It's been awhile, so here are some of the current hot news and topics in the forums in case you overlooked:
Our usual weekly updates...
And some near-future updates...
With additional details.
Check Ep3 new opening out.
Also, check out Nova's new trailer.
And join Phashion's new contest for a chance to win some cool prizes.
These are just a few recent topics, feel free to visit the forums & check out many other topics for more information.
Thanks to Manta Oyamada, Sizustar, LordKaiser, Arialle, redroses & other members for the updates.
As most of you are aware of by now, the official PSO2 site and servers, as well as some related PSO2 sites, have been under intermittent DDoS attacks since late last week. SEGA brought their official site back online Tuesday and has also released an update on the situation.
In their update, SEGA mentions the intermittent nature of the attacks and notes that they may have to stop service to the official site again if attacks intensify. In that event, players are encouraged to get updates via SEGA's official accounts on various social media outlets. At the time of the update, services that were still down included the download servers for the PC game client and character creation trial, AC purchase, and login to all versions of the game (PC, Vita, and smartphone).
Further maintenance to the official site will be carried out on Thursday to reinforce their protection measures and another update will be released on that day, as well. As a result of the downtime experienced due to these incidents, SEGA will be looking to reschedule various events and campaigns and will also be considering some form of compensation to players. More details will be announced at a later time.
If you're seeing this post, then you also know that PSOW is online again as well. Welcome back! We hope to avoid any further downtime, but please hang in there if we experience any more hiccups in service. We've made some changes to the site, so if you run into any bugs or other issues, please contact us and let us know. We'll be doing our best to keep things up and running and appreciate your patience and support!
In case you haven't been following this week, here are some of the current hot topics to check out:
- ARKS "United Front Festival 2014" Triple Campaign
Campaign Period is between Maintenance 15th January 2014 and Maintenance 12th February 2014 with rewards being sent out in March 2014. The three campaign are as follow:
  - New Player Campaign: free present for new players
  - AC Charge Campaign: rewards for charging 500AC & more
  - Friend Campaign: rewards for players with more than 4 or 12 friends
- Arks Bingo Web Panel Event 2014!
This year, there are 20 panels to unlock. Currently, 14 panels have unlocked at 2.25 million points.
- Favorite NPC Elections!
Vote for your favorite NPC and we could get items based on the election winner(s).
- Electifinis gun camo sound problem.
Due to a lot of complaints from this weapon's sound, Sega and will adjust the gun's volume. For your curiosity, we have the gun's video - courtesy of member final_attack.
Check back for new information as they are added. Thanks to Pyrii, Dnd, Maninbluejumpsuit, TaigaUC, and final_attack for the updates.
We're looking to make the news page a bit more active, despite the lack of PSO2 Western release news these days. The forums continue to be a great source of PSO2 information and discussions, so we'll be trying to post regular highlights of some of the most popular discussions. We hope to do this at least weekly, while we work to get back into a more regular news-posting routine. Here are some of the current hot topics for you to check out:
- PSO2 Episode 2 - Deluxe Package for both PC and PS VITA. Member Meji has just picked up this little news piece from Sega.
- Also, due to a serious issue from PSO2 JP's weekly update, there is an Emergency Maintenance.
Edit: Maintenance is over. Servers are back online.
- Next, check out Sega's new trailer of future content.
Check back for new additions as they are added. Thanks to Meji, Horo The Wise Wolf, AIDA and Shinamori for the updates.
This morning, at Sony Computer Entertainment's pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference, SEGA announced its latest installment in the Phantasy Star franchise, Phantasy Star Nova. The game, set in the same universe as Phantasy Star Online 2, will be an exclusive to the Playstation Vita and will feature an offline, single-player story, as well as online co-op for up to four players.
The title is being developed by tri-Ace, also known for games in the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile franchises. There was no indication if Phantasy Star Nova might make it to the West, but it is slated for a 2014 release in Japan. More details are to be revealed next week, during the 2013 Tokyo Game Show.
A big thanks to everyone who posted about this news in our forums! We'll be sure to post more updates as they become available. In the meantime, feel free to check out the ongoing discussion here!
Update: More details have emerged, courtesy of Shogai PSO and Mike in our forums, be sure to check them out in the forum tags above!