Resolved - PS2 Region

[Stew]

I'm sorry Stew, but your writing style makes your posts a chore to read. I apologise if English is perhaps not your first language, but if it is then you really need to expend some more effort in communicating clearly.

As for what you're saying, I understand your conjecture and the perspective you seem to be talking from. But what you say is not explicitly true.

Probably THE biggest E-Sport title out there at the moment, Starcraft 2, regularly has tournaments that have international players. This said, they do also have tournaments specific to region.

When it comes to competitive play, which is to say where there is a prize (more likely monetary) on the line, then I think anyone would understand attempting to normalise conditions to create the best environment for competition.

However, modern technology does allow for international play and despite your doubts there are games that allow for free play between different regions. And in a context that isn't "professional" it isn't such a big issue.

To talk about an example I have personal experience with, Global Agenda allows you to freely choose which region you play in and from what I heard, Tribes Ascend (also by HiRez Studios) allows for this too.

As others have noted, it is the player playing outside of their regions that will suffer the ill effects of their decision, not so much the native players. This may have been the case in the days where we relied on CSHD, but in the age of SSHD and hybridised models it really doesn't work how you perceive it to.

Naturally, we have no way to judge how it will work/behave in PS2, so perhaps you should wait and see before declaring it won't work.

Star craft 2 First of all isnt a FPS ... In a fps game frame rates and PING are crucial ...

In a game like star craft you can have a little bit more latency but even in star craft most competition will be in LAN with almost 0 ping ...

In a shooter game your PING is the thing to ensure a Fair and Enjoyable competition ...

Tribes assend was a really bad game from my beta experience ... Global agenda was fun tho but having to play agains russian etc.. was painful and laggy as hell !

Planetside 2 is a skills based shooter like battlefield , MAG , games like that with team work vehicules and a lots of players and even a bazillions more than those 2 game are featured in PS2 so the Ping will make the difference between OWNing or Getting OWN !

Iam not agains Friendly (( unlock servers ))

But iam agains serious multi contiments competition i want regions to play toghuether to have a fair and enjoyable competition ...

And in order for this game to succeed the dev team have to avoid Lattency issue at all cost because if most people who play this game and it result in a unstable laggy experience they will not give it a shot anymore !

So region lock for most servers

Friendly unlock ones in cases and for those who want to play with foreign friends etc...

is thats a good plan ?

[Shogun]

i never thought the first guy on my ignore list would be an nc, but it hurts reading so bad writing in combination with total ignorance and stupidity.

ranting about ping on a game nobody has even played and that will use a brandnew method of hit detection and the newest netcode especially designed for this new type of game is just stupid. wait for beta. IF ping is any problem, we will notice then.

what we know without beta is, that most bigger clans and gaming communitys have international players and will be screwed if they cannot play together. and this is the subject of this thread. along with the problem that all europeans will have to relay on indirect support because of pro7.
and those who don´t believe that these issues affect the majority of players, go and take a look at other soe games forums like eq2 and check the serverlock threads there... but if reading this little thread here is too much for you, good luck on the eq2 forums.

[Stew]

i never thought the first guy on my ignore list would be an nc, but it hurts reading so bad writing in combination with total ignorance and stupidity.

ranting about ping on a game nobody has even played and that will use a brandnew method of hit detection and the newest netcode especially designed for this new type of game is just stupid. wait for beta. IF ping is any problem, we will notice then.

what we know without beta is, that most bigger clans and gaming communitys have international players and will be screwed if they cannot play together. and this is the subject of this thread. along with the problem that all europeans will have to relay on indirect support because of pro7.
and those who don´t believe that these issues affect the majority of players, go and take a look at other soe games forums like eq2 and check the serverlock threads there... but if reading this little thread here is too much for you, good luck on the eq2 forums.

The real questions is Based on your own experience what game have featured a LAG free experience with a free for all regions multicontinents aproach ?

Ive never ever seen a single game like this everytime when their is asian or euro in our NA servers their is lattency their is frustration their is unfair laggy thing !

I want this game to succeed so i want a lag free experienced for most of us on every continents ...

I also want a few regions open servers for those who want to use them !

So everyones happy

[Duddy]

The real questions is Based on your own experience what game have featured a LAG free experience with a free for all regions multicontinents aproach ?

Ive never ever seen a single game like this everytime when their is asian or euro in our NA servers their is lattency their is frustration their is unfair laggy thing !

I want this game to succeed so i want a lag free experienced for most of us on every continents ...

I also want a few regions open servers for those who want to use them !

So everyones happy

I think everyone wants a good gameplay experience, Stew.

As you point out however to Shogun, this is all down to ones own perception and experiences, and that includes your own.

The idea of region locked and additional unlocked servers has bounced through here already, so you're not alone on that thought. It does bring up the issue of segregating the player base (potentially needlessly) once again though.

As has been echoed so many a time, I think we all need to experience it before we can ultimately say one way or the other.

[Skitrel]

WHen you planned to Esports a game u must have the most robust and stable infrastructure ! Did you think the pro gamers will make competition with some folk with 300 + ping in a LAN competition ?

I'm not even going to go further than this sentence. LAN doesn't have ping. LAN isn't online gaming.

You're an idiot who's attempting to argue and speak from a position of authority when you in fact know absolutely nothing at all, and can't even write a single sentence without a grammatical or spelling error. If I were going to hazard a guess, you're either under 16 or a troll.

[Stew]

I think everyone wants a good gameplay experience, Stew.

As you point out however to Shogun, this is all down to ones own perception and experiences, and that includes your own.

The idea of region locked and additional unlocked servers has bounced through here already, so you're not alone on that thought. It does bring up the issue of segregating the player base (potentially needlessly) once again though.

As has been echoed so many a time, I think we all need to experience it before we can ultimately say one way or the other.

No its not a segregation its ensuring thats most people can have a great stable experience by having a options to get LAG free regions lock servers

And also Allowing players to get region Unlock servers for those who want to use them at anytime

So i dont see the problem some region lock servers some regions unlock servers ...

Everones happy no ? is the server have to all be unlock ? or all lock ?

Why cant we have a majority lock to get a more stable and fluid experience for most people ..

And also have a regions unlocks servers for those who want to use them ?

Iam for both iam not agains anything or anyones

[basti]

No its not a segregation its ensuring thats most people can have a great stable experience by having a options to get LAG free regions lock servers

And also Allowing players to get region Unlock servers for those who want to use them at anytime

So i dont see the problem some region lock servers some regions unlock servers ...

Everones happy no ? is the server have to all be unlock ? or all lock ?

Why cant we have a majority lock to get a more stable and fluid experience for most people ..

And also have a regions unlocks servers for those who want to use them ?

Iam for both iam not agains anything or anyones



Looking at it that way, yea, maybe some region lock servers wouldnt hurt.

But that never was the issue. What the issue was is that SOE and Pro7 wanted to split us up completly, to the point that a Euro cant play any SOE game in NA, and that a NA cant play any SOE game managed by Pro7.
That would mean a full split of a whole lot of groups. Most of the outfits that grew since the Werner -> Gemini Merge got people from the other region. They want to stay together, obviously. And community is the most important thing in any MMO. its THE selling point. The reason why WOW got that big was not because it was a brilliant game, but it was because a whole lot of communitys had a few people who went to WOW because they once played Warcraft. Once those few people got into WOW, their friends came along as well. Thats the success of WOW.
A full region lock would completly destroy that potential for Planetside 2.

[Shade Millith]

Looking at it that way, yea, maybe some region lock servers wouldnt hurt.

But that never was the issue. What the issue was is that SOE and Pro7 wanted to split us up completly, to the point that a Euro cant play any SOE game in NA, and that a NA cant play any SOE game managed by Pro7.
That would mean a full split of a whole lot of groups. Most of the outfits that grew since the Werner -> Gemini Merge got people from the other region. They want to stay together, obviously. And community is the most important thing in any MMO. its THE selling point. The reason why WOW got that big was not because it was a brilliant game, but it was because a whole lot of communitys had a few people who went to WOW because they once played Warcraft. Once those few people got into WOW, their friends came along as well. Thats the success of WOW.
A full region lock would completly destroy that potential for Planetside 2.

Heh, I'm imagining the shitstorm if Bliz went full region lock.

Would make EQ2 guys look freaking tiny.

[Shanesan]

HOLY CRAP, guys.

The majority of you are talking out of your behind. I've read the last three pages and this is what I'm seeing:

http://img.anongallery.org/img/4/1/i-have-no-idea-what-im-doing-dog.jpg

Now fracking listen up. I've done a couple years of MMO game administration on servers spanning thousands of users and I would like to think that I have a little bit of insight for all of you.

To figure out why SoE is WRONG on their decision to limit players on to where they can go, lets enquire...

Where Do Players Come From?
Planetside 2 players will be coming from a variety of games, namely these for starters:

Planetside
Team Fortress 2
Call of Duty
Battlefield
All Points Bulletin
WWII Online


These people have been gaining friends and aquaintances on their Steam friends, Origin friends & Outfits over, for some, the last 12 years. NONE of these games have restrictions on who they can play with. It doesn't matter how successful or amazing a game is, my experience has provent that players will not play a game as often if their friends are forced to not play with them due to a locking mechanism unless they have exclusive privilege. People who don't dedicate actual time or establish personal connection to their game because of their friends being unable to play are also less likely to buy from a cash shop. In fact, I don't think there has been a first person shooter to be region locked before on the PC. Please verify.

Region locking segregates people which effects the bottom line.

Are There Reasons for Region-Locking?

This is a touch question to answer. It depends on the following situations:

Competance of the Coders
Executive Decisions
Crude Content
Governmental Influences
Deployment


With incompetent coders, you will need a region lock. If the netcode is bad or requires low pings because of the inability to fancy footwork the net code, be it client, server, or both hit detection or what have you, region-locking will be necessary. Look at the game Vindictus for shitty net code and a region-lock requirement.

With crappy executive decisions, you will need a region lock. Usually bad deals with other companies for sales or distribution will necessitate a region lock. SoE is suffering from this at the moment.

Crude Content may necessitate a region lock. A map shaped like a nazi symbol or other CRITICAL portions of a game (not textures or blood - they can be changed per location) may require a region lock.

Government Influence may necessitate a region lock. China, with their firewalls of death, bring pings easily to 500+. You cannot work around that. You must region lock.

Putting all these together, the general deployment of the game may require a region lock. If one of the above systems fails in some way, a region lock will likely be necessary.

In conclusion, region locks are for companies who cannot do something competently and have to sacrifice to release their game. Of course, this sacrifice can significantly influence the bottom line and effect the game from that point on until its inevitable demise. Any company who actually does this intentionally for none of the reasons above is positively vile and equally stupid.

[SuperMorto]

Region lock does not need to happen in this day and age, Therefore it should not.

Simples!!

[Eyeklops]

I'm sorry Stew, but your writing style makes your posts a chore to read. I apologise if English is perhaps not your first language, but if it is then you really need to expend some more effort in communicating clearly. I Agree. I see his points, but damn his post was tough to read

To talk about an example I have personal experience with, Global Agenda allows you to freely choose which region you play in and from what I heard, Tribes Ascend (also by HiRez Studios) allows for this too. Here is a sample of Global Agenda with high ping. Effects of lag in Global Agenda (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J3-YbXbPh8)

As others have noted, it is the player playing outside of their regions that will suffer the ill effects of their decision, not so much the native players. This may have been the case in the days where we relied on CSHD, but in the age of SSHD and hybridised models it really doesn't work how you perceive it to.

Naturally, we have no way to judge how it will work/behave in PS2, so perhaps you should wait and see before declaring it won't work. I agree, again.[/B]
Replies in RED

[Skitrel]

I would put Starcraft 2 in a whole different basket from a gameplay perspective. What Starcraft 2 can get away with ping wise, and still play nice, is probably not true for an FPS title.

Not true.

Latency in Starcraft causes a delay between your click and the action actually happening in game, as everything is server side. What this means is that any latency at all greatly diminishes your speed, every action you take taking up just 100ms of your time as opposed to 50ms effectively halves your speed, it's MUCH more of a problem in Starcraft where APM (actions per minute) need to be in the hundreds to be competitive, with some of the pros clocking as high as 300 real APM in matches.

Compared to an FPS, 100ms is absolutely nothing in time and doesn't have a cumulative effect throughout the game.

Now, if you had said Brood War, I'd have agreed with you. Brood War compensated for this issue, it has an in built forced latency of 200ms for all players, this puts everyone at an absolute level playing field, eliminating player advantage due to server distance.

Ping is much less of an issue in competitive fps than in competitive rts.

[Eyeklops]

Not true.

Latency in Starcraft causes a delay between your click and the action actually happening in game, as everything is server side. What this means is that any latency at all greatly diminishes your speed, every action you take taking up just 100ms of your time as opposed to 50ms effectively halves your speed, it's MUCH more of a problem in Starcraft where APM (actions per minute) need to be in the hundreds to be competitive, with some of the pros clocking as high as 300 real APM in matches.

Compared to an FPS, 100ms is absolutely nothing in time and doesn't have a cumulative effect throughout the game.

Now, if you had said Brood War, I'd have agreed with you. Brood War compensated for this issue, it has an in built forced latency of 200ms for all players, this puts everyone at an absolute level playing field, eliminating player advantage due to server distance.

Ping is much less of an issue in competitive fps than in competitive rts.

After some research on Starcraft 2, my findings agreed with you. I have therefore retracted my above "apples N oranges" statement.

[Kran De Loy]

If I were going to hazard a guess, you're either under 16 or a troll.I'm saddened that you believe 15 yr olds are allowed to act like him. :(
I didn't even bother to read his last 5 posts as the first 2 or 3 made me feel like I was gauging out my own eyes with a rusty spoon.

HOLY CRAP, guys.

The majority of you are talking out of your behind. I've read the last three pages and this is what I'm seeing:

http://img.anongallery.org/img/4/1/i-have-no-idea-what-im-doing-dog.jpg

Now fracking listen up. I've done a couple years of MMO game administration on servers spanning thousands of users and I would like to think that I have a little bit of insight for all of you.

To figure out why SoE is WRONG on their decision to limit players on to where they can go, lets enquire...

Where Do Players Come From?
Planetside 2 players will be coming from a variety of games, namely these for starters:

Planetside
Team Fortress 2
Call of Duty
Battlefield
All Points Bulletin
WWII Online


These people have been gaining friends and aquaintances on their Steam friends, Origin friends & Outfits over, for some, the last 12 years. NONE of these games have restrictions on who they can play with. It doesn't matter how successful or amazing a game is, my experience has provent that players will not play a game as often if their friends are forced to not play with them due to a locking mechanism unless they have exclusive privilege. People who don't dedicate actual time or establish personal connection to their game because of their friends being unable to play are also less likely to buy from a cash shop. In fact, I don't think there has been a first person shooter to be region locked before on the PC. Please verify.

Region locking segregates people which effects the bottom line.

Are There Reasons for Region-Locking?

This is a touch question to answer. It depends on the following situations:

Competance of the Coders
Executive Decisions
Crude Content
Governmental Influences
Deployment


With incompetent coders, you will need a region lock. If the netcode is bad or requires low pings because of the inability to fancy footwork the net code, be it client, server, or both hit detection or what have you, region-locking will be necessary. Look at the game Vindictus for shitty net code and a region-lock requirement.

With crappy executive decisions, you will need a region lock. Usually bad deals with other companies for sales or distribution will necessitate a region lock. SoE is suffering from this at the moment.

Crude Content may necessitate a region lock. A map shaped like a nazi symbol or other CRITICAL portions of a game (not textures or blood - they can be changed per location) may require a region lock.

Government Influence may necessitate a region lock. China, with their firewalls of death, bring pings easily to 500+. You cannot work around that. You must region lock.

Putting all these together, the general deployment of the game may require a region lock. If one of the above systems fails in some way, a region lock will likely be necessary.

In conclusion, region locks are for companies who cannot do something competently and have to sacrifice to release their game. Of course, this sacrifice can significantly influence the bottom line and effect the game from that point on until its inevitable demise. Any company who actually does this intentionally for none of the reasons above is positively vile and equally stupid.

I love you.

[SgtMAD]

the bean counters at SOE don't give a shit about all this talk about pings and everything else for the last couple of pages.

it was a financial deal to defer development costs upfront,the only things SOE had to sell was the communities that play their (SOE) games online combined with the promise of PS2,they sold their playerbase,first in China and now in Europe,SOE has to go back and convince Pro7(?) to now give back that old playerbase which is a huge part of the original deal.

if it isn't kept on the front burner you will never get the results you want

[Maarvy]

Speaking as one of the leaders of a very large mixed nationality guild region locking would probably stop us moving to ps2 in force , sure some people would still play individualy on there various severs but the majority wouldnt bother and simply play something where we are not restricted .

[megamold]

Speaking as one of the leaders of a very large mixed nationality guild region locking would probably stop us moving to ps2 in force , sure some people would still play individualy on there various severs but the majority wouldnt bother and simply play something where we are not restricted .

sure i can see how it sucks to not be able to play with friends/outfitmembers overseas, but it sure wouldnt stop me from still playing the game.

[IronMole]

sure i can see how it sucks to not be able to play with friends/outfitmembers overseas, but it sure wouldnt stop me from still playing the game.

Good for you.

[megamold]

Good for you.

nice to see you got that whole passive-agressive thing down.

[IronMole]

nice to see you got that whole passive-agressive thing down.

Thank you.

[megamold]

you are most welcome :)

[FastAndFree]

Back to pings for a second, just now I read an article about how a new optical cable will be laid partially under the arctic to decrease the time a packet takes to travel between London and Tokyo

To about 170ms.

[Kran De Loy]

Back to pings for a second, just now I read an article about how a new optical cable will be laid under the arctic to decrease the time a packet takes to travel between England and Japan

To about 170.

THe guys doing that must be getting paid a lot.

Still sucks to be them.

Also 170 ping for something 75% around to the other side of the planet is pretty good, imo.

[Skitrel]

THe guys doing that must be getting paid a lot.

Still sucks to be them.

Also 170 ping for something 75% around to the other side of the planet is pretty good, imo.

It's damn good. Will actually make euros playing with Tokyo possible at the least.

Personally this whole ping issue is entertaining, particularly for UK. I get 50-90 ping to New York/east coast servers and 120-160 ping to San Diego(SOE hq)/west coast servers. So limiting UK folks is just... Not necessary.

[basti]

It's damn good. Will actually make euros playing with Tokyo possible at the least.

Personally this whole ping issue is entertaining, particularly for UK. I get 50-90 ping to New York/east coast servers and 120-160 ping to San Diego(SOE hq)/west coast servers. So limiting UK folks is just... Not necessary.

Its not just not necessary, its absolutly retarted to try. IF you region lock the Euros out of US servers, all you do is getting yourself rid of customers. Those who would play on the other side of the big sea (may it EU to NA or NA to EU) will do so, or dont play at all. If you prevent people from playing a game with their friends, they play a different game with their friends, rather than finding new friends.

[Skitrel]

Its not just not necessary, its absolutly retarted to try. IF you region lock the Euros out of US servers, all you do is getting yourself rid of customers. Those who would play on the other side of the big sea (may it EU to NA or NA to EU) will do so, or dont play at all. If you prevent people from playing a game with their friends, they play a different game with their friends, rather than finding new friends.

Not to mention you're just going to get people like myself proxying it up, having a worse ping than we would have had normally, and not solving the "problem" in the first place.

Not that ping these days actually affects anyone other than the person with the bad ping, as I mentioned before. It's just a cop out business decision to give someone else the trouble of managing european servers instead of doing it themselves, unfortunately.

[Kran De Loy]

Not to mention you're just going to get people like myself proxying it up, having a worse ping than we would have had normally, and not solving the "problem" in the first place.

Not that ping these days actually affects anyone other than the person with the bad ping, as I mentioned before. It's just a cop out business decision to give someone else the trouble of managing european servers instead of doing it themselves, unfortunately.

But SOE would still be managing the servers anyway.
The only thing I think they got out of the partnership was a lot of investment capital up front at a much needed time for the parent company Sony and a customer service infrastructure already in place. (Quality of the foreign customer services is still up to debate for a lot of people.)

[Shanesan]

So my problem appears to be that my posts are either too good (thank you Kran De Loy (http://www.planetside-universe.com/showpost.php?p=660599&postcount=1055)), or this thread has devalued into flame bait.

If you guys are talking about region-locking because of ping still, you are really just disgracing the coding team at SoE and saying they don't know how to code.

A region lock is not necessary if the issue is simply a delay from nodes over the ocean. Just open servers in different regions, open to all, and have people judge how much ping they wish to deal with.

[Kran De Loy]

A region lock is not necessary if the issue is simply a delay from nodes over the ocean. Just open servers in different regions, open to all, and have people judge how much ping they wish to deal with.

Yup. It's sad that very idea has been said so often by so many different people. That means to me that even the common laymen of gaming knows more about the matter of region-locking then the heads of such a major gaming/electronics megacorporation. Do they just not have people advising them or is it just not the right people?

Anyway, as much as we got sidetracked by the ping discussion it at least probably educated some people about why it shouldn't be a factor in region-locking for SOE. I know I learned stuff.

So back to topic: It's been 24 days since Smed told us to wait for details. (Source (https://twitter.com/j_smedley/statuses/174194740978401280?_escaped_fragment_=/j_smedley/statuses/174194740978401280#!/j_smedley/statuses/174194740978401280)) It took SOE and PSS1 6 weeks between then the deal was signed to when it was announced. (Source?) The original Deal being signed 2 weeks (Source?) before Sony announced a $2.1 billion loss in the last quarter. (Source (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399752,00.asp))

So how long is it gonna take to announce the details to a REVISED partnership? I personally believe that the original announcement was pushed back for further tinkering and/or that Smed was leaned on by Sony to sign the deal early in order to mitigate part of that ridiculously huge loss.

So again, how long is it gonna take to announce a revised version of something that was already built? Is the fact that they're getting rid of RegionLocking making THAT big of a difference in the partnership deal?

And speculatively speaking now, is this an indication of the speed of which any other problems between SOE and PSS1 will be communicated and dealt with? It is also an indication of the quality of service that will be presented when customers have to deal with PSS1 to get to SOE?

[Kran De Loy]

Did this seriously make it to the third page, again? Why yes, yes it did.

Also 26 days of waiting for further details.

[SgtMAD]

"So again, how long is it gonna take to announce a revised version of something that was already built? Is the fact that they're getting rid of RegionLocking making THAT big of a difference in the partnership deal?"

dude, that is the friggin deal,SOE only has two assetts worth selling in this deal, the existing playerbase and the future subscribers to SOE games.

if there is no guaranteed market then SOE has nothing to sell.

if the Euro's can bypass the euro provider and "sub" on the US servers then Pro7 doesn't have a market,which negates the need for any sort of deal.

[Shanesan]

"So again, how long is it gonna take to announce a revised version of something that was already built? Is the fact that they're getting rid of RegionLocking making THAT big of a difference in the partnership deal?"

dude, that is the friggin deal,SOE only has two assetts worth selling in this deal, the existing playerbase and the future subscribers to SOE games.

if there is no guaranteed market then SOE has nothing to sell.

if the Euro's can bypass the euro provider and "sub" on the US servers then Pro7 doesn't have a market,which negates the need for any sort of deal.

SoE has lost more money in this deal the day it was announced than they will gain back in a long time. The contract should have been shredded, the contract termination fee paid and left at that.

If they had more faith in their teams to create good games and if Smedley had the intelligence to GIVE UP AND RETIRE, SoE would be making money again. SoE has been on the down and out since six years after he took control. Finally, after all that time, he has the opportunity to release a series of awesome looking sequels to great games, and he pulls this shit.

Goddamn it Smedley. We've had enough of your shit.

[Kran De Loy]

SoE has lost more money in this deal the day it was announced than they will gain back in a long time. The contract should have been shredded, the contract termination fee paid and left at that.

If they had more faith in their teams to create good games and if Smedley had the intelligence to GIVE UP AND RETIRE, SoE would be making money again. SoE has been on the down and out since six years after he took control. Finally, after all that time, he has the opportunity to release a series of awesome looking sequels to great games, and he pulls this shit.

Goddamn it Smedley. We've had enough of your shit.
The way I see it is that Smedley isn't the best CEO, but SOE is still owned by Sony Corporation and imo Sony has a waaay worse track record on the executive level these last few years than 5 Smedleys put together.

[Shanesan]

The way I see it is that Smedley isn't the best CEO, but SOE is still owned by Sony Corporation and imo Sony has a waaay worse track record on the executive level these last few years than 5 Smedleys put together.

Please pardon me for one moment.

Sony Executives:
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/208/367/SHAMEFURDISPRAY.jpg

Sorry. Now that we have concluded that nonsense, please resume our normal conversation.

[Hamma]

Ah right Company _________ has the worst executives ever.

You could take many of the posts in this thread and change the names and it would live on pretty much any internet gaming forum. :lol:

[Kran De Loy]

Ah right Company _________ has the worst executives ever.

You could take many of the posts in this thread and change the names and it would live on pretty much any internet gaming forum. :lol:

Too true, but rather my comments were in comparison of SOE/Smedley and Sony Corp in general. Honestly, I'm just trying to come up with any kind of logical excuse for why Smed would want to shove a big europeen up his butt and almost completely screw his own corporation by selling a very large portion of it's player base to an entirely different and relatively new to the scene corporation.

to restate, I fully believe this partnership wasn't Smed's idea.

That and responding to each and every comment gives me the excuse to keep this thread on the first page and hopefully remind someone at SOE to step on Smed's balls and get him to explain this new deal he has us waiting for.

[LONGFELLA KOJ]

I have many friends in my outfit from Australia, Europe, New Zealand. Not to mention all the players that are from the US that get deployed due to their military duties. We have US players in Kosovo, Iraq and other locations. I would hate to not be able to play along side them everynight. They are a large portion of what makes my outfit so enjoyable.

That said. I hate foreigners...




Ok, I'm kidding. What I think needs to be done is not so much restrict locations but restrict connections. All this talk of "I'm from Germany but I get a 44 ping!" Who cares, you are making clientside sh*t a brick trying to shake hands with the US side players. Just do what old SOF2 servers did back in the day. If your ping is to high, to get booted from server. If you have a large amount of packet loss, you get booted from server and if you are way above or way below the statistical parameters set up by SOE (that's if they bother set any) then you get the boot.

And by get the boot, I mean ushered to the appropriate server

I think we're done here.

[Eyeklops]

I have many friends in my outfit from Australia, Europe, New Zealand. Not to mention all the players that are from the US that get deployed due to their military duties. We have US players in Kosovo, Iraq and other locations. I would hate to not be able to play along side them everynight. They are a large portion of what makes my outfit so enjoyable.

That said. I hate foreigners...




Ok, I'm kidding. What I think needs to be done is not so much restrict locations but restrict connections. All this talk of "I'm from Germany but I get a 44 ping!" Who cares, you are making clientside sh*t a brick trying to shake hands with the US side players. Just do what old SOF2 servers did back in the day. If your ping is to high, to get booted from server. If you have a large amount of packet loss, you get booted from server and if you are way above or way below the statistical parameters set up by SOE (that's if they bother set any) then you get the boot.

And by get the boot, I mean ushered to the appropriate server

I think we're done here.
QFE

[Vancha]

I think we're done here.
We were done here at the bottom of page 70. ;)

[Kran De Loy]

... It's not done. It's not about ping. It's not about server locations. It's not about server maintenance or localization issues.

It's about two major corporations getting together to ruin a lot of people's hopes of something spectacular. It's about a huge gaping wound that was dealt to that hope when they announced region locking. It's now about how one small band-aid isn't going to cover that.

It's not done, not healed, until we get a strait answer about how it's going to work.

[Skittles]

Its not going to work.


This thing is on the back burner as far as SOE is concerned and a dead subject. Region locking is in, its simply a matter of waiting for beta releases and people to become more interested in the James Woods/Family Guy "Oh, a piece of candy. Oh a piece of candy." scenerio to play out then worrying about the few outfits, randoms they'll lose by region locking.

This crap was huge and important a month ago. Its become a whimper here with only a handful still posting on this thread. In another few months, after beta invites are sent and the buzz about all that is thru, SOE will not give a rats ass about region locks.

[Vancha]

Actually, they should give a rats ass. Planetside 2 is coming long before EQNext, if the EQ players see SOE has in fact ignored us, the EQ players will realize the same thing will happen to them and they'll be in an uproar once again. Not to mention SOE's reputation taking another hit with bad publicity. If new players are made aware on day one that they're playing a game "despite" a bad company instead of playing with an improving company, they will be less hesitant to leave the first time they're burned by SOE.

[FastAndFree]

Its not going to work.


This thing is on the back burner as far as SOE is concerned and a dead subject. Region locking is in, its simply a matter of waiting for beta releases and people to become more interested in the James Woods/Family Guy "Oh, a piece of candy. Oh a piece of candy." scenerio to play out then worrying about the few outfits, randoms they'll lose by region locking.

This crap was huge and important a month ago. Its become a whimper here with only a handful still posting on this thread. In another few months, after beta invites are sent and the buzz about all that is thru, SOE will not give a rats ass about region locks.

No, it will pick right up if it becomes evident that there is no Solution

[Skitrel]

Its not going to work.


This thing is on the back burner as far as SOE is concerned and a dead subject. Region locking is in, its simply a matter of waiting for beta releases and people to become more interested in the James Woods/Family Guy "Oh, a piece of candy. Oh a piece of candy." scenerio to play out then worrying about the few outfits, randoms they'll lose by region locking.

This crap was huge and important a month ago. Its become a whimper here with only a handful still posting on this thread. In another few months, after beta invites are sent and the buzz about all that is thru, SOE will not give a rats ass about region locks.

It hasn't become a whimper at all, it's become an "Ok, we'll wait and see".

Fail to deliver and gaming communities release absolutely monstrous outrage. ME3 and TOR being two excellent examples of it recently.

If SOE fails on the customer relations level before they've even released the game, with this issue, they set a precedent for their attitude and behaviour to their customers being akin to that of EA.

If that precedence and comparison gets set, if people compare and view them as a company no different to EA in their lack of care for their customers, well that will be a deathblow to the game before it's even started.

If they don't recognise that, they deserve the failure that they'll bring on themselves with it. EA get by on consumer ignorance because a massive proportion of their market doesn't follow what goes on in backwater gaming sites. They manage to avoid negative publicity until after a game goes to sale. And they strive off of the sales they get from those that don't know of their misgivings.

If SOE on the other hand label themselves prior to launch, they're fucked. Not to mention they have absolutely no means to make quick cash, F2P and all that.

I will be comparing SOE to EA at every opportunity I can should this occur, and I urge everyone else to take the same stance. It's pretty much the strongest threat that can happen and it'll damn well give the people in suits something to worry about.

Want results? You threaten the bottom line.

[Skittles]

Actually, they should give a rats ass. Planetside 2 is coming long before EQNext, if the EQ players see SOE has in fact ignored us, the EQ players will realize the same thing will happen to them and they'll be in an uproar once again. Not to mention SOE's reputation taking another hit with bad publicity. If new players are made aware on day one that they're playing a game "despite" a bad company instead of playing with an improving company, they will be less hesitant to leave the first time they're burned by SOE.

Shoulda-woulda-coulda

Same with EQNext. What it boils down to is Pro7, and the money they've already invested in this venture. They're a multi-BILLION dollar company. You honestly think they give a rats ass about a handful of outfits-clans-societies from PS-EQ? Hell no. The amount of money they stand to lose by those people not signing up is minimal. M-I-N-I-M-A-L.

In 2004 EQ had 450k subs. 8yrs later how many do you think they've retained? 100K to be generous, even if ALL of them quit, which is obviously far-fetched, thats a mere $1.5m a month. That is not even the interest earned on a multi-BILLION dollar companies cash reserves.

So in http://www.planetside-universe.com/showthread.php?p=664649#post664649

We have ArmedZealot suggesting that PS2 with all its BF3 imitations is going to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 MILLION copies!!!
A stretch granted, but lets go with PS2 having 300k subs and those subs purchase $10.00 worth of CS a month. They're still DOUBLING their profits.

I dont care for the deal anymore then anyone else, but I dont see Pro7 giving a rats ass and allowing SOE and Smedly to just back right out after giving them a huge cash influx. Sorry. You dont become a multi-BILLION dollar company by handing out lollipops and kittens to every Tom, Dick and Harry that asks for a "partnership". You do it by being the a ruthless mofo and bludgeoning your opponent to your will.

[Vancha]

Read the thread, there's enough of it. You don't have a grasp of the situation if you think this only stands to lose SOE it's current subscribers.

[Skittles]

Read the thread, there's enough of it. You don't have a grasp of the situation if you think this only stands to lose SOE it's current subscribers.

Read the post theres enough of it, you dont grasp the situation if you think Pro7 cares whether SOE loses current OR future subscribers.

[Vancha]

you dont grasp the situation if you think Pro7 cares whether SOE loses current OR future subscribers.
SOE isn't the only one that stands to lose out on region locking. Given a choice between profit (region locked) or bigger profit (non-region locked), why would Pro7 choose the former?

[Shanesan]

SOE isn't the only one that stands to lose out on region locking. Given a choice between profit (region locked) or bigger profit (non-region locked), why would Pro7 choose the former?

Because there's a lot more to this deal than they tell us. Pro7 makes their money on region locking and/or monopolizing. If they can't monopolize, they wouldn't think of joining forces with SoE.

[IronMole]

Because there's a lot more to this deal than they tell us. Pro7 makes their money on region locking and/or monopolizing. If they can't monopolize, they wouldn't think of joining forces with SoE.

They will make money and monopolize regardless of a region lock...

[Skittles]

But, they've(Pro7) already PUT up the money. That money is spent (by SOE). Gone, fini, used, spent, whatever, its no longer possible for SOE to just "hand it back" and say... "whoops sorry, our mistake"

They may or may NOT make their money if the region lock is not in place. We only have the absolute barest of information about what the deal entailed. For all we know Pro7 was given all sorts of interesting money making opportunities with the PS2 title that their accountants are saying, "Hell yeah we'll make money and then some, lock those regions up".

The lack of ANY informational follow-up is teetering the seesaw more towards region locking is going to occur more then region locking is not. You can be damn sure that Pro7 is looking out more for their stockholders then they are about SOE's reputation in the gaming industry and their inability to create favorable deals for themselves and their gaming community.



Play this out and tell me this isnt possible.

SOE/Pro7 dont change region locks. SOE-PS2-EQ falter. SOE is ripe for Pro7 to swoop in and acquire SOE in corporate take-over. Just like that, over one tiny announcement
"US/EU region locks all their games". You've just acquired a gaming company and all its resources for yourself with little or no effort. Smack it, flip it, rub it down. Good game. Game over man! Game OVER!!

[Vancha]

Because there's a lot more to this deal than they tell us. Pro7 makes their money on region locking and/or monopolizing. If they can't monopolize, they wouldn't think of joining forces with SoE.
You didn't actually reply to what I said. Yes, they'd make money on region locking and/or monopolizing, but they'd make more money if they didn't.

Play this out and tell me this isnt possible.

SOE/Pro7 dont change region locks. SOE-PS2-EQ falter. SOE is ripe for Pro7 to swoop in and acquire SOE in corporate take-over. Just like that, over one tiny announcement
"US/EU region locks all their games". You've just acquired a gaming company and all its resources for yourself with little or no effort. Smack it, flip it, rub it down. Good game. Game over man! Game OVER!!
Firstly, SOE have dropped euro partners before. I imagine they paid SOE as well.

Secondly, I'm not sure Pro7 is of a size to even consider purchasing SOE, especially as it's part of SCE, which is part of Sony.

[Mechzz]

It's late and I can't sleep. So I wandered over to Alaplaya to see how well the preparations are coming along for the hosting of PS2.

http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/general-discussion-f2906/-updated-soe-prosiebensat1-games-partnership-faq-t492961-s340.html

Nada. Nix. One sad forum thread where no-one seems to have answered pertinent, politely-worded questions from concerned SOE game players dating from May 3rd and earlier.

Doesn't inspire confidence, I have to say.

[DirtyBird]

Not that it concerns me but I'd have to agree.
That is piss poor.

[Vanir]

Hasn't this issue been resolved? I pretty sure I've read in another thread that SOE has announced that a deal has been made to allow North Americans, and Europeans to play on each other's servers. That there will be no region locking. (Other than China)

[Vancha]

Hasn't this issue been resolved? I pretty sure I've read in another thread that SOE has announced that a deal has been made to allow North Americans, and Europeans to play on each other's servers. That there will be no region locking. (Other than China)
Yes. Note the time/date of the posts.

The two posts from today mainly seem to be further concerns about the quality of Alaplaya.

[RSphil]

the Region lock dosent bother me as i always play on EU servers anyway.

the thing that bothers me is the fact we have to join a company i have never heard of and know nothing about. the fact i have to use these guys for PS2 and move station cash to them.
not that i dont trust them ( which i dont lol, well not untill know who the hell they are and some background ) but i have had bad experiences with moving stuff from one place to another for games and getting a very bad service.

lest hope SOE dont screw things up like alot of other companies seem to be doing these days

[Shogun]

will ps2 be hosted by alaplaya?

i thought pro7games would be the new host! right now it´s only a german site ( www.prosiebengames.de ) but it is hosting around 100 games. in comparison to 10 games alaplaya is hosting.

maybe our contact from pro7 should clarify this.

i really hope alaplaya will have nothing to do with planetside 2. their track record is the worst i can imagine. and the lack of answers in their forums, to polite concerned questions, confirms the bad taste.

[Mechzz]

will ps2 be hosted by alaplaya?

...

i really hope alaplaya will have nothing to do with planetside 2. their track record is the worst i can imagine. and the lack of answers in their forums, to polite concerned questions, confirms the bad taste.

Sorry Shogun, the Alaplaya site has the links for PS2 and all the other SOE games they're taking over. Follow this link to the SOE forums at the top of the list and weep:

http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/

[Katanauk]

Thought this was dead . . . but it's been revived and I don't wanna make a new thread whilst it's potentially still alive . . .

I live in Australia so . . . does this affect me in anyway? Or would I just continue business as usual through SOE, as I'll be using US servers.

http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/general-discussion-f2906/-updated-soe-prosiebensat1-games-partnership-faq-t492961.html

If you can't be bothered to click the link . . . it's the European publisher for Planetside 2 saying whether youre in Europe or US, you'll be able to play where you like . . .

Doesn't talk about us in the arse end of the world though :(

[Vancha]

Alaplaya is owned by ProSieben, it's their gaming branch.

Now maybe they're going to rebrand it to pro7games, which wouldn't be a bad idea considering Alaplaya's reputation.

Edit:
I live in Australia so . . . does this affect me in anyway? Or would I just continue business as usual through SOE, as I'll be using US servers.
You'll have to play with the Chinese I'm afraid.


No, you should have no problem signing up with SOE and playing on US servers.

[RadarX]

Thought this was dead . . . but it's been revived and I don't wanna make a new thread whilst it's potentially still alive . . .

I live in Australia so . . . does this affect me in anyway? Or would I just continue business as usual through SOE, as I'll be using US servers.

http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/general-discussion-f2906/-updated-soe-prosiebensat1-games-partnership-faq-t492961.html

If you can't be bothered to click the link . . . it's the European publisher for Planetside 2 saying whether youre in Europe or US, you'll be able to play where you like . . .

Doesn't talk about us in the arse end of the world though :(

ProSieben.Sat.1 does not cover the Australian region, so you'll will sign up and use the same client/purchasing methods as North America.

[Xyntech]

Thanks for the info RadarX. You rock.

I still don't get why everyone can't just do that. Seems like a bad idea.

Hopefully it ends up working out okay. Fingers crossed for y'all across the pond.

[Mastachief]

Well we are all ready losing out on the station cash deals..........

[Shogun]

it has been confirmed that we can carry over our station cash to pro7. so you can take your next cashdeal opportunity.

[Mastachief]

The is no detail on how that will work,exchange rate etc.

[Toppopia]

When it is all said and done, and granted you have been an inspiring figure in the dev/community relationship, so this has no baring to what you or any of the devs have given us in terms of the relationship.

Given that there were in fact techinical issues at hand, then dismissing them after the uproar by the community, why is this deal even still in effect?

We know the Forgelight engine CAN handle it and we are all aware of the consequences that comes with playing with high ping players... and we accept that.

Me personally, I condone the seperation of regions by location. it allows us to play a more fluid game with an absolute knowledge there is no uneven playing field. (with the vanilla game) Having that choice that was offered was a huge step in the right direction.

What baffles me though is that a deal has been made with a company that is over seas that will handle far more than just servers. We all know station cash for european players will be gone, a new system will be implemented and the service / support offered has never been experienced.

Not to sound all overly-patriotic, but when it's made in America, it should be controlled in America. Spread it wherever you need to spread it, control it from there. Do not contract something out to someone that makes the consumers quake in their boots.

1+1 has always equaled 2. (or 10 if you're a network guy).

Remove this entirely. Or, as it will be. Stick with it and face the ramifications that will come of it.

So knowing the latter will happen, let us hope they hold up their end of the deal with the same integrity that SOE has. AT LEAST the same.

Woh woh woh woh..... woh.. woh. Why should I be forced to play in a certain region when I want to play? Because I live in New Zealand and I have quite a few American friends and even formed a clan with them, so what if I wanted to play with them? Does that mean I can't because I live in a different region? (Assuming there is an Oceania server and we don't get counted as being in America region)

[Nephilimuk]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RadarX
ProSieben.Sat.1 does not cover the Australian region, so you'll will sign up and use the same client/purchasing methods as North America.

When it is all said and done, and granted you have been an inspiring figure in the dev/community relationship, so this has no baring to what you or any of the devs have given us in terms of the relationship.

Given that there were in fact techinical issues at hand, then dismissing them after the uproar by the community, why is this deal even still in effect?

We know the Forgelight engine CAN handle it and we are all aware of the consequences that comes with playing with high ping players... and we accept that.

Me personally, I condone the seperation of regions by location. it allows us to play a more fluid game with an absolute knowledge there is no uneven playing field. (with the vanilla game) Having that choice that was offered was a huge step in the right direction.

What baffles me though is that a deal has been made with a company that is over seas that will handle far more than just servers. We all know station cash for european players will be gone, a new system will be implemented and the service / support offered has never been experienced.

Not to sound all overly-patriotic, but when it's made in America, it should be controlled in America. Spread it wherever you need to spread it, control it from there. Do not contract something out to someone that makes the consumers quake in their boots.

1+1 has always equaled 2. (or 10 if you're a network guy).

Remove this entirely. Or, as it will be. Stick with it and face the ramifications that will come of it.

So knowing the latter will happen, let us hope they hold up their end of the deal with the same integrity that SOE has. AT LEAST the same.


I have you lot breed yourselves down to 2 chromosomes in less than 400 years? Thats impressive!!!

On a serious note I don't see that we are much further on than when I posted my original message on this. Not great and I don't see it as good at all.

[Katanauk]

ProSieben.Sat.1 does not cover the Australian region, so you'll will sign up and use the same client/purchasing methods as North America.

That's all I needed to hear. I have absolute faith in SOE networking capabilities, so playing on USA servers is what I WANT.

You have made me very happy RadarX:).

:groovy:

[Mechzz]

We had a pro7 moderator come on these forums a while back and update us/reassure us about what was happening.

We got the announcement that anybody could play on any server (at least, Europe/US).

Since then there has been no further communication to the community. It's been a few weeks now and you have to say there is no visible sign of progress. In fact on Alaplaya the moderator activity has been declining despite continuing questions and concerns from Everquest players.

When are Alaplaya going to increase support levels?

Can we at least have a reassurance that Alaplaya will be ready for PS2 Beta?

Why do I have to ask this question on a fan site?
(at least part of the reason is that Alaplaya has the look of a website that just wants to steal all your details and I don't trust it enough to create an account and post there!)

[Sabrak]

Well, on one hand, it takes some time to create new working websites for every single SOE games that Alaplaya has to handle.

On the other hand, they had plenty of time already to make those websites, and it doesn't take so much efforts to be active and helpful on their (amateurish looking) forums.

So, even if the region locking stuff is solved, I still think this deal between SOE and Pro7 is a very bad thing for us, european players, because it really looks like we're going to have to deal with people who can't handle us.

[Brollywood]

I just wanted to drop back in and reassure everyone that we're still hard at work here with PlanetSide 2 in Europe.

One thing I can point out is that the game won't be integrated into Alaplaya site, it will have its own stand-alone website that will be handled by ProSiebenSat1 Games.

Many additional people, myself included, have been hired here to support PlanetSide 2 and the other SOE titles. We're passionate gamers who understand your concerns and we want to make sure you will have the best experience possible. Your queries and concerns definitely don't go unheard.

Personally I'm really excited to be working as part of such an awesome project and can't wait to see you all in-game. As long as you're Vanu :-p

We'll be bringing more details shortly! Thanks for all your patience so far.

[Mechzz]

I just wanted to drop back in and reassure everyone that we're still hard at work here with PlanetSide 2 in Europe.

One thing I can point out is that the game won't be integrated into Alaplaya site, it will have its own stand-alone website that will be handled by ProSiebenSat1 Games.

Many additional people, myself included, have been hired here to support PlanetSide 2 and the other SOE titles. We're passionate gamers who understand your concerns and we want to make sure you will have the best experience possible. Your queries and concerns definitely don't go unheard.

Personally I'm really excited to be working as part of such an awesome project and can't wait to see you all in-game. As long as you're Vanu :-p

We'll be bringing more details shortly! Thanks for all your patience so far.

Brollywood, thanks so much for dropping by. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I'm also pleased with the new information; having a separate website seems like a good idea to me.

Do you know why the replies to the EQ queries are being delayed? Is there a problem with the transfer of EQ to pro7 ?

Thanks in advance!

[Hermes]

I just wanted to drop back in and reassure everyone that we're still hard at work here with PlanetSide 2 in Europe.

One thing I can point out is that the game won't be integrated into Alaplaya site, it will have its own stand-alone website that will be handled by ProSiebenSat1 Games.

Many additional people, myself included, have been hired here to support PlanetSide 2 and the other SOE titles. We're passionate gamers who understand your concerns and we want to make sure you will have the best experience possible. Your queries and concerns definitely don't go unheard.

Personally I'm really excited to be working as part of such an awesome project and can't wait to see you all in-game. As long as you're Vanu :-p

We'll be bringing more details shortly! Thanks for all your patience so far.


Great info, thanks very much mate.

[Xaine]

You had me at...



Personally I'm really excited to be working as part of such an awesome project and can't wait to see you all in-game. As long as you're Vanu :-p



I love you.

Thank you for taking the time. :)

[dachlatte]

Brollywood thank you very much! its awesome you stopped by here.

brochacho i hope we will hear more from you in the not so far future. until then spread the vanu luv!

[Brollywood]

Brollywood, thanks so much for dropping by. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I'm also pleased with the new information; having a separate website seems like a good idea to me.

Do you know why the replies to the EQ queries are being delayed? Is there a problem with the transfer of EQ to pro7 ?

Thanks in advance!

My pleasure!

There's no problems with the transfer of EQ2 to ProSiebenSat1 Games - we're just making sure that every eventuality is being thought of and planned for - with something as huge as EQ2 we want to make sure that everything will be hassle-free and seamless come launch. :)

[DarkTower]

(Once again, apologies if this is a noob question)
Don't know if Brollywood or one of the other dev team, or even a forum member can help, but does this affect whether we'll be able to get into the beta? I know that it was only the US PC Gamer that got beta codes, not the UK, so would it be fair to assume that there won't be beta servers in the EU? Will the beta be region-locked in the same way as something like Netflix is, so even using the American SOE and servers won't let me into the beta?

The main reason I ask is that I live in a big city with super-fast (Virgin Media) broadband, so my ping to (East Coast) American servers in other games is not too bad, usually around 160, so about the same sort of ping as someone in the US with poor internet connection might have (who F2P MMOs should be catering for). In other words, my internet connection shouldn't be a factor in joining the beta, so are there any other reasons for (potentially) blocking me from the beta?

[Marinealver]

Looks like SOE forked toung marketers have not lost their touch about honey wording their poisionous news. Reminds me of something about how SOE "apriciate the progress they gave players" when they started to stream adds inside PS 1.

Hey I see the need to raise money and if PS 2 is a good enough game I would pay a subscription, (not like I already pay more for less with PS1) but I hope atleast we would be able to move from server to server.

[Marinealver]

Did a little (as the bare minimium, 5 second, only one refrence) research on this. Thank you wikipedia and no it isn't really worth my time vetting this futher.
ProSiebenSat.1 programs had low ratings because of unconvincing marketing efforts. So ProSiebenSat.1 was bought by the American media tycoon Haim Saban for approximately $700 million. After Saban lost interest in the company because the programs could not compete with Bertelsmann's channels RTL, Vox, and Super RTL, he started an auction to sell the company. Possible bidders were Axel Springer AG, Dogan Group of Turkey, Permira/Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and some others like Goldman Sachs. The Axel Springer AG's bid was rejected by a federal competition commission, "Bundeskartellamt", because of the influence of Springer in Germany's media who owns already the nations most selling tabloid BILD and the newspaper Die Welt. On December 14, 2006, Germany's Handelsblatt reported that the winner of the bid was the consortium of Permira/KKR. A possible bidder for the company was former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose family holding company controls Mediaset. On June 27, 2007, ProSieben bought SBS Broadcasting for the total sum of €3.3 billion. SBS was also owned by Permira/KKR

Wow talke about the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncomming train.

[RadarX]

(Once again, apologies if this is a noob question)
Don't know if Brollywood or one of the other dev team, or even a forum member can help, but does this affect whether we'll be able to get into the beta? I know that it was only the US PC Gamer that got beta codes, not the UK, so would it be fair to assume that there won't be beta servers in the EU? Will the beta be region-locked in the same way as something like Netflix is, so even using the American SOE and servers won't let me into the beta?

The main reason I ask is that I live in a big city with super-fast (Virgin Media) broadband, so my ping to (East Coast) American servers in other games is not too bad, usually around 160, so about the same sort of ping as someone in the US with poor internet connection might have (who F2P MMOs should be catering for). In other words, my internet connection shouldn't be a factor in joining the beta, so are there any other reasons for (potentially) blocking me from the beta?

If you have signed up for Beta or are a former PS1 player there should be no issue with you participating at some point. It will almost certainly be on the US server.

[Mechzz]

If you have signed up for Beta or are a former PS1 player there should be no issue with you participating at some point. It will almost certainly be on the US server.

Ah rats....the "at some point" message. Hey ho. I had a GF like that once.
*gets the blues and pines quietly in the corner*

[RadarX]

Ah rats....the "at some point" message. Hey ho. I had a GF like that once.
*gets the blues and pines quietly in the corner*

The "at some point" applies to everyone. We are going to let in as many folks as we can to test but it'll be done in waves. Everyone won't get in at the same time.

[Shogun]

thanks for the clarifications, brolly and radar!

@ darktower: brollywood works for pro7sat1, the company that will host planetside in europe.
radar x works for soe, the original devs of ps2. so those two are the guys who might really know things ;)

[Mechzz]

The "at some point" applies to everyone. We are going to let in as many folks as we can to test but it'll be done in waves. Everyone won't get in at the same time.

Thanks Radar. Just me being paranoid and assuming us Euros won't get in until after the US. I know you didn't say that wasn't the case, but I'm going to chill now and have a beer and not worry about it (too) much :)

[Gandhi]

OMG the whining will be resounding beyond belief when some form of beta starts and everyone isn't in all at once and through the duration of the entire test.
Nobody will know who's in because everyone will be under NDA :p

[Ailos]

Nobody will know who's in because everyone will be under NDA :p

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure we're going to find out when closed beta starts one way or another, and then once that date has passed, you're either in or you're not. It's not exactly rocket science.

[Kran De Loy]

OMG the whining will be resounding beyond belief when some form of beta starts and everyone isn't in all at once and through the duration of the entire test. I don't envy you RadarX trying to keep the community happy during that time but hey, that's why you get paid the big bucks!

Nobody will know who's in because everyone will be under NDA :p

Yeah.

[Kran De Loy]

NDA... haha, good one. Way too many beta keys handed out via PCGamer. Beta for PS2 will be worst kept secret in the history of MMO's :lol:
But it will limit the amount of bitching about people not getting in that first few days, maybe just maybe as much as a week. If there is anything the NDA is good for it'll be that at least.

Personally I'm more worried (though I'm in the USA) about the original theme of this thread. If PSS1 drops the ball or not and how badly it cracks if it does.

[Shogun]

the main concerns have been adressed.

as we are promised to be able to play on all servers we like.
it also has been confirmed that we can transfer station cash to our pro7 accounts and that the servers will still be run by soe.

some other concerns are still up, but brolly just said that there will be an announcement soon, and our remaining concerns are being adressed. so let´s sit back and wait what they have worked out for us. we will see if pro7 can ease our minds or if they revive this thread for another thousand posts of raining fire ;)

[Sabrak]

Personally I'm really excited to be working as part of such an awesome project and can't wait to see you all in-game. As long as you're Vanu :-p


Great, a barney.

As if I needed another proof that we're all screwed.

Joking, of course. Or maybe not.

Thanks for the answer anyway, it's appreciated, even though I wanna see what you guys have to offer before being satisfied by a "we're doing our best, you'll have news soon".

Because you should know very well that not a lot of gamers believe "details shortly" really means "details shortly" ;)

[Kran De Loy]

the main concerns have been adressed.

as we are promised to be able to play on all servers we like.
it also has been confirmed that we can transfer station cash to our pro7 accounts and that the servers will still be run by soe.

some other concerns are still up, but brolly just said that there will be an announcement soon, and our remaining concerns are being adressed. so let´s sit back and wait what they have worked out for us. we will see if pro7 can ease our minds or if they revive this thread for another thousand posts of raining fire ;)
Agreed. I just meant "If they drop the ball" as a generality. Sort of like how someone said that something about the EQ community getting bitchy(er) about dwindling volume of communication with PSS1 reps. Stuff like that isn't anything to worry about in itself, but it still acts like a bank of looming clouds that eerily spell out 'foreshadowing'.

[DarkTower]

If you have signed up for Beta or are a former PS1 player there should be no issue with you participating at some point. It will almost certainly be on the US server.

That's good to know, hoped it would work like that! :)

This might be a(nother) stupid question because it's so far off and hasn't been decided/set up, but how will the transition between the SOE and pro7sat1 (?) actually work? I can see it working in 1 of 2 ways: either we keep our account on the US server and that stays there after beta like all the other non-EU accounts, or we get migrated to the European company/system whatever with our Station Cash/XP refunded/reset (so we've still got everything we earned, just not spent on anything). Lastly, if accounts do get migrated, will we get a choice over moving to the European servers?

On a completely unrelated note ;), do any Europeans know how to get hold of US PC Gamer magazines for the beta codes? I think I've seen a post/thread somewhere about buying the mag from an American site and getting it shipped over, but I can't seem to find it :(

[RadarX]

That's good to know, hoped it would work like that! :)

This might be a(nother) stupid question because it's so far off and hasn't been decided/set up, but how will the transition between the SOE and pro7sat1 (?) actually work? I can see it working in 1 of 2 ways: either we keep our account on the US server and that stays there after beta like all the other non-EU accounts, or we get migrated to the European company/system whatever with our Station Cash/XP refunded/reset (so we've still got everything we earned, just not spent on anything). Lastly, if accounts do get migrated, will we get a choice over moving to the European servers?

On a completely unrelated note ;), do any Europeans know how to get hold of US PC Gamer magazines for the beta codes? I think I've seen a post/thread somewhere about buying the mag from an American site and getting it shipped over, but I can't seem to find it :(

We'll be publishing more information in the near future about the transition. One of our products, DC Universe Online, is about to make the switch and you'll be able to see how it works. In short, you will have a ProSieben.Sat.1 account. PS2 will launch in the EU with our partners over there so there will be no live game transition.

[Mastachief]

PS2 will launch in the EU with our partners over there so there will be no live game transition.

Not even for our vet accounts that get into beta? So we can keep our character names that we have had for the past 9 years

[Nephilimuk]

We'll be publishing more information in the near future about the transition. One of our products, DC Universe Online, is about to make the switch and you'll be able to see how it works. In short, you will have a ProSieben.Sat.1 account. PS2 will launch in the EU with our partners over there so there will be no live game transition.

great can't wait.....

[NCLynx]

great can't wait.....

You sound so excited =P

Hope it all goes well.

[Baneblade]

What I don't get is why SOE needs Pro7 in the first place.

[Shkrla]

I tried the link for the FAQ, but it said tat the terms were getting reworked. I don't really feel up to skimming 77 pages, so can someone tell me if anything has been changed from the information in the original post?

[Kran De Loy]

What I don't get is why SOE needs Pro7 in the first place.

It was never officially stated why, just that it would be happening.

Sequence of events tho lead me to believe that Sony parent company CEO needed a large boost in money last quarter.

At the end of the 4th fiscal quarter of 2011, the CEO of Sony announced that they would have a 2.2 billion dollar loss, 2 billion dollars more than the expected loss they had already announced, totaling a 2.9 billion dollar loss for the year of 2011. Sony CEO was also announced to being changed around this time, I don't know exactly when this took place. About 3 weeks before the end of the 2011 fiscal year SOE announced it partnership with PSS1.

So to me it looks like Sony pressured SOE into selling a major portion of their customer base to a major media company for a very much needed boost at a very much needed time.

[Noivad]

1. Probally reason why is the exchange rate. I play a game where you have to convert the euro to usd and since eura since last time I played, was more value, i got less then my euro conterpart because of USD Value.

2. Easier management.

[Shallon]

Did anyone else from europe go ahead and buy an SOE authenticator just beore they announced all of this Pro7 rubbish.

Considering SOE has ruined all the other games of there's I played, EQ with POP (Planes of Power) and then the disgracefull goings on with SWG, I now have brought an Auth just for PS (1) and hopfully I'll have no reason to play that soon.

refund SOE? =(

It's such a shame, for those of us who have had our accounts since 99 (or longer) it going to be quite the bitch not to keep these rolling on into PS2 and what short lived masterpeice comes next.

Must say no way its going to stop me playing (The game looks amazing btw devs), just banging my head on the wall AGAIN, and this game hasn't even hit Beta yet.

[Akadios]

SOE's Faq: http://forums.station.sony.com/station/posts/list.m?topic_id=11500041081

Paragraph 4: Importantly, we want to address up front the most common concern that players have had, which is server accessibility. SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 Games have determined that it is in the best interest of the players and the Community to allow players to continue to play on any server regardless of where they live. That means that European players will be able to play on U.S. servers and vice versa.

[Akadios]

@Moderators (whoever) In light of the release by SOE saying there will not be a region lock you might want to shuffle this 77 page long complaint thread that might turn some users off to PS2 somewhere not so visible :)

[Tikuto]

Lag = pointless game.

[Nemises]

so..didnt read all 77 pages, apols,but just wanted to bring up an important (to my mind) example of why cross region playing is 100% vital to PS2...

and that is the 24 hour war..

Back in the Day, playing on Markov from New Zealand, we'd play everynight in our peak time with..I dunno, maybe 35 - 60% server pop...however, there was still plenty going on..

Anyways, every night the Aus and NZ outfits would roll about and do what needed to be done, and then, as it got later and later we'd hand the most contentious continent over to the US outfirs that had started to pop up early..(most the Devil Dogs)...
Byt the time we logged, slept, went to work and got back online, the Dogs would still be playing, and would hand the war over to us..

This was a 24 hour war

..it was awesome


*edit* I guess, in all fairness I should also point out that we ALLWAYS got landed with server downtime for patches, which sucked, but that's just something you have to put up with when your entire country's population could be playing a game, and still only make up about 25% of total player slots :P

[Akadios]

Repeating this since people are still not reading even the most recent posts :P thread should be locked and allowed to die.

SOE's Faq: http://forums.station.sony.com/stati...id=11500041081

Paragraph 4: Importantly, we want to address up front the most common concern that players have had, which is server accessibility. SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 Games have determined that it is in the best interest of the players and the Community to allow players to continue to play on any server regardless of where they live. That means that European players will be able to play on U.S. servers and vice versa.

[Mechzz]

Repeating this since people are still not reading even the most recent posts :P

SOE's Faq: http://forums.station.sony.com/stati...id=11500041081

Paragraph 4: Importantly, we want to address up front the most common concern that players have had, which is server accessibility. SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 Games have determined that it is in the best interest of the players and the Community to allow players to continue to play on any server regardless of where they live. That means that European players will be able to play on U.S. servers and vice versa.

What point are you making Akadios?

[Crator]

Repeating this since people are still not reading even the most recent posts :P thread should be locked and allowed to die.

But you're the one who necroed it...

[Nemises]

yep, its good stuff, didn't mean to come across as not having read that (magical) faq item..
just wanted to try and convince seom of the pro-lock guys as to why they are wrong-thinking it ;)

[Akadios]

@Mechzz and @ Crator I had a member of my outfit decide not to play planetside 2 because he read this post and thought it was still happening (he has decided to come back since I told him but still) :| so I posted up the facts hoping people would at least check the last page and flagged it and asked it to be locked/deleted so it would not hurt the Planetside 2 image.


The thread also comes up as #1 on google if you google "planetside 2 region lock" so it very well could be doing a good bit of damage. As such the responsible thing is for it to be deleted so it will cycle off google.

[Trafalgar]

What did you expect when you bumped a 77 page thread that wasn't anywhere near the first page of the forums, when the OP still contained incorrect information likely to upset anyone who hadn't seen the topic before, like Mr. Nemises over there. (Anyone who didn't bother to check to see if it was a necro'd thread, anyways)

Edit: I like how your link doesn't work because it was shortened with ..., instead of being the actual correct url.

[Mirror]

I honestly dont think this thread needed to be bumped.

[Mechzz]

@Mechzz and @ Crator I had a member of my outfit decide not to play planetside 2 because he read this post and thought it was still happening (he has decided to come back since I told him but still) :| so I posted up the facts hoping people would at least check the last page and flagged it and asked it to be locked/deleted so it would not hurt the Planetside 2 image.


The thread also comes up as #1 on google if you google "planetside 2 region lock" so it very well could be doing a good bit of damage. As such the responsible thing is for it to be deleted so it will cycle off google.

OK. Got you. Maybe the original poster should be asked to update it?

[Crator]

Not certain if locking a thread will prevent google search problem.

[Akadios]

That's a good idea mechzz ill send him a message. It could also just be deleted which would solve the Google issue. With psu being a trusted resource, it being su ch a long thread,and its position in google make it an actual issue I hope they can fix.

[fishirboy]

That post of region lock made to much of a commotion and scared the community, bad play on them to even say that it would be. Bad word choice on them and what they said.

[Akadios]

Ya but they fixed it and this thread is still out there potentially scaring away people with its #1 Google position and 77 pages of ppl bitching no one reads to the end they see it the first 20 pages are all ppl agreeing and they think it's real.

[Vancha]

And then Planetside 2 gets released and they discover it's not region locked after all.

If this thread can now be considered misleading, you've given it a hell of a lot more exposure by bumping it than it would have had merely being the top result for "Planetside 2 region lock".

[Landtank]

http://www.gamezilla.ca/wp-content/forum-image-uploads/neolives/Thread-Necro.jpg

[Sabot]

Nooooo don't remind me... I had nightmares about this for a week.

[The Degenatron]

No, DON'T lock this thread. After the game is released, this can become the "Boo-hoo, my ping sucks" thread.

When people complain about high pings and crappy connections, I'll ask, "Are you European?" and they'll say "Yea". Then I'll say, "This is what you dumb mother****ers wanted, you ****ing ***hole. Go cry on the forums, specificly THIS thread."

The incredible stupidity of people boggles my mind:

"I want to play on a server 7000 miles away!"
"You sir, are a moron."

[Vancha]

The incredible stupidity of people boggles my mind:

"I want to play on a server 7000 miles away!"
"You sir, are a moron."
I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the motivation for playing on foreign servers isn't to do with the distances involved...

[Sabot]

No, DON'T lock this thread. After the game is released, this can become the "Boo-hoo, my ping sucks" thread.

When people complain about high pings and crappy connections, I'll ask, "Are you European?" and they'll say "Yea". Then I'll say, "This is what you dumb mother****ers wanted, you ****ing ***hole. Go cry on the forums, specificly THIS thread."

The incredible stupidity of people boggles my mind:

"I want to play on a server 7000 miles away!"
"You sir, are a moron."

Maybe you should take it easy and go lay down for a while, mate, wouldn't want you to pop a vein. So much anger and resentment... can't be good for you.

[Red Beard]

dj, your comments dont make you sound terribly bright

[Hobitt]

Yay no euro trash. Winning!

America for Americans
SIEG HEIL?

[Rago]

Seeing so many Threads about this, here the German information again to make things clear !

http://de.alaplaya.net/forum/generelle-diskussionen-f2904/-updated-soe-prosiebensat1-games-partnerschaft-faq-t492983.html

European Players on American Servers ? Yes we can says pro 7.

Some American have this kind of Idotic Patriotism stuff in the Head dont worry , its more like Vaccination for the Children.
Something you find in many Cultures on the Planet, like OUR THINGS are the Best, kind of Idiotic imho...

[Kyros]

Quit resurrecting dead threads. This thread is old, the information could have changed by now. [Or not, who knows.] Just ask the devs what the status is.

[Rago]

The Main Problem is, people wont use the Search Function the Just Post, and the Threads getting closed, it just popped up a new one in the New Player Section maybe the Mods should make a Sticky in the New Players Forum.

It comes Every Week for sure,...

[Pirate]

This is ridiculous, we are an international clan. If we have to split up to play PS2, we'll just go play something else.

[ringring]

This is ridiculous, we are an international clan. If we have to split up to play PS2, we'll just go play something else.

Sigh ... this was all dealt with ages ago ... you do not have to split up, simply decide which server you want to play on.

[Whip Nailed it]

excuse my ignorance but i'm new to ps

so how does this work then? i sgned up and entered my beta key on the normal planetside 2 website but what happens when playing the game?

eu and us have different accounts? how? 2 different sites?

this is all confusing

i'm in eu

p.s. sounds too stupid to be true to region lock players

[Pirate]

Derp, please remove/lock the thread and edit the first post.

[Zation]

Could someone perhaps show me the thread where they state, that they have solved all the problems with this, and that "the solution" is now ready to go ? I cant seem to find.

[infected]

wow, nice necro.

for those who want answers, nobody here knows any more than you. the answer is "wait and see".

[Rago]

excuse my ignorance but i'm new to ps

so how does this work then? i sgned up and entered my beta key on the normal planetside 2 website but what happens when playing the game?

eu and us have different accounts? how? 2 different sites?

this is all confusing

i'm in eu

p.s. sounds too stupid to be true to region lock players

I wrote with Pro7 Yesterday, they Say you can also use you´re SOE Account, and you will be able to play on US servers, too.
I understand that the Community here is sad of these Topics thats why they just should make a Sticky.

[Krawanan]

Could someone perhaps show me the thread where they state, that they have solved all the problems with this, and that "the solution" is now ready to go ? I cant seem to find.

hey man, in this announcement from prosieben http://de.alaplaya.net/forum/generelle-diskussionen-f2904/-updated-soe-prosiebensat1-games-partnerschaft-faq-t492983.html (it is german)

they state that eu players WILL be able to play on us servers and the other way around! so no worries ;)

[Vancha]

The Main Problem is, people wont use the Search Function the Just Post, and the Threads getting closed, it just popped up a new one in the New Player Section maybe the Mods should make a Sticky in the New Players Forum.

It comes Every Week for sure,...
Better that a thread come every week and people are given the right answer than a new wave of people seeing this thread every week because someone bumped it and getting outraged due to the OP.

[Crator]

For all we know, they might have started closed beta. But I'd put money down that closed beta is going to start not too long after PS1 day, today. Just a hunch. Can't say that they will announce that closed beta has started, so for those not invited 1st thing it may seem like they took longer to start but really it's just you didn't get in on 1st wave.

[Rago]

I also heard some People signt a NDA.But i dont know, since i did not get one...

[lordofthenothin]

Why are people mad at this?


I only play with the European servers.

[Otleaz]

Why are people mad at this?


I only play with the European servers.

Some of us are cool enough to have friends in Europe AND North America.

[Sotonian]

Why are people mad at this?


I only play with the European servers.

because i want to play with English speaking people only

[Kran De Loy]

Look up posts by a Blue name here by Brollywood. He's a (somewhat) confirmed Planetside 2 community manager for PSS1.

So far the knowledge that people have confirmed is:

--There is no longer a region lock. Euro players can play on US servers and US players on Euro servers. The community outcry was heard and problems were dealt with.
--SOE Station accounts will be transferred to PSS1 accounts (whatever they're called) with veteran status intact as well as all Station Cash will be transferred intact. (In other words no one is losing anything in the transfer.)
--SOE will still host and manage all PS2 (and I assume all other SOE games as well) servers in the Euro as well as US. PSS1 is only handling euro based Customer Service, Localization, Advertising and Marketing.

I can't be assed to find the links to the FAQ that stated all that, but it's out there.

[Pancake]

My outfit is European based... I sure hope SOE gets this problem sorted. No partnership is worth alienating your entire community.

[Goku]

My outfit is European based... I sure hope SOE gets this problem sorted. No partnership is worth alienating your entire community.

Pancake this is no longer a issue. US players can play on EU servers and EU players can play on US servers. We're going to be making a new thread soon and getting rid of this one. We don't want anyone getting confused about this anymore like you did.

[Talented Maori]

All I have to say is "power to the people." Way to stand up PS community, good stuff!

[Shade Millith]

Why are people mad at this?


I only play with the European servers.

I don't like you.

You're one of those people that say "I got mine, why is everyone else angry? You shouldn't be angry because it works for me!"

Did you ever think for a second about anyone else? Take me for instance. I'm an Australian online player. My group of online friends consist of an American, another American, a third American, yet another American, once more an American, sixth time an American and, the Pièce de résistance, an American. I'm the token Aussie. We've played together for approximately 5 years.

And this might come as a shock, but... I'd kinda like to keep playing with them? So when they announced a Region Lock, I was understandably angry. When I heard it's no longer region locked, I was understandably happy.

[Crator]

All I have to say is "power to the people." Way to stand up PS community, good stuff!

It wasn't just Planetside that was going to be affected. All SOE games were going to split the communities into regions via locks. The Everquest community was the loudest about it I think.

[Mirror]

Pancake this is no longer a issue. US players can play on EU servers and EU players can play on US servers. We're going to be making a new thread soon and getting rid of this one. We don't want anyone getting confused about this anymore like you did.

Perhaps the title of the thread could be edited so that everyone would know that Planetside 2 wont be region locked?

[MasterCalaelen]

Perhaps the title of the thread could be edited so that everyone would know that Planetside 2 wont be region locked?

This thread will be sorted out shortly to clear up any possible confusion it might cause.

[Chefkoch]

from my outfit Forums..using google translate.

Pro7 / Sat 1 is planning to make changes to the game client, should be filled before all the other European microtransaction store than
the U.S. version. Looking at other games that are offered by Pro7, you will quickly discover how many of you here Pay2Win content
place. What we can look forward here, then? Other balancing, and if that did not still like to pay the option open.
Playing on the U.S. server? Is possible, but only as a veteran of PS1. New players look into the tube.

Short Version

Pay2Win in Europe because client is different...evil Pro7 / Sat 1.

[Krawanan]

Guys, this issue has been resolved long since, please stop bumping this thread, it's really old.
Cant it be locked or something ?

[ThGlump]

Its kinda shortsighted to take it as resolved. All they fixed is that they removed region lock. But all other stuff about this is big unknown. But it really need new thread so ppl dont jump about region lock.

[Zalmoxis]

I would be happy for this game to be region locked. Having players from the US on the Eu server would just strain the server more, have lag/warping issues and take spots from people that are actually from that region and deserve them.

I don't want to experience any problems with people who can't stick to their own region.

[Kevin D Lee]

I would be happy for this game to be region locked. Having players from the US on the Eu server would just strain the server more, have lag/warping issues and take spots from people that are actually from that region and deserve them.

I don't want to experience any problems with people who can't stick to their own region.

I need to agree with him. Having EU players in our region would only make keeping a MMOFPS lag-free even harder.

Sorry to you EU guys, I know your community for gaming isn't quite so big as it is here in NA

[ThGlump]

Dont force to play under different company and im all for region lock. Otherwise ill play on server where i can keep my SOE account even if it mean higher ping. :)

But really both views on region lock was already said in this thread and was resolved. Read it all before posting.

[Talented Maori]

I would be happy for this game to be region locked. Having players from the US on the Eu server would just strain the server more, have lag/warping issues and take spots from people that are actually from that region and deserve them.

I don't want to experience any problems with people who can't stick to their own region.

Well Im pretty sure there will not be a New Zealand server so Im going to be forced to join an overseas server. As NZ is part of the Commonwealth I would probably be locked to the EU server, which would be on the other side of the Globe and create MAD lag for me. Im hoping I can join a West coast US server as I suspect the lag would be less, so I hope they don't lock me into pingin to EU. I am sorry if this ruins you gaming experience....., actually, no, Im not, for I too am looking for a gaming experience that suits me.., not you. So I hope they don't region lock the servers.

[Kran De Loy]

Again.

There is no Region Lock. Done. Period. Finished. Stop.

Assuming that I, a US player can not play on a US server because too many Euros have poplocked the server is the same as assuming that there is going to be only one server.

Sorry, but that's just dumb. SOE will of course have multiple servers, probably a little more than enough for each region's population load. Also populations have a tendency to sort themselves out since most people go to where they can play the 'most reliably with the most people' rather than the 'with most people the most reliably'.