Hey All,

Before anyone perhaps reads to far yet. This is a personal thought journey I've been on for a while now, since NGS was announced, and wanted to sort of make an "open letter" of my thoughts/feelings and see what the rest of us has to say.

Quick reference for ease of response - https://pso2.com/news/announcements/pso2ngsannouncement

I've been thinking about this for a while now. And I THINK I'm at a point where I will play PSO2 NA until IT specifically closes its doors somewhere/sometime in the future. And very possibly never play NGS. To be clear I'm not trying to even hint at self importance or make any sort of hinted allusions that if my whatevers aren't met I shant play! This is more me mulling over the realities of the world, my time in life, etc. Based on the announced/current inter-relational status of PSO2 NA and PSO2 NGS.

Most of it has to do with the fact that no character growth/progress will xfer over. And I understand the reasons for that. NGS would be the only real chance for the whole real world to start over as fresh and as fair as can. All thats currently stated to go over is mostly stuff I don't care a lot about. I.e. Phasion. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy and love my 10 Gallon White cowboy hat and dual hip pistols I managed to eek out from AC Scratch. And Mags. I mean cool but to me that isn't a big loss to redo in a new iteration. And Armor/Units not showing at all?! Man, I'd wager a good 10-20% of my joy alone comes from the visual of my Unit Flex. However meager it may be compared to the "real pros."

I guess what it boils down to for me at this point is. Stop now and go back into the same endless stasis a lot of us where in that never played JP. And start/play NGS when it comes out. Else play a "dying game" of sorts until its end. At which point for some of the above life reasons I would hope I had the self preservation to not enter into another "life sink." Not that it is/would be a bad one. But I wouldn't want to play it any other way if I did. There is that mention of being able to play both games at once. But to what point? Even and especially if that almighty important character growth doesn't transfer OR update?!

My expectation at this time is I might get most of my All Classes to 75+ before the end of the year. And as NGS draws closer reassess and see what I'm losing and not losing and see if I wanna feel like a recommit to NGS the same way.

Thank you for however much you've read. I do expect, understand, and will roll with the troll posts as they all but certainly will occur. I'm mainly looking to see what others are thinking, how they feel, and may pre-heal a wound that has not yet happened for me. ;0 ;~)

Thank you everyone.

o/ =^.^=

I really love NA too but I'm gonna have to play NGS as well. I'm too hyped about it lol

It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out, but it seems like most of our stuff will carry over aside from our jobs, so I'm not too discouraged. I'm hoping there's more that'll carry over that we're unaware of, sort of like PSO2es.

I'm definitely playing New Genesis. Ever since playing this game came to NA, I would say "They should make PSO3 with next gen graphics and open world areas" and then they literally made it. If they do a whole graphics overhaul including the story mode, I might replay the story to see it in good graphics. But otherwise, depending on the gameplay loop, I might just switch to New Genesis altogether.

I'm super hopeful NGS makes a ton of changes compared to how PSO2 plays. The game is quite old now and it shows.

I'm taking a wait and see approach. Right now I'm leaning towards the switch to NGS, but I'm not committed just yet.

-edit- Now that we have official word we're keeping all our cosmetics, my lean just increased.

All great replies. Appreciable sentiments etc. Thank you.

It may also be worth mentioning I'm an adult coming into my mid-40s. In combination with my life time expenditure I have available. A new non-profit gaming corp I've formed with some friends I've charity gamed with for over a decade and probably should spend more time helping that succeed. And I'd also like to run around my local area building and fixing up cat colonies. All things that by the end of a given day I'm gonna want to only watch some tv, pet my kitties, and go to bed. ;0 ;~) NA will be like a year+ long happy fun time with an ex thats even hotter 20yrs later for me.

The one thing that would make me lean towards NGS would be if it was truly "Open World." The fact that they are choosing to call it "Open-Field" is concerning. In attempted to interweb research the difference I didn't find anything on "Open-Field." And a rough consensus that "Open-world gaming is based upon objectives and exploration of a single instanced game world/universe." Its kind of like saying a Honda Accent has "racing inspired" suspension. Vs. actual racing suspension etc. in attempt to sell you something that makes you feel like you're getting the real thing. When maybe you're getting only a poor taste of it. ¯\(ツ)/¯

I dunno. I have a feeling this is mostly a me problem/issue that will naturally sort it self out one way or the other. Hopefully with time and new revelations/announcements to my positive mayhaps I shall jump on that NGS wagon.

Thanks again for the sounding board action.

o/ =^.^=

NGS acts as if it's a block transfer, similar to selecting a challenge block. It's a whole new mode. Honestly, the way they're working in NGS surprised me, and I'm favoring it more now than when it was initially announced. Everyone will be on an even playing field when NGS starts, so starting off at Lv1 doesn't bother me. It's similar to whenever a new class was released on PSO2JP, like Hero, Phantom, and Etoile. I have hopes for it. Then again, I'm also coming off from playing PSO2 for 8 years, and looking forward to a new experience.

@KnightHarb1nger Nice! I'm really happy for you. I know the feeling of having no time too.

I guess it really depends until NGS comes out. PSO2 is really as casual or hardcore as you choose to make it, but I think NGS will be similar too. It might be more relaxing to run around the world and fart around versus taking missions on the ship, but it's hard to say for now.

Somewhat reminds me of PSO DC when ver.2 came out ~ players of those 2 games could co exist and even play together, but a lot of ver.2 content wasn't 'backwards compatible' and ver.1 obviously was stationary. SEGA would do this again with PSU -> PSU: Aoti. Lots of questionable 'can't do's' and 'wont have because x'.

Basically, they are gonna coerce everyone into leaving PSO2 for NG anyway.

I can see trying NGS and giving it up quickly because you don't like it, but I can't see not giving it a shot at all just because character progress doesn't carry over.

It's basically like an expansion in any MMO, when the level cap increases all of the gear you spent probably a hundred+ hours raiding to get becomes pointless/obsolete and you're put on the same playing field with everyone else. Sure, in NGS, you're getting reset to 1 instead of having the cap raised, but as far as I can see the only practical difference between the two is that newer players will be able to start NGS easier and give it more of a community.

It's also surprising to me that you admit you get a lot of joy via flexing your units visually, but not with the rest of fashion. What separates the two in your eyes? From my perspective, flaunting the visual aspect of units is pretty similar to wearing some expensive fashion or something.

The way I see it is that we still don't know how much NGS content is going to be available, or how enticing they will be.

Are those fields static? Dynamic? How big are they? Are we still going by the lobby-mission structure we have? Or is it more like other MMOs where NPCs are in the field, there are towns and villages (quest hubs), and the story takes place in those fields, with gathering, random events, etc?

The way they said that switching between the two worlds is as simple as switching blocks, I suspect that NGS will see a slow start, and most of us will end up returning to PSO2 after we complete whatever there is to do in NGS.

Besides, all the premium and storage services are shared between the two worlds. So there really isn't a need to worry and decide now. Just keep on playing PSO2 and when NGS comes out, jump in there when you have time.

You could even keep playing PSO2 but jump into NGS for limited-time campaigns to get your NGS reward items just in case. The way they describe it really sounds like they expect most existing players to be playing both, at least initially.

I agree with you @Akonyl that giving everyone a fresh start is a great thing. That will foster a renewed "all in it together" sense of community. Given the promo stuff so far. The content and gameplay, despite being so early yet still, I'm sure will be sufficiently beautiful, fun, and hopefully a good deal new and worthy of endless hours of immersion.

But as I was alluding to above. Its less about the game and how SEGA is deciding to do things. As much as where I am in my life and what I want to accomplish. And perhaps most succinctly how I like to play. All in obsession style. Or not at all. Given how much I've put in since Feb. and when I hit that content wall, if the NA isn't shut before that point, I won't want to start over "character growth" wise.

The latest official Q&A focused post about NGS, to the extend I could understand/interpret it after a few re-reads, reinforces my resolve. E.g. no Meseta, no Auxiliaries/Partners/Friend Avatars etc. Oh gawd. I'm too old to accept those kinds of systemic/base game changes.

As I mentioned here and there this is very much a me thing/problem. It is not at all any kind of negative indictment of SEGA in general or how it is being progressed through its next evolution. Its more like I got off the PSO Bus 20yrs ago on/from the Dreamcast. 20yrs later this PSO2 NA Bus comes along and says "Hey ARKS! Wanna ride again..?!" ... "Why yes! Yes I do." Then a little later on I see where the bus is going past NA border to NGS landia. "Well poop. That was fun I guess!!?"

I'm sure I'll read up on it. Watch some video and streamers streaming it. But I've got other life buses to ride. This is a good place for me to get off.

As far as the "flexing", still not used to that word used that way hehe.., goes. I'm also a function over form kind of person. I like the Units look because I know they have a game status mechanical/functional/value to them. That also happen to have a pretty spiffy visual appeal to them. If they didn't provide a game stat difference I wouldn't don them. And perhaps more to the Phasion point. If an ear ring, fish net legging, swim trunks, etc. gave me a +50 M-DEF or a +150 T-ATK I would very much consider wearing them! And that would spark a whole unrealistic realistic issue discussion. ;0 ;~) Its cool to see but not for me.

Thanks for all the feedback, responses, and perspectives. I'm ok and in a good place.

o/ =^.^=

@KnightHarb1nger Thank you very much for your post. I am a new player and you brought this topic of the new game to my attention. I read about the announcement of NGS initially, but didn't understand its meaning entirely. As it stated, that were would be able able to use our characters from PSO2, I assumed that meant all the progress, levels, items and meseta would transfer too. So, as a total new player to PSO2 (and Phantasy Star in general), I did not fully comprehend what the NGS meant for me. Thanks to your post though, I took a closer look and now know what I needed to know.

To be honest, it feels a bit odd and even like a bit of a waste of time to spend time with PSO2 if one wants to start anew in NGS. The changes they're doing with PSO2:NGS sound promising and its great if everyone starts from scratch. Personally, I am hoping for a better UI (it still drives me kind of crazy and I need to adjust to the UI). But I don't know if I am even able to continue playing if NGS launches. My PC is about 6 years old and the new system requirements may make it unplayable for me. Sadly, there will be no option to run PSO2 with old specs. At the moment, I am still learning all there is to learn about PSO2 and will see what the future brings.

Again, thank you for posting this and bringing the "issue" of NGS to my attention.

@Leyaa You might want to check out official Q&A on what transfers to NGS and what doesn't: https://pso2.com/news/announcements/pso2ngsinformation

We still don't know the extent of the content that NGS will bring. For all we know, it might end up (at least initially) just as an extension of PSO2, so your time in PSO2 may yet continue for months or even years.

For me, I'm just going to have fun, and then get a fresh start in NGS. That's what games are about, really. Just having fun. When you start thinking if time "invested" is worth it, then it's easy to lose sight of the fun.

Thanks for your reply @kztm Yes, I (re-)read the new Q&A about NGS, it shed a bit more light on what is to come.

I do have a lot of fun in PSO2 at the moment. After all, I am very new to this game and everything is so exciting right now . And I think you're right. Simply enjoying the time one is spending currently is important too. Of course, we are all eager to get our hands on information for the future. But as you said, it is equally important to not get side tracked and enjoy the here and now.