This popped up on my twitterfeed...

[Kion]

I guess Jeff Gerstmann of Giantbomb reported that the US release may not happen due to the English patch, as it put Sega America in an awkward position, because everyone who wants to play it, already has. Source: Part 1 (https://twitter.com/DarkstarIV/status/348247802666692609) / Part 2 (https://twitter.com/DarkstarIV/status/348247898015793152) [My response in part 2]


I can't find this person's source. And googling Jeff Gerstmann, he seems pretty active about getting word from Sega as far as the North American release is concerned. I tried tweeting at Jeff to confirm this bit of information and am waiting on a response.

How many people think that SoA would step up and release the NA version if the English patch was discontinued?

[EvilMag]

I still wouldn't play the English version. I can handle playing the game in Japanese. I was able to on PSU and I'm sure I can on PSO2.

[MegaMettaurX]

at the sametime, you're stuck with the predicament that actual PSO fans still don't know this game is out, or is still waiting for a localized version so they don't have to go through loops and holes just to enjoy the game.

[Hosaka]

I am completely and totally unconcerned with the NA release at this point, but I will say that if this reasoning holds true, you guys had better not give in and discontinue updating the English patch for JP PSO2.

I don't use it, but I have many friends who do, and I would hate it if they all started quitting or something because support for it ends. When I have friends who neither speak nor read any Japanese and I am trying to convince them to join me on PSO2, the English patch is a positive bullet point I always refer to.

So yeah, if this is true, don't give in to it and keep doing what you guys are doing. It is appreciated.

[Gardios]

Sounds more like an excuse tbh.

I know plenty of people who are still waiting for the English release—they don't want to play on the JP servers because, despite the patch, it's still mainly Japanese.

[blace]

After looking through Giant Bomb's site, YouTube channel and Twitter, there's nothing on it about SoA being faced with a predicament of the sort.

You still have a while to get a reply though.

@Hosaka There's more to it than continuing with the english patch, it could end in class action lawsuit against the patch and its creators. If its true that the english patch is hindering the release of the western version, they have all means to put an end to it. Assuming, that this is real of course.

[Saffran]

If this is true, it's all the more reason to go on with it - non-japanese speakers are not getting anything else, not now, not ever.
That still leaves the glaring issue that no one knows the game exists.

[jooozek]

if thats true then it will be assholeish if you continue the english patches but i doubt it
then again, pso2 is a terrible game so i dont really care anymore for a NA/EU release as much

[~Aya~]

i find it hilarious to believe that an english patch would stop this game from being successful as EN/EU launch if they just provided a little advertising. That sounds like a lame excuse to me~

I will not switch for a few reasons.. Too much time/effort put into JP version and reading/understanding JP was never problem. Lastly, I don't like how SoA runs their online games at all.

[Rien]

I know a metric shit ton of people who wants an english version and won't touch the japanese version :C I don't see how this excuse flies at all.

[blace]

After looking through the guys Tweets, and looking around in general, it's more than likely a dubious attempt to say SoA fails.

If something like this were true, you would more than likely recieve notification from a Sega rep rather than a anonymous tip through Twitter.

[EvilMag]

If the English patch is stopping them from releasing it then wouldn't they have sent a C&D letter to the group who made the patch?

[~Aya~]

It's getting to be too late to release this game overseas anyways.. releasing an offline game 1+ years later is another story... an online game like PSO? eehhhhhhhhh...


Refer to how behind the content would be in other threads >.>....

[blace]

It's getting to be too late to release this game overseas anyways.. releasing an offline game 1+ years later is another story... an online game like PSO? eehhhhhhhhh...


Refer to how behind the content would be in other threads >.>....
Other games have taken years to reach western servers, no idea why you're complaining about that.

[Ranmaru]

I know a metric shit ton of people who wants an english version and won't touch the japanese version :C I don't see how this excuse flies at all.

Same here.

[Rien]

@blace Can I have examples of said games?

[~Aya~]

Other games have taken years to reach western servers, no idea why you're complaining about that.


i think you misunderstand me completely... but that's fine I guess.

[Maronji]

Other games have taken years to reach western servers, no idea why you're complaining about that.

I can only think of "meh" examples, but Fantasy Earth Zero, Megaten, and Dynasty Warriors Online definitely fit the bill, from what I know.

@Rien: See above.

EDIT: Okay, Megaten was just a year or so. Double-checked on that one because I wasn't sure.

[jooozek]

european dragon nest only became a thing in march 2013 and thats what, 3 years, jesus christ
and if you played dragon nest you'd know how important local servers are since its an action game and pvp oriented
vindictus eu too took almost 2 years, also lolworthy
mabinogi EU took 6 years
maple story EU took 4 years

why am i mentioning EU? oh, because NA cockblocks everything outside of NA in those games

[blace]

@blace Can I have examples of said games?
I can think of a couple that I've played.

Tales Runner with it's original Korean release in 2005 with a western release in 2008.

It's only a year for it, but S4 League.

ArcheAge, an up and coming MMO similar to Tera is seeing a western release next year.

Yeah, it's not that much of a lineup for late releases, but still viable.

Edit: Didn't think to look into EU dates, but S4 League was released in the EU in 2008 with a supposed NA version 3 years ago, before that was changed and EU was in charge and officially supporting NA servers since 2011.

[Zenobia]

I can think of a couple that I've played.

Tales Runner with it's original Korean release in 2005 with a western release in 2008.

It's only a year for it, but S4 League.

ArcheAge, an up and coming MMO similar to Tera is seeing a western release next year.

Yeah, it's not that much of a lineup for late releases, but still viable.

Edit: Didn't think to look into EU dates, but S4 League was released in the EU in 2008 with a supposed NA version 3 years ago, before that was changed and EU was in charge and officially supporting NA servers since 2011.
^Agreed on that you beat me to the punch.

Also hell no, English patch being the reason? Now I have heard the reason being because a lot of English players are already playing on the JP servers so if they are already playing on ours why release it for NA? Now these are just rumors that I have heard playing around and snooping on different blocks.

[Gardios]

MMORPGs being localized a year or more later is the norm, not the exception.


If the English patch is stopping them from releasing it then wouldn't they have sent a C&D letter to the group who made the patch?

Yes, they would have.

[Shadowth117]

Oh this is rich. An language MOD stopping them from releasing an official product? Bullshit. That'd be like a movie being taped in a theater and then the company being worried to make an official dvd release because of it. Its so ridiculous its stupid.

Now look, I'm actually one of the people who dislikes the English patch (I dislike how a fair few things are translated along with occasional bugs it brings about) though I admit it lets a lot of people play who otherwise wouldn't. But its just downright ridiculous to think that a mod of all things would make a major company think not to release a game. There are numerous cases where big games got translations before coming over stateside and notice I said before coming over stateside because they did in the end. And before you bring up that a lot of those are offline, that's even worse for the developer technically. Because honestly, those story based games should have even less to gain from a translation in that case since they aren't constantly having things added to them.

So yeah, despite my dislike for the English patch, its very stupid to scapegoat a MOD of all things for the reason that a game won't be released somewhere. As for the time issue, hasn't stopped companies before.

[Chik'Tikka]

i was always under the assumption SoJ/SoJ would steal the English patch, in an unofficial way, to help speed up localization+^_^+ also i was kinda under the assumption the SoJ would be wowed by the western community going so far as creating such a sophisticated patch as well as cracking the encryption that held EN patch for so long+^_^+ wasn't there something on bumped a long time ago about how "surprised" Sakai and the PSO2 team was by the western presence in the Alphas and Betas and the creation of EN patch during CBT? +^_^+ I think this guy is trollin hardcore+^_^+

[MegaMettaurX]

I can only think of "meh" examples, but Fantasy Earth Zero, Megaten, and Dynasty Warriors Online definitely fit the bill, from what I know.

@Rien: See above.

EDIT: Okay, Megaten was just a year or so. Double-checked on that one because I wasn't sure.

Mabinogi took 5 years to be localized in NA, and I wanna say 7 for EU. Vindictus/Mabinogi Heroes took 2 or 3.

[Kion]

I know a metric shit ton of people who wants an english version and won't touch the japanese version :C I don't see how this excuse flies at all.

Pretty much this. The "everyone who wants to play is already playing it" is absolute horseshit. How many fans of games go out of their way to play a game in a different language? A few hundred, a thousand maybe if the game is really good. Pso2 likely has 10,000 fans or more jumping through hoops to play on the Japanese servers, which I think demonstrates only a fraction of a massive potential of player that would be playing the game if it were localized.


If the English patch is stopping them from releasing it then wouldn't they have sent a C&D letter to the group who made the patch?

It could be that, "hey this kid is supporting our game for free, why should we put our necks on the line?". Believe me, the person that wants this game localized the most is probably me. All I did for the story was sit down with a notebook and translate videos that Vash and Maronji posted during the beta to try and give players a preview of what story of the game was so that more people would enjoy it. And maybe give players a preview of the content that was coming in the game. The first story patch that wasn't released until February and before then it was mostly Agrajag's team's translations of all of the essentials until then.

I haven't played the game in four months now and Aida hasn't really gotten a chance to play much since she got on board. More than anything, I'd rather just be able to play the game, and have people more people enjoy the game. And for me that means a well maintained localized version, that more importantly I can play in my free time and not have to maintain.

Sega has done absolutely nothing over the last year to tell fans that the game is coming, they're working on it and it's going to come out. They've done nothing to tell people that there's going to be an alternative to wait for. If they want people to play their game, then they should be on twitter, they should be on facebook, of all places they should at least be fucking posting on their own goddamn forums, or previewing the game at Pax East or E3. Not doing anything to support their own product and then passing the blame on to their fans who wholeheartedly want to see a localized version more than anything, is the most unprofessional, spineless excuse for anything I've ever seen in my life.

[Meji]

If this was the reason, I think SEGA's just being lazy - using the ENG patch as a scapegoat.

[~Aya~]

Mabinogi took 5 years to be localized in NA, and I wanna say 7 for EU. Vindictus/Mabinogi Heroes took 2 or 3.

I've never heard of any of the games posted above me except for "Vindictus".

PSO's NA releases had major gaps in content and i'm sure some other games did, too.

[MegaMettaurX]

I can only think of "meh" examples, but Fantasy Earth Zero, Megaten, and Dynasty Warriors Online definitely fit the bill, from what I know.

@Rien: See above.

EDIT: Okay, Megaten was just a year or so. Double-checked on that one because I wasn't sure.


I've never heard of any of the games posted above me except for "Vindictus".

PSO's NA releases had major gaps in content and i'm sure some other games did, too.

Vindictus is the prequel to Mabinogi. Vindictus's untranslated name is Mabinogi Heroes.

[EvilMag]

Pretty much this. The "everyone who wants to play is already playing it" is absolute horseshit. How many fans of games go out of their way to play a game in a different language? A few hundred, a thousand maybe if the game is really good. Pso2 likely has 10,000 fans or more jumping through hoops to play on the Japanese servers, which I think demonstrates only a fraction of a massive potential of player that would be playing the game if it were localized.



It could be that, "hey this kid is supporting our game for free, why should we put our necks on the line?". Believe me, the person that wants this game localized the most is probably me. All I did for the story was sit down with a notebook and translate videos that Vash and Maronji posted during the beta to try and give players a preview of what story of the game was so that more people would enjoy it. And maybe give players a preview of the content that was coming in the game. The first story patch that wasn't released until February and before then it was mostly Agrajag's team's translations of all of the essentials until then.

I haven't played the game in four months now and Aida hasn't really gotten a chance to play much since she got on board. More than anything, I'd rather just be able to play the game, and have people more people enjoy the game. And for me that means a well maintained localized version, that more importantly I can play in my free time and not have to maintain.

Sega has done absolutely nothing over the last year to tell fans that the game is coming, they're working on it and it's going to come out. They've done nothing to tell people that there's going to be an alternative to wait for. If they want people to play their game, then they should be on twitter, they should be on facebook, of all places they should at least be fucking posting on their own goddamn forums, or previewing the game at Pax East or E3. Not doing anything to support their own product and then passing the blame on to their fans who wholeheartedly want to see a localized version more than anything, is the most unprofessional, spineless excuse for anything I've ever seen in my life.
SoA using the English patch as a Scapegoat is very similar to when essen leaked the PSP2 visiphone passwords. lol I remember Ruby got pissed and pretty much said that PSUpedia ruined everything.

[Chik'Tikka]

Stuffs+^_^+


0.0 if i could "Like" a post.... +^_^+
http://blog.zuberance.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/facebook-like-thumbs-up1.jpg

[Kion]

SoA using the English patch as a Scapegoat is very similar to when essen leaked the PSP2 visiphone passwords. lol I remember Ruby got pissed and pretty much said that PSUpedia ruined everything.

Aida's been the one maintaining the patch recently, so it's up to her. But I would be seriously amused to call Sega's bluff and discontinue the patch to see if Sega puts their money where their mouth is. (On the condition this info is accurate.)

More than that, I've made myself very available on twitter and on these forums. I posted on the Sega official forums in response to Edward's announcement of the game being delayed saying that I'd be willing to help. I fucking tried to go to SoJ for fucksakes. And I'd more more than willing to back off or help the official version in any way-shape-or-form. If they wanted to get in contact, they can do so at anytime.

This just seems like the worst excuse of a lie of an excuse I've ever seen.

[UnLucky]

But that's not even from anyone at Sega, it's just some self important video game journalist making outrageous claims to gain page views.

No different from a thread on PSOW in my eyes.

[Kion]

But that's not even from anyone at Sega, it's just some self important video game journalist making outrageous claims to gain page views.

No different from a thread on PSOW in my eyes.

I considered that too. Considering there's no direct source, and even if it did, it's still at best, a rumor. But it still fits into, "do you trust SoA to manage this game, or would you rather play on the Japanese version with patches" discussion.

Also, if he has actual contacts with SoA, I'd love, more than anything, to be able to talk to a representative or something to see what's going on. Because nobody at SoA or otherwise seems to know what exactly is going on with the game.

[blace]

I was looking around on Siliconera and Kotaku, and no word or developments leading to that claim. They're in the dark as much as anyone else is.

[~Aya~]

I considered that too. Considering there's no direct source, and even if it did, it's still at best, a rumor. But it still fits into, "do you trust SoA to manage this game, or would you rather play on the Japanese version with patches" discussion.

Also, if he has actual contacts with SoA, I'd love, more than anything, to be able to talk to a representative or something to see what's going on. Because nobody at SoA or otherwise seems to know what exactly is going on with the game.

They're probably told to act dumb and not talk about it if they can avoid it. Saying anything would cause everything you're seeing now that is pure speculation. It would cause an uproar and even more doubt if the news is either bad or too little news to go off of.

Most employees may also not know anything aside from, "yeah, it's coming.. someday" to most likely avoid leaks.

[Vandread]

If SoA wouldn't want to risk releasing the game without the EN patch discontinued, they would've sent out DMCA requests coupled with C&D orders pretty much terminating the translation project altogether.

I've personally experienced this with a project I was a part of up until a few months back. Some game got re-released in the EU, which... led to DMCA/C&Ds sent out. Standard procedure. Sending out those doesn't cost nearly as much as actually putting a legal squad on matters anyway, and gets the job done just as effectively.

Up till the point of anyone affiliated with the translation patch receiving any of those, it's likely nothing more but a 'for teh lulz' scapegoat attempt by an outsider.

[jooozek]

I've never heard of any of the games posted above me except for "Vindictus".

PSO's NA releases had major gaps in content and i'm sure some other games did, too.

guess what
everyone else in the MMO market can say the same about the phantasy star franchise :lol:

[Powder Keg]

That's a silly thing for him to say. There are a lot of people, myself included, who would play an English release.

If it's never released outside of Japan, it's because of Sega's incompetence, not because of a patch.

You guys already know the rest of the story.....

[Zipzo]

This is an absurd assumption.

No english patch is stopping SEGA of america from releasing it themselves. SEGA of america can't do any sort of borrowing or using of AIDA's patch because there's the potential for lawsuits with paper stacks so thick no matter what country you live in it would make your head spin.

Sega of America can't do a C&D because they don't own the product AIDA is maintaining a patch for.

If the USA doesn't get their game it's because Sega of America slacked off...I can say in gratuitous amounts of positivity that a thread like this can only cause sensationalist idiocy to spread.

[BIG OLAF]

Sounds fake. Even if it's not, it's just an excuse, and a very weak one at that. A fan-made language patch (that not even everyone uses), would hardly stop a large corporation from doing anything in the real, non-rumor world.

[o0Kais0o]

Aida's been the one maintaining the patch recently, so it's up to her. But I would be seriously amused to call Sega's bluff and discontinue the patch to see if Sega puts their money where their mouth is. (On the condition this info is accurate.)More than that, I've made myself very available on twitter and on these forums. I posted on the Sega official forums in response to Edward's announcement of the game being delayed saying that I'd be willing to help. I fucking tried to go to SoJ for fucksakes. And I'd more more than willing to back off or help the official version in any way-shape-or-form. If they wanted to get in contact, they can do so at anytime.

This just seems like the worst excuse of a lie of an excuse I've ever seen.

If you proved that to be the sole reason for a lack of an NA/EU release I would die laughing.

[gigawuts]

Did not read thread. Just going to say:

If Sega doesn't think PSO2 will survive without its most hardcore fans, which are absolutely the minority, then EN PSO2 was never going to get far at all. I guess this reaffirms what I was saying before about Sega relying purely on its fans to sell PS titles for a while now.

A good F2P game will not rely on a tiny pre-existing fanbase, it will rely on its ability to attract new players continuously over time. And this? This won't attract many for very long after a few months.

This was a complete and blatant lie. What they meant to say is its tiny collection of guaranteed cash cow fans are already playing a version they will not be able to lure them away from - and I don't mean because we're all too stubborn to change to a superior option. I mean because it won't actually be superior.

[Zipzo]

I do think (given this ridiculous rumor was true) that it's utterly and hilariously ironic that...in conclusion after all the bitching and moaning and complaining about USA version...

USA ended up being the reason USA didn't get their own PSO2! How's that for some bad karma, haha.

[shagia]

I think it's a rumor, it just sounds like it wouldn't happen in the first place, why would they not send a C&D if this was actually happening?

on the other hand, isn't jeff excited for the localization still? he did express his opinion on PSO2 not showing up during E3, he also played during the closed beta last year.

[Zipzo]

I think it's a rumor, it just sounds like it wouldn't happen in the first place, why would they not send a C&D if this was actually happening?

on the other hand, isn't jeff excited for the localization still? he did express his opinion on PSO2 not showing up during E3, he also played during the closed beta last year.

Wow...for the nth time, Sega of american can't send a C&D over a product they don't control.

[Sinue_v2]

I can't find this person's source. And googling Jeff Gerstmann, he seems pretty active about getting word from Sega as far as the North American release is concerned. I tried tweeting at Jeff to confirm this bit of information and am waiting on a response.

How many people think that SoA would step up and release the NA version if the English patch was discontinued?

I'd call bullshit on this. Not only does it not have a source, but it just reeks of the kind of bullshit logic that some half-baked troll would toss out there to screw with the community. Any respectable company would look at the number of foreign users willing to go through all the bullshit just to play their game, multiply that number by 10 or 50 or whatever, and project that as a rough guesstimate as to what kind of sales to expect on a full release in that territory. Everyone who wants to play it already has? Bullshit. The vast majority of their PSO2 customers will be from people who didn't even know they wanted to play it until it was released and advertised in their territory. Most people simply don't give enough of a shit about PSO2, if they even know about it, to go through all of that just to try it. They will, however, be far more receptive to it if you put in an language they understand and set it up so that they can actually buy AC without jumping through a shitload of hoops. Even if you can only hook them for a few months, then that's at least time to generate buzz and rake in some quick cash.

Secondly, if Sega was really that concerned about the English patch ruining the western market for the game, they could take steps to ensure that it doesn't work by simply forcing a file check every time you start up the launcher... and they could enforce their foreign IP bans. It wouldn't get rid of everybody, but about 80% of the current foreign population would be shut out.

And just think about this... they're running a F2P game which requires people to make purchases from the cash shop. If they were going to rely on the English patch to bring Western users into the Japanese version... why the fuck would they inhibit your ability to purchase AC from them by not allowing foreign credit cards? That makes no goddamned sense whatsoever. If this story was consistent, then I'd think we should expect some moves by Sega to actually make the game friendlier to paying gaijun... not harder. They'd just be throwing away server space and bandwidth.

Also... and I may be wrong here, but wouldn't such a move as this set a bad precedent when it comes to protecting their IP?

[gigawuts]

Absolutely. Punish the dedicated fans for being dedicated.

I mean, this is SoA we're talking about. I completely find this plausible. I don't necessarily believe it, but this is 100% something they would try to fall back on because it's the only thing even remotely sellable as an excuse. They may be canceling it for different reasons, but I don't doubt even a bit that this is what they might try to fall back on to try to save face.

Because blaming your most dedicated customers is a surefire strategy to save face.

[gravityvx]

Yeah, because kicking everyone off to try and force them onto a more boring version of the game(assuming release is outdated as hell to drip feed content)will totally get said players on board. Yeah, I can completely see all kinds of scenarios working out for SoA PSO2. /sarcasm

But, I can definitely say without a doubt that rumor is bullshit. Unless that company is really that incompetent.

[The Walrus]

Seems legit

[Laxedrane]

Seems silly to me. If I were running sega and felt threaten by the patch like that. I would just buy the people doing it out. Use their data to speed along the process of releasing it stateside. or even hire them, and have them continue to make the patch so that people can select English on the launcher and have the patch already downloaded and play.

[Z-0]

The actual quote from GiantBomb:


Ryan: "you're saying that it doesn't need to come out in english and in america because the people who want to play that game are playing that game?"

Jeff: "Kinda yeah, sorta caught up in this really fucked up space where you can still play it and there are ways to fund an account..."

This guy is just making stuff up and taking things way out of context. (some other things said before this)

It's basically someone speculating.

http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/giant-bombcast-06-18-2013/1600-519/
Go to around 15:00.

[DarkstarIV]

It's not me speculating, I'm just reporting what I've read from other people. Anyways, I contacted Jeff, so we'll see what happens. Don't shoot the messenger.

[Zipzo]

It's not me speculating, I'm just reporting what I've read from other people. Anyways, I contacted Jeff, so we'll see what happens. Don't shoot the messenger.

Yet no source still...and no reason to tweet something that rides so many folks panties of frustration and confusion.

[shagia]

It's not me speculating, I'm just reporting what I've read from other people. Anyways, I contacted Jeff, so we'll see what happens. Don't shoot the messenger.


Yet no source still...and no reason to tweet something that rides so many folks panties of frustration and confusion.

well there was this tweet (https://twitter.com/DarkstarIV/status/349161644041068544)..

I don't think blaming Darkstar for causing more of such frustration has any need.

[Kion]

The actual quote from GiantBomb:http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/giant-bombcast-06-18-2013/1600-519/ Go to around 15:00.

I got a reply on twitter from DarkStar, this is pretty much the source of what he tweeted. I guess the follow up question is if Jeff actually has a source, or if it's just an inference.

[Yden]

In my personal experience, I have friends who want to play PSO2 but are put off by the JP version. The issue is that they really have trouble with the English patch and the fact it constantly needs to be updated almost every other patch.

[Railkune]

Well, it all just seems like one big petty excuse in my honest opinion. Not much else I can say about that.

[Ranmaru]

That's just the way it is. Yet, I will get to the point of poking and prodding a friend to getting through all those hoops because I know they wouldn't regret it. (I'm currently helping a friend get on it)

[Noc Codez]

LMFAO

That's the excuse ? SOA is so much fail..

[HIT0SHI]

I WILL play the NA PSO2 if it ever comes out. My focus will be on the JP PSO2 if only the NA version is falling behind on contect like it was on PSU (360) which i din't even know at the time till the sersers shut down. I know many people from here, and friends who WANT to play NA PSO2 so i don't see hows this an excuse.

[TimmiT]

I listened to the podcast in which he said that, it's just him speculating. Nothing to see here.

If you want any more confirmation of it being nothing but speculation:

@SEGAbits Yup, that's just me speculating on why Sega has been so quiet about it. It has less to do with the English patch, more to do...

@SEGAbits ...with the way that any English player that wants to play it can already play it.
https://twitter.com/jeffgerstmann/status/349201124609368064
https://twitter.com/jeffgerstmann/status/349201263461806080

[voxie]

Jeff just confirmed the speculative comment he made about all this. Relax guys.

https://twitter.com/jeffgerstmann/status/349201124609368064

[redroses]

If this would have been true it would have been the worst excuse ever to not bring out PSO2 to US & EU. Seeing as it is pretty sure that they will bring out NA & EU servers and therefor it doesn't technically matter if there is an english patch or not as they have to translate the game in different languages for the EU territory anyway.

Also, like many people said, there are lots of people who don't want to play on the japanese servers for many different reasons, and not to forget all the people who might currently not know about this game (or just don't often check info on it) but would play it when it came out.

[Valimer]

You would think SoJ would want to release it in NA to make more money, I mean, they can't honestly believe the entire potential NA player base is using the english patch and playing on Japanese servers already.

[DarkstarIV]

I'm pretty sure at this point, someone in Sega America or Japan hates money. And common sense.

I may as well post a quick thought on what I THINK should happen. But won't.

I think Sega Japan should take over the English site, and just create a ship/block dedicated to English speakers, and have Kion and Aida work on the English portion of the game. I doubt it would require too much to maintain.

Then again, this is Sega we are talking about, and I'm sure there is some sort of legal issue or something going on. Or laziness. Your choice!

Comedy option: Sega America isn't releasing PSO2 because they (and gearbox) are in the process of a legal battle with an angry fanbase over Aliens: Colonial Marines.

[BlankM]

Yes ideally international ships would be great.

But *sigh* too much stuff they think won't appeal to an english audience.

[gigawuts]

Yes ideally international ships would be great.

But *sigh* too much stuff they think won't appeal to an english audience.

I'm telling you guys, this is the reason it's still not launching here.

The scratch would work just fine, but everything else would just fall short next to other existing F2P and P2P options and they know it. People in the west are used to being able to do so much more in their games than what PSO2 allows, and SoA probably can't or won't rework it to allow players more freedom for whatever reason (SoJ not allowing them, not having the resources, not knowing how or what to do, whatever).

[Para]

I think SEGA is also having a hard time trying to gauge how many people will actually participate in the english NA release of PSO2. Then there's the question of how many people will actually pay for a free game.

Business wise, it is a huge risk for SEGA. To not mention, PS series NA wise has always seen poor support. Knowing that fiasco back from PSU, I am not sure if SEGA JP has a proper plan or infrastructure to prevent that this time coming thus delays.

[Lostbob117]

I think there will be still enough people to release a EN PSO2. Might have to cut the ships in half if they do release.

[Cyron Tanryoku]

Good thing I thought it was a lie

[supersonix9]

omg just use the english patch if you want to play

[gigawuts]

or even don't use it

lol

[supersonix9]

or even don't use it

lol

that too!

anyone with a sense of how video games work should be able to learn to play pso2 without the english patch, let alone those who use it

[Coatl]

But if NA PSO2 is in jeopardy because too many western players play it, how will they deal with that?

[EvilMag]

"but u r an insault 2 da phantash start series if u use the english patch"

[UnLucky]

The reason PSU and BB were shut down so early was because too many people played on the JP servers.

Obviously.

[gigawuts]

They did last longer.

Sounds legit.

[SolRiver]

If true: That's what you get for putting faith in SoA.

If false: It is silly to even think it is true.

[Yden]

If true: That's what you get for putting faith in SoA.

If false: It is silly to even think it is true.

I'm actually wondering if SoA is even going to be the ones releasing it at this point or are they in talks with other companies that already host MMOs (ex. Nexon, OG Planet, NC Soft, etc) to sell the license to them at this point.

[pso2love]

To answer your question Kion, It's too late to "discontinue" the english patch, because of the sole fact that it already exists. Sure, the people involved could take down the download link, however, someone will go and torrent it afterwards... so that is not possible.

As far as the speculation goes, its nothing more than just speculation. We need an official source, not speculation from he said she said.

[gravityvx]

Torrenting an outdated patch would be pointless. Someone else picking up the dropped project would be a different story. Not that there is even a chance for that being the reason PSO2 isn't in NA yet.

[Arialle]

theres always asisoft with pso2 .....oh mah gawd *flips table*

[Zenobia]

Guys we all know that if PSO2 does come to NA it wont last long because RNG, and needing to SPIN 2 WIN!

[DarkstarIV]

I'm actually wondering if SoA is even going to be the ones releasing it at this point or are they in talks with other companies that already host MMOs (ex. Nexon, OG Planet, NC Soft, etc) to sell the license to them at this point.

I can say this much. I don't think Nexon America is in any position to host MMOs at this point. They burned a significant chunk of their customer base a month or two ago, and have a lot of negative reputation. Also they've been posting nothing but losses every quarter.

I don't think Sega Japan would want them hosting PSO2.

[Zipzo]

I can say this much. I don't think Nexon America is in any position to host MMOs at this point. They burned a significant chunk of their customer base a month or two ago, and have a lot of negative reputation. Also they've been posting nothing but losses every quarter.

I don't think Sega Japan would want them hosting PSO2.

SEGA isn't exactly ballin' either.

[gigawuts]

Yeah seriously.

I'm not up to snuff on MMO companies, but I'm pretty sure the only "good" ones are maintaining their own MMO's, and the ones that pick up MMO's from other companies aren't exactly adored by the MMO community at large.

[pso2love]

Torrenting an outdated patch would be pointless. Someone else picking up the dropped project would be a different story. Not that there is even a chance for that being the reason PSO2 isn't in NA yet.

What ever happened to "Just get tha patch, it fully translateds"? lol
Yeah, I know that there will probably be more client orders, quests, and even more storyline even if the unofficial translators were to stop a month from now... but it just makes me laugh that people are still using the "patch" excuse to not want to migrate back over to the Western release when it comes out.

[UnLucky]

Have you ever tried an outdated patch? It breaks everything.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

Sorry to break the aura in the room but what does RNG stand for?

[gravityvx]

Rage

Near

Gigantic

[SPOILER-BOX]Random Number Generater[/SPOILER-BOX]

[Blueblur]

I came here to clarify everything but it looks like it's already been handled. Anyway, there are definitely a lot of people that are waiting for the NA version. There are quite a few people on the NeoGAF forums and lots of people on Tumblr that know about the game and are waiting for the NA version. I also have a couple of friends that would like to try the game but can't be bothered to download it, then the English patch and then have to keep up with fan sites to know what updates are going into effect. While I really love playing the JP version, I would definitely give the NA version a shot.

[Zenobia]

Rage

Near

Gigantic

[SPOILER-BOX]Random Number Generater[/SPOILER-BOX]

Ragin Nerdgasam

[RmxVer]

Wait until they figure out that IP banning us from the japanese will get us to the US versio.

[Gardios]

No, that just makes us use proxies/quit completely. :wacko:

[FO-RA-HUnightv]

actually i would stop playing and move on. I have 3 level 60s, 2 level 30s on the same account. I would be pissed off. As it stands I am not going to play the international version as it has been far to long. Sega once again being a wooping failure with there IPs is a testament that with there extremely talented side of designers and game makers, the people running the show are dumb as dirt.

[Jei182]

not to forget all the people who might currently not know about this game (or just don't often check info on it) but would play it when it came out.
I played the original PSO and all later versions of it up to BB. Even though there has been news of this game from like 2010-2012, I didn't find out about this game until a week before I downloaded it. I downloaded it in late May. Hearing about the game was a pleasant surprise and I wasn't even sure my laptop could handle it. As long as there isn't too much clutter it can but I am planning on upgrading my memory anyway.

I really do wish and hope that a NA or at least a Western Version in some English country comes out but being familiar with SEGAs history of delays, if it happens it probably won't be anytime soon. It's a bummer but I'd probably be more anxious and angry at SEGA if I didn't play the Japanese version. It still sucks that it appears they've all but abandoned the game but judging from the number of people that appear to be upset about it, it does not look like it's because western players are on the japanese version. I still think it's the issue of the game model itself. I think they are concerned just with what people will or won't pay for in the other markets. Sure there are those of us that say that we will, but in the long run the question is are there enough?

[Yden]

Wait until they figure out that IP banning us from the japanese will get us to the US versio.

That actually does happen from time to time when MMOs get a localization.

[Jei182]

Absolutely. Punish the dedicated fans for being dedicated.

Because blaming your most dedicated customers is a surefire strategy to save face.

I will say this, if SoA did use the english patch as a scapegoat, or did this in any way then despite how much I still want to play a US/EU version of PSO2, this would be the one thing that would make me not support it or buy it. No way in hell would I support a company that basically calls it's fanbase stupid.

XBox one is a perfect example. They basically insulted their fanbase with that statement regarding the internet connection. Their little tagline that they came up with, instead of XBOX 360 I put PS4 in there. I can't remember how it went exactly but it was something like "If you don't have an internet connection, get an XBox360." So while I love PSO2 and I would love to play a full english version one day, if it came about due to the English Patch or Western people being used a scapegoat or being kicked off because of it, I would not even touch the US/EU version of PSO2, and I can say this would be true even if I never played the Japanese version.

[Tripaholic]

On this weeks Bombcast Jeff said he's been playing this a lot again and that he kind of feels like this won't ever happen. He said he's tried to reach out but never gets any information back. When he asked someone he actually knows at Sega they gave him a response that was something along the lines of "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'm not sure. I don't work on that."

http://v.giantbomb.com/podcast/giantbombcast-062513-06-25-2013-0231862572.mp3 - He starts talking about it around 43:45

[gigawuts]

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'm not sure. I don't work on that."

Sega, ladies and gentlemen.

[Nitro Vordex]

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'm not sure. I don't work on that."
"WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT PSO2 COMING STATESIDE?"

Sega:
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/files/2012/09/finger-pointing2.gif

[TaigaUC]

I have zero interest in a US/international release, but I also constantly see people complaining that they are waiting for it.
Most people are far too lazy to deal with stuff like fan-made translations and just want to jump in and out without expending any real effort.
There are other reasons, of course... but that seems to be the primary one.


Sega, ladies and gentlemen.

Hahahaha. If SEGA is truly withholding an English port because of the fan translations, it's because they know anything they poop out will be vastly inferior in comparison to the fan translations.


I'm not up to snuff on MMO companies, but I'm pretty sure the only "good" ones are maintaining their own MMO's, and the ones that pick up MMO's from other companies aren't exactly adored by the MMO community at large.

That's been my experience. They have to deal with licensing/royalty issues and waiting on the developers to fix stuff. They're kinda like the middleman that can only put out reassurances and pass complaints onto the devs. Unavoidably messy.

[Gardios]

When he asked someone he actually knows at Sega they gave him a response that was something along the lines of "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'm not sure. I don't work on that."

Can't really blame the dude if he's not actually involved with (and interested in?) it.