Phantasy Star Online

Phantasy Star Online is an action role-playing game primarily played with other players cooperatively over the internet. Players take on the role of adventurers sent to explore Ragol, an uncharted planet. Players can play either online or offline. Online, players are brought to a lobby where they can chat and organize teams of up to four. Team members can communicate by typing using a physical or onscreen keyboard, Typically, all the monsters in a room must be defeated to advance. Each environment ends in a boss battle, which rewards the team with a large sum of experience points. Quests, taken on Pioneer 2, task players with specific challenges; once completed, the team returns to Pioneer 2 to collect their reward. Higher difficulties reward players with more experience points and better items. Some items can be used to feed the player's mag, a small creature that follows the player character and aids them in battle. ==Plot==

The story of Phantasy Star Online is unrelated to the original Phantasy Star series and is less substantial. Threatened by the imminent destruction of their home planet, thousands of refugees arrive at planet Ragol aboard the spaceship Pioneer 2. As they establish contact with colonists sent ahead on Pioneer 1, an enormous explosion shakes the planet. Adventurers from Pioneer 2 land to investigate the explosion and search for Rico Tyrell, daughter of the head of Pioneer 2. They discover the planet overrun by monsters, and follow messages left by Rico leading to an ancient evil, Dark Falz. ==Development==

By the late 1990s, the popularity of online gaming on personal computers had grown substantially in the west, but was almost nonexistent in Japan, where consoles were more popular. Sega chairman Isao Okawa believed the internet was the future of gaming and wanted a flagship online game for Sega's Dreamcast console. None of Sega's development studios wanted the project, as they were occupied with their own ventures, such as Jet Set Radio (2000) and the Sakura Wars series. Okawa gave the responsibility to Sonic Team, led by Yuji Naka. Sonic Team was not particularly receptive to the decision, but continued with development. They saw the creation of an online game for Japan, a nation of console gamers, as a serious challenge, akin to creating a new genre. Their network experiments became ChuChu Rocket!, released in 1999 as the first online game for the Dreamcast. Sonic Team used the lessons learned from ChuChu Rocket! to implement network technology in the larger project. The team therefore adopted Diablo as their main inspiration, determined to outclass it. He had always wanted to develop a multiplayer Phantasy Star game, but previous hardware did not allow for it. The team was given freedom not to adhere strictly to elements from earlier Phantasy Star games. Online functionality Sonic Team had conceived their 1998 Saturn game Burning Rangers as an online game for four players, but abandoned the idea due to insurmountable network problems. They used the ChuChu Rocket! networking system as a template for the online functions for Phantasy Star Online. Despite technical success, Sega was concerned that the high cost of internet access in Japan would be prohibitive for gamers and reduce sales. They omitted Italian and Portuguese due to time constraints. Korean was also considered because of the internet boom in Korea at the time. Sega initially prepared 20 network servers to accommodate 20,000 online users for game's launch, with room to add more servers as necessary. This was increased to support up to 36,000 players right before launch. The time was maintained directly on the server and not based on the user's clock on their system. Sonic Team decided not to add jumping to keep the levels simple and simplify the network code. Naka joked that future gamers would laugh at the word "Online" in the title, as he believed that online gaming would become standard; it was included as the concept was new and so important to communicate. End of production Phantasy Star Online was planned for release in March 2000, but was delayed so more features could be added. The team planned 18 character types, and had male and female sketches for each, but settled on nine. A player-versus-player mode was included in beta versions given to journalists, but this was omitted in the final version because it distracted players from the cooperative focus and introduced game balance issues; additionally, as the console-playing audience was younger than the PC audience, Naka did not want to evoke competitive behavior. The development team had more ideas for features to implement as development came to a close, with Naka wishing he had six additional months to add more features. Phantasy Star Online took two years to develop. Naka found it difficult to make a networked game for consoles, and developed an appreciation for Microsoft for supporting online games so well. == Promotion ==

Sega unveiled Phantasy Star Online at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show with a gameplay demonstration. Naka called it the "killer app" for the Dreamcast as it used all aspects of the system, most importantly the modem. Journalists saw it as the next evolutionary step in console-based role-playing games. Francesca Reyes of Official Dreamcast Magazine proposed that it would be an "industry-changing title", a landmark in the history of console gaming. GameSpot believed it would "change the way we think of RPGs" and could possibly be "the most exciting console RPG ever created". Edge wrote that the multiplayer mechanics "would lay the foundations for a new era of console gaming". The first 100,000 people to pre-order the game in Japan received Phantasy Star Online branded dog tags. A limited edition in Japan including a branded memory card was canceled and the memory card sold separately on Sega's website. Early copies of the game included a demo for Sonic Adventure 2. == Launch ==

Phantasy Star Online was released in Japan on December 21, 2000. Naka had hoped for a simultaneous global release, but the western release was delayed for beta testing and marketing reasons. in Japan the game included a 30-day free trial, after which Japanese players were required to purchase 30-day or 90-day subscriptions. Immediately after the Japanese release, Sonic Team began maintaining the overworked servers and investigated network problems in Hiroshima and Okayama. It sold 75,000 copies there on the first day and was the bestselling game that week. Sega's North American online gaming service SegaNet was not required for online play. Sega expected to sell 500,000 copies in Japan and one million worldwide as of October 2000. By May, over 270,000 had registered. The peak number of users connected simultaneously was 26,000. Several weeks after launch, Japanese players began exploiting bugs to duplicate items, enhance their stats, and kill other players. Sonic Team announced they would ban players found cheating or disrupting other players, starting in May 2001. According to IGN, cheating was prevalent because Phantasy Star Online used a peer-to-peer communication system. Blizzard Entertainment had similar problems with Diablo, but after moving to a client-server system for Diablo II, cheating became more difficult. Sonic Team added more quests for players to download, translated into the five languages used in the game. In Japan, a special "Fan Cup" quest was held from March 23 to April 6, developed with the game magazine Famitsu. In the event, over 70,000 players competed for the fastest time; the winner received a cash prize and a rare game item. As he had with ChuChu Rocket!, Naka played online and was happy to see American and Japanese players playing together using the communication system. == Later releases ==

Ver. 2 In April 2001, Sega announced Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2, an updated version with new content and improved features, including an increased level cap (to 200), characters registered for Ver. 2 could not be used in the original game. Any illegal items were also deleted during the upgrade. Sonic Team worked a tough schedule to develop Ver. 2 in under six months, Unlike the original North American release, Ver. 2 required subscription fees to play. The game still had no dependencies on SegaNet, however. In Europe, DreamKey 3.0 was required. Episode I & II produced a unique GameCube controller with a keyboard to help players communicate in Phantasy Star Online.On January 31, 2001, following years of losses, Sega announced it would discontinue the Dreamcast and restructure as a third-party developer. In May, Sega announced an expanded GameCube port of Phantasy Star Online, which became Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II. Sega chose the GameCube because it had similar architecture to the Dreamcast and supported dial-up, which Sega believed was important despite the approach of broadband internet. To make the game more viable for Nintendo's family-oriented consumers, Sonic Team added a split-screen multiplayer mode. Since the GameCube had no out-of-the-box network capabilities, Nintendo developed a modem and broadband adapter and sold them separately. The servers were maintained by Sega. GameCube players could not play with Dreamcast players. The game adds characters, environments, quests, a split-screen mode, and updated graphics and interfaces. Some quests reward players with minigames based on Sonic Team games ChuChu Rocket!, Puyo Pop and Nights into Dreams, which can be downloaded to a Game Boy Advance using the GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable. A Chao resembling Tails, a character from the Sonic games, can be imported into Sonic Advance and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. The game sold 70,000 copies within the first month in Japan, and by October had sold over 100,000. It was released in North America in October, and in Europe on March 7, 2003. Like Ver. 2, Episode I & II required a paid monthly subscription. ASCII Corporation developed a keyboard controller for the game, released only in Japan, though plans were announced for a keyboard controller to be released in America. Some players resorted to importing the controller from Japan. An enhanced version of the game, Episode I & II Plus, was released for the GameCube later. This version included many quests originally distributed exclusively online, a new challenge mode, and new items. Episode I & II was ported to Xbox on April 15, 2003. Servers were hosted through Xbox Live and did not interface with the GameCube or Dreamcast servers. The game required an Xbox Live account to play online or offline; as the game was packaged with Xbox Live in Japan, to localize the game quickly, Microsoft did not remove the limitation. In addition to Xbox Live fees, Sega charged players an extra subscription fee to play online. after developing Episode I & II, Sonic Team thought that players may want a new experience. Players of Episode I & II and Episode III can chat and interact in common lobbies, but cannot enter game instances together. The online servers for the game shut down at the same time as the GameCube Servers for Episode I & II. It is a port of Episode I & II with another episode of new content. the most significant change is that the game is online-only, with user data stored on the servers, reducing cheating. In January 2005, Blue Burst was released in China, Sega's first online game there. It was released in beta in North America in May 2005, and fully in June. The North American and Japanese Dreamcast servers and North American GameCube servers servers were shut down on March 30, 2007, following a month of free service. The Japanese Xbox servers were shut down on January 31, 2008, and the North American servers followed on April 22, a week earlier than the announced date of April 30. The North American and European Blue Burst servers were shut down following a free period lasting from January 12, 2008, until the server's closing on March 31. This was followed by the shutdown of the Japanese Blue Burst servers on December 27, 2010, the last official Sega servers. Hobbyists have developed private servers; as such, the game retains a cult following and can still be played online for all platforms. ==Reception==

Phantasy Star Online received "generally favorable" reviews per ratings aggregator Metacritic. Edge agreed, writing that the variety of gameplay experiences shared with other players kept the game fresh. Spanish magazine Dream Planet and GameSpot praised how the players can take on different roles in the teams, such as a supporting healer or ranged attacker. IGN commended the extensive amount of equipment and items for eliciting friendly competition to collect them. The chat system was also praised for making communication easy, especially between players speaking different languages. Critics agreed that the single-player mode was boring compared to the addictive online multiplayer. and GameSpot advised players not to try the game unless they were planning to play online. GameSpot and IGN agreed, saying that the core gameplay remained the same, but the new features may be worthwhile for dedicated players, even with the new subscription costs. Reviewing Episode I & II, critics praised the split-screen mode, Game Boy Advance downloads, graphics improvements, and gameplay tweaks. GameSpot wrote that the new material in Episode II was not significant enough for veteran players to return, and criticized some practical issues with how split-screen multiplayer was handled. Eurogamer criticized the cost for a network adapter, subscription fees, and the "almost obligatory" keyboard. Several critics complained about the lack of a keyboard available in the Americas. During the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Phantasy Star Online for the "Massive Multiplayer/Persistent World" award, which was ultimately given to Dark Age of Camelot. Episode I & II was a runner-up for GameSpots 2002 "Best Role-Playing Game on GameCube" award, which ultimately went to Animal Crossing. ==Legacy==

'' at Tokyo Game Show 2017 As the first successful online role-playing game for home consoles, It won several awards, including Japan Game Award for "Game of the Year", awarded three days after the death of Sega chairman Okawa, over the likes of ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Dragon Quest VII, and Kōkidō Gensō Gunparade March. IGN'' named it one of the best RPGs of all time for being the first online experience for many gamers. 1UP.com called Phantasy Star Online one of the most revolutionary games of the 2000s, crediting it for creating "an entire pantheon of multiplayer dungeon crawlers that continue to dominate the Japanese sales charts" and making "both online gaming and the concept of fee-based services a reality for consoles". It is also believed to be a major influence on Capcom's Monster Hunter series. Phantasy Star Online 2 was released in Japan in 2012, and localized for the west in 2020. Phantasy Star Online 2 made over 900 million dollars since its release. ==Notes==