I do think it should be fair to bring up that as of some recent updates which now has updates be handled through the digital storefront instead of the launcher, the issues the Microsoft Store version had were fixed as a result. (This is also the reason Sega advised that those using that version reinstall the game following that update as the location the game's installed to had been changed as a result)

As such... at this point not wanting to take up the Beta purely due to the platform of choice is either some of us being over cautious or just the typical "why not this storefront".

As for why the MS Store exclusivity at all... well other than the fact that Microsoft is the one even financing the release, there's also the fact that the Insider Hub is a very streamlined way of opting into any form of Beta. Of course whether the beta will be a new installation or simply opting participating players into a new patch repository is another story. To play a bit of devil's advocate... while Steam beta features are limited in that the only way to lock out a beta is through a single use password... the Japanese beta did check on login that the account logging in was one of the winning entries... if you weren't then the client would be useless. Arguably, in an ideal setting where we didn't have to account for Microsoft's involvement, Sega could have handled Beta registration through a public survey relying on users' Xbox Live / Steam / Epic account and simply locked out non-winning entries on login.

Now regarding someone bringing up why there's no standalone client... it really isn't an option at this stage as a lot of infrastructures related to logging in and microtransactions are handled through the digital storefront, most likely as a cost-saving measure to exporting the Sega ID infrastructure and system to the West. At this stage, PSO2 is purely dependent on a storefront.

As for the lack of Xbox beta... @Ezodagrom , gave the best potential explanation. Simply put for all we know, this Beta is based on the previous Japanese beta client with some minor fixes and of course, localization files. To my knowledge, JP hasn't even had any console betas yet.

@Bladensky , PSO2 reuses a lot of tracks from PSO1 and PSU for its Lobby themes tho which track is used seems to happen interchangeably.

Using the Valentines theme you asked about, sometimes they use PSO1's Valentines theme while other times they use PSU's. The same goes for every other theme with some exceptions here and there.

EDIT: I sorry, I see you also meant the Jukebox. I believe in JP they have music discs for PSU as well so.... it's only a matter of time for Global I suppose.

@Ryoga said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

@Leonkh99 said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

Forgive me if I sound a bit blunt but... how exactly is this from any other game with ingame purchases?

This has nothing to do with "ingame purchases" but the fact that everything is server sided. Phantasy Star Portable 2 for example was (mostly) client based and people who bought DLC costumes could ofc. keep them and the game even after SEGA abandoned it.

---

@Leonkh99 said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

why aren't any complaints directed at literally any other game or service operating in a similar manner?

Except there are:

@Ryoga said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

Aside from screwing over their player base many games could have just turned things from server sided to client sided upon shutting down and they don't even have to give things away for free either. Just put things into a store like Steam for X amount of cash, I'm sure many players would pay the price if that ment that they could keep their characters and still play the game after the termination of the live service (I know I would have bought several such games if I had the opportunity to do so).

Using Phantasy Star Portable 2 as an example is unfortunately not the way to go as thats a completely different game, with a completely different market and a completely different scope. Believe me, I too would wish that somehow when the servers shut down they give somehow let us download our data and we continue Offline but if things really were as straightforward as that i'm pretty sure we'd be seeing other games doing it. The fact of the matter is its not really the norm for this style of game and would induce further (albeit a minor, i'll admit) development costs during a time when the company running things just wants to let go of the game altogether.

Using Phantasy Star Portable 2 as an example only proves that the game can be designed with such a system in mind from the start.... not so much that an existing system for a game on a massive scope, developed with a service model in mind and heavy reliance on the server (all the costumes exist client-side, the server just determines whether you 'own it' or not) can readily be converted into a Single player Offline (or at the very least, P2P) game with its purchase model changed completely.

The day such a thing is possible is the day that at least 6/10 'service games' would do such a transition.

@Miraglyth said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

@Leonkh99 said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

I'm moreso puzzled regarding the reaction of others here... if the things said here are as bad as they seem, why aren't any complaints directed at literally any other game or service operating in a similar manner?

This confuses me. The vast majority if not all of the replies in this topic did acknowledge that PSO2 handles content ownership the same as any other live-service game. Who are you talking about here?

My bad on that bit... I guess I was moreso referring to the first oh so people who were treating this as if it were a new thing... though in hindsight it does appear said people have left the thread altogether anyways...

Forgive me if I sound a bit blunt but... how exactly is this from any other game with ingame purchases? A lot of things here concerning ingame purchases are really common sense if you play any other game operating on the service model. Even a subscription-based game like Final Fantasy XIV, if the game were to shut down you won't get your money back for all those months you've been spending money on.

I'm not gonna pick at OPs intention making the original post, at the best case scenario they were genuinely trying to be informative. I'm moreso puzzled regarding the reaction of others here... if the things said here are as bad as they seem, why aren't any complaints directed at literally any other game or service operating in a similar manner? Why is this suddenly an issue specific to PSO2 an 'yet another example of SEGA being SEGA'?

@MasterDarkwingz said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

@Milk said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

@MasterDarkwingz said in PSA: You do not own anything you obtain in microtransaction purchases.:

Just to alert SEGA, your high prices for the AC Scratch Bonus directly in conjunction with the ToS update don't really sell much confidence to your Global players in PSO2 NGS.

Most of your audience has played a lot of games that have sunset, and we can pick up on "alarm bells" rather quickly, even if they're false and your accountant is happy with the results.

Yeah this is giving me a bad feeling.

I would prefer Global be defaulted to the hands of SEGA Japan than to see it ever sunset, but that's just me.

SEGA of Japan are in fact the ones running the Global version. The same team responsible for running the JP servers run the Global servers through MS Azure and communicate with ESTsoft who handle active moderation, community management and so on.

@Ryoga I'm not gonna argue on what form of progression is best... but the very system you have been complaining about has been a part of the franchise for much longer than you might think.

First off... indeed, PSO1 took the Offline / Online approach and is by all accounts an Action Online RPG. That said, not until PSO Blue Burst could the game receive updates, so any real updates came in the form of either new releases (version 1 to version 2 on Dreamcast) or entire new platforms (if you could take your save data from Dreamcast to Gamecube... you'd find a lot of the Dreamcast gear surpassed by the gear introduced in the Gamecube version). And then the release of Blue Burst, which also added the ability to patch the game, then saw entire new weapons added via patches.... Phantasy Star Universe was also skipped in your argument, which to my knowledge did in fact add entire new weapons over time which surpassed the older ones...

That said, assuming what was said is true... focusing on the franchise's roots while ignoring the direction the franchise went is not gonna do any good. While indeed PSO1 started out as an Online RPG, its been clear since the release of the PC version (Blue Burst) that Sega's become more interested in making the franchise be more online orientated and follow in the footsteps of the MMO genre while still maintaining PSO1's overall structure; what with the game getting frequent updates, storing characters server-side, the PC version specifically adding a 'guild' (Team) system, the direction Sega took with Phantasy Star Universe and so on.... PSO2 is the ultimate culmination of all these elements and while still choosing to market the game as an Action RPG... the design elements Sega has borrowed is by all accounts the kind of things you'll find in an MMO... complete with the vertical progression where as newer content releases, older content is made obsolete.

The only reason PSO1 feels like its got horizontal progression is cause the only true way to update the game... was to get it on whatever new platform Sega chooses to release it on and private servers for Blue Burst just have all the content available from the getgo as opposed to released gradually as it was back in the day.

@YagyuChan said in Can we have more transparency in global pertaining what is next in updates or a road map at least?:

Attempt #2 at removing the dependence on the launcher updating the game (Steam Version btw might be happening with the Microsoft Store too but cannot verify this):

Prepare for a potentially long maintenance

Lets hope this one goes quite well... can anyone who (still) has the Windows 10 version or has the game on the Epic Game Store confirm if this is a Steam-only thing or if Sega decided to roll it out on all available platforms?

This does beg the question how the standalone NGS installation option which was available during the Beta will work now that the launcher isn't handling updates...

I second this!

This was something that the classic Phantasy Star Universe website used to do, even promoting Bumped.org (back when it was about PSU) and the PSO World forums.

With how many PSO2 sites there are, it would be great to see them promoted!

Its been announced that PSO2 JP will be having a Closed Beta for PSO2 NGS.

https://new-gen.pso2.jp/cbt/entry/

To summarize a bit, this Beta is only for PSO2 JP players and registration will be between December 15th to January 4th. There's no exact date for the Beta but it will be taking place between late January to late February. A second Beta will also be taking place but its date and registration period is not yet available.

In addition, we now have the specs that will be required for PSO2 and NGS following that release.

https://new-gen.pso2.jp/cbt/entry/spec/

(As NGS is an expansion to base PSO2, these requirements will also apply to regular PSO2)

OS

• Windows 8.1 64bit / Windows 10 64bit

CPU

• Minimum: Intel Core i5-9400

• Maximum: Intel Core i9-10900

Memory

• Minimum: 8GB RAM

• Medium / Maximum: 16GB RAM

Harddrive

• Approximately 100GB or more ("PSO2: NGS": approximately 30GB, "PSO2": approximately 70GB)

Video

• Minimum: 1280 x 720 dots or more

• Maximum: 1920x1080 dots

Graphics

• Requires DirectX 11 or higher

• Minimum: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 equivalent graphics card / AMD Radeon R9 285 equivalent graphics card

• Medium: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 580

• Maximum: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT

Sound

• There are no conditions for sound cards.

Internet

• Broadband environment (ADSL, optical fiber, etc.)

So this is a bit of several suggestions in one single post so please bear with me....

So first off, keep in mind that i'm not entirely aware of all kinds of promotion the game's getting in North America, however I do know that some kind of promotion is present at the very least... which isn't available elsewhere. As such the suggestion is pretty straightforward, to better promote the game have what promotion the gam has, be it ads on sites and YT, be present globally!

(Images from Sega Retro)

The other suggestion... despite the global availability, PSO2 is still not listed on any of the International Sega websites such as the UK or Australian sites like it is on the Sega of America website:

@VanillaLucia I am aware of this practice as this has happened a few times as well in the past with PSO2's Steam version.

With that said, I did also point out that the option to "Check File" has been removed from the launcher and the launcher no longer has the pop up window to check for updates from the server at the start. Starting PSO2 brings up the launcher instantly without any checks whatsoever!