PSP2 Honest impressions.

[SquashDemon]

So My wife and I were old PSO buffs from the 'cube era, and we still played together today, trying to relive the glory days of the online servers, Yes, they had their problems, but we had an incredibly fun time.

When PSU came out, we played through the entire story mode, and were severely turned off by it. (Ethan and his Shounen Brigade had a lot to do with it) That alone prompted us never to go online.

A few years after that, we decided to try PSP2 after a high recommendation from a co-worker.
So we rented it, liked it, now willing to look past the steaming pile that was the story, and in favor of the superior gameplay from PSU, decided to buy a couple copies for ourselves

So we're playing AD HOC, trying to gear up for when we do go online. When my wife Finds a Soul Eater. 'cool' I think, 'that's a welcome piece of nostalgia!'
So we go to trade it over to my character.
Then we discover that, much like PA/Tech disks, (which already irked us) we could not trade it over.

Saddle up kids, it's raeg time.

Hello? Sega? Have you ever even PLAYED an MMO?

What the hell was the point of that!?

Why would you REMOVE THE ENTIRE RARE ECONOMY!?

What is the point of giving EVERY Player in the team, a notifier that so-and-so has found a rare weapon, WHEN THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO TRADE IT IF ASKED!

Why would you make different Rares Class-specific?!

None of this so-called 'feature' makes any sense, even from a security standpoint.

I know the economy of PSO (and probably PSU) was ruined by cheaters, so I can guess that is how this idea took root, but really, a damaged economy is better than no economy at all. part of an MMO's replay value comes from the fact that there is an ever-changing rare economy that can be played for profit. Especially considering that a LARGE percentage of MMO parties are complete strangers setting out with a similar goal, that usually being, to obtain a rare item.

Sega, do you SEE why this was a bad idea yet?

Now, you may be thinking: "But they can't simply IGNORE the cheating and item hacking/duplicating" Well, fear not, I have a solution to that as well:

Hire.

A.

Moderation.

Team.

It works! Trust me! I've run small communities in games where cheating ran rampant, If you put them in their place, they actually do stop affecting the community! People learn that folks that associate with them get banned, and they -don't- risk it. Eventually, the cheaters grow bored, and, get this, LEAVE.

Now, yes, it works -better- with a small community, but if you hire -many- moderators, to a decent scale of how many players there are, you ought to achieve the same effect.

...Okay, rant over.

That said: Finding out about this particular feature of the game has changed my mind about a future purchase.

Originally, after hearing of all the new content, I was going to buy PSP2I when it was released here in the US.

But now, I think I'll stick with what I've already bought. Sega has lost the money they would have gained through my and my wife's re-purchase of this game, by allowing such a horrible design flaw to make it to the final version of the game.

Saying they remove this asinine feature from PSP2I or simply from online play, via a server patch. I might reconsider this stance. But as such, my faith in Sega has plummetted even further than previously. I now even Dread hearing news of PSO2, for fear of hearing how they've managed to muck up one of my favorite games this time.

People of PSOW, Do you think I am being too hard on them? Or do you have your own issues that you wish to take up here? I'd be interested in hearing your impressions.