PSU Question Compendium

[Stray_Mag]

Ok, this is my first topic so I’d like to take this chance to say “Hello, my fellow PSOW users ^.^’” With that out of the way, I’d like to post this compilation of questions, ideas, concepts, all that is PSU and what sets it apart from other MMORPG’s. As you may have seen from my sig, I have retired from Final Fantasy XI and I will primarily be using that as the root of most comparisons. Hopefully many of you will be able to answer some questions or this will answer some questions in the back of your minds. Let’s get started, shall we...

1- One problem many encountered in FFXI was the EXP system. Depending upon your job class, the higher you grew in level, the more apparent it became that you couldn’t solo EXP yourself to 75 (lvl cap). So here’s the question:

Q: Does the experience given by certain mobs(monsters) diminish as you reach higher levels? Or, is it possible to solo to the max level?

2- Another concept of EXPing in FFXI was the reliance of a party(PT), and not just any PT, but a well balanced one with a Tank to keep a mobs attention, a healer to heal the tank, and various other jobs, (DD’s, Refreshers, etc.)

Q: Supposing PT’s are a must, are specific roles necessary for success? Or, Is there a noticeable “Hate/Enmity System” to keep a monster’s attention?

3- It has been shown that the size of a PT has been upgraded from the standard 4 from old PSO games to 6. This too was the standard in FFXI but allowed the creation of “Alliances” to hold up to 18 players for events such as Missions and HNM’s (monsters which required many more players to defeat).

Q: What is the maximum number of players that can be allied at a time. Or, has there been a need for more than 6 players experienced in game or announced (ie, missions).

4- Any who played FFXI knows that any MMO economy lies in the auction house. Prices are usually more convenient than NPC stores and you can easily make more of a profit on items you would otherwise sell to NPC’s.

Q: Is there a similar type of function in which PSU players make Meseta or sell Items through (other than Bazaars or personal shops)?

5- Related to the topic of the economy, any FFXI player who has played long enough knows that the economy goes to hell courtesy of “Chinese Gil Farmers” (CGF). These Chinese players would camp NM’s (Notorious monsters) in order to get rare drops and monopolize the market and prices for said items.

Q: Is it true that Chinese servers are separate from US/JP servers? Or, does the gameplay system eliminate or consider camping problems?

6- FFXI runs on 32 separate servers each holding about 3000 PC’s at a given time. The only event I’ve ever known in which cross-server players have met is “Ballista Royale” an official FFXI PvP event. Other than that, being locked on a server restricts you from playing with roughly 90000 other players.

Q: What is the lobby system like for PSU? Or, ignoring the concept of PC/PS2/XBox360 separation, can you potentially connect to a larger number of players?

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That’s about all I’ve got for now, any answers, thoughts, or further questions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[jkrox4eva]

all i got to say is . 2 many questions!! ahh my brainnz. lol plus i never played ff 12 or 11 or watever.

[RFB]

On 2006-05-25 14:32, Stray_Mag wrote:
1- Q: Does the experience given by certain mobs(monsters) diminish as you reach higher levels? Or, is it possible to solo to the max level?


It is possible. Experience is not diminished.


2- Q: Supposing PT’s are a must, are specific roles necessary for success? Or, Is there a noticeable “Hate/Enmity System” to keep a monster’s attention?

They are not a must if you want to kill enemies of about your level, or below. If you want to go for something tougher, and therefore, more interesting, yeh, you pretty much have to go in a party.
There is no Hate/Enmity system, but you dont need certain roles. Just make sure you have at least 1 force, and you're good to go with whatever you've got in the group.


3- Q: What is the maximum number of players that can be allied at a time. Or, has there been a need for more than 6 players experienced in game or announced (ie, missions).

No alliances whatsoever. 6 is the biggest group that can be seen.


4- Q: Is there a similar type of function in which PSU players make Meseta or sell Items through (other than Bazaars or personal shops)?

Not that I know of.


5- Q: Is it true that Chinese servers are separate from US/JP servers? Or, does the gameplay system eliminate or consider camping problems?

I didnt even know that there'd be Chinese servers o_O Anyway, PSU doesnt look like a very farming/friendly game: start mission, get to the mob you want to kill, kill it, go back to town and cancel it, restart it, get to the mob, kill it... And, well, camping is simply impossible.


6- Q: What is the lobby system like for PSU? Or, ignoring the concept of PC/PS2/XBox360 separation, can you potentially connect to a larger number of players?

In PSU, every server will hold 1000 players. BUT, you can switch servers anytime.


In other news: you're too obsessed with FFXI o_O

[justinbrady]

umm....yes there is player run shops.

[Pillan]

I’ll try my best to answer your questions from what I know so far. I’ll skip those questions that have been answered well by other players.



On 2006-05-25 14:32, Stray_Mag wrote:
1- One problem many encountered in FFXI was the EXP system. Depending upon your job class, the higher you grew in level, the more apparent it became that you couldn’t solo EXP yourself to 75 (lvl cap). So here’s the question:

Q: Does the experience given by certain mobs(monsters) diminish as you reach higher levels? Or, is it possible to solo to the max level?


Unfortunately I have no idea as to the answer of your first question. However, based on the original PSO and the fact that Sonic Team is too lazy to change anything that isn’t broken, you’ll probably get the same exp from each monster regardless of your level. However, the exp weak monsters give you will be like adding a drop of water to an empty well when you reach higher levels.



On 2006-05-25 14:32, Stray_Mag wrote:
2- Another concept of EXPing in FFXI was the reliance of a party(PT), and not just any PT, but a well balanced one with a Tank to keep a mobs attention, a healer to heal the tank, and various other jobs, (DD’s, Refreshers, etc.)

Q: Supposing PT’s are a must, are specific roles necessary for success? Or, Is there a noticeable “Hate/Enmity System” to keep a monster’s attention?


Teams aren’t necessary. Well, I should say they’re more necessary than they were in PSO, but you can always opt to solo. However, this will slow your progression in the game, much as you’d have to wait until level 10 to get out of forest if you soloed that online.

As for a system, well, use hunters as your tanks while rangers and forces assist from afar, much as was done in the first PSO. A good team will probably consist of 2 to 3 hunters, a couple rangers, and a force. Of course, you’ll probably be able to progress though the game easily regardless of your team’s consistency at higher levels. I’d recommend at least having a force for healing and support spells.



On 2006-05-25 14:32, Stray_Mag wrote:
4- Any who played FFXI knows that any MMO economy lies in the auction house. Prices are usually more convenient than NPC stores and you can easily make more of a profit on items you would otherwise sell to NPC’s.

Q: Is there a similar type of function in which PSU players make Meseta or sell Items through (other than Bazaars or personal shops)?


Yes. You can run your own personal shop. Unfortunately I don’t know the details of this function.



On 2006-05-25 14:32, Stray_Mag wrote:
5- Related to the topic of the economy, any FFXI player who has played long enough knows that the economy goes to hell courtesy of “Chinese Gil Farmers” (CGF). These Chinese players would camp NM’s (Notorious monsters) in order to get rare drops and monopolize the market and prices for said items.

Q: Is it true that Chinese servers are separate from US/JP servers? Or, does the gameplay system eliminate or consider camping problems?


I don’t believe PSU has Chinese servers, but I am aware that the US and Japanese servers are separate. Most likely SEGA will do nothing to stop it if it comes up, but it’s never been a problem in the previous PSO games. (Hackers, on the other hand, have been the primary problem.)

[Kyuu]

One thing I'd like to make clear is that there is no "hate" or "aggro" system like in EQ-style MMOs (WoW, FFXI, etc.).

The main thing is to realize that PSO/PSU were not designed or envisioned with any of the EQ-style approaches to anything, which is one of its major appeals in my opinion.

[physic]

1. it will probably be possible to solo levels, but since part of the reward in pso is from completing the missions, people who can run trhough whole missions fast will prolly get better exp (also dying reduces your mission end bonus) this makes it decidely better to work in a group, especially if teh old pso system is back, and merely tagging a monster gives you almost the same exp as soloing it. But since monsters will always give exp you can always go do easy missions solo to level up i guess.

2. As far as people have said there is no direct hate enimity system, i assume the monsters either have a set attack pattern, or attack the closest guy. the only role that is completely unique is force because they at this time are the only ones with healing spells. however they pack a punch for damage as well. You will probably find forces soing support and damage, hunters tanking and damaging, and rangers disabling and damaging.

no alliances, in fact PSO isnt an MMO exactly, though the lobbies will house 1k players, when you are in a dungeon, only your party will be in the area, it is instanced, so the addition of any type of alliances seem unlikely.

There are personal shops, but form what i gathered they are open all the time, and you dont actually have to be there, i may be mistaken though.

So far US and jp will be seperate, no mention of chinese servers, but US and EU may be together, which prolly means that it wont be hard for gilsellers to get in. However they cant steal your chance to make money or find items, since the world is instanced. They could theoretically drive player and bazzar prices high with excess money, but i doubt it will be as big an issue. My guess is no one will want to sell their super rares for cash, and the merely decent rares will be obtainable by hunting, or will not have an insnae price since they arent impossible to get.

the lobby is reportedly 1000 people at once but all servers in that region will be connected, you can therefore play with anyone who is in your region/platform. The lobbies are said to be pretty big, you are also able to go to players rooms.

That said i think its important to realize pso is an action role playing game. It probably will not be strategy heavy, it will most likely be more skill/lvl/eq heavy. Skill and Lvl will probably be the biggest factors.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: physic on 2006-05-25 15:44 ]</font>

[Stray_Mag]

Thank you for all of your answers, they have cleared up much confusion ^.^

[DizzyDi]

= Your sig makes me want to boot up FFXI again.

[Kayai]

Reading this has made me want PSU even more seeing how its very different from FFXI

[Saiffy]

It's likely if there are Chinese servers that they'll be seperated. But the Chinese BB servers aren't run by ST, so it's safe to guess that a company would have to buy the permission to run a server in China.