They know a lot of US people are playing, so why didn't they make an NA block?

[CultOfPersonality]

You have to think they know probably more than half the people playing are US. (I'm making that # up I have no evidence to support it). I'm surprised they didn't make any type of "Americans go here" block.

A lot of people in America that don't follow the forums but know the game is out, simply have no idea how to purchase the AC. A lot of americans just want to simply hit "buy it now", enter their information and get what they paid for. I don't see many of the less hardcore Phantasy Star players going through the hassle of conversions, Japanese names, Japanese addresses, no paypal etc etc.

It's just weird to me they allow US players on and have restricted blocks, but none are for US players. I'd figure the'y at least put SOMETHING related to separation there.

I'm not sure what, if anything they will do for the US players (probably nothing), but you'd have to think they'll do something, rather it be bad for us or not.

I'm really curious to know the balance between NA players and JP players.

[Sizustar]

80% Japanese
8% Chinese (Ship 3(China<Simplified Chinese>) Ship 5+Ship 7(Taiwan/HK<Traditional Chinese)
2% English (Ship 2, only 2~3 block)

[CultOfPersonality]

I don't get it -_-

[pikachief]

Firstly I'm sure the US / EU players probably make up 4-5 whole blocks across all the ships, while JP players probably make up well over 100 blocks, seeing how full it got last night.

Secondly, their focus is Japan. It's a Japanese game. They don't need to even acknowledge (at least publicly) the US/EU presence in their game, and I don't think they will either.

[Kanore]

because they hate foreigners

[spoiler-box]not really[/spoiler-box]

[彩音~]

This is the same as Brazilians asking for a BR server on an EN game. Be glad that the Japanese are more tolerant of us than we are of the Brazilians in our games

[Retehi]

BR's don't need to have their own server made, they just infest one and take it over.

. . Oh wait.

[Lord Yurka]

saying that 50% of the players are native english speakers is way way way over the actual number. At the most extreme, I would say that only 5% are actually English speaking. We must also realize that the population exploded as a result of the official launch. Factoring that in, I can understand why Sega is focusing on the Japanese population's concerns and not even ours. While there may eventually be a server for us, your post makes it seems like it is your right as an english speaker to have a game company dedicate time and resources to give you something that only 5% of the people will use. Even if they decided to do so, one can only assume that the huge burst of players will happen with English players so dedicated just one server will not do it

[Natsuma]

Don't forget that even if english speakers represent only 5% of the overall 'population', we're spending money on ACs, I doubt they would refuse that.
As soon as we don't make any (major) problem and japanese players don't complain, they won't block foreigners IPs.

[Lord Yurka]

If 5% is the maximum amount of english speakers playing this game, then I would argue that 1-2% of us are actually spending money on AC. I'm going to use the follow figures as an example so bear with me: If 80% are japanese players, 10% are chinese and 5% are english speakers, lets assume that half pay for AC, so 40% japanese, 5% chinese and 2.5% english speakers. What company in their right mind would cater to the 2.5% on launch day or for the next few weeks afterwards when they have the convenience of working with consumers that are spending more money and also speak the same language? The fact that they are considering an international release means that they see potential for us, but the fact that we are using the Japanese launch and are demanding that they pay attention to us is a little ridiculous. That is like me going to a Japanese business office for the first time and demand that they cater to me even when I give so little to them

[Rauten]

Whether you buy ACs or not doesn't matter much, those are the JP servers and the intention is to serve the JP player base.
If an international, english speaking community can survive in it and even makes ingame purchases that's fine and dandy, and SEGA has no issue with it, but they're still the JP servers, and all and any efforts from SEGA will be directed towards the needs and wishes of the JP community.

[youcantcatchtheblue]

Wow.

That's like saying.... "Why don't they designate Mexican seats on the bus? There's so many of them!"

[Clessy]

I just hope if they make a english release they dont go with 2 different servers or I wont ever switch from the Japanese one. Also if they do a cart release on vita i;ll get whatever region has that.

[Vintasticvin]

Whether you buy ACs or not doesn't matter much, those are the JP servers and the intention is to serve the JP player base.
If an international, english speaking community can survive in it and even makes ingame purchases that's fine and dandy, and SEGA has no issue with it, but they're still the JP servers, and all and any efforts from SEGA will be directed towards the needs and wishes of the JP community.

If this site supported a "Like" button I'd spam the life out of it.


Wow.

That's like saying.... "Why don't they designate Mexican seats on the bus? There's so many of them!"

O.o Are the said mexicans legal?

[Zinaida]

It's a Japanese game for people who reside in Japan.

We're guests, not residents.

[Vylera]

You just asked why a JAPANESE game doesn't provide special service for NORTH AMERICAN players.

That's like asking why KOREAN MMOs don't allow you to use an AMERICAN SSN to sign up to their games.

Population minority is beside the point.

[HectorSirdam]

You just asked why a JAPANESE game doesn't provide special service for NORTH AMERICAN players.

That's like asking why KOREAN MMOs don't allow you to use an AMERICAN SSN to sign up to their games.

Population minority is beside the point.

Hahaha I was just about to bring up the KSSN thing. Just be glad we can get into this game without needing something like that, or cell phone verification, IP verfication, and credit card/bank account verification. After the hassle to get into BnS, Sega's a godsend right now. The server issue is a moot point, plenty of people to play with on Ship 2 and quite a few on Ship 10 as well.

[The Walrus]

It's not like it's even hard to figure out what to do despite the language barrier :/

People need to stop complaining

[Polly]

Glorious self-entitlement!

As many have already said, there is absolutely no reason for them to acknowledge players of any other nationality being there, nor is there reason to cater to or provide some kind of service. Why the hell is it so hard for some folks around here to understand the concept of "Japanese game created and managed with Japanese audience in mind?"

[Lord Yurka]

Probably because we Americans always feel entitled. I'm not sure if the OP is American or not though.

[Zaix]

Probably because we Americans always feel entitled. I'm not sure if the OP is American or not though.

Hint: Only Americans assume every English speaking player is an American. (see OP)

[Zepia]

It's a free to play game, on the terms of use it already says this game is for use for Japanese residents only, they allow international players in anyway because of lenience, possible ignorance and business sense. You nor any of us outside of Japan has the right to make any demands whatsoever because it already states in the ToS that the game is for Japanese residents only anyway, be glad that they're not doing IP blocks and is not implementing retarded systems like Korean MMOs. If you don't like it then wait for the possible NA release and shut up about it, your complaints are outlandish and ridiculous.

[Kazzi]

It's a free to play game, on the terms of use it already says this game is for use for Japanese residents only, they allow international players in anyway because of lenience, possible ignorance and business sense. You nor any of us outside of Japan has the right to make any demands whatsoever because it already states in the ToS that the game is for Japanese residents only anyway, be glad that they're not doing IP blocks and is not implementing retarded systems like Korean MMOs. If you don't like it then wait for the possible NA release and shut up about it, your complaints are outlandish and ridiculous.

TOS says nothing about being a resident of Japan in order to play the game. You only need to be in Japan in order to use the support service if something goes wrong.

[Vylera]

It's a free to play game, on the terms of use it already says this game is for use for Japanese residents only, they allow international players in anyway because of lenience, possible ignorance and business sense. You nor any of us outside of Japan has the right to make any demands whatsoever because it already states in the ToS that the game is for Japanese residents only anyway, be glad that they're not doing IP blocks and is not implementing retarded systems like Korean MMOs. If you don't like it then wait for the possible NA release and shut up about it, your complaints are outlandish and ridiculous.

It doesn't even take refering to the ToS to realize that a Japanese game isn't made for non-Japanese players.

[CultOfPersonality]

I'm not complaining at all. I'm not even trying to play without an NA release. Diablo 3 sucks to me, and I loved PSO so I'm just really hopeful. I'm a very inpatient person. I'm not angry at all, yes I'm American btw.

[Garnet_Moon]

Why don't you get them to make an english language option while you're at it. Oh, and you better get a French block for the Frenchies, a Korean block for those who speak and type Korean, an Italian block for Italian-speakers, a Spanish block for those who speak spanish, etc etc etc.

And have a language translation option for ALL those languages.

Yeah, no. You want an English block then you join us on Ship 2/10/Whatever and the designated block. You want official recognition? Stop being so American.

[thablinksta]

It takes time, money, and resources to do things like this. There isn't enough of a payout from a business perspective, seeing as how US PSO2 players take up probably about 2% of the entire PSO2 community.

[Enforcer MKV]

Hmmmm.....

Honestly, I find the generalization of Americans more humorous than the OP's requests.

[Bradders]

even if it is only 5% english speaking atm then that it is indefinetly because alot of people dont speak japanese, the game would explode if it was announced in europe an N. It's free to play and especially if it was wacked on steam i can almost guarentee that it would succeed.

[Inaruna]

Why? Because these servers are only intended for Japanese-speaking people.

[Garnet_Moon]

It's free to play and especially if it was wacked on steam
NO!

I'd rather take my chances with a noose around my neck and hands cuffed behind my back and standing on a block of ice surrounded by heaters than willingly inviting those kinds of f2pers on STEAM.

I don't know if you've actually played f2p games on steam, but they are full of trolls and idiots. The paid games on steam, however, are great. It's just steam is a haven for... all sorts of folk. Unfortunately, it's a great amount of the bad kind.

Your experience might have varied from mine, but I've had horrible experiences across the f2p games on Steam. Well, at least the RPG kind.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

Without reading the entire thread...
Since knowing this is "Japanese" game and has no intention let alone for concern of anyone outside Japan or atleast at this very moment...I see myself as just a visitor.....

It's not my right...it's a privledge to be able to even play. Although technically not suppose to...
(even though my current laptop is old and lol...but it still plays)


Honestly...I'm looking at it in a worst case scenerio:
1. We don't see a US version period.
2. If there is one it would take a LONG time for us to get it...

Now to say if this unofficial english patch gets up and running...and to say SEGA doesn't ban outside IP addresses or re-enycrpt the files...then I'd gladly stay here on the JP server...

Two reason I'd be welcoming to that is:
1. The JPs characters I did come across who understood bits and pieces of English where VERY friendly....much more welcoming international conversation then I've had in ffxi (where there's an invisible barrier)

2. If they pull a PSU (and it's possible they will), US server will just get the "leftovers" from the JP server months later...




I still don't see why it's so difficult (not knowing the technical background of course) to just make a server for all regions to go on.....

Hell all the region versions of FFXI are all on one game there is no US,JP,EU,etc versions(other then the retail copy itself)...everyone all on one game...and that game is a Decade Old

Don't see why they can't do that....

[Enforcer MKV]

I still don't see why it's so difficult (not knowing the technical background of course) to just make a server for all regions to go on.....

Hell all the region versions of FFXI are all on one game there is no US,JP,EU,etc versions(other then the retail copy itself)...everyone all on one game...and that game is a Decade Old

Don't see why they can't do that....

This is pretty much what everyone has been hoping for since the original teaser for PSO2 teased international servers, or the like.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

This is pretty much what everyone has been hoping for since the original teaser for PSO2 teased international servers, or the like.

Would that be too much to do or something?
Or they really just wanna keep stuff seperate?

Like I said ffxi is a good example of that working well....
Or is that just not SEGAs thing lol


The like to keep their slaves er.... i mean....customers....internationally seperate lol

I haven't played FFXIV but I think even their servers are similiar to FFXI where it's not "region" only

Hell all Xbox,PS2, and PC coexist in the same servers -.-

[Enforcer MKV]

Would that be too much to do or something?
Or they really just wanna keep stuff seperate?

Like I said ffxi is a good example of that working well....
Or is that just not SEGAs thing lol

Honestly, I wish I had a concrete answer to that.

Wait, no I don't, I wish Sega would just get off their laurels and freaking DO it, that's what I want. Let's all tackle this together, united. Wasn't that part of PSO's advertising to begin with?

[kp77]

Why would they make an NA block when they strictly only offer support and service in Japanese, (if you read the TOS).

I don't understand the meaning of this thread, the game is F2P yet people still have nerve to complain and request things as if SEGA is asking you to do a favour.

During BETA's did you even submit bug reports or questionnaires?
Have you even made an effort to learn any katakana?
Or actually mingle with Japanese players?

And no they don't hate foreigners if they don't make a block, so don't even try to make this a them vs us thread.

The way I see it, I'm still grateful we haven't been IP blocked with some of the stories and things I hear and see from Japanese players about Block 20 people.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

I myself are not complaining...
I'm just making a statement...


In reference to the Japanese Customer Service....
That doesn't seem to stop Square Enix with their customer service and they talk with everyone of all regions....

Of course I'm sure you talk to English Customer Service in the states but thats besides the point lol...

Like I said in my previous post, I'm happy I'm able to play....
I'm just saying as a possible "future" idea...why not have merged servers....like my example of FFXI


That's all i was saying...

[TheKin]

Regarding the "Why can't servers be international?" question.

FFXi was a game that used to be played on Dial up. Yes it took forever to download / update, but it could be done. It's battle system was very slow and gave plenty of time to send / receive data so an international system worked.

Even though backbones and infrastructures have improved, games also have advanced to a point that games like PSO2, vindictus and other games with such physics that take in account player positioning require much more bandwidth and constant sending / receiving of data that latency becomes a large issue. The US's infrastructure is quite a ways behind other countries simply because of our size. It costs a great deal of money to expand fiber backbones all over the country and, sadly most ISP's focus their time on attaining speeds that most residential users won't ever even fully utilize instead of expanding reasonable speeds out to rural areas. (The Kin can get a 1.5 meg connection out where he lives, but in town you can get up to a 12meg connection. That is only 8 miles away. See the discrepancies? ) They purposely do this to try to get people to use their satellite DSL which is horrible for gaming and heavily regulated with bandwidth limits mostly.

Now, with that being said, what Sega has done with PSO2 is simply short of phenomenal. PSO2 is an action based game that takes in account player positioning, mob positioning even land based destructible positioning, dodging mechanics and very fast combat speeds, yet doesn't seem to suffer from an ounce of latency. The Kin, on his 1.5 meg connection, connecting to servers in Japan from KENTUCKY has 0 lag. Occasionally there are lag spikes, but it has always been overpopulation and not once The Kin's ISP or so.

That is what really irks me when companies like Blizzard have region locks on games like SC2 saying that 1 millisecond of latency can cause you to lose a game. It's quite frankly, bullshit.

But no, in short, depending on the server equipment and style of game, latency can be a huge factor in a game. The more graphically intense and physics the server has to keep up with, the more latency comes into play and lag becomes an issue. Apparently, SEGA has some damn good servers on their side to handle connections like they do. They done a bang up job.

Edit: To get back on topic, it's a bit silly to designate a block for english players when there is no translation for english yet. Perhaps in time. With the way the servers are set up and the language option, The Kin is willing to bet that they'll probably translate instead of localize. The extra expense of setting up dedicated servers could be scrapped simply by translating it and implementing say, Paypal so people can buy AC. Just The Kin's thoughts. Business wise, that seems like the smarter choice.

[Squall179]

My god...to the OP...

THe Self-Entitlement of your statements are why there are a lot of people Outside of the US who look down on us here. We move into a game, and some of us behave maturely, or at least try to not make things too much of a mess for the locals who were already there, and then there are people like You, who make a big Fuss about it all and make us all look Bad. Just be glad SEGA hasn't IP banned the lot of us yet because of your ilk, Damnit. Whole lot of horror stories if I read something posted here already, about us on block 20. urgh.

[Ueno54]

This is the same as Brazilians asking for a BR server on an EN game. Be glad that the Japanese are more tolerant of us than we are of the Brazilians in our games

Riot games is giving Brazil their own server! I'm just poking at ya.

[BahnKnakyu]

80% Japanese
8% Chinese (Ship 3(China<Simplified Chinese>) Ship 5+Ship 7(Taiwan/HK<Traditional Chinese)
2% English (Ship 2, only 2~3 block)

Where are these numbers from?



Now, with that being said, what Sega has done with PSO2 is simply short of phenomenal. PSO2 is an action based game that takes in account player positioning, mob positioning even land based destructible positioning, dodging mechanics and very fast combat speeds, yet doesn't seem to suffer from an ounce of latency. The Kin, on his 1.5 meg connection, connecting to servers in Japan from KENTUCKY has 0 lag. Occasionally there are lag spikes, but it has always been overpopulation and not once The Kin's ISP or so.

I'm pretty sure a lot of the combat is CLIENT side. That's why it looks smooth, because the client handles a lot of the monster positions and actions. I think all the server really does is handle the numbers and/or where a mob is *sort of* is. If you look around you while you're playing, you may occasionally see players swinging at thin air and mobs instant-teleporting to "resync" themselves back into position (this often causes drops to appear several yards away from where the mob was killed).

The desync is not as bad as it was in PSU/PSP2:i though. Mobs generally stay in a given point which allows players to wail on a mob at roughly the same time, but it's not perfect.


But no, in short, depending on the server equipment and style of game, latency can be a huge factor in a game. The more graphically intense and physics the server has to keep up with, the more latency comes into play and lag becomes an issue. Apparently, SEGA has some damn good servers on their side to handle connections like they do. They done a bang up job.

If a lot of the calculations and movement are done client side, which I'm pretty sure is. I REALLY doubt that the server keeps track of a particular player and mob's X, Y, and Z coordinates - rather they just keep track of what the player sent (Did the player jump? Did he attack? How much damage did he do? Etc.)

I give Sega credit for improving the netcode from PSU/PSP2i, but I don't think they ran miracles with it. Cleaned it up and made it better, yes, but that's pretty much it.

[ForgottenReality]

Most if not all the English speaking community sticks to Shop 2: Blocks 21-22 and Ship 10: Block 20. We've almost taken it upon ourselves to make those the NA blocks.

[CastSoldierFan96]

They're not going to do this if they can't answer English technical support emails as was shown a few weeks ago. We can't expect them to give special care to us when this is a Japanese game

Bahn is right, a lot of stuff is client side... including if you're getting hit by an enemy or not