PSO2 Questions / Release Date Speculation

[voxie]

Oh come on, OF COURSE Phantasy Star Online 2 will come to the West!

I'm not saying I can see the future, but I'm pretty sure that from the failure of PSU in the West, they decided to pick PSO back up (which was successful in the West!).

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is the saying.

[HandOfThornz]

I'm sure that PSO2 will come to the western world.

You can see there has been a lot of time spent on development to get the game to this level so far. Thats a lot of development funding time, that needs to be made back + make profit..
One of the main tasks that will cost a chunk of cash will be translating the game (Code, data, text, voice,etc.)to western world languages, but with EU/USA SEGA office's, i cant see this being a major problem. SEGA probally have studio's ready to handle this kinda thing for all SEGA title's.

Release date, i agree it depends on what issues are found in the Alpha and Beta stages. Usually from ALPHA to game release is around 6 months. So i say Christmas 2011/Q1 2012 for Japan. Then western world maybe released a few months after or if translations is already in progress then the western world "may" see it too with the japanese release. (but i doubt this)

[Varon]

Well with keeping it PC only I can see Sega sending it through Steam as they do with most of their PC exclusive games However chances are subscription fees through SEGAPASS or they will follow the Free to Play Micro-transaction model but that's just speculation.

[Ellrick C-63]

Id rather do 15 bucks a month than micro-transactions...

[Mike]

im not completely sure cuz i dont know Japanese but from what i saw people posting in the chat room of the breifing, the end of the breifing said "Alpha -> TGS -> Open Beta"

This is true. According to the interview at 4gamer, it will go "Alpha -> TGS playable demo -> closed beta -> open beta."

Espiokaos did mention on IRC that the Alpha test "may only be 1 -2 weeks."

Not sure where he got this from, I think it was 4Gamer, but I'll confirm this with him.

Yup, 4gamer.

[Varon]

The reason Micro-transactions are so popular is because people don't realize how much they spend on the little things look at Ragnarok Online or Spiral Knights you don't have to pay for the items however they make life easier as long as the Ultimate items aren't pay items its fine the free to play model also gets alot of cheaper players into the genre making the game expand to a larger fanbase. Think of how many people played phantasy star universes free trial on XBL.

[Immovable One]

The reason Micro-transactions are so popular is because people don't realize how much they spend on the little things look at Ragnarok Online or Spiral Knights you don't have to pay for the items however they make life easier as long as the Ultimate items aren't pay items its fine the free to play model also gets alot of cheaper players into the genre making the game expand to a larger fanbase. Think of how many people played phantasy star universes free trial on XBL.

Think they'll go the Box to Play route ala Guild Wars?

Anyone knowledgeable here can explain the P2P, F2P, and B2P business model and the possible route PSO might take?

EDIT: On a side note, they DID go the Freemium business model for JPSU, though I hate their "pay to get a chance" execution - I wanna pay to have the item, and not a "chance" to get it!

[pikachief]

This is true. According to the interview at 4gamer, it will go "Alpha -> TGS playable demo -> closed beta -> open beta."


Yup, 4gamer.

well thats nice ^.^ I can't wait till the beta then full release

I can't see it releasing this year, but I can see early next year

[Mike]

I can't see it releasing this year, but I can see early next year

If 2011 is meant as "the financial year of 2011," as is sometimes the case with Japan, it could be released as late as March of next year. But there's really no need to rush.

[r00tabaga]

If 2011 is meant as "the financial year of 2011," as is sometimes the case with Japan, it could be released as late as March of next year. But there's really no need to rush.

That's really not that much longer. Hopefully we here in the Wild Wild West get a window similar to the NA version of pspo2 (about 4 months right?) but if it is indeed Global Support then wouldn't it be simultaneous?
This game is gonna rock & I hope to play with everyone far N' near. How cool would it be to have a multi-party of 4-JP, 4-NA & 4-EU meet up for a boss battle!