I need a new game to play, curious about how PSO2 is doing.

[Tetsaru]

Sup guys, haven't been very active around here in a while. :wacko:

Seeing how FF14's servers are down now until A Realm Reborn comes out, I've been looking for some new games for me and possibly some of my friends to play, hence the posting of this thread. I haven't really been keeping up with all the news and updates lately, and I don't want to have to dig through tons of old threads for info, but I've seen some of the more recent videos on the home page and it looks like PSO2 is shaping up quite nicely. I'd like to give it a try, but first, I have some questions:

1 - If I recall correctly, I played during the Alpha testing, but didn't get around to playing during Beta. I still have the Alpha game client installed on my computer. Can I still use that and update it, or do I need to uninstall that and download/install the full game instead, and if so, is it still free, and seeing how I can't read a lick of Japanese, is there a guide posted somewhere to walk me through the installation process?

2 - I remember the game was supposed to be free-to-play with cash shop elements. What would I be missing out on if I didn't want to spend any money on anything?

3 - I think I remember there being something called FUN points and something new called Excubes...? What are those used for now?

4 - What ship/server/block do most English-speaking players play on?

5 - What is the general state of the game like right now? What all is there to do now in terms of game content, character customization (both cosmetic and functional), etc.?

6 - What is the state of the community? Are most people respectful, decently skilled (but not elitist), etc.? I remember tons of spammers and people who would kick others out of parties if rare items dropped, etc. in PSU, and I don't want to have to put up with that kind of crap, if at all possible.

7 - I realize that we're not supposed to ask about how to download the English patch (even though this is a fan site... :rolleyes: ), but whatever help that is allowed would be greatly appreciated. ^^; Again, I can't read moonrunes, lol, and wouldn't be posting this thread in the first place if I couldn't read what I was playing.

Overall, my main concerns are:

1 - Not having to pay money to play the game, and how enjoyable it will be without using cash shop or "pay-to-win" items

2 - Being able to play the game in English and understand it thoroughly without having to look up and translate the name of every item or guides on every NPC's chat log, etc.

3 - Being part of a good player community

Thank you for your help. :D

[Smithee]

Q - If I recall correctly, I played during the Alpha testing, but didn't get around to playing during Beta. I still have the Alpha game client installed on my computer. Can I still use that and update it, or do I need to uninstall that and download/install the full game instead, and if so, is it still free, and seeing how I can't read a lick of Japanese, is there a guide posted somewhere to walk me through the installation process?

A - I have no idea as to if it will update but most likely you will need to redownload.
http://bumped.org/psublog/pso2-guide-list/ youtube will also help
Q - I remember the game was supposed to be free-to-play with cash shop elements. What would I be missing out on if I didn't want to spend any money on anything?

A- As to the this the shops are very importnat to make money but theyr'e not really needed.

Q - I think I remember there being something called FUN points and something new called Excubes...? What are those used for now?

A-Fun points are points you recieve for scratching tickets these tickets will give out items like grinders or passes for you to have a shop or room for three days

Q - What ship/server/block do most English-speaking players play on?

A - Ship 2 block will be your best bet.

Q - What is the general state of the game like right now? What all is there to do now in terms of game content, character customization (both cosmetic and functional), etc.?

A- Mainly now it is to level up and socialise character customization is pretty in depth.

Q - What is the state of the community? Are most people respectful, decently skilled (but not elitist), etc.? I remember tons of spammers and people who would kick others out of parties if rare items dropped, etc. in PSU, and I don't want to have to put up with that kind of crap, if at all possible.

A -Spammimgs not as bad allthough symbol art is posted quite often and items pretain to you and you only.

Q - I realize that we're not supposed to ask about how to download the English patch (even though this is a fan site... ), but whatever help that is allowed would be greatly appreciated. Again, I can't read moonrunes, lol, and wouldn't be posting this thread in the first place if I couldn't read what I was playing.

A- I posted the link for this question above.

[Ezodagrom]

1: You can't update the alpha client to the release version.

2: You're missing out on trading with other players, making your own player shop (you can still buy things form player shops though), and making your room. There's also cosmetic stuff available through cash lotteries, like clothes, hairstyles, but those can be sold in the player shops, which you can access as a free player.
When it comes to areas/quests, equipment and levels, free players have access to everything.

3: FUN points are used in a FUN scratch (lottery), you can win room decorations, hairstyles, accessories, grinders, ...
Excubes are for players that have reached the highest lvl cap (currently lvl 50), players continue to receive exp after they reach the highest lvl cap to win Excubes, which are used to trade for items.

4: Ship 02, when it comes to block, alot gather at block 20, but there's some that just play in the area specific or difficulty specific blocks.

5 and 6: Can't say much about these, since I play mostly solo. ^^;

7: The only things I can say about the english patch, it's just copy/paste files into the specific folder, and when there's an update, it's likely that a new patch is required.

[Tetsaru]

Thanks guys. I had forgotten all about that blog site, lol. ^^;

Got another question: how are multiple characters handled? Would I still be able to make 4(?) different characters on the same server, or is that something we have to pay extra for now?

[Ezodagrom]

Thanks guys. I had forgotten all about that blog site, lol. ^^;

Got another question: how are multiple characters handled? Would I still be able to make 4(?) different characters on the same server, or is that something we have to pay extra for now?
You can only make 1 character for free, any other character slots need to be purchased. The total characters you can have in 1 account (be it in a single server or all together) is 12.

[Keii]

Thanks guys. I had forgotten all about that blog site, lol. ^^;

Got another question: how are multiple characters handled? Would I still be able to make 4(?) different characters on the same server, or is that something we have to pay extra for now?
Like the previous poster said, you have to pay for additional characters, but on the other hand one character has access to all classes and can switch between them (like in FFXI/XIV).

[Tetsaru]

You can only make 1 character for free, any other character slots need to be purchased. The total characters you can have in 1 account (be it in a single server or all together) is 12.


Like the previous poster said, you have to pay for additional characters, but on the other hand one character has access to all classes and can switch between them (like in FFXI/XIV).

Ah damn, okay, good to know. Guess I'll have to decide between playing a CAST or a busty newman then, lol...

[Z-0]

Do note that you can only get one mag per character though (for free), so if you want to optimally play all classes, you will have to purchase at least 2 additional mags.

Also you're not going to get kicked out of parties as people get their own drops in this game. You can't steal another person's and vice versa.

[jooozek]

Just a note, you don't buy character slots here, you buy the right to create 1 character. You pay for the right of making one, new character. I'm saying this just in case so you don't make a new character, but don't like it and delete it to make a new one to see the game ask you to purchase it again.

[Tetsaru]

Just a note, you don't buy character slots here, you buy the right to create 1 character. You pay for the right of making one, new character. I'm saying this just in case so you don't make a new character, but don't like it and delete it to make a new one to see the game ask you to purchase it again.

Ahh, also good to know, sadly. :( What happened to having 4 free character slots per account?

[Sp-24]

Free to Play happened, among other things.

[Ezodagrom]

Ahh, also good to know, sadly. :( What happened to having 4 free character slots per account?
Taking into consideration that the client is free, I think having a single character slot is a fair trade-off.
A new character is 500 AC, when using webmoney sevices (since now it's impossible to buy AC directly with foreigner credit cards), 4 extra characters cost around half of a retail game.
When the english version launches, prices will be set to fit the western markets better though.

[firelordzx5]

this reminds me STO, mostly, since that game you have only one slot of character.
I hope that this is temporal, because is will be a great turn off for an altholic like me.

(also, I think that my character came out very bad, and since leveling is a bit hard i dont want to erase it (lvl 18))

[Stormwalker]

It's like someone pointed out above. Most retail games these days will run you $60.

For $60 worth of AC (that'd be about 4000 AC, depending on how cheap you can find webmoey), you can get...

3 extra characters (500 AC each x 3 = 1500), an extra mag for each character (300 x 4 = 1200) an extra skill tree for each character (in case you mess one up, or want a dedicated subclass tree - 500 x 4 = 2000) and still have a little left over.

So really, the pricing for these things is pretty fair.

The F2P model is what it is. For free, you get a barebones game. The game is fun just like this, but can be a bit tedious sometimes as you have to work around the limitations of the free version.

If you're willing to put a little money into it, you can get features that are somewhat comparable to a game you would have paid for. A few extra characters, some customization options, and the like.

If you're willing to put money into it consistently (as you would be doing if you were playing a subscription game anyway), you get to play the game as it was intended, with its full set of features and all the perks thereof.

The fact of the matter is, most F2P games, to really get the full experience, actually end up costing you a little MORE than most subscription games. This is why the F2P model is so popular among developers... they get the large player base that comes with their game being free, and some of those players spend a little money here and there, but the hardcore fans who would have been willing to pay a subscription fee are still there as well, paying for all these extra services (and actually paying a bit more than they would have under a subscription model).

Anytime you play a game that's F2P, you have to weigh these things.

That said, to more specifically answer your question: It sounds to me like you are looking for a game to bridge the gap while FFXIV is unavailable to you. If you have played FFXIV, even the entirely free version of PSO2 is not likely to seem all that grindy to you (if my memories of FFXIV are at all accurate, anyway, it's been a long time since I've played it). The free version is fine for casual play, really... you miss out on some customization (though even most of that can be had if you're willing to grind out the meseta to buy it on player shops), but all the essential features are there.

The one thing you really lose out on playing for free is it's hard to play a hybrid character. Having only one mag limits your flexibility considerably. You could play Hunter and Fighter and be just fine with only one mag, or you could play Ranger and Gunner and be fine, or Force and Techer and be mostly fine... but if you want to play Hunter and Force, you have the choice of either making a mag that is optimal for one class (and terrible for the other) or one that is hybridized between the two classes (and optimal for neither). This can be worked around, but you'll have to compensate in your skill tree.

of course, for only 600 AC you could buy two mags... that's a very small investment and solves this problem entirely.

EDIT: I just wanted to add: Rather than trust other people's opinions on how the free game plays, why not just try it? It doesn't cost you anything to set up an account... and if you're not buying AC, the account setup is super easy. It's only when you decide you want to buy AC that you have to go through the time-consuming part of setup. You really won't have much use for any of the pay features until you're at least level 15 (when you unlock subclass). Play the game, see if you like it.

[Keii]

To the OP - if you're wondering about the current state of the game, you can check out the summary I wrote on NeoGAF (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500477) about the changes and content updates since the release.

[Tetsaru]

Thanks again for the info, guys. :) I'm still a bit on the fence on whether or not I want to try this out again though. I'd want to play alongside several of my friends, and I'm not sure at this point how interested they are in PSO2. I know they were concerned with how well everything was translated at this point (I was wondering why all the item names were still untranslated, but if it's server-side, I guess that makes sense). That, and one of my friend's PC has been acting up lately, so until we get it sorted out, I doubt he'd be able to play on the laptop he's borrowing now. That, and I was hoping to have multiple character slots to mess around with for fun. :(

MAG's can be bought with AC... does this mean they don't drop as items anymore? I assume there are guides available somewhere for leveling them as well?

[ShinMaruku]

Tetsaru;2883671 What happened to having 4 free character slots per account?
Sega is full of shit? :E

[BIG OLAF]

MAG's can be bought with AC... does this mean they don't drop as items anymore? I assume there are guides available somewhere for leveling them as well?

Correct, Mags aren't items anymore. They're not even in your inventory. They have their own separate screen in the menus. Also, for guides, there's been a couple written up in the PSO2 Guides sub-forum. Search around there. Good to have you wanting to play. I missed that giant, purple MEGABLOX robot.

even though there's this red robot, but he likes wearing high-heels. it's uncomfortable for everyone involved.

[Keii]

Sega is full of shit? :E
Free to play game which isn't free to make or free to maintain? Seriously, nobody expects those little ads during loading screens to pay the bills, right?

[Tetsaru]

Sega is full of shit? :E

Lol, wouldn't surprise me...


Correct, Mags aren't items anymore. They're not even in your inventory. They have their own separate screen in the menus. Also, for guides, there's been a couple written up in the PSO2 Guides sub-forum. Search around there. Good to have you wanting to play. I missed that giant, purple MEGABLOX robot.

even though there's this red robot, but he likes wearing high-heels. it's uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Thanks, I missed those big blue 8008's as well, along with Tiffany's. :razz:

Speaking of giant purple megablox robots... is there anywhere I can view all the new clothing, parts, accessories, hairstyles, etc. that have been released so far? I've heard rumors of an English PSO2 Wiki site or something similar in the works, but I guess it hasn't come to fruition since we technically don't have an English version of the game yet.

A bit off-topic here: if anyone here is working on such a site, I've seen a few well-made ones for FF14 like Mooglebox, (http://www.mooglebox.com/includes/index.php) which does an excellent job of sorting out equipment by various stats and also has a bestiary, or XIVDB's (http://xivdb.com/) wardrobe feature, where you can search for items and drag-and-drop them to see the total stat boosts to your character. I wouldn't know the first thing on how to make such a website, lol, but I think it'd be cool to see some similar functionality, either here on PSOW or elsewhere. 8)

[ShinMaruku]

Free to play game which isn't free to make or free to maintain? Seriously, nobody expects those little ads during loading screens to pay the bills, right?

Look to Nexon.

[Kondibon]

Look to Nexon.

I play Mabinogi and what is this?

Nexon is hardly a paragon of free content in free games.

On the other hand most games I've played that started or went F2P give you 2-3 characters slots even if you can buy more.

[ShinMaruku]

You know Nexon owns NCSoft who has arena net right? :E

[Kondibon]

You know Nexon owns NCSoft who has arena net right? :E

Owning a company doesn't mean anything except where the money ultimately gets funneled to. I'm talking about games that were developed and maintained directly by nexon.

[BIG OLAF]

Thanks, I missed those big blue 8008's as well, along with Tiffany's. :razz:

Speaking of giant purple megablox robots... is there anywhere I can view all the new clothing, parts, accessories, hairstyles, etc. that have been released so far? I've heard rumors of an English PSO2 Wiki site or something similar in the works, but I guess it hasn't come to fruition since we technically don't have an English version of the game yet.


Aheh...

Oh, well, there were some PSO2 wikis, but as far as I can tell, they all sort of fell into disrepair (besides The Arkive (arkive.info), but that's not up to snfuf yet). Most of us around here use the PSO2 Google Doc Spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Akbdpi65EON1dGRTd2hqNXBQMW1Lak9SOFJKM1Utb UE&gid=12) for now. It has mostly everything in the game as of now. It doesn't offer zoom-ins of items or anything, but that's what item previews in-game are for, I guess.

[gigawuts]

http://pso2.swiki.jp/index.php?%E3%82%B3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%81%E3%83%A5%E3% 83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%84