Phantasy Star Universe discussion thread

Originally Posted by Kostaki

So everything is designed around six person parties? Can parties can any bigger than that or is that the max?

I think it would be best to not even think about this game in terms of MMO definitions. It isn't an MMO, doesn't aspire to be one, nor will anything really make sense if you think of it in terms of one.

Yeah, there's levels. Yeah, there's equipment. Each "mission" or "adventure area" , if it is designed in the same way as PSO, has a dynamic population. That is to say, the ammount of enemies that pop and attack you differs depending on how many people you bring to the field. Going solo? You'll be able to handle it. Packing a full 6pack? (and no it can't get larger) It'll get more hecktic, but you can do it working together.

A lot of the gameplay revolves around the fact that you can solo any one mob yourself, but with a group there's a whole megaton of them and you might get overwhelmed if you try to take it on yourself. There's no dedicated "healer" or "tank" class: everything is focused on damage. A Ranger shoots from a distance, a Hunter fights melee, and a Force casts spells/'techniques'. -- So that is to say, everyone does generally the same thing but approaches it with a different set of 'weapons'.

It would probably be better to think about the game in terms of Diablo or Gauntlet.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah the game works a lot like Diablo 2. You join a "room" or create one. Except of the simple layout for choosing a room though, we get a nice huge chat room area. Characters can run around and do sorta recreational stuff. Anyone know if there's a soccer lobby like in Episode I&II?

I was speaking idiomatically.

There's no lobby soccer in Phantasy Star Universe, at the moment anyways. I do know that there's supposed to be a dance club on the third floor of the Guardian's Colony, though it's currently locked out.

How ya doing, buddy?

Will you be allowed to take screenshots like in FFXI? I always enjoyed that feature, and have a sizable album to prove it.

Also, are there towns with NPCs to visit? Or is it purely areas with monsters to fight?

FELIPE NO

You can take screenshots on the PC version. You cannot on the PlayStation 2 release.

All interaction is done in towns, and there are various NPCs scattered throughout. You exit towns at various locations to start missions/join missions in progress.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I suppose you would need the PS2 hard drive to save images. Too bad. What about friend lists, and messaging your friends?

Still waiting on the monthly fee. I have a job now, but I still need to budget certain things for now. Perhaps I'll take a 3 month break from FFXI to work my way up to PSU.

Also, not sure if this was mentioned yet, but is there a stats difference on the different races? What's the most popular race, and why?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Technically, you can take screenshots of any PC game. Just press Printscreen, and paste the image in paint or photoshop. If friend lists are the same as it was in PSO, then it's really quite simple, and one of the best systems around. In PSO you basically had something called a guild card. You can write a little mini biography on it, and you would send your card to whoever you want, and once he/she sends you his/hers, you would see his/her card in your list along with their little biography. One of the best features about this though, is the ability to teleport to the same lobby your friend is in using the card. Saves a lot of time.

Yes the stats are different based on races. They are ALSO dependent on your sex. Here's what I know so far (correct me if i'm wrong here):

Beasts are basically mainly the HUnters. (Close combat specialists) The males have more attack power, and accuracy, but females have more evade, and can use Magic. (although I hear basic hunters can't use magic) Even though the males have more accuracy, Beasts have bad accuracy in general. This of course doesn't matter if you use good tactics, and constantly try to get behind the enemy which = 100% accuracy.

Casts (Robots) are mainly RAngers. Some people say Rangers get the shaft in this game, but after a bit of work, you'll find that they are VERY good at what they do. RAngers are pretty simple. Run, and gun. If you play a RAnger, and do what you're supposed to be doing, you will VERY RARELY get hit. They also now have different kinds of "ammo" to put into guns that do different things. Enemies of course also have elemental weaknesses, so this is important. Ice ammo can freeze, Lightning ammo can paralyze, Fire ammo can set enemies on fire, etc.... Casts have the most accuracy, and evade of any race. They CANNOT use magic at all though.

Newmans are mainly FOrces. FOrces are your typical mages. The spells in this game though seem to be a lot more devastating than in the past PSO games. They can also heal, buff, and revive. Needless to say, FOrces are almost essential in any good party. While I don't know what Newman's highest stats are, i'm pretty sure it's Magic attack, and Magic Defense.

Humans are your all around race. They don't really excel at anything, but they don't really suck at anything either. I hear this game has advance hybrid classes, so the Humans shine the most there. Female Beasts can use magic too, but it's really gimped shitty magic. Useful for having a heal spell though. Dunno if they have any higher stats than all other classes though.

Now while I said certain races excel at certain jobs, you can still make a Beast RAnger, or a Newman HUnter. ( <----- sounds like a death wish) This just means that their stats make them better at certain classes than others. So the 3 basic classes are RAnger, FOrce, and HUnter. Hope this info helps...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Manny Biggz

Casts (Robots) are mainly RAngers. Some people say Rangers get the shaft in this game, but after a bit of work, you'll find that they are VERY good at what they do. RAngers are pretty simple. Run, and gun. If you play a RAnger, and do what you're supposed to be doing, you will VERY RARELY get hit. They also now have different kinds of "ammo" to put into guns that do different things. Enemies of course also have elemental weaknesses, so this is important. Ice ammo can freeze, Lightning ammo can paralyze, Fire ammo can set enemies on fire, etc.... Casts have the most accuracy, and evade of any race. They CANNOT use magic at all though.

According to pso-world, Casts can use magic... they just suck at it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It would probably be absolutly useless then, because their MST (mind power) is less than 10.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

MST is for defense against techs. Technique attack power is the driving force for technique damage. Cast forces would seem to be more support oriented, while newman forces are geared more for offense. Support techs seem to not really take technique attack power or MST into account, and so a hunter/force or ranger/force hybrid would work well for a cast.

We'll see in the long run... just don't discount cast forces entirely, especially since I've watched the dragon one-shot newman forces on many occasions.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I must say that I do not support the idea of letting Casts use magic. It pretty much makes no sense at all...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Monthly fee revealed.

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October 9, 2006 - SEGA finally sent out word on their pricing for the upcoming online RPG Phantasy Star Universe for the US. The Guardians license, which is what you'll need to take the game into the expansive and persistent online world, will be available for purchase on October 24, 2006 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and PC online users for $9.99. Those playing on the PlayStation 2 and PC can also purchase a six month license for $49.99 to save some money.

Although the game will cost 10 dollars more on Xbox 360 with an MSRP of $59.99 and there won't be any initial options for purchasing an extended online license, all is not gloom and doom in 360 land. That is because this Wednesday, October 11 and continuing Thursday, October 12, the Phantasy Star Universe multiplayer open beta will be available as a free download. The free open beta will run for a week and conclude on October 18, 2006. It will be open to all Xbox 360 owners with an Xbox Live Gold account.

Phantasy Star Universe will ship on October 24, 2006 for PlayStation 2, PC and Xbox 360 and is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB.

$50 every 6 months doesn't sound too bad, but the deciding factor will be how long they'll let you sign off. Last time I checked, FFXI lets you stop your account up to 3 months, in which you have to renew it by that time or lose your character for good. How long do they let you sign off in PSU?

FELIPE NO

Those lucky bastards. I was about to jump out of my seat when it said 'open beta,' but its just for 360 users. The only person I know with a 360 had to mail his console in to get repairs yesturday, because it had some kind of defect in it.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Last time I checked, FFXI lets you stop your account up to 3 months, in which you have to renew it by that time or lose your character for good. How long do they let you sign off in PSU?

Forever. You see, every other online game in existance* doesn't delete your character data in the hopes that someday, you might want to come back to the game, and not deleting your data helps make the decision that much easier. Square Enix on the other hand, decided they'd dictate how things will be run in the online gaming world and made stupid decisions with Final Fantasy XI, such as worldpasses, character deletion after 3 months, charging extra per character, and so forth.

* note that I have not played every online game in existance, but I've played a lot of the major ones, and none of them delete your character data after unsubscribing because doing so is stupid.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Monthly fee revealed.



$50 every 6 months doesn't sound too bad, but the deciding factor will be how long they'll let you sign off. Last time I checked, FFXI lets you stop your account up to 3 months, in which you have to renew it by that time or lose your character for good. How long do they let you sign off in PSU?

that's not true anymore, now it's up to 1 year before the delete your charaters and even that I think now they don't delete it anymore (well I'm not sure about that but I'm certain that now it's up to one year before they delete the charaters on that account, but some eprson said they add they account innactive for more than a year and still got they characters back when they re-activated)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

That's good news on both counts. Not having to pay a fee for PSU every 3 months means I can take extended breaks per month without any worry (unless I pony up for the "6 months for 50 bucks").

But if that FFXI news is also true, it's also a load off my chest. Although I don't know how quick and painless it is to cancel/renew your account.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Monthly fee revealed.



$50 every 6 months doesn't sound too bad, but the deciding factor will be how long they'll let you sign off. Last time I checked, FFXI lets you stop your account up to 3 months, in which you have to renew it by that time or lose your character for good. How long do they let you sign off in PSU?

Well, with PSOBB Sega never deleted your characters. I'm sure it'll be the same for this game too. My PSOBB characters STILL exist and I haven't played in over a year.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The game is due this week, and I'm pretty interested in checking it out once it's available. A couple of things are keeping me from commiting to a full purchase though. I want to read some reviews first, and make sure that the servers will work. Aside from that, I have a few more questions.

1. Is the first month free?

2. I can't decide which race I'll be. I liked that one video where the female human was dual wielding a gun and sword. It sounds like each race is only suitable for one specific job (healer, melee, etc), but I want to try all the weapons out. That said, should I stick with human since it's the most balanced? Or are there other races that can handle the sword/gun combo as well?

3. How many characters are you allowed to create (at no extra charge)?

4. Which store has the cheapest price for this game?

5. I'm trying to think up a good name. What's the naming scheme for characters in the PS universe (for example, Mithras in FFXI have indian-sounding names)?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

The game is due this week, and I'm pretty interested in checking it out once it's available. A couple of things are keeping me from commiting to a full purchase though. I want to read some reviews first, and make sure that the servers will work. Aside from that, I have a few more questions.

1. Is the first month free?

Not certain off-hand, I haven't heard anything mentioned about it though.

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2. I can't decide which race I'll be. I liked that one video where the female human was dual wielding a gun and sword. It sounds like each race is only suitable for one specific job (healer, melee, etc), but I want to try all the weapons out. That said, should I stick with human since it's the most balanced? Or are there other races that can handle the sword/gun combo as well?

I believe any race can justifiably perform well at any class, especially with multiclassing later on... But essentially for strengths it's Human-Balanced, Newman-Force, Cast-Ranger, Beast-Hunter.

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3. How many characters are you allowed to create (at no extra charge)?

Four characters period all under the same account/monthlydealy, not expandable.

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4. Which store has the cheapest price for this game?

Toys R Us has a buy 2 get 1 free sale coming up soon, not sure if it's on yet. Other than that, unless the store has a coupon it's probably all the same

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5. I'm trying to think up a good name. What's the naming scheme for characters in the PS universe (for example, Mithras in FFXI have indian-sounding names)?

It's Phantasy Star... people make Cloud and Sephiroth clones and make stupid AOL numbernames like sUpErBiLlyBoB3024. On a serious note though, I don't think there is any naming scheme. Names aren't unique though, so go to town.

--

As a side note, we have a more recent thread in the Online Games forum... And another in the Xbox forums (for the 360 version.) Not sure which one we should use

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Two of them were created by myself, the PSU fiend. I think the one in online gaming would be better. I created that thread to try and get more people from these forums involed so we can plan meets to exhcange cards and such.

FELIPE NO

As someone who's never played a Phantasy Star game before -- online or otherwise -- is this a good starter game to get into the PS universe? No pun intended, of course.

Here's what may be a doozy of a question -- ultimately, what's going to be more entertaining? This game as an MMO, or this game as a single-player RPG?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Well basically if you're gonna play this game, it's its own beast apart from the similarities to PSO. The "Phantasy Star" universe pretty much consists of its own blend of sci-fi and fantasy, meseta for currency, a few recurring enemies and races ala FF, and the tendancy to have at least one green cheerful planet. As well as a dark corrupting force, often times involving Dark Falz in some manner. In PSU's case, it's the SEED.

Online will be infinately more entertaining for me, simply because it's playing with people and there's a potential for a constantly expanding and changing world with new missions, seasonal events, special quests, etc. The offline RPG actually serves well as a more guided tutorial for diving into the game's world and such, while also providing a story that supposedly leads into the online game.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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Not certain off-hand, I haven't heard anything mentioned about it though.

GAF posted a rumor saying that the first 14 days will be free, but who knows. It would make a big difference for me if the first month was free.

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I believe any race can justifiably perform well at any class, especially with multiclassing later on... But essentially for strengths it's Human-Balanced, Newman-Force, Cast-Ranger, Beast-Hunter.

But is the performance difference really that noticable if you're using a job that is considered weak for your Race? Like I said before, I want to try everything at first, but I don't want to get rejected from PTs because I have this job for this race, which results in a crappy combination.

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Four characters period all under the same account/monthlydealy, not expandable.

Four is quite acceptable. That would come in handy if I wanted to tinker around with the other races/jobs, though I don't know if I would even have the time if it takes as long as it does in FFXI just to level one character.

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Toys R Us has a buy 2 get 1 free sale coming up soon, not sure if it's on yet. Other than that, unless the store has a coupon it's probably all the same

Well, this is the only currently available game I'm interested in purchasing (aside from FFXII next week), so it would be a waste of money to buy an additional game.

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On a serious note though, I don't think there is any naming scheme. Names aren't unique though, so go to town.

Well, I like to be creative with my names, so I'm trying to think up something sci-fi related that isn't just ripping off a popular character's name. If I was part of a Sonic-themed static group, though (like the one seen in PSU ads), then I'd get in on that (Tails, Sonic, Shadow, etc).

Tommorow I might try to snag this game at Gamestop, but I'd really like to read any early reviews or impressions beforehand. Really, the only thing holding me back is my budget, since I'm saving my dough for FFXII, the PS3, a PS3 game, and likely the Wii and Zelda afterwards.

EDIT: Seems there is a free trial of sorts, but you need to subscribe in advance.

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From Playsega.com:

Phantasy Star Universe 30 Day Recurring Subscription (Plus 15 Bonus Days) - Click Here

Phantasy Star Universe 180 Day One-Time Subscription (Plus 30 Bonus Days) - Click Here

180 days is 49.99$, 30 is $9.99

this subscription product is a one-time option - you will be charged $49.95 for 180 days. Payment will be taken immediately. At the end of the 180 day period, you will need to revisit this site to purchase another subscription.

Here's the good news - by signing up, you will get a bonus 30 days up front - that's 210 days of access for the normal price of 180!

And replace the 30 with 15 and 210 with 45 for the first option.

-GAF

So basically, subscribing for the 30 days option gives you 15 free days, and the 180 days option gives you 45 extra days.

Not sure which is the better deal.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

So 7 months for the price of 6 (approximately) or 1.5 for the price of 1.

I'm likely just going to do the 30 day sub. You save 20 bucks on the 180 day sub though.

And, really, ya should get out of the FFXI mentality for this game Everything works out usually. I can't say from experience, but based on PSO it's totally chill compared to how stick-up-ass-ish people get in FFXI when it comes to job/race bs.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

One thing that would help in deciding which race I should be is a webpage that lets me try out the different character combinations online. Someone showed me this page...

http://psu-chara.com/create/

but it doesn't give you all the options.

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I'm likely just going to do the 30 day sub. You save 20 bucks on the 180 day sub though.

Do you know if they bill you before or after the 30/180 days run out? If it's after, then I'll probably go for the 180 day deal, since I wouldn't have to worry about it until early next year, plus I save $20.

Man, I got excited over those vehicles in the trailer. Sounds like they aren't available yet, though.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?