The Failure and Future of Phantasy Star
Some of us have played the Phantasy Star Series over the years before they came online. Some of us were introduced when PSO made its US debut on the Dreamcast.
I remember going through endless 30 to 90 day AOL and K-Mart Bluelight.com free internet disks. Eventually I got smart enough and a voice deep enough to call and cancel, only to have the sales rep completely frightened by the idea of losing a customer, comp me an extra two or three months to feed my Phantasy Star Online addiction.
Long after my Dreamcast became a paperweight and I got into PSO PC and PSO BB, I found myself less and less stuck in front of my computer or the nearest telephone jack, and more in the company of friends in four way smash brothers brawl stock battles. Little did I know they were all Hunters as well and eventually we started playing split screen Gamecube.
Many different incarnations of my typical Hunewearl or Ramarl were either corrupted accidentally, or on purpose, but fun was always had. Sadly I enjoyed Episode 3 for a while... But I was an underaged teen with a heavy drinking habit, so those memories are still blurry.
Then the impossible happened.
Phantasy Star Universe trailers were popping up everywhere, and I thought my game finally arrived at last. I figured it would be an end to the tedium that eventually set on when playing PSO for so damn long.
But I was wrong. The exclusion of Offline Multiplayer really hurt it for me. I was still hanging out with Phantasy Star heads, and the chance to LAN or Multitap PS2's for some offline action would have made all of the repeating endless corridors of bad drop rates that embodied the Phantasy Star experience for me. Everything else was great. The community on the PS2/PC servers were brimming with interesting people and within months the drama and episodic life of people in a fantasy made semi-reality were played out on an ambitious futuristic stage.
But hacking kinda ruined that. As it does ruin most things, peoples rooms getting cleaned out, Partner Machines being bombed, random cheaters handing out billions in meseta and items that hadn't even been released yet. It was a complete effjob, and you guys are obviously familiar with the story.
I eventually left for WoW but played a little AotI on a friend's account and enjoyed the little time I spent messing with the hybrid classes, but the wide open spaces and nooks and crannies in Warcraft was a temporary satiation for the lack of depth in the form of openness in Phantasy Star games. I eventually came to terms with the fact that Warcraft is a super-massive quasar in the middle of our internet so powerful that actual space-time can't even escape it. I support my theory with the following equation:
(Time+space) = Space-Time
also
Time=Money
thusly
Space=Time=Money
so:
World of Warcraft > X[(Money)(Tme)]
Meaning World of Warcraft will always increase by the factor of the space you take up playing it, the money you spend on it, and the time you invest.
Giving us: WoW>3(XMT) for three dimensions of space, with WoW acting as the fourth dimension.
Now we all know that the most rewarding fun comes freely, leisurely, and in prime real estate, either physical or psychological, meaning every second spent having fun is a gained investment, expressed by the equation.
Fun=F
F=(X+3)+(M+3)+(T+3)
Ideally for WoW to be fun it would have to generate more or less in any variant of the equation, either it gives you the ability to move freely, or a return investment on money, or something worth your time.
It does none of those things for many casual players, and unfortunately most fail to realize this under the effect of denial. And this is apparent in the expression of the equation:
if WoW >3XMT and F=3XMT then WoW>F : as it is impossible to get a return investment on WoW unless you're a hardcore raider, PvP god, Chinese gold farmer, or really really really REALLY into roleplay (ohwait, the community killed that too.)
Overcomplicated gibberish aside, Phantasy Star was in the running for succumbing to the equation on several fronts, if not for the actual return investment due to the community, which always manages to surprise me.
Most mmorpg'ers are vicious sadists anyways, willing to grind away years looking for a particular piece of digital eye candy. And as one of them I can say it's rare when a game manages to keep me returning like Anna May to Ike every single time like Phantasy Star.
My latest time sink is Phantasy Star Portable. In anticipation of the second game, I'm familiarizing myself with some of the mechanics I've missed. I'm hoping to run into some familiar faces out there, in the online frontier, but will it be all for naught? Sega's history of neglected servers and untranslated or JP exclusive content are outright phlegm and puss-encompassed loogies in the faces of English-Speaking gamers, who are forced to miss out on content time and time again in every incarnation of PS games.
When will they get it right? Will Phantasy Star Portable 2 be the end-all best iteration of the English games with constant support and hacking protection? Or will Sega start strong and randomly blow all their cash on hookers and cocaine once again, and allow English support, downloadable content, and Events to slowly dwindle into a "We Regret To Inform You But your servers are getting shut down again" message?
Also, are there any plans to ressurect PSU PC with private servers?
I'd donate.
tl;dr version:
Sega's screwed the pooch with english support in the past, will they eff over long time gamers who want a solid and steady PS foundation once again?
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Originally Posted by Mystic_Nessly
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