Monday October 22, 2012 02:31
What’s inside the Phantasy Star Online 2 Game Room and EXCUBE System
On October 20th, Sega hosted the “ARKS Party,” the first offline event for PSO2. In addition, Sakai and Kimura unveiled the grand opening of the “PSO2 ARKS Briefing Room” located at Space Create BIG BOX Takadanobaba in Tokyo.
This room hosts four play spaces each equipped with an Emperor 1510. It’s a futuristic computer workstation that provides near total immersion with its strategically placed speaker system and motorized height-adjustable monitors to let the player feel like they are in the center of a cockpit. Estimated to be 840,000 Yen or $10,500.
You can adjust the seat and monitors to your viewing pleasure.
In conjunction with Sega’s partnership with Dell, the Emperor 1510 features an Alienware Aurora ALX with Nvidia GTX 680, 8GB of RAM on a 28 inch LCD at the highest settings.
Pricing Scheme:
- 1 hour: 500 Yen
- 2 hours: 980 Yen
- 3 hours: 1,100 Yen
Generally you’ll have to make reservations, but you may be able to get in on the same day as long as it’s not booked up. All players will receive Net Cafe points and have premium set access for the entire gaming session.
During the interview, Sakai said he’d like to do more events like player meetups and feedback sessions. He’d also like to hold a nation-wide event too.
As for future plans, November kicks off with the “Destroyer of History” update, expect to see the Ruins area with the Zeshreida boss. Though they can’t give the full details yet, near the end of the year, the first climactic thing may come to visit the world of PSO2.
[Thanks Manta, Via 4gamer]
At the end of the event, Sakai showed an advanced screening of the trailer for “The Thing which Destroys History” update coming in November. (We’ll call it Destroyer of History for short.) It introduces the “Ruins” area on Planet Naberius where many Darkers inhabit. Scattered across the field you can see objects called “Grim Monolith.”
- Grim Monoliths are those pink and blue monuments scattered across the Ruins field. They aren’t just mere decorations, they amplify the Darker’s power, or specifically, it “amplifies evil.” When the monument is corrupted by Darkers, it powers up all Darkers nearby.
Also they revealed the “EXCUBE” system so that when you reach the level cap, your EXP does not go to waste. You’ll trade the EXP you gain at the level cap for special items like “PB Device / Ajax” and “Rear / Rappy Feathers.” You can now trade those photon drops you’ve collected in the “Photon Drop Exchange Shop” for items like devices, weapons, and units. This news will be officially released to the public sometime soon. (It appears this shop takes the place of the old location of the Tekker Shop in the Alpha/Beta.)
Destroyer of History Logo
- Updates on November 7th
- EXCUBE system: Allows you to spend your experience points you gained after the level cap. Some things listed in the shop include “PB Device / Ajax” and “Rear / Rappy Feather” and 10 star units. You cannot get EXCUBE if you are at level 30 or level 40 level cap.
- Trade items with Photon Drops, you can spend it on things like devices, weapons, and units.
- At the end of the year, the story’s climax begins “Counter Attack against the Arks” and something “Dark Falz..” like.
In the latest Dengeki and Famitsu Magazine, the pricing schemes for the Photon Drop Shop are listed below, though this list is incomplete.
Photon Drop Exchange Shop
- 1 Photon Sphere = 10 Photon Crystals
- 1 Photon Sphere = 99 Photon Drops
- 1 Photon Crystal = 10 Photon Drops
- 5 EXP+25% = 1 Photon Sphere
- 1 EXP+75% = 1 Photon Sphere
- 3 Food Device Striking Mini = 2 Photon Spheres
- 3 Food Device Ranged Mini = 2 Photon Spheres
- 3 Food Device Tech Mini = 2 Photon Spheres
- 3 Food Device DEX Mini = 2 Photon Spheres
Excube
- 3 Rare Drop Boost + 250% = 2 Excube
- 1 Grind Success + 30% = 1 Excube
- 1 Add ability success + 30% = 1 Excube
- 1 PB Device / Helix P = 10 Excube
- 1 PB Device / Helix I = 10 Excube
- 1 PB Device / Helix N = 10 Excube
- 1 PB Device / Ajax P = 10 Excube
- 1 PB Device / Ajax I = 10 Excube
- 1 PB Device / Ajax N = 10 Excube
- 1 Rear / Tiltwin γ = ??? Excube
- 1 Arm / Titastin γ = ???? Excube
- 1 Leg / Destren γ = ??? Excube
- 1 Rear / Brostol γ = ??? Excube
- 1 Arm / Bristea γ = ??? Excube
- 1 Leg / Breasn γ = ??? Excube
- 1 Rear / Rappy Feather = ??? Excube
- 10 Star Unit with Lucky Rise Attached = ??? Excube
- Category: Phantasy Star Online 2
- (37) Comments
V
-Z-
irfan
Gunwale
Ricardo
Aerith
Left Handed Hero
October 20th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Sakai!
Anon
October 20th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
DARK FAAAAAAAAAAWLZZZZ! O/
PHOTON DROPZZZZ! O/
Though I'm not very excited, because I'm not with too much time available to lvl up and use the EXCUBE thingy… Q_Q
-Z-
October 20th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
it's a little sad to see the small-time thinking at work that can have the story ending in only a bit over half a year of the game being around.
sega, sega, sega. even when you're freed of the constraints of console releases, you still think like you have to fit everything on one disc. one would think that after the hassle PSU's console versions gave you with content additions you'd be thrilled to be able to go hog wild without that, but…
well, if the game ends up distilled to 90% fighting a sadistic RNG for rares so you can then fight an equally sadistic RNG upgrading them for… what, bragging rights? I imagine they'll then start having money problems. hate to see that happen since the game itself is solid.
but I'm one of those freaks who likes to have a story to follow to motivate my grind. maybe I'm the wrong market.
Anon
October 20th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
I don't think this will be the end of the story.
Maybe the end of "season 1"?
cshard
October 21st, 2012 at 1:49 am
Probably episode 1. If we're using the theory that Falz Hunar is based on the hunter class, we're looking at another 5 more class based Falz at least.
Roast Beef
October 21st, 2012 at 2:44 am
Considering Falz Hunar uses his hands to fight, probably 2 more for the other two class branches then the last one will have his final form.
Matthew
October 21st, 2012 at 4:42 am
Wooooo! Can't wait!
I really want to see Falz in this game XD
Ricardo
October 21st, 2012 at 5:26 am
No the story isn't over, this is the first climax. You'll fight the "final" boss which is either dark falz or some manifestation of him like Dark Fakis, but so far we've seen Falz Hunar but the To the next stage video definitely shows something large is coming after that.
Matthew
October 21st, 2012 at 7:07 am
The roadmap did say "Gigantic Boss added" for Winter, so I think that when the Darker's Den (Right name?), the place that seems to be a Darker home world, with red/orange watery stuff, that partially-visible boss seemed to be the "second" form of "Dark Falz." I am hoping that whatever that boss was, it's multiparty. I mean, that's what Gigantic makes me think… Then again, Big Vardha is only Multiparty for that one EQ lol
Beta
October 21st, 2012 at 7:56 am
Well, Back to Pioneer 2 it is!
natchu96
October 21st, 2012 at 8:38 am
. . . waiting for the release is hard
J
October 21st, 2012 at 8:39 am
Why does Sakai look so gay? …Oh wait, he watches Glee anyway.
djecliptik
October 21st, 2012 at 9:41 am
Of course the story isn't going to end yet. Sakai mentioned a lil while back that he is going to "pause" the story line just before the PS Vita release.
What kind of "trading" is Sakai talking about when it comes to Photon Drops?
Ricardo
October 21st, 2012 at 11:32 am
Like 40 photon drops gets you a pretty weapon. It's using Photon Drops, spheres, etc..
Remius
October 21st, 2012 at 1:25 pm
We have so many of them. I wonder if the items offered will be actually useful or just joke weapons.
Im leaning towards joke weapons, since otherwise photon drops would become currency again, and the playershop would lose alot of use.
PokeminMaster
October 21st, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Unless, of course, they make weapons REEEEAAAAALLLLLY expensive… Like 99 for a decent Weapon. Then again, even that isn't too terribly much. Maybe we can get joke weapons using Photon Drops, decent weapons from the double-drops, and fantastic weapons from the triple-drops. I only have 3 double-drops and 1 triple-drop, but not sure of their rarity.
PokeminMaster
October 21st, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Unless they make the stuff really expensive. Even 99 Photon Drops isn't too much, but perhaps we will use the double and triple Drops/Clusters for even better stuff. I only have 3 double Drops and 1 triple Drop, so unsure of their rarity.
Renvalt
October 21st, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Perhaps the smaller shards could be used to trade for bigger shards, and you'd need supple amounts of big shards to get anything good.
Considering you have them saved up, I doubt that you'd feel the sting, but maybe the new guys might. Perhaps you'll trade in all your small for medium, trade your mediums for larges, and in the end get only one thing you consider to be worth a damn from that list. Whereas lowbies like myself? We'd have to save a while to have it worth anything.
But as you said, PDs becoming currency could be problematic. I think a way to remedy that is to make them untradeable.
However, I doubt meseta would go out of commission completely – especially if the gear bought with PDs is untradeable. There'd still be a market for low level gear and costumes and stuff – it's just that Sakai seems to be gambling on repeats of the sins of PSO1 (which imo, is a huge mistake).
C'mon, SEGA, don't fail me now….
Remius
October 21st, 2012 at 7:04 pm
You know, i actually wasn't implying that it was a mistake.
The reason Photon Drops were currency is because they worked like real currency. Just like gold/silver, PDs were used as currency because they were RARE and USEFUL. The lower players obtained them but the higher players had more use for them.
Meseta lost its use when players no longer needed what it could buy. Photon Drops never had this issue. PSO2 attempts to make Meseta useful by…well, making it useful. But instead of giving us actual things that are WORTH meseta (an NPC valuable that removes meseta from circulation), they've tied Meseta to upgrade systems with dreadful failure rates and high costs.
This makes an issue because although it's a money sink, it's not a very good one because MOST players will not waste their time on it, and instead turn to the player shop. Plus, since everything drops meseta, balancing the income of meseta is (apparently) proving difficult.
Manta
October 21st, 2012 at 7:19 pm
ARKS Party : http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22760…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22761…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22762…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22763…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22764…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22765…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22766…. http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up22767….
Remius
October 21st, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Photon Drops dont have to become a new currency, but they can most certainly be used to help stabilize the economy.
If Photon Drops were used for obtaining useful items, or upgrading unique traits in weapons (tho not applicable in pso2) and also buying new USEFUL weapons, then they'll always be a valuable thing to have.
What if they were to then put a flat meseta cost on Photon Drops? Perhaps a regular cost + an upgrade cost from shard to crystal? Then Meseta would = Photon Drop.
If PDs were then used with further upgrading weapons, then just like current meseta they'll never use their value. However if they are put on the same bulls**t RNG system that grinding/affixing is on then it'll cause the same issue.
Jade
October 22nd, 2012 at 3:23 am
If you ask me, PD is great as a form of reward rather than currency. Players who have bad RNG luck and couldn't find decent rares to use/sell end game (aka under geared) can exchange the PD for decent (not best) 10* rares.
If its made untradeable, players can view this as a form of progression if your luck fails you since the more time you invest = more PD = keep and trade for 10* rather than subject themselves to the insanely overpriced player shops.
Anonymous
October 22nd, 2012 at 3:37 am
rare ore excavation allday erryday?
IamGodsGift
October 22nd, 2012 at 4:11 am
Hey Ricardo I have a few questions about the extra exp after cap. 1 is there a limit to how much extra exp you can acquire? Or can you keep storing as much as you want. 2 can you apply the extra exp to gaining levels when the new level cap is raised? 3 will there be items/weapons that can be acquired ONLY by the extra exp? Thanks!
School Ricardo
October 22nd, 2012 at 7:09 am
1. Don't know yet.
2. Not sure yet. It sounds like PSU where you gain points at the level cap.
3. I'm sure it's going to sell exclusive items or recolors.
IamGodsGift
October 22nd, 2012 at 9:05 am
Ok sounds good to me. Thx for the quick response
-Z-
October 24th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
*spittake* well, that PD shop is looking pretty lame. the excube might be as well, depending on how much it takes for one cube. I suppose this should keep the no-lifers happy? :/
Anonymous
October 24th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
This could actually be pretty useful for leveling other classes with that EXP+ exchange, plus the mag feeders would be good for leveling up more mags(if you want more then 1), and the raredrop/grind/Add ability boosters will help a lot of people, this might actually urge people to grind/tekk their gear(money sink) more and help some of the market prices.
Seems like a pretty good move to me honestly.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Wait, photon burst devices?
Wow, I honestly didn't think they would add those, time to change my PB to something worthy of a ultimate attack~
Clotho Buer
October 25th, 2012 at 6:31 am
Well, the Photon Shop seems a little underwhelming, but I have faith that the list for that is incomplete. The EXCube shop on the other hand looks quite impressive, and hopefully the requirements to make a cube aren't overly ridiculous.
Ricardo
October 25th, 2012 at 6:32 am
Not the whole list though. Making a cube should require the total amount of EXP to level up.
Nilok
October 25th, 2012 at 6:50 am
isn't it 9.8mil to get from 49 to 50?
…I got 800k after a day of playing…like 8 hours straight which was me having nothing better to do on my day off. At this rate I wont hit 50 til some time in January. I'm sure we'll see another level cap increase shortly after that. We're talking atleast another 10 million exp for 1 cube?. ~_~ what is this shit?
-Z-
October 25th, 2012 at 9:00 am
yeah, either the system or the EXP curve need to be changed for that to be of any use to anyone with a life.
same can be said, again, for the excube thing.
hell. nilok, I give you props for being able to grind for eight hours straight; I can't muster the patience to stay in one place the maximum time allowed, let alone twice that. >.o
List Of Items For The Upcoming Exchange Shops | PSO2Blog
October 25th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
[...] This list was originally posted at Shougai PSO, the author of which attended the event this was all announced at. I am quoting the translations done by Ricardo at Bumped. [...]
eharima
October 25th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
1 excube = 1 million exp
/speculation
Remius
October 25th, 2012 at 7:13 pm
I can barely find the content motivation to grind to 43. I highly doubt i'll ever make use of EXCube.
Leman
October 25th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Sold 2 stacks of PDs 2 weeks ago…