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...