The official site for Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan was updated today with slew of information, including news that the game will be delayed until 2012 and that a second Alpha Test will take place sometime early next year. The reason given for the delay was that the developers wanted to make Phantasy Star Online 2 a better game. There also appear to be a number of user-submitted changes that will be implemented in PSO2, thanks to feedback from its first Alpha Test. The entire list of user suggestions and dev responses (in bold) can be found below. A big thanks to Mike for compiling the translated information in our PSO2 forum, be sure to drop by and join in on the discussion that is already underway.

Combat Related

I want to be able to perform just attacks with ranged weapons and techs.
We'll make it so you can do this.

I want to be hold the attack button to auto attack.
Ok, but you won't be able to perform Just Attacks using this method.

The hunter's step and ranger's dodge-roll are too powerful and they ruin the balance of the game. Fix it!
We are adjusting the time spent invincible and the time spent unable to move after dodging. We are also slightly quickening the change from walking to running.

There's no reason to use the hunter's guard.
We are adjusting the timing so that attacks are cancelled quicker by guarding than dodging. This will allow guarding to be more affective against sudden attacks.

The reduced movement speed while charging techs sucks. Do something.
Charging will no longer reduce movement speed but you won't be able to perform the mirage dash.

I want to charge techs in the subpallete too.
You will be able to do that.

Uncharged techs are too weak.
The power of uncharged techs will be raised and there will be an appropriate difference between charged and uncharged techs.

Resta's range is too short and I can't heal my buddies.
Resta's range is now longer.

The screen shakes too much and makes me wanna puke.
We have reduced the instances of screen shaking events and even these can be turned off in the options.

It'd be nice if there was a walking animation for when you only push the stick on a controller weakly.
Your characters now walk in this situation but only when their weapons are sheathed.

Some enemy's damage-animation cancelling attacks are ridiculous.
We'll change it so that all enemies, except large ones, will always complete their damage animation when attack with a just attack.

Make it so we don't accidentally waste mates when our HPs are full.
Done

Don't let us lock on to other players.
Done

Make the lock-on work like PSU.
We'll change it so the defaults are click for the keyboard & mouse users and hold for the game pad users. These can be changed in the options. When there are no targets around, this will recenter the camera

User Interface & Controls

The menus are harder to navigate with a controller than PSU!
We've fixed the user interface so it works well with all control methods.

It's hard to tell the difference between all the icons.
We've rethought the direction we were taking icons in and have redone them all.

It's hard to tell what items are locked or equipped by looking at the icon.
We've made the locked/equipped signifiers more visible.

Buying and selling items is clunky and hard to control.
We've gotten rid of the shopping cart system and made it easy to quickly buy and sell items.

I want to be able to deposit more than one item at a time at the storage box.
We've made it possible to select and move multiple items at the same time.

I want to buy and sell from storage.
Done.

I want to store meseta in storage.
We're working to see that happen.

In order to get a sense of when to heal, I want the HPs of other parties displayed in multi-party areas.
The HPs of players in other parties will be displayed above their heads.

I don't want the map to change from full display to local display when I change areas.
It won't.

The local radar map is too small. Make it bigger.
It will be made bigger.

I'd like party members to show up on the map so I know where they are if we get split up.
Party members will show up on the map.

I want disks to show their level when they drop so I know whether to pick them up or not.
Done.

It's hard to see when you've locked on to an enemy.
We'll make it easier to see when you've locked on to an enemy.

Communication

I want to type just by typing on the keyboard.
We'll add a mode that let's you do that when using a game pad.

Press "C" to chat feels weird.
You can press "C" or "Enter" to chat.

I don't want to have to use the chat key to do lobby actions or cut-in chat. Give them their own key.
They'll have there own key.

I want to be able to meet my friends right away.
We'll add a function that will allow you to travel to the block your friends are in when you log in.

I don't know if I'm using party chat or public chat! Also, make it easier to switch between the two.
We'll add another window that let's you switch between the chats. Party and public chats will also have different balloons.

Character Creation

I want to be able to change clothes at a whim. Lose the clothing defense attributes.
Costumes will lose their stats making units the primary source of defense.

I want to be able to decided if units are visible are not.
You will be able to turn the visibility of units on or off.

I want my character's eyebrows to match their hair color.
You'll be able to do that.

I want to be able to make characters bigger and smaller than the current limits.
You'll be able to make both bigger and smaller characters, but only slightly.

I want to be able to change my cast character's body using a morphing slider like the fleshies.
You'll be able to do that.

I want to change my cast's face like the other races.
There will be faces that can be changed like the other race's faces in the character creator.

I want my cast to run instead of hover. Or make it dependent on the type of leg parts.
You'll be able to choose between hovering or walking, no matter what the parts.

Quests

I want a input box to allow me to input my party name when I create the party to let other players know what kind of player I am.
Done. You'll also be able to select a playstyle along with using party comments and passwords.

There's not much information when selecting a party to join and it makes it hard to pick one.
You'll be able to see the party information like playstyle and time elapsed when you go to join a party now.

I want to be able to set a way to only allow certain players in to a multi-party area.
You'll be able to set a password for a multi-party area when you create an entirely new party.

I want the camp ship to have the abilities of the quest counter so we don't have to go back to the ship after each quest.
The camp ship will now act as a quest counter.

I want to go down to the planet without having to take a quest.
You'll be able to accept free quests without going to the quest counter and just going straight to the camp ship.

Shops in the camp ship please.
There will be shops in the camp ship.

I want to be able to teleport to areas already visited by party members.
You will be able to do that.

It'd be nice if interrupt events happened during free quests too.
Interupt events will now occur during free quests.

I want free quests to actually have a clear end point.
Free quests will have a boss and defeating that boss will end the quest but the area before the boss will be playable forever. (As in monsters will continue to respawn)

Having to unlock quests by waiting for a random event to happen sucks.
Quests will no longer be unlocked by random events.

I want boss areas like PSO and PSU.
Certain maps will have these areas. Certain maps will not.

I ran out of item space!
There were too many drops at a single point in time so we will be cutting down on unneeded drops.

Not being able to accept and losing a reward after an interrupt event because my inventory was full is ridiculous.
When this happens, the reward item will be sent to your storage.

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