Some questions about PSU and Japan

[Cranberry]

On PSO I was a member of an organized JP team. The leader of that team has recently e-mailed me and asked me to join her on PSU. She very much wants me to go.

I know little about PSU but from what I have seen and read in some of the past articles is that the Japaese servers and the US servers are seperate and players can't cross regions. This is very different from on PSO where the Japanese ships could be selected freely. This means that if I chose to get PSU and go online it will be a complicated matter.

I do have a few questions though. I have looked through the sticky topics and could not find the answers to these. In one of the stickys the PSU FAQ topic was a broken link.

Does PSU have Word Select like PSO did? This was important for my communiction with my JP team-mates.

Does PSU have a language configuration option like PSO does? As in changing the language between Japanese and English? Especially the Japanese version of PSU.

I heard a rumor that the JP version of PSU does not accept american credit cards. I actually played on a JP version of PSO+ and thus I had a Japanese license. My credit card was accepted despite being from another country. Is this no longer the case for PSU?

After much research and trial and error, I was able to force my US copy of PSO3 to see my Japanese license by re-directing the packet data to the Japanese server. I am considering starting a topic in the Tech Support forum with a purpose of trying to re-direct a US copy of PSU to communicate and register to the JP server. This would allow me to enjoy games with my Japanese comrades and still be able to understand the in game menues. Would PSO-World consider this a violation of their rules? There is no modification of characters, items, or in-game features. The sole goal is to make the game communicate with the Japanese server instead of the US one. I'm sure a moderator can answer this for me.

Thanks in advance for any help.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Cranberry on 2006-12-15 23:21 ]</font>

[Lady_Mercury]

WHOA! I DIDNT KNO DAT... I THOUGHT DA SERVERS LINKED TOGETHER FREELY... SRY I CANT HELP U http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Lady_Mercury on 2006-12-15 23:25 ]</font>

[Cranberry]

Am I mistaken? I could have sworn I read that they were seperated. Are they indeed linked? If so that would make this whole thing a non-issue. But all these stories on the main page about special updates and stuff for the JP version seems to indicate that they are seperate.

[Itsuki]

Does PSU have Word Select like PSO did? This was important for my communiction with my JP team-mates.
You gotta type it in straight english/japanese. You get no cuts here.


Does PSU have a language configuration option like PSO does? As in changing the language between Japanese and English? Especially the Japanese version of PSU.
It has no language configuration. I imagine its possible to hack the american information into the japanese version. But this has questionable effectiveness since it checks basic file information on load up, and re-downloads any files that may have been recently changed.


I heard a rumor that the JP version of PSU does not accept american credit cards. I actually played on a JP version of PSO+ and thus I had a Japanese license. My credit card was accepted despite being from another country. Is this no longer the case for PSU?
Most people pay by Netcash to bypass this. It makes the overall cost slightly more expensive, but you can order it from places like NCSX and have the code e-mailed to you (in a passworded zip) to make it quickly obtainable.


After much research and trial and error, I was able to force my US copy of PSO3 to see my Japanese license by re-directing the packet data to the Japanese server. I am considering starting a topic in the Tech Support forum with a purpose of trying to re-direct a US copy of PSU to communicate and register to the JP server. This would allow me to enjoy games with my Japanese comrades and still be able to understand the in game menues. Would PSO-World consider this a violation of their rules? There is no modification of characters, items, or in-game features. The sole goal is to make the game communicate with the Japanese server instead of the US one. I'm sure a moderator can answer this for me.
A proxy would probably be a violation of the rules, and would likely cause problems since the two servers are actively updated in different ways. It'd still be considered modifying the client. And you'd even be using a client thats not up to the japanese specification. There may be bugs in it that are not in the jp version, and by using it you could create bugs that may be exploitable. Its just an overall liability.

[Relam]

Yes, the servers are most definitely seperated. I imagine the japanese players still trade horror stories of American players jumping in PKing everyone with megid and stealing their rares.

Also, in the US version I have noticed people running around with Japanese characters in their names. But I'm unsure of how they were able to switch the typing mode to japanese.

[Sinue_v2]

Well, glad to see that you're at least considering joining the PSU crowd Cranberry. Unfortunately, the only way that I know of to access the Jp servers from a north american or european versions would be through the Xbox360.

However you never know if they will connect them or not, since currently the NA and EU versions are recieving updates twice as fast as the JP version. This may be to speed us along to their content level before an eventual merger. However that's just speculation - and it's quite possible that our content releases will slow down considerably once the current schedule of weekly updates has finished.

At any rate, even if you cannot connect to the JP servers - I still think you should play. We could always use a few more good FO's around.

[rena-ko]

switching typing mode is a PC thing, i guess. no clue, havent played the PS2 ver so far.
you basically install a JP IME and switch it for the game like you would for any other program.
there are different solutions for the different windows versions, so use google on that matter.


to play the jp ver you'll have to order the japanese version of the client - for example via amazon.co.jp. they're rather fast with shipping.
you'll need its CD-key to register a japanese account.
the game cant be switched to E mode, afaik. so if youre not fluent in at least the basic kanji, forget about it, i guess.

SoA kicked EU players off their playsega.com page, so i dunno if the japanese branch does the same for western IPs / credit cards.

anyway, good luck.

[Cranberry]

This is dissapointing. I will certainly agree that there is no known way of getting the US version to see the JP version. But as long as it is not a violation of PSO-World rules to try, I would like to start a topic in Tech Support and try. My primary tool in this is a program called Wingate. A proxy server that is really good for packet re-direction and setting some routing rules.

At one time it seemed impossible to get Episode 3 to see my Japanese license. But where there's a will there's a way.

[McLaughlin]

Highly unlikely.

The only two ways to play with JP players (without some serious meddling which probably won't work) are to either play on the Xbox 360 (which has the same population as the PC/PS2 servers) or buy a JP copy of the game.

I sincerely doubt you'll be able to connect to the JP servers with a proxy server.

There is also no Word Select function, so if you can't type Japanese this whole thing is pointless.

[Xbob]

Just join with us Americans/Europeans. Stop being such a Japanophile. We'll treat you well, son! Fuhgeddabowdit.

[Sychosis]

I don't think it is so much about being a Japanophile (don't know if Cranberry is one or not, I don't care) as it is hooking up with an old friend. Who just happens to be Japanese.

[Cranberry]

Well, I'm not really sure what a Japanophile is. I really enjoyed my time on Silliar's team when I was on PSO. I feel like I learned a lot from her and her friends that were on the team. They make for some pleasent memories on PSO and I was saddened when the team disbanded. Now that she is looking to bring it back, I just want to see how feasible it is.

After what happened with Dark Force and me I lost my will to fight. Without my best friend to share it with PSO became pretty meaningless to me. I'm still not sure that I really have it in me to pick up PSU. It just doesn't seem worth it without the people ye care about most there. =/

Silliar's team is a little different though. Her team is all about the pictures; snapshots. We would pose with various things from PSO (such as the crystals in Cave 3) and come up with the most creative pictures we could. This may be an enjoyable experience for me and it may help ease the pain of some still very open wounds. I may also learn more about her culture and she may learn about mine.

Here are 2 samples of pictures they've taken.

http://wakakusa.tv/game/pso/photo/team10.png

http://wakakusa.tv/game/pso/photo/team15.png

There are others that are a lot more creative than these.

[Maxurion]

The only way I can see of you playing with JP players is if you both get the Xbox360 version.

In PSU the PC/PS2 servers are linked together, however the JP servers are separate from the US/EU servers (which are linked together).

The Xbox360 servers, however, are linked for all regions (US/EU/JP) but are NOT linked to the PC/PS2 servers.

EDIT: Although if you only play for pictures then you're kinda screwed either way, because from what I've seen the Xbox360 can't take screenshots...


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Maxurion on 2006-12-17 11:07 ]</font>

[McLaughlin]

Unless you get a capture card.

(Come on Santa, third time's the charm)

[etlitch]

go japan. The players there are just like our PSU, just less asshole and more polite.