Sega, how you've cheered me up.

[Meyfei]

These days i've been thinking. Whats the point in gaming really. it's about having fun and having some challenges to overcome, and overall enjoy it. Through developers many have worked hard, others not so much, to bring life to games and give enjoyment and thrills to all who play them. within the player community there are countless types of players, those who play alone, just with real life friends, or anyone they enjoy playing with.

However the good stuff aside, there are companies who've tried, failed, and keep it going (somehow) with little to no adjustments to better the game at all, or give it personality to the locality. On another note there have been decent games that have died out due to admins dropping out due to life calling, and lack of community, or even advertisement. Some of those games are good but dont get the attention they deserve and we're left with garbage.

my point is, I am losing hope in the future of gaming. however PSO2 seems promising but thats just 1 game, out of many to come. Hopefully we can see more companies actually try harder at preparing a games launch, features, and more.

My experiences with a beta would have been for C21 Eng(NA) they delayed the game for 2-3 months without ANY communications, news updates, or anything just left us waiting. The servers were laggy as hell. the people didnt know WHAT they were doing, and immediately they shot off a Cash-shop cash list "buy 200$-400$ worth of our ingame currency and get an item thats not even released in japan" seriously? so soon? why would anyone, assuming 100% new to the game, even buy that much before experiencing more of the game and understanding it.

I mean, the way sega is "currently" handling things, its nice they're putting intense effort into getting this done the way they feel it should.

Whats everyone elses thoughts? i hope i didnt make this too messy lol. if you dont understand anything just ask

[AlMcFly]

I like toitles.

Edit: Just kidding. I too have been losing interest in games as a whole lately. Lets hope PSO2 rekindles that appreciation a bit (From Pre-OB it seems like it may) :)

[goldwing]

How mean. Anyway i to like the way sega is going about this but not much else i can put into it with out first the open and full game comeing out

[Crimson Exile]

Playing pso2 revived the gamer in me. Even though its free, it's worth more then most of these so called $60 games these days.

[Coatl]

dun wory arbitur
everting gon be k

PSO2 will be everything we wished for, gameplay-wise.
How well it will be managed is a different issue.

[Lumir]

I feel very similar. I had a lot of respect and hope for Diablo 3, especially since blizzard has such a good history. Yet the last 2 games they released (SC2 and D3) have literally sucked. I didnt buy SC2 as it didnt appeal to me but they got me with D3, I played to lvl 30 normal and quit.

In fact most of the games i look at today have fallen to commercialization and marketing. Their are FEW GOOD games being made and released with the simple ideal to make a great game that results in it standing out.

Some of these FEW games include but are not limited to:

1: PSO2 (its amazing in so many ways)
2: LoL (bringing a moba game to the masses thats is this fun? wow!)
3: Minecraft (Not graphically amazing, and it doesn't need to be ITS SUPER FUN)

I find myself waiting for that next good game, and see CRAP like SWTOR/TERA/GW2 and yes i say GW2 because it plays, feels, and looks too casual. I have been surviving off the few good games I listed above and OLD CLASSICS that make me crave something new and exciting. And then comes PSO2, and finally I can say I am relieved to have something to play that I can really enjoy and feel/see the ideals and emotions presented by the developers creating it.

There is a type of immersion Phantasy Star gives, Blizzard got this right with WoW, and Square Soft got this right with FFVII, couple that with really fun gameplay, decent/good graphics, and something unique and you have a good game like minecraft, LoL and PSO2.

I have only played PSO2 for this Pre-OB and my expectations were really high due to my good experiences with PSOBB, and I can gladly say I was more then impressed and overjoyed at whats available so far. Even right now, out of the game I am thinking of that HUGE BUG boss in the random CITY map. I was so into trying to kill that thing (sadly the 3 times i tried i ran out of time with the party i was in), I was so immersed and having a blast that I dont remember the last time I felt like that from a game. Though I did not beat the boss (and i see that as a good thing) I didnt leave empty handed! I found 2 blues and that rare bladegun that I found out later wasn't so rare but still satisfying. I had so much fun in the feeble 12hrs I was able to play, and i say feeble because I play games I enjoy quite a lot. I am really REALLY looking foward to playing in the OB and finally being somewhat satisfied with a "new" game.

[KayinKento]

Playing pso2 revived the gamer in me.

Totally agree with you here. PSO was the first RPG I've ever played and I stopped playing PSOBB on a private server just because, but man it felt so nostalgic playing PSO2. Waking up early in the morning, log on, play/talk to random people, realizing its now 12am and its time to go to bed, wake up, and do it all over again.

Cried tears of joy for 7 hours

[Polly]

The very fact that they've stated many times that if the game's not ready they're happy to delay it means a lot these days. Too many companies are content to shit out a game and just fix it later. Sega clearly want this game to launch in the absolute best state that it possibly can and not have to muck around with much later, and rather focus on keeping things balanced and (hopefully) developing new content.

The cash shop aspect of the game simply has to exist or this game can't exist. I doubt PSO2 could really survive these days as a retail boxed product with a subscription model (or even under a Guild Wars 2 retail+free play model.) I'm fine with them making money on the game somehow, and provided it doesn't become "Pay To Win," I honestly wouldn't feel too bad about throwing money at the cash shop because at this point they've shown dedication and pride in their work, and now it's on them to keep the playerbase excited with content and a fun and seamless online experience.

[Zorafim]

A bit problem with gaming today is that it's really difficult to keep up and innovate at the same time. You need amazing graphics, good marketing, good sounds, good story telling, and most of all good gameplay. And gameplay is split up in to different sections, too. Physics, content, goals... There's just a ton of stuff game developers need to keep in mind to make a great game. Things are much more complicated today, and that means it's much harder to make a new, interesting, well made game. This means either rehashes of what we've already seen, games that are more than half cutscenes, or weird games that nobody would ever want to play. Nowadays, I rarely play anything that's not Nintendo. And if I do, it's because it's heavily suggested to me. Really, I should try more indie gaming. They aren't constricted by the same problems as mainstream gaming is, so theoretically, it should be more fun.

PSO2 has made every game boring for me, too. It's beautiful, it allows me to play as a character I love, and the gameplay is fun. Nothing else has compared to it. And that makes passing the time until the next beta that much harder.

What WAS up with Diablo 3, anyway? I mean, alot of it was beautiful and well done. But the gameplay was literally me clicking on things. Why did it get so much praise?

[soulpimpwizzurd]

damn dude i've never even heard of c21. to be blunt exteel seemed like it played much better than it after i watched a youtube gameplay clip. and exteel shut down looooool.

they seem like they're handling the game great. probably the biggest selling point for me about this game is how it's skill based and the hitboxes for enemy attacks are super precise. also you don't get hit or attacked unless you personally screwed up. i actually have not had a case where i got lag hit yet. even when the game does lag, the damage numbers just lag that's it, which is awesome.

[Polly]

What WAS up with Diablo 3, anyway? I mean, alot of it was beautiful and well done. But the gameplay was literally me clicking on things. Why did it get so much praise?

I liked Die-ablo III...when I didn't know how to absolutely break the difficulty. Even at lower levels on Normal difficulty it was possible to get into scrapes where you'd have to kite around for your life waiting for that healing ability or potion to get off cooldown. Once you learn how to break the game it became boring. Later difficulties simply become a war of bigger numbers. Even with the ability to instantly respec my skills, I just turned really sour on that game on the later difficulties.

That and they essentially took away the loot grind, which was a big part of previous games, the genre, and even PSO. I never felt I was grinding away trying to get a drop for that one piece or armor with sweet stats or a cool new weapon, I felt like I was just grinding money to buy my survivability and damage.

[KayinKento]

Diablo 3 got a bunch of praise from reviewers because they review it as if this type of gameplay never existed. Obviously when you think of an MMO, you think "WASD" and that's how you move your character. So it "caught their interest" when they found out D3 was a point-n-click game. Oh and of course the over-the-top graphical gameplay that ALL games try to do thanks to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1 got D3's ratings for critics up.

Although Diablo fans aren't fooled and a bunch of them hates D3. I like it, its good, but its been a few weeks since I've load it up. Bye bye $60

[sugarFO]

I had an amazing time in Pre-Beta and will thoroughly enjoy Open Beta soon. Honestly, this is the game I have been waiting years for. The controls are simple and fun, the graphics are beautiful, customization is great. I really feel like a pretty space princess wacking stuff with my rod and casting magic. It's just FUN. I don't care about the story really I just love playing the game just like I loved PSO. I'm trying so hard to get my bf to play but he hates games that I enjoy. But I don't care if he plays or not. This game makes me happy.

I got bored of Diablo 3 quickly. They over simplified everything. What's the point of being an RPG if you can't customize?

[Zorafim]

Well, saving heaven was kind of neat.

[Crimson Exile]

Diablo 3 got a bunch of praise from reviewers because they review it as if this type of gameplay never existed. Obviously when you think of an MMO, you think "WASD" and that's how you move your character. So it "caught their interest" when they found out D3 was a point-n-click game. Oh and of course the over-the-top graphical gameplay that ALL games try to do thanks to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1 got D3's ratings for critics up.

Although Diablo fans aren't fooled and a bunch of them hates D3. I like it, its good, but its been a few weeks since I've load it up. Bye bye $60
lol exactly. I'm having a blast playing free to play titles LOL, and pso2.

[Polly]

Well, saving heaven was kind of neat.

Yeah, I really enjoyed the final act. Traipsing around a beaten down Heaven was one of the cooler aspects of the game even if the story was overall pretty dumb and didn't make a lot of sense.

[Lumir]

A bit problem with gaming today is that it's really difficult to keep up and innovate at the same time. You need amazing graphics, good marketing, good sounds, good story telling, and most of all good gameplay. And gameplay is split up in to different sections, too. Physics, content, goals... There's just a ton of stuff game developers need to keep in mind to make a great game. Things are much more complicated today, and that means it's much harder to make a new, interesting, well made game. This means either rehashes of what we've already seen, games that are more than half cutscenes, or weird games that nobody would ever want to play.

I have to disagree with you on the complication of gaming. Just look at LoL and Minecraft. And what about angry birds? Simple yet massively successful.

[Vylera]

What WAS up with Diablo 3, anyway? I mean, alot of it was beautiful and well done. But the gameplay was literally me clicking on things. Why did it get so much praise?

Not so sure about the whole praise factor, but I can speak for myself.

I play a demon hunter and despite the fact that it's a whole lot of clicking, there's still a crapload of strategy involved **AS LONG AS YOU'RE NOT IN ACT2/3/4 INFERNO**.

Leading elites around pits, hugging corners to negate the effects of vortex, interpreting the maximum range of mortar, using caltrops to set up base to defend against teleporters - if you take it there, there is a lot of strategy to be had.

It's like LoL, really. The game is fun because it requires you to strategize. Breaking it down to sheer controls, if you play an AD champ, your job is simply to right click the whole game. Sounds boring out of context, but it's extremely difficult when you consider 10 live heads in a tactical situation.

But to avoid getting off topic here, I'd have to agree with the TS and especially this post:


Playing pso2 revived the gamer in me. Even though its free, it's worth more then most of these so called $60 games these days.

It's been a long time since I've played an MMORPG that is genuinely FUN. And the fact that it's free still blows my mind. Would rather play this than TERA or GW2 or D3. Though they aren't BAD games, they just aren't as good as PSO2, IMO. Feel free to disagree, but if you're posting on these forums you most likely don't, I'd assume.

[mctastee]

Diablo 3 got a bunch of praise from reviewers because they review it as if this type of gameplay never existed. Obviously when you think of an MMO, you think "WASD" and that's how you move your character. So it "caught their interest" when they found out D3 was a point-n-click game. Oh and of course the over-the-top graphical gameplay that ALL games try to do thanks to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1 got D3's ratings for critics up.

Although Diablo fans aren't fooled and a bunch of them hates D3. I like it, its good, but its been a few weeks since I've load it up. Bye bye $60

The thing with diablo 3 is that it's a good game until you hit the level cap and start inferno. That's where all the real issues with the game start slapping you in the face. Not to mention that customer service for the game is literally non-existent. There are so many design flaws in diablo 3 it's ridiculous.

However, when I played PSO2 it reminded me of the days when I enjoyed gaming so much that I would literally spend the entire day playing and the only things that I left for were to eat and use the restroom. I think I am done playing games by big name companies. They rarely put out anything worth playing anymore, imo.

[Meyfei]

i heard in D3 Legendaries can be weaker than blues, or rares. I dont see the problem really its just 3 rarity levels: uncommon, rare, very rare. If they wanna whine so hard about that, they need to start thinking about unique weapons THOSE in my opinion should be stronger, i mean a unique ring cant be double equiped, should have a set rarity of its own (3 levels a low mid and high stat'd version). With that said blizz has there hands full. i only played the guest pass enjoyed it but was annoyed at how little they offered us, just made me think if i had gotten the game how little would i have. (all i can say is: resident evil meets world of warcraft, oh wait thats already what WoW is too lol)

Also surprised no one mentioned final fantasy 14. talk about a mess ._.

[Randomness]

I have to disagree with you on the complication of gaming. Just look at LoL and Minecraft. And what about angry birds? Simple yet massively successful.

LoL is practically indie, it's a small genre and an independent company. Minecraft was one guy coding as I recall, probably the most known indie game. Angry birds is phone, and came out when it was a fairly new and underdeveloped market to boot. Handhelds have the advantage (or had the advantage) of it being acceptable to be lower on graphics overall - even the DS had sprite-based games. And those are much easier to make, 3D makes everything more complicated.


i heard in D3 Legendaries can be weaker than blues, or rares. I dont see the problem really its just 3 rarity levels: uncommon, rare, very rare. If they wanna whine so hard about that, they need to start thinking about unique weapons THOSE in my opinion should be stronger, i mean a unique ring cant be double equiped, should have a set rarity of its own (3 levels a low mid and high stat'd version). With that said blizz has there hands full. i only played the guest pass enjoyed it but was annoyed at how little they offered us, just made me think if i had gotten the game how little would i have. (all i can say is: resident evil meets world of warcraft, oh wait thats already what WoW is too lol)

Also surprised no one mentioned final fantasy 14. talk about a mess ._.

Yeah, D3 items are very random. And inferno is reportedly ultra-hard (I'm only in Act 2 hell), and the next patch is supposed to start fixing that.

As to FFXIV, it was... unfinished feeling at launch. They have, I've heard, made huge improvements, and have more to come. I don't know for sure. While I found the gameplay interesting, I never got into a decent linkshell and just stopped playing (As far as MMOs go, better ways to get people into the community are what developers should be looking at, imo).

[Massaki]

A bit of an off-topic here, but.

Final Fantasy XIV's launch was indeed one cluster of a big mess. And Square-Enix could've pretty much dropped the game right there, but they didn't. They decided to work on the game and revamp it from SCRATCH. Version 2.0 is looking a lot, but A LOT more better. Better optimized graphical engine, better HUD, etc. Everything that was wrong with launch-day XIV is pretty much fixed in Ver. 2.0. It just goes to show that while a game might have a completely HORRIBLE launch and that it could've pretty much just ended there, they just decided to re-work on the game and give it a second chance. If that's not taking a huge risk and showing the love for a game they've developed that could've been shut down on the third month (or maybe even the second), I dunno what is. Just thought on touching a bit on that subject.

Going back to topic.

I believe SEGA right now, despite putting out pretty good games lately, just has been having a tough time breaking even with a couple of their releases (see: Binary Domain, actually pretty decent, abysmal sales), it's only normal for them to want PSO2 to be at it's absolute best when it's official release day comes. And honestly, I totally stand behind that way of thinking. If it has to be delayed for it to be better, than do it.

Needless to say, it's been a roller coaster of fun playing PSO2. I absolutely want this game to bring SEGA all it needs to get out of their rough spot.

[Lumir]

LoL is practically indie, it's a small genre and an independent company. Minecraft was one guy coding as I recall, probably the most known indie game. Angry birds is phone, and came out when it was a fairly new and underdeveloped market to boot. Handhelds have the advantage (or had the advantage) of it being acceptable to be lower on graphics overall - even the DS had sprite-based games. And those are much easier to make, 3D makes everything more complicated.

My point was that its not extremely complex to make a good game now days. LoL creators went to the guys with the money and pitched their idea on the game, after finally getting funds they started making the game and were successful, and in 2 or 3 years they made a deal with a chinese company that bought the game for 400million. It may have started indie but its now far beyond that, and the moba genre has grown to a major type of gameplay.

Minecraft was indie but look at where it is now. Its grown to more then a 1 man show and has had huge success.

Angry birds was a prime example of a new emerging market and how someone took an idea and made a simple yet extremely fun game out of it.

Also lets not forget about Spiral Knights, that game is a small hit as well and its quite fun, even though its not a major title. It a sega title and pretty fun.

I understand your thoughts on the complexity of creating todays major titles but not ever game has to be a so complex to flourish or to be fun. I mean we can take PSO2 as our prime example, its not the crazies graphics engine, its a major title from a major company, and they are doing it right because there is so much buzz and joy from just the CB/PRE-OB phases. I think other companies can learn from sega and what they are doing with PSO2.

[Enforcer MKV]

...And here I thought I was alone. Glad to see I was mistaken, really looking forward to Open, and release.

Come on Sega, do right with Phantasy Star this time. For all of us!

Oh, and before I forget...

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!!! *charges*

[Chaosfissure]

It's not only hard to make good games, but it's hard to manage games in a way that will keep players playing. SEGA sure seems to be trying their hardest to make this game as good as they can, and I think what they've done is rather impressive. PSO2 seems to have some very good design models behind it that make it stand out without using hyper-realistic graphics or some short-lived gimmick as a selling point.


The biggest long-term strategy that I am surprised by is their game payment model - it's f2p with an optional payment. Most f2p games I've played have some point where the "free players" struggle or cannot go further in a game without insane time spent to do so. Examples include artificial inflation of item cost in higher levels when game money can be purchased, or physically capping what players can do (lower levels, can't go into certain locations, etc).

PSO2 seems to have one of the better payment models from what I've read. None of the main game content is limited to those who do not pay. If you only want to pay every so often for benefits (mainly premium status), everything done during that time will only enhance your game experience (all traded items stay traded, no premium-only content expires when premium expires). I personally dislike games that try to push "pay here to do better," and this game doesn't seem to feel that way.


That being said, I also think some of their game mechanics also lend themselves to success.

Having maps and landscapes being randomized each time you start a new game is very nifty. The addition of random boss encounters/events is also cool, and the multiparty areas are a nice concept as well. Although you can't memorize areas, enemy, spawns and do massive time attacking (as was possible in PSO1), I'd prefer variation as opposed to everything being the same.

Also, the tight integration of music, environment, and game dynamics is rather nice. The music feels more like it's part of the environment as opposed to a static soundtrack - and many games seem to keep music as a "soundtrack." Battles seem more intense, parts where you relax and can enjoy the surroundings seem more peaceful, and the amount of variety of what can happen as a result of these dynamics is rather impressive.

Those are just my thoughts - PSO2 seems to be very cool so far, and I can't wait for the OBT/game to be released. I'm happy with what I see - and the fact that it keeps elements of PSO1 in the design is a very nice bonus.

[Lumir]

Also, the tight integration of music, environment, and game dynamics is rather nice. The music feels more like it's part of the environment as opposed to a static soundtrack - and many games seem to keep music as a "soundtrack." Battles seem more intense, parts where you relax and can enjoy the surroundings seem more peaceful, and the amount of variety of what can happen as a result of these dynamics is rather impressive.

This is so true. The soundtrack in this game is a part of the game, not some musical additive. When I was fighting that BOSS in the city map I felt really charged and when I was in the jungle it felt like was in a jungle. The amount of immersion this game has provided so far is off the charts!

[Ifrian-x]

PSO2 is an amazing game and as i see it, it´s the first, truly worthy successor of PSO.
But i think it still has a lot of room to grow and that Sega will play the major role on wether this game will become legendary as PSO was or it will end up in another PSU.

One of my biggest fears is the "White Beast Syndrome" as i like to call it.
I really hope Sega keeps adding new content yet makes old content still interesting as well and do not end up indirectly forcing us to farm the same boss/area on and on because it´s easier, gives better drops, is more profitable or whatever.

Yes, i know this time areas are mostly randomized but even that will get old after a while if they go with it as they did with psu.

Call me an unbeliever if you will, but i am REALLY scared about what Sega will pull out, especially when it comes to the western version, we all know about how Sega handled it in the past.

[Cyclon]

LoL is practically indie, it's a small genre and an independent company. Minecraft was one guy coding as I recall, probably the most known indie game. Angry birds is phone, and came out when it was a fairly new and underdeveloped market to boot. Handhelds have the advantage (or had the advantage) of it being acceptable to be lower on graphics overall - even the DS had sprite-based games. And those are much easier to make, 3D makes everything more complicated.

The part about 2D/3D does not always hold true. Low-end 2D is indeed easier to make, but very high detailed 2D, as in KOFXIII or Rayman legends for example, requires a lot of work. If you compare KOFXIII to SF4, one needs several complex sprites drawn for every single move of every single character, while the other needs one model per character, and the animating of it.

About Diablo III, it's the same as Wow or Lol, or even CoD fro that matter; very easy to play games. Because of the wider casual audience, and also because lots of players, getting in their late twenties, are now extremely easily bored when the learning curve is too long.
It doesn't mean that these game can't have difficulty or complexity(inferno Diablo III is actually decently hard), but the core gameplay must always be easy to understand.
Everything else though, is increasingly difficult(and costly)to make.

On-topic... Replaying PSO2 made me realise that the beginning is a bit of a hassle to do again, especially in single-player, up to the point where you unlock the free-field forest area. And if I'm right, some solo players might stop before this point. I have a friend that didn't get past it, and is now convinced this is a "meh" game.
It might be just me, though. Discovering the awesome gameplay should be plenty for about anyone.(well, this wasn't really on-topic, actually)

I hope this game will be a huge success in Japan, leading them to localize it and be a huge success all-around the world. I really think it deserves it. It IS possible, now it's up to Sega to make things right.