How's your PSO2 experience thus far, and what would you change? [Archive]

GrieverXVII

Jul 16, 2012, 11:44 PM

Just as the topic title, Even as a newcomer to PSO or a veteran player to the series, what's your thoughts and opinions on this game compared to the others in terms of "The Experience" and if there are things you wish to be changed in the game, what would they be?

I'll start :)

So far, i'm loving about 95% of it. I like how it's free to play, to me, it's like a large demo where you can actually practically complete the full game without paying a cent. but if you do decide to support the game, if you purchase about a retail price of $60-70 of in-game content, you unlock a full (not completely necessary) experience of the game, and i really like that in f2p games.

next is the gameplay, loving it. love photon arts, love the fast pace and agility. grinding levels feels so fun with all the pse/cross bursting, also multi-party area's are one of the coolest things i've seen in an ARPG MMO, to be able to join up with 2 other party's full of humans is such a great experience especially in bursts.

The client quests really help leveling up, it's really taken the strain off level 20-30 and feels good to know you're not just mindlessly grinding for levels.

as for some things i'd like to see eventually hopefully implemented would be:

- on/off toggle for double tapping keys to dodge.

- a manual zoom in and out of character and for TPS view.

- I thought it would be a neat idea (premium or not) to be able to set like a 5 item queue for feeding a mag, like 5 items queued, and every time it has enough percent to eat another item it does it automatically.

that's all i have for now, what are your thoughts about the game so far and some idea's you'd like to see implemented?

Konflyk

Jul 16, 2012, 11:50 PM

Needs a more intuitive chat function, it's kind of annoying having to cycle between people in whisper chats. A guild would be a good fix for this, but I don't want to just group all of my friends into a guild for the sake of convinence, a friend/partner card chat would be useful. Sega has never had a good system for chatting with people always been private chat, as this game is F2P and granted I'm not much of a lobby rat or always in parties with the friends I would like to speak them in a simpler manner.

Trickyg

Jul 16, 2012, 11:52 PM

I agree with you on loving 95% of it.

Things that I wish were different:

- less map uncovering view.. you walk into D3 and D4, E3, and D2 are all uncovered and the exit is clearly visible.
- miss leveling up my photon arts the way they did in PSU. finding upgraded discs doesn't cut it for me D:

Otherwise I'm loving it so much. First time I've played a game and lost track of time in a longgg while.

The Walrus

Jul 16, 2012, 11:54 PM

tbh the only thing I'd change is make 20-30 less dull by changing around when things are unlocked

Ranmo

Jul 16, 2012, 11:55 PM

Im loving it. My only problem is that Im lv 32 and ive solod the entire time. Need to play with more groups, but thats more of a me thing. As for the game its what i expected and then more.

Rika-chan

Jul 17, 2012, 12:01 AM

miss leveling up my photon arts the way they did in PSU. finding upgraded discs doesn't cut it for me D:

I hated having to level up photon arts in PSU. Because then you don't level the PAs you don't use. And when you do use them, they're too weak D:. Although sometimes it can be a pain to find good disks, usually it isn't too hard.

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 12:01 AM

OHH Ohhhhhhhh! i forgot something, I was going to originally write that, i kinda miss in the older days of PSO1 and PSO:BB the drops :\

I liked the simplicity of blue being armor, orange a weapon, and red in that tiny awesome little shaped box just GLEAMING at you in it's bright vibrance!

in this game, the red's are cool, but there's two types :\ the already tekked, and the un-tekked. as much as i love complexity in my rpg games, i just feel like the old way of how rare's were displayed had a greater effect on me. this game does too, but not as much i feel. Also i think i like the old armor design of equipping abilities to your slots better.
I understand item/weapon/loot drops in this game are easier to identify what you're picking up without actually picking it up, but there's something about the old way i just liked better, it was a feeling of anticipation and excitement i think.

I agree with you on loving 95% of it.

Things that I wish were different:

- less map uncovering view.. you walk into D3 and D4, E3, and D2 are all uncovered and the exit is clearly visible.
- miss leveling up my photon arts the way they did in PSU. finding upgraded discs doesn't cut it for me D:

Otherwise I'm loving it so much. First time I've played a game and lost track of time in a longgg while.

agreed, the map thingy is irritating when that happens lol, also yes on the discs too, auction house. level 1-9 in seconds...

Metalsnake27

Jul 17, 2012, 12:08 AM

Trickyg

Jul 17, 2012, 12:12 AM

auction house. level 1-9 in seconds...

LOL. Didn't even occur to me I could do that. Finally bought the wired lance PA I've been wanting for a long time now..

Asuni

Jul 17, 2012, 12:19 AM

I want to be able to drop items again. And not have to pay to use the room.

Rika-chan

Jul 17, 2012, 12:20 AM

DEFINATLY yes

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 12:23 AM

I am liking the game very much. I do wish some of the client orders were not as intense as they were... but oh well.

EXP is fine and I haven't had any major problems with it... yet. Doing client orders as well as matter board and what not usually keeps you up to date at all times.

I am a little dissapointed that you can't do trading/my shop without paying, which is essential in a game like this, but at least you have a chance to win 3 day passes so thanks SEGA for that.

oh cool i didn't even know that! that's awesome, this whole time i'm like...dam i'm poor, selling everything to npc's is hardly rewarding, at least this 3-day pass can at least give you a nice taste of the benefits you can gain.

edit:
as much as i may upset the many that would like trading/dropping/my room to be a "free" feature, i think it was in their best interest to make those features cost money. first off i feel guilty enough paying $0 to play this awesome game, and i can actually get through the full game without those features which for a f2p is pretty awesome. we pay $60-70 for retail console games, i'd def pour $60-70 into this game even if it's f2p just to support the dev's but to enhance my gaming experience by using those features now granted to me in huge awesome ways...unfortunately i don't plan to buy arks cash until it hits NA :\ i know i'm bad, but it's so dam tempting!!!!

Wayu

Jul 17, 2012, 12:32 AM

1) Kill Gameguard.

2) Kill Gameguard.

3) Repeat.

-Wayu

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 12:37 AM

1) Kill Gameguard.

2) Kill Gameguard.

3) Repeat.

-Wayu

lol what's worse in your opinion, gameguard or punkbuster?

i've come to learn that, no matter what guard a company uses, there will always be hackers and cheaters that breach protection...sadly :(

I hear the same chants going on over at APB:R which uses punkbuster, the only thing is there is a huge full blown hacking situation going on for a long time now.

Wayu

Jul 17, 2012, 12:38 AM

No idea what PunkBuster is, but Gameguard just screwed over my game. Can't play it anymore due to unknown reasons.

-Wayu

Mikura

Jul 17, 2012, 12:54 AM

My only complaints would be how demanding some of the Koffee quests are. And grinding through the matter boards to get to the good stuff gets to be a drag sometimes. But overall, the game's been great.

I haven't had any issues with Gameguard either. *knock on wood* But I agree I think they need to dump it altogether. It's pretty weak as far as protection goes and it seems to give legit players more grief than it's worth sometimes. *points to Wayu*

JeyKama

Jul 17, 2012, 12:57 AM

Would like some way to improve my character at level caps besides throwing money at that curly moustachio'd %*()(*&%er. I liked how PAs levelled in PSU and don't care for how little effect getting a level 10 PA is in this game.

Would like a way for the system to auto-kick NPCs from multiparty rooms when they reach max capacity and someone real wants in.

Would like some more non-AC costumes... for reals the variety is pretty bland, though I suppose they're technically uniforms with their Arks logos.

Would like to be able to target lock points while in TPS mode, and freely switch between. e.g. TPS to sight a lock-on point, then switch to lock mode to lock it.

Would like a way to specify chat mode in auto-words/shortcut-words. Can't say how many times I've whispered a friend that I'm fighting Vol Dragon when I meant to announce it to field chat.

Would like Franca to tone her food quests the heck down. That's a ton of drops for pretty lousy meseta/xp. For a DAILY.

I'm sure there's some more small nitpicky things I'd think of eventually but this game's launch has been surprisingly smooth other than nonstop maintenance just for server volume.

Asuni

Jul 17, 2012, 01:01 AM

What does like WoW and Tera use? I know free games use gameguard and stuff but I always wonder what do the "mainstream" games use

ChronoTrigga

Jul 17, 2012, 01:05 AM

Game is boss. Only thing I'd change is the language.

Mikura

Jul 17, 2012, 01:10 AM

What does like WoW and Tera use? I know free games use gameguard and stuff but I always wonder what do the "mainstream" games use

I've played WoW a little bit, and FFXI for....years. And neither one uses any kind of game protection software. As a rule, they just use GMs to monitor things and if people report someone using hacks of any sort, they whip out the ban hammer on that person.

Honestly, I wish Sega would police the game the same way instead of relying on Crapguard.

Mega Ultra Chicken

Jul 17, 2012, 01:20 AM

Would like some more non-AC costumes... for reals the variety is pretty bland, though I suppose they're technically uniforms with their Arks logos. ...You do know you can buy the AC outfits from other players on the Vision Phone (or whatever it's called) using Meseta even if you don't have any AC, right?

Laxedrane

Jul 17, 2012, 01:24 AM

The code elimination in caves where in some rooms the enemies like to take their sweet time in spawning.

The drill quest in the desert since they seem to be extremely fickle about appearing.

So far that's it.

Mikura

Jul 17, 2012, 01:24 AM

...You do know you can buy the AC outfits from other players on the Vision Phone (or whatever it's called) using Meseta even if you don't have any AC, right?

Sure. If you don't mind going bankrupt. People don't sell those outfits for cheap. But considering they bought them with AC, I don't fault them for charging so much.

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 01:58 AM

oh another thing i thought of, i hate emergency codes: avoid and collects, sooo boring and just not fun to me :\

BIG OLAF

Jul 17, 2012, 02:14 AM

1) Kill Gameguard.

2) Kill Gameguard.

3) Repeat.

-Wayu

But then you would just keep Killing Gameguard foreve-

ohigetit.

JeyKama

Jul 17, 2012, 02:19 AM

I've played WoW a little bit, and FFXI for....years. And neither one uses any kind of game protection software. As a rule, they just use GMs to monitor things and if people report someone using hacks of any sort, they whip out the ban hammer on that person.

Honestly, I wish Sega would police the game the same way instead of relying on Crapguard.

Nah, WoW uses Warden (as does Diablo 3 and I assume everything else Blizzard). Tera uses something called Crisp Platform which is an interesting behavior-tracker thing.

nProtect is pretty much useless and ridiculously invasive, I can't believe companies are still throwing money at it.

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 03:58 AM

oh another one on the dislike list, kinda minor..but i'm sure i'm not alone on this one. the addition of minions during boss battles, i understand why and the concept behind it, but oh my god it's annoying at times dealing with them AND the boss at the same time.

Geistritter

Jul 17, 2012, 09:32 AM

Game's decent, and it generally manages not to bore me even though what I'm doing tends to be monotonous. It's by no means in what I would consider a complete state worth spending money on, though; content-wise, it's repeating some of the worst mistakes made by online games of late, and even some of the series' own, staggering out updates to force people to keep coming back rather than just having the content there to begin with. The hopelessly obsessed will come back regardless - indeed, both of the people I regularly play with have hit level cap, and have bought new-... Oh, I see what you did there, Sega.

The less hopeless will just get bored and move on, though, only checking back every few months, if that. That's what happened with me in PSU, and by the time the PC version died, I honestly couldn't be bothered to care because I'd gotten tired of the carrot dangling routine. I'm going to get sick of it here, too, and now that I'm being forced to do arbitrary bullshit for things like raising my freaking level cap or being able to play on a higher difficulty, my patience will thin even more quickly.

I also don't like that there's not a coherent path from start to finish. I liked the way PSO did things, taking us through several shades of a place (which Forest kind of does in this game, but it's sadly the only area that ended up doing it), then to the next. It felt like an adventure of sorts, you and a group of random jokers spending a few hours on a journey. I just want a total game to play through, and this one feels unfinished, particularly because there's no ending. I shouldn't have to wait until you feel like I should be allowed to fight the boss of the game, especially if Normal's already come and gone.

On that note, the difficulty levels don't even have a point anymore; they're just there to say, "Hey, this was in PSO, right? Kind of?" You can't even access Iceberg on Normal, and Mines will probably be the same, so why bother giving difficulty levels at all? Just put your silly, annoying level requirements and leave it at that.

The progression is atrocious in this game, by the way. Being forced to grind early areas just so you can play later ones is bad design, period. I realize it's done with the assumption that players are already at that level, because you released the content later, but unless you never plan on having new players ever (which wouldn't surprise me, really), there's no reason they should be forced to wait until they've killed enough marshmallow peeps to be allowed the privilege to fight palette-swaps of the enemies they were just killing.

And I haven't even started complaining about the game itself, but that's for another time.

NoiseHERO

Jul 17, 2012, 09:43 AM

I want to be able to drop items again. And not have to pay to use the room.

This.

Rowe

Jul 17, 2012, 10:23 AM

Y'know, I just really wish Gigrants looked more like light and less like ice. It just... really bothers me.

Yuicihi

Jul 17, 2012, 10:25 AM

Really quite wish that unlocking areas was tied to something other than Speedruns, especially since I'm bad at them and the game likes to do everything in it's power to stop me. (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/Zeldafan56/pso20120717_013609_001.jpg) Wasn't going to make it anyway after three consecutive Codes (One Change Over from Arrest to Duel because lolRockbears, but hey), but we had to throw this boss in for good measure.

Other than that, I'm having fun.

NoiseHERO

Jul 17, 2012, 10:26 AM

Y'know, I just really wish Gigrants looked more like light and less like ice. It just... really bothers me.

But it's light reflecting glass!

Still looks dum.

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 11:59 AM

Sebastian & PSO

Jul 17, 2012, 12:12 PM

So much pisses me off with this fucken game that I don't even have time to explain it all. So i'll sum it up.

Speed runs, enemies being generic, boring music, no sense of accomplishment and emergency codes. Hate hate hate. Boss telepipes, infact all telepipes and portals look like shit. They could of atleast made them look special and red. ugh.

DARKWINGDARA

Jul 17, 2012, 12:15 PM

pso2love

Jul 17, 2012, 12:38 PM

I'm only asking players that have actually been playing on the JPN servers, not those who are speculating.

Metalsnake27

Jul 17, 2012, 12:42 PM

It's awesome. :D

I can't give a whole bunch of feed back since I'm only level 18, but so far I'm highly enjoying it. Does take up a lot of time but it's enjoyable.

NoiseHERO

Jul 17, 2012, 12:43 PM

Like the third or 4th thread like this, kinda.

But this one is gonna get 12 pages of e-argument too!

Chik'Tikka

Jul 17, 2012, 12:43 PM

+^_^+

Ryo

Jul 17, 2012, 12:44 PM

I think it's good. I like the pacing of the updates, and overall I'm enjoying the game. My only complaint is Block 20-22 dancers/AFKers making us look bad.

Ezodagrom

Jul 17, 2012, 12:47 PM

Enjoying it. ^^

~Inu~

Jul 17, 2012, 12:48 PM

It's a great game, one of the best i've played.

Only complaints is that there aren't many levels yet and the game is a little too reliant on MPA's. It was cool in the CB, but it's starting to get stale.
The fall schedule is looking great so far, so that's going to be remedied soon enough.

HFlowen

Jul 17, 2012, 12:49 PM

It's okay, could be better.

ellu

Jul 17, 2012, 12:51 PM

Good enough -- Hopefully gets even better as time goes on.

soulpimpwizzurd

Jul 17, 2012, 02:36 PM

yeah in all honesty i'm getting tired of seeing these threads all worded slightly differently

this one made me laugh the most because it seems like OP is conscious of the fact that his thread will be yet another "how ya feel bout pso2" but to make it so it was ok he typed in AS OF JULY 17TH, which is also a dumb move cause if he was gonna do that, he might as well have just waited until the new update and then made this post with the "as of" thing so it had more weight

tl;dr pso2 good game progression sucks cause of client orders grinding is retarded from 20-30 i want new weapons sooner than later.

oifjustus

Jul 17, 2012, 02:39 PM

soulpimpwizzurd

Jul 17, 2012, 02:41 PM

i am not mad, if you read my post i say i am tired and laughing

a surprising mixture of emotions that leaves me somewhat satisfied yes

NoiseHERO

Jul 17, 2012, 02:41 PM

Mad? Why waste time hating.

Asking if Del is mad is like asking if I'm not pretending to be mad. D:

Blastifyys

Jul 17, 2012, 02:45 PM

this game is great im only lvl 20 so im not going to tell you mu feed back but i enjoy this game

KoNeko1192

Jul 17, 2012, 04:18 PM

I'm really enjoying it so far, but personally, I'm not a fan of having to go through (often) tedious missions to unlock new areas. I miss a lot of the freedom that PSO had in being able to run through an area, fight the boss, and then unlock a new area. I also wish there was a way to just play through areas and fight enemies. It would be nice to be able to play without "Emergency: Code Collect" and pretty much the ones that aren't Attack, Elimination, Duel, etc.

I'm not a big fan of the client orders, but I feel like it will be more comfortable for me once it's in English.

PhantasmalCat

Jul 17, 2012, 04:26 PM

So far it's a great game. My only complaint is the drop rates.Every single rare I've gotten so far is a gunblade, even when hunting for a certain rod.:-? There is a lack of clothing options I miss from portable 2, however.

Crysteon

Jul 17, 2012, 04:33 PM

If you put apart my disgraceful experiences grinding with that motherfucking Dodo guy..........I'm enjoying it.

pikachief

Jul 17, 2012, 04:38 PM

Good! Glad I'm pacing myself. (forcefully though, not by choice. Must use brother's PC whenever he's not using it since mine has problems running it)

But if I wasn't pacing myself i'd have 2 level 40's by now waiting for the next mission to be added (tomorrow) and then over-playing it without any added exp and having to wait for another 2-4 weeks for another mission.

So not having to go through that, I'm enjoying it :P

Agitated_AT

Jul 17, 2012, 04:40 PM

Good enough -- Hopefully gets even better as time goes on.

This really. Well I love the game alot but I hope things may change eventually, like psportable2 being the result of psu.

Blastifyys

Jul 17, 2012, 04:41 PM

now that i notice PSO2 is enjoyable but i mean your enemies are running away from you instead of attacking you Bears, Wolfs and epically rappies like really that's very unprofessional to me.

NuhSieh

Jul 17, 2012, 04:45 PM

Enjoying it too!
Except when I have no Meseta, and this is happening way too many times imo! Haha.

Enjoying it much more with nice players.

And... yeah. Played with one not so nice player. A bad experience and the only one for now. The last I hope.
Hopefully the other player in the party was really nice!

Phantasma

Jul 17, 2012, 04:49 PM

+^_^+

^thiiiiiiiiiiiis

Ueno54

Jul 17, 2012, 04:59 PM

One of the best games I've played in a long time.

xBladeM6x

Jul 17, 2012, 05:06 PM

BETRAYAL

I love it. :3

GrieverXVII

Jul 17, 2012, 08:44 PM

Like the third or 4th thread like this, kinda.

But this one is gonna get 12 pages of e-argument too!

Lol yea i kinda noticed looking at the boards front page. I was actually more into making this thread about what people would like to see done differently, but i also am really enjoying the game so i thought id express that as well.as for e-arguements...im down XD lol jk.

yeah in all honesty i'm getting tired of seeing these threads all worded slightly differently

this one made me laugh the most because it seems like OP is conscious of the fact that his thread will be yet another "how ya feel bout pso2" but to make it so it was ok he typed in AS OF JULY 17TH, which is also a dumb move cause if he was gonna do that, he might as well have just waited until the new update and then made this post with the "as of" thing so it had more weight

tl;dr pso2 good game progression sucks cause of client orders grinding is retarded from 20-30 i want new weapons sooner than later.

I dont think i typed that : O

Im glad though for the most part people are enjoying it as much as i am. And i could agree on some of the things people would like differently, at least like said the fall lineup looks good and more content keeps flowing in which makes me happy. Just hope its the same for NA version :/

Hrith

Jul 17, 2012, 09:26 PM

Metalsnake27

Jul 17, 2012, 09:36 PM

I would:

Remove MPAs: they suck, make the game a lot less fun and interesting, kill team gameplay - the point of the game - and advocate bad players through the promotion of leeching.
Remove PA discs, as it has been said many times, levelling them up yourself was a much better idea.
Remove the fucking retarded animation when using items. WORST. IDEA. EVER. It completely kills the fast pace of the game. Replacing an excellent idea by a shitty idea, good job, there.
Add most content right away, drip-feeding serves no purpose other than losing customers.
Change the grinding/boosting/affixing system, it is terrible, worse than what it was in PSU. It should not cost Meseta when it already costs a fuckload of grinders or a weapon altogether with a 3% success rate.

1. I love/hate MPAs. I do like the idea of it a lot, however, if you get with certain people it can get annoying. Unless it's with people you know or if it's an emergency code, most partys tend to stay away from each other.

2. Again something I'm iffy with. I did like the original way of it, but this one I'm not having problems with and usually have them leveled fine just by completing quests. Can be a bit annoying when your favorite PA is still stuck at level 2 :/

3. They said they plan on adding new content every month, and have some big updates planned for the fall.

4. Can't comment on grinding since I never used it yet, but I can understand the frustration.

BoredHuman

Jul 17, 2012, 09:45 PM

I have not played the game for that long, and I am a bit lost, but if anything, I would like to be able to explore more lobby areas to add a bit more to the world, and (Again not very far so I may not know if they have this or not.) add some quests that involve exploration of the lobby in order to complete specific requirements outside of the tutorial missions.

Oh, and maybe change the loop of the intro scene to a pseudo news feed in the future, when the game is all ready.

Garnet_Moon

Jul 17, 2012, 09:48 PM

Zyrusticae

Jul 17, 2012, 09:48 PM

What would I change?

I dnno. I think I'd be more interested in revoking my own access from these bloody forums before changing anything about the game right now.

Agitated_AT

Jul 17, 2012, 10:08 PM

2. Again something I'm iffy with. I did like the original way of it, but this one I'm not having problems with and usually have them leveled fine just by completing quests. Can be a bit annoying when your favorite PA is still stuck at level 2 :/

But, this is the original way...

gigawuts

Jul 17, 2012, 10:10 PM

I'd rather see how they handle the various feedback for now than change anything myself.

If I could take a hammer to that grinding system, though...

Vylera

Jul 17, 2012, 10:12 PM

I would change...nothing.

I'll leave it to SEGA. Any complaints I might have aren't big enough to stop me from playing and paying.

Flame

Jul 17, 2012, 10:13 PM

Remove the fucking retarded animation when using items. WORST. IDEA. EVER. It completely kills the fast pace of the game. Replacing an excellent idea by a shitty idea, good job, there.

gameplay wise this was a conscious decision made to make you have to think when using an item. I love it.

LK1721

Jul 17, 2012, 10:17 PM

I am enjoying the majority of the game so far except for the following:

I want to set fire to the Affixing/Grinding System.
Dodo too.

Agitated_AT

Jul 17, 2012, 10:31 PM

gameplay wise this was a conscious decision made to make you have to think when using an item. I love it.

Alot of people don't understand balance in games. It's indeed a very good decision. Mono/Di and trimates no longer heal specific numbers, but percentages, so they all 3 will always stay usefull.

Are you safe? use trimates
Are you close to safe? use Dimate
Are you about to get attacked and almost dead? Monomate

So in that regard it's a very good decision indeed.

Btw flame, I saw your postst in another thread, and I had quite the same first impression. I think what you need to do is go and get to level 30. I know having so much freedom and no real sense of progression feels strange from most games. Because games usually must have rules and restrictions. Doesn't matter if it's boardgames, videogames or even sports. Pso2 has very little of it which is really bad from a gamedesign point of view(in my opinion). But to give you a little tip, don't join these mindless teams that either rush or keep running around and grind. Make good friends, team up with them, and play your (pso1) way while doing lots of client orders, which encourage engaging enemies alot. When getting to level 30, you will unlock a time attack mode after the last tundra mission. Time attack mode does have a timer (not a countdown), but if you ignore that, it is basically your pso1 mode. Time attack makes it sound like a rush, but the time attack mission takes just as long as your regular pso1 run, so around 40minutes to an hour. They have barriers that dissapear by killing multiple spawning mobs(they don't respawn), puzzles and even differences between area 1 and 2. The difference thing will become clear once you go and check it out.

Time attack mode is really challenging and i'd say it's actually quite fucking hard (I haven't been able to pass it). There's added factors like, no one can die or else you'll fail, and you can't use telepipes to go back and buy more items.

Blackheart521

Jul 17, 2012, 10:34 PM

Alot of people don't understand balance in games. It's indeed a very good decision. Mono/Di and trimates no longer heal specific numbers, but percentages, so they all 3 will always stay usefull.

Are you safe? use Monomates
Are you close to safe? use Dimate
Are you about to get attacked and almost dead? Trimates

You had it a little backwards, so I fixed it for you my good sir. ^^

Agitated_AT

Jul 17, 2012, 10:36 PM

I don't think you get it blackheart. If you are close to death and decide to use a trimate when surrounded by enemies and one is about to attack. Do you think that would be a smart move?

Reyva

Jul 17, 2012, 10:41 PM

Eh.........

Separate parts for clothing for humans/newman! Oh cmon! I loved to mix and match crap in PSU. Not a big deal as I already knew why they couldn't do it for this game, but still. Casts can do it and I guess I can live with that (2 casts, 1 newman characters anyways)

Allow to turn off annoying NPC chat somehow lol. Even your friends. Seriously, this is why I sometimes just bring in the JP npcs instead of English npcs from my partner cards. Either that or I just use my 1 cast 1 newman (Female cast ranger still leveling).

More difficult. Yeah, I already know what you're going to say. Its just like PSU at start as PSU had little content and it was easy as pie. In PSO, it was just Ultimate mode that made everything more difficult.

So if I had a wish on difficulty, do it like PSO days with a Ruins like area with a spawn of 5 Chaos Bringers raping you and your party + other mobs. That should be not only difficult, but fun! So really, I know they will amp the difficulty up more in the future along with adding more things, but I hope a lot of people don't cry about it if it is truly hard because right now, I find most things like PSU, too easy.

Heat Haze

Jul 17, 2012, 10:45 PM

I don't have too many complaints, surprisingly.

1. Grinding/Affixing. Better than PSU, but the RNG still trolls gloriously. Still, it pushes people to use support items for grind level protection and success % boost, but it's not mandatory or anything like that; the option is there for those who want to pay. Really, I'm just complaining about my own luck.

2. Scape Dolls shouldn't be AC. Though it encourages people to play in parties. In that instance, this complaint really isn't a valid one at all since most, if not everyone, are nice enough to use a Moon to help each other out. Has Sega even gotten money from Scape Dolls?

3. Code Avoid. That is all.

Everything else I don't have a problem with, and I'm quite fine with them.

Blackheart521

Jul 17, 2012, 10:47 PM

I don't think you get it blackheart. If you are close to death and decide to use a trimate when surrounded by enemies and one is about to attack. Do you think that would be a smart move?

Ah, never mind, thought you were just comparing how much health you have to the percentages of health different mates heal, my bad. ^^;

Agitated_AT

Jul 17, 2012, 10:56 PM

Ah no problem mate. ^^

holdthephone

Jul 17, 2012, 11:14 PM

The forest areas are pretty damn dry, and as a level 11 that's currently all I can talk about. Feels quite generic in the same way many F2P eastern MMOs do. There's simply not much excitement within the character progression, it's sort of a grind fest the moment you step into the world and the game does very little to disguise that fact.

Which, at the other end, is also part of the game's charm. I like that it's a straight to business item and gear hunt, and how I can just listen to a playlist and zone out for a few hours. Finding ways to make a stronger character as well as how to make your avatar look incredibly sexy seems to be the bread and butter of the experience -- i just hope there's enough variety in the content past the forest areas to keep these aspects engaging.

Because I walk around the lobby and I feel like everyone's gear is more or less the same. Very cool designs, but if there's nothing new to work towards, I'm not sure if I can keep playing. I mean, those skill trees are incredibly boring.

Flame

Jul 17, 2012, 11:15 PM

Btw flame, I saw your postst in another thread, and I had quite the same first impression. I think what you need to do is go and get to level 30. I know having so much freedom and no real sense of progression feels strange from most games. Because games usually must have rules and restrictions. Doesn't matter if it's boardgames, videogames or even sports. Pso2 has very little of it which is really bad from a gamedesign point of view(in my opinion). But to give you a little tip, don't join these mindless teams that either rush or keep running around and grind. Make good friends, team up with them, and play your (pso1) way while doing lots of client orders, which encourage engaging enemies alot. When getting to level 30, you will unlock a time attack mode after the last tundra mission. Time attack mode does have a timer (not a countdown), but if you ignore that, it is basically your pso1 mode. Time attack makes it sound like a rush, but the time attack mission takes just as long as your regular pso1 run, so around 40minutes to an hour. They have barriers that dissapear by killing multiple spawning mobs(they don't respawn), puzzles and even differences between area 1 and 2. The difference thing will become clear once you go and check it out.

Time attack mode is really challenging and i'd say it's actually quite fucking hard (I haven't been able to pass it). There's added factors like, no one can die or else you'll fail, and you can't use telepipes to go back and buy more items.

oh! that's great to hear! I hadn't heard anything about time attack mode thus far and assumed it was a dud. Thanks for your great advice. I really want to love the game (I didn't wait ten years for nothing!) and will look forward to being lv30+. I was lv 19 with my original character but a good friend of mine accidentally made his char on a different ship. He had already spent about 50$ worth of arks cash while I hadn't spent any so it made sense that I start over on his ship (with him footing the 5$ bill of course). Now I'm lv 12 and slowly working my way up. Not gonna lie, lv 30 is a long haul.

~Inu~

Jul 17, 2012, 11:16 PM

2. Scape Dolls shouldn't be AC. Though it encourages people to play in parties. In that instance, this complaint really isn't a valid one at all since most, if not everyone, are nice enough to use a Moon to help each other out. Has Sega even gotten money from Scape Dolls?

3. Code Avoid. That is all.

I'm wondering if the sole purpose of that code was to make people buy Scape Dolls; It's a horrible code, with the birds spawning before the announcement and it always seems to spawn during other codes or before a decent burst.
It's not a hard code, it's just more the fact it's too long and it always begins at the worst possible times.

I'd never use a scape doll unless it was a life or death situation in a big boss battle.

supersonix9

Jul 17, 2012, 11:16 PM

Only thing that needs to be changed is ability to trade for everyone.

DemonMike

Jul 18, 2012, 12:04 AM

Only thing that needs to be changed is ability to trade for everyone.

I'd agree if there wasn't the very competitive My Shop feature. Minimum spend is 1050 meseta, so it's not too bad.

Although it'd be great to have it for every one, it'd end up with RMT going absolutely nuts, running the ingame economy into the ground. Plus, it pretty much grabs people by the balls to pay for premium.

Heat Haze

Jul 18, 2012, 12:12 AM

I'm wondering if the sole purpose of that code was to make people buy Scape Dolls; It's a horrible code, with the birds spawning before the announcement and it always seems to spawn during other codes or before a decent burst.
It's not a hard code, it's just more the fact it's too long and it always begins at the worst possible times.

I'd never use a scape doll unless it was a life or death situation in a big boss battle.

I have to agree, I mostly get Code Avoid on it's own.

However, more than once I've gotten Code Avoid during Duel AND Elimination. It's manageable in every map except city. City Elimination code locks me in some obscure corner, and birds from Code Avoid just have fun kicking my trapped dead body.

Dan Maku

Jul 18, 2012, 12:28 AM

ZcRaider

Jul 18, 2012, 12:28 AM

Im loving the game 95% as well. Loving the customized Pa System. Look and feel of this game is awesome. It seems like sega actually paid attention to there mistakes and successes.

However, as with most things..there are always cons...with pros.

My main thing is the treatment to anyone non-japanese. Sega that is. The people are lovely. This whole thing with localization has got me a little blue. I mean seriously, the game is already made to support english and other languages. I mean even the emergency annoucer uses english. A lot of this games Code is indeed in english. I cant help but think that there is something else going on in the background with Sega. Something there not telling us. Makes no since not to globalize this game. More profit potential. Seems I will be sticking to the JP version.

Other than that...Im just hoping that add planets or something in addtion to the missions. As it is now..this game just doesnt seem as emersive as PSU or PSO. Its like you go in...run around the map, do a few object oriented things....kill a mini boss or the main boss...got back to ship and repeat. I remember in PSU, you had different planets with corresponding areas on that planet. In PSO2 your always in a confined space...like a Ship or a hub on the planet. A small little box that has the mission terminal, Shop terminal, Storage terminal, and Health station. You never just walk on the planet. Only time you see the planet your on is when you have to engage an enemy. Heck you wouldnt even know you where on a planet unless you look at the Floor portal. I dunno...game feels like its been rushed to quickly from Open beta. Money issues again Sega?....

And everybody seems to have Rose colored glasses..because it is indeed PSO2...I wonder what will happen with all the Hype finally fades away...

I also would not mind if sega would support a more convient form of payment...like paypal for example. As it is now, my bank isnt liking international purchases where i have to vaildate my name on my card in Katakana.... Needless to say... I wont be a priemum member anytime soon...

Anyways, im still enjoying the game very much, and plan to milk it as long as human possible. LOL

Zipzo

Jul 18, 2012, 12:40 AM

Im loving the game 95% as well. Loving the customized Pa System. Look and feel of this game is awesome. It seems like sega actually paid attention to there mistakes and successes.

However, as with most things..there are always cons...with pros.

My main thing is the treatment to anyone non-japanese. Sega that is. The people are lovely. This whole thing with localization has got me a little blue. I mean seriously, the game is already made to support english and other languages. I mean even the emergency annoucer uses english. A lot of this games Code is indeed in english. I cant help but think that there is something else going on in the background with Sega. Something there not telling us. Makes no since not to globalize this game. More profit potential. Seems I will be sticking to the JP version.

Other than that...Im just hoping that add planets or something in addtion to the missions. As it is now..this game just doesnt seem as emersive as PSU or PSO. Its like you go in...run around the map, do a few object oriented things....kill a mini boss or the main boss...got back to ship and repeat. I remember in PSU, you had different planets with corresponding areas on that planet. In PSO2 your always in a confined space...like a Ship or a hub on the planet. A small little box that has the mission terminal, Shop terminal, Storage terminal, and Health station. You never just walk on the planet. Only time you see the planet your on is when you have to engage an enemy. I dunno...games feels like its been rushed to quickly from Open beta. Money issues again Sega?....

I also would not mind if sega would support a more convient form of payment...like paypal for example. As it is now, my bank isnt liking international purchases where i have to vaildate my name on my card in Katakana.... Needless to say... I wont be a priemum member anytime soon...

Anyways, im still enjoying the game very much, and plan to milk it as long as human possible. LOL
The inordinate amount of areas and planet format of PSU was arguably one of its worst feature and an agreeably horrible idea for a Phantady Star game. It split the community up too many ways, and there was only ever people at one spot that had the overall best mission...White Beast. Budget cut? No. Learning from their mistakes more like.

ZcRaider

Jul 18, 2012, 12:47 AM

The inordinate amount of areas and planet format of PSU was arguably one of its worst feature and an agreeably horrible idea for a Phantady Star game. It split the community up too many ways, and there was only ever people at one spot that had the overall best mission...White Beast. Budget cut? No. Learning from their mistakes more like.

Well I do respect your opinion.

However i disagree. As long as you can warp to your ship at will, there is nothing wrong with planet-side non-combative areas. I think being couped up in a ship 80% of the time, instead of exploring the GAME.......is a mistake. And people will "white beast" in any game. How about people not progressing through the game because they know that enemies and mini bosses that spawn in one area, gives more exp than completing the damn quest? That will happen with ANY format. Its WORSE with the small couped up areas we have currently in PSO2. Even PSO1 had more indepth planet side area layouts. Episode 2 anyone? How about the beautiful beach area. Now thats a combat area.. i know. But this game, even more linear. You aways have the ground....the walls to stop you from looking out to far...and the skybox.... Tundra? More like a constant Ice valley. Very little open fields. Even the desert area looks so one of those cheap mini golf areas with the small arcade on the side. You know... the ones were you have to knock the ball in between the windmills....

Look.. all im saying is this game is New. It has a great start. Just needs a little more refinement, and it will be PERFECT. I just hope Sega doesnt screw this up, with its nationalistic segregation.

gigawuts

Jul 18, 2012, 12:50 AM

I really prefer this way of handling it compared to PSU's, because it did indeed divvy up the community. When I was playing PSU only very rarely did I run into other players of my level, and since at the time the teleport lady didn't exist I couldn't even get to an area with other players of my level without trudging through two other levels.

Kind of a flawed system. At least they added the teleport ladies.

PSO2's handling of it might not make the most sense in the RPing world, but it makes considerably more sense from a gameplay perspective.

Besides, if you want to hang out on the planet just smash a boss and relax in his room, I used to do that with dark falz all the time with my old group. We'd do a run just to hang out on the rainbow hologram circle.

Squall179

Jul 18, 2012, 12:57 AM

Ok I want to marry this game and have its babies. yeah, it has its problems, will Sega fix them? maybe, maybe not, but I still love this game despite those flaws, because I enjoy the actual combat mechanics, compared to other games I've been playing recently, which all either fall short, or are overcomplex. It's perfect for someone with ADHD basically. Twitchy dodgefest just like the good old days of Virtual-On in the arcade.

Jean makes me want to go premium.

GrieverXVII

Jul 18, 2012, 01:06 AM

I can't complain. The game is hella fun, especially when me and my friends get together in-game and over Skype to play. Makes grinding a lot more bearable when it's with buds. :3

The only thing I find annoying is the game going down for maintenance every few days or so, but it's a minor issue.

I agree with both points, I've been playing this game with my brother from the get go and it definitely makes everything feel much funner to do when you have a friend/family tagging along.

the maintenance thing is kinda killing me too lol, i think it's great they do a weekly check and maintenance or update and understandable at the time they do it considering most of japan should be sleeping while these checks occur which is unfortunate for people like us but unavoidable, it just sucks because i work mon-fri 11:30am-8pm and usually do about 1-2 hours of overtime daily, so by the time i get home, the server's are down, and i usually end my nights around 2:30am so the timing really couldn't get more unlucky for me...and this will be every tuesday... :(

i guess that's another thing for me to look forward to in the NA release i guess.

ZcRaider

Jul 18, 2012, 01:22 AM

Sigh....i feel sorry for anyone who is intersted in this game but was not able to get into learning japanese.

The sad reality is, that there are more people playing Halo, or Skyrim, then the small minority of non-japanese players on PSO2. I seriously think that sega has us all hoodwinked. Including myself....And when the NA version comes it..it will be a year behind in content..just like PSU.

Not to mention the fact...but I mean seriously...this game is really small. Its not a full game. Its really beta..and sega wants money before its completed.

Besides..Im seeing more lvl 40's everyday. Eventually the PSO2 community is gonna get burned out. Everybody will be max level and have everything they want. Then it will come to the point where your like..."what now?" "Lets do Tundra Free roam." "Man ive done that mission a million times" Or a new "mission" will come out...and its like...how is this different than anything else? Harder enemies....same map layout...but different textures. What if you just want to hang out at the beach. Take some screen shots, talk to someone you never met before. (Assuming your tired of the ship like my self....) Cant do that...unless im in a mission. Ohh this mission only supports lvl 30. Wait a sec...everybody in here is lvl 31+. Guess i have to go back to the ship to meet anybody new... Then...if you want to make another char you have to pay. If you want to sell your items you have to pay. Then the reality will indeed come when you realize...I spent more time on a Ship, then doing anything thing else. And im short $50.00 bucks.

I dont know why that is such a hard concept to grasp....but i guess thats just me.

I agree that the current mission setup works. And that it is some what of an improvement on prior versions of this game.

What im saying is that is its FAR...from complete. And if this is indeed the full extent of the game, and it will only be expanded by adding more missions and not actual planets...then its gonna get old quick. And the NA version of the game will get shafted.

Anyway thats my opinion. Time will tell. Hopefully im wrong. And this Japanese version of the game will have the Latest content to make up for the flaws.

Alnet

Jul 18, 2012, 01:33 AM

Overall, it's amazing. I feel like they really put a lot of time and work into this game. As much as I enjoy the hobby of playing video games, overall, I feel like devs really aren't putting a lot of, or any effort into their games, and so I hardly buy anything anymore. If PSO2 were a disc-only release, I gladly would've preordered it from Japan and used a courier service to have them deliver it to me if I'd known I would enjoy it this much.

As for what I would change:

I don't like how small the ship lobbies are. There's the mission and class counters, and an upper area, and the shop lobbies, but that's all there is. There' a huge area of the ship that just isn't seen, and I'd like to go there.

The mission unlocks are really arbitrary. The mission level requirements should have to do with the level of the enemies in the mission, not the fact that it's Forest, Caves, etc. I mean, a team of Lv30s is going to absolutely own Free Forest, so why not let that be unlocked sooner?

Do enemies' stats scale to the number of players? If not, they should. That's a basic thing, isn't it.

I would make My Room access free. Given how many room goods the game throws at you on a consistent basis, I'd like everyone to have the chance to use them.

Coffee's collection quests. It took me maybe 12 runs for 3 Caterdran items for the palette expansion. And that 90/90/90 thing was just downright cruel. For something like the palette expansions, that's fine, I guess, because it's not mandatory for progression like the level up thing was.

Dabian

Jul 18, 2012, 01:36 AM

moorebounce

Jul 18, 2012, 01:39 AM

I think a lot of my problems with PSO2 would be alleviated by just having english menus. As far as things I would change.

1. I would make the bosses a little harder and get rid of timed quests to unlock things.
2. If you're on a team/guild you can drop or give items to teammates but make it where you've been on a team for a couple weeks or actually played together.
3. Bump up the NPC AI just a tad so they aren't wasting their PBs and try not to get ran over by bosses so much.
4. Adjustable NPC strategies.
5. Make basic rooms free but upgrading them a premium.
6. Make it where you don't lose your spot on the block going to your room for the first 10 minutes.
7. When you log on you go to the last block you were on or favorite block provided theres enough room.
8. Put visiphones on camp ship.

ZcRaider

Jul 18, 2012, 01:41 AM

If you're getting burned out (already), I suggest 2 things:

1: Pace yourself. Spread it out. And I do mean it. Level caps used to be something I MUST reach in the shortest time possible. The result? I burned out way faster than others. Give yourself space to breathe.

2: Play something else. PSO isn't your life, and it shouldn't be. It's part of your life. I'm not saying that just to tick anyone off. But you as a consumer, have the POWER to choose. You decide how best to spend your money/time/blood tears/nerdrage reserve and you really shouldn't waste it all on PSO. If you're burning out, exercise that consumer choice and do something that might give you more pleasure than angst.

Well said.

Well..i never really said i was burned out. Even though I do see it coming in the foreseabe future. Im more or less just sharing my thought in convient thread, because of the maintence LOL.

My angst...is in what Sega is not telling us. And there sloppy business track record. There discontent with foriegners is not very pleasant either. That is the reason i quit PSU and started playing PSOBB on private servers. I hope i wont have to do that with this game. Again...Time will tell.

Aewyn

Jul 18, 2012, 01:42 AM

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by, "what Sega is not telling us?"

Dabian

Jul 18, 2012, 01:45 AM

I understand your concern, but, and please don't take this the wrong way...you're worrying too much about it.

ZcRaider

Jul 18, 2012, 01:57 AM

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by, "what Sega is not telling us?"

Localization vs Globalization and distribution. Making the game a Japanese - only port, dispite the fact that it orignally was global prior to PSU. PSO dreamcast had almost syncronous content and distribution with other langauges and regions. Never was into the Sega Genesis versions of PS. More into Squaresofts Final Fantasy during that time period. Perticularly FF6...or FF3 known in America. So i cant speak for those versions. But I do know that for the most part...The same PSO I played on my Dremcast Console back in 1999 was the same version of the game that the Japanese had. And when Verison 2 and BB came out, all the content for the most part was readly avalible. And when something new came out, i didnt have to wait 6 months to a year to see it for my self.

At least thats how I remember it. It was only until PSU slowly started to drop out of content distribution for anyone non-japanese, that i started to see Segas darker side of things.

Ever since then, with all there business decisions after that...it seem they always had a hidden agenda. Which in turn, always and effectively isolated non-japanese consumers in a non-preferential localized segment. Sega Euro and Sega Japan never seemed the same after PSU.

ZcRaider

Jul 18, 2012, 01:58 AM

I understand your concern, but, and please don't take this the wrong way...you're worrying too much about it.

Ya your right. Im a get some sleep. :-) I've always been a thinker. Chess champion <-----

Im done.

Cyclon

Jul 18, 2012, 04:22 AM

[SPOILER-BOX]
Localization vs Globalization and distribution. Making the game a Japanese - only port, dispite the fact that it orignally was global prior to PSU. PSO dreamcast had almost syncronous content and distribution with other langauges and regions. Never was into the Sega Genesis versions of PS. More into Squaresofts Final Fantasy during that time period. Perticularly FF6...or FF3 known in America. So i cant speak for those versions. But I do know that for the most part...The same PSO I played on my Dremcast Console back in 1999 was the same version of the game that the Japanese had. And when Verison 2 and BB came out, all the content for the most part was readly avalible. And when something new came out, i didnt have to wait 6 months to a year to see it for my self.

At least thats how I remember it. It was only until PSU slowly started to drop out of content distribution for anyone non-japanese, that i started to see Segas darker side of things.

Ever since then, with all there business decisions after that...it seem they always had a hidden agenda. Which in turn, always and effectively isolated non-japanese consumers in a non-preferential localized segment. Sega Euro and Sega Japan never seemed the same after PSU.[/SPOILER-BOX]
I believe the simple answer to most of your questions would be "Dreamcast". Sega hasn't been the same since then. I t took them quite a long time to recover and start doing their job right(for the most part)again afterwards. The Sonic series is proof of that. Well, it's more complicated than that, but still, I think that's the main reason. The failure of this system basically slapped them in the face with a "never again" feeling.
This might not have been obvious right away though, especially with games like PSO 1&2, or Jet set radio future, even if those could already have been under developpement for a bit when this happened.

About the 6 month wait though, the answer is even more simple; that's how F2P mmos have been since... forever, basically. Also when you think about it, PSO2 announcement wasn't THAT long ago, and I can remember them saying that it was one year in the making only(which instantly convinced me this game was gonna suck at that time).

And even then, we're really not getting hit by that as hard as we could have been, from my experience. F2P mmos tend to stretch their content as muuuuuch as they can over the years, with major updates once in a while for people to come back(not to mention ridiculous exp requirements sometimes, which makes me laugh when I see people complaining about grinding in PSO2); that won't be the case here, provided they stick to their schedule.
Well, it might happen after some time, but still, for now I'm satisfied with how things are going. I'd rather have the game right now with monthly major updates, than wait half a year to play it. And if you're not like me, you could still wait, nobody forces you to play.

Still, the very fact that it was announced as F2P meant that the game would start a bit weak on content, but could reach new heights over time. That's how I see it.

This leads me to another problem though; considering it's F2P, can't we say for sure that the NA/EU version will start from scratch, just to have more content in store to keep players satisfied as long as possible?

Oh, and on topic, it's been extremely satisfying up until now:D And I'll wait until the level 50 cap, new classes and new weapons update to complain about anything, because from that point on the game shouldn't see any fundamental changes anymore.

Goodfella

Jul 18, 2012, 06:15 AM

It's been really, really great. The game is just like I wanted it to be. It's really a great sequel of PSO 1, it really keeps the same spirit, like an older brother.

The only thing I don"t like, for practical reasons, is obviously the japanese language everywhere (I mean, texts) which made it hard for me to understand how the game works. But it's just temporary

Izuna

Jul 18, 2012, 11:16 AM

Was a huge PSO fan, loved it to bits, found issues with PSU but like PSZ and PSPo2. PSO2 comes out and it's a blast, I guess now that I understand Japanese the experience is a little different than PSPo2, but I still don't really care about the story.

Gameplay is so good it could be an action game on its own, and playing as a Hunter is absolutely brilliant. Game is balanced enough, it's got so much going for I'd almost say it was one of the best games ever.

But then I ran into problems with it. I suppose I was spoilt by Demon's Souls where you can complete without leveling up at all.

I can play PSO1 with my wifey and it's like the year 2000 all over again, and I can't say it's better in any way in terms of gameplay. I prefer it's art direction but that doesn't really matter. What does matter though is that in PSO1, if you played Single Player, you could go from Forest to Ruins and Normal to Ultimate so long as you were able to pass the previous stage.

So I have a LV23 Hunter and a LV28 Ranger, and I'm sick of being locked out of content. My Hunter (because of the Mag) is stronger than my Ranger but they can't go into the same areas.

I am aware that even in PSO1 you had to re-do the same stage over and over until you were strong enough to pass the next stage, but PSO2 won't even let me attempt it and even when I am strong enough I'm not allowed in. It's practically the same, but PSO2's method is very frustrating.

Does anyone else share these thoughts?

P.S. Amazing game still.

Broken_L_button

Jul 18, 2012, 12:18 PM

The game is very entertaining, though the way they have you progress through it irks me a tad. Maybe it's because my inability to read Japanese makes me unable to completely understand the context in which the NPCs give you their client orders, thus breaking whatever slight immersion that could've been created. Speaking of which, I'd like to see SEGA try a different way of briefing the player about their client orders when they talk to an NPC.

The game offers many ways to deliver information to the player: text (from different sources), cutscenes, images, etc, yet they only use the text from the NPC. Some of the more memorable quests in PSO had you piece up some info from documents you had in your quest board or terminals/objects you examined on the field, making you feel more involved with the storyline of the quest you were doing. With a whole item category dedicated to client orders in your backpack and a page for Event items in the menu, I'm sure PSO2 could do even more. Even the image used to represent the item when you highlight it in your backpack can give you a wealth of information or fuel your imagination (speculating on how Dodo manipulates the grinders, for example). Oh well, one can dream, right?

And now I'll go off on a slight tangent here, so this will be in a spoiler box:
[SPOILER-BOX]The map design feels rather similar to the first PSO, with small differences that still manage to get noticed. Essentially, both PSO and PSO2's maps are randomly generated. PSO2 seems to glue different rooms together while PSO just loaded a different map with different spawns and barrier patterns (except for forest 1-2, CCA and the surrounding areas, which used the same map with different spawns and barrier patterns).

Both games' maps had dead ends that made you go "well, backtracking time" and, in both games, the later areas' maps were generally bigger than the previous ones. And, a most important point, in both games, most maps had certain landmarks: a room or object that would always come with a certain map pattern and make you realize in which pattern you were. PSO had, for example, the vaginal corridor followed by the uterus room and that BIG BIG room in Ruins 3, while in PSO2, Naberius Forest's 2nd area has the presence or absence of the long river room in the middle of the map, depending on which pattern you had.

Then come the differences. PSO2's landmarks are harder to notice; you really have to pay attention to actually notice them, while PSO's still made their way to your memory even when you're not directly looking at them. And there's also the fact that the PSO2 maps are overall smaller than the PSO maps and that the area progression is less noticeable in PSO2 (desert's second area generally has more man-made/artificial structures than the first, yet...I doubt anyone noticed that).

These things seem to make the areas in PSO2 a bit less memorable to me, but I understand why they made it so: the game being more action-oriented, scenery takes a backseat, and with battles lasting longer and being more intense, very large areas would just exhaust the player's patience ("Gamers these days don't have much patience...At least, that's what Bishop, the guy at the video store, says"). PSO's action being much shorter and less intense -soporific, even-, one was mostly walking and looking at their surroundings, hence the larger maps.

Still, I'd like it if the landmarks in the PSO2 maps were less discreet. When farming an MPA, the player WILL spend more time looking at the scenery, so having that one peculiar tower or that oddly shaped tree or that big big room to break the pattern could make the maps feel less monotonous (I'm looking at you, Caves). But that's just a minor gripe since the action takes most of my attention.[/SPOILER-BOX]

God of Awesome

Jul 18, 2012, 04:58 PM

Was a huge PSO fan, loved it to bits,

I am aware that even in PSO1 you had to re-do the same stage over and over until you were strong enough to pass the next stage, but PSO2 won't even let me attempt it and even when I am strong enough I'm not allowed in. It's practically the same, but PSO2's method is very frustrating.

Does anyone else share these thoughts?

P.S. Amazing game still.

Agree completely, it just adds grind on top of grind and it really burns out my love for this game. Although the feeling of satisfaction you get at it beating it is great.

In PSO I could be Lvl50 and on ultimate, while on PSo2 I'll have about 5 Koffee missions before I'm allowed to attempt to progress.

I'm also not happy with A LOT of their balance decisions, it needs a lot of tweaks.

still loving it though :D