PSO2β: Technical Information

[Pyrii]

This thread is mostly for people who have gotten in and want more technical information about downloading/installing/configuring the client.

Downloading:
Once you've recieved your e-mail, SEGA ask you to go to http://pso2.jp/cbt/ and log in to download the installer, but if like me you got lost, you might want to look under "Manual"/"オンラインマニュアル".

Failing that you could just download the Downloader here: http://download.pso2.jp/downloader.exe

Again like PSUJP, set a folder to download to (Can't download to drive root eg "S:\", only subfolders) and click the big button and watch as you download at under 200kbps :P Sadly I dunno of anywhere to upload these files for faster downloading, so no mirrors.

Once it's finished you should have the files PSO2_SETUP.exe(973Kb), PSO2_SETUP-1.bin(2Gb) & PSO2_SETUP-2.bin(1.4Gb) in the folder you chose.

Once downloaded, the downloader should ask you if you want to run the installer. If you accidentally click yes, the installer should run, if not, just run the setup.


Configure:
There are two methods of configuring the client, the in-launcher configuration options (2nd button down) or editing the ini file.

The launcher configuration is alot more basic and hard to understand, there is a guide for the Character Creator version here (http://bumped.org/psublog/pso2-the-character-creator-demo-is-up-plus-mini-guide/) which covers most of it, the beta version has an extra tab and enabled option.

Tab 2 covers game language (There is only one at the moment: Japanese) and whether to play videos or not. And the slider sets video volume.

Tab 3 now has an option on the right to select a codec to use when capturing video. I myself prefer to capture losslessly, so I use Utvideo (http://umezawa.dyndns.info/archive/utvideo/).

If like me you find the options hard to read of missing vital stuff, you can open your settings file directly under:
My Documents\SEGA\PHANTASYSTARONLINE2\user-beta.pso2
in your favourite text editor. This is an Lua file so follow the appropriate formatting.

Most of this is self-explanatory. But this also allows you to use resolutions SEGA refuses to know about like 1768x992 for 1080 screen owners who play windowed:

Windows = {
FullScreen = false,
Height = 992,
Height3d = 480,
VirtualFullScreen = false,
Width3d = 640,
Width = 1768,
},

I assume Width3d/Height3d are for people who want to play with 3D Screens, I'll ignore them for now.

VirtualFullScreen will run in windowed mode, scaled to your primary monitor's desktop resolution, taking up the full screen. But rendering resolution will stay the same so the image may look distorted/aliased and this also messes up mouse offsets so clicking buttons will be hard. If you use this mode, set the resolution to your native desktop resolution.

Other fun parts include capture options:

Capture = {
FrameRate = 30,
Codec = "ULRG",
FixFrameRate = false,
Quality = 40,
},

FixFrameRate I assume changes the game's framerate to match capture framerate.


Technical:
The client uses the awful GameGuard as it's protection system, easily bypassed by hackers and mainly screws up the PCs of legitimate users, it's already frozen up my PC once from just trying to watch the credits.

As like other games, if you want to run the game directly you need command line arguments. for PSO2 this is

PSO2.exe -pso2

but as I mentioned above, GameGuard will mean that steam will only recognise the game being open for a few moments. And won't use it's overlay. Plus this means you won't get updates, so this is here for technical reasons only.

PSO2.exe uses the same encryption method as PSU, there's minimal ASM to decrypt the rest of the program for execution. This is obviously to make reverse-engineering difficult. (Not impossible, difficult). So figuring out other command-line options will be.. difficult.

[kyuuketsuki]

VirtualFullScreen will run in windowed mode, scaled to your primary monitor's desktop resolution, taking up the full screen. But rendering resolution will stay the same so the image may look distorted/aliased and this also messes up mouse offsets so clicking buttons will be hard. If you use this mode, set the resolution to your native desktop resolution.
Should also note that virtual full-screen is not in the config file by default, it has to be manually added to that section if you want to use it.

[Ark22]

actually the way I got virtual screen was by turning off my wireless on my laptop, ran the game then I see the opening, after that went back into the note pad and it was there.

[kyuuketsuki]

actually the way I got virtual screen was by turning off my wireless on my laptop, ran the game then I see the opening, after that went back into the note pad and it was there.
Really? Huh... maybe after the first run it sticks it in there. Certainly wasn't there when I looked, but I hadn't actually run the client at that point.

[Pyrii]

Should also note that virtual full-screen is not in the config file by default, it has to be manually added to that section if you want to use it.

I think it was added by the game (pso2.exe) after running it. the file seem to rejig itself after every running of the game.

[BIG OLAF]

Most of the OP (after the halfway mark in the "Configure" category) makes little sense to me. I'm not very learned in techno-speak.

[Pyrii]

Most of the OP (after the halfway mark in the "Configure" category) makes little sense to me. I'm not very learned in techno-speak.

Well at least it isn't Japanese. But yeah I plan to clean it up a bit, it was late and I sorta dumped my brain onto a forum post. So sorry about that.

[Skyly]

I ran the pso2.exe twice with my wireless off and my game crashed both times... Any reason why? The CC runs good on my computer as well as the benchmark but idk why the game crashed

[Pyrii]

I ran the pso2.exe twice with my wireless off and my game crashed both times... Any reason why? The CC runs good on my computer as well as the benchmark but idk why the game crashed

Are you talking about an error popping up when viewing the credits? That's gameguard. Why? Who knows.


I've also found out that gameguard doesn't care about the launcher, so you can translate it. Most of the text is in bitmaps/dialogs/string files.

EDIT:
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/4208/launcheredit.th.jpg (http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/4208/launcheredit.jpg)

[Misto]

Has any attempted to use AutoHotKey (or similar) while GameGuard is running?

[kyuuketsuki]

I ran the pso2.exe twice with my wireless off and my game crashed both times... Any reason why? The CC runs good on my computer as well as the benchmark but idk why the game crashed


Are you talking about an error popping up when viewing the credits? That's gameguard. Why? Who knows.
We do know, actually. It's because the game will quit after a short period if Gameguard isn't able to update its files. You have to disable your internet connection, start the launcher, then re-enable your internet connection before hitting the button to start the actual game so that Gameguard will be able to update its files before starting the game up. Then, you don't get the "crash".

[Pyrii]

We do know, actually. It's because the game will quit after a short period if Gameguard isn't able to update its files. You have to disable your internet connection, start the launcher, then re-enable your internet connection before hitting the button to start the actual game so that Gameguard will be able to update its files before starting the game up. Then, you don't get the "crash".

Actually I execute the game directly without using the launcher (pso2.exe -pso2) so I don't need to disable my internet, and gameguard is up-to-date :P

[Skyly]

How do you know if gameguard is up to date or not? I'm new to PC gaming so things might be a lil slow with me

[kyuuketsuki]

Actually I execute the game directly without using the launcher (pso2.exe -pso2) so I don't need to disable my internet, and gameguard is up-to-date :P
Well that's cool, but you seemed to imply that we don't know what that error is about or how to resolve it. We do, so I was just letting Sklyl know.

[Pyrii]

Well that's cool, but you seemed to imply that we don't know what that error is about or how to resolve it. We do, so I was just letting Sklyl know.

Well I still seem to get it, even with my gameguard up-to-date. And only happens in the credits. So yeah, something teh screwy, they'll prolly update gameguard before the beta launches though.

Change of topic, would it be worth my releasing a translated launcher/options file?

[kyuuketsuki]

Well I still seem to get it, even with my gameguard up-to-date. And only happens in the credits. So yeah, something teh screwy, they'll prolly update gameguard before the beta launches though.
Really? Odd. I can go through the credits just fine. Have you tried going through the launcher and seeing if that resolves it?

Anyways, I think Sklyl's issue was the crashing after a short period regardless of what you do which happens due to Gameguard not updating.
Change of topic, would it be worth my releasing a translated launcher/options file?
You mean a file that changes text in the actual launcher/options, or...?

[Pyrii]

You mean a file that changes text in the actual launcher/options, or...?

A translated copy of the program really. There's no reliable patching method really. And I mean the launcher, not the game. That IS monitored by gameguard, so yeah, that can't be touched.

[Misto]

We do know, actually. It's because the game will quit after a short period if Gameguard isn't able to update its files. You have to disable your internet connection, start the launcher, then re-enable your internet connection before hitting the button to start the actual game so that Gameguard will be able to update its files before starting the game up. Then, you don't get the "crash".

It's easier if you just block outbound connections to pso2.exe on your filewall.

[kyuuketsuki]

A translated copy of the program really. There's no reliable patching method really. And I mean the launcher, not the game. That IS monitored by gameguard, so yeah, that can't be touched.
I can navigate around the launcher/options pretty well by now, but I'm sure there'd be a lot of interest among the newcomers and less moonrune-inclined.
It's easier if you just block outbound connections to pso2.exe on your filewall.
For what purpose?

[Pyrii]

It's easier if you just block outbound connections to pso2.exe on your filewall.

Doesn't block gameguard, but nice try. GameGuard is a rootkit so I assume it bypasses software firewalls, if not it's process is different to the game it's protecting, in fact it will kill the game process on startup and restart it under it's own process ID, which is why steam can't integrate because steam only sees the process till it ends. It doesn't look for further processes under the same name/mutex.

[ClothoBuer]

watch as you download at under 200kbps :P

What kind of god-awful internet do you have? Or did you just get it during peak hours? Because when I got my download started, I was looking at 1Mbps consistent.

[psobbpso2]

A translated copy of the program really. There's no reliable patching method really. And I mean the launcher, not the game. That IS monitored by gameguard, so yeah, that can't be touched.

i cant be touched ???? errr really LMAO. i can make a loader to change the credits to english. Not that its really worth bothering with. You can edit what you like while the game is offline. Its only when you go online and it matches crc's where you will d/c.

[psobbpso2]

Actually I execute the game directly without using the launcher (pso2.exe -pso2) so I don't need to disable my internet, and gameguard is up-to-date :P

This works this is how i booted up my pso2.

[Pyrii]

What kind of god-awful internet do you have? Or did you just get it during peak hours? Because when I got my download started, I was looking at 1Mbps consistent.

I must've done, but at least I could even connect, looks like lots of people are having trouble downloading it. I don't have anywhere to upload the files to, otherwise I would if I could.

[ClothoBuer]

With 3.3gigs worth of data to download, you'd need a premium account on a worthwhile file-sharing site, and it'll probably cost a good amount of money. Even then, there's no guarantee that with a direct download like that, people will be able to access it, as some people have connection issues with various file-sharing sites.

[Konola]

With 3.3gigs worth of data to download, you'd need a premium account on a worthwhile file-sharing site, and it'll probably cost a good amount of money. Even then, there's no guarantee that with a direct download like that, people will be able to access it, as some people have connection issues with various file-sharing sites.

At least it would not be as bad as a torrent, back when I had Comcast I was one of the people who suffered from the bottle necking with peer 2 peer connections. FF XIV was not updating in a day yo.

[Misto]

Doesn't block gameguard, but nice try. GameGuard is a rootkit so I assume it bypasses software firewalls, if not it's process is different to the game it's protecting, in fact it will kill the game process on startup and restart it under it's own process ID, which is why steam can't integrate because steam only sees the process till it ends. It doesn't look for further processes under the same name/mutex.

I meant to put pos2launcher.exe. My intent was to trigger the GameGuard update. Blocking that and then running the game anyways triggered GameGuard to update on my system.

Though now that you mention that, that is interesting to look at how that works. I don't think that classifies it as a rootkit though. This looks like this would be fun to dismantle and examine more closely.

[Vashyron]

GameGuard will mean that steam will only recognise the game being open for a few moments. And won't use it's overlay.

Nope. (http://steamcommunity.com/id/Deculture/screenshot/596968154226704069?tab=public)


That IS monitored by gameguard, so yeah, that can't be touched.

Nope. The only thing that would matter here is the server with CRC checks and even then...

[AnnabellaRenee87]

Nope. (http://steamcommunity.com/id/Deculture/screenshot/596968154226704069?tab=public)



Nope. The only thing that would matter here is the server with CRC checks and even then...

I really hope that steam integration works in final.

[Wayu]

Soooooooooooooo...

How long does it normally take to download the game? I've heard that it's usually about 30 minutes...

...

...so why is my download 2 hours 46 minutes in with 3 hours 19 minutes remaining.

-Wayu

[Vashyron]

I really hope that steam integration works in final.

Adding it as a Non Steam game already works, no idea what he is talking about steam only "recognizing it for a few moments" and "overlay doesn't work."

It'll work in the "final" unless they break it.

[TalezMB]

I don't get it. I see people saying that they watched the credits. Can you start the game from the launcher as of yet? Cause mine comes up with an message if I click on the game start button. Or is everyone who's fooling with the client using the command line switch to get into the game?

[ClothoBuer]

I don't get it. I see people saying that they watched the credits. Can you start the game from the launcher as of yet? Cause mine comes up with an message if I click on the game start button. Or is everyone who's fooling with the client using the command line switch to get into the game?

Command line switch, or simply disconnecting your internet while running the launcher, activating the game, then reconnecting the internet. Your call, but they both work, just depends on which one would be easier for you.

Not much to play around with, really. You can see the opening trailer, credits, and the ships, everything else of worth requires the log-in and server activation, it seems.

[Judecadre]

Adding it as a Non Steam game already works, no idea what he is talking about steam only "recognizing it for a few moments" and "overlay doesn't work."

It'll work in the "final" unless they break it.

Adding it works fine here, but once I'm in-game I never see the notification for the steam overlay. How did you get it working exactly?

[ClothoBuer]

Adding it works fine here, but once I'm in-game I never see the notification for the steam overlay. How did you get it working exactly?

Did you add the pso2launcher, or just the pso2.exe, because you don't want the launcher. Also, when you added it, did you add the -pso2 after the quotation marks in the Target textbox?

And I can also confirm Steam Overlay (http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/576701767870627062/EAAEDF0CF18FE951D94716E572E40B329E62B676/) works properly. Be warned, it's a big screenshot.

Also to note, if it doesn't let you view it (it should, the permissions were set to public), simply friend me, it should allow you to then.

[Judecadre]

Added it exactly as you specified. It does ask to run as administrator, though. Perhaps that might be the difference?

EDIT: Ha-HA! That was it. So, if anyone is having issues with the overlay not working when you try to run it through Steam, make sure to run Steam as admin!

[JamesM]

I cant download it. When i click the download buttom, a blank page appears and nothing at all.

[ClothoBuer]

Added it exactly as you specified. It does ask to run as administrator, though. Perhaps that might be the difference?

EDIT: Ha-HA! That was it. So, if anyone is having issues with the overlay not working when you try to run it through Steam, make sure to run Steam as admin!

If you aren't already, and you're the sole user of your computer, disable User Account Control, and set your user rights to Admin. This saves loads of headaches frpm programs needing admin rights to run, as well as annoying verification popups from the UAC.
(This message applies to everyone who isn't, by the way.)

[Misto]

Did you add the pso2launcher, or just the pso2.exe, because you don't want the launcher. Also, when you added it, did you add the -pso2 after the quotation marks in the Target textbox?

And I can also confirm Steam Overlay (http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/576701767870627062/EAAEDF0CF18FE951D94716E572E40B329E62B676/) works properly. Be warned, it's a big screenshot.

Also to note, if it doesn't let you view it (it should, the permissions were set to public), simply friend me, it should allow you to then.

Do I dare ask how you got the game to span several screens?

[goldwing]

o cool this helps out alot.

[kyuuketsuki]

Do I dare ask how you got the game to span several screens?
That's just a custom resolution, I believe.

[Aumi]

A warning, in case people don't already know: Installing the beta client may delete all files from the Documents/PHANTASYSTARONLINE2 folder, erasing all your pictures and character files from the character creation demo and Alpha2 test.

That just happened to me, but luckily I still had a restore point from earlier today...

[AnnabellaRenee87]

Did you add the pso2launcher, or just the pso2.exe, because you don't want the launcher. Also, when you added it, did you add the -pso2 after the quotation marks in the Target textbox?

And I can also confirm Steam Overlay (http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/576701767870627062/EAAEDF0CF18FE951D94716E572E40B329E62B676/) works properly. Be warned, it's a big screenshot.

Also to note, if it doesn't let you view it (it should, the permissions were set to public), simply friend me, it should allow you to then.

So which is it CrossFire or nVidia Surround? :P

[Skyly]

Got my gameguard updated.. Is there anything else I should do after this?

[Misto]

Got my gameguard updated.. Is there anything else I should do after this?

Pretty much it's just a waiting game at this point.

Sorry for the pun.

[Skyly]

Pretty much it's just a waiting game at this point.

Sorry for the pun.

Alright thanks lol

[Home Dog]

I got some email and I don't know if this means I got in or not. This is only a portion of it. Did you receive something similar.

"This time to "Phantasy Star Online 2" closed β test
I received your application, thank you.

Result of the lottery will be strict, has been elected as a participant closed β test.
Congratulations!
Please join us in this opportunity, I would appreciate your valuable opinions!"

[Brimcon]

I got some email and I don't know if this means I got in or not. This is only a portion of it. Did you receive something similar.

"This time to "Phantasy Star Online 2" closed β test
I received your application, thank you.

Result of the lottery will be strict, has been elected as a participant closed β test.
Congratulations!
Please join us in this opportunity, I would appreciate your valuable opinions!"

You got in I think. Check the links, do they go to CBT on pso2?

[Home Dog]

You got in I think. Check the links, do they go to CBT on pso2?

Yeah they do. Here are the links I got.
https://ssl.pso2.jp/cbt/auth/login/?ref=cbt%2Frule%2F

http://pso2.jp/

http://pso2.jp/cbt/rule/

[Brimcon]

Yep! Your In, just go download it, BIG RED BUTTON when you log in, can't miss it.

[BIG OLAF]

Result of the lottery will be strict, has been elected as a participant closed β test.
Congratulations!
Please join us in this opportunity, I would appreciate your valuable opinions!"

Hooray! Home Nuts got into the Beta. Someone else for me to party with.

Good....good. :whip:

[Home Dog]

Yep! Your In, just go download it, BIG RED BUTTON when you log in, can't miss it.Thank you! :)

[Clessy]

Would be great is someone hexed the launcher so I knew what the graphical settings say.

Like on the one page with 1 - 5 5 looks the best
but then there is a page with 2 boxes and 3 options in each thats gotta do with graphics also.

[Omega-z]

Here go Clessy this may help you it's closer to the bottom of the page and also does the Morphing part of the CC too.:)
http://bumped.org/psublog/category/phantasy-star-online-2/

[JamesM]

Downloading at 350bkps. Meeeh, its gonna take a while.

[Xenobia]

Already been said, PSO2 uses Gameguard (http://vnboards.ign.com/aion_online_general_board/b23118/111450249/p1), which is something usualy poor Asia developers like to use, because its an cheap method in order to "reduce" the risk of cheater. Its a rootkit (http://www.alteredgamer.com/pc-gaming-tech/1709-how-do-i-uninstall-nprotect-game-guard/) and its not foolproof, thats why that kit have to be constanly updated in order to reduce the risk of being fooled. It surely can cause issues for many users, especially users of WIN 7 64 bit, as there could be some lack of compatibility. Gameguard and PSO2 are Win 32 based, and are actually some archaeological remains from the past.

The expensive method is a advanced server side solution which is used on WoW and as good as any MMORPG of higher class. I hope Sega will someday reach a higher level and dont need to use stuff such as Gameguard. We have to compare PSO2 with one of those because its online only and so its a game exactly in the same boat regarding its security and its possibilitys.

Its the main reason i will soon create a Gamer only PC because i dont like to have stuff like that on my master system. Steam, Gameguard and all that stuff...it should be excluded on a PC containing sensitive files because it can violate privacy, slowing down PC and could open a new hole for security threats. Unfortunately i am waiting for the IB to arrive in order to build gamer system, and then i will remove all the stuff from the master system which will make me sleep better... at least 1 clean system. May even reinstall the whole mastersystem as soon as i got ride of all the games and theyr protection mechanisms. Else i will have many background leechers which constanly can slow down the system from the leftovers. There is no secure full range gamer PC, thats why it have to be separated.

[Zio23]

Thanks for virtual full screen set up, was looking for this.

[kyuuketsuki]

Gameguard and PSO2 are Win 32 based, and are actually some archaeological remains from the past.
Eh? Game clients are almost always 32-bit as far as I'm aware, and 32-bit Windows programs run just fine on Win 64, with a few exceptions (generally anti-virus programs).

[Misto]

Already been said, PSO2 uses Gameguard (http://vnboards.ign.com/aion_online_general_board/b23118/111450249/p1), which is something usualy poor Asia developers like to use, because its an cheap method in order to "reduce" the risk of cheater. Its a rootkit (http://www.alteredgamer.com/pc-gaming-tech/1709-how-do-i-uninstall-nprotect-game-guard/) and its not foolproof, thats why that kit have to be constanly updated in order to reduce the risk of being fooled. It surely can cause issues for many users, especially users of WIN 7 64 bit, as there could be some lack of compatibility. Gameguard and PSO2 are Win 32 based, and are actually some archaeological remains from the past.

I haven't experienced this issue and GameGuard's alleged issues seem grossly exaggerated. I deal with rootkits/malware all day at my job and GameGuard's setup does not strike me as any kind of actual rootkit. I don't understand why people keep calling it that. If you look through Window's Services or the drivers it loads from system32, it's not like it hides itself. Real rootkits generally take the extra step to protect itself and a bad uninstall hardly qualifies it as such.

Also, that link gives a rather dangerous way to remove the service from the registry (I say dangerous cause the average user is dumb about these things) when a simple command in the command prompt will remove it:



sc delete npggsvc

You could do the same for any drivers that gets left behind by a bad uninstaller.

[Xenobia]

A warning, in case people don't already know: Installing the beta client may delete all files from the Documents/PHANTASYSTARONLINE2 folder, erasing all your pictures and character files from the character creation demo and Alpha2 test.

That just happened to me, but luckily I still had a restore point from earlier today...

Well the character creator is named like:
PHANTASYSTARONLINE2_CHARACTERCREATOR

The Beta folder is named:
PHANTASYSTARONLINE2

The main folders do not conflict with each others, although the documents folder is named "SEGA: PHANTASYSTARONLINE2". Installing the beta itself doesnt seem to delete it but there can be a issue when 2 folder are named the same and when the Game is trying to create a new folder. However, usualy a game does detect that there is a file already created and wont create another folder. In term is a issue, Sega screwed up big time, which is rather unlikely the case.



@Misto: I actually think that Gameguard is one of the "light" rootkits (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_nprotect_gameguard_has_a_virus_in_it). The kind of kit which is still in some term acceptable (thats why Kaspersky wont even send me a alarm message), else i would never have installed PSO2 beta at all. Because to much sensitive data on my (main) PC i do care about... so i wont accept any kind of risk coming from that stuff. So im aware that it isnt a truck of a rootkit but it still can be classified as one of them. Because of the fact that it does protect itself from being removed, and its trying to take over certain (task related) controls using admin rights. Some people say, unlike you, that it does hide itself... (http://www.alteredgamer.com/pc-gaming-tech/1710-beware-of-the-game-guard/)but im not able to verify that (first time i ever use GG). Another aspect i dont enjoy is the fact that im not sure what that kit actually does to my system, i know it does protect from cheating and does not allow suspicious tasks in the background, but i dont know its detailed behaviour... its always a bit a weird feeling. I feel safe to use for a while, but in long term i rather enjoy to use a different PC for.. then i can consider my main system fully clean to use for any data other than games.


[spoiler-box]The typical "hard" rootkit, as far as my knowledge goes, does root itself at many hidden locations, and is trying to be invisible in order to be invulnerable. Additionally as soon as someone is trying to delete it, it does replicate itself.. and its basically impossible to remove. They can do that because they have administrator access to the system, so the system is basically "compromised" and not fully secure anymore. A truly evil rootkit could delete the entire PC if they wish, the harm they are able to create would be close to endless... when admin access is executed. A virus is like... a baby, compared to it.

A hard rootkit type is for example SecuRom... that one i wont tolerate to enter my system in any known or unknown way. It already caused harm to another system, for example my DVD drive keept disappearing because of it, and some games was running with 30% lower FPS (it caused so much stress to the system that the games resulted into 30% lower performance)... and much more issues like that. So i find it fully valid when a virus scanner is alarming us. [/spoiler-box]

[Aumi]

Well the character creator is named like:
PHANTASYSTARONLINE2_CHARACTERCREATOR

The Beta folder is named:
PHANTASYSTARONLINE2

The main folders do not conflict with each others, although the documents folder is named "SEGA: PHANTASYSTARONLINE2". Installing the beta itself doesnt seem to delete it but there can be a issue when 2 folder are named the same and when the Game is trying to create a new folder. However, usualy a game does detect that there is a file already created and wont create another folder. In term is a issue, Sega screwed up big time, which is rather unlikely the case.

Thing is, all clients use the same folder under documents. I might just be unlucky, but it certainly fully erased the folder's contents in my case.

[Xenobia]

I still have my CC files after installing the beta. So i wasnt able to experience it, however, its possible that they screwed up something else but it doesnt necessarely hit everyone, kinda like some sort of bug. In order to be secure i recommend to backup your old files on another HDD, then your stuff is backed up. Since PSO2 does not have any kind of DRM, its kind of a walk in the park.

[Misto]

Well the character creator is named like:
PHANTASYSTARONLINE2_CHARACTERCREATOR

The Beta folder is named:
PHANTASYSTARONLINE2

The main folders do not conflict with each others, although the documents folder is named "SEGA: PHANTASYSTARONLINE2". Installing the beta itself doesnt seem to delete it but there can be a issue when 2 folder are named the same and when the Game is trying to create a new folder. However, usualy a game does detect that there is a file already created and wont create another folder. In term is a issue, Sega screwed up big time, which is rather unlikely the case.



@Misto: I actually think that Gamguard is one of the "light" rootkits. The kind of kit which is still in some term acceptable (thats why Kaspersky wont even send me a alarm message), else i would never have installed PSO2 beta at all. Because to much sensitive data on my (main) PC i do care about... so i wont accept any kind of risk coming from that stuff. So im aware that it isnt a truck of a rootkit but it still can be classified as one of them. Another aspect i dont enjoy is the fact that im not sure what that kit actually does to my system, i know it does protect from cheating and does not allow suspicious tasks in the background, but i dont know its detailed behaviour... its always a bit a weird feeling. I feel safe to use for a while, but in long term i rather enjoy to use a different PC for.. then i can consider my main system fully clean to use for any data other than games.


[spoiler-box]The typical "hard" rootkit, as far as my knowledge goes, does root itself at many hidden locations, and is trying to be invisible in order to be invulnerable. Additionally as soon as someone is trying to delete it, it does replicate itself.. and its basically impossible to remove. They can do that because they have administrator access to the system, so the system is basically "compromised" and not fully secure anymore. A truly evil rootkit could delete the entire PC if they wish, the harm they are able to create would be close to endless... when admin access is executed. A virus is like... a baby, compared to it.

A hard rootkit type is for example SecuRom... that one i wont tolerate to enter my system in any known or unknown way. It already caused harm to another system, for example my DVD drive keept disappearing because of it, and some games was running with 30% lower FPS (it caused so much stress to the system that the games resulted into 30% lower performance)... and much more issues like that. So i find it fully valid when a virus scanner is alarming us. [/spoiler-box]

I definitely understand and can appreciate where you are coming from but I still don't believe it falls under that category. It doesn't really hide itself (no hidden services, no hidden processes) from the system at all. It is fully identifiable in all respects to its digital signature. Rootkits generally require kernel access (which gives them root/superuser privileges) which, from what I can tell, GameGuard doesn't appear to have. SecuRom is an example of a rootkit where it that meets the definition of an actual rootkit. Honestly though, you really don't know what any specific executable is doing unless you're inspecting the threads it is running directly or in a debugger, so with that paranoia, you shouldn't be running any games on a computer that has sensitive data at all.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

So...can you config a controller for PSO2 atm or do you have to wait until the beta is up...
I'd like to have everything set for later.

Trying to keep everything to lowest setting (since my laptop older)
Don't recall seeing a thread mentioning what the new setting meant in the actual game's settings :o