Why do you play Pso2?

[ZER0 DX]

I've been playing this game a bit recently and it's really been puzzling me that I don't know why I've been playing it. Most of the time I pop in for an EQ and idle around in the lobby for a while. I mostly play the game without any motivation to do to and it feels like almost like a chore I wouldn't be doing if I had something even remotely better to do. I figured it'd be nice to have some perspective from the community, questions below.

1) Why do you play Pso2?
2) What do you like about the game?
3) What keeps you playing?
4) What aspects of the game would you like to see improved?

I'm in the same puzzling situation as you to be quite honest. I'm on a sort of break from it right now to work on my huge backlog of games, but I still hop online randomly. I can't actually give a clear answer why when I actually can't stand this game at all but I love to play it at the same time. Yeah it makes no sense, but here goes.


1. I spent at least 12 good years of my life on pretty much every iteration of PSO released from Dreamcast all the way to Blue Burst on both official and private servers, and at least another solid 6 years on 3 different versions of PSU (NA PC, JP PC, and occasionally 360). Naturally PSO2 was the next step after certain events or server shutdowns made playing those games online anymore impossible. I still got more enjoyment out of the last 3 years of PSU's life on the Japanese server than I have had in my entire PSO2 run so far though.

2. I think the character creation and customization is really nice, gameplay is pretty fun but there's still things that bug me too much about it. Essentially it boils down to the mechanical and visual aspects that made previous games more enjoyable. PSO2 did some things better, but it took away too many things that i loved about the previous games in the process that made it lose it's initial charm.

3. Friends, I have a very specific group of people I play with, most of them have been there since the PSO days and others from the PSU era. I probably wouldn't be playing this if they didn't. Downside is not everyone moved over or play as much as they did on PSO/U. I know a couple people that I used to play PSU with that I haven't partied with on PSO2 in a while or at all yet. Team separation does that for some reason I guess.

4. I'd like the game to feel like an actual dungeon crawler again where you have to unlock rooms by clearing out waves of enemies before progressing to the end or to a boss. Kinda was what PSO and PSU were all about. Tedious? Maybe, but it still left you the feeling of accomplishing something when you reached the end goal or found that rare item that you were hunting down. It made those games what they are. Even if you memorized every single enemy spawn and map layout, there was still fun to be had mowing down a row or a cluster of enemies with whatever you had in your arsenal to move on to the next room. Some of them were even (unfairly) difficult and took time to kill with a 6 man party no less, although that definitely expedited the process. Now it's just running around in a circle with no set destination or goal point with everything dying before they even spawn. There's no mission variety aside from a few event quests, the hub city is boring especially in comparison to Neudaiz or Pioneer 2, lack of 6 man core parties is mind boggling when 12 man MPA areas exist, everything is so dumbed down and simplified that it's hard to stay focused on playing, many weapon categories are just completely missing or ruined, the areas are all bland and uninspired aside from maybe seabed, there's a clear lack of feeling of progression or accomplishment, I could go on and on and on and on about how half assed this game is in comparison but the list would be endless and I'm tired. PSO2 is lacking the core aspects that made the online Phantasy Star games, Phantasy Star. It's not PSO2, it's not even PSU2, it really doesn't deserve to be a numbered sequel at all.


But I still keep playing it for some reason. The franchise as a whole is a part of me that I'm not kicking away any time soon, I just hope the next main iteration is better than this one even if it takes another 10 years before that happens. I hate to love it and love to hate it but I can't really hate it because it's all we got. The people you know and party with really make the game in the end.

[FacelessRed]

It's not a MMO stop falling into that trap. Plus MMOs are terrible games This game while flawed it's not terrible and it's not a MMO.

I play it because it's an action mutiplayer online game with dress up and batshit insane perverted sega things.

Japan never change.

"It's not a Massively multiplayer Online stop falling into that trap. Plus Massively multiplayer Onlines are terrible games This game while flawed it's not terrible and it's not a massively multuplayer online."

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Are you ... feeling alright?

[WildarmsRE5]

MMORPG to be exact.

and its not Massively, just Massive Multiplayer Online. so Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

[FacelessRed]

MMORPG to be exact.

and its not Massively, just Massive Multiplayer Online. so Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

MMORPG definition is rather vague and subject to personal opinion. While there are 12 people to a room there are a hundred or so in a block and thousands that you can interact with potentially through a persistant lobby environment.

So I still say its an MMO.

An MO would often not be set within such a large lobby infrastructure, and place a much higher emphasis on the small group based combat. But I see (and knew) the point being made, just felt it was rather ridiculous.

[Gama]

1) Why do you play Pso2?
i hate most mmo's, medieval never did it for me.

2) What do you like about the game?
its diferent.

3) What keeps you playing?
i have no clue i just do.

4) What aspects of the game would you like to see improved?
get some features present in psobb into the game.

battle mode. pissing contest for drama lovers.

challenge mode. yet another pissing contest.

[Shinureal]

Because it's the only MMO RPG that my PC can handle

[The Walrus]

If your comp can handle PSO2 it can handle a lot of other mmos...

[pkemr4]

because i cant find any other action rpg like pso2 out there.

[Valimer]

I dont play PSO2 much anymore.

When I do get on it's just for TD or EF. Gotta get that GM

I would like to see features that make logging on to PSO2 a more meaningful experience. For example I'd like to see more team features, more tangible competition between teams, a more complex hierarchy of status and rewards within teams. And I'd like to see more attention to be brought to individual competition. Something people in the lobby can spectate and talk about.

The way PSO2 was designed, they could implement so many cool features to make playing PSO2 a more meaningful experience. I'm not sure why they don't take advantage of that.

[DeificEpyon]

The way PSO2 was designed, they could implement so many cool features to make playing PSO2 a more meaningful experience. I'm not sure why they don't take advantage of that.

That's because they make plenty of money from people playing dress-up.

I play because my friends play, and it's something to do when I'm bored. I do enjoy this game, but like others, I wish it could be better and had more to do. If you play this game occasionally and try not to get into it too much, it's not such a bad game. If you play it frequently and want more out of it though, then it starts to feel like it's lacking. You can tell SEGA was aiming for the casual department with this game. It's something you pick up and play for awhile, then do something else. Emergency Missions are a testament to that.

Thankfully, I play other things besides PSO 2, so in the end it's a decent experience on this game. I'll play PSO 2 when an EM comes up or my friends are on, then play other "hardcore" games when I'm in a real gaming mood.