So what the Japanese think of PSO2...

[Z-0]

Despite PSO2's fabled "success" in Japan, it was interesting to actually stumble across a player review site to see what the players really think (found this thanks to a friend):

http://bit.ly/108ustw

Number of Reviews: 409
Average Score: 1.88/5

As you can see, the West isn't the only community dissatisfied with the game. Running through the reviews, the major complaints about the game are that its entirely random, upgrading equipment is horribly unfair and that the game is extremely gacha-centric, considering that the majority of things to assist with gameplay are in the AC Scratch, plus the game seems to be centred around fashion and costumes, instead of what the game should be about: The actual gameplay.

There's also been numerous complaints about the fact that there's no sort of weapon variety, as every weapon is just a model and a skin, and nothing more than that. Drop rates are also a complaint seen in these, along with the fact the game is entirely luck-based.

So what are your thoughts? Considering the success of PSO2, it's surprising to see it rated so low in its home country. The complaints of the Japanese also appear to be similar to ours. I don't think that they're that much different from us, just some people speak louder than others.

[Zyrusticae]

I am actually not surprised about this at all (in fact, this was pointed out a loooong time ago), though what I am surprised about is that SEGA doesn't seem to be doing anything to really respond to these complaints considering how numerous and loud they are. I have a sneaking suspicion they're banking on Episode 2 to fix most of these concerns (aside from the business model-related ones, seeing as how it's obviously working for them so far).

I'm still miffed that Gunner is in as poor a state as it is now, plus everything Fighter that isn't Deadly Archer just feels horribly sub-par. There has to be plenty of players complaining about that shit, just like there was for the weakness of Hunter and the OP-ness of Zonde, right? But SEGA just doesn't seem to care, or their priorities lie elsewhere... I wish I could get a window into their internal development processes, because the whole thing just doesn't sit right with me.

[Psycl0ne]

but isn't that how all past pso games have been? well at least for pso episode 1 and 2 good rares were extremely hard to find so you would have to be very lucky or play for hundreds of hours... I think people are just too pampered now at days and lazy to work for high quality items but meh that's just what I think.

[vPharaohv]

I don't see how anyone could say it's not luck based. There is only so far you can go with leveling before grinding, weapon drops, and shop tickets become necessary to continue to getting stronger (without spending money).

A very unlucky person who played for 1000 hours over maxing levels could still be much weaker than a super lucky person who played 100 hours over maxing maxing level (assuming neither spend real money).

[gigawuts]

but isn't that how all past pso games have been? well at least for pso episode 1 and 2 good rares were extremely hard to find so you would have to be very lucky or play for hundreds of hours... I think people are just too pampered now at days and lazy to work for high quality items but meh that's just what I think.

No, it's not. V1 and V2 had horrifically rare items. PSOGC and PSOBB had much more realistic droprates, and treated rares as a series of goals to improve your character by finding multiples of instead of one final goal by finding one single one, like PSO2 does.

What's the difference? Oh, finding a shitload more rares that let you do more things as you play that are good right out of the box, and giving a more plausible sense of accomplishment for doing so. It's just that PSOGC's model would not have done well in an F2P setting, or so people like to claim (yes it would).

[blace]

Those scores don't surprise. Even with the player surveys, they're not addressing every issue and will continue to do what they do best: relying in AC scratch to reap in profit.

[Kierto]

To add fuel to the fire, Sega Sammy also released their fiscal report (Joystiq) for 2013. Apparently the game has over 2.5million users (accounts). While they don't deliver specific numbers regarding ingame sales they do say ingame (AC) purchases have "exceeded forcasted levels".

They really are making bank off the bullshit gacha. Just look at how many pages and pages of AC goods there are on the market. Each item costing at least $2..

Expect 11*s to have desirable laten abilities. Why? Because you need to grind them to +10 3 times over. Get ready to make use of that +7 grind recycle item! Fuck in PSU you could grind an item to 8/10 for about 620Yen. Here what does it cost for +7 (guaranteed)? 4000Yen?

[DFC]

I think one of the stronger points is that you can actually get a shitload of costumes etc, if it didn't have that I wouldn't still be playing because there would be nothing to do other than hunting rare weapons.

[Zyrusticae]

Really, the business model is honestly the very least of my concerns right now. Stronger core gameplay and better game balance are on the top of my list of wants, and for the most part they don't really seem to be doing anything about that. I can only assume that the surveys are informing what they're putting into Episode 2 and hopefully that will include loads of changes across the board, otherwise all my hopes are lost...

[gigawuts]

To add fuel to the fire, Sega Sammy also released their fiscal report (Joystiq) for 2013. Apparently the game has over 2.5million users (accounts). While they don't deliver specific numbers regarding ingame sales they do say ingame (AC) purchases have "exceeded forcasted levels".

They really are making bank off the bullshit gacha. Just look at how many pages and pages of AC goods there are on the market. Each item costing at least $2..

Expect 11*s to have desirable laten abilities. Why? Because you need to grind them to +10 3 times over. Get ready to make use of that +7 grind recycle item! Fuck in PSU you could grind an item to 8/10 for about 620Yen. Here what does it cost for +7 (guaranteed)? 4000Yen?

Yeah. It's pretty much going exactly how I said it would...in fucking september. 10*'s untradable, player outcry, sega caves and allows very limited 10* exchanging, sega looks like the good guys for listening to player feedback to remove something that shouldn't have been implemented in the first place, and then sega IMMEDIATELY phases in 11*'s as the only weapons worth a damn for even SLIGHTLY dedicated players because they're the only ones that actually do something unique, rendering everything beneath them utterly and completely worthless for all but cosmetic purposes. And, now that we have camo, I'm waiting for that to be phased out too.

Really, the business model is honestly the very least of my concerns right now. Stronger core gameplay and better game balance are on the top of my list of wants, and for the most part they don't really seem to be doing anything about that. I can only assume that the surveys are informing what they're putting into Episode 2 and hopefully that will include loads of changes across the board, otherwise all my hopes are lost...

Unfortunately, the business model is WHY content is so stagnant and mediocre. They don't NEED to cater to existing players, because the entire premise of F2P is that players are always coming in due to having zero upfront cost.

It's not about player retention, it's about market saturation. Many players can be brought back with surges of content, yes, but that is not the main purpose of the model.