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View Full Version : PSO2 Asiasoft incurs net loss despite PSO2's release...



Zipzo
Sep 3, 2014, 08:12 AM
In the other topic I mentioned how newer players should reconsider rolling on the JP server even if they are in the SEA region.

http://www.gamerheadlines.com/2014/08/asiansoft-publisher-phantasy-star-online-2-lost-revenues/

This can obviously vary depending on the target country, but I don't think this bodes very well for a US release, not that any of you were hopeful anyhow.

Thoughts?

WildarmsRE5
Sep 3, 2014, 08:28 AM
while looking down at comments. . . I seriously laughed hard. . .

since when did SEA Version update faster than JP version?

they update once every month (which is seriously a downfall, they should update AC scratch twice a month as well, how do they think JP ver makes money?)

while we update atleast twice a month, JP PSO2 actually updates faster than most SEA Games.

Stealthcmc1974
Sep 3, 2014, 08:29 AM
In the other topic I mentioned how newer players should reconsider rolling on the JP server even if they are in the SEA region.

http://www.gamerheadlines.com/2014/08/asiansoft-publisher-phantasy-star-online-2-lost-revenues/

This can obviously vary depending on the target country, but I don't think this bodes very well for a US release, not that any of you were hopeful anyhow.

Thoughts?

I'd say this isn't so much an indicator of a western release not being possible, but of how poorly Asiasoft is handling PSO2. Being behind in content, I understand. But a poor English translation, inflated AC prices (holy cow), and a lackluster community (a small playerbase at that) doesn't bode well for success..

final_attack
Sep 3, 2014, 08:36 AM
Something to be expected from Asiasoft, actually.

Experience from online games in SEA region, most people I've met is all about PvP (I lived in SEA region, and the country I lived in is in one of AsiaSoft service area of PSO2), along with ....... higher chance metting people with not so good attitude.

I checked out one of their earlier event and campaign, since some friend of mine is playing the game on SEA (only last 3 days, due to various things in-game) ...... One of the campaign is with Red Bull, I think. But I can't find that "Special" Red Bull thing around (I lived on one of the big city, in AsiaSoft serviced area) ...... On lobby change on August, they also skipped one of the serviced area "Independence Day" event too.

I do wonder why they didn't provide special event or campain in areas they covered. It seems they deliberately skipped them.

Oh, also do note 1 thing ..... RMT felt normal over here. Sure, at first they're forbidden, give them a few days or weeks, it's legal. So, prepare for items in shops that can't be bought unless you buy Meseta / Items with Real Cash.

HeyItsTHK
Sep 3, 2014, 09:38 AM
It's just one of the many signs as to why people hate Asiasoft.

Mysterious-G
Sep 3, 2014, 10:12 AM
The bias you have towards Asiasoft is making you come to that conslusion. But there are plenty of other factors to be considered, be that the state of the market, the game's appeal in said region or others.
Don't paint things so black and white. Whether Asiasoft "sucks" or not is not necessarily the sole reason, or even a reason for the game failing.

otaku998
Sep 3, 2014, 10:33 AM
Didn't they make stuff like clothes non-tradeable once equipped?

Zipzo
Sep 3, 2014, 10:33 AM
The bias you have towards Asiasoft is making you come to that conslusion. But there are plenty of other factors to be considered, be that the state of the market, the game's appeal in said region or others.
Don't paint things so black and white. Whether Asiasoft "sucks" or not is not necessarily the sole reason, or even a reason for the game failing.

I actually have zero bias towards or against Asiasoft. I've never even played a game they host.

Mysterious-G
Sep 3, 2014, 10:36 AM
I actually have zero bias towards or against Asiasoft. I've never even played a game they host.

Well, your post was completely neutral in the first place. This is directed at the posts that came after.

Gardios
Sep 3, 2014, 10:57 AM
I don't think it's specific to Asiasoft? Last I heard Gamania and Garena didn't do so well either.

Sizustar
Sep 3, 2014, 11:00 AM
I don't think it's specific to Asiasoft? Last I heard Gamania and Garena didn't do so well either.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=6180:TT

Stealthcmc1974
Sep 3, 2014, 11:12 AM
Well, your post was completely neutral in the first place. This is directed at the posts that came after.

I played PSO2 SEA, and that was my impression from the game. Did while the DDoS was happening. Bias? Yes, because I played the damn thing.

DJcooltrainer
Sep 3, 2014, 01:03 PM
Operating at a net loss isn't too surprising for the first year being open. There's a lot of setup costs involved in starting up an online game like PSO2. I would be willing to wager that very few MMO games become profitable within the first year of operation. So it's not necessarily a bad sign, but I think Asiasoft will have to change up their marketing scheme if they want the game to continue to grow. The bad news for them is that the income coming in from their other titles doesn't seem to be closing the gap.

I hear TONS of complaints online about their customer service and greedy business practices. They need to do some serious PR work.

AAneko
Sep 3, 2014, 01:56 PM
Didn't they make stuff like clothes non-tradeable once equipped?

It's probably a rumor that someone pulled out of Their ass. :)

infiniteeverlasting
Sep 3, 2014, 02:41 PM
it pisses me off when i see people still going like "i just wanna play this goddamn game already!!!"
cuz then i will hafto explain that the english patch exists and that there is already a huge eng community in game.
smh

FerrickX
Sep 3, 2014, 02:54 PM
It's probably a rumor that someone pulled out of Their ass. :)

its not a rumor though, because for a time it was true, especially during the SEA beta

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218518

GHNeko
Sep 3, 2014, 04:03 PM
it pisses me off when i see people still going like "i just wanna play this goddamn game already!!!"
cuz then i will hafto explain that the english patch exists and that there is already a huge eng community in game.
smh

Or you could do what I do and read "I just wanna play this goddamn game already!!!" and translate it to, "I just wanna paly this goddamn game already without having to jump through ANY amount of hoops to play a game that isnt in 100% English!!!"

because that's usually the case and makes a lot more sense.

DrCatco
Sep 3, 2014, 04:50 PM
Well.

after this, I think AsiaSoft will remove the ISP ban hoping to capture more international customers, and hoping that their market does not falter. After all, it's the "official PSO2 english server" and has the "authorized english translations".

Of course, it's too late to do that.

May0
Sep 3, 2014, 06:41 PM
Operating at a net loss isn't too surprising for the first year being open. There's a lot of setup costs involved in starting up an online game like PSO2. I would be willing to wager that very few MMO games become profitable within the first year of operation. So it's not necessarily a bad sign, but I think Asiasoft will have to change up their marketing scheme if they want the game to continue to grow. The bad news for them is that the income coming in from their other titles doesn't seem to be closing the gap.

I hear TONS of complaints online about their customer service and greedy business practices. They need to do some serious PR work.

I always thought it was a bit strange that they only have a two ships and a handfull of blocks per ship. Curious I took a peak at a map here to give a better picture of the SEA region. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia#mediaviewer/File:Location-Asia-UNsubregions.png)

Landmass wise it looks to be twice as big as japan but out of that landmass I was curious if even half of that area has access to any internet let alone high speed internet. If they do have internet can they afford a computer that can play PSO2? Doing a bit more research I found they have a fairly comprehensive network throughout the whole SEA region. Furthermore gaming definitely isn't a blip on the economic radar as seen here (http://www.gamesindustry.com/southeast-asian-game-market-reach-1-2b-2017/)

As someone else here mentioned, Asiasoft probably should spend more on marketing. The audience is there if they could tap into it.

As for Asiasoft in general, they have a lot of different pots on the stove so to speak and I'm not sure these numbers are indicative of a PSO2 SEA failure so much as it is an overall failure for Asiasoft.

Daiyousei
Sep 3, 2014, 07:11 PM
costumes are also worth 9m or something, and they barely do anything about gold sellers, you can easily get 950m meseta.

chaosheal
Sep 3, 2014, 07:33 PM
it pisses me off when i see people still going like "i just wanna play this goddamn game already!!!"
cuz then i will hafto explain that the english patch exists and that there is already a huge eng community in game.
smh

I feel ya but let's face it, the english patch isn't perfect. It DOES cover essential stuff and matterboards/story quests, wich is really neat but for some people its just not enough. Some people like to actually know what the npc are saying when you just talk to them even though it pretty much serves no purpose and not knowing what announcements says is another thing that patches can't fix.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the english patch nor the translation team, at all. In fact I respect their work and I'm quite enjoying said patch. Just saying that from personnal experience for some people all this '' still in japanese stuff '' is offputting.

Vintasticvin
Sep 3, 2014, 07:45 PM
I feel ya but let's face it, the english patch isn't perfect. It DOES cover essential stuff and matterboards/story quests, wich is really neat but for some people its just not enough. Some people like to actually know what the npc are saying when you just talk to them even though it pretty much serves no purpose and not knowing what announcements says is another thing that patches can't fix.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the english patch nor the translation team, at all. In fact I respect their work and I'm quite enjoying said patch. Just saying that from personnal experience for some people all this '' still in japanese stuff '' is offputting.

Careful he's like a sword art online fan, you dis the english patch team and the gates of hades will open infront of you.

White Midnight
Sep 3, 2014, 07:57 PM
I've yet to hear anything good of Asiasoft from my SEA friends. I'm not surprised about this news, nor am I taking it as a sign that a US version is impossible.

As mentioned earlier, the startup cost of an online RPG like this is staggering, and having to make your own content just adds to it. If they can gain more players, it will likely turn around, but from what I've been told, this is not likely until they change their customer service practices.

Crystal_Shard
Sep 3, 2014, 08:28 PM
While I'm not naive enough to think that this means PSO2 SEA is going down sooner (especially since it's only their first year and capital costs are always a PITA at this time) rather than later, or that Sega will lift the SEA blockade even if they do go down...

This is the best news I've heard all day. :D

I'm less enthused that the less oppressive territories aren't doing very well though. Wish those guys more success.

Rien
Sep 3, 2014, 08:41 PM
Didn't they make stuff like clothes non-tradeable once equipped?

This is still true and one of the reasons why Asiasoft sucks

seriously barely any people tell you why and just say it sucks

yoshiblue
Sep 3, 2014, 09:18 PM
So is there any publisher who doesn't suck?

Kikikiki
Sep 3, 2014, 09:52 PM
So is there any publisher who doesn't suck?

Not really, but the key lies in whether they know when and how to improvise.

Chdata
Sep 3, 2014, 10:00 PM
So is there any publisher who doesn't suck?

Valve

.. is up there.

Kinda.

AAneko
Sep 3, 2014, 10:27 PM
its not a rumor though, because for a time it was true, especially during the SEA beta

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218518

Well, that was back in closed beta, which was removed at open beta. But yeah, for a time it was true. But let's be reasonable here, the amount of blind hate this topic generates is just ridiculous. XD

FerrickX
Sep 3, 2014, 11:08 PM
Well, that was back in closed beta, which was removed at open beta. But yeah, for a time it was true. But let's be reasonable here, the amount of blind hate this topic generates is just ridiculous. XD

blind hate? considering on how much shit asiasoft gave to me personally, I would be inclined to agree that asiasoft is terrible

wefwq
Sep 3, 2014, 11:42 PM
Well.

after this, I think AsiaSoft will remove the ISP ban hoping to capture more international customers, and hoping that their market does not falter. After all, it's the "official PSO2 english server" and has the "authorized english translations".

Of course, it's too late to do that.

How can they do that while only having 2 ships?

Taurus83
Sep 3, 2014, 11:52 PM
How can they do that while only having 2 ships?

a$ia$oft 2 ship cant event compare to 10 jp ship always full block red/yellow status went got event,

WildarmsRE5
Sep 4, 2014, 01:01 AM
I could hardly expect the SEA IP Ban be lifted on JP PSO2 even when SEA PSO2 shuts down.

I just want SEA PSO2 to shut down as revenge.

Divine Retribution for wrecking RO2 and SEA Players in JP PSO2.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NCNw5N_8bo

tanako
Sep 4, 2014, 11:22 AM
They even meddle with the cash shop to get something op for the current update if u spam ac scratch

Example on melee armor set

Rear - FleckurovEX - M Arm - FleckurayEX - M Leg - FleckulusEX - M
Parameter Melee Def: 151 , Ranged Def: 103 , Photon Def: 103
HP: 20 , PP: 2 , Fire Resist: 6
Elements Vol Soul , Spirit III
Mutation I , Lucky Break I
Set Effect Melee: 60 , Ranged: 40 , Photon: 40 
Aptitude: 30 , Fire Resist: 15 , HP: 30

Courina
Sep 4, 2014, 01:53 PM
from SEA

http://puu.sh/blwGp/53a86b3a04.jpg

....10* supposed isnt bind, right?

Alma
Sep 4, 2014, 03:19 PM
wtf... is that real? o_O

Gamemako
Sep 4, 2014, 03:32 PM
Valve

.. is up there.

Kinda.

Valve are being pushed by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for having shit service. If you've ever tried to deal with Steam customer service, you'll know well enough that Steam has no customer service.

hanekawa
Sep 4, 2014, 10:06 PM
@ Alma it is real :) [no 10 star exchange pass tickets yet, so how do we trade 10 stars rofl.]

ArataWata
Sep 5, 2014, 02:11 AM
from SEA

http://puu.sh/blwGp/53a86b3a04.jpg

....10* supposed isnt bind, right?

It be fair, it was like that in PSO2 JP until a patch changed it around.

Zipzo
Sep 5, 2014, 07:20 AM
I hate to be a stickler but I actually like rare equipment binding in MMOs so I will withold my opinion towards Asiasoft on that front, but I'm sure there are many other reasons to hate them.