The rant of PSO2 players

[AmanoMai]

From what I hear, the Phantasy Star series has always been heavily influenced by Star Wars.
Can you imagine if the new Star Wars movie took place in a modern American high school instead of a galaxy far far away?
.

when you travels from planets to planets
i expect entirely new cultures and ecological system, one that breaks all common sense of a previous one.
complaining that a new planet does not match with old planet
(yes, from ARKS perspective, earth is a new planet)

being influenced by Stars Wars does not means you cannot breaks away from the mold

whether it keeps it's original style throughout the series, or introduce wacky stuff one after another like pso2, there will always be people who dislike one thing and prefer another.

[TaigaUC]

If you expect entirely new cultures, why is Harukotan Japan and Earth is also Japan?
Previous PS games also had Japan stuff. You don't really see other cultures. Or ecological systems, for that reason.

I didn't say they can't take breaks away from mold. I used Star Wars as an example of something that has its own contextual universe.
People naturally get upset if it breaks too far away from that. Does Star Wars have modern-ish American high school Jedi stories? I haven't heard that it does.

Are you trying to suggest that Phantasy Star going from a long history of futuristic space stuff to a seemingly modern day high school setting in seemingly modern Tokyo isn't strange?
Because even Atsuko Enomoto herself said on the livestream that the sense of world has become confusing.
JP reviews and JP people I've spoken to have been complaining all along that PSO2 has no sense of world. This is not a new thing.

It's also not the first time PSO2 has ignored stuff from the Phantasy Star series.
One of my JP friends has complained multiple times about how Casts used to be androids, not cyborgs.
Apparently, according to PSO2 lore, every Cast was originally a human. So what happened to all the androids?
Life born from artificial intelligence is an interesting concept on its own. Why would they completely remove this?

This whole episode 4 thing is especially strange because they said it's being tied to the anime, and PSO2 exists as a game in the anime.
Does this mean all Phantasy Stars up until now are suddenly just within the context of a game?
And not the story of a futuristic universe? If so, that's not just breaking the mold, it's pretty much breaking the entire series.
Can you imagine if the entire Star Wars universe was suddenly revealed to be an online game?
If that's what they're aiming for, it also feels like an imitation of popular "onine game" animes, and not its own thing like Phantasy Star used to be, which is sad.

There's such a thing as being contextual. Breaking from the mold is different from taking a giant huge massive leap into something totally different.
As far as I'm concerned PSO2 has been a mess all along.

Anyway I came back here to point something out:
SEGA doesn't care about people leaving because of their shit not making sense. They don't need the game to make sense, or play well as a game.
They supposedly said PSO2 is designed around its community, or it's meant to be a social game, or whatever. It'll survive by that.
I have JP PSO2 friends who barely play games in general, even quit PSO2 on and off, but still went to the livestream event and had fun.
People enjoy all these social gatherings and events and dances and so on.
As long as SEGA doesn't somehow significantly alienate a massive amount of people, they're not going to change what they're doing.

If episode 4 had nothing people wanted, and only stuff people didn't want, then yes, it would be a colossal failure.
The fact is episode 4 comes with a ton of stuff people have been waiting for.
Of course most people aren't going to quit now.
It's just another example of, taking the bad with the good. As long as it's not a failure, they're not going to care about fixing the bad.
Unless enough people complain about it, of course. But they're not going to care about what foreigners think.

You know, one of the things I've heard people say about design....
When you design something that takes place in the future, you have more freedom, because you're not bound by what exists in the past and present.
You can just make whatever you want, because it's the future. It hasn't happened yet.
So it seems kinda sad to me that, when Phantasy Star has such freedom, they choose to focus on stuff like modern high school Japan.
I only played PSO1 episode 1, and that game was a pretty fresh and unique experience for me. So I hope you can see where I'm coming from.

What's that tagline from Star Trek? "Going where no man has been"? Can you imagine Star Trek suddenly being about high school America?
Imagine how many people play PSO2 to enjoy a futuristic world. Now imagine that it's suddenly modern high school Japan. Of course some people are going to be upset.
I'm not one of those people. But I still think it's strange, and sad.
If I was director of this mess, I would have just called the game something else to begin with, instead of using the Phantasy Star universe.

And for anyone arguing it's not modern Japan... it's 2028. That's just over a decade from now.

One of my friends complained yesterday that Earth was destroyed before PSO1, hence looking for a new planet and ending up on Ragol.
Dunno if that's true, I don't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

[rokkuman]

I never heard that "katana is fan service" thing, doesn't make sense to me.
People have been complaining about collabos since day one because we're getting way more collabos than actual PSO2-themed stuff.
And the PSO2-themed stuff tends to be really ugly.
If PSO2 didn't rely so heavily on collabos, the game would probably already be localized in the West. It's that significant.

Regarding episode 4, enough of it has been revealed to form an opinion.
They are confident of whatever they've shown us, otherwise they would not show us.

From what I hear, the Phantasy Star series has always been heavily influenced by Star Wars.
Can you imagine if the new Star Wars movie took place in a modern American high school instead of a galaxy far far away?
And with colorful Jar Jar Binks eating candy.
Are you saying it's not valid to be concerned about such a bizarre change?
Look at the Star Wars Kinect dancing thing. People weren't happy about that, and for good reason.
I don't even care about Star Wars and I can tell that dance thing was silly. I think it's funny, but at the same time I think it disrespects fans.

That being said, I already voiced my opinion and concerns about episode 4.
I'm not wasting my time running around the place whining about it. I do show it to friends so we can laugh at the silliness.
If people want to quit the game, let them. If people want to complain about the game, let them.
I'm sure everyone knows that SEGA isn't going to care either way.
You don't have to waste your time listening to the complaints or responding to them.

First of all, the collabs have nothing to do with a localization(not that we need it anyways). Second of all i never said we shouldn`t be concerned, after all this game is the best MMORPG i've played and i wouldn't like it going down the hill, i said that people shouldn't be judging so fast something they only saw a few trailers about.
Of course, it wasn't what i expected, i think i can say that for everyone, but it's this kind of "fresh air" that makes PSO2 so unique compared to other MMOs, after all the gaming history shows us the people laugh of things they fear/don't fully understand, people laughed at the Nintendo Wii for example, but if we give it at least a try to form our opinions instead of senselesly bashing it, we might understand it. And btw, don't think of the Phantasy Star series as Star Wars, think it as Phantasy Star.

[AmanoMai]

@Taiga
I agree, it'll throw people off when you leap into something completely different that were perhaps not meant to be in this game at all
and pso2 is a total mess

but a lot of your examples are just singling out a couple of things to empathize a point that wasn't convincing in the first place

If you expect entirely new cultures, why is Harukotan Japan and Earth is also Japan?
Previous PS games also had Japan stuff. You don't really see other cultures. Or ecological systems, for that reason.

why compare earth to harkotan?
why not compare it to naberius? lilipa? or compare harkotan to amdusica ?

harkotan is also massively different from earth btw, while both are influenced by Japan, one is from mythology and folklore while one is from a modern era.

don't how you're lumping them together just because they're "Japan"
today's Japan is pretty much 'murica in the east




I do feel abit uncomfortable, not gonna lie.
but for what it's worth, it's interesting. I mostly just want to do something interesting in fun in this game, so if they're giving me a fun ride, i'll ride it.

What needs to be fixing isn't the story, it's the mechanics and balance which they're totally failling at. but that's for a different thread

[illegaleagle90]

You guys know.... seeing as how PSO2 in general has many different themes and aspects of its setting inspired in someway, shape or form from Japan while still retaining a very heavily sci-fi flair, EP4 going to 2028 Japan on Planet Earth is the logical conclusion of this really.

[I mean guys... come on, a fuckload of different costumes and characters have some trope popular in Japanese media]

[Dammy]

cant read that post, it hurts my eyes

[AmanoMai]

oops, i forgot to post this, please excuse me for double posting

What's that tagline from Star Trek? "Going where no man has been"? Can you imagine Star Trek suddenly being about high school America?
Imagine how many people play PSO2 to enjoy a futuristic world. Now imagine that it's suddenly modern high school Japan. Of course some people are going to be upset.

As for my self, I'm very used to this kind of setting, where an original non-earth crew finds their self in earth or whatever similar things.
It's a popular setting in anime, novels and the likes.

something i've noticed, people play this game expect it to be Star Craft , or maybe Starwars online.

turned out it's an anime in disguise
well rekt

[rokkuman]

If you expect entirely new cultures, why is Harukotan Japan and Earth is also Japan?
Previous PS games also had Japan stuff. You don't really see other cultures. Or ecological systems, for that reason.

*cough* *cough* Neudaiz*cough* *cough*

Are you trying to suggest that Phantasy Star going from a long history of futuristic space stuff to a seemingly modern day high school setting in seemingly modern Tokyo isn't strange?.

No. I'm saying that by being strange and new it makes it exciting. What relationship could that apocalyptical earth have to the darkers or the photoners? What kind of plot they want to show us?

AIt's also not the first time PSO2 has ignored stuff from the Phantasy Star series.
One of my JP friends has complained multiple times about how Casts used to be androids, not cyborgs.
Apparently, according to PSO2 lore, every Cast was originally a human. So what happened to all the androids?
Life born from artificial intelligence is an interesting concept on its own. Why would they completely remove this?

That's one of the things that pisses me off on the fanbase, the conservatorship. Why should PSO2 follow the old plot? It's a new game, new possibilities. Even if it were that way, what difference would it make outside of the story? In PSP2I, the dumans were originally were pale skinned, you couldn't choose any color that is dark for example, why should PSO2 follow that script?

Does this mean all Phantasy Stars up until now are suddenly just within the context of a game?
And not the story of a futuristic universe? If so, that's not just breaking the mold, it's pretty much breaking the entire series.
Can you imagine if the entire Star Wars universe was suddenly revealed to be an online game?
If that's what they're aiming for, it also feels like an imitation of popular "onine game" animes, and not its own thing like Phantasy Star used to be, which is sad.

That's EXACTLY why you should wait for the story without judging it first! Btw, when did they confirm that? I know my japanese isn't perfect but i think i would've understood that, in fact, i think anyone would by saying the word "anime".

But they're not going to care about what foreigners think.

Of course they do, they probably wouldn't make 4 million players without us this soon, but of course they will give a special attention to the japanese culture since this is a japanese release.

I only played PSO1 episode 1, and that game was a pretty fresh and unique experience for me. So I hope you can see where I'm coming from.

I see, there's no problem on liking a game more than other but you need to understand that sometimes things are going to change and it can chage drastically, surprising everyone, but if you open yourself to it i'm pretty sure the experiece will be the best possible.

What's that tagline from Star Trek? "Going where no man has been"? Can you imagine Star Trek suddenly being about high school America?
Imagine how many people play PSO2 to enjoy a futuristic world. Now imagine that it's suddenly modern high school Japan. Of course some people are going to be upset.

Again, anime, not the game itself.

And for anyone arguing it's not modern Japan... it's 2028. That's just over a decade from now.

I agree that it's indeed suspicious that they chose such a random year... And considering that it's exactly 1 year after the year of the anime it could be a reference. Well, we gotta wait and see what happens!

One of my friends complained yesterday that Earth was destroyed before PSO1, hence looking for a new planet and ending up on Ragol.
Dunno if that's true, I don't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

If i'm not wrong they never said that pioneer people came from earth, they could be much like ARKS, but searching for a new planet.

[Hysteria1987]

Off topic, but...

I only played PSO1 episode 1, and that game was a pretty fresh and unique experience for me. So I hope you can see where I'm coming from.

If you ever get the chance to play Ep2, I recommend it- it was my favourite episode. Dat central control area. Of all the games I've ever played, the original PSO still stands as my absolute favourite.

One of my friends complained yesterday that Earth was destroyed before PSO1, hence looking for a new planet and ending up on Ragol.
Dunno if that's true, I don't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

The world in PSO1 they left behind was called Coral- whether or not that's a kind of parallel to Earth, well... that's not something I know anything about unfortunately. What I do know is it wasn't quite destroyed (at least by the end of Ep2, I don't know enough of the story beyond that), but due to crippling wars and such it was very quickly becoming uninhabitable, and they needed out. Hence, we got the Pioneer project- probes were desperately sent into space to find a habitable world, and we end up on the mysterious Ragol...

One of the governments on Coral actually ruled over Ragol as a colony until some point far into the storyline (ep3 IIRC).

One of the more interesting theories here was that the spaceship buried under Ragol (the 'ruins') was an ancient ship sent out at the end of one of the earlier Phantasy Star games- there was one where a bunch got launched for some reason, maybe they were fleeing something. It used to be thought that it was the Arissa III, which was a ship in one of the old stories if I'm not mistaken, but there's no proper evidence to support that.

The ancient ruins actually being a millennia-old spaceship was always a really powerful image to me.

[Sizustar]

Can you imagine if the new Star Wars movie took place in a modern American high school instead of a galaxy far far away?.

Didn't disney recently did a fairytale villan highschool serie?
Now that they own marvel and star wars, won't they do something like that?