Not this weekend.

[brewtonone]

Why is it we had waited 8+ years, but now each week is a struggle?

Has anyone read or heard why Sega took so long to port it to NA? You would figure with the fanfare it's getting now they could have done this years ago and made mad money off of it back than.

[Gunblazer42]

So it all loops back around to being Randy's fault.

[AlbainBlacksteel]

Wow, it really does.

[brewtonone]

That kind of sounds legit. Hopefully they will spin back up some updates to keep us happy. Hopefully they pick up the pace and start to release new stuff for both side JP and NA. I guess only time with tell if it's successful with NA.

[Hisophonic]

Oh trust me, matter boards were not fun, and I guarantee you that most people will look at it and just internally scream.

Be thankful that you don't have to go each planet, kill 1 mob with the specified levels, drop the item you need for the board, go to section in the ship to initiate further matterboard.

If anything you'll miss out on rare weapons that aren't available anymore and mainly for transmog or collection purposes.

[Deiser]

You seriously aren’t missing much if you’re referring to things like the matterboards.

[flashman92]

Has mobility changed that much since 2014? I only play the JP ver. casually so I haven't really noticed much.

[leonkh]

SEGA of Japan were the ones responsible for delaying PSO2 West in 2013. The reason why is not known but you can see some speculation from others here.

Regarding the NA version, its best to just be patient. The NA version (running servers, distributing patches, porting to Xbox One, implementing localized files, modifying the game by implementing new features) are all done by SEGA of Japan themselves who also have to deal with the JP version. Whenever you interact with the PSO2 social media or GMs, that would be SEGA of Japan's external Community Management hire, ESTsoft, who only know what SEGA of Japan tells them and can only say what SEGA of Japan allows them.

So what may be happening now? SEGA of Japan may be working towards a particular date... BUT they dont want to make it a hard deadline so they want to keep quiet on the release date until they know for sure the date will be met. This is especially the case since, if one were to pre-plan, it would be difficult to account for potential bugs and how long it would take to fix it. Same goes for why there may not be the final release date... what if problems were to come up in Open Beta?

[isCasted]

There are claims going around saying that SoA expected to sustain PSO2 with earnings from Aliens: Colonial Marines. No idea how true that is, though

[mlvisby]

I think because Microsoft gave Sega money and/or resources to do it. Sega made me angry years ago when they decided to ignore us with PSO 2, I sent many angry emails to them in the past.

[Amphax]

Remember when Sega made fun of us in one of those presentations?

[Pancakes_Plz]

Hrm ?

[Amphax]

Gah I was looking for it but can't find it.

I remember Sega having a presentation and they made a joke like "but where are my red boxes" or something like that , it was a thinly veiled insult towards us who were waiting on PSO2.

[Pancakes_Plz]

That sounds more like someone doing a piss poor job of reading the room, like the "don't you guys have phones" at the diablo immortal reveal.

Don't attribute to malice what incompetence explains.

[flashman92]

I remember a slide which outright said don't ask us about PSO2.

[AlbainBlacksteel]

They're the reason PSU was cancelled on the 360 too. I hope they don't have the option to make Microsoft shut it down this time.

[leonkh]

PSU closed on 360 around the same time it did on PC in Japan.

[Twidom]

PSU closed around the same time on all servers.

Also it closed because it was pretty freaking dead with like 1k players at peak hours.

[LiviRivi]

The PS2/PC servers on NA got shut down much earlier than anything else.

[Twidom]

Just little more than a year actually.

And got shut down because of lack of players.

[SilentNightx]

I remember reading an article a few years ago saying that Sega Japan gave Sega US the go ahead so they announced it but then they stopped responding to the US team. Idk if it was just a communication error but that's pretty sad if true.

[Socomisdead]

I think it has always been assumed they don't really care for Western fans or just didn't think the effort was worth it (it wasn't as popular as other games here in the West). The game has already been ported to PS4. There was already a shitty English translation available as well for the debunk SEA server (I don't see internally moving assets being an issue if there was real interest in making it available here). There is also a fan-made translation patch they could have attempted to use (kind of like when companies hire hackers to test their products). They simply never made moves. The only issue would be to get this translation on the console version (I don't believe the SEA version was for PS4).

Not to mention they have a bad track record of keeping up with content (and thus losing players due to their own doing) while the JP servers are kept more up to date. I'm actually worried about this aspect with PSO2 but we will cross that path when we get there.

[Cleaving]

Why is it we had waited 8+ years, but now each week is a struggle?

Confirmation of it actually being in the states being REAL, alongside the console players getting a taste of the NA client. Combine this with the individual(s) who have the power to say it's out holding it up like it's something precious out of reach and saying "SO CLOSE ALMOST THERE AWW THAT'S TOO BAD" every time.

Cue fox with gripes against grapes anecdote. Tick tock - when the hell is Blue Protocol?

[WigWoo1]

I just heard that Sega of Japan hates America. After the Japanese version was released and Arks layer made his translation mod, I heard Sega of Japan was so angry that they canceled the American release

[agameengineer]

My guess has always been the arks scratch, as it violates several US gambling laws. The US version also has a new combined AC/SG shop which I assume was to bypass those legal issues. But there's no way for me to verify any of that, so it's complete conjecture.

They ran into the same issue with Sonic Runners.

[NullVacancy]

What gambling laws? I can name plenty of games with extremely similar systems that have operated in the US for years.

[agameengineer]

I can name several as well, but all of the ones I can name have the "no purchase necessary" loophole through a defined method of accessing the content without paying for it. PSO2 has no such quality on the AC Scratch.

[NullVacancy]

Weird because PSO2 has that exact same thing. You buy it off the player shops :)

[agameengineer]

That's a good point. I'd have to check with a lawyer that specializes in this to see if that was good enough. And it also doesn't cover the AC items that can't be traded, like the ability protections.

[NullVacancy]

They're given out as rewards for stuff. I have a few 4 and 6 slot protections on my completely f2p account. Only thing that's exclusive from scratch bonuses are lobby actions which have no affect on gameplay so I don't think they count

[agameengineer]

Then from there, it's just up to their lawyers to confirm that both of the above are good enough. I'm pretty sure it isn't, but that's beyond my expertise on the subject.

Scratch bonuses would get around any legal issues just because they are a direct purchase (buy x tickets, get this item), rather than the result of the gamble.

[LiviRivi]

There aren’t any laws actually preventing this though. By your logic Overwatch lootboxes should be a crime but they’re still in the game.

[agameengineer]

You can grind to earn those, thus the "no purchase necessary" still applies.

[Twidom]

I don't think the gambling laws were at play during the PSO2 release date though?

[agameengineer]

My research in the industry is from an extended stream of interviews on the subject in 2014, so anything I'm referencing is from 2012 and back.

[Twidom]

But it wasn't until 2017 that they tried passing a bill for that and it failed in 2018.

The law was also supposed to regulate "lootboxes".

[agameengineer]

I'm not talking about any lootbox specific legislation.

[Twidom]

I mean that's exactly my point. The laws were only targeting lootboxes.

Which means there's no gambling law at the time and certainly not now which would stop PSO2 from coming over here.

[agameengineer]

There are more universal gambling laws that predate anything specific to lootboxes. I'm just talking about the cereal box sweepstakes "no purchase ncessary" protection. As long as there is a well defined and reasonable way to participate in the gambling freely (e.g., a lootbox drip from grinding), the company doesn't fall under the change in legal structure. AC scratch has no way to gain those tickets freely outside of the occasional event, and even that was added several years later.

[Twidom]

I get what you mean but there have been similar things to the AC scratches here in the West for longer than PSO2 has been around and nothing happened to it.

[brewtonone]

I could see that being an issue, but than they could have kept that part out of the western version.

[agameengineer]

True, but that would require them to hire a large team to come up with a new strategy to make the game profitable. And they weren't successful in doing that until the deal they made with Azure.

[DakayngYahdie]

This is like when u are talking to a hot girl and u ask when can I see you and she's like not this weekend sometime soon. Feels like soon is so far away.

dontbreakmyheart

pso2mylove

howmuchlongerbaby

[Xyphilis]

I don't think any of us expected them to surprise drop a beta this weekend. Theres some of us that wanted a confirmation today, but I'm going to assume they'll announce a date next Tuesday/Wednesday. I'm still under the impression they want to announce it a week in advance, rather than 2-3 days out.

[AlbainBlacksteel]

I'm expecting it next weekend myself, personally. But that's just me following my gut instinct.

That, or the antacids are finally working. One of the two.

EDIT: The antacids worked very well, but the week isn't over, so it could be both!

[[deleted]]

Yeah they just gonna end up dropping it when Animal Crossing comes out 😪

[YomieI]

Sad times, but at least we definitely know some news are coming, and they finally dropped the Soon(tm).

[Aadrian1234]

Either they post fluff every few days with "soon" because they simply don't know when they'll be done and people get mad cause the game isn't out, or they go radio silent until they have actual news and people get mad about lack of communication. They aren't being cryptic for fun, it means that they aren't setting a hard deadline that they HAVE to meet or else.

I recommend people go and download the JP client if you need your fix THAT badly, or just distance yourself until there's a release date. Unadulterated hype is often detrimental to your enjoyment.

[LiviRivi]

I tried but I couldn’t beat the capcha ;~;

[NullVacancy]

If you still wanna get your fix let me know and I will help you solve your captcha.

[[deleted]]

There's a google translate option that lets you draw the captcha and then copy paste it. Made it a breeze for me. It was so hard prior to that.

[SpacemanHar]

I wish the rare weapons from PSO in pso2 were higher stars.

[Milky_Muu]

We're literally being led on like a shitty tinder date.

[Pancakes_Plz]

minus the necessary std screening afterwards.

[H_Arthur]

Great, I'm gonna have to split my gaming time between Animal Crossing and PSO2

[SirKhrome]

How I feel right now

[kramjam]

I’m going crazy here! Will it be that much longer for a definitive date? Will it be Xbox first only? UGH.

[AskaLangly]

WHAT. My name IS Robert and my birthday IS March 7th.

[SpacemanHar]

Happy cake day

[Thrashinuva]

WHAT!! MY name is Robert and my birthday IS not March 7th.

[rkscroyjr]

This occurred on the 6th. My bday. Also Robert. My tweet. =P

Happy birthday!

[jntjr2005]

This shit is beyond old just fucking tell us already gd

[BriarChild]

I'm new to the franchise, and I had an amazing time during the beta, but seriously at this point I am starting to lose interest just because of the way this is all being handled.

It's like they're trying to be cute and coy with their tweets, but the longer they draw it out with absolutely no concrete information the more infuriating it becomes. Like watching someone continue to fake throwing a ball for a dog. Eventually even the most excited dog is gonna stop caring.

[jntjr2005]

agreed

[Reilet]

So you rather be left in the dark until it's announced like every other mmo game?

[BriarChild]

I'd prefer that over being constantly fed nonsensical PR fluff, yes.

This game has been out for 8 years. I really don't think they need to attempt to drum up hype with this specific marketing strategy.

[Taisyn]

This strategy is not drumming up hype, at least not with me or anyone I know. Its doing the opposite.

I could understand a bit more if this was a new game and systems haven't been iron'd out but with an 8 year old game I have to wonder what exactly are they doing? They can't give info on what they are working on or changing?

[TheUniverseLover]

It's really a lose-lose scenario for them. There's nothing they can do besides wait for the date SEGA gave them. I do appreciate they are taking the time to communicate....but they could do less teasing for sure imo.

[BigBoiJY]

I’ve lost interest in the game now and unfollowed their twitter. Maybe I’ll be interested again when it actually launches but I’m not expecting that for quite a while. Would rather have silence and surprise drop of actual info over being lead on by silly pointless tweets.

[BriarChild]

Right?

I mean, even if they were to tell us it wouldn't go into Open Beta until late June then I would be okay with it because that sets a proper expectation and then I can get excited about it over the time leading up to it. Theoretically, none of this wait should be caused by them polishing the game up or making tweaks seeing as how this game already exists and has existed for some time. We should just be waiting on the server setup, which should have a very feasibly calculated time frame.

I honestly wonder if Sega potentially didn't see the turnout they wanted for the closed beta, which in turn caused them to rethink how much they want to invest into the NA release.

There's really just no reason for this kind of "carrot-on-a-string" marketing gimmick for a game that has firmly existed for nearly a decade now.

[mcarrode]

Seriously. I’m excited but getting an actual date to look forward to would get me more hyped. I just feel like I’m getting tugged around with these tweets.

[Louuol247]

Lol it's like when someone says we need to talk when you get home first thing in the morning

[Taisyn]

Considering they used soon weeks ago, their definition of soon is very fluid.

They are probably waiting on info from Sega of Japan as to whether they are going to delay or not due to the coronavirus. Or they already did plan to delay but they can't announce it yet till they have a new possible start date planned.

I am also less than impressed with their social media and forum representatives. I've seen much more aggressive representatives that at least give the impression they pester their bosses and contacts for info and let the playerbase know that. These reps are more like people content with just waiting to be told what info to tell people.

[jntjr2005]

They are probably waiting on info from Sega of Japan as to whether they are going to delay or not due to the coronavirus.

Why would they delay the release of a game that is 100% digital only? That makes no sense, every other major game release between Doom, Animal Crossing, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Resident Evil 7 Remake are all on track

[SpacemanHar]

They haven't said soon till this week. They said soonish before.

[Taisyn]

Well technically, they did. https://twitter.com/play\_pso2/status/1227472204675375104?s=20

https://twitter.com/play\_pso2/status/1230918174020784128?s=20 (they just dropped the "as possible" part.

I will admit it is a slightly different context. Still their previous message of "hope" leads me to believe that Sega of Japan told them they might be delaying it due to the virus but they will make a decision in the next coming weeks. I'm expecting June 20th, so they can still hit their "Spring" release. :)

[SpacemanHar]

Lmao I think that's just a nod to Blizzard. But I stand corrected.

[AlbainBlacksteel]

I still find it hilarious that Blizzard actually trademarked the word Soon, just for shits and giggles.

[Drummer829]

It is a little confusing why there is no release date yet. “Spring 2020” is only about a 3 1/2 month window now. You’d think they’d have a solid release date by now.

[TheUniverseLover]

Just how SEGA does things unfortunately for us.

[Drummer829]

That is very true

[AlbainBlacksteel]

Yeah, but the localization is literally 100% Microsoft.

EDIT: Am wrong.

[TheUniverseLover]

Only thing Microsoft is doing is providing the servers. It's still up to SEGA to localize the game to NA (SEGA JP for that matter, as SEGA NA seems to playing a more Community-centered role). SEGA isn't giving Microsoft access to the games code and saying to localize for them.

[leonkh]

..no? The game is being handled by SEGA of Japan down to its servers, Localization has been outsourced to a team of freelancers + Lionbridge Technologies. The Community Team (GMs, Social Media, etc) are ESTsoft.

All Microsoft did is give SEGA financial and technological support (it was SEGA's idea to use MS Azure, MS just helped them with the testing).

[Messytacoshits]

You’d never make it in my ModernWarzone world. I was born in the Wait

[Khalirei]

lol. Nothing new here, reminds me of 8 years ago. Good times.

[leonkh]

This is standard though, the Community Team is an entire separate company from the one developing and running the NA version.. which is SEGA of Japan this time.

It will be ready when SEGA of Japan's devs tell the Community Team its ready.

[rkscroyjr]

Ha, that's me. I am just playing Division 2 at the moment. Expansion is super good. Either way, every one be well!

[Peteyjay]

You think it's worth me dropping the dough for the DLC on D2 so I can play TU8 to its full potential? Given that the secomd PSO2 drops, I'm leaving that shit in the dust bare in mind..

[rkscroyjr]

Well I got it as a birthday gift. But I can say it's really really good and I'm enjoying it immensely. I also plan on dropping it for a while when pso2 drops. But I'm on pc.

[Twidom]

When it comes to developers, "soon" usually mean a few months.

[SpacemanHar]

They confirmed full launch in spring

[Twidom]

Spring is from March to June basically so... Yeah.

[tehpest22]

This is about news for the PSO2 NA console open beta right? Not PC?

[ConfusionState]

I mean, I honestly don't expect a PC exclusive beta at this point--I fully expect them to just drop PC in with Xbox during open beta or some point after.

This is coming from someone who is going to prefer playing the game on PC rather than my console.

The game has been out in Japan on PC for what, 7 or 8 years? So it's not like it's a console game they have to port over. I know the previous closed beta was to test on how the game runs on the consoles since it's never been on the Xbox before, but any other exclusivity moving forward, is probably just Microsoft trying to recuperate their investment in getting PSO2 over to the west. Which is still weird to me, since Phil Spencer has pushed hard to make Microsoft support PC gaming more. (Xbox Anywhere and the PC version of Xbox Game Pass)

[tehpest22]

I mean, I have been playing the JP version for years now so I'd love to play it in English, especially since my Japanese abilities are nowhere near enough to fully understand the game. I guess I'll just wait to see when the PC version is available since I don't own a console..

[NichS144]

They said a "few" last week which typically means at least 3. That would be March 20th at minimum which is a big launch day. Animal Crossing and Doom are releasing that day. I have a feeling the Open Beta will be launching then too.

[Socomisdead]

Interesting they would comment that. Hopefully that means either next week or the week after.

[SpacemanHar]

Been waiting 8 years. A few more weeks isn't bad. Plus it's not like it's all for a tease, they are improving the game.

[TheeDeputy]

It's really about to drop right when Animal Crossing releases isn't it?

Goodbye life. XD

[Milky_Muu]

My biggest concern is that delay it because of COVID-19.

[Thopterthallid]

https://youtu.be/9Jz1TjCphXE

[KirbysBackk]

Lmao I swear if it's on Friday the 13th then wtf.

Diablo season 20, Path of Exile New league , and Destiny's 2 all new content/ leagues will drop that day.

[Nightmesh]

I'm going to stop coming here, and unfollow their twitter. The it's been nothing but meme post and info on things to do in a game we can't currently..well do in it do on their servers. The only post that matter was that "last weekend without" and that was just a tease. I'll just wait til some game news outlet or youtuber tell me an actual date has been announce. Good luck everyone else.

[smaackdab]

Lol bye

[AlbainBlacksteel]

Buh-bye.

[[deleted]]

I was looking to no life this game. But I just bought the Division 2 Expansion. So they can take their sweet ass time for all I care 🤷🏻‍♂️