A brand new episode of the PSO2 Nico Nico Livestream will be presented on May 14th at 21:00 JST. Haruko Momoi, Ichitaro Ai, Atsuko Enomoto, Satoshi Sakai, and a special guest will be your hosts revealing the latest information of the newest update coming next week.
PSO2 Livestream Contents
120 minutes chock full of the latest in PSO2 news and information.
Free Character Voices in achievement for having more than 100,000 viewers.
Details of another in-game project in commemoration of having more than 200,000 viewers and comments.
Arks Grand Prix details
What will be this week’s secret phrase? You’ll have to tune in to find out.
We have received reports regarding the decreased PP amounts gained from normal attacks with Twin Machine Guns. We ask that you wait for further correspondence as we investigate the matter.
Morning, not much of an update today. So the reason for the lack of news last week was because the Japanese were celebrating a public holiday. Since then, Sakai has reached the final stages for the post-recording work of PSO2 Episode 2, and is completing preparations for the 2013 Phantasy Star Festa.
Sakai will make a guest appearance on the May 11th episode of “Game Maniax” with some top-secret information. After that, on May 14th, we’ll have our Nico Nico livestream where they plan to show Extreme Quests, the character voice project, part 2 of the Illusory Onslaught video, the Arks Grand Prix Preliminary quest, and reveal more information of the Sega collaborations coming up in June. He will also announce promotional items for those who attend the 2013 Phantasy Star Festa!
Next up is a reminder to complete the Players Site survey so you can receive a free ticket for 500 FUN points. The survey must be completed by May 15th at 11:00 JST. If you need help, shoutbox commenter “Assistance” has already translated most of the questions into English.
Porori
Phantasy Star Festa 2013 Outfits!
A Dream Collaboration
When Sakai was asked which game creator he’d like to work with, he expressed his desire to collaborate with someone who does online/multiplayer games, or someone who works in the same genre as his.
Though Sakai didn’t specifically answer which game series it was, PSO2′s executive director inquired, “I don’t know… [is it] Mon..Hun..?” which Sakai responded with a grin and nod. Though at this point, we can’t say for certain if such a collaboration will ever happen, Shougai (A Japanese PSO Fansite) wonders if this is related to a collaboration enemy coming in the Summer. However, thanks to datamining, we can assume this is not the case.
Today’s PSO2 Livestream announced a brand new cross collaboration between Border Break Union and Phantasy Star Online 2. The Collaboration campaign begins June 12 and introduces Border Break costumes, weapons, and enemies to PSO2!
Border Break x PSO2 Scratch Contents
Fiona Costume
BB Union Posters and Arcades
No Peeking ♥ Binder (Talis)
PSO2 x Border Break Campaign Items
Players who achieve certain conditions within each game will receive special prizes.
Banshee’s Roar / Guld and Milla / etc.. (Border Break)
UshiMan T shirt and Scarf (Male and Female)
LE-Rigel (Double Saber Weapon Camo)
PSO2 players will have to defeat Cougar NX, while Border Break players will have to reach D4 or higher class to qualify for the items. (Please await further instructions on how you may qualify for this campaign.)
Border Break’s Cougar NX will appear as a boss within PSO2
Login to PSo2 to receive Border Break Posters and Stickers Login to BB.net to receive Emblems and Nicknames.
Livestream Recap
Yet another new hairstyle for Sakai
50.7% of players chose the White Day Emergency quest over Dark Falz.
Tundra and Mechs Extreme Quest will release tomorrow.
うしたろう is this week’s secret phrase. If you type “うしたろう” in chat between now through May 22nd, you’ll receive several new voices from the PSO2 Livestream Cast.
Tomorrow, players will receive 10 extreme passes, afterwards, 1 pass will be distributed per day.
Vita players can now adjust the camera rotation speeds
A new “Half Doll” Item (The menu appears at the Death Screen.)
A reskinned Camp Ship for Extreme Quests, at the gate, the party leader can choose to pay for everyone or have each player split up the cost.
You can choose which stage you’d like to play. (Stage 1 ~ 5, 6 ~ 10, 11 ~ 15, etc.)
May 29th Update
Wedding Lobby
Holy Bright Priest Scratch with religious themed outfits and Ursula’s costume
New Recolors of Wedding Dresses
New Extreme Quest Forest and Dragons
New Advance Quest: City, Ruins, and Altar
June Update
Sonic Lobby
Sega Star Selection Scratch with Sonic the Hedgehog face masks and room items
Dragon’s 2020 Student Style Costume, Selveria Bles Costume from Valkyria Chronicles, Akira from Virtua Fighter 5.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is currently undergoing maintenance. This update will add Extreme Quests, a new Team Room, Frog Rappies, Mag level cap 175, and Shining series outfits.
Can’t get enough of Hans? If you clear his client orders, you’ll get a slightly interesting prize.
Campaign Period
May 15th through May 22nd, 2013
Campaign Qualifications
(1) Clear 森林に潜む罠 Hidden Forest Trap by defeating three Rockbears and you will receive:
Grinder (×30)
EXP+50% (×2)
(2) Clear 変幻自在の巨大機甲 Phantasmagoric Titans by defeating 5 level 21+ Tranmizers to receive
Extreme Pass ×1
Grind Risk Reduction (+1) ×4
Grinder ×30
Prize Distribution
May 29th in System Storage
Team Campaign 2
Have 4 or more members in a team to receive some prizes.
Campaign Period
May 15th through June 12th
Campaign Qualifier
You will receive 2 EXP+50% items by having 4 or more members in your team by the time the campaign is over. If you have 4 or more members in a team prior to the start of the campaign, you will also qualify. However, those who do not log in during the campaign period will not receive the prizes.
Limited-time Quest / ARKS Grand Prix 2013 Preliminaries
雨風とともに
With Rain and Wind (Emergency Quest Available until June 12th)
Two new Quest Types
エクストリームクエスト Extreme Quests
期間限定クエスト Limited-time Quests
Client Order
New Client Orders
Xie will be available until June 12th
New Items
ビアンコパラソーレ Bianco Parasol
バブラッピーガン BubRappy Gun
These are only a portion of the items available within this update, however, these two items in particular are available until June 12th.
Emergency Quests
Several Emergency Quests can appear at the same time. For example, if the announcement is for Amduscia, the Volcanic Guerrillas and Chrome Dragon emergency quest will appear at the same time.
Interrupt Ranking
During a Time Attack Ranking, the targeted quest will have the following changes applied to all difficulties:
EXP from Enemies + 100%
Meseta Clear Reward increased 10 fold.
Enemy Attack Rankings will have the following bonuses applied:
Rare versions of the targeted enemy will also count towards the ranking.
Targeted enemies and rare enemies will have Rare Drop Boost + 400% and Boost Enemy Chance + 25% applied.
Haze Draahl and Chrome Dragon will no longer be elected for Enemy Attack Ranking.
New Latent Abilities
Shop Updates
New FUN Shop
Pyroxene Shop Update
Recycle Shop Update
My Room Shop Update
Team Features expanded
New Team Room
New Team Room NPCs
Grind Menu Update
Added a confirmation window when selecting +1 or higher grind items as materials for attribute grinding or adding special abilities. When adding special abilities, a confirmation window will appear when selecting 7 star or higher items as materials.
Other Notes
To celebrate the launch of Extreme Quests, players will receive 10 Extreme Passes エクストリームパス, and 1 ハーフドール Half Doll if they logged in between Feb 28th through May 8th. You can pick them up at the Visiphone Campaign Item Pick-up menu.
To commemorate Phantasy Star Online 2 for winning the Famitsu and Dengeki Online Award, you can pick up a Tri-Boost+100% item at the Visiphone Campaign Item Pick-Up menu.
AC Scratch Campaign 4, and Fun Scratch Campaign 2 items were distributed.
In the PC version, pressing the tab key in the party settings screen will automatically move the cursor to the bottom to update your party.
An “Announcements” screen was added
A checkbox in My Shop Search menu lets you search for items with latent abilities.
Prevented Dark Falz Elder in the Profound Darkness Emergency Quest from getting stunned. (2ch pointed out how Stun and Shock are two different things. This seems to be a countermeasure for Holy Ray.)
For some bosses and enemies in Advance Quests, limited the amount of times an enemy will call upon other enemies.
Shortened the distance of enemies appearing in succession for Advance Quests.
Prevented players from defeating the Vol Dragon summoned by Goron Zoran
Reduced Symbol Art load
Made the screens in the Title Counter display faster.
If your “Matching Settings” has disabled NPCs from appearing in a party, the Partner Character terminal in the camp ship will display a message about this setting.
Added a notification icon to the main menu when you receive new Mail, Team, and Friend List entries. The communication sub-menu will display the number of new entries you’ve received.
You can now select several mail entries and mark them as “read.”
The Compose Mail menu will now display information on how to perform a carriage return.
The item details window will display the item’s equippable race and gender on one line while showing the required stats and class underneath them.
Added a half-doll item that when used, revives half of your maximum HP when incapacitated. Half-Dolls are distributed through campaigns.
When chatting with client order NPCs, the second option has changed to say (Client Order [Current: min/Max])
When selecting client orders in the Team Menu, it will now say (Client Order [Current: min/Max])
The current limited-time event will be displayed in parentheses after Xie’s name. For example “Xie (Rainy)” will accompany the “With Rain and Wind” limited-time Emergency Quest.
Changed some of Hans, Revelle, and Kressida’s greetings.
A postscript message was added to error No.674
Eased the number of hits you receive from Quartz Dragon’s Rush Attack
This scratch rotation features outfits and accessories from Shining Hearts, Shining Blade, and Shining Arks. Visit the AC Scratch Catalog site to see additional clothes/parts not listed below. This scratch rotation ends June 12th, 2013.
サクヤｍｏｄｅＮ・レプカ Sakuya modeN Repca サクヤｍｏｄｅＮ・レプカ紅 Sakuya modeN Repca Red サクヤｍｏｄｅＮ・レプカ月 Sakuya modeN Repca Moon サクヤｍｏｄｅＮ・レプカ雪 Sakuya modeN Repca Snow サクヤｍｏｄｅＮ・レプカ海 Sakuya modeN Repca Sea サクヤｍｏｄｅＮ・レプカ雅 Sakuya mode N Repca Elegance
Arks Grand Prix Preliminary Quest Available: May 15th through September 25th
The Arks Grand Prix Preliminaries are meant for players to practice their skills for the upcoming 1 year anniversary offline event “Phantasy Star Festa 2013.” This tournament will be held in various locations across Japan, as players in teams of four rush for the fastest time.
Since this quest is only meant as a training exercise for the Arks Grand Prix, Items and EXP are unavailable.
Extreme Training: Forest and Dragons Available: May 29th, 2013
The next set of Emergency Quests pits the players against Naberius natives, Amdsucia Dragons, and Darkers. With simpler stage orders, this quest should be easier for those who wish to to challenge it alone or with some friends. Additionally, since some enemies are weak to poison, players can have the upper hand by bringing weapons with poison inflicting special abilities.
New Advance Quests Available: May 29th, 2013
Three new Advance Quests; City, Ruins, and Sanctum, will be available May 29th, 2013.
Holy Bright Priest and Wedding Lobby Event
カテドラルスーツ Cathedral Suit
May 29th’s AC Scratch rotation will let players dress up their characters as priests or nuns! Expect to see Ursula’s costume, and new color variations of the Tuxedo and Bridal Dresses.
カテドラルクロース Cathedral Cross
ウルスラ レプカ Ursula Repca
ブライダルドレス紅 Bridal Dress Red
Weapon Camo
Wedding Lobby Available: May 29th through June 12th, 2013
Burning Rangers x PSO2
The 1 Year Anniversary quest coming up later this summer features a surprise event harking back to the Sega Saturn era. The Emergency Trial “Burning Angel” tasks players with rescuing survivors trapped in flames.
[2] Click on 登録情報へ (Registration Details) *If this does not show up see below*
[3] Choose 1 radio button to fill in information for either your name, birthday, or secret question and enter your email address at the bottom. Click 次へ (Next) when finished.
[4] On the next page click パスワードを変更する Change your password.
[5] Enter your current 現在のパスワード」and new「新しいパスワード」password.
After logging in, you may see two buttons asking you to either パスワードを変更する change your password or 今回はパスワードを変更しない keep the current password. You can select change password to skip step two.
Campaign Qualifications
The character on the account must be level 10+ on any class to qualify.
Please wait until after May 22nd’s maintenance is over to change your password.
Everyone who clears the following client orders will receive several prizes.
Campaign Period
May 22nd through May 29th maintenance
Campaign Qualifications
(1) Clear Xie’s client order アークスたちのウワサ話！？ Arks Gossip!? by defeating 25 Oodan and 10 Galf to receive:
EXP+50% (×2)
Meseta+50% (×4)
(2) Clear Hans client order 超弩級戦艦機甲 Super-Dreadnought Battleship by defeating Big Vardha 5 times to receive:
Rare Drop Boost+50% (×2)
Grind Risk Reduction (+1) (×4)
Grinder (×30)
Prize Distribution
June 5th
Can be picked up at Visiphone
White Day Emergency Quest Bug
Since the White Day Emergency Quest did not appear at the scheduled time that was announced during the PSO2 Livestream, all players who logged in between May 8th through May 15th prior to maintenance will receive a Triboost+100% as compensation.
Support List
PlayStation Vita graphics not showing up
We’ve received reports of a bug where some of the floor textures appear missing on the Playstation Vita version. As a workaround, press the PS button, peel down the Live Area screen, and restart the game. Simply logging out to the title screen and logging back in will not correct this issue.
Character inoperable when performing a lobby action in the Panis Repca outfit
During our investigation, we have confirmed a bug where you may not be able to operate your character when performing the “Mimic” lobby action in the Panis Repca outfit. As a workaround for this bug, open the main menu and select a different outfit.
Phantasy Star Online 2 and Border Break Union are having a cross collaboration campaign! During the campaign period, items and characters from their respective titles will cross over into the other game. The campaign begins June 12th until August 7th, so you’ll have plenty of time to join in on the festivities.
Campaign Period: June 12th through August 7th, 2013
Login Cross Collaboration Campaign
(Border Break) Everyone that logs into BB.NET during the campaign period will receive:
Nicknames: Transcend Boundaries and ARKS
Emblem: ARKS CREST
(PSO2) Everyone that logs into PSO2 during the campaign period will receive:
BB Union Items in Scratch
During the campaign period, the following Border Break items will appear in either AC or FUN scratch.
Can you believe it, it’s been almost a year since the launch of PSO2. This summer, PSO2 will launch a 1 year anniversary event both online and offline. SEGA will be touring 5 cities across Japan to hold the “Phantasy Star Thanks Festa 2013″ fan event. This fan event will showcase the latest PSO2 information while hosting the Arks Grand Prix time attack tournament. Sega will also sell various Phantasy Star related merchandise such as T-shirts, P-Spec magazines, bath towels, and smart phone cases.
The “Phantasy Star Thanks Festa 2013 Online” update will introduce a brand new feature and event quest. In this update, you can play ARKS Bingo, battle an all-star cast of enemies, and rescue civilians in a Burning Rangers themed E-Trial. We’ll have more details about this online event once the site opens, but in the meantime, let’s check out what’s coming up in the offline event.
Phantasy Star Online 2 Thanks Festa 2013
Locations and Schedule
Event Times: 10:00 ~ 18:00 JST
June 9th in Tokyo 東京ビッグサイト
June 15th in Nagoya 名古屋国際会議場
June 29th in Fukuoka スカラエスパシオ
July 14th in Osaka インテックス大阪
July 28th in Sapporo 札幌コンベンションセンター
August 3rd (Finals) in Tokyo DIFFER ARIAKE
Event Features
Main Stage (PSO2 Episode 2 Info / Arks Grand Prix Tournament)
Live Stream Broadcast with Sakai, Haruko Momoi, Ichitaro Ai, Atsuko Enomoto
Episode 2 information.
Promotional Items
Guests that attend the Phantasy Star Thanks Festa 2013 offline event can receive several promotional items while supplies last.
PSO2 Original Neck Strap 『PSO2』オリジナルネックストラップ
PSO2 Fan『PSO2』うちわ
A Real Scratch Card リアルスクラッチカード (Match All 3 ARKS logos and win original merchandise.)
Each event location will offer an exclusive item code card for two T-shirts and an accessory. The accessory you receive is based upon the city that hosts the event.
感謝祭２０１３ＴシャツＭ Festa 2013 T-Shirt M 感謝祭２０１３ＴシャツＦ Festa 2013 T-Shirt F (Available in All locations)
人形焼きイヤリング Ningyo-yaki Earing (Fried Dolls) (Available in Tokyo)
金シャチヘアピン Gold Orca Hairpin (Available in Nagoya)
明太子イヤリング Mentaiko Earring (Available in Fukuoka)
たこ焼きかんざし Takoyaki Hairpin (Available in Osaka)
木彫りのクマヘアピン Bear Carving Hairpin (Available in Sapporo)
Arks Grand Prix
PC players in teams of 4 and Vita players in teams of 2 will compete in a time attack tournament quest. First place winners in each city will take home a trophy room item, 25,000 AC, and a commemorative medal.
The tournament finals held in Tokyo will give the winning team a commemorative trophy, the ability to design their own item, 50,000 AC, and a gold trophy room item.
Item Design Contest
Item Design Entry Example
Now all that fluff is out of the way, let’s get down to business. The PSO2 development team wants YOU to design new weapon camos, costumes and accessories! Winners will see their designs come to life as in-game items in three separate divisions; [Weapon Camo] [Costumes] and [Accessories].
Entry Period
May 24th through July 16 @ 11:00 JST
Several Winners in Each Division
Contest Rules
Designs should pertain to Phantasy Star Online 2
They are not accepting hairstyles, head parts, body parts, leg parts, and arm parts designs at this time.
Designs may be slightly modified when converted into CG models for the game.
Entries must be original, unpublished works, created by the submitter.
One person may enter several times.
If a contest entrant is selected, their nickname or character name may be shown at the official site.
Once a CG model is made, the item will be released in AC Scratch. The winner will receive the item they created directly from SEGA.
The submitted image should be a JPEG file up to 1MB in size.
You must use the submission form to submit your entry, using any other methods will make the entry invalid.
Please provide some information about your work in the comments box on the official form.
Your entry is disqualified if your design is published anywhere other than the entry submission form.
Please refrain from publishing your design on a blog or social networking site. If they confirm your entry was published prior to the announcement of the contest results, your entry may be disqualified.
Entries should avoid using copyrighted works owned by a third party.
Winner Announcements
The “Nominees” and “Contest Results” are published separately.
The winners will be announced at the players site.
Entry Categories
Use the radio buttons to select one of the three divisions your entry belongs to. Within the “Category” section of the entry form, please write in Japanese the category name of the submission. You can see the list of categories and their English translations below.
Some readers have noted that one weapon camo appears to be missing from the Border Break Union collaboration. Sega has chosen not to reveal the details on how to obtain this item. Back in the PSO2 Live Broadcast, Sakai dropped a hint that there may be something else besides Cougar NX appearing in the game. If this is true, then perhaps this weapon camo might be an item drop from another Border Break enemy.
Holy Bright Priest Scratch runs until June 26th, 2013. It features priest and nun outfits as a compliment to the wedding scratch released a year ago. The full AC Catalog rotation can be viewed here.
Due to hardware issues on SEGA’s end, they have decided to temporarily suspend the following websites:
AC Charging Site
SEGA ID Management Site
One-time Password Registration Site
SEGA ID Registration Site
In addition to this, the following services have been temporarily suspended:
PC Authentication Key Emails
You will not be able to register for a new SEGA ID account, nor will you receive an authentication key email if you switch PCs at this time. Sega does not have an ETA as to when they’ll restore these services, but will write a followup report on Friday 14:00 JST.
Now that SEGA has identified the main issue that affected the Arks Cash Purchasing site, we will undergo special maintenance on Friday May 31st in order to restore this service.
As you may be aware by now, the special maintenance scheduled for tonight at 8:00 PM EST has been cancelled. Unfortunately, it will take more time to restore the AC page than they previously thought. They will continue to do their best to resolve the problem, however, it’s still unknown as to whether they can complete the restoration work by the end of today. Please note the possibility that they may have to perform an Emergency Maintenance to restore the AC website. If such an event is needed, it will be posted on the official site.
Due to the issue related to the Arks Cash website, the following services have been temporarily suspended:
A brand new Premium Package has been announced for July 17th, 2013 which will include new promotional item codes and a mini soundtrack CD. Interestingly enough, this date falls on a Wednesday, which seems to imply the release date for PSO2: Code : Episode 2, but until an official announcement is made….
Phantasy Star Online 2 Premium Package Vol 2
Price: 6,279円
Release Date: July 17th, 2013
Platform: Windows PC
Contents
2 Disc DVD
Ethan Waber Costume
Karen Erra Costume
Pete Mag Evo. Device
30 Day Premium Set
1000 FUN ticket
Consumption Items
Color Change Pass
PSO2 Mini Soundtrack CD
New Weapon Category Set
Mini Soundtrack CD
A mini soundtrack CD that contains music from PSO2 through Episode 2.
Adjust the servers along with the restoration of the AC Charging site
The plan is to reopen the list of sites affected by this ongoing issue.
Sega plans to distribute compensation for those who used AC contents between February 6th post-maintenance through May 29th, 2013. They will also provide compensation for all users sometime in the future. Once they decide upon the details of this compensation, it will be posted at the official site.
