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OdinTyler
Oct 27, 2005, 10:38 AM
This information comes from an interview Electronic Gaming Monthly had with a ST designer:

PSO had mags—weird little robots that boosted your stats in exchange for a little tender lovin’ care. PSU ditches mags in favor of hardier metallic buddies called partner robots. These pumped-up bots won’t increase your abilities, but they provide a host of other services. “Each player customizes his own partner robot by feeding it items and buying it parts,” Designer Shintaro Hata explains. Your robot performs some crucial item-management functions, plus it can actually accompany you on missions as an A.I.-controlled fightin’ machine. “In PSU, you can have several characters in an online mission, but you can fill empty slots with partner robots,” says Hata. We’re not quite sure how these seemingly cute little ’bots will fare in the heat of combat....

Guess this means my dream of a 12 person team is out. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif Dammit, I was really hoping that would happen. I hope they change their minds.

Dhylec
Oct 27, 2005, 11:06 AM
Well, that was informative. At least we know a bit more about PM..
It's reasonable to have PM fill in the needed number for whatever mission. A 12-member team can make it too easy, overkill even. Now, how good will the AI be?

OdinTyler
Oct 27, 2005, 11:18 AM
Wow, a mod replied to a post of mine. Can I get credit on the home page? http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Quo
Oct 27, 2005, 12:51 PM
That's not the same EGM article from this spring is it?

Dhylec
Oct 27, 2005, 01:47 PM
OdinTyler wrote:
Wow, a mod replied to a post of mine. Can I get credit on the home page? http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

If this information is new & fresh, and the site updater used it for the front page, of course, you will be credited.

PrinceBrightstar
Oct 27, 2005, 01:56 PM
The AI would probably be the same level as your offline characters.

Rion772
Oct 27, 2005, 02:34 PM
Mags replaced with Partner Machinary, as well as characters online...1/2 of it sucks and 1/2 is good. The good half is mag replacement and character replacement is nooo good at all.

PhruitBaskit
Oct 27, 2005, 04:37 PM
Great Update. I like how you can buy new parts for them, but the fact that they fill up an A.I. spot just doesn't fly with me. Mags were closer to little pets, and I must say that I would kind of prefer PMs to be that way too. I just don't find it right for PMs to be like team members.

ST, you're making a mistake! http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif I don't care though, PSU will kick some hella ass and nomatter what!

OdinTyler
Oct 27, 2005, 05:11 PM
TY Phruit. The anticipation is getting to me, as Im sure it is to everyone who's really gung ho about PSU. Sometimes it pays to surf for an hr or 2 as you never know what youll find. You tend to find some good material when you least expect it. If PMs can create materials for us (stats), Im gonna make ALOT of Hit Materials. They were taken out of GC (HUGE mistake). If we are going to rely on the search for materials, taking out the factor of improving accuracy (especially for rangers) is a no no. Especially now w/the added 1st person shooting, ATA Im sure will be a high priority w/quite a few players.

Kupi
Oct 27, 2005, 05:41 PM
In every version of PSO that I can think of, soloing online is a chore at best and a near impossibility at worst for anyone of an appropriate level and equipment set for the area and difficulty setting. And let's face it, sometimes you just can't get into a good party (off hours, all the rooms are full, whatever). In those cases, I would much rather be able to have even a dinky little AI player to back me up than have to go it alone. It sounds like PMs will (or can) only replace players so long as there aren't enough players to fill the player slots. This makes them very much like the henchmen from Guild Wars; freely available AI characters there to fill party slots when other players aren't around. I see nothing wrong with that, except if players can use PMs to exclude other players from their games-- and that's a mistake that Sonic Team hasn't made yet.

Rion772
Oct 27, 2005, 05:47 PM
On 2005-10-27 15:41, Kupi wrote:
In every version of PSO that I can think of, soloing online is a chore at best and a near impossibility at worst for anyone of an appropriate level and equipment set for the area and difficulty setting. And let's face it, sometimes you just can't get into a good party (off hours, all the rooms are full, whatever). In those cases, I would much rather be able to have even a dinky little AI player to back me up than have to go it alone. It sounds like PMs will (or can) only replace players so long as there aren't enough players to fill the player slots. This makes them very much like the henchmen from Guild Wars; freely available AI characters there to fill party slots when other players aren't around. I see nothing wrong with that, except if players can use PMs to exclude other players from their games-- and that's a mistake that Sonic Team hasn't made yet.


I agree with you with that point, going in with a PM is better than alone. Even a small PM would make a big difference.

_Tek_
Oct 27, 2005, 11:45 PM
I just thought of something. Perhaps the PM will be our items/money bank. Maybe we'll use it when customizing/upgrading weapons. But there's probably going to be a regular bank in the cities anyways right?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: _Tek_ on 2005-10-27 21:46 ]</font>

Sakrei
Oct 28, 2005, 03:21 AM
The PMs are really interesting. I actually like the idea of having them fight alongside you, and I think it's fair they take up a party slot.

I predict a 4/5 person team bickering about whose PMs will fill the spaces. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif ("My PM has higher ATA!" "My PM has a big-ass sword!" "My PM looks cooler!")

I'm curious about if PMs will affect EXP when part of a party. We'll have to see how PSU distributes EXP. Hopefully it's NOT going to be the FFXI method. Hopefully ST will keep the old PSO EXP system, it worked fine.

Sir_Laguna
Oct 28, 2005, 11:31 PM
On 2005-10-27 10:51, Quo wrote:
That's not the same EGM article from this spring is it?



Actually, it is. I just quoted from it earlier today in this thread (http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=104409&forum=20&start=30&44). It's a good read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good chunk of PSU info in English. A few of the gameplay-related updates for PSU that we've seen were already discussed in the article.

FantasyJoy
Oct 29, 2005, 03:34 AM
I agree that there's nothing wrong with PM's backing your up when soloing. But can those things actually die? I mean, you got to feed them and such, maybe it will take a while to feed them to a high level (if there's levels for them). It will be a real pain if they just simply die in battle.

OdinTyler
Oct 29, 2005, 06:24 AM
On 2005-10-28 21:31, Sir_Laguna wrote:


On 2005-10-27 10:51, Quo wrote:
That's not the same EGM article from this spring is it?



Actually, it is. I just quoted from it earlier today in this thread (http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=104409&forum=20&start=30&44). It's a good read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good chunk of PSU info in English. A few of the gameplay-related updates for PSU that we've seen were already discussed in the article.



You did mention the article, Laguna. However, you didnt bring the info up I did. So technically, I did provide new info. I wasnt credited for it by name, save one mod who noticed. But, thats ok...

lostinseganet
Oct 29, 2005, 06:26 AM
Man I am hoping for eight. just double the players will be enough for me. I think that the option to have pms fight when no one else is there to take the slot is a great Idea. I wonder what risk you have to take if they die. It seems like online features are still at various possabilities. I wonder if there is some way to contact them to make our perferences known?

OdinTyler
Oct 29, 2005, 07:29 PM
All we can do is speculate based on current info. I highly doubt questions we bring up now would cause them to be taken into consideration. If they were, it would delay the game further & I know we dont want that. They should just ask us during the programming of the game what we think. That would make too much sense tho...