I'd like to start this thread off with an apology if anything here comes off as 'passive aggressive'. I am neither affiliated with Sega nor can I claim I know everything that goes on behind the scenes... but I do make sure to give a deep analysis and research on things prior to coming to my own conclusions and these past few days have been... well, have certainly been not at all the reaction I expected from the community. I am putting this together not as an attack on doom and gloom threads regarding NGS' announcement or the various baseless claims... but rather as a way of providing some facts and my personal analysis on the matter in the hope that whoever reads this can come can at least take some of the things i'm about to talk about into consideration regarding NGS...

With that said, lets begin...

No Steam or European Release?

A very vanilla thing to start us off with but one which I feel is getting easily missed and people would stop getting upset about if they simply gave some things a read...

The announcement for PSO2:NGS was followed with a tweet that the game would be launching worldwide... in Japan and North America only. And for many, the website confirmed our 'worst fears':

Service availability is limited to the United States of America and Canada.

And of course with the presence of Windows 10 and Xbox One.... wait didn't the trailer say the game's launching on Xbox Series X? Why isn't it on the website? And legacy PSO2 was announced as releasing on 'Other PC platforms' this year which through sources which are against the forums' rules is basically a Steam release. And of course this small fine print which I swear people keep missing:

Note: If PSO2 is added to new platforms, we plan to make PSO2: NGS available on those platforms as well.

and in the highly demanded roadmap, there was the following statement:

Play it on Xbox One and Windows 10, with more PC platforms coming soon

So there's that out of the bag but there's no way this game would be making it outside of North Amer-

(Also from the roadmap)

We are also working hard to introduce this legendary online action RPG to a global audience this year.

And it appears that the game's Australian and PEGI rating were updated around the timeframe of this month too...

So in case it aint clear... the current confirmed details for PSO2 NGS are more of a representation of PSO2's Current State as opposed to the state it will be in when it launches in 2021. Steam release and EU release are confirmed to happen within 2020. Once more details regarding these are officially announced, its more than likely that these will be updated on NGS' side as well... but for now, if PSO2 NA doesn't mention it, neither will NGS.

PSO2 Is Dead

I know this is the NA forums... but lets look at things from the JP perspective. So PSO2 has been ongoing since 2012, has practically become the second most popular Online RPG in Japan and has outlasted both PSO1 and PSU (a fact the devs like to bringup). This announcement comes months before the conclusion to EPISODE 6 comes... Months before a new Scion Class is added... At a time when the devs expressed doing tweaks to the Casino and Challenge Mode... and with confirmation that the release of NGS would be followed with PSO2 itself getting a graphical upgrade. Now lemme ask.... why? Why would SEGA do all these things to a game they plan to kill soon?

What their plan is... only the devs know, but tell me if that all sounds like a game that is going on its death bed... why go through the effort of introducing new content, fixing up things that have been ignored for years and even update the original's graphics?

This mentality... I won't hold it up against people... especially those who've only been keeping up with the NA updates. But really now, I do think the fate of legacy PSO2 is not all doom and gloom as people claim it to be and legacy MMOs running concurrently with a newer version is not unheard of in the industry. Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst and Universe co-existed for some time, Final Fantasy XI continues to co-exist with Final Fantasy XIV... and keep in mind that in those cases, those titles didn't even have the level of interconnectivity PSO2 and NGS will be having...

This was probably in development for a short time... there's no way this can be that far ahead.

Right cause its 'totally unheard of' for developers to work on games in secret for several years before finally unveiling it right?

Sarcasm aside... the earliest hints at PSO2NGS' development goes as far back as 2018 with several job listings for a non-mobile Online game in the Phantasy Star series and requesting for developers with experience in making console games...

NA Community Team are once again useless

Believe it or not, the amount of information available regarding PSO2:NGS is essentially the same information that Japan's getting. Any further details other than whats already been povided can't be expected to be made available just yet... and certainly not from NA's GMs or Social Media who aren't even actively involved in NGS' development...

Cosmetics Won't Transfer

Currently outfits aren't in the list of items that aren't transferable... but indeed people have been picking apart the fact that its not specifically mentioned in the list of things that do transfer over (never mind the fact that the list skims over a bunch of things). While the latter does bring up a good point, I do believe the mere fact that its not outright mentioned at all on the 'not transferable' list either should make it clear what the intentions could be... plus as the fine print reads, the list could end up getting bigger. Regardless... I see people already making their decision and judgement of NGS and PSO2 NA's costumes over this 'unconfirmed' fact.

The Timing is Horrible (Aka; Why You Can't Please Everyone...)

Okay so... the main 'meat' of this post, exactly what I wanted to say when the idea of this post came to mind.

I'll be clear here... aside from the vague initial reveal which sent the community into a frenzy... this is honestly the best way the announcement could have been handled and i'll get to why...

Lemme start off by saying... what's done is done concerning PSO2's release. The time in which PSO2 was delayed was not only eight years ago but also happened under different management and different circumstances. So "they should have released it back in 2013 like intended" will never be an ideal solution to our current present day dillema eight years later...

So... okay, first proposed scenario. PSO2 simply NEVER makes it to the West cause NGS is already in development. So... JP gets NGS with all the things they can transfer while we.... well, are either never considered cause we are a market that never had PSO2 before or we end up getting it... but don't get to benefit from the things that JP players will get to due to us never getting having PSO2 to begin with. Fans will be displeased...

Okay so... how about delaying the announcement altogether for a year or two and let NA catch up first and establish itself right? Then what does that leave JP with? The new graphics engine is a part of the update to enable cross compatibility with NGS so they won't be getting that... and any content originally planned for after NGS' release to keep legacy PSO2 alive would either have to be delayed until its the 'right time' for NA or happen before NGS to give JP something to do while SEGA waits for NA to be 'ready' for NGS' reveal and thus... leave NOTHING for after. Fans (and since this scenario brings up JP, their CORE market) will be displeased...

Okay so alternate scenario.... JP's had eight years so they are free to have NGS by next year as planned while the update is delayed for NA cause 'they are not ready'. Sega previously stated they wanted to focus on global launches from here on out so by doing that they'd be going against their word already... you have displeased fans. Plus you have people who are quick to shout "PSU all over again" or "Will release in NA eight years later!" so MORE displeased fans! Then reaching parity will become harder once again due to NGS starting out at a different point than its JP counterpart and thus history repeats and you have MORE displeased fans!

So... lets see the current scenario. I won't deny that PSO2's introduction to the West could have been a bit better but all things considered... there's things to look forward to. The roadmap showcasing the content that will be made available to us? Releasing on other platforms? Being made available worldwide? NA planned to get content exclusive to it? a PS game FINALLY reaching parity with JP? Then PSO2NGS gets announced; not only will PSO2 continue to exist alongside it, ensuring those who were just introduced to the game can continue to play and enjoy it, but current players intrigued by this new follow-up will be able to bring quite a lot of things they've already collected in PSO2 over and vice versa. On top of this, the game's planned to launch globally around the same time as its Japanese counterpart much like SEGA recently said they would be doing and the trailer even having clear signs of the game being localized as its being developed and updates hopefully being 1:1 with JP, this even extending to the game's coverage with the only difference between NA and JP news on the game being the language. And of course... legacy PSO2 players will get a graphical upgrade for their game and will be able to bring certain things from NGS over too...

This is honestly the most generous I have seen an MMO get...

Conclusion

Indeed there are things I can understand there being some caution and concern over... but please understand that NGS is still a game that is in active development. Not getting an answer about some things is not your average "Sega's not addressing the SG shop" issue... this is a game that is in active development and which details will be revealed over time. Until we get more details... enjoy what we have now with PSO2 and save your feedback and complaints for actual PSO2's management rather than a game which even on the JP end there's not much public details on...

August 7th, PSO2 Station stream - look forward to it

I tend to skip over most 'prophets of doom and gnashing of teeth' type posts here on the forums though. Don't let it get to you.

@Bette said in PSO2 NGS Insight:

I tend to skip over most 'prophets of doom and gnashing of teeth' type posts here on the forums though. Don't let it get to you.

Thanks! Given the way things have been workin' around here, i'm not entirely sure what I hoped to accomplish with this post entirely... but there were some things that I felt needed to be said and things that people are overlooking too easily.

The only thing I want to address is "PSO2 is Dead".

While I understand your point here (that since devs are still working on it, they clearly want it to exist and therefore it will be awesome), it is players that decent whether a game is dead or alive by virtue of playing it and supporting it.

While many people are still going to play PSO2, almost everyone I have spoken to has had their motivation shot due to the NGS announcement. It's most certainly a fact that people will play less from now on, or not play at all. Chances are the monetary stream into PSO2 will go down as well for NA, because why invest seriously when a new game is coming out in about a year? There's more than just cosmetics to be spending on; the vast majority of people who buy AC don't scratch, but buy things like premium for gameplay advantages, which many will deem pointless now.

For all intents and purposes with the information we have, NGS is a sequel to PSO2, and will most likely be the game that gets the most updates and progression, so investing time there will feel much more worth it than PSO2 regular. NGS doesn't replace PSO2 in theory, but chances are it will do.

What SEGA needs to do is clarify exactly what is happening with PSO2 and the roadmap for PSO2 post-NGS (not specifics, just a general idea of what they're planning), because while PSO2 might still exist, NGS is the new shiny game where people are at, and will have the most focus due to being new.

@Leonkh99 Very well put post . I applaud you for the time you took to actually break everything down in the midst of this war the community is having with each other. I am optimistic about NGS and do hope that certain aspects of the game get thought of differently and this a fresh start for everyone. While I may not log in for as long as I used to; I can say for certain that NGS would fix that. Don't let the children win in their attempts to ostracize you and your ideas, Being there from 1999 and such in the aspects of gaming overhauls are nothing but good things.

@Leonkh99

This was a long not well thought out post. Thanks for being the best whitest knight you can possibly be, and failing to regonize that Sega should have released this info prior to NA release so players could make an informed decision on money being spent.

Especially during a pandemic money is tight for many.

Yep~ Just not going to spend any money on prem/mtx until I see a post with confirmation on forums or twitter.

Honestly made a thread about the cosmetics/accessories not transferring over.

I do believe they have a plan for that as to create low res expedited version over time but EVERYTHING will not be available at launch. Gacha items may also become available when those Gacha's come back around for NGS you will just have Classic version which is the low res new engine graphics and NGS Versions which may look entirely different or be high fidelity high res models.

So in short accessories and cosmetics will be added with time, but not all at launch. Is my theory thus why they purposefully left it vague as they themselves are unsure what they'll have ready

@Rhysticalz said in PSO2 NGS Insight:

@Leonkh99

This was a long not well thought out post. Thanks for being the best whitest knight you can possibly be, and failing to regonize that Sega should have released this info prior to NA release so players could make an informed decision on money being spent.

What have you been spending AC on? Boosters?

@Miasu said in PSO2 NGS Insight:

Yep~ Just not going to spend any money on prem/mtx until I see a post with confirmation on forums or twitter.

Out of curiosity, what are you looking for confirmation on? What we know won't transfer is anything relating to Skill Rings consumable Items, boost Items, materials, room furnishings, and any currencies other than AC and SG. All cosmetics are either confirmed or implied to transfer over.

In regards to Premium, over in JP Premium already carries over to PSO2es and has benefits there too. I can see the same potentially happening for NGS too.

@Thirstday said in PSO2 NGS Insight:

Honestly made a thread about the cosmetics/accessories not transferring over.

I do believe they have a plan for that as to create low res expedited version over time but EVERYTHING will not be available at launch. Gacha items may also become available when those Gacha's come back around for NGS you will just have Classic version which is the low res new engine graphics and NGS Versions which may look entirely different or be high fidelity high res models.

So in short accessories and cosmetics will be added with time, but not all at launch. Is my theory thus why they purposefully left it vague as they themselves are unsure what they'll have ready

If SEGA has had hindsight with this, they would have original quality assets for costumes and accessories on their end that they downgrade when adding them to PSO2.

Also, why would they say

ALL character creation info from PSO2 (including items linked to emotes and other previously registered data) will be compatible with PSO2: NGS!

When this will not be the case on launch?

*foresight rather, bleh

@MoonRunestar

ALL character creation info from PSO2 (including items linked to emotes and other previously registered data) will be compatible with PSO2: NGS!

When this will not be the case on launch?

It will be the case. Other

I have been amazed how many people think Other means EVERYTHING I swear to god I never liked the mocking of NA education but holy god damn. The only people that can define Other are SEGA. YOU assume what they mean YOU actually have no idea what SEGA means unless YOU work for SEGA.

So the inference that EVERYTHING is going to be carried over though could be true technically Other could mean Everything however it has an enormously high probability that it does not as they would just say EVERYTHING or ALL

The number of times I've talked about this basic notion is astounding. HOW do you not know the difference between some and everything?

Yeah, gonna say this was definitely in the works for quite a while and someone at Xbox headquarters decided that they wanted to showcase it for the Xbox Series X. The exclusivity part seems pretty intentional though, so my question is this:

If August brings PSO2NA to new pc platforms, do they have to wait to play PSO2NG on that platform until later after it's launch? Of course the Microsoft store installation issues should not be an issue with a new game built specifically for it, but it would be kind of a bummer I would assume.

@Thirstday It's worth noting that the "Items Obtained in PSO2 That Cannot Be Used in PSO2: NGS" section does not mention anything about cosmetics, and that this is said as well:

The information provided on this page is for a game still under development. The content and specifications may change at any time without notification.

Along with this:

For weapons pertaining to classes that have not yet been added to PSO2: NGS, they will be unusable until the relevant class has been released.

They said that for weapons but not for cosmetics. If not all cosmetics would be available on release, they would mention that in the same way that they've done here unless they are intentionally hiding that, or it was an oversight.

Like you say, we're not SEGA. However with the information given by them and the vagueness surrounding cosmetics, I'm not surprised that people are assuming all cosmetics from PSO2 will be available from the get-go. They wouldn't be saying "all character creation info" if that wasn't the case.