I'm just going to straight into it and list issues that I feel need to be addressed with the games NA release.
- UQ/Event Times
Unlike Japan, North America has several time zones yet all events, quest, etc revolve around PST and not even being reasonable times.
The problem with this is SEGA is completely overlooking the rest of the population I feel.
Many event's have been tending to run at 12am, 1am, 3am, 5am, etc in EST. With very few being accommodating to those of the East Coast which mind you is where predominantly the population of the United States.
It's not about East vs West however there should be a bit more consideration in when the time of these event's start.
Only people who haven't seemed to care are those from Europe playing on the North American version and some West Coast players.
- Inequality between console & PC
Some don't really seem to care about this but console has benefited a lot more with the release of PSO2.
They got exclusive awards like the Dreamcast Mag, Coated Edge Camo, Photon Halos, etc.
Yeah you can buy some on the market but that doesn't mean it's fair and some can't even be gotten anymore.
Another issue is the shape of the market.
Many of the players who got a head start on AC scratches or Gear are sitting on millions worth of items and this creates a huge wealth disparity between the players.
Those people can just continue reinvesting by buying other items and just list them high and it goes on and on.
There was no reason why a staggered release was necessary and everyone couldn't have been given the same opportunities when we knew 100% certain the game was coming out on PC.
SEGA doesn't say it but PC is essentially Beta testing the game cause since Day 1 of it's release due to the on-going issues that persist presently and it doesn't matter if the Microsoft Store is at fault. It's a joint venture so all parties involved are at fault.
Console got 3 months worth of scratch offs, exclusive rewards for beta testing, 3 seasons of mission passes, headstart in gear, and essentially own the market place. Players who are sitting on money just rebuy items and set them at ludicrous prices you can't afford.
People say "Oh well they're just cosmetics / emotes, who cares" I mean that's kind of the appeal to PSO2 is the amount of customization and individualization you can achieve in the game. Hence the running meme "Phasion is the true end game"
On top of that, if anyone made 3 characters, they got 6 reset skill passes to sit on.
I'm sure we'll have AC scratch revivals but still doesn't take care of the matter present day that there should be an unnecessary struggle. Honestly don't even know how they're going to do revivals since I mean we are 8 years behind. Any repetitions will just slow down future AC scratches.
In slew of all the headaches, issues, and having to rely on Arks Layers Tweaker to actually play the game, PC has absolutely nothing to show for it except for uncertainties & simply "sorry blame microsoft"
The only ominous clues that have been given have been "sharing is caring" & "What comes around, goes around"
Just flat out say whether or not PC players will have the chance to pass seasons of the Mission pass, fresh finds, scratches, dreamcast Mag, etc.
- Mission Pass / Fresh Finds
This area is love and hate. I understand they're NA exclusive since it isn't present in JP.
I understand the reasoning behind the Mission Pass since this copies the common trend of Battle Passes that many F2P games have been following but are we ever going to get the chance to the items again? And what about the pass 3 seasons PC missed out on? (Yes I'm aware Season 3 we could've paid for the tiers in Stargems but still not everyone was familiar with the system and console essentially could finish it free from just quest.)
For example, you give 3 colors of stockings in Tier 6 however in Tier 32 in Over Run mode, we can only pick 1. or Ten-Gallon Hats, or what about the Luther / Matoi headmounts we can't get again?
At the same though it's great because if you just do your weeklies and dailies, it pays for itself from Day 1.
Then you have fresh finds, we can't even preview the items or know for certain what we're getting.
You have Cursed Coat M Set B Package and I'm pretty sure doesn't even come with the mask but it shows the model with it in the picture which is very misleading.
And why can't we trade or sell these items so if we wanted to be able to have at-least 2 for to bind to the account? Or at-least up the limit from 1 purchase to 2 purchases.
- Bugs, Translation issues, Support, etc.
Bugs is self-explanatory really. Predominantly been on PC so I'm not familiar with Console running into any but many are still unresolved with games uninstalling, window updates breaking the game, game force closing at the press start screen and having to be restarted and much more.
Also the player shop utilizing a cache system. You can't even search for items at times even if you type it correctly at times or if the games smart search function finds it. So you have to keep doing it over and over and hope you can find what you're looking for.
Translation issues run amok and can get confusing at times since the game seems to be running the English Translations from the South East Asia version and makes no sense. I don't see why this couldn't be polished better.
Customer Support confuses me cause I'm not even sure what they do or take care of.
What can they help with and can't help with?
If you have a payment issue or missing currency from a purchase, you're expected to contact Microsoft about it.
If you contact them cause an item is missing that you had, they can't recover it.
If you redeem an item on the wrong character, they can't do anything.
If you purchase something from Fresh Finds and it was misleading, you're stuck with it.
Are they just a 3rd party that translates what people say and sends it to the SEGA team in Japan?
I'm guessing they just mostly handle bug reports and detailed player reports to send over?
Then you have the blacklist option which was present in the Japan version since Japan doesn't use Xbox Live integration and it's present in the NA release but it's broken.
SEGA even has it present in the manual for the game here and yet support has told me we shouldn't use it.
A lot of people have used the /bl command thinking that's how you would mute people but if you wanted to remove people, you're SOL.
I've contacted support about it cause I made a mistake blacklisting two people I just wanted to temporarily mute and well nothings happened in over 2 weeks about it. Asked a GM about in lobby and they just replied "Gamertag" which wasn't even a question nor did they follow up when I asked what they were asking.
Another issue in my case is, I named a character "Ace" but it loaded as "ace" and I asked if that could be fixed which I doubt will happen or expect.
So does support really expect me to $15 for a name change for just one letter that wasn't even my fault? (which by the way is outrageous pricing)
The whole integration with the Xbox live on PC is just a mess. Some people can't even chat due to privacy settings and some PC players can't change that without access to a console.
- Lack Of Communication / Support
When PSO2 was initially brought up, we knew Xbox was going to get a beta but we never had word as to when PC would be released.
However we were reassured that PC wouldn't be left in the dust at-least in regards of beta rewards.
They deleted that tweet and never had much else to say.
Since Day 0, when PSO2 was expected to come to PC, players were given the silent treatment on expected dates and just kept being told "spring!, Soon!"
Well we finally have PSO2 on PC and with nothing but issues even a month later.
And yet here we are still brought up with silence & false promises.
We lost out on content, we lost on exclusives, we lost out on support.
I get it, ESTSoft literally has no power and it falls on SEGA but at the end of the day, you're all on that same boat & share responsibility.
