PSO2 is still coming west at some point, according to new SEGA head interview

[Sayara]

Alright, Alright knock that off already. Get back to the original discussion at hand, or just end this discussion in general.

[Zipzo]

You mean the game that wasn't being constantly updated with content that wasn't on the disc. Also PSO DC had a short release date overseas, I would have to guess because it was developed for that, in compairing that to PSO2. PSO is a small game.

But who knows...

@gigawuts

^_^

The fact of the matter is that game somehow broke all these complicated barriers that you describe as being harshly difficult to work out in the current day, and as you just pointed out for me, was poorly run.

I'm pretty sure SEGA hasn't devolved since then, so international servers probably aren't so far beyond the scope of possibility as you like to implicate.

I'm not denying the existence of complicated factors, I'm just saying that you don't know what you're talking about.

[NoiseHERO]

Alright, Alright knock that off already. Get back to the original discussion at hand, or just end this discussion in general.

Just end it, there'll be 5 more threads like this before april ends! : D

[darkwraith007]

The most important quote (to me) from the interview:

We wrapped it all up last summer. All those changes reorganised us around the core IP – Football Manager, Sonic, Total War and Aliens – and that has worked well.
But the big news since was that we bought THQ’s studio Relic. One of the goals when we restructured was to add to our IPs and now we have Company of Heroes and Warhammer alongside the other four pillars.

So the games they're focusing on are:
-Football Manager (huge in Europe so kudos to them for recognizing they control that niche market)
-Sonic (lol, but recent games have been better than usual; they need to make more quality and less quantity)
-Total War (meh; has had good sales but fans aren't exactly whining about lack of support for this SP game)
-Aliens (this has to be a fucking joke; remember Aliens Colonial Marine?)
-Company of Heroes (nice, good niche but it is a niche market; people sick of WW2 already)
-Warhammer (nice property; tons of fans hate how it has been handled via the terribad MMO that failed)

Notice no mention of Phantasy Star as a 'pillar'? It just gets thrown in about how profitable the F2P model is in Japan and 'maybe' in the West.
That should give you a taste of how much SEGA doesn't give a shit about anyone but their own markets.

I agree that by the time they get off their asses and half-ass a release in the West, there won't be a market left for it. 99% of players who really wanted to play it are already on the JP servers. The others who want to wait for it will be hateful at how SEGA NA will mess up and be several patches behind JP version.

This shit happens *EVERY* fucking Asian-developed MMO. People need to pull their heads out of their damn asses and realize this.
Don't get your hopes up. PSO2 in US will not be any better than any of the past shit that SEGA NA has done. It'll be several patches behind, way overpriced cash shop, zero support, tons of hackers/cheaters, and generally unplayable.

[Totori]

The fact of the matter is that game somehow broke all these complicated barriers that you describe as being harshly difficult to work out in the current day, and as you just pointed out for me, was poorly run.

I'm pretty sure SEGA hasn't devolved since then, so international servers probably aren't so far beyond the scope of possibility as you like to implicate.

I'm not denying the existence of complicated factors, I'm just saying that you don't know what you're talking about.

That could be true, but do take note that PSO is not as complicated or as diverse as it's sequel. The servers were easier to put up. And I bet not as expensive to handle. Also remember that PSO DC didn't get any new content, then what was already on the disc.

Unlike PSO2 where, new content is constantly being made for the game. So budget for PSO would be quite different from the budget that PSO2 has. Another thing PSO only had a subscription fee (or was DC free, I can't remember) but it didn't have a Cashshop where SEGA accepted microtransactions.

This shit happens *EVERY* fucking Asian-developed MMO. People need to pull their heads out of their damn asses and realize this.
Don't get your hopes up. PSO2 in US will not be any better than any of the past shit that SEGA NA has done. It'll be several patches behind, way overpriced cash shop, zero support, tons of hackers/cheaters, and generally unplayable.

Of course the games, gonna be behind. It's constantly being worked on. Zero Support, that's not gonna happen. Way overpriced cash shops? Honestly it's gonna be cheaper than what people are paying for things on the JP side.

Hackers come and go, it's up to the playerbase to report them. Not have a social if they want them to disappear. So how exactly is the game gonna be unplayable?

[Gardios]

Notice no mention of Phantasy Star as a 'pillar'? It just gets thrown in about how profitable the F2P model is in Japan and 'maybe' in the West.
That should give you a taste of how much SEGA doesn't give a shit about anyone but their own markets.

The PS series is hardly one of their major IPs in the west—saying it is would've been a blatant lie.

[Masakan]

The most important quote (to me) from the interview:



So the games they're focusing on are:
-Football Manager (huge in Europe so kudos to them for recognizing they control that niche market)
-Sonic (lol, but recent games have been better than usual; they need to make more quality and less quantity)
-Total War (meh; has had good sales but fans aren't exactly whining about lack of support for this SP game)
-Aliens (this has to be a fucking joke; remember Aliens Colonial Marine?)
-Company of Heroes (nice, good niche but it is a niche market; people sick of WW2 already)
-Warhammer (nice property; tons of fans hate how it has been handled via the terribad MMO that failed)

Notice no mention of Phantasy Star as a 'pillar'? It just gets thrown in about how profitable the F2P model is in Japan and 'maybe' in the West.
That should give you a taste of how much SEGA doesn't give a shit about anyone but their own markets.

I agree that by the time they get off their asses and half-ass a release in the West, there won't be a market left for it. 99% of players who really wanted to play it are already on the JP servers. The others who want to wait for it will be hateful at how SEGA NA will mess up and be several patches behind JP version.

This shit happens *EVERY* fucking Asian-developed MMO. People need to pull their heads out of their damn asses and realize this.
Don't get your hopes up. PSO2 in US will not be any better than any of the past shit that SEGA NA has done. It'll be several patches behind, way overpriced cash shop, zero support, tons of hackers/cheaters, and generally unplayable.

So you expect me to believe that every asian mmo that ever comes to the us is a failure because westerners don't know how to market it properly?

If that isn't the dumbest thing I've heard all week.

[SquashDemon]

It's not that westerners don't know how to market it properly, it's that they -Don't- when they -Could-

Now, honestly, if we do see a western release that is on schedule with JP patches and maybe only one month behind new content? That'd be phenomenal.

But, as many others have already stated, operations like that cost both labor dollars, on the behalf of your programming team, Legal dollars, to ensure that you're not using licensed IPs that you don't own the rights to in certain countries, and of course, Talent Dollars to get a whole slew of voice actors, and, for consistency's sake, keep them on retainer for when new story episodes come out.

That all adds up to a fat stack of moolah. Money that Sega of Europe and Sega of America MAY NOT BE GETTING BACK.

As I am not of either organization, I can't really state their financial standing, but I am of the impression that they are self-funded, rather than supported by a share of SOJ's budget. Assuming this is the case, and being that SOA and SEU are not drawing much revenue from the Phantasy Star Series in any form, it is likely that spending all that money may be considered somewhat wasteful, and that said dollars (or Euros, if you insist) would be better spent snorting cocaine out of the bellybutton of an Indonesian hooker.

With this in mind, Launching and maintaining a truly worthy PSO2 port, much as I am loath to admit it, is what I believe they call in the business world "a really fucking stupid idea."

Now then, the same can be said for almost every movie that Micheal Bay has worked on, and he's richer than I'll ever be, so I guess it's not completely impossible that it might happen. /la disgust

[ArcaneTechs]

Every time EN PSO2 comes up

everyone gets a business degree.

a thousand times this, it's hilarious

[Masakan]

It's not that westerners don't know how to market it properly, it's that they -Don't- when they -Could-

Now, honestly, if we do see a western release that is on schedule with JP patches and maybe only one month behind new content? That'd be phenomenal.

But, as many others have already stated, operations like that cost both labor dollars, on the behalf of your programming team, Legal dollars, to ensure that you're not using licensed IPs that you don't own the rights to in certain countries, and of course, Talent Dollars to get a whole slew of voice actors, and, for consistency's sake, keep them on retainer for when new story episodes come out.

That all adds up to a fat stack of moolah. Money that Sega of Europe and Sega of America MAY NOT BE GETTING BACK.

As I am not of either organization, I can't really state their financial standing, but I am of the impression that they are self-funded, rather than supported by a share of SOJ's budget. Assuming this is the case, and being that SOA and SEU are not drawing much revenue from the Phantasy Star Series in any form, it is likely that spending all that money may be considered somewhat wasteful, and that said dollars (or Euros, if you insist) would be better spent snorting cocaine out of the bellybutton of an Indonesian hooker.

With this in mind, Launching and maintaining a truly worthy PSO2 port, much as I am loath to admit it, is what I believe they call in the business world "a really fucking stupid idea."

Now then, the same can be said for almost every movie that Micheal Bay has worked on, and he's richer than I'll ever be, so I guess it's not completely impossible that it might happen. /la disgust

Now I've been meaning to ask this for a while but, WHY would it not be very marketable in the west?

You would think with all the carbon copy fantasy mmos out there a Sci-fi mmo would stick out like a sore thumb?