Asked SEGA politely in JP to remove specific IP block: "service is Japan only".

[Chik'Tikka]

Well, okay, sure. I was lying. Guilty as charged. There goes my hard-earned reputation, thanks a lot for being so stingy!

Now, the truth. Sega actually can legally let people play PSO2 worldwide. There's nothing stopping them. However, things still aren't very simple, as foreign transactions are a subject to taxation in Japan (unlike in whatever country you come from, I assume), in addition to any regional taxes that Sega must pay in countries that they decide to provide their PSO2 service to. And, depending on their foreign income's volume, they may affect Sega's overall income, too. In a bad way at that, since, as you may have noticed, the more you earn from other countries, the higher is your tax, and you can even exceed your foreign tax credit.

There are many factors that would pressure Sega if they decide to roll PSO2 out on a global market, all associated with spending that is an inevitable outcome of going out of their established market in Japan. But, do you honestly expect me to list them all to people who would rather believe that Sega wants to instate Sakai as the Fourth Reich when, in the end, Sega just isn't allowed to provide the PSO2 service outside of Japan?

But, of course, it's just speculation, since, until I, personally, link to every single article of the worldwide laws, and then make a tl;dr summary of each, they simply don't exist. Of course they don't! After all, which is easier: to look up things that you will eventually have to deal with yourself, such as laws and policies, or pretend that they don't exist on an internet forum?

Not to mention the Merchant Fees that SEGA had to deal with+^_^+ Visa and MasterCard have a 2% merchant fee + up to another 1% for international transactions (+ the fees the financial institution that SEGA is using). Many of these fees would be charged whether or not the payment was approved or even successfully transferred. American Express has a flat 5% fee but doesn't charge more or require additional paperwork for international transactions+^_^+

Down to "brass tacks", SEGAC just wasn't getting enough money from us and probably felt cheated (knowing the majority of us would find another way to buy AC without them losing as much profit)+^_^+ And on top of that, local Internet laws aren't as "vague" as they were even 6 years ago. Nations divided their borders and laws in the real world, now they are trying to define their own little spots in the virtual world too+^_^+ I don't know much about Japanese laws, but maybe there's something new like "you can't legally except payment for an online service and then be unable to support that service for that customer" or some such nonsense+^_^+

[GHNeko]

tl;dr -

SegaC isnt stupid. They know business even if they dont care for consumers. No amount of "WELL I GUESS SEGA DOESN'T WANT OUR MONEY HURR" or "I CANT FIGURE OUT WHAT SEGA IS THINKING. IT'S SO CLEAR." or even, "SEGA DOESNT KNOW WHAT THEY'RE MISSING MAN. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE TANKING." is going to change the fact that Sega is hand-over-fist with profits because they're good at money and the fact that we're dealing with all this nonsense means this was were the highest net gain of money lay.

They're not going out of their way for us because there are costs prohibiting even considering such course of action, and we're (mostly) blind to the details of what it is.

[gaijin_punch]

foreign transactions are a subject to taxation in Japan (unlike in whatever country you come from, I assume),

I think that link is complicating things (for this case). I operated a company and 100% of my income came from abroad. I had to pay consumption tax on those goods (after 3 years), which was a huge hit. I'd have to have paid it if I sold them locally as well. Income was either paid for by bank xfer or Paypal. I had a professional CPA do all my books.

Does it even show up as foreign when payment comes through a credit card? Even from a foreign bank?

[Chik'Tikka]

I think that link is complicating things (for this case). I operated a company and 100% of my income came from abroad. I had to pay consumption tax on those goods (after 3 years), which was a huge hit. I'd have to have paid it if I sold them locally as well. Income was either paid for by bank xfer or Paypal. I had a professional CPA do all my books.

Does it even show up as foreign when payment comes through a credit card? Even from a foreign bank?

i think it does if it's with Visa/MC (not sure about other internationally accepted CCs), something about each region having it's own CC network+^_^+

[Chdata]

gonna have to go on the segajp xenophobe boat.

Even if EN releases, it's going to be years behind in development and not get the same features as JP. Stupid.

[Brelovix]

I'll admit that I do have the feeling SEGA JP is a little Xenophobic, though I do not entirely think it is true. Overall I feel as if Phantasy Star games are more of a prized thing when it comes to Japan, so yeah some of the things in the game will be JP exclusive.

Now when it comes to the English version not having the same content as the Japanese version upon release, you have to stop and think about if for a minute. Think about how much time the games lifespan has been wasted because of all those things being included in the base copy of the game. Of course I do not know what the release road-map (so to speak) is for new content in the JP version, so I can't say for sure that the English versions lifespan will be like cut in half. But I am almost certain this is why the English version starts fresh, like come on.

[ShinMaruku]

I would not call sega jp xenophobic. I just find them incompetent outside their weaknesses and take no steps to address it. But just because you are getting blocked after YEAR of access is kind of silly. Continue to overreact while I chant Deutchland at the world cup.

[Friyn]

I can't no longer hold this back. You people are fucking retarded, yes, you truly are. I mean...seriously....sigh, whatever.

[ShinMaruku]

Don't insult the truly retarded people. Yes they are being silly. Meanwhile I been playing this and other games and enjoying myself. Played Warframe while my IP fixed the block.