• PSO version 2 release date set to 9/11

    by
    watashiwa
    Published on Jul 16, 2001 01:11 PM
    94 Comments
    According to a new article over at Gaming-Age, Sega of America has announced the offical release date of US version of Phantasy Star Online version 2 as September 11th. The final pricing plan for online play has been negotiated as $15 for every 3 months for unlimited game play online. Click here to read more.

    Categories:
    1. General
    Comments 93 Comments
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 02:09 PM
      Videogames.com and thegia.com are also reporting the same news. It must have really come from Sega this time. In Japan it is only $8 for 3 months. But for the US version it is $15 for 3 months. I feel like I am getting ripped off. Plus we have to wait until September. When the game is already translated and ready to be produced.
    1. ATLien's Avatar
      ATLien - Jul 16, 2001, 02:47 PM
      DAMN!! While their at it, they should go for a christmas release! O'well it looks like I'm about to hit up my local import store. Sega...you never fail to amaze me(sigh).
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 03:05 PM
      The pay to play directive split the existing PSO audience by at least half. With this pricing scheme and release schedule, Sega will probably lose even more potential customers. $5 per month to play PSOv2 is half of the $10 per month that current MMORPG games charge. Those who really want to play PSOv2 will import the game now. Others potentially interested, but not willing to import, will probably take a "wait and see" attitude and evaluate PSOv2 on GameCube.
      Sega should have at least price-matched the Japanese fee structure.
      Maybe I should sell my DC...it's a US machine, so I can't play the import PSOv2.
    1. palma6's Avatar
      palma6 - Jul 16, 2001, 03:24 PM
      Paying to play is a scam plain and simple. Sega does not need the extra money to maintain their servers. Hell, after a couple of weeks the few of you still playing verision 2 will stop playing and start bitching about how you were ripped off because it's exactly the same as version 1!!! I imported and thank god I did. I know better now.
      Luckily Sega is going to get a big SLAP in the face when version 2 is released. The decision to charge players twice for playing a game has already cut the PSO fan base by half or more. Then they decide to charge more than the Japanese players pay? It's just wrong to charge to pay to play. It's all a bunch of crap these companies drudge up to get the sympathy vote. Trust me I work as an IT so I know what it really takes to run servers and the like. It's just a shame that alot of the PSOW users dont see through the crap!
      No one can call me cheap either. If you work 12 hours a day just to barley get by and pay for a house, two cars, on top of fees for an ISP, computer, Dreamcast, PSO, you might begin to see what the fuss is all about. I dont care if they charged 1 dollar a year to play! I woulndnt pay it and neither would alot of other players.
      By agreeing to pay to play your telling every single gaming company that your willing to accept any extra charges they might add on to the original price of the game. What's next, an activation fee on top of the pay to play, or how about paying to play an offline game? Dont think it can happen? Just wait and see.
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 03:43 PM
      >>By agreeing to pay to play your telling every single gaming company that your willing to accept any extra charges they might add on to the original price of the game. <<
      The above is true. However, if consumers like the content and want to pay for it, they will. Consumers, however, will pay only if they think the price is worth it. If the price is too high, the consumer will balk.
      In this case, Sega has very likely priced themselves out of the market for this type game. Thus, sales of this game will plummet. This wills end a message to Sega Japan that the pay to play concept doesn't float too well in the U.S.. Charging more than the Japanese players is a good way to make U.S. consumers angry.
      If you like the content and find the price is adequate, then pay. If not, don't pay. The economic landscape of this product will pan out soon enough.
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 03:52 PM
      if Sega starts seeing more English language V2 characters on their servers before the September 11th release date.
    1. TcGoku2k1's Avatar
      TcGoku2k1 - Jul 16, 2001, 03:56 PM
      My thought on it is this, Pay if you like it, if you feel its not worth it then forget it. As we all can see the internet is no longer becoming free and you will have to pay. Get used to it! Everyone has their reasons not to pay . I want it so i will pay if after 3 months i dont like it then i wont pay and thats it .
      Sad but true the internet is not what it was ....
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 05:18 PM
      I'll gladly pay $15 for three months.
      I would pay the same for the current version if it weeded out all the whiners, player killers and kiddies.
    1. jazzyfox's Avatar
      jazzyfox - Jul 16, 2001, 05:36 PM
      The expectation of $10/month really isn't justified. What you see is a result of exchange rates. Sega isn't required to price things exactly equal everywhere. Businesses price things at what they think the market will bear, which in this case is $5/month. Face it, we're a different market than Japan. You see it as "twice as much as the import" because you've been exposed to all these importers. Others will see it as "half the cost of EverQuest".
      Granted, $5/month is right at the maximum of what I would be willing to pay. But the wish for the Japanese pricing scheme is 100% fueled by rumor, hope, and prayer.
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 05:45 PM
      if,if,if, but the sad truth is that ver2 doesnt even do that. you can still be harmed in all the same ways as before unless you play ultimate mode. so you will pay this fee, and your characters will still not be safe. sadly, i was expecting more from SOA.
      heres a thought, with the release still 2 months away, there will be a huge amount of negative feed back about all of this, the long wait, getting charged twice as much as JP users, and things of the sort. many, many people will go ahead and import, useing GS or exploder codes to transfer thier US save files to ver2. Sega will notice this no doubt, now, if they start to figure that they have lost most of the US sale base for this release, whats stopping them from just plain ol' not releasing the title. it could happen, maybe thats why the date is 7/11 even though the disks are ready for replication now. Maybe this is sega's idea of wait and see...
      heres another thought, how many yen is 15$ lol, its like 20 billion or something. i thought the dollar was worth more then the yen, or at least last time i checked it was. hmmmm, could be this announcment was designed to lower interest for the title haha. They should have just come out and said, " you might as well import it now " ! maybe this is SOJ idea of payback, with JP ver1 users forced to pay, while we enjoyed the title for free all this time. Muhahahahahahaha.
      bummer, im going to buy it, i have 11 characters, and i would like them to see the ver2 servers just once, or twice before this game becomes, well, just another game *gulp*.
      peace to my pso brothers and sisters.
      Johnny Blaze, Blaze family of legends.
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 05:46 PM
      I think that SOJ is pissed at us. They doubled the price of the online fee because, IMO, SOA put up a fight. Sega is going to feel the backlash of this because more people(like me) aren't going to pay 15 bucks for an add-on. They should of waited till PSO2.
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:27 PM
      I pretty much agree when it comes to PSO. $5/mo. IS expensive considering the game doesn't offer anywhere close to half the content of MMORPGs charging $10/mo. I think I'm gonna try Everquest or maybe Anarchy Online, those I would definately pay for. If i want the PSO type of content I could easily play Diablo 2 for free, and it offers more!
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:29 PM
      So those bastards up the price plan AND they delay it to september? Well sega for that load of crap I'm gonna buy a gameshark just for you and I'm going to devote my time to PK and CK the hell out of everyone!!! (on the JP servers) Just wait until I get some damn bypass codes and all shal feel the wrath of ShotgunSnowman!!!
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:29 PM
      Correction to last post. I meant $15/mo. lol
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:32 PM
      I don't see "half the price of EQ" as a good thing, since EQ offers about 10 times the content. But I do see it as 5$/mo. more than Diablo, a game much more similar.
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:33 PM
      Reger that... bwa hahahahahahaaa!
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:35 PM
      Just get a mod-chip or one of those CDs and you can use your US Dreamcast d00d!
    1. 's Avatar
      - Jul 16, 2001, 06:49 PM
      I'm not just messing around either. I, ShotgunSnowman will really do this. If for some reason I slip up and get banned I'll just GS another character to level 200 and buy another game. I've nothing better to do than shove a big pole of revenge right up sega's pampered ass! So if you play on the JP servers after the US release and see somone by the name of Snowman join your game you better haul ass outta there.
    1. Parn's Avatar
      Parn - Jul 16, 2001, 06:50 PM
      My eyes rolled so far back, they popped out of my head.
    1. Parn's Avatar
      Parn - Jul 16, 2001, 06:53 PM
      You're unhappy with the pay-to-play system, yet you forked out money for a Gameshark in the first place?
      Pardon me while I go laugh at you hysterically in a corner of the room.
      Actually, what you're doing is fantastic. The more copies of PSOV2 you buy, the better. =)
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