@Remi The NA version is a newer version, its based on Episode 6's client and is only 'gated' to appear like as if it were the older versions, albeit with lots of Episode 6's features. In comparison, while the SEA version was still on Episode 2 (around "version 2"), JP was on Episode 4 (around "version 4"). It was already in English yea and indeed large majority of the well translated parts were taken from Sega of America's original cancelled 2013 version... but the rest is a horrible translated mess and lots of 'find and replace' was applied to make series terminology more generic (Monomate = Health Drink, Force = Wizard, etc). Also since we were discussing the launcher... it did still use the same launcher as JP albeit modified.

Keep in mind also... whether they used that version or not has little to do with the issues going on now... simply using an older version does not automatically fix the issues relating to Sega's implementation of MS code calls, App Manifest issues, etc... thats all Sega's improper setup of the game installer on the MS Store.

As a very quick comparison... here is the JP launcher for Episode 6:

and here is the NA launcher:

For comparison with SEA here is the old JP launcher:

And here is the SEA launcher:

@Qwid1339 said in Have SEGA finally realized that MS Store is killing their PC launch in the West?:

@Leonkh99 said in Have SEGA finally realized that MS Store is killing their PC launch in the West?:

And, in regards to complaints about lack of communication on matters, are only allowed to say what Sega of Japan tells them or may not know everything which Sega of Japan has in mind.

I kind of figured that. People on here hoping the GM's will start spouting off upcoming details and news are going to be waiting an awful long time. They keep the peace, that's about it.

Thanks for the detailed post!

The GMs are honestly trying their best given what they have to work with. Mind you, i'm not saying it should excuse the lack of information regarding certain things or in general how long it takes for information to even come out, but the GMs or most of the Community Team are not entirely at fault given how little Sega of Japan gives them to work with as well as what I can presume to be an endless list of things falling under Non-Disclosure Agreement.

@Remi said in Have SEGA finally realized that MS Store is killing their PC launch in the West?:

I wish i knew why they gave us the same one that had problems in JP like seriously you already fixed these why not give us at least a little better start

There's not much to think about regarding this tbh... its pretty simple... cause its what the developers made and what the game uses in Japan. The NA version is not recoded from scratch or anything like that... its literally the JP version with parts removed, some extra content added, some functionalities and features moved around. Phantasy Star Online 2; Game, Launcher, etc, are all a 'package' and thats what we got...

@Remi , the MS Store has its issues yes and admittedly the game should have been available via some other method; be it a standalone launcher or a Steam release.

However at the same time, it was still Sega manning the MS Store's PSO2 page, how the files are downloaded and so on. The issues are caused by mishandling on their end in regards to the app manifest (what folders need to be created and what permission they should have) as well as issues with their own launcher in general (some of which are issues present in the JP version... but not many people know cause very few use the JP launcher).

@Remi Correction... Microsoft is very 'hands off' in terms of PSO2's management. Microsoft at best:

• Hired Lionbridge Technologies to do localization.
• Gave SEGA a discount to use their MS Azure servers if not outright use them for free.
• Requested the game be ported to Xbox One and have its PC version made available on the MS Store.

However everything else from:

• The creation of NA exclusive content.
• Porting to Xbox One.
• Day to day management of the server software (UQ times, Block Numbers, What ships open, down to even what video is playing on the lobby screens) which merely RUNS on the MS Azure platform.
• Setting up the PC version to use Xbox Live features.
• Putting the game on the MS Store, integrating its features, setting up the folders required, folder permissions, app manifest, etc.

All that is SEGA of Japan and the same team who are already handling the JP version. Now as for English communications, that would be ESTsoft who:

• Have the GMs.
• Are Customer Support.
• Handle social media accounts.
• Design the website and handle its content, forums, etc.

And, in regards to complaints about lack of communication on matters, are only allowed to say what Sega of Japan tells them or may not know everything which Sega of Japan has in mind.

As for the topic... like many have said, there's probably an exclusivity deal going on there and SEGA's hands are tied. A release on Steam and maybe having other platform versions like say... the PlayStation 4 port (Nintendo Switch 'version' has about... 1% chance of coming to the West for reasons I have explained over and over again...). But for now... its all about Microsoft and Xbox for who knows how long...

During the past few months Ships 4-6 always had their Congestion status as "Offline", however recently it appears that Ships 4 and 6 have gone into a Maintenance state... perhaps they are planned to open up soon? (Maybe after the next maintenance? who knows!)

I don't know anything about complaints, I was merely specifying that the game 'should' (as in, its there but I haven't tested it) have cross platform voice chat as its using Vivox; a voice chat system that is used to bring cross platform voice chat to other games.

I mean either way, PSO2 uses Vivox for its ingame voice chat so... cross platform voice chat 'should' be possible from the getgo...

Keep in mind... the level cap was reduced temporarily to its original level 75 and lots of post-Episode 3 content is gated... by the time those contents are available, PC players would have been caught up with Xbox One players hopefully.

@MelodyKLZE , sorta... the content is being 'artificially' gated... that is they didn't actually release an older version of the game in the West; it is the Episode 6 client with Episode 6 bug fixes, balances and features. I can't even say we went back to 2014 since how 'ahead' things are varies per content in question:

Areas and Story: Episode 3 (2014) Urgent Quests: Episode 2 (2013) Classes: Episode 4 (2015)

As a result, content releases from here on out is just unlocking the content already in the game's files over time and admittedly, it appears that Episode 4 is not too long a wait given where are at now. As the community team specified, we will be caught up with JP by the end of the year.

MS Store apps default to your integrated GPU regardless what GPU you use for gaming, you need to set the GPU you use in the Windows 10 settings as you can see here: