After 8 years of experience on the JP version I think the current Global version is not satisfactory.

In my opinion, no one would complain if:

• OT Weapons will be reintroduced. It is really necessary to have them back because on New Genesis it will be possible to transfer the weapons and they will have different stats and therefore will be usable. There are some really beautiful OT Weapons, and I wish I had them.

• Redo the translation of the interface (skills, weapons, units). Adding flavor-texts on every weapon as originally intended. Give the possibility to select the original and localized terminology with a toggle option. This is because selecting Japanese dub creates a lot of discrepancies with the english subtitles and vice versa. For example: You hears the word "Darkers" but you read "Falspawn". Another interesting option would be to change the terminology based on the dub you select.

• Give everyone the chance to remove censorship with multiple options. You can set different levels of censorship according to people's sensitivity, for example: High, Medium, Low, Removed. The censorship option is set to "Medium" by default.

Removed: The game is exactly like the Japanese version.

Low: Character with a minimum height of 150cm.

Medium: Character with a minimum height of 150cm. Questionable Story content removed.

High: Character with a minimum height of 150cm. Sexy outfits replaced by default outfits. Auxiliaries can be only Cast. Questionable Story content removed. Symbol Arts deactivated. Very limited SG/AC Scratch for female characters. (This setting is perfect for children, is like ESRB T and PEGI 12)

If you set the censorship option to Low, Medium or High, you will see the minimum height of the other players' characters with a minimum height of 150, they will therefore be automatically adjusted client-side.

The censorship options will be only available on the Steam version.

What do you think?

How about make an actual Phantasy Star Online game and not some Barbie dress up simulator?

@Ki-Rin said in PSO2 A Realm Reborn (Suggestion thread):

How about make an actual Phantasy Star Online game and not some Barbie dress up simulator?

Select the "High" censorship option and enjoy the game

"but a toggle defeats the purpose of censoring things in the first place!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkk9DI-8el4

^ the only suitable reply left to be made. for it describes the pro-censorship stance and how much of a joke said stance is perfectly.

@treos100 Nice bait lol

@Ki-Rin I can't tell how you feel about the game. It seems like you tend to have a really negative view on it like in this thread, but then you say you like it. But then you say you don't like it again.

I hate the censorship, but with this solution I will have no objection. It seems like a great compromise to me, also a great idea to apply it only on Steam, as Steam is not located in California and they have other laws there, plus Steam currently sells games for adults, so there is absolutely no problem there

I'm not for "censorship" and I want this one: "Sexy outfits replaced by default outfits." This is would actually improve my gameplay experience. I play a short character myself, and would decrease the height. But the lewd outfits in this game are way too over the top. If I could turn them off I would, not because I'm a prude, but because I'm just not a fan of it in general.

Wait, why only available on Steam? I'm on console, and have been against censorship from the start. Besides, options being locked to only one client or the other, is why I have more graphic settings options on my console, than my elder brother does on his PC. I mean, one of the most basic things in a game is a brightness slider, and he doesn't have that.

I like the core idea of this post, but locking menu options either direction, is a poor implementation, of what should be a universal U.I.

@Anarchy-Marine It's only because on Steam there is no reason to censor videogames. For example Marvelous Games ha published Senran Kagura censored on PS4, and uncensored on Steam.

Steam is the only major store in the West where adult video games can be sold. It's like DMM in Japan, but Steam is 1000 times bigger.

@Silvalance said in PSO2 A Realm Reborn (Suggestion thread):

Steam is not located in California and they have other laws there, plus Steam currently sells games for adults, so there is absolutely no problem there

Literally this is the reason.

Microsoft Store and Xbox One are in California, and they are like Sony about the censorship.

I think Steam is the last refuge for the gamers.

The problem is that SEGA used the same build as the Microsoft Store, it's literally a port to Steam without any changes.

We can therefore have a hope of having an appropriate Steam version without censorship or with toggle options.

I feel sad for Xbox players, but unfortunately it's a lot harder to convince Microsoft than just SEGA.

@Michelle Microsoft isn't like Sony I'll tell you that right now. Tera online came to Xbox, and the elins were uncensored as uncensored could be. The only time they have ever blocked mature rated content, was full frontal nudity on Conan Exiles, and that was a region specific thing, not a State thing. A block easily bypassed by changing regions, and downloading a free patch that restores said nudity. Tits are otherwise allowed on Xbox.

Sony is so puritanical, that it censors damn near everything, especially any and all Anime based games, and in some cases, won't even allow them on the platform.

Edit: The only other time Microsoft censors nudity, or mature content, is via the systems activity feed, but that's because even though the content is fine to see in game, activity feed posts, are usually visible by everyone, and Microsoft doesn't want some angry parent threatening a lawsuit, because their kid stumbled upon it.

@Anarchy-Marine In that case it's only a SEGA decision then. My hope is to have PSO2 uncensored on every platform. Obviously. I only mentioned Steam because it's a 100% safe way, indeed it was a stupid move for SEGA to publish a censored game on Steam, it's really ridiculous.

However, I fear that by EP6, PSO2 Global will also be released on PS4 and Switch via Cloud. It will be released also con GeForce Now according to some leaks.

@Michelle Well, we shall see. Leaks have in the past been either a hit, or miss, and are wrong 50% of the time. However, considering that the game is already on PS4 in Japan, as it was what I was told, then logically it would be the same in regards to the Global release.

How nice to communicate in this way. I feel like I'm dreaming. No insults, no threats, no accusations. I honestly feel very sorry for the moderators of this forum who are working hard to keep order.

Moderators, if you are reading here, thank you so much for the hard work you are doing, I wish you a lot of happiness and I hope the situation will be over soon and everyone will be happy too.

@Michelle said in PSO2 A Realm Reborn (Suggestion thread):

After 8 years of experience on the JP version I think the current Global version is not satisfactory.

In my opinion, no one would complain if:

• OT Weapons will be reintroduced. It is really necessary to have them back because on New Genesis it will be possible to transfer the weapons and they will have different stats and therefore will be usable. There are some really beautiful OT Weapons, and I wish I had them.

• Redo the translation of the interface (skills, weapons, units). Adding flavor-texts on every weapon as originally intended. Give the possibility to select the original and localized terminology with a toggle option. This is because selecting Japanese dub creates a lot of discrepancies with the english subtitles and vice versa. For example: You hears the word "Darkers" but you read "Falspawn". Another interesting option would be to change the terminology based on the dub you select.

• Give everyone the chance to remove censorship with multiple options. You can set different levels of censorship according to people's sensitivity, for example: High, Medium, Low, Removed. The censorship option is set to "Medium" by default.

Removed: The game is exactly like the Japanese version.

Low: Character with a minimum height of 150cm.

Medium: Character with a minimum height of 150cm. Questionable Story content removed.

High: Character with a minimum height of 150cm. Sexy outfits replaced by default outfits. Auxiliaries can be only Cast. Questionable Story content removed. Symbol Arts deactivated. Very limited SG/AC Scratch for female characters. (This setting is perfect for children, is like ESRB T and PEGI 12)

If you set the censorship option to Low, Medium or High, you will see the minimum height of the other players' characters with a minimum height of 150, they will therefore be automatically adjusted client-side.

The censorship options will be only available on the Steam version.

What do you think?

I think this is a good idea, and SEGA should implement it.

Reading your post, I do like your intentions for sure! That said, a lot of things are never quite as easy as they seem... I don't mean to discourage but there are some things that need to be taken into consideration... but hey! feel free to argue these cases OR use this info to better refine your suggestion

With that said, lets get started!

Translation

Regarding the translation, I would honestly rephrase that suggestion as the issue doesn't warrant a complete re-translation but rather a fix on what exists. I like the idea behind having the option between subs for the Japanese audio or English audio, its very similar to another Sega release; Judgement, though I believe some more thought needs to be put into it:

• This sort of suggestion is usually fine for single player experiences but can get confusing in shared experiences as you have player bases within the same game and server using two completely sets of terminology.
• How far should things go? Would this extend to weapon names? Would the controversially named "Slave"weapon name make a return? This goes back to the first point that it might just end up dividing the fanbase and confusing new players wondering why some players call their weapon "Slave" weapon and others call em "Raven" weapon.
• How accurate should these alternate subs / text be? This goes back to the second point but to go into detail... even the Fan Translation took their liberties in some areas due to potential controversy or limitations. For instance, Harukotan's two territories in the Japanese version are known as the "White" and "Black" territory with people from both sides respectively being "White People" and "Black People" (yes really...). Neither the Fan Translation or the Official Translation tried to go for accuracy with this one for obvious reasons, the Fan Translation making up "Shironia" and "Kuron" and the Official Translation makingup "Daybreak" and "Nightfall" as the respective replacements. A 100% accurate translation may (understandably so) not be in Sega's best interest as a result.

Old-Type Weapons

You probably know the reason why... but to those of you out there lurking by. When PSO2 launched it had a completely different weapon grinding system that was more akin to what Phantasy Star Universe had (from my understanding). This system was one not many players liked so Sega's solution was to introduce a new grinding system around EPISODE 4's release which would be usable with all weapons released following the release, known as "New Type Weapons", while all weapons released prior to EPISODE 4 (retroactively named "Old Types") would continue to use the old grinding system. This of course adds to the game's complexity.

Now... not gonna lie, PSO2 Global isn't exactly the most beginner friendly game, but it is from my understanding that some design choices behind PSO2 Global were made with the idea of streamlining content to a degree rather than throwing "everything" at the player and while many players will continue to use this as an example of how PSO2 Global doesn't have "All the Content" I see no issue with the decision made as it was done in an attempt to streamline the game for newer players (whom the Global version was designed for as opposed to those already playing the JP version).

Now... a compromise to the issue; some Old Type weapons were in fact converted to New Types during this 'streamline process'. I'd say the best way to achieve what you desire here is to simply "finish what they started" and have all the Old Type weapons converted to New Types. This is especially the case given that the distinction between Old Types and New Types might not matter much for NGS since there may be a new weapon grinding system altogether for progression in NGS.

Censorship

I have nothing to say on this matter... as a general suggestion for people who have issues with the game's sexual content, its a good idea.

As an alternative to the censorship... that depends on what lead to the censorship in the first place. If the whole thing was just Sega's paranoia about what the playerbase might think... then yea there's a small chance. If the change was pushed by a bigger entity such as one of the Globally supported country's rating boards or say... Sony (Discussed this one before), then the suggestion doesn't solve their problem as these entities would rather the uncensored content not be available AT ALL.

Furthermore... given the way the PSO2 servers operate, simply making ONE client uncensored would not be the way to go given their interconnectivity and this is something the Sony theory plays a hand with... all versions of PSO2 which share servers have to be consistent with one another.