Article: US Delay Reasons?

[watashiwa]

jazzyfox writes, "I got pointed over to this on the mamak (http://www.mamak-int.com/index2.htm) site and found a really interesting piece, that makes me have a little more good intentions towards Sega of America. The most interesting part of the article is the second paragraph:
"Sega of America decided to try and work out payment options that would be considerably cheaper than what the Japanese pay currently for PSO ver2. They went with their options back to Sega of Japan who had set up the US pay structure, the exact same as Japan, 400 Yen for 30 days, or 1,000 Yen for 90 days. Sega of America went with having the US pay $10 for six months, and Sega of Japan just about went nuts, so now, they are still going back and fourth.""

[Faewyn]

Thanks for posting that. I have two big questions, though.
1) What's their source for that info. Pretty detailed, but very insider... How do I know it's true. (Tho' I do believe it for the most part)
2) What's the big hullabaloo about paying a small server fee for access? $10 for 3 months is chicken feed. And then, once we pay for server access, we have greater clout to demand better server performance... Too bad SoJ didn't go for $10 for six months. That's only $1.67 a month. That's cheaper than renting one movie a month! LOL I'd have liked that even more...
Faewyn Wraith

Paying to play is a total scam! Read here
http://forums.gamespot.na.zdnet.com/group/zd.Games.Dreamcast/talkback/videogames/videogames.tpt/@thread@20003@forward@1@D-,D@ALL/@article@20003?EXP=ALLE19847E19971&VWM=hr&ROS=
Yep the whole url Dont anyone tell me i'm cheap either, the cost isnt the important issue here

[Kasera]

considering this is true (and i am not calling anyone a liar) then it almost sounds too good to be true. i'm not saying that i wouldn't enjoy ten bucks for six months, it's just that it sounds too damn good. on the other hand sega of america may be trying to compensate for the backlash of people from their announcement of pay-to play. *kasera's head explodes trying to figure this one out*

Ok kiddies, after your raging and ranting, if any of this is true, and if it ends up at 10 bux for six months, will you still bitch moan and cry? I don't buy the "what if you dont have a CC" BS either, theres an easy alternative your parents have control over, its the visabuxx card.
Although it would be nice if they setup some other kind of option, because face it options are ALWAYS nice.

Umm I know SEGA's no $ony, but they're still a corporation, the idea they could care is kinda silly. But hey...

[pErFeCt34]

I mean SOJ doesnt want the US to get away with paying less. thats just funny as hell

No, I will never pay a subscription to play a game. No matter how "cheap" it is.
If SoA seems to think that it'll cost them $10 for 6 months of server use, and assuming (a very good assumption here) that after 6 months the overall server use for PSOv2 will be a but a fraction of what it'll start out as (less then 10%), why don't they just charge us $50 or $55 for the game instead of $40? Collect that extra $10-$15 for the projected server costs up front as part of the initial purchase. That way, no one complains...

[Ping]

The $10/6 months is a way for Sega to make some money. If they just upped the game's cost then they wouldn't make money for however long PSOv.2 is played by everyone (Be it 6 months or 6 years).
You're suggesting they add the $10 "server charge" (the pay-to-play charge) to the retail price of the game, since they're gonna lose the players in 6 months anyways, right? Well, if they added it on like that, then I doubt they'd lose many players, because then it's just another $10 for the game, rather than $10/6 months.
[*grumble*grumble* Though I'm sure there would be players who would bitch about having to pay an extra $10 at all.]
If they didn't charge this pay-to-play, then they wouldn't experience a server usage drop like you say. Obviously, Sega (or any other company) would like to make as much money as they can, and $10 as a period charge gains more than $10 as a flat one-time charge.
Whatever happens, $10/3 months or $10/6 months or whatever isn't a bad price at all. C'mon, $10 is like 2 or 3 combo meals at your local fast food restaurant! It's nothing! And even 3 months can be a long time! So long as they don't hike up the price to more than the $10/3 months (That's reasonable as it is!), I'll be paying, because I want that burning q-tip!! And that leaf! And the umbrella!! Sugoi!!!
*ahem* Uhhh... that's about enough from me. ^^;;

Actually, if you think you're so smart to tell all theses "kiddies" a how little $10 every 3 or 6 mo. is and about Visabuxx etc., then you're sorely mistaken. I am not a "kiddie" yet I am not buying the game due to the fee. Now I'm not saying it's expensive or I don't have a credit card, but if everyone supports fees like this, the long term effect on the gaming industry wouldn't be great. If games like Everquest, Asheron's Call, and especially a game like this that has MUCH less to offer as a MMORPG are successful at charging fees, then more companies will follow their lead, just as Sega followed Everquest's. Every game you play that charges will eventually amount to being expensive, especially since most charge $10/mo. Please think before you insult the "kiddies."

[Thanatos]

I hate SoJ anyway... they dont realize we north americans (and some europeans) play longer than the majority of the japanese out there. I mean... man, quantity is better than quality sometimes. They can't een imagine what happens if they put a 1 dollar bill for every 3 months and see how much profit they rack in rather than making 20$ per 3 months. As far as i can see, SoJ are just a bunch of cheapskates. I MIGHT buy v.2, but mark my words that i wont go online with it.

They have already experienced this kind of server usage drop with the original PSO, and it hasn't even been out (in the US) for 6 months yet.

I totally agree with Faewyn here. $10 for 6 months? That's nothing! I mean, the Japanese have to pay more and their people made the game! I'm tired of hearing everyone whine and moan like little kids about pay to play. Instead of crying about it all the time, show your discontent by not giving them your money. Don't buy the game, don't pay the service. I for one will buy the game and I will pay to play it. If you don't like the whole thing, then don't do it, but please, for the love of God, stop whining all the time.

[Parn]

First of all, Sega of Japan is the core of the whole company. Why do you think Dreamcast is being canned? Your belief that North Americans play PSO longer than the Japanese is about as baseless as people saying there's life beyond space. You can't prove any of this nonsense.
There are more Japanese players than there are European and North American players combined. The proof is online, check the JP servers during peak hours. Their servers are so packed, some of them hit the US servers. Check them out Saturday morning.
Sega of Japan are cheapskates for charging $9 for 90 days? I'd say the cheapskates are people like YOU who think $3 for one month is too much.
If you choose to not go online with your copy, then all I have to say is, your loss, not ours. The real cheapskates are the ones that think $3 for one month of play is too much. Tightasses.

[Parn]

Why do you think Yamauchi of Nintendo is so reluctant to get into online gaming, even with PSOV2 promised on Gamecube? It all has to do with the profit margin. Online gaming doesn't make a whole lot of money if you don't charge a monthly fee, in fact, you'd lose money eventually due to bandwidth issues. The days of free online play are over, if you haven't noticed. This isn't just PSO we're talking about. The internet isn't booming like it once was, companies like Yahoo are going out of business. Free this, free that, and now they're dying. There's no source of income for them, since pay-per-view/click ads don't pay what they used to.
Back to the Gamecube comment, it's simple math. Charging an online fee turns people away (as it's doing now), and not charging an online fee equals potential loss of profit. Either way, it doesn't look so good for the company trying to make money, doesn't it?

You really can't compare PC to console.
Don't buy the game, you won't be missed.

Yeah even if other companies do follow lead it really depends on the product, you think those losers would still be paying if those games werent fun.

Its a hopeless cause, either they'll pay it or they won't.
Screw SoJ

1) You have no proof that North Americans play longer. We have the ability to play online longer because we currently don't have to pay to play online, but I'm pretty sure that the Japanese play alot longer than we do.
2) How can you call SOJ cheap? This money allows them to secure and maintain the servers. In addition, the Japanese were able to access more quests and enter into contests. The Japanese already pay per minute for local calls, and the price they pay for internet would be outragous compared to the US. Would you call your phone company cheap or your AOL service cheap because they force you to pay a monthly service fee? No, because that is what they are providing you with, a service.
3) Stop complaining. I'm sure you can spare that Big Mac Extra Value Meal a month to pay to play this great game. If you're not going to buy the game, then don't, and stop whining. I think Americas been spoiled enough.

I'm happy that at least SoA gave any response to anyone regarding the release dae of version 2 in the states. This shows me that they are not just sitting on the copies of ver2 in some room laughing saying;"How much longer till we really piss everyone off?" All of this talking about the small fees of the game jepordized the US release of it. With all of the coplaints we make Sega ends up pushing back the release date and further alienating customers, making them wonder if they should release it at all. If we keep complaining about the small things like the fees for online gameplay and don't focus on main product issues we just waste time and end up making the release date go back. I'm not sure how the extra money will be spent but, I can only hope it is to stop the one thing completely destroying the experience of the game. If we are to raise a stink about anything it should be about cheating (Game Shark etc)this struck a solid blow to the gamng community of pso and made millions decide not to buy the game. I suppose something about a level 10 person running around with a mag cell and his/her 125% on everything spread needle+255 gaining levels faster then you can say: that's stupid, turned away many potential buyers. If Sega wants to profit they should find a way to stop all cheats in ver.2 and perhaps not spread out the release dates between countries by months totally removing any motivation to play. That last comment hit me on a deep level being i was one of a few hundred playing version 1 back in January (kudos to Babbages for calling us early) and was in the first team in the US to get to hard and very hard then beat the game as well as get our characters to lvl.100, back then the game had much more meaning then going on and getting some hacked or duped weapon`and just totally suping up your character, back then it was about discovering the double saber and being the only person to have it and have people ask how I got it, earning 100 levels instead of using a gs for quick level gain. So I am happy that no new rares have been posted for version 2 for a few days now,so possibly us players waiting until August will have a chance of discovering weapons that all of the people that imported the game and the Japanese have never seen before. Hurry Sega America needs you to release version 2 now!
Lahri ophelia 10 lvl 100
..and yes those last 100 levels with my hucast were gained legit and in less than two weeks.

[Thanatos]

Now here comes another idiot who thinks he can afford everything. Look, PSO was supposed to be a FREE GAME for us Americans.
And now you're trying to say that you're so rich and cool you can afford everything and treat us cheapskates because we can't convince most of our parents into using their credit card?
Go ahead, spend all your money and try to look like cool, rich buttache. And see how good it'll do for you.

[Thanatos]

1. Your theory is groundless too, then.
"but I'm pretty sure that the Japanese play alot longer than we do."
Right... you're "pretty sure" well that proves you're not that right too.
2. Yes, SOJ is cheap. And my phone service? I don't even need it... i use the phone rarely and AOL pretty much sucks.
3. Complaining?
And i NEED a credit card to play online. How am i gonna convince them?
Sorry, im NEVER going to play a P2P game. They're looking to rip your money and im not gonna lose the dignity of spending ALL of my hard-earned cash just for this "great game". Hell, its already worse as it is.

your asking the japanese how much we should pay. first of all the japanese dont like us ever since blew them out of the water during ww2. now your leaving our fate in their hands. what is sega thinking. this is one of the dumbest things things ive heard since the creation of the soviet union. and just look at the soviet union it fell apart after a period of time the people of that country began to get pissed off. and i think the fan base of pso will begin to get smaller and smaller if they dont start giving us some information that we actually care about. i hope the PR department is happy for their doing to us those penny pinching bastards.

Well, guess I cant complain then about the delay. Ow wait, I can. I would rather pay more and get the game july 12 than pay less and have to wait till august. And about all the kids with no credit card whining and stuff, your parents cant be watching there credit card all the time.................

I know how to stop cheating. It is so simple, I cant believe someone didnt think of it already. Sega should sue Interact and whoever makes the xploder.

[Shadow-skill]

Yeah i totaly agree ping. A extra $10 server charge added to PSO ver2 would be to easy,and im sure they wouldnt make that much profit off of a 1 time fee. Also if Sega of Japan got a huge fit over U.S. Sega choice for only chargeing $10/6 Months. They would commit "Hocky Rocky" <----
if they just charged us a one time $10 fee.
$10/6 months is pretty affordable. I mean Thats cheaper than 3 over due Block Buster rentals. (must... not...... say.... late fees!)
Thats like buying 2 Video game mags. IT's really not that bad at all, especially if they are going to use those monthly fees to secure our PSO from BSOD/ and FSOD ect. Those fees would be vital to keep PSO World fun and clean.

If your parents has any doubts tell them you will give them your Milk money or something like that ^_~.

OH yeah Ping you forgot about your beloved War Fan+1 (another wacky wep)
Im looking foward to using the dressing room, (must change L'arcin's pony tail) and doing battle mode with friends ^.^ *sweet*

Im for sure going to pay the monthly fee, for some more PSO Drugs*
^_^; can i say Drugs on here? 0.o
*dont mind the typos*
Jya nee!

[Woggy]

Anyone with any kind of brain would know SoA doesn't take orders from SoJ, they are basicly a seperate company! They choose what games come over, the price, and things like if they are going to charge to play (source: my long time friend from Sega, only known as "tm2" - and he'd know shit like this. He fucking worked on designing the Dreamcast for 3 years! Much more creditable then what half these other jokers call sources..).

this is all bullcrap, first of all i dont believe the story at all, and i hate it when people are for discrimination, this is a form of discrimination. if they let us have it for 10 ever 6 months its saying "americans deserve lower prices then the japanese" that is ridiculous and if this is all true sega of japan has every right to go nuts, especial since sega of america has all these stupid people working for them who dont know what they are doing, its ridiculous, i jus wish sega of japan handled both the american and european division directly...

Oh my god! you know tm2??? He's like, the guy who invented Dreamcast!!! I think his name is carved on every Dreamcast ever made, to commemorate his skillz and contribution to the development of the system! And I heard he knows ecery single detail about Sega that he knows how many toilet paper they used each month. No one can compare to him! Especially when his name is "tm2".

PSO was NOT supposed to be a free game, dumbass. Learn the facts. The whole reason it's free is because SoA fought for it. It was supposed to be a pay-per-play game from the start. You US a-holes got lucky not to have to pay for it. Now you want everything for free. Cheapskates. You can afford a Dreamcast, tons of games, ISP but not $3 a month?? What kind of a moron are you?

You are such a hypocrite. You said cost is not important yet you're bitching about paying? And you'd trust some random IT guy who said he knows everything there is about maintaining a server? Is he a Sega employee? Did he see the financing sheets of Sega corporation and reads how much profit they're taking in?
When you're a cheapo, stop making excuses for not paying! Just admit you don't want to pay $3.33 a month and spare us the hyprocrisy.

You know, some people just shouldn't be allowed to spread their stupidity...
Yes my friend, the rest of the world is wrong, only you are right, please forgive us for existing...

[Woggy]

LoL, smartass.. I wasn't expecting anyone to know him.... it's his NET ALIAS (plus he uses it around work..).

[Parn]

Phantasy Star Online IS free you nimrod. Phantasy Star Online Version 2 isn't. Get it?
As for being rich, I'm not, but that's none of your concern.
Spend all my money? $3 a month is spending all my money? I like how you pull things out of nowhere. BTW, I'm enjoying PSOV2 very much, how about you?

[Parn]

In case you didn't notice, the Dreamcast is being canned, even though it was successful in the United States. So much for a seperate company, eh?

Oh come now! A ten year-old child could afford
$3 a month! Is a child who mows a lawn for $10 dollars or runs a lemonade stand for a day a rich stiff? That's so idiotic it's not even funny. I bet little kids spend more on those 50 cent gumball machines in a month than the price for PSOv2. And that brings me to another thing... This is PSOv2 that is will be charging for online play, NOT v1. In fact, v1 was originally supposed to be pay-to-play in America yet we got it for free thanks to SOA. But v2 is a different game. You can't expect PSOv2 to be free on the sole fact that v1 was. They are different games. (only backward compatible) Heck, all the new facets of online gaming that v2 offers can't be done for free. If the live monitors rumor turns out to be true, that only furthers my point. Oh , by the way... if you can't use a credit card, use a debit card. Anyone can get one, and they can be used for online billing just as credit cards are.
Anthony

... just like how they made up all the elaborate
rumors concerning the Orati/Orochi Agito. I know not why they insist on making up these nonsensical ideas... I guess they take pleasure in making fools of themselves. Anything to get attention, right?
Anthony

[Ping]

But they're more likely to experience a server drop if they charge to play. If they don't I'd assume the server usage would at least stay constant, if not rise, because, well, obviously, there's more to Version 2 than to Version 1.
PSO gets really repetitive (I have 7 characters and the highest level one is 66), and searching for those rare items gets really tedious sometimes. But when Version 2 comes out, there's even more to do and look forward to (Like battle mode, challenge mode, etc.). People obviously want v.2 because of how much more it adds to PSO, but current PSO players may just abandon PSO entirely if they have to pay (heaven forbid something like that happens). Thus all those players would disappear and there would be less users.
I guess maybe the server drop that happened before was due to either how repetitive the game got or all the online threats (PKing, BSOD, CKing, etc).
With all the new things to find and new features (especially the battle mode), I'm guessing PSO v.2 will last longer than PSO v.1 in terms of replay value and enjoyment, simply because there's more to do. Of course, the Pay-to-play is what may cause people to stop playing online, simply because they don't like the idea. Perhaps the two will cancel each other out and the number of users now will remain constant; The new players will account for those who don't want to pay. Who knows.
-Ping

First off:
Good god, are you impatient.
Secondly:
Yes, parents can watch their credit card all the time. It's called a monthly statement, and once they see their card was charged to Sega, it won't be long before the child who followed your advice gets punished in whatever way the parent sees fit.
Using one's credit card without their knowledge is illegal.

Someone did think of it. Game companies have sued makers of cheating devices before.
They lost the case.

I just think there is much fewer people playing it at any given time now then 5 months ago because people have gotten tired of the game and have moved on to other games. PSOv2 will re-spark interest in it, but it also will eventually suffer the same fate. There are dozens of new games coming out every month. Generally a few of them are really worthy of attention. No one sould expect any game to be as popular 6 months after it's release as it is at it's peak.
Of course there are the very rare exceptions to this, games like Half Life on the PC for example, but I don't see PSO or PSOv2 ever being one as there just isn't a large enough userbase on the DC to keep a single game popular for the course of years.

The latest word from sources withing SoA is that the reason for the delay is NOT about the subscription thing, but instead it's because of the hacking that has already taken place with the Japanese version of PSOv2. They are working on patching up the cheats and exploits that have already been discovered in Japan.

[Zio_Savoria]

Ugh. This isn't about $3+ a month. This isn't about $10 every six months.
Though I could think of things I'd rather spend said money on, it isn't about that at all.
It's about failing to deliver a product as they insist it will be, and it's about stopping corporate pillaging of the consumer's wallet.
First, failing to deliever. PSO v2, the wonderful hack-free update. Right. Give it two weeks over here and you'll have your double lavis cannons and your pk and your ck in spades. They'll never stop it, because they sacrificed the game design required to stop it to sell more copies. Look, now, the latest rumor is the game is actually being delayed due to hacking that's sprung up.
Second, moneysucking corporations. "Oh, boo hoo, Sega is poor, they need the money." Right. They're so poor, they can consider *not* releasing a profit-making game in the US? Oh, please.
$10 every six months, $5 a month, whatever. One game? Sure, it's chump change.
What happens if this goes over well? What happens when *every* game has a subscription fee? Will you happily shell out your additional $50+ a month for the games you play?
I'd happily pay a one-time additional charge at the time of purchasing the game. If they're so poor (*laugh*) that they need money to upkeep the servers, they can jack up the original price.
But I'll burn in the afterlife for all eternity before I start endorsing subscription fees for software.

If SoA is spending this time adding cheat barriers and finding a way to stop hacks I will more than happily wait till August for the US version. Thanks for the beam of hope:)

Faith, i really don't think importing the game is a good idea for us or the team, since iformation has surfaced that code blocks and hacking barriers and even more hacking barriers are being placed in the US version 2, I think it's well worth the wait. And this way we can all four play together which is entirely what we want, more than simply being the first to be the best, but have fun and rediscover what we let go of in version 1. I know you're thinking but by then it will be hacked to hell, in light of these new anti cheat upgrades cheating shall become less of an issue and we'd only be playing together so it wouldn't effect us at all. I know inside you understand and believe what I'm saying, i would never say anything if it only would have a negative effect on you, and if it's an issue of time just replace the time after practice that you watch movies with playing ver2 with your friends, i know it will motivate you to get home after practice and you will charish every moment you get to play. Please don't even try to give off that remark it's stupid to wait, because i know you love Phantasy star more than that, and that you love it's real reason to play, as a team.

ok the japanese are really beggining to get on my nerves. they are sitting half way around the world crying because they have to pay 3.23 a mounth and where not paying nothing. my moms gives me more money for lunch everyday. and its not like their economy is bad or sumthing. they just need sumthing to whine and complain about like they always do. now in another 2 weeks their is going to be another excuse from SOJ that screws us americans over. ill pay for the pay to play because im not gonna be a whining little bitch.

You're a dumbass. First of all, the Japanese economy isn't doing too great. Second, it's not the Japanese whining about paying online fees. It's stupid cheapass Americans whining about NOT wanting to pay online fees. Third, you ARE a whining little bitch! Your entire message is one big whine!
But you're right! SOJ IS trying to screw us Americans over! When they charge Japanese and European players, it's good business sense. When they charge Americans, it's screwing them over.
Dumbass.

Yeah... I don't get why Sega took orders from those japanese. Maybe it's because....... they're a Japanese company?? Naah, couldn't be it.
Seriously. It'd be nicer to have people who posted be be limited to those with an IQ higher than a broccoli.

ok what are u friends with the japanese how dare u call yourself a respectasble american. im not whining im voicing my opinion on what i think of those rice eating losers at SOJ. all they are ios jealous of us and our uncommunist system of goverment. sega should really turn over a new leaf and try to make SOJ and SOA independent of each other it will work out much better that way

Rice eating losers? F*** You! Americans like you is why the rest of the world hate America. "ok what are u friends with the japanese how dare u call yourself a respectasble american" what the hell is that about? I guess that if you were in WWII you would send all the Japanese to internment camps right? I'm friends with plenty of Japanese people and frankly I think they are a hella lot kinder than people like you. Besides, we wouldn't even have video games in the first place without the Japanese so you just shut the hell up. And why would Japan be jealous of us? What do we have that Japan doesn't? They are already 6 months ahead of us in technology. And a little lesson for you, Japan is not communist either. But I guess that doesn't matter, Americans are better than anyone else right?
Dj TeQneEk - an Asian and proud American, just not proud of the idiots this place can produce. An American who is respectful and actually knows how to spell the words correctly.

[Ping]

I don't in any way expect PSO to last forever; Heck, I find myself getting bored of it when no friends are on to play. But at least version 2, in theory, ~should~ last longer than version 1, mainly because of all the extra features.
The biggest threat to a large popularity of v.2 is the pay-to-play, but whether it's enforced or not, I'm sure there will still be a good amount of people still on there.
But hey, it's not expected to last forever. We need to grow up and move on. Now when's PSO2 coming out...?

If you don't like the world we live in, why don't you kill yourself and see how hell is?
You'd like it there. And hey, you just might be the smartest one - a welcome change of pace, eh?

just making sue u read the article above reply soon.Sum41 is on loveline grrrr...

yes im the only 1 that has the poop in the pans of doom...i can see the fature of this land of pop and cotton candy...its a bad bad thing....

Did you read my article , if you did it seems ur communicating through ur magic poetry man read the replies oh yeah duffman stop hitting me grrrr fishing with baloons

well if v.2 come out in aug i cant play it anyways sooo..............

wow that was the most corny thing i have ever......... ah well i would but i cant in aug i will be in fb and ill have no time i mean no time!!

i had to phrase it in a way that made you feel obligated....but dude if it goes till 7 like last time and you eat when u get home then watch a movie u will have the time since you said u spent some of that time watching movies just swap it with version 2 playing

u still on?

I believe regardless of whatever so called time restraints you have, you will have time to play version 2. Not only that but with it rationed due to these restraints you will have more fun for the time you do get to play.

u can not even begin to mannage how hard it is to even keep my eyes open and even breath. it is at the point that 1 can't even r not capable of staying awake....and dont give me any crap about if u like the game ul play thats bullshit. v.2 is a hopless dream of doom..

[Parn]

Those rice eating losers made the game that you're playing idiot. Japan's as capitalistic as the United States stupid. Wanting everything provided free is a communistic ideal. Capitalism is based on providing a service for a fee. Get it?
Yeah, SOA independant, that'd be wonderful. Nothing but fucking sports games right and left. Whatever. Go find something shiny to entertain yourself with, you selfish, self-centered, biggotted piece of filth.

Don't feel in anyway like I'm trying to insult your fatigue after hours of work, but there are still options for all of us to play it. If you can't adapt to our clock we'll adapt to yours. I don't know maybe since your wiped out you will go to sleep early, then the next morning you'll be up an hour or so earlier then you would be compared to last year we can all four wake up in the morning at that time and play online. You see we are a team and I personally want you to play version 2, but not if it's an actual hinderence to your life, if there is any way we can make a schedule of game time together tell us when and where. But if this is immpossible, there would be no justification in insulting those of us who have the oppurtunity to play although we may have to wait till August, hell I'll be doing things during sophmore year too being i'll have to pick and start a theme for an AP art scholarship and the possibilty of any other after school activity, though mine probably won't be as draining as yours it still will consume time and it's not like version 2 will be my life:) When you look at it phantasy star is a game, we play it because it's fun, we all just want to have fun,it's a leisure activity, when you have some time play then you play,when yu are bored you play that's what we have been doing this whole time we don't expect you to play 8 hours a day. PSO is a game and it hould be treated like a game not a responsibility.I hope this clears things up.

ok, fact.. when or if v.2 comes out in aug it is over i will find out when it is comin out for sure, and if it is aug i will either import it or just sell my dc and get a ps2. ps0 is the onlt thing goin for the dc so with out is its nothing to me.fb takes up to much time ok.....i get up at around 6 i get ready and go to school mo time to play. after school i have fb till 7 i come home and eat and shower by then it is around 8 or 9 then im so tred i go 2 sleep... even if i have 30 min a day thats stupid and a waste. well i guess if sega r complete assholes and release it in aug they fucked over both u and me(falamas+gunner) and there will be no more......i will import it and beat the game offline and that is that it wont be that fun but u have no other choice...i know for a fact that gs wil aways be around and it will keep making stupid fucking codes.. and the game will be no fun i want it before that. there is no stopping it no matter wha we (americans) will fucf the game up. and thats a;l i have to say about that.

let no unwholesome word proceed from yoyr mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that give light to those whom weave life.

Well I...hmmm....ok...Although this is just a game, as I hope you remember importing won't help you midas well just wait or I'll give you your money and have art or jon take the copy you ordered. And I guess you don't see that well, now just the three of us will only be playing with eachother so in other words, hacking won't matter, to state even simpler, we don't play with hackers we don't get effected by them, that is the way it works. Hacking isn't nearly so big to me. We will enjoy the game, this game is about fun, not trying to rule the world or anything. We understand you perfectly and we see you don't want the game being that others have seen stuff before you and they have perhaps have hacked some things ( which won't effect us in any way at all)but your descision is fine. This is how it will be, unless it comes out in July.

well good bye its been a great time and im not just saying that. really its been 1 of the funnist things ever and we where the best of friends playin a great game and i guess that is over...;( well il miss it alot and maybe something good mite happan.

thus i stay, it will yet be that peoples will come even the inhabitants of many a day
good bye my friend

Personaly you can call me a whiner a cheap bastard or any other "insult" you might want to through at me but in all my online life I have never ever payed to play a game.
First of all not everyone has a CC
And second of all game that do ask to p2p have bad sell.
If they where able to make ver 1 charge free why change it for ver 2?
Its a conspirasy and Both SoA and SoJ are in it.
Less then a year ago Sega had the Most popular game console out there,and now were paying to play for game that we buy,and for internet we pay! I dont remember ever paying for any online sega game untill now. My theory is that sega wants to screw everyone over.
And If it is 10 bucks every 90 day why charge at all?
Its all a big joke they are playing and America is the Victim.
Meanwhile ill stick with ver 1 Untill someone with actual 100% sure proof of what will be the desteny of ver 2 comes foward.

Lol, cant even believe that this is causing a fuss. You Americans are unbelieveably lucky, in Britain I pay by the minute to play PSO. For me its more like $200 or $300 for six months :) Just pay, and be grateful.

Some of that was a joke I'm sure but yeah, that was one of the funnest things ever.Things may turn around and maybe they'll work out we'll see...

Cheap US players. But they sure can scrounge money for their cigarettes, beer, etc.
Man where are the TRUE hardcaore gamers? Most of these players now are just wannabes.

[Zio_Savoria]

Of course they want to screw everyone over, that's how capitalism works.
Then again, most companies who want to stick around know better than to attempt to royally sodomize their consumers, but hey, Sega's never had the most grey matter when it comes to public relations.
Oh, and all you United States bashers. Yeah, the one guy making rice-eating references was a bigoted arse. What are the lot of you?
"Oh, stupid whiny Americans wanting everything for free." First off, try United States citizens. 'Americans' includes Canada, Mexico, and South America as well. Second, funny. Very funny.
We may be stereotypically arrogant, but it amuses me how we're the only ones who see what's wrong with this pay to play crap.
"Oh, you shouldn't be whining, over here, we have to pay for local calls and blah blah blah.."
And you don't see what's wrong with that, either, do you?
Once again, when will you people learn? When will you see the danger of this move? What happens when this catches on, and all games require 'pay to play'? Will you complain about those 'lazy cheap bastards' who are unwilling to shell out $50-300 in fees each month for the games they play and already paid $50+ for when originally bought?
Sorry for the side rant, but some people make me question whether the US is actually full of ignorant and arrogant people.
Anyway, Anonymous, I salute you. No, not everyone has a credit card, and despite the beliefs of some people, not everyone's parents, friends, neighbors, deity of choice, etc. have one either. And yes, why did they change it to pay to play for v2 instead of waiting for PSO *2*? What kind of idiots do they have working in PR over in SoJ/SoA? Oh, I know, the ones who think a system will do well with hardly any advertising. Right right.
$10 every six months is worthless in terms of profits. They'd do better to double the original purchase price of the game. More money, and no viciously evil pay to play system.

[Ryn]

Has anyone even put these numbers through a currency converter? It's cheap.
400 yen/30days = US$3.23/30days
1000 yen/90days = US$8.07/90days
ok, so pay US$8.07 for 90 days. That's 8.9cents a day or $2.69/month. My god. You can find that on the street. This is the definition of "pocket change". Just keep the pocket change you create every day and put it in a stupid jar. in 3 months you could pay for this and still go buy yourself a cookie, if not a whole box of cookies. Get real here people.
Actually, I'm quite embarassed that SoA asked for the $10/6 months deal. That's a slap in the face.

Well in my opinion I think all internet games should be free of play charge over the internet piriod.
US, Americas, Europ, Its a right that shouldn't be denyed by any citizen of any country.
And your right, Sega stoped advertizing them selfs right before the playstation 2 came out. I think Sega is intimidated by competision and when they see and dumb console like the game cube, or even a handheld, they get scaird and say to them selvs...
"Oh no, these guys are too much lets back off.." The lack of trust in there own company clearly shows why Sega has faild now and in the past.
Sega should have sticked to the game making idea from the start and maybe this stupid pay to play thing wouldn't have been an issiue.

This is something I have thought of for a while now...I honestly won't mind paying a fee as long as the money is used for the right reasons. I think people are so upset about the fee because in the back of their heads they are thinking that it's really not gonna make a difference at all. This is my concern, however, even if SoA is patching up any cheats or what have you in v.2, how will they stop people from transferring cheated/hacked items, weps, etc. from v.1 into v.2? Sure, you might not be able to make a Double Saber with a GS on v2., but whats to keep people from getting a friend to give you one from v.1?

first of all atari invented the videogame,and they were an american company,so go fuck yourself!