Friday the 13th Official Blog: α1 and α2 changes

[Mike]

No Jasons here, just new info. The biggest part of today's blog (http://ameblo.jp/sega-psblog/entry-11134486887.html) is a list info and changes between the first alpha and the upcoming second alpha. A lot of the changes are things that were listed in the first alpha report several months ago.


Character Creation
New parts, clothing, and accesories
Casts can have morphable, human-like faces
Eyebrow color can be changed
The minimum and maximum heights for characters has been tweaked
Can choose between hovering and running for Cast movement
Ability to choose two skin patterns at once
Redo and Undo functions have been added to the creator
The ability to test various facial expressions has been added to the creator
Parts/clothing no longer function as armor
Units are now hidable via the item pack


Skill Tree
New, easy to understand interface
Now possible to level a using all points possible at once
Added new skills like "Just Counter" and "Just Reversal"


Player Combat
Ranged and tech attacks get just attacks
Hold button to continuously attack
Invincible frames for hunter's and ranger's dodges have been decreased
It takes less time to change from walking to running
You will now walk when you have your weapon sheathed and are moving by pressing the analoge stick of a game pad slighty
Guarding cancels attacks faster than dodging
You can move normally, but not run, while charging techs
Techs on the sub-pallete are now chargable
Non-charged techs are more powerful than before
Certain techs do different things when charged up
You can change the default rod action from melee to tech and back again
Charged resta heals over a larger area
Add the ability to charge the Nova Strike PA for swords
Using mates when your HP is full won't use up items
For swords and wired lances, changing weapons or areas will no longer reset your gear (Not sure what this means)
Bullets have a wider spread in normal attack mode and less spread in 3rd person shooter mode
You can now remotely detonate traps
Can no longer lock on to other players
Follow-run changed
Blur can be turned off or on in the options


Enemy Combat
The Caterdoran will appear in some volcanic area missions
You can cause all but large enemies to stutter mid-attack with a just attack
Enemies of the same type will have stats depending on their size (big rappies stronger than small rappies)
Enemies of different types will attack each other (rappy vs booma)
When boss monsters appear in a multi-party area, there is a chance that the boss could have a special title in it's name that denotes a stat change or a chance that something could happen to the surrounding enemies


Quest System
You can choose to create a new party when selecting a new quest from the quest counter
You can change the party settings when you choose to start a new quest and create a party
More info has been added to the list of displayed parties when you choose to enter an already existing party
You can choose to have other player's HP bars displayed over their heads
Shops and a quest counter have been added to the camp ship
Free fields can be accepted by simply going straight to the camp ship (think of free fields as just not really having a quest but exploring areas)
Free fields and certain Arks quests will have a boss area at the end of the mission (boss monsters may appear outside of this area though)
You can teleport to an area you've already been to from the camp ship (ie going back to Forest 2)
The telepool (I'm serious) in the camp ship will now change based on if and where a telepipe is placed
Item, weapon, and meseta drop icons have been changed


Interupt Events
The suddenly occuring events that make up a part of Interupt Events are now called "Emergency Trials"
Depending on the circumstances, emergency trials can occur free fields
After receiving a reward item from an emergency trial, it will be sent to your storage if your item pack is full. If your storage is full, the item will be sent to a 30 item limit temporary storage. Items stored here will be overwritten in oldest-to-newest order if full


PSEs
The rate at which photon sensitive events occur and continue has been balanced


User Interface
The UI is easier on the eyes and easier to control with a game pad
You will chose on first login which control method you will mostly be using and the game will automatically change some settings to match that
You can change the key settings in-game now
The main menu has been iconized and menus layered
There is a quick menu for game pad users for things like emotes
A new button setting allows for you to jump to any page on the item description
Icons are easier to understand
Locked items in the equipment menu stand out more
Useable Items now display the total number held on top of their icon
An "Equip" menu now exists to make it easier to equip items
"Enchants" are now "Special Abilities"
You can buy or sell from storage
You can move multiple items at a single time while using storage
You can store meseta in storage
HP and PP meter visuals are larger
Quest targets and emergency trial targets are now listed on-screen
The mini-map now remembers if it was set to full or local on moving between areas
The mini-map is larger
Party members now always appear on the mini-map if in the same area
Lock on markers are easier to see
Status indicators like AFK or LFG have been added
UI scaling
New loading screen
In-game screenshot function


Communication
Game pad users can now just type on the keyboard to chat instead of pressing C
Added ability to transport to the block a player on your friend list is in
Lobby actions can be performed with alt + alphabet keys
Shift-enter while chatting brings up the cut-in chat preview while control-enter brings up the emoticon and word bubble preview
The chat log and chat channel are now seperate (ie party chat while view public log)
Search for players with the visiphone


In addition to these changes, the second alpha will also see the implimentation of the "My Room," "Item Lab," and "My Shop" features. The "My Room" found in PSO2 is different than that of PSU. Only one room per account will exist on a ship (PSO2's version of entrances, I suppose) and all characters registered to that ship will share that room. The functions of the My Room feature will be limited in the alpha. There are a few reform tickets and decorative items to by. During the alpha, reform tickets will not be used up when used. The only action available for decorations will be to sit down for the alpha.

The Item Lab, where you can grind weapons, improve elemental attributes and add special abilities will be fully available in the alpha. The price and results found in the alpha may vary from later versions due to balancing.

The My Shop function will be fully available in the alpha but the trading function will not be implemented in the alpha test.


Additionally, there are some pictures of the new -mate animation. The animation has been changed from an injection to a potion.

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1789&pictureid=24941
http://www.pso-world.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1789&pictureid=24940
http://www.pso-world.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1789&pictureid=24942



Finally, if you're wanting to sign up for the alpha, you only have a few days left! When you do sign up, make sure you not only sign up for a Sega ID but for the alpha test as well!

[Seth Astra]

Mate using animation? I rather like this touch.

[Tyreek]

The old injection animation was not a bad touch. But I assume this was probably done to cut back on the time length of animation.

[BIG OLAF]

Wish there were screens of the newly announced clothes. Unless there are, and I'm just looking in the wrong places.

[Serephim]

They also added a unique effect for Monomate. it used to share the Resta effect.

[drizzle]

Hold button to continuously attack

Oh, how about that. Playing Ranger, without developing carpal tunnel?

[Macman]

Awww, I liked the idea of Monomate addicts shooting up.

[maxx69]

Yeah, injecting mates was awesome. SEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[NoiseHERO]

Wish there were screens of the newly announced clothes. Unless there are, and I'm just looking in the wrong places.

I'm assuming all the "new clothes" were just all the clothes from the concept art that didn't make it into Alpha 1.

Liking the new potion animation, reminding me of final fantasy and zelda.

*gulp* *gulp* *gulp* BLARGH!!

Also 4 people sharing a room, like animal crossing wild world ehn...

[darkante]

Yeah, i like that you have to plan your healing instead of just bum rushing everything with instant heal.

[NoiseHERO]

Also where did I hear before...

They said there CAN be multiple bosses in one room now?

Also yeah enemies can attack each other now? Didn't I bring something like that up like 4 times while day dreaming and posting at the same time about random things that would make this game cooler?

WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THESE IDEAS?!

Well I dunno about the boss thing yet... Who told me that one... e_e

[Cayenne]

Yeah, injecting mates was awesome. SEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

That always bugged me.

Everytime i saw that the scene from The Rock where Nicholas Cage injects himself in the heart flashes in my head.

SEGA is making one kick ass game!

Edit: Also, did SEGA mention WHEN the alpha starts?

[Seth Astra]

Really? There was an injection-based animation? Huh... Honestly I would have prefered that. Partially because that made how I imagined them being used (in fanfics and roleplays) correct. ^^;

[NoiseHERO]

I always thought momomates were like calorie mates(they're these things that nobody knows exist for some reason.) You can basically consider them rations for everyday life. They're small and rectangular and really dry with a weak taste. And Japan even has commercials for em. Then in PSU I swear they had physical Monomates in the shop's display in your room.

But I guess changing it from an injection to a potion really means that it's just some flexible item healing concept, That didn't wanna use the words potion, ether and elixir.

I'm hungry.

[Alnet]

I used to think Monomate was like a pill or something. But then I started thinking the little icon for it on the PSO action pallete made it look like a soda can, so I thought Monomate was supposed to be a beverage of some sort. Doesn't hurt with the similarly-named Perolymate, which is supposed to be... some kind of food.

[NoiseHERO]

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1196706166/gallery_48321_5270_42649.jpg

See? There's like 4 flavors!

Monomate, Dimate, Trimate... Chocolate...

[Subject Delta]

The alpha needs to be here already! ughhh.. such a long wait......

[Macman]

I'm sure you only know of Calorie Mate because of Metal Gear Solid 3 :roll:

Drinking monomates makes no sense, any sort of medicine taken orally needs time to take effect since it has to pass through the digestive system before it can actually get into the bloodstream. The whole injection method was congruent with the whole "INSTANT HP" concept behind healing items in most games.

[NoiseHERO]

I'm sure you only know of Calorie Mate because of Metal Gear Solid 3 :roll:

Drinking monomates makes no sense, any sort of medicine taken orally needs time to take effect since it has to pass through the digestive system before it can actually get into the bloodstream. The whole injection method was congruent with the whole "INSTANT HP" concept behind healing items in most games.

I actually heard of it BEFORE MGS3...

Which is why I found it funny in MGS3.

Most of the commercials have action heroes in the advertisements. So youtubing funny japanese commercials = I found out about it before MGS3...

To be more exact my brother showed me it, then he bought some the next day... They taste really boring as I said before...

[BWS-1]

Awww, I liked the idea of Monomate addicts shooting up.

Drink monomates;
smoke dimates;
inject trimates.

Surely, this is how it'll be in the end!

[Macman]

To be more exact my brother showed me it, then he bought some the next day... They taste really boring as I said before...They remind me of biscotti which has a very dull taste by itself, but they're meant to have with coffee.

[Noblewine]

We can do continous attacks now? I saw that while skimming the list of updates to the game mechanics. The stuff listed seems interesting.

[Angelo]

Mates actually were originally supposed to be like Calorie Mate.

In the Genesis Phantasy Star Games they were a reference to them in the form of "Pelorie Mate". I think it was translated to like "Soda" in the English versions iirc.

[NoiseHERO]

We can do continous attacks now? I saw that while skimming the list of updates to the game mechanics. The stuff listed seems interesting.

I don't know, it makes sense with guns, but I really hope there isn't just a "HOLD ATTACK BUTTON AND THE GAME PLAY FOR YOU FOR 2 SECONDS" system with melee and casting like other games have...

Or to be more exact it ONLY makes since with the assault rifle...

Kind of takes the impact out of hitting something in the face if we're just being brought back to what may as well be watching.

You'd think that game mechanic would only be designed for games that make stupid bosses with 5 million HP to make the game seem hard and long lasting so they expect people to sit in one spot holding one button.

How do we go from needing skill to do normal attacks (even if they become muscle memory later) to just buttom mashing, to just built in turbo???

WHO ASKED FOR THAT?!

FGFGADFHADHADAH

[•Col•]

Drinking monomates makes no sense, any sort of medicine taken orally needs time to take effect since it has to pass through the digestive system before it can actually get into the bloodstream. The whole injection method was congruent with the whole "INSTANT HP" concept behind healing items in most games.

You're seriously going to pull the "no sense" card for a video game?

A freaking injection wouldn't make the gashes in your body just disappear.


I always figured that Monomates just functioned like a weak Resta. Some item to be ingested that has magical photon properties that stimulates rapid healing or something....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSf9aEETnvE

[Cayenne]

I don't know, it makes sense with guns, but I really hope there isn't just a "HOLD ATTACK BUTTON AND THE GAME PLAY FOR YOU FOR 2 SECONDS" system with melee and casting like other games have...
It best to see how it plays out in Alpha, if it sucks then someone will request it to only happen for guns.

[Ce'Nedra]

Good new info. It's a shame they removed the Injection animation for potions...I kinda liked that, way more then just drinking one.

[redroses]

According to the PSU blog, the animation was changed because of player input. They didn't like the idea of the character taking shots.

[Kent]

Still waiting for slicers and talk of casting techniques without a rod-like equipped.

Dammit.

[NoiseHERO]

Why does everyone like shooting up? @_@

I mean I guess it's kind of different...

And you know if it's like some kind of high tech looking injector it'd kinda make sense...

But... ehn...


Seriously about the "hold attack to win in comfort" thing though... Who asked for that. e_e

[Ezodagrom]

Good news for those with weaker PCs:

Alpha Test 2 low end spec adjustments are not implemented. The Alpha Test 2 spec requirements are higher than the official minimum requirements.
http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-alpha-test-2-improvement-list/

[FOkyasuta]

New parts, clothing, and accesories
Casts can have morphable, human-like faces
The minimum and maximum heights for characters has been tweaked
Parts/clothing no longer function as armor
Units are now hidable via the item pack

There goes the PSU touch to it. Totally predictable.
Added new skills like "Just Counter" and "Just Reversal"

Sega plays Capcom vs Snk 2? As if the whole auto attack option wasnt enough to spam.

Additionally, there are some pictures of the new -mate animation. The animation has been changed from an injection to a potion.

Way to stay orginal and add some new.

Long story short, So far so good.

[Cayenne]

^I thought your entire post was sarcastic until I read the last line unless that was sarcastic too.

[FOkyasuta]

^I thought your entire post was sarcastic until I read the last line unless that was sarcastic too.

Course its bound to sound like sarcasim even though its not.

Internet does not pair good with sarcasm. Besides i woulda posted, /sarcasim at the end of the post i were to do something like that.

/never will

[Serephim]

*gulp* *gulp* *gulp* BLARGH!!


xD you have no clue how me and my friends would spam that everytime someone picked Young Link in Melee

[NoiseHERO]

There goes the PSU touch to it. Totally predictable.

Dunno if you're with or against this, but plenty of people protested against stated clothes, which is why they changed this.

If I haven't already said it 23342 times. I liked that being level XXX didn't mean I had to wear the same outfit as 600 other guys to be sufficient in battle.

[Zyrusticae]

I don't really care about the auto attack thing, since you still can't use Just Attack with it (and guarding, dodging, and PAs are all bound to different keys anyways).

The other stuff is nice to see. I'm particularly interested in how Just Counter and Just Reversal work...

[GCoffee]

Yeah, so no more injections? Gee, thanks SEGA. (They were awesome.)

[Ce'Nedra]

According to the PSU blog, the animation was changed because of player input. They didn't like the idea of the character taking shots.

D;

Sucks, I really liked it because it's something new, for me at least, and it looked rather cool too. Medicince/potions are drugs afterall.

[ShadowDragon28]

Awesome update, I pray I get selected to play the second alpha.

FYI, monomates, dimates, and trimates have been a type of advanced tech healing medicine items, usually a liquid or a nutrition bar type object in Ps II and Ps IV:

http://rpg-home.lunar-net.com/psii-web/index.html

it was "Antidote" which was an injection in Ps II.

The whole light-show effects is probably supposed to be illusionary or an after affect of energy release from nanomachines or something. IDK. just speculating.

[Enforcer MKV]

Either way, non human head type Casts still can't drink, or inject themselves with a needle.

.......I'm so glad I'm not actually worried about that. XD

Anyway, is anyone else kind of sad that it's been limited to a single room for every character? I know I'd like them to have the way it was implemented in PSU, when each character had their own room. It allows people to really let the character's personality show.

.........So, here's hoping that Alpha 2 testers ask Sega to switch the room system back to the original set up from PSU. Everything other than the spam I like, so far, otherwise. Can't wait to get this over in the states. \o/

[ShadowDragon28]

Robot headed Casts could still have a little port on their head to allow passage of monomate fluid into their body.

My theory is that all Casts are a type of cyborg-androids with systems that emulate human body functions (but not all human body functions) and are *not* like mini-Gundams, despite the look & design of their external armor parts. So I think they are a bit more along the lines of Robocop and not like ST:tNG's Data or Gundam mechs.

[NoiseHERO]

I think they wanted to go more full metal, until people complained about CASTs not having human faces and jiggle tits.

Robocop is a cyborg... But I guess it's up in the air, or "no one is telling" in PSO-PSU-PSO2 if they had cyborg-CASTs.

If partner machines can Eat, CASTs can DEFINITELY eat, whatever "nanomachine" energy supplement-whatever-made-up-science-fiction-BS-mumbo jumbo is put into the food for them to actually have a reason to eat.

Guess it's good to leave a giant gap of basic questions like that unanswered. People's imaginations are a lot less complicated. You know instead of trying to actually cover for your own made up crap then realize it will just turn into a mess that makes an endless series of inconsistent plot holes. *Points @ Zelda Timeline*

But I guess saying that also kind of ruins the fun of trying to imagine what the hell a CASTs really truly is.

[Lyric]

The 'Zelda Timeline' was only released because of fans wanting one so bad. I'm pretty sure Nintendo provided a disclaimer stating that 'gameplay comes first, story second' when it comes to the Zelda games, and they were aware of the plot issues. It was just a fan nod more or less. Just illuminating that tidbit.

[Jonth]

Glad they took out the injection thing... It is not any more believable than a drink. As someone already stated, it is not like an injection can instantly heal your wounds. Even if there were some high tech nanobots in the injection, it would still take time for them to circulate through the bloodstream. The only thing it succeeds in doing is making the game more edgy and creepy. Think the Fallout series' Stim Packs. Most people have a fear of needles, and as such they should really only be seriously used in horror type games.

And as far as Calorie Mates... Those things are nasty... I have a friend that likes to try a lot of random things, and last anime convention we tried the original and chocolate flavors... I don't see how those things sell in Japan. Even so, I would rather my character be eating a Calorie Mate than giving himself an injection every time I have to use a Mate.

[NoiseHERO]

The 'Zelda Timeline' was only released because of fans wanting one so bad. I'm pretty sure Nintendo provided a disclaimer stating that 'gameplay comes first, story second' when it comes to the Zelda games, and they were aware of the plot issues. It was just a fan nod more or less. Just illuminating that tidbit.

Exactly, when you've already made like 10 games and your concept keeps changing, or even the people making the game keep changing. Small details kind of just fall apart or become a mystery then start to become kinda of a big deal or something.(Not really)

If a CAST started out as merely an android, then PSU slaps on all this stuff that doesn't make sense with a weak explanation. Then the fans start calling them photon powered bio-lifeform cyborgs or some shit. It's too late to turn back, you gotta keep it a secret!

Because there is no answer anymore!!!!

THERE IS NONE!!!

[Dinosaur]

I suppose if I plan on playing Alpha, I better study these menus really hard!

[pikachief]

Good news for those with weaker PCs:

http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-alpha-test-2-improvement-list/

?? Isn't this saying that the requirements for this alpha are higher than the first alpha? Wouldn't that be bad for those with weaker PCs?

[Serephim]

Dunno if you're with or against this, but plenty of people protested against stated clothes, which is why they changed this.

If I haven't already said it 23342 times. I liked that being level XXX didn't mean I had to wear the same outfit as 600 other guys to be sufficient in battle.


I could argue against this, but generally, i felt the same way. I enjoyed being able to easily classify people in PSO by their clothing. I also wouldn't mind having that same system expanded upon for PSO2.




But at the same time, being able to stylize your character in PSU is one of the things that made it such a fun game. I dont think a typical player understands just how much time they probably spent customizing their character. It was a great pasttime.



I hope that not only clothing, but Mags also, will be able to have that same feeling.





The 'Zelda Timeline' was only released because of fans wanting one so bad.

I agree. One totally was not needed.


Wind Waker and TP were my favorite in the series, but one of the reasons Wind Waker's story was so damn interesting is because it was actually canon to OoT and Majoras Mask. Going back to the old, dead Hyrule had a pretty eerie feeling to it, and was a wonderful place for a final battle. They should just keep the entire series like that. If it's canon, then you really don't even need to mention it unless it's directly important. (Well, they havent. Like you said, it's the fans' fault.)

TP didn't need a canon timeline to have an awesome story though. Midna's character, and Zant's badass -> wtf trolling was the best thing ever

[FOkyasuta]

Dunno if you're with or against this, but plenty of people protested against stated clothes, which is why they changed this.

If I haven't already said it 23342 times. I liked that being level XXX didn't mean I had to wear the same outfit as 600 other guys to be sufficient in battle.

Not good nor bad. Just predictable.

[Serephim]

Not good or bad but just predictable? What does that even mean?

[FOkyasuta]

Not good or bad but just predictable? What does that even mean?
It was obvious they were gonna do that. Simple.

[AzureBlaze]

Mate Solution:
It's a SPRAY

I've maintained that fantheory since PSO1.
It explains the sparkle stuff all around your char,
it goes right to where the 'damage is' without plot holes,
living & nonliving can use it, you don't need biology arguements,
you can "spray" all the items onto your mag to make it raise,
and you can make up anything you want it to be: Resta in a spray, nanomachines, chemicals, magic medicine or anything blah blah.

The real question is...."What is a scape doll"

Still, it all seems like excellent news. Good to get confirmation for "its only limited cast parts here" so if you don't like anything you see, it's not tragic. (a boon for the hoof-haters Im sure)

I wonder what's up with the mags?
They're kind of getting conspicuous by the absence. This latest report says not in the beta either so...hum. I hope it means they'll end up really complex and awesome like they were in pso, and not that they're struggling with implementation.

[Recon Tactical]

Again. All of my money, Sega. Just give us an EU/US release date please. ;_;

[Mike]

I wonder what's up with the mags?
They're kind of getting conspicuous by the absence. This latest report says not in the beta either so...hum. I hope it means they'll end up really complex and awesome like they were in pso, and not that they're struggling with implementation.

Do you mean alpha? The report says they'll be in by launch so we could see them anytime between the closed beta and then.

[NoiseHERO]

The real question is...."What is a scape doll".

I'd say it'd be like a scape goat, but a doll being a replacement of you, taking that last hit. (Thinking of ninjas replacing themselves with dummies.)

But with that thought in mind, instead of being a whole extra life, would be more interesting and make more sense because of it's name, if it just absorbed the killing hit But also giving you time to flee and patch your self up.

In this game being even more interesting since obviously we can't insta-heal anymore with mates.

As for mates themselves yeah... I'd still rather whip out a potion like a classic RPG character, than blast healing heroine up my arm and deal with the annoying memes it would bring staying an injection. My god so many annoying memes it would bring...

Or I guess it would be more interesting if different recovery items had different animations. Maybe moon atomizers you'd have to crouch over your team mate for a bit and hit em with the smelling salts or defibrillator or something I dunno.

No that's just making things more complicated...

[Ezodagrom]

?? Isn't this saying that the requirements for this alpha are higher than the first alpha? Wouldn't that be bad for those with weaker PCs?
No, it's saying that the low-end settings are not implemented for the alpha 2, which means that the requirements for the release version will be lower than the alpha 2 requirements.

[Ghost Inside]

... Don't casts have battery packs?
*vaugely recalls some quest to get Elenor a new pack*

Or were they fuel-cells?

[Caerik]

I'd say it'd be like a scape goat, but a doll being a replacement of you, taking that last hit. (Thinking of ninjas replacing themselves with dummies.)

But with that thought in mind, instead of being a whole extra life, would be more interesting and make more sense because of it's name, if it just absorbed the killing hit But also giving you time to flee and patch your self up.

In this game being even more interesting since obviously we can't insta-heal anymore with mates.

As for mates themselves yeah... I'd still rather whip out a potion like a classic RPG character, than blast healing heroine up my arm and deal with the annoying memes it would bring staying an injection. My god so many annoying memes it would bring...

Or I guess it would be more interesting if different recovery items had different animations. Maybe moon atomizers you'd have to crouch over your team mate for a bit and hit em with the smelling salts or defibrillator or something I dunno.

No that's just making things more complicated...

I completely agree with you. It seems so creepy for injections to be the preferred method out of what I've seen.

The scape doll..I'm not too sure what to think of it. I've always thought of it as the item from pokemon, you throw it out and haul arse.

[Ark22]

I would have gotten banned for shouting in the lobby *Anyone wanna shoot up some mates man??*

[BIG OLAF]

Gordon Freeman is already addicted to injections. We don't need more video game characters falling to this disease!

[Serephim]

The real question is...."What is a scape doll"




scape dolls are spatial redirection devices that replace your dead body with a body from 5 seconds ago that dodged whatever just killed you, essentially replacing your current body with one from a nearby, alternate dimension.


Mates are nanomachine injections that quickly disperse throughout your body, as fast-acting, smart stem cells to rapidly repair your body in the time of need. I personally thought the "Injection" animation was much cooler.



Fluids are doses of photons in a solvent that allows for quick dispersal throughout your bloodstream. The photons are then quickly absorbed into the body for instantaneous usage.




Nobel Prize Plz

[Enforcer MKV]

scape dolls are spatial reversal devices that replace your dead body with a body from 5 seconds ago that dodged whatever just killed you


Mates are nanomachine injections that quickly disperse throughout your body, acting as fast-acting, smart stem cells to rapidly repair your body in the time of need. I personally thought the "Injection" animation was much cooler.



Fluids are doses of photons in a solvent that allows for quick dispersal throughout your bloodstream. The photons are then quickly absorbed into the body for instantaneous usage.




Nobel Prize Plz

*clears voice*

They're all game items that don't require an explanation, they're required to work in-game

/Thread

*F--k Yeah pose*

.....but, in all seriousness, I honestly don't think that, as Shadow suggested earlier, casts can drink. I mean, this entire time with the explanation, there's been the problem with casts. Depending on how they're designed, they may or may not possess an access port for that kind of thing. At least, that's how I've always viewed it.

At any rate....

*pops open a bottle of Lon Lon Milk*

*Gulp Gulp Gulp - Bleh*

[Ce'Nedra]

On topic of casts eating/drinking...

[spoiler-box]Fiora can drink in Xenoblade Chronicles, heck she states her entire body runs on water when she is in her Machina form. And yes I count her as an android more then a fleshie.[/spoiler-box]

[Serephim]

anime robots dont make any sense anyway

They're just another excuse for submissive females lol

[NoiseHERO]

PMs are based off of lesser CASTs and PM are the only ones that can eat food items...

So I'm assuming CASTs can eat.

[Serephim]

i always wondered how you could have a cast character that uses photon weapons that empty + break when tampered with, but you just get hit by trains and jump around all day without running out of energy or maintenance

either they eat food for energy, or they're immortal gods



But i still find it pretty funny everytime someone on PSO asks how resta can heal their robot character

[r00tabaga]

PLz jUST MAKE cASTs regenerate like THEY DID in PSO. There...fixed...& I threw in SOME ANNOYING CAP-lock lingo in there FREE OF charge. Your all WELCOME.

[•Col•]

PLz jUST MAKE cASTs regenerate like THEY DID in PSO. There...fixed...& I threw in SOME ANNOYING CAP-lock lingo in there FREE OF charge. Your all WELCOME.

......Why........... ._. It was practically pointless after level 5.

And it's not like Casts need anything else. They're already gonna the best Hunters and Rangers anyway. D:

[r00tabaga]

......Why........... ._. It was practically pointless after level 5.

And it's not like Casts need anything else. They're already gonna the best Hunters and Rangers anyway. D:

Well b/c people don't think Casts should be able to "drink" mates and get Resta. I'm all for more differentiation between the races (I am still against the FOcast idea btw). Something unique to make me wanna make multiple characters. If they all are balanced and behave the same way, I will just make 1.

Edit: Casts can hover or run, so that's cool IMO.

[Caerik]

Well b/c people don't think Casts should be able to "drink" mates and get Resta. I'm all for more differentiation between the races (I am still against the FOcast idea btw). Something unique to make me wanna make multiple characters. If they all are balanced and behave the same way, I will just make 1.

Edit: Casts can hover or run, so that's cool IMO.

Balanced classes, smiling masses.

I'd much prefer to have a system of pros and cons for each race, but nothing that would make the benefits of Class A+ Race B= the best variation of that class. Only subtle things that in the long run change the feeling of how they play.

[r00tabaga]

Balanced classes, smiling masses.

I'd much prefer to have a system of pros and cons for each race, but nothing that would make the benefits of Class A+ Race B= the best variation of that class. Only subtle things that in the long run change the feeling of how they play.

Class A+ Race B= the best in that that class is what I want!

I liked Casts regen ability (especially when equipped w/rare regen units) and hope that someday a new PSO game re-introduces this. Even if it was like Halo's health system I'd be fine w/that.

[•Col•]

Whoa, just how fast regen are we talking about here? To regenerate fast enough to completely remove the need to carry around or use mates would be completely unfair. ._.

I'm all for differentiating races, but let's be reasonable here... I think 1 significant ability(whether it be movement/combat-related) for each race would be fair. For instance, maybe Casts could hover in midair for a brief amount of time... I dunno.

[r00tabaga]

Whoa, just how fast regen are we talking about here? To regenerate fast enough to completely remove the need to carry around or use mates would be completely unfair. ._.

I'm all for differentiating races, but let's be reasonable here... I think 1 significant ability(whether it be movement/combat-related) for each race would be fair. For instance, maybe Casts could hover in midair for a brief amount of time... I dunno.

The downside would be that when in danger you could not use Resta or use mates. Duh!:D

[NoiseHERO]

I still dunno why humans are stuck the lame "balance" class if we only have three races, theres no balance in CASTs being good at two classes, newmans being good at one, and humans being okay at all...

It just means CASTs are a super class, Newmans only have one use, and humans are useless garbage. D:

Not to start some pointless endless argument on balance and races, because I ignored the last 45245 and I barely know what I'm talking about. But this is what I know so far. So right now I'm just thinking, I hope more badass classes come out later that human can be the best in or something.

[r00tabaga]

I still dunno why humans are stuck the lame "balance" class if we only have three races, theres no balance in CASTs being good at two classes, newmans being good at one, and humans being okay at all...

It just means CASTs are a super class, Newmans only have one use, and humans are useless garbage. D:

Not to start some pointless endless argument on balance and races, because I ignored the last 45245 and I barely know what I'm talking about. But this is what I know so far. So right now I'm just thinking, I hope more badass classes come out later that human can be the best in or something.

Why would you wanna be a Newman if you didn't want to run force? They should be horrible at everything else. Casts are obviously horrible at force but strong in range & hunting.
Humans are great IMO by BEING average.

[NoiseHERO]

Why would you wanna be a Newman if you didn't want to run force? They should be horrible at everything else. Casts are obviously horrible at force but strong in range & hunting.
Humans are great IMO by BEING average.

I'm saying one should each be good at one thing.

Casts sucking at teching doesn't balance it being the best at two classes. It just makes being a human completely pointless.

Maybe if there was some hybrid wartecher-acrotecher like class that CAST would suck at, but humans were the best at, but newmans were decent at, it'd make more sense.

But otherwise I'd rather humans be the next beasts, or maybe it'd make more sense concept wise if humans could surpass CASTs in ranged attacks. I dunno!

CAST supremacy doesn't exist for no reason!!

But at the same time, whatever, I'm just talking out of my ass because I'm bored.

[r00tabaga]

I'm saying one should each be good at one thing.

Casts sucking at teching doesn't balance it being the best at two classes. It just makes being a human completely pointless.

Maybe if there was some hybrid wartecher-acrotecher like class that CAST would suck at, but humans were the best at, but newmans were decent at, it'd make more sense.

But otherwise I'd rather humans be the next beasts, or maybe it'd make more sense concept wise if humans could surpass CASTs in ranged attacks. I dunno!

CAST supremacy doesn't exist for no reason!!

But at the same time, whatever, I'm just talking out of my ass because I'm bored.

Or how'bout if Humans could have a "second wind" ability where they were revived once pure mission w/o having to use a scape doll.
Just thoughts as I am bored as well at work. Slow nite...

[pikachief]

I still dunno why humans are stuck the lame "balance" class if we only have three races, theres no balance in CASTs being good at two classes, newmans being good at one, and humans being okay at all...



Well they can always fix that by adding beasts to be best at hunter and cast just being good at ranger :P lol

[Angelo]

Actually that would be kind of a throwback if they made it so you couldn't heal CASTs by normal means.

IIRC in the old Phantasy Star games you couldn't heal Androids with healing items or Resta, but they all had really nice self-repairing abilities.

[ShadowDragon28]

lol
In Ps IV I had to use "Repair Kit" to heal Demi (Frena) and Wren (Forren), there also was a special skill that one of them had that could restore HP though (if I remember correctly).

They are I am pretty much sure both of them are advanced mechanoid type androids.

I still postulate that CASTS in PSO/PSU/Psp2/Psp-i/PSO 2 *are* in fact cyborg type androids.

[Angelo]

lol
In Ps IV I had to use "Repair Kit" to heal Demi (Frena) and Wren (Forren), there also was a special skill that one of them had that could restore HP though (if I remember correctly).

They are I am pretty much sure both of them are advanced mechanoid type androids.

I still postulate that CASTS in PSO/PSU/Psp2/Psp-i/PSO 2 *are* in fact cyborg type androids.

Well they do say that in PSU CASTs are cyborg type androids, but I think the PSO variation are mechanoid.

[ShadowDragon28]

Maybe, but I think they may of still had some psuedo-organic systems though, like a near-human kind of brain maybe.

It would help lend sense to why Kireek went kinda insane, or that certain Casts became strongly emotionally attached to their "Master"... as well as Elenor's seeming motherly affection for baby mags (i could be misinterpreting things though)...

[Omega-z]

Shadow is right all Cast's have a Organic side to there Mechanical side. The difference is the amount of the Organic parts they had. In PSO they had the least amount with Organic Chip's but mostly Robotic (reason why the yellow Cast was split into many piece but was still alive, and the Emotional side too). The most Organic part's Cast's had was PSU Adding in more Organic inner's with Chip's etc. ( reason they can use better Tech's ). The classic Had an in-between of the two they had more Organic inner and outer parts but not as much as to PSU they had abilities that were almost like Tech's but weren't. A similar concept at the time was (please don't flame me for it ) Star Trek Voyager, the ship was also part Organic thru there Gel Pack's and can get Virus's and get sick like people do. But was more Mechanical like PSO and that was the going idea at the time of PSO's release.

The whole thing on Balance is that they shouldn't use what they had done Before. Giving Human's a reason to being played, and readjust the other two is the best they can do. I made mock-up idea how they could do it in the "New Stat Changes Thread" if you like to look at it. You'll see it makes sense out of a lot of thing between the races/genders/classes.

I for one Don't like the idea of Cast being Defensively weak to Tech's. I would say not as strong as Neuman's but stronger then a Human. But I do agree that they should be the weakest in Offensive Tech's. But Cast should be slower and weakest to Ranged attacks like a T1-100 but on the flip side they have the best Ranged power. For Striking they are good fighter's but being slower then a Human lose out on power they could of have and making human the best in Striking, But with the rock hard body of their's they have the best Striking Defense.

[Bernkastel]

I'm not saying its going to be bad, because I'm sure its going to be great, but what exactly is "PSO2" about this game? it seems more like PSU2... with mags! (oh and no beasts too.)

[pikachief]

I'm not saying its going to be bad, because I'm sure its going to be great, but what exactly is "PSO2" about this game? it seems more like PSU2... with mags! (oh and no beasts too.)

Absolutely nothing. It's a new game in the Phantasy Star series. It took things about PSU, PSP2i and PSO that they thought would be good to bring back, expanded on them and added many new features.

I've actually been hoping they'd change the name (doubt it by this time) because everyone will be comparing it to PSO, which they should because it's called PSO2 lol. The name is PSO2 because it's Phantasy Star, it's Online, and PSO was it's most popular game so they'd get more people's attention this way.

[Bernkastel]

Absolutely nothing. It's a new game in the Phantasy Star series. It took things about PSU, PSP2i and PSO that they thought would be good to bring back, expanded on them and added many new features.

I've actually been hoping they'd change the name (doubt it by this time) because everyone will be comparing it to PSO, which they should because it's called PSO2 lol. The name is PSO2 because it's Phantasy Star, it's Online, and PSO was it's most popular game so they'd get more people's attention this way.

I agree. I just think they are setting a LOT of people up to be disappointed by using that name.

[Enforcer MKV]

Join for the name, stay for the game.

I mean, they really did need to bring the gameplay forward. There were problems with both PSU and PSO:BB, and I like most of what I see so far, so I say bring on Alpha 2 so that players can help polish and test this game and work towards a good level of quality.

[Ce'Nedra]

Why would you wanna be a Newman if you didn't want to run force?

Because not everyone wants to play a Force and Newman?


They should be horrible at everything else

Maybe but that doesn't mean people can't play them I've been playing HUnewearl since PSOGC and even on PSU AotI i went melee with my Newman and i never had any issues with doing so.


Casts are obviously horrible at force but strong in range & hunting. Humans are great IMO by BEING average.

Casts have always been the superior class in PSO and in PSU, nothing new there. Yet I know people who loved being FOcast/caseal. Humans have always been all rounds, nothing new there either.

Not everyone wants to kill things the moment they spawn or care only for highest DPS you can deliver. Someone like me likes a bit of challange and picks a "underdog" class to work with. Therefor I gladly play my HUnewearl again in PSO2, heck I might even make a RAnewearl too just for the heck of it. That and my main has always been a female Newman in every PS game i played, that tradition is setting on too :)

Also I'm tired of people bashing Newmans for being tottaly crap and such.

[Serephim]

I mean, they really did need to bring the gameplay forward. There were problems with both PSU and PSO:BB, and I like most of what I see so far, so I say bring on Alpha 2 so that players can help polish and test this game and work towards a good level of quality.



In my opinion, the problems with PSO are age related, while the issues with PSU are design related. I think PSO2 should have taken PSO's formula and simply expanded upon it.


Although some can argue that's exactly what PSU was, but in the end we all seem to realize that it wasn't. I'm starting to believe not even they know what made PSO such a captivating experience.



But i know for a fact, it does not "require" jumping or Third/First person shooting to recreate it in 2012. Those are results of them trying to achieve something other than PSO. Which is not a bad thing, but it's not entirely true to say "they did it because PSO was outdated".




Regardless, none of this is bad because PSU wasn't a terrible game. It just had terrible aspects about it that restricted it from being like PSO. So, the addition of jumping, guarding and TPS is only going to be "like PSU2" if they approach the design of the game as if it were PSU. But that would imply that they've learned nothing from their experience with PSU's lifetime. And through playing PSP2i, anyone can see that is simply not the case.


At the very least, this game will be multiple times superior to PSU. (as long as Sega doesn't rush it out the door, which is SEEMINGLY what they're trying their hardest to do with these crazy deadlines.) And at the very BEST, this game will recreate the type of fanbase that PSO held for so long (and PSU failed to hold) due to its design, which is the best thing sega could ever hope for with this game. But unfortunately, i do not believe it will ever "replace" PSO, because, as you guys keep saying, it's simply not PSO.

[PlinderD]

What is with this obession with balance? SEGA has failed to produce any type of proper balance for the past decade and there were still a considerable number of players who didn't play Casts or non-Newman Forces.

And with the numerous MMORPG/MMORPG-lite titles out there, all of them with horrible balance issues, I still see enough crappy class or class/race combinations being played. Sure there's considerably more of the overpowered or imbalanced type but why the hell does it matter so much?

And I've actually yet to see a trend where the race and class pick were an issue in any game (other than the usual "we can't let you join the party, because we need a healer not another DPS" type of discrimination) it always comes down to how well a character is built and played.

As long as the crappiest race and class combination under the hands of a competent player can still vastly outperform the best race/class combination being played by a noob then its fine.

[r00tabaga]

Because not everyone wants to play a Force and Newman?



Maybe but that doesn't mean people can't play them I've been playing HUnewearl since PSOGC and even on PSU AotI i went melee with my Newman and i never had any issues with doing so.



Casts have always been the superior class in PSO and in PSU, nothing new there. Yet I know people who loved being FOcast/caseal. Humans have always been all rounds, nothing new there either.

Not everyone wants to kill things the moment they spawn or care only for highest DPS you can deliver. Someone like me likes a bit of challange and picks a "underdog" class to work with. Therefor I gladly play my HUnewearl again in PSO2, heck I might even make a RAnewearl too just for the heck of it. That and my main has always been a female Newman in every PS game i played, that tradition is setting on too :)

Also I'm tired of people bashing Newmans for being tottaly crap and such.

So you wanna create a Newman character and be a ranger or hunter.....you're smart

[NoiseHERO]

So you wanna create a Newman character and be a ranger or hunter.....you're smart

Actually newman's stats are pretty close to human with hunter, that part I did pay attention to. I'm sure they'd have some kind of eva advantage or someth-

Nevermind eva was taken out, forgot what I was talking about again.

Anyway stop trolling r00ta, newmans have always been NOT-JUST-FORCE, outside of PSU. That one you ironically liked less than PSO.

[pikachief]

I agree. I just think they are setting a LOT of people up to be disappointed by using that name.

Kind of but then that's not Sega's fault but the consumer. It's been 10 years, they really should not be expecting the same game with more content and better graphics. Hopefully most of these people who see PSO2 will go look up a video or some info before purchasing, especially after PSU.

[NoiseHERO]

I dunno...

How the hell SHOULD a "true PSO2" look?? because if it's it's not this... I dunno what is...

The only thing PSU about this game is... the rooms, and photon arts, which don't even work nearly the same anymore.

- This game mostly has PSO's formula
lobby > jump into field, > dungeon crawl > rars > repeat.

- Then obviously it looks like PSO visually.

- It's probably going to have PSO's story telling style

You can't say it's PSU2, when it's just PSO with a whole bunch of awesome stuff added, and being a 10 year old sequel to get away with how far it's grown. Isn't that EXACTLY why it deserves to be called PSO2? Like someone else already said, It's not like PSU strayed that far from PSO's path either.

So if anything for less extremely nit-picky people, you could call this PSO3.

So yeah at least look into all the info we have on this game for longer than 5 seconds without glaring at the psuedo devil may cry gameplay, before restarting the whole "more like PSU2" fiasco that we already had a whole thread about months ago.

Man I'm bored. spammin' up this topic n stuff.

[Shye]

I play the game to have fun, not do fancy math to find out the best possible weapon to use with the best possible race/class combination. For some people that is fun, for me it's not.

[NoiseHERO]

And yeah for those "I mostly play for fun, who cares about stats" guys, if that's directed at me and r00ta. I already mentioned that I don't care about the stats that much, I was just talking out of my- yeah then too...

In fact I almost never pay attention to stats, still mained a human and did whatever class I wanted in PSU... Just saw the CASTs supremacy injustice and started rambling. But yeah I don't really care that much.

Especially since I already know I'm going to spend a lot of this game fighting bare handed, at least until it stops working, and I'm sure they're not making fist weapons. They'll probably make fist weapons. They better. e_e

[Shye]

And yeah for those "I mostly play for fun, who cares about stats" guys, if that's directed at me and r00ta. I already mentioned that I don't care about the stats that much, I was just talking out of my- yeah then too...


I just saw someone mention a sarcastic quip to a person making a non-force newman. Thought I'd cast my vote... err, no pun intended.

Like I said, I'm sure that's fun for some people but that's not what's fun for me in a game like this. If the character I make is a newman that likes to run around whacking things with a pointe-ed stick that's the way it goes and I'll have to live with the consequences. I make characters. Characters with character, if you will.

When I was born I didn't say "Geez mom, re-roll I wanted to be a concert pianist."

Just my opinion about it.

[Macman]

You know, PSZ did HUnewm/HUnewearl justice based on one detail: EVP actually mattered in that game.
It's very possible to stack on Evade and become a total blink-tank in that game and be immune to almost any physical attack with the right class and setup. Combine that with the fact that Jellen lowered both enemy ATP and their ATA and you were borderline invincible unless a boost hostile showed up. EVP dodging didn't interrupt your attacks either.

The lack of EVP/ATA makes me feel like it's just going to be CAST supremacy again due to their raw power, and now there's supposed to be no accuracy modifier to balance that raw power out?

[PlinderD]

You mean how imbalanced that was in PSZ?

The only time a HUnewearl's super EVP was practically useful was offline, and the inability of CASTs to have Shifta (except for the rare undependable MAG Shifta) made HUcasts deal less damage than HUmarls and HUnewearls.

Online the ability to dodge game melts away with super powered group Restas, multiple item packs, and the massive amount of damage that even 2 players can output.

And as far as ATA is concerned, you mean like how the Ranger's natural ATA advantage was pretty much useless because even a HUmar (which had the lowest ATA next to Forces, who had Zalure to make up for it, and how Force Techs in PSZ were overpowered and didn't rely on ATA, or that Force PAs had massive ATA modifiers and relied on the MST stat) could easily have enough total ATA to hit stuff decently in SH?

Yeah. ATA and EVP just led to trick builds which (at best) didn't help balance anything or just created even more imbalances. A class that hit harder AND evaded better? Why yes balance away SEGA.

[Angelo]

Maybe Newmans should get more invulnerability frames on their evasion so they can be more 'nimble'?

[Enforcer MKV]

So you wanna create a Newman character and be a ranger or hunter.....you're smart

Ya know, I seem to recall one of the characters being showcased - a character chosen to represent the game - being a "HU"neweral. While sure, there "might" be better choices, that doesn't mean that someone is stupid for choosing a character class that is placed in the game for you to use, nor should it be cause for you to insult them.

[NoiseHERO]

I just wanna be a human ninja, and fight with my bare hands.

[therealAERO]

All I want is for Sega to realize that PSO's story was told by the people. Not by some magical narrator and cutscenes. Very little cut-scenes actually.

It's sad because I don't think this director understands that...

But I can hope!

[Serephim]

Maybe Newmans should get more invulnerability frames on their evasion so they can be more 'nimble'?


The solution to that would be a faster evasion ability overall, not more invincibility frames. In fact, to make newmans feel "nimble" they'd need to make it very very easy to go from attack to evade to attack, which unfortunately is what made them nerf hunters in the first place.


I think newmans should attack with specific fast melee weapons faster. Like daggers, sabers and twin sabers and such. kind of like how Hunewearl/Hucaseal had the best dagger animations in PSO. Humans should have normal (current) animations with weapons now, and Casts should have better animations for heavy weapons seeing as they're the most powerful.

[Angelo]

I think newmans should attack with specific fast melee weapons faster. Like daggers, sabers and twin sabers and such. kind of like how Hunewearl/Hucaseal had the best dagger animations in PSO. Humans should have normal (current) animations with weapons now, and Casts should have better animations for heavy weapons seeing as they're the most powerful.

...I actually like this a lot.

[maxx69]

Make it so Casts can't roll. PROBLEM SOLVED.

[Zyrusticae]

I still think weapon-specific bonuses are a bad idea. It forces a playstyle and makes one option optimal over all others (i.e. newman hunter with non-fast weapons = handicapped). At least the faster dodge idea actually makes a difference regardless of itemization, I'd prefer that even with the supposed balance issues it'd incur.

Of course, I say this because I'm going to be playing a newman hunter who uses heavy weapons regardless of anything else, even if I end up mostly gimped because of it. I would prefer I not be gimped for it, however, because it's stupid to have any option that's available to the player be a trap.

[NoiseHERO]

I think humans should be the fast ones, newmans have crappy leg muscles.

[Angelo]

I think humans should be the fast ones, newmans have crappy leg muscles.

Newmans have crappy all muscles.

[ThePendragon]

In the old games, casts coudn't use mates and resta didn't work on them. They had to use repair kits, or certain special abilities could fix them. They should go back to that.

[Serephim]

I still think weapon-specific bonuses are a bad idea. It forces a playstyle and makes one option optimal over all others (i.e. newman hunter with non-fast weapons = handicapped). At least the faster dodge idea actually makes a difference regardless of itemization, I'd prefer that even with the supposed balance issues it'd incur.

Of course, I say this because I'm going to be playing a newman hunter who uses heavy weapons regardless of anything else, even if I end up mostly gimped because of it. I would prefer I not be gimped for it, however, because it's stupid to have any option that's available to the player be a trap.


not bonuses, differing animations. Its really the same thing, but instead of your numbers just being different, it may allow you to approach enemies differently than otherwise. It's not about making one race excel at something. It's actually more about all races being good at something in every area. Newmans have low defense and attack power, so under normal conditions, from a logical standpoint it would be foolish to make a newman hunter. so, to go against this, you balance them out in other areas to make them worth using. Maybe you give them good attack techniques, or make them cast faster, or give them specific attack animations that make them formidable with certian weapon types. Ramarl had terrible damage, but good support techniques. Hunewearl had low HP and damage but techniques up to level 20 and fast animations for certian weapons. It's actually a way to encourage you to experiment, and make everyone truly feel unique. This is why to this day, i still enjoy making new characters in PSO. Because each character really did feel different than the other.



In Universe, instead of doing this, they just gave every class % stat increases when using certian weapons. As a result....well, there really wasnt a reason to use a newman outside of force.

[Kent]

On the subject of racial balance, I'd honestly like to see the character's race play more into how they go about playing the game, on more than just a simply-statistical level.

It would be interesting if, for example, Newmans recovered from their dodge abilities faster than a human, while Androids were slightly slower. Not a huge difference, but perhaps put more emphasis on an Android standing there and blocking attacks (with whatever appropriate equipment that allows them to guard - and perhaps de-emphasize the Newman ability to do so). From a defensive-gameplay standpoint, it'd be more interesting than just making them all the same except for stats.

Considering that newmen have always been a race of fast, agile characters with significant technique proficiency... Why not run with that? I think the basic design of the HUnewearl in PSO is something that should be used as a source of inspiration for how to make a newman character that isn't strictly-speaking either a Force or useless (like how PSU would want to lead people to believe, in general).

The HUnewearl's EVP is the second-highest in the game (paradoxically only beaten by the RAmarl), and can actually result in blocking a rather significant number of attacks throughout the game. At the same time, their melee damage potential is the lowest out of all of the Hunters, but their technique usage potential is the highest. This actually lends itself to a rather well-balanced character in the end, similar to the FOmar (though the HUnewearl and FOmar lean more toward their respective class' gameplay styles, it's not nearly as pronounced as any other classes in the game).

Being that chance-based blocking (and accuracy) are apparently completely out the window in this game, the right way to emulate this functional difference in agility would be to emphasize the things that actually make agility apparent in combat. Maybe faster attacks with "fast" weapons is a good idea, as well as better recovery from dodges (assuming, of course, that it isn't so incredibly redundant as for what we've seen of early alpha Hunter gameplay). The inverse could be applied to androids, by not really making them slow, just not having any bonuses to evasion recovery speed, and/or giving them better animations with heavy weapons.

Humans, ideally, would be left in the middle-ground on things where they belong - having a comparative advantage over any race with a penalty to something, but a comparative disadvantage to any race with a bonus to something - their advantage being their hybrid appeal and lack of any real weaknesses.

[Shye]

I ran across this today on Massively. I thought it was pretty relevant considering some of the talk a few pages back:

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/16/leaderboard-play-the-game-vs-play-the-system/

[PlinderD]

FFS, nerfing Casts to balance them? Honestly it's just dumb to simply take away features because its better, when we're not talking about competitive balance. PSO isn't Street Fighter or Starcraft, there's no need for perfect balance.

Giving Newmans and Humans more abilities instead of taking stuff away from Casts makes far more sense.

And at the end of the day, no one gives a shit about balance except people who want to min-max. And having an overpowered race is a more preferrable outcome for most minmaxers.

If the only reason to make a Newman Hunter is because people want to make a Newman Hunter, a different experience, or simply want the extra challenge, then so what?

The developers should strive for uniqueness not balance. Balance is a high and unnecessary goal, and frankly the developers shouldn't attempt it, not with their recent "efforts".

All SEGA has to aim for is not making something into a gamebreaker (and I mean something that turns the highest difficulty into ultra easy, not some minor "CASTS DEALS MOAR DAMAGE LOOOL DEY'RE BORKEN") and that the crappy race/class combinations aren't crippled to the point that they're unable to play the game or require a ridiculous amount of skill.

[Jonth]

I think humans should be the fast ones, newmans have crappy leg muscles.

I'm 212 pounds. I have much stronger leg muscles than my 130 pound friend, but he is much faster than me.

Hmm... While I'm on this train of thought, look at my friend as a Newman, and me as a Human. We both have been trained somewhat in martial arts. Him more than me. We both agree I could destroy him in unarmed combat. Give both of us a bladed weapon however, and I couldn't last 5 minutes.

Then again, look at it like this. Say we still have those blades. If we were cooperating and fighting a slower moving target, I'd probably do more damage overall. Vice-versa, if we fight an agile target, he would probably end up landing more hits and doing more damage.

Eh... Take of it what you will as I'm not sure what I'm getting at, considering there are no evasion or accuracy stats. Maybe make some monsters just quicker and harder to hit because of their speed and maneuvers, and basically do Newmans the same way.

[Bernkastel]

All I want is for Sega to realize that PSO's story was told by the people. Not by some magical narrator and cutscenes. Very little cut-scenes actually.

It's sad because I don't think this director understands that...

But I can hope!

There is probably a lot of things about PSO that were much more simple then they will be which made PSO so enjoyable. I have a feeling that the simplicity is what made PSO so fun.

Wana give an item to a friend? just drop it on the ground! (I know a trade system existed, but if you were playing with friends, it wasn't needed.)

Wana equip that awesome sword? Get enough STR and you can go head and equip it.

Want to just casually go through a level and have some relaxing gameplay time? Go ahead, there isn't any kind of score system in PSO!

PSO2 will probably have a lot of the annoying things that made PSU so boring in my opinion. Can't trade items above a certain rarity, can't equip weapons until you skill up a ton, have to walk around the "lobby" forever to find items you want to buy, then you have to walk to other planets stores as well.

Then you have to rush through maps as fast as possible and be careful you never get hit, to try and get that great score to get more skill points so maybe... eventually you will be able to equip that weapon you want.

It just seems like they took PSO and thought "how can we make this as complicated as possible, taking out every bit of fun for the sake of "depth""

I really hope they don't try to do the same with PSO2, but knowing sega, they will

[GCoffee]

anime robots dont make any sense anyway

They're just another excuse for submissive females lol

/thread

[NoiseHERO]

There is probably a lot of things about PSO that were much more simple then they will be which made PSO so enjoyable. I have a feeling that the simplicity is what made PSO so fun.

Wana give an item to a friend? just drop it on the ground! (I know a trade system existed, but if you were playing with friends, it wasn't needed.)

Wana equip that awesome sword? Get enough STR and you can go head and equip it.

Want to just casually go through a level and have some relaxing gameplay time? Go ahead, there isn't any kind of score system in PSO!

PSO2 will probably have a lot of the annoying things that made PSU so boring in my opinion. Can't trade items above a certain rarity, can't equip weapons until you skill up a ton, have to walk around the "lobby" forever to find items you want to buy, then you have to walk to other planets stores as well.

Then you have to rush through maps as fast as possible and be careful you never get hit, to try and get that great score to get more skill points so maybe... eventually you will be able to equip that weapon you want.

It just seems like they took PSO and thought "how can we make this as complicated as possible, taking out every bit of fun for the sake of "depth""

I really hope they don't try to do the same with PSO2, but knowing sega, they will

All of this sounds terribly exaggerated except for the part where you have to go through 6 loading screens to go to different stores.

But even after that there's no real reason to, unless you're buying clothes.

@ jonth, frail doesn't mean fast, and muscle doesn't mean slow!

If they said newmans had higher mental attributes, but weaker bodies, but high eva. Maybe it just means they're smart enough to dodge, not weak enough.

But humans are gonna be the boring """""don't suck""""" and NOT THE BEST in everygame I guess.

Well in general newmans, humans and CASTs are gonna be the same thing with different electronic numbers scripted into them. Just saying if they start doing racial differences like newmans being the speedy ones. I don't want to pick the space elf just to be a cool-ninja-guy-whatever. Performance in numbers is one thing, but I actually care if I'm picking the dudes that MOVE slow. D:

[Enforcer MKV]

FFS, nerfing Casts to balance them? Honestly it's just dumb to simply take away features because its better, when we're not talking about competitive balance. PSO isn't Street Fighter or Starcraft, there's no need for perfect balance.

Giving Newmans and Humans more abilities instead of taking stuff away from Casts makes far more sense.

And at the end of the day, no one gives a shit about balance except people who want to min-max. And having an overpowered race is a more preferrable outcome for most minmaxers.

If the only reason to make a Newman Hunter is because people want to make a Newman Hunter, a different experience, or simply want the extra challenge, then so what?

The developers should strive for uniqueness not balance. Balance is a high and unnecessary goal, and frankly the developers shouldn't attempt it, not with their recent "efforts".

All SEGA has to aim for is not making something into a gamebreaker (and I mean something that turns the highest difficulty into ultra easy, not some minor "CASTS DEALS MOAR DAMAGE LOOOL DEY'RE BORKEN") and that the crappy race/class combinations aren't crippled to the point that they're unable to play the game or require a ridiculous amount of skill.

Find peace, young-one, for anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, suffering.......

...Leads to the Dark Side.

*collective gasp.*

...Sorry, don't mean to poke fun, A lot of what you say is accurate. But hey, I'm not a min-maxer, and I care about balance. Now, I'm not saying that it has to be perfectly balanced; hell, perfectly balanced just isn't possible on a wide scale. What a lot of people want, I think, is for every combination to be useful in some way. This doesn't have to translate into raw damage and an ability to kill things. So long as there is something unique to each combo, something that makes it special in it's own right, then I think people would be pleased.

Like Hunewearl, since that one seems to be popular. Since some have suggested that they should be more nimble, why not make it so that the delay before they can roll again is shorter than the other classes? Conversely, you could lengthen the delay on RAcast (among others) since they appear to be so cumbersome. things like that isn't really taking away features, or adding them, but it is adding a little tiny bit of diversity and uniqueness to them, right?

Of course, any suggestion we make is a far cry from what will actually appear in the game, but hey, it's nice to throw ideas back and forth, so long as things stay civil.

[maxx69]

Honestly, races in MMOs are a dated concept. It was cool and edgy in the 00s to have multiple races with different stats (the strong race, the fast race, the humans, etc.) but there's no reason for them to exist nowadays.

Why should our characters be gimped just because we like how they look? Why can't we just choose what we want and be as good as every other player? The choice between races is an illusion of freedom. When one race is the best at a certain role, the "choice" disappears if the players wants to be effective in the game.

So the only question we SHOULD be asking when we make our characters is "Do I want human ears or elf ears, or do I want to be a robot?" None of this min/max BS. But of course, game developers are obsessed with preserving these dated concepts from the DnD days because it's easiest stick to the status quo.

[Angelo]

Honestly, races in MMOs are a dated concept. It was cool and edgy in the 00s to have multiple races with different stats (the strong race, the fast race, the humans, etc.) but there's no reason for them to exist nowadays.

Why should our characters be gimped just because we like how they look? Why can't we just choose what we want and be as good as every other player? The choice between races is an illusion of freedom. When one race is the best at a certain role, the "choice" disappears if the players wants to be effective in the game.

So the only question we SHOULD be asking when we make our characters is "Do I want human ears or elf ears, or do I want to be a robot?" None of this min/max BS. But of course, game developers are obsessed with preserving these dated concepts from the DnD days because it's easiest stick to the status quo.

Maybe in other games... but I always feel the PSO games have done it right with Race/Gender since the game is based in reality... in the sense that it always felt like the characters were just normal mercenaries that happen to be thrown into weird sci-fi exploration.

I kind of find it refreshing that Phantasy Star still does the whole race and gender thing. It's not like...say... a superhero MMO where stuff like that literally shouldn't matter.

[Enforcer MKV]

Honestly, races in MMOs are a dated concept. It was cool and edgy in the 00s to have multiple races with different stats (the strong race, the fast race, the humans, etc.) but there's no reason for them to exist nowadays.

Why should our characters be gimped just because we like how they look? Why can't we just choose what we want and be as good as every other player? The choice between races is an illusion of freedom. When one race is the best at a certain role, the "choice" disappears if the players wants to be effective in the game.

So the only question we SHOULD be asking when we make our characters is "Do I want human ears or elf ears, or do I want to be a robot?" None of this min/max BS. But of course, game developers are obsessed with preserving these dated concepts from the DnD days because it's easiest stick to the status quo.

Dude, some of us LIKE the race concept, and aren't bothered with having some stats being a little bit lower than others. Are there other ways to do it? Sure, but not everyone is going to like it. Yeah, sure, I got lucky when I went with robots who used guns, I didn't PLAN on having the best stats, nor did I really care. I ran force as a cast, and I did just fine.

Would it be interesting to see how it would turn out? Yeah, I'd like to see that someday, sure. But for right now? I'm more than happy to suit up in my mecha character and shoot some stuff, and heal people as the same race, regardless of stats. If you're so worried about it, then I think you'd be better served looking at different games.

Firefall might interest you, when it's released, but that's primarily a shooter, I don't know if you're into that genre or not.

[Porkspect]

Honestly, races in MMOs are a dated concept. It was cool and edgy in the 00s to have multiple races with different stats (the strong race, the fast race, the humans, etc.) but there's no reason for them to exist nowadays.

Why should our characters be gimped just because we like how they look? Why can't we just choose what we want and be as good as every other player? The choice between races is an illusion of freedom. When one race is the best at a certain role, the "choice" disappears if the players wants to be effective in the game.

So the only question we SHOULD be asking when we make our characters is "Do I want human ears or elf ears, or do I want to be a robot?" None of this min/max BS. But of course, game developers are obsessed with preserving these dated concepts from the DnD days because it's easiest stick to the status quo.

Do you mean that there should be no classes or that the limitations/potential of a class should not be determined by their race? (e.g. FoCast being equal to FoNewm?

[Serephim]

dated concept.


if only i could get a dollar...


It's like people just use this phrase whenever they can't verbalize what they dislike about something.

[Jinketsu]

I like the race significance.

I was also surprised to hear Casts would be able to use magic. Does this mean they can now recieve poison and lose the ability to see traps?

[Jonth]

Honestly, races in MMOs are a dated concept.

A dated concept, is a concept that was previously believed because the evidence (or assumptions) during the time of it's creation supported it, but we have now acquired new evidence that refutes said concept. Races in MMOs are not a dated concept, since it is still logical to believe that a much larger race will likely be stronger than a smaller one, and that the smaller one will likely have developed traits that have allowed it to survive despite it's smaller size. What you are upset about is that this logic is preventing you from having exactly what you want, and the real question is how founded in reality and logic do the developers want the game to be.

[Ce'Nedra]

So you wanna create a Newman character and be a ranger or hunter.....you're smart

Why not? Like I stated not everyone only cares for highest DPS or playing the strongest character in a game. What's the problem with letting people play what they want instead of race X MUST be class Y? Sure they might be better that way, but that's only for these who want to kill things asap or TA and IMO there is no fun in that.

[Serephim]

A dated concept, is a concept that was previously believed because the evidence (or assumptions) during the time of it's creation supported it, but we have now acquired new evidence that refutes said concept. Races in MMOs are not a dated concept, since it is still logical to believe that a much larger race will likely be stronger than a smaller one, and that the smaller one will likely have developed traits that have allowed it to survive despite it's smaller size. What you are upset about is that this logic is preventing you from having exactly what you want, and the real question is how founded in reality and logic do the developers want the game to be.


This man, he knows.

[Zyrusticae]

And at the end of the day, no one gives a shit about balance except people who want to min-max. And having an overpowered race is a more preferrable outcome for most minmaxers.
I feel compelled to point out that when balance is poor enough, everyone notices.

It's very hard to ignore, for example, how poor the balance was in PSU for the longest time (particularly in relation to forces in general). When one class is failing very, very hard relative to the others, it's rather hard not to notice, especially when the difficulty curve feels out of whack for one class next to another.

In PSO2 this can particularly be problematic since they have split melee/ranged/tech defenses - too many enemies using one particular type of attack damage, for example, can easily result in one class simply out-playing all the others because they're the most optimal.

However, in relation to races, at least in PSU, the differentiation wasn't game-breaking - at least, not nearly as much as the absurdity in the class balance (or lack thereof). Although I will note that the lack of some kind of super-ability for humans and newmans was a really, really poor decision (and probably related to the lack of dev time). And yes, I know they have something in PSU JP now, but the game's gone on this side of the ocean and it is my only available reference point.

[PlinderD]

Which is why all the developers need to do is make sure that there are no gamebreakers and no crippled race/class combinations.

All this nonsense about CASTs having better Hunter oriented stats so CAST Hunters are better than the other two, or whatever, doesn't matter one bit.

[Jinketsu]

It's like in FFXI. The Tarutaru are the best race to do magic damage with, while the Galka or Elvaan match in strength for melee damage. The numbers are significant enough to see a difference, but not to the point of people crying about it. The balance between the racial differences is done pretty well, and there are no complaints. Anyone can be anything in that game, and while your race can show some shortcomings in some areas, it's not substantial enough to never be invited to things.

I feel Sega can get it done just as well.

[r00tabaga]

Why not? Like I stated not everyone only cares for highest DPS or playing the strongest character in a game. What's the problem with letting people play what they want instead of race X MUST be class Y? Sure they might be better that way, but that's only for these who want to kill things asap or TA and IMO there is no fun in that.

I have nothing against people playing "this" race with "that" class. I think it gives the community more variation honestly. I just don't think it's smart, because you're always running up a hill STS. I think most people make their decision on class and race after they decide how they wanna play the game.....................unless you choose Human.

On Casts, I do wish that they were more crippled than just being poor techers. Taking away SUVs was nice, but taking away their regen ability, trap vision & poison resistance makes them more vanilla like everyone else. I want more seperation of the races, besides just class & I wish they would've used more PSO-style Cast.

[Angelo]

Taking away SUVs was nice,

Well hold up now...

We still don't know what MAG Photon Blasts will be like...

[•Col•]

Well hold up now...

We still don't know what MAG Photon Blasts will be like...

Casts are robots and as such are the only ones able to communicate with Mags, so they're the only race capable of Photon Blasting.

http://media.rhizome.org/blog/3637/01.jpg


CAST MASTER RACE

[Enforcer MKV]

Casts are robots and as such are the only ones able to communicate with Mags, so they're the only race capable of Photon Blasting.

http://media.rhizome.org/blog/3637/01.jpg


CAST MASTER RACE

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

[Serephim]

bitch thats what windows was created for

get on our level arkz

[Ce'Nedra]

I have nothing against people playing "this" race with "that" class. I think it gives the community more variation honestly. I just don't think it's smart, because you're always running up a hill STS. I think most people make their decision on class and race after they decide how they wanna play the game.....................unless you choose Human.

On Casts, I do wish that they were more crippled than just being poor techers. Taking away SUVs was nice, but taking away their regen ability, trap vision & poison resistance makes them more vanilla like everyone else. I want more seperation of the races, besides just class & I wish they would've used more PSO-style Cast.

Well it sounded like that to me that's why i decided to jump in. Maybe i mistead it ionno. I do agree however that Casts have been far to superiour on PSO and specially PSU and should get more balanced. There was nothing more broken then a HUcast in PSO and i hate them for that. On PSU they get all the good things (high ata and atp iirc, high hp, immunity to one or more debuffs, SUV and whatever else i forgot) but there is no real drawback to them, there is nothing to balance them to make them weaker, aside techs maybe.

[Kent]

Casts are robots and as such are the only ones able to communicate with Mags, so they're the only race capable of Photon Blasting.
And then Photon Blasts will once again be purely based on technique power.

http://media.rhizome.org/blog/3637/01.jpg

[Macman]

And then Photon Blasts will once again be purely based on technique power.
Since when was that true?

[Omega-z]

Ce'Nedra, in PSU Casts did not have any immunities of any kind unless you had a resist or Stamina. Now in PSO they were immune to Poison and Paralyze.

[Serephim]

And then Photon Blasts will once again be purely based on technique power.



Eh?


Photon Blasts were never dependent on any character stat other than Level.

IQ and Synch were the damage dealers. I forgot exactly how they worked, but generally you need both to be high to really get some big numbars.

[Alnet]

I thought it was that Synch determined the speed of the meter filling, and IQ determined damage. It's totally possible that the information I was given was incorrect, though.

[Serephim]

i dont think anyone really knows. But i remember a youtube video where a guy explained that both of them affected nothing but damage.

[Arkios]

I may be incorrect, but I vaguely remember the healing PB when used as a cast was TERRIBLE. There may have been something else at play here, but I recall PBs actually having some tie to player stats.

Can anyone confirm/deny?

[Macman]

Synchro determined the power of attacking PBs (Pilla etc)
IQ was used for support PBs (Twins, Leilla)

This is why it was imperative to have high IQ on your mag as it affects just how overpowered your buffs get when you combo with Twins.

[Ce'Nedra]

Ce'Nedra, in PSU Casts did not have any immunities of any kind unless you had a resist or Stamina. Now in PSO they were immune to Poison and Paralyze.

My mistake i thought they did on PSU as well. Never played them much

[Serephim]

Synchro determined the power of attacking PBs (Pilla etc)
IQ was used for support PBs (Twins, Leilla)

This is why it was imperative to have high IQ on your mag as it affects just how overpowered your buffs get when you combo with Twins.



This is why i loved PSO so much. Because to this day, people still don't really know. It never affected people, but actually figuring it out gave you a HUGE benefit from your mag.


Some people say Synchro increased speed of the gauge. Some people say it increased the frequency of special mag effects. I actually remember a video where some guy proved that they BOTH have something to do with damage, and at the very least, there was no stat that actually increased the rate of the gauge increase.

From a guide off this very website:


The PB calculations are fairly simple. A MAG's PB is broken down into two parts. First, the MAG's IQ affects the level of the technique used. This is calculated as follows:
(MAG IQ/10)+1
What this means is that, at 200 IQ, your MAG would have a PB level of 21. The reason for the +1 is that this way, no matter what your MAG's synch, you will always have a PB of Lv1. The second part is your character's level. There are currently no SPECIFICS for character level, but It is known that a Lv200 character's Estlla will make the enemies sit down and shut up more effectively than a Lv80 character's will.


How to Calculate Chained/Donated PB Levels

Chained/Donated PBs are also fairly easy to calculate, as long as we keep the above formula [(MAG IQ/10)+1] in mind. Simply add everyone's IQ together and divide by ten, then add 1. Ergo, with four players with maxed IQ, you would have Lv81 PBs. Keep in mind that EACH PB in the chain is at 81, no matter where they are. If you had a chain with Estlla, Pilla, Twins, and Estlla, you can bet that pretty much everything in the room will die. For those of you who don't want to do the calculations, here are the simple PB calculations:
1 player = Lv21 PB max
2 players = Lv41 PB max
3 players = Lv61 PB max
4 players = Lv81 PB max

Donated PBs are treated in the same ways. For each time you hit Y, you donate 10% of your PB. Therefore, at the maximum amount of donation, 30%, you give the PBing player(s) an additional 60 IQ (assuming 200 IQ) to their PB(s), which translates into a full 6 levels. It's not a BIG difference, but it adds an additional edge to the PB.


Although you should know, in the same guide he claims Synchro affects only PB increase rate, which is incorrect.



I remember in the video i saw, 200 IQ + 100 Synchro was the difference between a PB doing like two or five-hundred damage, and your PB doing two-thousand damage.



Chain a PB blast of 4 characters with maxed out mags, and you'd probably do over 10,000 damage. But the nature of almost all Mags pretty much insured that you were raising one stat and decreasing the other, so you could only really focus on IQ and Synchro if you didn't care what stats you got from feeding it (or fed it expensive items).




I hope PSO2 mags are as intricate as PSO's mags, without being annoying or anything. I loved the idea of one mag gaining 3 different blasts depending on the type.

[Angelo]

I may be incorrect, but I vaguely remember the healing PB when used as a cast was TERRIBLE. There may have been something else at play here, but I recall PBs actually having some tie to player stats.

Can anyone confirm/deny?

It probably just felt that way because CASTs had beefier HP, thus more to heal.

[Serephim]

You probably had low IQ/Synch when using it.


But then again i'd rage everytime i got that Photon Blast. It was useless no matter who you used. Any character with resta over level 3 could heal you anyway.

[Macman]

PB gauge gain depends solely on your level compared to your mag's level.

Give a level 1 HUcast a level 200 mag and you'll be getting tons of PBs both from your level, and from doing such high damage for being that level. Stabbing De Rol Le's multiple sections with a sword, my HUcast was gaining 5-7 PB every swing. Conversely, my lv200 HUmar's PB gains are quite low.

[NoiseHERO]

Why are you guys going on for like 5 pages about the way photon blasts worked 12 years ago?!

THIS IS ABOUT THAT RANDOM BATCH OF INFORMATION THAT CAME OUT ON BAD LUCK DAY.

Talk about how androgynous you're going to make your fomars or something!

[Enforcer MKV]

^Wisdom, this man possesses buckets of it......

.....

No wonder the world is so stupid. SHARE, DAMMIT!

[ShadowDragon28]

I'm going to make a sexy bishonen Humar with long silky hair that wears the Hunewm's suit just to disturb all of you. myua ha ha ha ha.

[Kent]

Why are you guys going on for like 5 pages about the way photon blasts worked 12 years ago?!
Successful meta-trolling was successful.

Talk about how androgynous you're going to make your fomars or something!
Maybe people will instead be making androgynous FOmarls this time around.

[Serephim]

im gonna make an androgynous HUNEWEARL

come at me

[Kent]

Maybe if we're lucky, "female" characters can be given stubble.

[r00tabaga]

waits...for topic...to be closed... ...

[Ryna]

Since this thread has gone off-topic, I am going to close it.