Talk:Phantasy Star Online

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Contents

[edit] The MMORPG question again

I don't understand why there are people so adamant in denying that games like PSO and PSU are MMORPGs. Common characteristics that define an MMORPG are the capacity to accomodate a large amount of players in a game world (not necessarily playing fields) and some form of a persistent world. PSO easily qualifies for both, though the latter is not starkly obvious--however, the mere fact your character retains its state for future playing sessions (and epsecially in PSO:BB where this data is serverside rather than clientside) should be enough--within a particular service, all characters could interact outside of instanced games by using the lobbies. This is not the same for Diablo 2 which so many people regard PSO as a clone of.

Since when, however, did MMORPG mean "Everquest/World of Warcraft clone?" Why is it games with fully instanced worlds like Guild Wars have escaped accusations denying it of its MMO status (on the contrary, it recieved praise for it) while PSO and PSU have been saddled with such accusations? Boiled down, PSO and (especially) PSU have the same models of instanced play that Guild Wars does, yet Wikipedians have decided to potray them both as merely action RPGs with a multiplayer function as if they were both like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. -- 75.23.215.7 (talk) 03:47, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Plot section

The plot section isn't too bad, but there are a couple errors. To start with, Coral doesn't seem to be in such bad shape. By Episode III, everyone else is still on Coral. The planet isn't falling apart at all, it's a lie. Also, it takes two years to reach Ragol, not one. BenoitRen 12:44, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Online vs. Offline is Talky

I was reading the On vs. Off and I noticed several "I"s and "My Guy is" statements. I had a problem with this.

1. This is not a chat site. It is an online, free, multi-lingual encyclopedia! (And the largest of its kind.) It is is not proper to site first person words of any sort in an encyclopedia.

2. The writer's grammer sucked, and I couldn't understand much. The information here may be useful, but maybe not appropriate for non-PSOers.

Please salvage.

Shadow the Edge-hog 20:05, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Talkiness notwithstanding, the examples of cheats used in online play could benefit from a little more context (maybe some people don't know that 99 is the highest level for a character).

167.206.128.33 19:01, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

The following line in this section of the article is incorrect: "Later, a bug in the GameCube version made it possible to duplicate items."

Firstly it was a design flaw in the game mechanics, not a bug introduced in the GameCube version. Second, duping is possible in all version of Episode I and II for all systems; hence it being a game design flaw, not a bug. Of the two methods of duping, the one I refer to is the method most comonly used on the GameCube, which does not involve disconnecting, or memory card swapping and can be performed on-line and off-line. Although it takes considerably more time to exploit the flaw in Episode II, it is possible in the same manner as Episode I. The flaw was publicly popularized on the GameCube version, and its over zealous use online lead to incorrect conceptions about it being a bug in the port to GameCube, however, the flaw was a direct translation of a flaw in the design of the game - originating in the Dreamcast version.

And a note about the post above: the level cap is 200, at least as of Episode II.

--Phresno 09:30, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Phantasy Star Online is not a MMORPG

PSO multiplayer functionality operates in a fashion almost identical to that of Diablo 2, which is also not a MMORPG.

ie: Upon connection to the network, players are in a multi-user chat 'lobby' and can find play partners. From the lobby, a team can be set up, chich spawns an independent copy of the offline 'quest' game world, and up to 4 players can enter the world. Optionally, a password may be set, and the password mailed to the intended participants.

Once the four users of any given 'team' disconnect, that world they inhabited (and any items and spawned enemies within it) will cease to exist, and no team game can affect any other team game on the servers.

This is part of what seperates a MMORPG from normal MORPGs. 'Massivley' multiplayer is an entirely different experience to a simply 'multiplayer' RPG/game.

PSO is a multiplayer online RPG, but is isn't a *massively* multiplayer online RPG.

I noticed this too and already changed it. Deathawk 18:03, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Question - does the first person to connect "host" the game? As in, if the "hosting" player disconnects, does that automatically disconnect everyone who's joined that game as well? —Yar Kramer 04:02, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Absolutely not. If the leader disconnects, the the highest level person left becomes leader. `Lord GaleVII 19:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
WRONG. If the leader disconnects, then the person who joined first after the leader becomes leader. 69.246.79.189 (talk) 23:37, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unfortunately my friend, this is your opinion. IMO, PSO is a MMORPG

This debate has been done countless times and I've been part of a few of them myself. Most of these debates ends up with the topic been closed by a moderator on Message Boards.

PC users that play MMORPGs like WoW and Everquest don't won't to call it an MMORPG because it's short and very limited while console players consider PSO the first MMORPG to ever hit a console.

Truth be told, it's a matter of perspective. No gaming company has ever really defined an MMORPG or any other type of game for that matter. Street Fighter and Dead or Alive are classed as fighting games. I would also put a game like Final Fight as a fighting game even if it's not a one on one (or two on two) martial art fighting game because you still fight.

Personally, I consider PSO to be a small MMORPG and PSU will probably be a medium one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MMORPGs

Our MMORPG article actually adresses such a topic (although not as much as I would like)

MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the game's persistent world

PSO does not take place in a persistant world, but rather several dungeons that are connected via various lobby systems. while games like Everquest take place in one giant world. Deathawk 15:17, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

the_importer 18:42, 31 March 2006 (UTC)Update: Well that's my point, where was it officially written by game companies that MMORPGs need to have persistent worlds? Nowhere to be exact, no rules were ever established, most people such as yourself are judging on what's an MMORPG and what’s not by comparing the majority and the ones that are more popular.

A racing game is a good example. Racing by short definition, is a competition to reach a goal that can be done against other opponents and/or against time. Racing games can be with cars, bikes, boats, on foot and believe it or not, any game that has time limit is a type of racing game because you’re trying to beat the clock (earlier Sonic and Mario games are a good example).

Unless you can provide proof that game companies have gathered together and decided on what the rules for making a MMORPG were, then your opinion on what is an MMORPG is generalized by what you know and what you like.the_importer 18:42, 31 March 2006 (UTC)


A racing game is not simply "beat the clock", as that extends itself into almost every genre in some way. Fighting games use a clock system as well, but if you tried to tell people it was a racing game because of that they'd just laugh you off. Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros. are platformers, not racing games. Racing games require competition, for starters. They also require that in order to win you must place against opponent, and more often than not must be faster than them to win the big prize. The closest you could come to that with Sonic and Mario is 2-Player Competition Mode (Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3) and racing Koopa the Quick (Super Mario 64).

If something like City of Heroes is to be defined as an MMORPG, then surely Phantasy Star Online falls into the same category. WiteoutKing 13:17, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Why? What makes City of Heroes different from a clear-cut case like Everquest, and how is it similar to PSO in that regard? —Yar Kramer 04:04, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Maybe a section on cheating?

I could write an article on cheating, I guess. Also, I could describe its encryption algorithms. -- Myria 05:48, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Since when was PSO part of the Phantasy Star series?

It doesn't follow the plot except for some obscure references to the other games (okay, perhaps it could follow on from PS3 but PS3 is debateable as a Phantasy Star), in fact it is totally useless as a Phantasy Star and probably deleterious. The game engine is totally different (especially the battle system and the dungeons), there are terrible spelling deviations (they cant even spell Numan for Alis' sake), its not set anywhere near the other games, most of the races are missing, the names are more than 4 letters, it's online and it doesn't even CLAIM to follow the series. The PS series are numerically listed- 1,2,3,4. Number 4 was specified as the END of the series. It's more like a side quest like PSGaiden, except that PS Gaiden is more relevant because Alis was in it.


No, PSO is not a part of the original series. PSIII was in the sense that it has an explicit link to the main games. However, all PSO does is drop hints all over the place, which don't even always make sense. This game exists for already five years, and no explicit link exists. It's all nostalgia that's throwin in.

Supporting this is that PSO was just a regular online RPG in development, and they slapped the Phantasy Star sauce on it in the end. I'm not saying it's not a Phantasy Star game. It contains all the elements of one (fantastic/sci-fi setting, races, Techniques,...). But it's not part of the universe that the original games created.

Or would Sword of Vermilion (Mega Drive) be a Phantasy Star game because it contains a town called Parma?

Would a certain Master System game be a Phantasy Star because it contained the three Algol planets as resorts?

Of course not.

BenoitRen 22:30, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Good points, BenoitRen. I would still like to point out that PSO is a part of the PS universe (not the original storyline in Algol, though) based on the three glaring things that tie the first four games together: the name, the presence of Dark Force/Falz and Meseta. Maybe it's "just nostalgia," but those sure weren't put in there by Sonic Team just for giggles.

Now, I'm not trying to say that PSO is part of the original series. I guess I'm actually just backing up the position that it's not part of the original series (the vision of the original designers), while pointing out that it's still part of the Phantasy Star universe. Celzrro 01:21, August 4, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] PSO is very much a part of the Phantasy Star series

Just because the entire storyline leading from Phantasy Star IV to PSO is not given to us, that does not disqualify it as a part of the series. Neither do the different battle system (Phantasy Star I had a battle system that differed from subsequent games), location (Phantasy Star III took place outside of Algol), naming conventions (there has never been a standardized naming system in the series), or platform. There is too much in common with the other Phantasy Star games to discount PSO as part of the series simply because some gamers don't like the change in aesthetics. Celzrro 22:20, Dec 1, 2004 (UTC)

I agree with all of the above. As far as aesthetics are concerned, I think Sonic Team did a rather good job of emulating the feel of PS II in particular. I would also like to add that the four-character limitation on the 8/16-bit PS games was probably due to sloppy conversion from a hiragana/katakana name entry system rather than a deliberate hallmark of the entire series. User:Phil_webster

Personally I don't see why disconnected story is reason to say it's not part of the same series. See Final Fantasy, for instance. WiteoutKing 13:20, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I've personally never played PS, but even though PSO is a new storyline, it may still be part of the series on other accounts, such as game mechanics, game styles, etc. However, again it may not be, for games such as Jade Empire closely resemble other games made by the same people, in this case the KOTOR series. Death Dark


PSO is a continuation of the original series by the following, explicitely detailed in the game (if you play it all the way through, and read everything):
- Character races/types are taken from the series. Nei in Phantasy Star II was a newarl for example, and Wren and Mieu were cast and caseal respectively. Humans were humans. Nei's claw is even one of the special weapons in the game. Race names may be different, but they're all there.
- Dark Falz (ie Dark Force) was awakened after 1,000 years, as in all the other games.
- The planet Ragol was a spaceship built by the people of the Algol system; just like the ship in Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom but for a different purpose this time. They were great shipbuilders.
- The spells and general use items are taken from the original series.
- The ship (the planet Ragol) was built to entomb Dark Falz (Dark Force) and ejected from the Algol system (which, if you know your Phantasy Star lore, was actually a giant seal built to imprison it until Dark Force blew up Palm to weaken the seal and escape).
- The 'seal' was recreated on Ragol to emulate the Algol solar system itself (which again, was just an ancient seal build by 'The Light' to seal Dark Force) - the seal was recreated as the three colored pillars you activate in the game, each representing one of the three planets by color, and 'poor' translation by Red Ring Rico as MUTT DITTS POUMN - Motavia Dezoris Palm (depending on which spelling you go by) red being Motavia, blue Dezoris, and green for Palm respectively.
- The game is set in a futuristic spaceage world, as not only the name of the series implies, but the other games also took place.
- The game concept is the same: The hero (and up to three companions) go to battle the ultimate evil: Dark Force once every thousand years.
- Some of the creatures found on Ragol are also found in the other games. Rappies being the most popular of them, but other variations exist as well.
- Weapons from the original series are also duplicated in PSO.
- Various materials and items are carried over - Laconium, meseta, the cakes (from the quest Addicting Food) and more.

The game opened the Phantasy Star universe to allow for further expansion into other areas, away from the Algol system. Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution for example, spins off in new directions.

As a side note: Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom is also an explicit part of the series. The ship the game takes place on was one of the 'escape ships' from the planet Palm, which was destroyed in Phantasy Star II. There were four endings to the game, and only one of them fit, but there were clues not only in Phantasy Star II but throughout Gerneration of Doom as well. One of those ships also crash landed on Motavia in Phantasy Star IV and is an explorable dungeon were you battle some similar characters and creatures from Generations of Doom.

--Phresno 10:03, 10 July 2006 (UTC)


-Dark Falz was not awakened after 1000 years. If you consider the date notation to have remained essentially the same, it has only been 800 years since the last Dark Force. Also, in the quest "From The Dephts", it is hinted that it has only been 100 years since the sealing. Plus, PSO: Episode III changes the whole Dark Falz deal so that it couldn't possibly be related to the Algol universe. -There is nothing indicating that the ship was built by people from Algol. Yes, you have those pillars, but those are just nostalgia. They are never referenced to anything else than the seal, and no one on the ship was saying "Hey, those are the planets from Algol!". Which they would have to know about, since their Techniques, technology, and races are all inspired by/descended from the system. -The Pioneers are from Coral, not Algol. -The Technique Megid differs from the original games'. -All the rest is just nostalgia thrown in by Sonic Team. BenoitRen 12:34, 21 August 2006 (UTC)



1- AUW (After the unification War, which probably occurred in Coral) is different from AW (After Waizz) so we can't tell for sure how many years have passed since PSIV. We must also remember that between PS1 and PS2 it only passed 942 years and Dark Phallus appeared anyway;
2- The Latin letters "C" and "G" are variants from each other and "L" and "R" are interchangeable in translations from Japanese to English so it can be written "Golal" instead (which is an anagram of "Algol"... even "Ragol" (Lagol) is an anagram of it). In any case, dating is not conclusive, so pioneers could have left Algol (After PSIV) to went into Coral and then to Ragol (PSO)... don't forget the trading money is still the meseta;
3- Deban and many techniques from PSII and PSIII also differs from PSIV techniques with the same name;
4- Phantasy Star II music theme can be listen in PSO opening theme (specially the orchestra version);
5- Newmans are the original and the correct translation for Nei and Fal (Rika) species, not "Numan"... and in PSO we see a lot of Newmans;
6- Neiclaw is a weapon in "Phantasy Star Sealed Memories" (the official drama CD) which occurs in AW1281 (3 years before PSIV). There is another Neiclaw in PSIII that used to be "Miun's claw";
7- PSIV's Blue Rappies and other types of rapies (PSIII);
8- Slime also return since Phantasy Star I;
9- PSIII occurs 1000 years after PSIV (at least in the original story) so Dark Phallus can still be alive;

A side note- In one ending of PSIII our ship lands on Planet Earth. I think Sega stated that Ragol is not Earth, but in any case there are other two PSIII endings where we land on another version of planet Earth, which is not Earth (the graphics are the same, the only difference is the color - it's greener), and it wasn't given a name... it could, perhaps, be Ragol, 1000 years before PSO (of course this is just a speculation).Newsblade (talk) 17:30, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Creature Section?

In the Fable article, they have a list of monsters in the game. I was wondering if someone would like to put one up. I would do it myself, but I don't have the time. Death Dark

I could. I love PSO and am dedicated enough to the game to do this. Fastnaturedude 23:24, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Does it really need all of this?

I read this article and noticed that it mentions a lot of stuff that has to do with later versions or sequels. I do not think all of this information should be here, because all of the sequels and later versions have their own articles. I think this article should be cut down to only have information concerning Phantasy Star Online, which came out on the Dreamcast, and should not contain anything that has to do with the other except things like mentioning that something might have been changed. Either that or this article needs to be changed to Phatasy Star Online Series and a new article as described above needs to be created for PSO. Gopherbassist 00:58, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I think this page should be for Phantasy Star Online and Version 2 for Dreamcast and PC. Separate pages should be made for Phantasy Star Online Epi I & II/Plus for Gamecube and Xbox and another separate page for Blue Burst for PC. This page is a bit confusing, since PSO is a series in itself with Episodes 2, 3, and 4. - 75.4.195.221 07:31, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] what's the system requirements for phantasy star online

Yes do anybody know the the requirements for the pc version?

Well, the PC version of PSO version 2 is Asian only, but if you mean Blue Burst, I recommend going to the website and checking there. —Yar Kramer 04:06, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
Asians don't need system requirements? Nil Einne (talk) 15:56, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Add www.schtserv.com ?

It's been the major PSO server for all versions of PSO (BB, GC, etc.) for a very long time, and now sega doesn't even support GC/etc., but schthack does.

It supports GC in North America. But anyway, it might be worth mentioning, assuming it isn't against the rules24.47.220.59 00:56, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
Sorry, that was me above, and now I'm sure that GC is no longer supported in North America. The game no longer appears on playsega.com24.47.220.59 21:20, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
The Sega servers for Blue Burst are going down soon, and someone already added Schthack's server to the main page. Should I delete it? Fastnaturedude 23:25, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
Must we delete it? The link would be of such great use to the fans.SuperGerbil (talk) 02:51, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
ADD! SEGA no longer support online play. While Schtserv is an unofficial server, they provide a service still allowing fans to play the versions no-longer supported by SEGA; even from a dreamcast. For this reason alone an external link is required. Fans of PSO deserve to know such a server exists. Harisen (talk) 16:52, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GC games on PlaySega.com

Why is it that Episode 1 & 2, which, according to this article, has been shut down, can be subscribed to on PlaySega.com? Am I missing something here? SuperGerbil 01:25, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

This whole article is pretty horribly written.

For some unknown reason, SEGA of Europe continued selling subscriptions ("Hunter's Licences") for months after the servers were shut down. Any subscriptions sold after the servers were shut down were useless, i.e. they couldn't be used. Maybe this should be mentioned somewhere. (Stefan2 11:06, 9 June 2007 (UTC))

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Pso cover.jpg

Image:Pso cover.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 04:23, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Episode 4

I'm removing the bit about criticism of episode 4 for bad experience gains, since quite frankly, episode 4 gives nearly twice the experience of anything else in the game per monster killed. Please leave me a message on my talk page if you disagree. ^_^ UOSSReiska 07:28, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge with Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Chat

Click here to go to the merging page chat.

[edit] Removed speculative comment =

I removed:

"Note: Interestingly enough, the game mentions that Pioneer 2 would have the main wave of refugees (with Pioneer 1 having most of the scientists and military). However, each ship was said to only hold around 30,000 people. If this was truly the "main wave" of refugees, that would leave one to believe that Coral's population was very low, and the ratio of military:civilian being close to 1:2. (Sidenote: While the number given is 30,000, Pioneer 1 did have more aboard than that number. Rico mentions that the food consumption was too high for the number that was supposed to be on the ship) However, in Episode 2, there is a mention of strange experiments involving what was called "it" (the final boss of the game) and this could account for the high food consumption."

as although it is from in the games themselves, the tone if just of speculation, it'd need better working!  Doktor  Wilhelm  03:50, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Major article confusion

I was trying to research some of the release dates and localizations of this series, but this article is extremely confusing. First of all, anything related to the Phantasy Star Online series redirects here. Episodes I, II, III and IV have their own sections in the article, but not seperate articles. The article often places internal links to what should be seperate articles, but they just redirect straight back to here. Secondly, I have no idea what the difference is between Phantasy Star Online, Episode I, Episode II, Episode III and Episode IV. The article does not elaborate at all. For all I know, these are expansions for Phantasy Star Online, but no such mention is included. Third, there is no information about which episodes have been released in which countries. Is this a Japan-exclusive series? Were there any English releases? What relatation do the other games have to Phantasy Star Online? How many of these games have both an online and offline mode? To further add to confusion, any research I do via Google only brings up information related to private servers, which appear to use fan translations of the game itself.

This subject is extremely shady. Can anyone put things into perspective? 68.209.235.149 (talk) 09:43, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

I'd like to, but unfortunately there are few references from SEGA themselves when it comes to this topic. The problem with this article is that it literally looks like the "features page" from a website listing "what's new" as every bit of info seems to be just added in list format. When I get time tomorrow, I'll work on it. J O R D A N [talk ] 21:06, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I just made a Phantasy_Star_Online_(series) article so that we can put everything about the series in there and start to cut this article to only include information about PSO and PSO ver. 2 for Dreamcast and PC.RCsega (talk) 19:28, 30 May 2008 (UTC)