Hey Guys, I apologies as my Original post has gotten to large for me to follow a long (Is Microsoft Forcing Subscriptions to play PSO2 Online for Pc)

At this point i have spent 6 days, over 17 hours on the phone with over 20 Microsoft agents, i have been disconnected over 40 times.

I rebooted my laptop (wipe totally) i updated the hardware and software to its highest update i re downloaded pso2 numerous times i restarted my pc lol i can not launch the launcher.

I have played this since it came out in may. I never used game service as it sucks, i always launched the app raw from my pc

as of 6 days ago after Microsoft decided to force update for their crappy Microsoft edge explorer , i was no longer able to run the game.

I have seen some suggestions as to switch to the steam or epic store, Trust me that is what i want to do, but from my understanding i must gain my access link code from the client while running. I cannot launch the client therefore i cannot gain access to my code (being held hostage as crappy MS). If there is a work around please let me know.

Also i hear the Tweaker is where you can launch pso2. If i download this, do i need to share a link code, or will is recognize i have the game downloaded with Microsoft and allow their launcher to get me on the client (if that makes sense)

I don't consider myself a whale but this is my main game and i have spent numerous amounts on AC to help support the game, as well as pay for premium, which 6 of the 30 days have gone to waste at this point, i am losing event log in bonuses, i know Sega won't reimburse, and i feel like it's a hopeless cause.

If anyone can get me on the client, without having to launch it from my native gaming service (Microsoft store) PLEASE REPLY AND HELP. My friend at this point is fried, i could reenact Microsoft tech support process myself at this point with how many times i had to repeat myself (If you know you know).

Hope this amazing community can assist a fellow Arksman out.!!! thank you in advance

@AbsoluteLotus82 For additional info, I download the game onto my External harddrive. it has worked fine before, but now my EHD has yellow caution signs in device manager. Either corrupted or out of life. i can still access the files just fine, but could this be why it is not booting properly?

I never heard of Yellow exclamation marks on EHD's unless there is a driver issue with the USB bus itself or for whatever reason an EXTERNAL HD needs a special driver. Check the Properties, Windows gives a vague clue, what's up with the device anyway. You may also check the cables, If this is a USB 3.0 device in a USB 2.0 port you lose performance anyway. - May also the cause for these yellow things. Use CHKDSK to see if there is any damage on the filesystem level, if PSO2 files are damaged, they will be restored anyway.

Why the launcher isn't running is easily explained, it seem to have "destroyed" itself by revoking your NTFS ACL access rights (the main reason why people use the Tweaker). I bet someone wrote a script to recover from that temporarily, this phenomenon was the reason for the bad PSO2NA start.

Reinstall the game (MS Version) using the Tweaker (these 77GB will take a while), so you can at least login before your transition to Steam. Let Tweaker download that. There is a guide how to use the Tweaker, READ these carefully. Both of them. The "Install MSStore Guide" and the "Convert MSStore to Steam" guide. The data trash in the Windows Store Cache will be deleted to reclaim this lost 77GB (or more).

If you still want to change your install type, after your got your "PSO2NA MS" running: Once you are back online, get your visiphone stuff, logout and do a "MS store -> Steam conversion" This may take a while, but shouldn't redownload 77GB again. I hope you have a Steam account. If this went well, you can do the Support code/Linking swap and go online using your Steam.

I don't recommend the EGS, it gave me a headache and wasted 2 hours of my life to get that running before I noticed the Tweaker can do that, anyway.

hope this helps

Edit: Install PSO2 to a custom location. f.e "C:\PSO2NA" or "D:\Games\PSO2NA"...

@NoSpax You are literally a life saver. I think it might be my port, i just bought an external ssd and see the yellow marks still. It seems i need to use the tweaker, and after what i went through, ill re download this 10times if it will make it work lmao. I am nowhere as tech savy as you, but i will be using your post as a guide and if i may come back and ask for more help if stuck, that would be awesome. You literally provided more info to me in this post then Microsoft "game support" 20 hours of phone time.

Look into the back of your PC. An external SSD requires a faster USB port, so depending on your model, if it has a USB-A, plug it in a free USB-port in the back of your PC which has blue plastic in it. These are USB 3.0, the black ones are USB 2.0. If you happen to have TEAL ones, plug it there. if you have a mouse in a teal port, plug that somewhere else - in blue or black ports. A mouse doesn't need a 900MB/s transferrate. If it is a USB-C one, go for the ones saying USB-SS+.. these are the fastest. Do not plug into red ones, these are for charging - depends on the MB manufacturer though. And I really hope you have the (newest) manufacturer mainboard drivers installed and not the crap Windows included Mainboard drivers.

@NoSpax Just know you in literally this post did what Microsoft in 20 hours spread across 6 days could not. Words can not explain the gratitude. You literally are the definition of amazing. I cant believe i did not use this tweaker before. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, IM ONLINE!!