and all customization the game offers. "Oh, it's just a minor detail... oh, it doesn't actually impact any gameplay... oh, only some guys and chicks are even gonna care about it."

Come on, really? That's weaksauce. Just say you don't care about character customization and move on. There's not really much else to discuss there.

yoshiblue

Sep 11, 2011, 12:01 AM

I would if I didn't toy with my spartan's armor so much. Buts thats armor so I guess you right. But I will say this. I have never played a game without toying with the character's looks when avaliable.

Oh and...I saw what you did there.

Serephim

Sep 11, 2011, 12:20 AM

I seriously don't get whats so odd or controversial about the damn breast slider. They're just titties for christs sake, if you people are offended by them then Maplestory is right around the corner, right next to your 10th grade sex-ed class.

Sure, lets give players the option to play with almost every aspect of their anatomy, but OH NO dont touch the titties because now we're sexist perverted and japanese (????)

Come on, guys. Come on. Contrary to whatever your brain may want to think, yes, all women grow titties, and no, they do not all look the same.Just because the majority of girl characters on the server are g.i.r.l.s doesn't change anything.

And besides, Japan doesn't care anyway, because none of the characters in any of the videos had any fucking titties to being with because they were all 10 years old.

yoshiblue

Sep 11, 2011, 12:30 AM

Hey I never said any of that aside from minor eye candy. I'm just saying its not really needed to make this game go" Yes! This is best game in world! Time to go kill enemy like badass and win!".

Got to love Heavy.

Serephim

Sep 11, 2011, 12:37 AM

no definitely not, im just wondering why a forum full of guys who mostly play female characters are complaining about a feature that helps them fulfill their deepest fantasies even better

Kamen Rider Sting

Sep 11, 2011, 05:30 AM

Well the new customization features are a nice touch, I'd laugh if we can adjust the length of the hair growing from the nose and ears. That be perfect for making elderly characters, I hope they add makeup or piercings. Make a PSO Kiss Army. The weapons look alright but they no show many melee types, I can make out a Sword and some sort of Dagger with metal wire.

Can't wait to see what Double Saber and Slicer look like.

Enforcer MKV

Sep 11, 2011, 01:25 PM

I seriously don't get whats so odd or controversial about the damn breast slider.

There isn't anything, really.

People are just weird.

Inb4-Mich-hipster-statement?

tehhaxorer

Sep 11, 2011, 01:32 PM

I think it is really neat that they actually posted an alpha video. It is one way to control what people see from the alpha while still building hype around the game. We no longer need to keep rewatching the same questionably quality alpha videos to get more gameplay information!

Sakuyarules

Sep 11, 2011, 10:48 PM

BIG OLAF

Sep 11, 2011, 10:52 PM

I also don't stare at women's breasts while I talk to them, but at their face.

Yes, because just saying that is complete, irrefutable evidence that you most certainly do not. But, this is all kind of off-topic and random.

Hm, come to think of it, quite a few topics have veered off the tracks and turned into "Boobie Talk" threads. Strange.

Sakuyarules

Sep 11, 2011, 11:24 PM

Yes, because just saying that is complete, irrefutable evidence that you most certainly do not. But, this is all kind of off-topic and random.

I see you notice what I did there. So you yourself are admitting that the poster I replied to was wrong :)

BIG OLAF

Sep 11, 2011, 11:30 PM

I see you notice what I did there. So you yourself are admitting that the poster I replied to was wrong :)

What.

Serephim

Sep 12, 2011, 01:21 AM

I sware, if anyone tries to seriously make an argument about breasts, im going to troll the fuck out of them. Im warning them now, in this here thread. The first person who turns this into a discussion about guys and girls, you will be the source of my laughter for the morning.

kyuuketsuki

Sep 12, 2011, 01:36 AM

Serephim

Sep 12, 2011, 01:50 AM

No no, not you, i mean the people who are trying to argue that somehow the breast slider is wrong.

Because i mean COME ON, what's wrong with it? It's not like they have a Nipple slider, or a Labia slider, or a Kitchen slider. Like you said...they're just breasts.

Im surprised a board full of guys are complaining about them, im starting to get a bit worried...

kyuuketsuki

Sep 12, 2011, 02:01 AM

[...] Kitchen slider.
I like the sound of that... make my female character more adept at making me a sammich! >.>

yoshiblue

Sep 12, 2011, 02:30 AM

Do you really need a bigger kitchen for more sammichs?

Mizunos

Sep 12, 2011, 05:00 AM

third and supposedly last playthrough video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F31bfG3DIGg

BioWarrior

Sep 12, 2011, 07:52 AM

Oh my god. Force confirmed for awesome tier with freezing the dragon boss in place. Looks like PSO style mission ranks are back too, nice.

kyuuketsuki

Sep 12, 2011, 10:40 AM

Damn my stupid work iPad and its failing to load Youtube videos. ;.;

chaos-shadow

Sep 12, 2011, 11:01 AM

Yeah, that freezing the dragon is really neat! I wish the RAcaseal was better at not running around with the camera faced AWAY from the battle. ; v ;

Is it just me or did in the first dragon fight, people seemed a little lost... I hope it isn't hard to figure out where to go next...

Serephim

Sep 12, 2011, 12:41 PM

I do. Makes the fight more fun >:D

I absolutely love how she ran from EVERYTHING in the stage, she tried to hide behind the rock. I thought it was hilarious.

This game looks really really polished, even from this stage. The dragon is very fluid, the effects are wonderful, and the music and SFX are great too.

Only bad point -- did they reuse the Forest battle music for the Caves too?

Angelo

Sep 12, 2011, 12:56 PM

I'm incredibly surprised no dataminers have ripped the soundtrack from the client.

When FFXIV was in alpha the music files were leaked like... within 3 days.

Serephim

Sep 12, 2011, 12:59 PM

The music files apparently aren't just lying around. They're in lots and lots of pieces, which would explain why the transitions are so quick and fluid.

Zaix

Sep 12, 2011, 01:05 PM

That wouldn't be too bad by itself. The kicker is PSO2 uses a new version of ADX for its music compression.

Vashyron

Sep 12, 2011, 01:14 PM

They are encrypted.

Though one way to be able to rip the current ones is to actually play them in game by replacing whats played at the title screen, which I already did to the character creation music since the file name for that was conveniently stored in memory at launch.

Theoretically at this point if you guess the actual real filenames for the containers (.CPK) you could rip the rest, but my interest to do that on guess work is near 0.

(And seems like people with actual knowledge on how to remove themida from the client aren't interested either, else we could know much more at this point.)

•Col•

Sep 12, 2011, 02:24 PM

When the Force freezes the dragon's feet to hold it in place....... It's the little touches like that which made PSO (and hopefully PSO2 as well) awesome.

Serephim

Sep 12, 2011, 03:46 PM

Yeah, that was fucking awesome. As long as only Forces can do it, it'd be an awesome perk.

I can only imagine if they script a bunch of effects like that, High Level forces can just waltz into lower level bosses and set them on fire / give then seizures / turn them into ice.

Alena Zouryx

Sep 12, 2011, 05:02 PM

These videos are making me vibrate in my seat with excitement! Gah! XD

My largest concern, I'd have to say, lies with the skill trees. I really hope there is a variation of what skills are available to a character based on race/gender/class, similar to how it was in PSO (for example, FOnewearls pwning with single-target Techs, FOmarls having bonuses to support Techs, etc.).

If every class has access to the same skill tree regardless of race and gender, there isn't much of a point in playing any other gender/race than what would be ideally best for that class, with the exception of basing the selection entirely on looks.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, for instance, FOnewearls will have unique access to improving their single-target nukes, FOmarls will have unique access to skills that improve their support and healing Techs, so on and so forth.

It'd be really impressive if each race/gender/class combination had access to a handful of unique skills that would set them apart from the rest.

I'm a FOmarl fan for life, though, regardless, but I'm really hoping that there are unique skills (and animations) for the various combinations... and I REALLY hope that FOmarls still have the supportive bonuses that we've always had!

kyuuketsuki

Sep 13, 2011, 03:11 AM

I'm probably late to the party on this one, but I just noticed the little ellipses that appears over a character when s/he's typing, and the little menu animation that appears when they're going through menus. A little thing, but a nice touch I think.

Dragon fight was very nice, except for that girl not being very good with the controls. Have to agree, the dragon getting its feet iced up was very cool.

Enforcer MKV

Sep 13, 2011, 08:22 AM

Still have yet to watch this, grrrr......

Zorafim

Sep 13, 2011, 03:06 PM

If every class has access to the same skill tree regardless of race and gender, there isn't much of a point in playing any other gender/race than what would be ideally best for that class, with the exception of basing the selection entirely on looks.

I think this is kinda the point. Skill trees are there to provide your customability, instead of your class/race combinations, which frees you up to make your character anything you want it to be.
There is merit in wanting certain abilities specifically for one race (for instance, greater power with casts, and greater speed with newmans), but I think being able to choose how you want to play regardless of how you look is the ideal.

By the way, I don't think this has been said yet, so I'll be the one to say it. That dragon is fucking badass. I always thought De Ragan (all the monsters in Parum, actually) looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Comparing De Ragan to this dragon makes the contrast even greater. I can't wait to fight these things.