Phantasy Star Online 2 (Part One)

Today, I am going to introduce to you a recently released MMO called Phantasy Star Online 2. Somehow, by some sheer coincidence, I've managed to pick up and play this free MMORPG that's made by SEGA. I kind of like the environment and gameplay thus far and so I've decided to feature it in my blog.

However, I would like to offer a word of caution before we proceed. This free MMO is in Japanese and there isn't an English version as yet. Nonetheless, the game is still available to the world-wide audience (I believe) and not restricted to only Japan IP. And I believe, if you like playing games, a little trouble like language barrier shouldn't deter you from playing anything right? All it takes is some fooling around and web surfing to familiarize yourself with the critical game options and your set.

To aid you in your adventure, I'll at least guide you along with where to register and where to download the client.

• Client Download
  If you click on the purple coloured icon labelled "1", this will take you to the client download page. Just download the downloader.exe and run it. It will automatically retrieve the client onto your computer. I believe the file size of the client is around 3.26 GB or something.
  
  It has an auto-resume function, but since it is in Japanese, it might take some fiddling around to resume. So if you need to download it a little at a time, I would suggest that you mess around with the available options right at the start. Doing it at the start would prevent you from accidentally selecting the wrong options and "delete" or "over-write" what you've previously downloaded.
  
  For your information, the fully patched client folder is around 5.51 GB at the time of this post, so I believe that it will take some time for you to patch up to speed from the existing downloaded client installer. Additionally, the "progress bar" shown when your patching the client isn't really detailed in the sense that it makes you feel that it is not progressing at all, but it is. As a safety precaution, however, you can just regularly check the file size of your client folder to make sure that it is "increasing" in size. If it isn't, then please check to ensure that your not "blocking" the patcher with your firewall and the like.
  
• Account Registration
  If you click on the bluish icon labelled "2", this will take you to the account registration page. Personally, I have used Google translate on this webpage to register for my account, but if you like to save yourself that trouble, you can refer to this website, Phantasy Star Online 2: Registration Guide, for detailed instructions on how to create your account (it even comes with screenshots to illustrate the steps).
  

Ships & Blocks

Much like Dragonica and Maplestory, the game world of Phantasy Star Online 2 is split into different ships (servers) and blocks (channels). A character made in one ship will stay on that ship and cannot be found when you log in to another ship. However, one can freely change from one crowded block to a less crowded one just like changing channels in Maplestory.

And from what I've read so far in the forums, most of the English-speaking players currently reside on Ships 2 and 10, although there are some minority found on Ships 4, 6, 8 and 9.

• PSO2 - English Players List
  
• PSO2 Ship 9 Players
  

Apart from knowing which Ship they are at, you should also note which block they often hang in when they're online. For example, the English-speaking players on Ship 6 normally hangs around in block 30.

In the next few articles, I will go into more details regarding the game mechanics and whatnot of Phantasy Star Online 2, so do stay tune. But in the meantime, you can go ahead and try out the game instead of waiting (if your already interested in it).

If your still worried about the language problem, please head towards this blog, Phantasy Star Fan Blog. It has an excellent coverage of the translations of all the quests and game options to help you get started.

Next: PSO 2 (Part Two)

Posted in: Phantasy Star Online 2