Category: Phantasy Star Online 2

Sakai posted a message following the Closed Beta Test report:

Thanks to everyone who participated in PSO2's Closed Beta Test. During the test they had several network problems with disconnections and lag. After some investigation, it was discovered that the main cause of the problem was due to their machine settings. They want to arrange the opportunity to run the test again to make sure the network problems do not occur in the Open Beta Test. So the next test will be called the "Pre-Open Beta Test". Unfortunately he can not announce the exact schedule at this time but this Pre-Open beta Test starts in late June.

On May 23rd, 2012, he will start registrations for the Open Beta Test. New registrants will also be able to participate in the Pre-Open Beta Test. For those who participated in the Closed Beta Test, you do not need to register again. If there are no major issues in the Pre-Open Beta Test, he will quickly start the Open Beta Test. The data from the Open Beta Test will be transferred to the Official Game.

From the Open Beta Test, he will collect feedback and reports and assemble a list of responses based on them.

He thinks there's still some ways to go and aims to make the game as enjoyable as possible.

 Closed Beta Test Report

• About 147,000 Downloads
• About 131,000 Logged in user
• 23,500 simultaneous connections on April 21st
• Average 21,000 simultaneous connections a day
• 63,000 Average Logins a day.

The blue bar represents simultaneous connections while the red bar shows logged in users each day.

The number of simultaneous connections is quite low, this is due to the network troubles that occurred on the server. Also he believes since you were generally able to connect at anytime during the day (compared to previous alpha tests), less people decided to log in at the same time.

Race

• 38.9% Humans
• 31.6% Newmans
• 29.5% Casts

Gender

• 28.8% Males
• 71.2% Females

Race/Sex Ratio

• 13.8% Human Males
• 25.1% Human Female
• 4.8% Newman Male
• 26.9% Newman Females
• 10.3% Cast Male
• 19.1% Cast Female

Class

• 40.8% Hunters
• 31.2% Rangers
• 28.0% Force

Interestingly (or uninterestingly…) the ratio is about the same as Alpha Test 2. 70% of players play as Female characters. He guesses women play an active role in the Arks.

Per each race and sex, the most popular hairstyles and outfits are:

• Human Males: Short Wolf + Close Quarter
• Human Females: Casual Layer + Southern Dream
• Newman Male: Casual Layer + Sensous Coat
• Newman Female: Casual Layer + Viola Magika
• Cast Male:  Ronia Head, Ronia Body, Fouma Leg, Fouma Arm
• Cast Female: Faunen Head, Faunen Body, Deal Leg, Deal Arm

The most popular hairstyle seems to be Casual Layer.

Character Stats

• 228,000 created characters
• 57.7% or 76,000 logged in users reached level 10
• 28.8% or 38,000 logged in users reached level 20

Each person would make an average of 1.7 characters.

 

Class level distribution.

Each section pertains with characters levels. The red bar represents hunters, blue bar represents rangers, and yellow bar represents force.

• 22,000 feedback/requests sent in
• 11,000 bug reports
• 43,000 BBS posts

Compared to last time, there were less feedback and requests, but there were more bug reports and BBS posts.

There were about 37,000 submissions to the survey.

Whether or not they participated in previous tests:

• 56.9% of people did not participate in previous alpha tests
• 26.1% participated in the alpha test 2
• 15.8% participated in alpha test 1 and 2
• 1.2% of people participated in alpha test 1 only.

Whether or not they will pay cash items and play the game when it officially starts:

• 61.7% don't know if they'll purchase cash items but will play.
• 21.1% will purchase cash items and will play.
• 10.1% won't purchase cash items but will play
• 5.5% don't know if they will play
• 1.1% will not play the game

PSO2 CBT Grading

 

What systems people will play PSO2 on:

• 61.9% of people will play PC only.
• 14.6% will play on PlayStation Vita and PC
• 11.2% will play PC version and Smartphone
• 7.8% will play all systems
• 4.5% Other

Control Schemes:

• 38.9% played with keyboard and Mouse
• 44.1% Gamepad and Keyboard (Keyboard only for chatting.)
• 17.0% Gamepad and Keyboard

This asks which aspect should be strengthened the most.

• 20.3% More Weapon Categories
• 11.1% Increase the variety of PA and Skills
• 8.8% Improve Character Creation
• 8.1% Improve elements where lots of people can play.
• 7.1% Add more map variation
• 6.9% Improve Character Actions
• 6.8% More weapons
• 6.2% Improve areas other than battle
• 6.1% Improve World and Story
• 5.9% Improve chat functions
• 3,5% Improve Enemies
• 3.0% Add Something you can raise other than characters like Pets.
• 2.5% Add Competitive Elements
• 2.0% More luscious graphics
• 1.7% Improve My Room Functions

Again like in Alpha Test 2, "increase weapon categories" was the most requested.  In second place just like last time, people want more PA and Skills. It seems many of you wanted them to improve the action portions of the game.

They have already decided on the number of weapon categories for when the official game starts. In a future update expect additional weapon categories.

Pre-Open Beta Test

Sakai updated his blog but most of it is covered in the closed beta test report. However we get some insight on a few things. The next test isn't a Closed Beta Test 2, there are no restrictions on the amount of people that can play. Thus, their next test is called the "Pre-Open Beta Test!" Though the data of the Pre-Open Beta Test cannot be carried over to the Open Beta test, those that participate will get special gift. The details about this gift will be announced in the future.

When there are no major issues in the Pre-Open Beta Test, they will start the Open Beta Test. The Open Beta Test data will carry over into the Official game.

Due to server problems, the maximum number of simultaneous connections in the Closed Beta Test barely passed over Alpha Test 2's. One of their biggest objectives in the Pre-Open Beta Test is to see if they have solved this problem.

You'll have to wait about 1 month until the next test starts. Please stay tuned for news and future information when it's available.

So you're probably wondering what happened to that Closed Beta Test report? Well Sakai apologized saying it's not ready yet. He thinks he can show it early next week. They are currently fixing the problems discovered since the CBT, and want to make sure these problem don't reoccur in the OBT. So today we're going to talk about Planet Lillipa. But first let's compare the planets.

 

Here's planet Naberius, looks similar to Earth

 

This is Planet Lillipa.

It looks like a skewered ball because of the structures the main civilization left behind.

 

As you arrive on the surface, you'll discover the planet is basically full of Darkers and Mech enemies. The mechs were made to protect the planet and even though their makers are gone, they continue to fight against the Darkers. The players themselves are seen as invaders and are attacked as well. You'll see the mechs in Interrupt Events.

 

On this planet your field of vision becomes the main feature. With the seamless weather system expect sandstorms to make your vision very poor.

 

The Gilnas enemy harks back to PSO's Dubchick.

 

Even if the body is scattered in pieces,
it won't stop moving until the core is destroyed.

 

Those legs!

 

Signogan can move extremely quick.

 

SpardanA and Spargan are the same type of enemy.
On the Spargan's head (?) there's a gun attached.

As for the Darkers, El Arda is also a common enemy in the desert, so it's better to come here to get drops from it than the city.

Gwanahda is the boss. It's a huge ant lion with various unpredictable attacks from its many tentacles and huge pincers. Players should be on guard as you may see multiple Gwanahdas spawning.

 

Lillipa has a new contender to replace Rappies as the mascot. The Arks are still investigating these creatures and it may take some time before they finally interact with each other. You'll learn more about the Lillipa tribe through the story, so please expect it.

 

Porori

Today's porori image is of the Lillipas. These are the creatures that he wants to become as the new mascot! (I don't think so!) The Lillipas were actually seen in the Closed Beta Test. Did you notice a room item called "Kuchimane Doll?" Well expect to see more of them in the future. Until next time!

Rapico's Response

【拡散希望】『PSO2』のマスコットはラッピー！繰り返す、『PSO2』のマスコットはラッピー!!断じてあの短足ではありません！ #PSO2

— ラピ子（キイロイラッピー） (@rapico) May 18, 2012

She mad!

Net Cafe points

In an interview with Famitsu Connect!on, Sakai talks about yet another form of currency known as Net Cafe points. When you collect Net Cafe points you can use them to trade for exclusive items. (Net Cafe's are a shortened term for Internet Cafes, which means you'll have to be physically present at one to get the points.)

Sakai is back for his typical Friday update. This time it's mainly a summary of the media briefing which we have already covered before. In the next test, he will introduce Planet Lillipa. The desert planet full of Darkers and Robots.

In part two of the Media Briefing 2nd, they did a talk show and showed some secret footage. He wanted to announce the dates of the Open Beta Test but couldn't due to the problems that occurred. After some internal testing they will decide upon a date and announce the schedule to you guys sometime around the end of May.

 

Now over here in the shoutboard and on other sites you may have heard about changes Japanese social games must make to their complete Gacha. A gacha is basically a game where you win random prizes like those toy/candy vending machines outside of stores. Some companies offer a complete gacha that lets you win an extra prize if you win all the major prizes. (Read here for an illustration.) In PSO2's case, if you collected all 8 outfits on the Gacha sheet, you would have won the Rappy Suit costume.

As a result of this law, the gift you would have received by completing the AC Scratch will have to be removed. This news doesn't affect the next test's schedule. Even though the problems that occurred in the CBT resulted in some internal scheduling changes, the official release date has not changed and is still on for Early Summer 2012. The game will continue to be free to play, and you will still be able to download it for free.

He thanks you for completing the survey, he received more than 37,000 entries. Around mid-May he plans to release the Closed Beta Test Report with data collected from the game and survey.

 

Character Contest

After more than 18000 votes sent in, taking up 1/3 of the votes, "mw" has won the Character Creation contest. She will appear as a character within the game.

Kumanotabi won the producer prize. This character will be 3D printed.

Josan Waver won the Arks Prize. The winner of this prize will receive artwork of their very own character, in fact Mizuno liked this oyaji character.

Those that won the Rappy Prize will receive the Racaseal figure. If you didn't win don't fret, Sakai is thinking about future contests where everyone can participate. A symbol art contest, weapon/costume design contest, and illustration contest are some of the things he's thinking about. If you have any ideas for a future contest, be sure to comment on his blog.

 

PORORI

It's been quite a long time but today we can show the next porori image.

When you played the CBT, you met many story characters in the world of PSO2. In fact, out of these story characters, two of them were original models: Xion and Matoi.

Everyone else that you saw could be created in character creation.* Thus unfortunately, they do not have concept designs. However, you may recall that they each wore unique outfits. So today we'll introduce the costume concept artwork that the highly popular character "Lisa" wore.

 

As previously stated, though Lisa wore this outfit, this isn't her character concept. (Lisa may look very similar but she had the CRAZY EYES!) However, in the official game, you'll be able to wear this outfit just like Lisa.

 *EDIT Note: Due to some confusion about this I'll make this clear for new readers. As it was previously mentioned a while back, all the default costumes in character creator were available for free. The rest of the NPC costumes costs Arks Cash. The point was to say that you can create a character who looks just like Afin, or Xeno, in the character creator, but their costumes would cost AC. In fact if you watched the media briefing you would see that Xeno's and Echo's costumes are in the AC Scratch.

 

Attribute Grinding Values

Previously in Alpha Test 2, we talked a bit about the observations on Attribute grinding. Though the Closed Beta Test added some changes to the menu, it still worked essentially the same.

You have your base weapon, and by feeding it weapons of the same name you will increase the % by a certain amount.

• Attribute + Same Attribute (1-29%) = +2%
• Attribute + Same Attribute (30-50%) = +3%
• Attribute + No Attribute = +1%
• Attribute + Different Attribute (1~29%) = +1%
• Attribute + Different Attribute (30~50%) = +2%

The last entry is different from Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity by 1%. Which I guess sounds fair to say the least.

[via shougai]

Gaebolg/Nacht

The July issue of Famitsu Connect!On is distributing an item code for the Gaebolg/Nacht partisan. This issue of Famitsu goes on sale 5/26/2012. You can input item codes in the Visiphone terminal in the Arks lobby. So far there are 5 "Nacht" type weapons being distributed.

[thanks Silent Panda]