News: Resolved - PS2 Region

[Sabrak]

Originally Posted by Raymac

...

I get your point, but seeing how they've screwed up some of their games before (well, like SOE, you could say) by selling power (I actually should say "game breaking items") in their cash shops, I'm still worried and feel that we need a real statement from SOE saying "this can't happen, and this are the contractual reasons why it can't".

I really want to play PS2.
I know I'll love the game like Higby, T-Ray and the whole dev team sees it and makes it.
I'm just worried that the game management by SOE and Pro7 turns everything into a terrible disappointment.

[Dart]

Since this is rapidly degenerating into a debate about ping I'd just like to point something out that I thought was common knowledge... [B]Having a higher ping is NOT an advantage[!/B] It means their shots take longer to register and you will kill them round corners far more often than they will kill you. So to the ping snobs; Raymac, GTDG et al, you ought to be happy about having Euros on servers. If I've got a ping of 100 to East Coast US and you have 30 then you're at an advantage against me (which you'd probably need tbh).

[jakaul]

Originally Posted by Raymac

Because it's a loaded question with an obvious answer.

The problem isn't so much the 100 ping person, it's the 200-400 ping people. So sure, because of the broadband infrastructure in the US, you can have people with similar or even slightly higher ping than UK players. However the only way to do anything about that is drop anybody that get a ping over 100 which is just not a realistic solution because even the best of us get spikes.

So it sucks that the baby has to get thrown out with the bathwater and the 100 ping UK player gets lumped in with the 400 ping Hungarian, but life isn't fair.

That's why I'd love to see them have International Servers to make everyone happy.

See, Ray, that's why this sort of thing doesn't hold water in my view. I know for a FACT that the European members of my outfit do not play with pings higher than 100-150, which is VERY similar to the ping I currently have to the PS1 server. Also, with BF3, I have extensive playtime on both US based and EU based servers, with little to marginal differences in ping. With that hard evidence, telling me that ping is a technical limitation to keep EU people off US servers is bullshit. In some cases, I've seen US players have higher ping than EU players on US servers.

You'd actually have more of a case for having a ping limiter.

[Yago]

Originally Posted by Yago

Hi peeps .
Long time no see for some of you (probably don't remember me and my inane and insane gameplay) .

I read as much of the thread as I could stand in one sitting (about 20 pages) , and not sure what the standing is ...but....

It seems SOE don't have the ready cash to roll out the game across the globe (or at all?) and thus sold the rights in euro to prosomethingsomethingsomethingdarkside .
In return pro... get the revenue from their server (micropayments etc ?) .

Unless I missed something in the later pages , regardless of any SOE post of "We'll see what we can do" , I would say this is cast in stone .... corporate cash > players slow dripping cash payments .

I have a questions that if someone could clarify for me :

Has the transfer of accounts from SOE to ProTVdarkside already occurred ?
Am I right in that EQ2 client is free now ?
If I then subscribe for one month (about £10) and create a USA server chara , I can then play EU and USA servers ?

If the above is correct then £10 might be a reasonably cheap way of securing your future global access to PS2 .

(I suspect that the EQ2 open access loophole is a result of the fact that SOE is unable to split your station pass between both corporations on technical grounds .)


Again , if the above is true , And all euro vets who are aware of this , follow the open access eq2 plan , then a year or so down the line when the dust settles , Prodarkside may find that they have taken a big hit in revenue from PS2 that was not apparent when the deal was struck .
This may break the agreement between the companies and lord knows what that would lead to .

Much of the above is speculation on my part , and I hope that some may be able to shed light on it .

Can anyone please answer my questions ?

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Yago

Hi Vancha , I did bump into you there yes , nice to see you are still about mate

Did you read my post a page back , not sure if what I asked has been covered ?
Would appreciate some clarity on the questions .

I doubt SOE would even have started this project if they couldn't pay for it themselves. I know they reported a loss last quarter/year, but I think we'd have heard about lay-offs and such if they were in that bad a state.

Has the transfer of accounts to PSS1 occured? Not yet.

As far as the EQ stuff, I don't know. I'd imagine EU players can still sign up with SOE and create a character on a US server and thus play there as long as they like, but I don't see how we could apply that to PS2? The game doesn't exist for us to create characters in before the swap...

[Dart]

Originally Posted by Raymac

Isn't it only fair to give Pro7 a fair shot? So far the biggest complaints I've seen about them is that they are simply a big corporation (which makes them inherantly evil) and they used to post the real names of people who are deliquent on payments (which is pretty messed up and should be illegal) So they may back off of that process once the legality gets challenged by 1 person.

I mean if you take a step back and look at SOE's track record, especially lately, I don't see how anyone can honestly say they would feel safer.

No corporation is perfect, but I don't think it's fair to convict somebody for a sin they haven't committed yet.

It's awfully easy to be so pragmatic considering the involvement of Pro7 will not effect you whatsoever. Pretty sure there is a vernacular term for your kind of posting. Hint; it begins with "T" and ends in "rolling"...

[GTGD]

Originally Posted by Dart

Since this is rapidly degenerating into a debate about ping I'd just like to point something out that I thought was common knowledge... [B]Having a higher ping is NOT an advantage[!/B] It means their shots take longer to register and you will kill them round corners far more often than they will kill you. So to the ping snobs; Raymac, GTDG et al, you ought to be happy about having Euros on servers. If I've got a ping of 100 to East Coast US and you have 30 then you're at an advantage against me (which you'd probably need tbh).

We don't want an advantage or disadvantage, we want as close as to seamless gameplay as possible.

[Shanesan]

Originally Posted by Vancha

I doubt SOE would even have started this project if they couldn't pay for it themselves. I know they reported a loss last quarter/year, but I think we'd have heard about lay-offs and such if they were in that bad a state.

Sony will continue to project losses because of their business practices influencing how their games are played. Look at what they've been doing. The fact that they made money at anytime in the last 5 years is shocking.

How quickly people forget this is the guy who OK'd the NGE and CU in Star Wars Galaxies and BFRs in PlanetSide.

And then they wonder why they need to report losses.

[Fenrys]

I live in the US and have a ping of about 75-300. The computer I game on is behind 2 switches, a router, and a modem, and AFAIK each step adds ~15 ping. It's a shared connection, and there could be 10-20 other people all using it at the same time.

Originally Posted by Vancha

I know they reported a loss last quarter/year . . .

Really? The last I heard SOE was (one of?) the only profitable part(s) of Sony, which is why they made the Playstation boss their new CEO.

[basti]

Originally Posted by Dart

It's awfully easy to be so pragmatic considering the involvement of Pro7 will not effect you whatsoever. Pretty sure there is a vernacular term for your kind of posting. Hint; it begins with "T" and ends in "rolling"...

But he got a point.

We are dooming Pro7 right away, based somewhat on their trac report, based somewhat on rumors and simply false information.

There is more than just Black and white. If they dont region lock, and if they dont screw up the cash shop and the support, then i dont really mind.

[Yago]

Originally Posted by Vancha

I doubt SOE would even have started this project if they couldn't pay for it themselves. I know they reported a loss last quarter/year, but I think we'd have heard about lay-offs and such if they were in that bad a state.

Has the transfer of accounts to PSS1 occured? Not yet.

As far as the EQ stuff, I don't know. I'd imagine EU players can still sign up with SOE and create a character on a US server and thus play there as long as they like, but I don't see how we could apply that to PS2? The game doesn't exist for us to create characters in before the swap...

They may have had money at the start , but I suspect that the cash pot got too near to empty for comfort .
Why develop a game and then sell off half the revenue stream ?

I misread the Everquest 2 point and thus it does not apply .

Thanks for having a look and replying Vancha , it must be that I have a high ping and thus no one else bothered :P

[Sabrak]

Originally Posted by basti

There is more than just Black and white. If they dont region lock, and if they dont screw up the cash shop and the support, then i dont really mind.

Same.

But there have been no word about that.
Hence my message asking the other european players to not focus solely on region lock, but also to pay attention to support and cash shops.

[Mirror]

Originally Posted by basti

But he got a point.

We are dooming Pro7 right away, based somewhat on their trac report, based somewhat on rumors and simply false information.

There is more than just Black and white. If they dont region lock, and if they dont screw up the cash shop and the support, then i dont really mind.

The nightmare stories that have surfaced are a worry BUT the most important thing that this whole debate is about is the fact they want to split groups up and force players to only play on servers in their region.

If SOE and Prosiebienchinechong come back to the SOE community with the following message then I will be happy. -Accounts will not be moved to Prowhatever and will remain with SOE, players will be able to access servers based in NA and in Europe and finally Prosixtynine will host and promote our games in Europe.-

[OpolE]

DO NOT GO THROUGH WITH THIS SONY

Don't ruin something amazing.

Like the community has seen!

Best game ever made, poor management = Shite game

SORT IT OUT 21st friggen century

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by basti

We are dooming Pro7 right away, based somewhat on their trac report, based somewhat on rumors and simply false information.

To be fair their track record seems to be pretty terrible, they've earned a skeptic eye.

Like you said I'm willing to give them a chance once the region locking is removed, but I would like some better assurances about the cash shop and content patches than the bit of vague PR speak that was in the FAQ. Especially considering their history with introducing "special content" to their other games.