From: kendrick@nospam.io   
      
   In article <453711C3.61E64B70@ev1.net>,   
   BelPowerslave   wrote:   
   >> I was horribly disappointed with the beta. I want to say that it goes   
   >> so far as hating the game, but I won't say that. But no matter what,   
   >> it's too little too late, and it has actually driven me instead of WoW.   
      
   I didn't think it was all that bad, but I'm not a big MMO player. People   
   with a lot of experience playing the genre definitely have a lot of other   
   options open to them, and a good half of them are arguably superior with   
   regard to player-vs-player and persistent environment aspects.   
      
   >Well, you've got the remember, WoW is a *real* MMORPG, not just a "Hey,   
   >let's get 4 other guys and play the same 5 areas over and over and over"   
   >game like PSO/U. ;)  Maybe the offline game will make it worth the money   
   >though, who knows...   
      
   It's worth mentioning that PSU has way more environments than any   
   iteration of PSO, most of which weren't open to Beta testers. I count the   
   two indoor environments of the Linear Line passage on the colony, the   
   mountains and forests of Neudaiz, and the meadows, caves, and underwater   
   ruins on Parrum. I didn't even get to try out any of the dungeon areas on   
   the third planet.   
      
   Who was it that compared PSU to Guild Wars? The lobby areas are persistent   
   and MMO, whereas the dungeons are isolated to parties only. I think the   
   advantage programmatically is that the server does less work, and the   
   client does more coordination.   
      
   >> I might still get into PSU at some point, and there's still a slim   
   >> chance of me picking it up on launch day, but... sigh. I've trusted   
   >> Sonic Team for the last time. Six some years after the original hit, I   
   >> want a hot new online Phantasy Star, not PSO v4.   
   >   
   >Oh, don't worry....ST is saving that for their favorite system, whatever   
   >the current Nintendo platform is... :P   
      
   I still have high hopes, based on nothing except the story. None of the   
   PVP elements have been revealed to any players yet, so I'm hopeful that   
   we'll see a revival of the Arkz faction that was introduced in Episode   
   III. The beast races are always good for drama, and I think the complexity   
   of the brand-name weaponry holds the potential for economic conflict.   
      
   There's an open question as to whether or not the Beta was intended to win   
   people over to the Xbox 360 version of the client. If that was the intent,   
   then it didn't work on me since I'm still firmly in the PS2 camp.   
      
   -KKC, who imagines it's easier to take a slim PS2 on trips than it is to   
   lug an Xbox 360...   
   --   
   --From the top ten reasons to end war in the Middle East:  | kendrick @   
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