Phantasy Star Universe

[geldonyetich]

Offline mode is free (at least if you've the PC version).  Online mode is $10 a month or $50 for half a year.

I'm honestly considering going the half year route.  Comes witrh bonus days when I sign up, so it'd be 210 days for $50.  The half-year isn't a reoccuring subscription, so I can pretty much forget it from that point out and just play it on and off whenever I feel like it until after it falls of the radar.

gw:nightfall, the story is much better, the AI fights well, no sub

Not that anyone cares.

It also plays entirely different.

[Rasix]

gw:nightfall, the story is much better, the AI fights well, no sub

Not that anyone cares.

PVE all of the sudden get "not horrible"? For those of us that don't care much about or didn't enjoy the PVP, there doesn't seem to be much reason to get into Guild Wars... again.

Edit: Bleh, no reason to make this thread about GW.

[tazelbain]

And if you didn't like PSO, is there any reason to bother with this?

[Rhonstet]

And if you didn't like PSO, is there any reason to bother with this?

You might like the single-player game... but I'd just say, go get Final Fantasy XII.

[Trippy]

Are you people paying a monthly fee for this or is it free?

It's $10 a month to play online. It's also like FF XI where they say your character may be deleted if you unsubscribe for too long.

[Dp13]

Dp13, you can change jobs freely and as often as you like, there's just a fee involved with every change that increases with your level.  If you really wanted to you could max out every job, but that would be pretty insane.

Fabricated, hold on to that Flourescent Tube board, it's a rare drop and thus pretty valuable, you might want to fish around for a buyer.  From what I've heard, it makes a one-handed saber with unique appearance and sound, so you know people'll fall over themselves for it.

And I haven't tested this personally, but word is that you can freely overwrite synthesis boards and photon arts once you've hit your max.  So while you can't remove them, they won't prevent you from using new stuff.

It's not changing jobs I'm worried about, it's picking Photon Arts.  You can only pick 36 photon arts and there are more than 36 to pick from.

Also I saw someone in game with twin sabers, isn't that a FiGunner only thing or can hunters use twin sabers too?

[schild]

Hunters use twin sabers. I'm using them now.

[Fabricated]

I'm a big fan of Saber+Gun myself, with a backup two-handed sword when I'm grouped or fighting weak enemies.

[geldonyetich]

One Handed Melee Weapon/Wand + Offhand Pistol/Machine Gun is  great combination because both hands PP will regenerate while you have them out.

Machinegun in particular is a weapon I recommend any Ranger grab as soon as possible because, even as the energy expenditure rate is rather rapid, the regeneration rate is fast enough that you can alternate fairly satisfyingly between that and a Saber/Dagger in your other hand while the machinegun is out of PP.  I hear Rangers have a hard time online because of the massive cost of keeping their PP regenerated.  This is a method I'm going to use to try to get around it. 

My goal is actually a Guntecher, which is Ranger primary, Force secondary. I hear hybrid < nonhybrid, but hey, I think it'd be fun.  I'd like to make it a CAST to make it even more interesting, but that might not work because their capacity to be a Force is severely gimped.  Force are actually really powerful, so I'd probably make focused Force as a second character.

So, off to try to register through Playsega.  Within this hour, I shall see firsthand how the online game varies from the off.

[Margalis]

Probably confused about a couple different weapons that sound the same.

PSU has:

Dual weilded swords
A double-blade.

The double blade I believe is not even in the US version yet. Something like that anyway.

This game has a lot more content than what is released online. A *lot* more. For example online right now there are no A-class weapons at all. There are a total of 10 spells available, out of 35+. (5 or 6 of each of 6 elements, plus buffs/debuffs) I assume a lot more missions. Also the PSO games were pretty good about adding new quests and missions over time. With the same basic scenery but different levels and such.

The plan is to dole out the content on a month by month basis. That's fine with me as it will keep me from binging.

Also the single-player is pretty fun. The first 15 minutes are so are really annoying, really talky and your character is an annoying jerk. After that it gets pretty good though. I'm only on chapter 3 but it seems fun when I don't want to play online. Also things in the offline extra mode are cheaper and easier I think, so you can experiment there a bit.

[Trippy]

That's one of the nice things about the game, the weapon types all play differently so I'm constantly switching them up depending on the situation. I just wish each weapon had more attacks.

[Trippy]

Probably confused about a couple different weapons that sound the same.

PSU has:

Dual weilded swords
A double-blade.

The double blade I believe is not even in the US version yet. Something like that anyway.

Yeah Lou, one of the Story Mode characters wields one of those though I haven't seen one available for purchase yet. She has this cool animation where she sort of kicks the staff back into her hand.

[geldonyetich]

I just wish each weapon had more attacks.

From my experiences in the story mode, I've found that Photon Arts advance at the level 10 and level 25ish point so you can get an extra combination on them.  [Meaning you keep hitting that right arrow or whatever photon arts button you use and it does an extra chain after the last.]

From the wiki, I see that there'll eventually be more than one type of Photon Art per weapon.  (Assuming it's not already there and just not in the story mode.)

Yeah Lou, one of the Story Mode characters wields one of those though I haven't seen one available for purchase yet. She has this cool animation where she sort of kicks the staff back into her hand.

Saw that, wasn't able to do that myself.  I did get soemthing else where Ethan took off using the two handed blade as a propeller.  Looks kinda lame due to the physical impossibility of it, but the damage was the most hardcore of all of the different photon arts of the weapons I tried.

[Trippy]

I just wish each weapon had more attacks.

From my experiences in the story mode, I've found that Photon Arts advance at the level 10 and level 25ish point so you can get an extra combination on them.  [Meaning you keep hitting that right arrow or whatever photon arts button you use and it does an extra chain after the last.]

Yeah I know about those -- I was doing them by accident for a while since I'm a button masher until I figured out what was going on. I wish, though, that there were an "A" and "B" attack, like the Raven Marvel games have. That way you can have all sorts of variations like AAA, ABA, BBA, etc. I'm not using the right trgger button on my Xbox controller so that could've been mapped to the weapon/item switch toggle which would free up one of the 4 "face" buttons to use as the extra attack.

[Kail]

And rootkits are bad, m'kay.  But in the war between the cheaters and the anti-cheaters, I'm willing to make that sacrifice as long as it hampers the cheaters and doesn't royally fuck over my computer.

I am having nasty flashbacks here to the original PSO.  You remember, the part where you couldn't back up your character data, to protect against cheaters?  And where it wiped your save file every time you loaded it, to protect against cheaters?  And where, if the game crashed or glitched or just lost connection, your character file would be gone, permanently, because we don't want people to dupe items? And where people could cause this to happen on your machine with a gameshark, because shockingly the cheaters did something the designers didn't expect?

I keep going back and forth with this game.  It sounds fun, but people keep saying "oh, by the way..." and then mentioning something that sounds like a deal breaker to me.  Hmm.

[Kitsune]

I am having nasty flashbacks here to the original PSO.  You remember, the part where you couldn't back up your character data, to protect against cheaters?  And where it wiped your save file every time you loaded it, to protect against cheaters?  And where, if the game crashed or glitched or just lost connection, your character file would be gone, permanently, because we don't want people to dupe items? And where people could cause this to happen on your machine with a gameshark, because shockingly the cheaters did something the designers didn't expect?

I keep going back and forth with this game.  It sounds fun, but people keep saying "oh, by the way..." and then mentioning something that sounds like a deal breaker to me.  Hmm.

I don't disagree with you, but PSO got bad with cheaters.  Reeeeeal bad.  As in, jackasses could dupe every item in the game in seconds, join your team and crash everyone on it, and generally be rampant assholes with impunity.  PSU keeps the data serverside so at least you don't have to worry about it being corrupted on your end because they were jerks about the memory cards, and hopefully the serverside aspect will make it trickier for people to fuck with it.  I don't consider their little anti-hacking tool to be more of a threat than Blizzard's, or else I wouldn't tolerate it.

[geldonyetich]

Diablo had the same issues, but no noticable cheaters in PSU.  Yet.  Hopefully their little punkbusteresque client, rootkit or not, keeps them as far away as possible.  I consider online game cheaters as being at the same social level as recidivating sex offenders.  At best, distasteful fellows I want nothing to do with and I really wish they'd find other hobbies.  At worst, folks whose presense makes lynching a wholesome pastime.

So, I took Phantasy Star Universe for a spin online today and it's very much a different game from offline mode.  The general lack of the story makes things seem much more open-ended.  The mission maps seem to have some randomization involved, and more mobs are thrown at you than in single player mode.  The grind is a lot slower than offline mode... I think it wouldn't be so bad if the game didn't require the player run a level 1 Linear Line mission a few dozen times before seeing a little variety.  I'm thinking introducing more variety at lower levels should be the focus of some of the early patches.  I noticed that the PP batteries of weapons are bigger and recharge faster than in the story mode.  Then, of course, there's the other players and their quirky ways.  Everybody's a newbie at this point... a somewhat refreshing experience that won't last.

In about 4 hours of play, I've made a level 6 CAST Ranger (Geldonus Omega).  Right now things seem pretty expensive and it's hard to earn the neccessary cash to pick up a photon art disk (I plan to max out his machgun and dual pistol skills in preparation for being a Guntecher).  However, I expect that Photon Art availability will be the least of my worries once I start tackling some decent level monsters, it's mostly that level 1 Linear Line mission that's holding me back.

[Trippy]

Don't expect major new features to be added to the game beyond what's already still "locked" on the DVD. The PS2 and Xbox 360 versions don't require an HD which means all the client patches have to fit within a PS2 memory card. That was one of the reasons keeping me from subscribing to the game before I found out about GameGuard. Once you are done with the content, that's it, no expansions, no new major content, and if you unsubscribe for too long would probably can't go back to your character.

[Falconeer]

I'm on the windows version right now.
Running sweet it in 1280x960, and playing with the PS2 controller as a native PS2 game.
Smooth and satisfying experience so far (offline campaign).

EDIT: Wondering why passers by keep vanishing/fading away as soon as I approach them. Ghost syndrome?

[Hoax]

Ok because I sort of want to play answer these questions:

-Combat is?  Auto-Attack + Hotkey or is there something interesting going on here?

-PvP is? A complete after thought?  Level biased to hell? Instanced and balanced?

-Character customization is?  Good?  Or attack of the Clones?

-Grouping is?  Team missions where you dont have to worry about the holy trinity?

-PvE is?  Bland smack foozles for dings gratz and lewtz or same thing with a variety of lil goals, timelimits and stuff (like escort the dude, protect the thingy, etc)

Thank you f13.   :-D  Yes I'm lazy, no I dont search, what is google?

[Kitsune]

Ok because I sort of want to play answer these questions:

-Combat is?  Auto-Attack + Hotkey or is there something interesting going on here?

Combat is like a console game/FPS, 1 button press = 1 swing.  No autoattack.

-PvP is? A complete after thought?  Level biased to hell? Instanced and balanced?

Non-existent.

-Character customization is?  Good?  Or attack of the Clones?

Pretty good.  There aren't many options for clothing yet, though, so a lot of people are running around in the same newbie clothes.

-Grouping is?  Team missions where you dont have to worry about the holy trinity?

Pretty much.  Everyone can heal themselves just fine with items; having a force user around who can heal is very useful but not mandatory.  And there is no tank class, nobody who just stands around being hit, it's in every character's best interest to avoid blows rather than absorb them.

-PvE is?  Bland smack foozles for dings gratz and lewtz or same thing with a variety of lil goals, timelimits and stuff (like escort the dude, protect the thingy, etc)

Smack the foozles right now, the more involved 'story' quests aren't on the US server yet.

Thank you f13.   :-D  Yes I'm lazy, no I dont search, what is google?

Not only do you not search, you don't read the thread!  That's a whole new level of accomplishment.

[Fabricated]

Diablo had the same issues, but no noticable cheaters in PSU.  Yet.  Hopefully their little punkbusteresque client, rootkit or not, keeps them as far away as possible.  I consider online game cheaters as being at the same social level as recidivating sex offenders.  At best, distasteful fellows I want nothing to do with and I really wish they'd find other hobbies.  At worst, folks whose presense makes lynching a wholesome pastime.

So, I took Phantasy Star Universe for a spin online today and it's very much a different game from offline mode.  The general lack of the story makes things seem much more open-ended.  The mission maps seem to have some randomization involved, and more mobs are thrown at you than in single player mode.  The grind is a lot slower than offline mode... I think it wouldn't be so bad if the game didn't require the player run a level 1 Linear Line mission a few dozen times before seeing a little variety.  I'm thinking introducing more variety at lower levels should be the focus of some of the early patches.  I noticed that the PP batteries of weapons are bigger and recharge faster than in the story mode.  Then, of course, there's the other players and their quirky ways.  Everybody's a newbie at this point... a somewhat refreshing experience that won't last.

In about 4 hours of play, I've made a level 6 CAST Ranger (Geldonus Omega).  Right now things seem pretty expensive and it's hard to earn the neccessary cash to pick up a photon art disk (I plan to max out his machgun and dual pistol skills in preparation for being a Guntecher).  However, I expect that Photon Art availability will be the least of my worries once I start tackling some decent level monsters, it's mostly that level 1 Linear Line mission that's holding me back.

Walk through the door to the "Viewing Area" in the staging area you end up in after the level 1 mission. You can then do a level 5 mission with a mini-boss at the end. If you do the level 5 mission (or any mission at a staging area after the planet's main city) just complete the mission, get your money and points, then DO NOT GO THROUGH TO THE NEXT STAGING AREA. Go back to the checkpoint, zap back to block 1, then leave via the entrance. Walk back in to bring up the mission counter, abandon the mission (you already got the points and money), and then run it again.

Sounds complicated, but I'm just bad at explaining it.

[geldonyetich]

Sounds complicated, but I'm just bad at explaining it.

I got the message on the first try.  It still sounds a little complicated just because I have to walk but, then again, there's a save point right in the last room with the SEED boss so that shouldn't be so hard.  The tough part will be getting joe pickup group member to not run through that last door.  Nonetheless, having tried Section B and found level 10 mobs still kick my arse, and the initial level 1 mobs prior to the viewing area to give only 2 xp points where they once gave 10, it'd be in my best interest to try this tactic.  What's taking the planet Parum so long to unlock?  Why the developers decided that I'd be doing the same mission for the first 10-15 levels is beyond me.

[Dp13]

When I play, it honestly feels just like final fantasy to me.   You know,  I run out fighting, i see my life get low, i down a heal potion, i keep fighting, happy music... we win.     


...now if only i could find that raccoon tail.

Unless you're Force, you dont worry about anyone in the part but yourself.   Don't have to.

[Margalis]

Also the level range and how many people in your party of what types is flexible. Basically start a mission or join a pickup group, not a big deal. The difference between an awesome group and a sucky one is not huge.

The main thing that determines what I group I join is if they have items set to "finder." If so count me out.

[geldonyetich]

Agreed.  Unfortunately that's the default setting and the n00bs on my server (and they're all n00bs in a game released last week) generally don't know to set loot settings to something else.  Personally I set my normal loot on the "in order" setting and my rare loot on the "random" setting (to prevent people from deliberately looting lame things in order to get the rares). 

[Kitsune]

Tonight I got my robot to transform into a little shotgun-wielding robot girl.



Didn't get much of a chance to go out fighting with her, but she was pretty good with her stash of guns, swapping between a shotgun and dual pistols.  Unfortunately her AI was as crappy as the rest of the NPCs, so she wasn't exactly a dervish of decisive action.  Once anything got close, though, she started putting out some hurt.

[SpaceGoonie]

1.  What level does your partner machine need to be before it evolves into human form?
--mine is currently in the second evolutionary phase at level 21.

2.  What ingredients have you found to increase it's armor rating?
--Obviously all armor does, but also the Linear Line room decoration does. Anything else that others have found? I'm desparate to increase that level on my PM.

3.  Does the strategy guide have any real useful information? In other words is it worth the money if a couple people go halvsies on it?

4.  Sometimes I don't press the button to get my mission reward screen (tend to forget) but I was under the impression you still got the reward behind the scenes. Is that not true? Do you really have to collect it after each mission? That seems messed up.

[schild]

3. Strategy guide is shit.

4. You don't get the reward on the 360 version if you don't press L-Trigger and then A.

[Margalis]

2. Check psu-pedia. It has a list of what increases what PM stat.

[geldonyetich]

97. Psu-Pedia's hosting sucks.  Expect to try again several times until you see the page.

I'm having a hard time just isolating the stuff I need to feed my PM because I'm going for the Ranged route.  Not easy to find the materials for that in missions, unlike the Strike/Technic route with all the mate potions laying around.

I did, however, figure out the main drive to power in the game.  It's in the equipment - there's a big difference between a one and two star piece of gear.  Basically, the perpetual goal becomes to try to get the weapon and armor that you can just barely equip with your current stats.   (Something I haven't been able to do due to lack of Meseta.)  It looks like the higher level weapons and armor may only be available through other players or from drops, judging by the store inventories.  Dependance on the player economy?  How MMORPG-like.

[Margalis]

You can also grind your current weapon.

A 2 star weapon that has been ground 4 or 5 times will be about as good as a 3 star weapon. Each time you grind there is a chance a weapon will break. Apparently it is nearly impossible to fail the first one but after that it gets more dangerous and to make up for that you have to user higher quality grinders.

I haven't even started feeding my PM yet. I play as a force so I might want to make a PM that is good at making force weapons, but getting your PM good at that is tough if you want a pure force PM.

[Kitsune]

For armor you can raise it with armor, clothes, and room decorations.  For ranged, two-star traps only cost 100 meseta a pop and give a good boost, try those.  The PMs evolve into a humanoid form at level 80.

[Jain Zar]

My PM is like level 2, so I won't worry about a new form for it any time soon.

Of course my main (Alex Stewart) is only level 9 and she just now started linking Photon Arts to her weapons.
She likes to cap mothafuckas in the face with pistols!  Gun PAs are wierd though.  The gun uses a little more
Photon, but does 10-25% more damage.  Its always on for the gun.  I need to save up money for the double
blade PA too.

And a side note.  Unless you like wielding wands and such, don't bother with TECHNICs.  From what I have seen
you need one to use them, even healing spells.  This is VERY different from PSO.    It could be handy for after battle healing,
but in combat weapon switching can be tricky, even on the 360 where the controls are pretty intuitive.  (Other note:
SWITCH WEAPON AND LOCKON MODES TO CLICK.  YOUR HANDS AND SANITY WILL THANK YOU.)

[Trippy]

And a side note.  Unless you like wielding wands and such, don't bother with TECHNICs.  From what I have seen
you need one to use them, even healing spells.  This is VERY different from PSO.    It could be handy for after battle healing,
but in combat weapon switching can be tricky, even on the 360 where the controls are pretty intuitive.  (Other note:
SWITCH WEAPON AND LOCKON MODES TO CLICK.  YOUR HANDS AND SANITY WILL THANK YOU.)

I haven't played online but in the single player game I've seen party members wield a staff (the one handed one) and crossbow at the same time (crossbows aren't for sale yet for me so I haven't been able to try it myself).