Phantasy Star Online Dreamcast Servers To Close

Thanks to the Sega website for publishing official word that the Phantasy Star Online servers for Dreamcast will be shut down from October 1st. The page concludes: "On behalf of Sonic Team here at Sega, we would like to thank you for making PSO an unforgettable experience. You have brought us much joy and many wonderful memories. We invite you to try PSO on GameCube and Xbox and share your knowledge and skills with other PSO gamers so your legacy will continue to live on." This news follows the shutting-down of Sega's other Dreamcast online servers back in June.

Comments

At least there's still single player

[Sancho]

This is one of the reasons I've always been hesitant to play MMORPGs. Lots of times I like to break out old games and play them for, if nothing else, nostalgia's sake. With a MMORPG, unless there are fan-based servers, this isn't possible.

Re:At least there's still single player

[ooPo]

Well, the single-player mode still works. Your character is also stored on your own memory card so you won't lose anything.

Re:At least there's still single player

[zim2411]

I can't even get into the single player! I bought the game pre-owned from EBGames, but they didn't give me an acess code!! All I want is to play the game!

Re:At least there's still single player

[nutsy]

It's a foregone conclusion that Dreamcast fans will hack the protocols and design their own servers. The question is how long it'll be before the cease-and-desist orders start flying.

Re:At least there's still single player

[k_187]

PSO was tied to the original dreamcast that played it, I don't know if there is a way to reset it.

Re:At least there's still single player

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is exactly why I'm pissed that Final Fantasy XI is an MMORPG.

I'm a beta tester, and frankly, as far as MMORPGs go, the game's great. But 20 years from now, I can easily load up a rom or a cartridge/cd of any other FF game and play (and enjoy) it. But FFXI? How long do I have to play the game, 5 years?

Re:At least there's still single player

[Anonymous Coward]

So don't buy it. Do you really expect there to be a server full of other players in 20 years to play with anyway?

it finally happened

[random735]

slashdot has lowered my grammar expectations to the point that I thought the headline was supposed to be "Phantasy Star Online Dreamcast Servers TOO Close" (proximity)...

I won't miss it

[Anonymous Coward]

The Dreamcast PSO version 1 was a textbook example of how not to make an online game, because the designers apparently didn't take online security into consideration. The online game was fun at first, but the fun started to wane a few months after its release, when people started signing on with hacked characters and weapons. The fun took a futher nose dive when a reliable method of PKing (player killing) was discovered. So the non-hackers started playing in passworded games, and when the hackers figured out how to enter passworded games without the password, then the game got to the point where players had to either cheat online, or quit playing online.

The worst thing is Sega could do nothing about this, since the hackers were always one step ahead of Sega on just about everything.

So I won't be crying when the Dreamcast PSO servers go down...

Re:I won't miss it

[Anonymous Coward]

It's always so fun when other peoples idea of fun is to ruin your fun...

Re:I won't miss it

[Alizarin Erythrosin]

Yeah, I remember when I lost a (supposedly real, I never cheated at PSO) Lavis Cannon and a +60% Dark and +40% machine double saber because some ass hat forced my DC to reboot after invading a passworded game that a friend and I were playing in. Lost everything on my level 80+ character.

The article says that both versions 1 and 2 servers will be taken offline. I was actually surprised over V2, I hadn't heard of that many cheaters or hackers using V2 (mind you, I haven't played either version in ages). Plus the fact you had to pay to play online. I guess the number of people still playing it has dwindled to where it is no longer profitable, or is getting close to that point.

PSO Homebrew server

[R5900]

It seems that some guys have started such a project a while ago..

Well, as written on the main page, the current project is the Phantasy Star Online Homebrew Server. Not that I'm dogging the servers that Sega has; however, anyone can say, with confidence, that their servers aren't going to be up forever. Once it becomes unprofitable and the costs for the servers become an enconomical liability, they'll take 'em down.
(emphasis added)

Their project seems rather dead (was it even born?) but there might more interest for it now..

Refunds?

[Sparr0]

What I am waiting for is the slew of complaints from people taking their games back to stores for refunds now that they cant play online. That is what I do when online game servers go down (as quite a few older games have done), and the store owners always throw a fit.

Re:Refunds?

[Babbster]

I would not just throw a fit were I a game store owner. I would probably simply ban you from my store.

With customers like that, who needs IRS auditors?

Re:Refunds?

[Sparr0]

Banning your biggest spending customers isnt the best way to run a business.

Re:Refunds?

[Snowspinner]

Neither is granting returns on several year old merchandise.

Re:Refunds?

[Babbster]

Perhaps not, but banning people who are going to give me angina by making unreasonable requests will at least leave me in better shape to tackle my next occupation.

Besides, I don't buy the idea that a big-spending gamer is going to come in and hold me up for a refund on a game because someone else (the developer/publisher) closed down online servers months and years after the game was released. The kind of gamer who would do that is the kind that goes into EB expecting $35 in trade for a game because EB is selling used copies of that game for $40.

When the Everquest servers eventually shut down, are all the people who bought the game for $50 (plus expansions through the years) on day one entitled to refunds? Methinks not.

Re:Refunds?

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

And in this entire argument, no one is mentioning the fact that most games released for consoles which have online servers available to them, also have an End-Date printed on the packaging. I know my copies of Madden 2003 and Madden 2004 both state when the servers will be available. I am not 100% sure that PSO had these statements on the packaging, but I'd be willing to wager that they did - Sega isn't exactly an upstart with no legal expertise. There is no reason that a game store would give a refund on such a return and I call B.S. on the original post.

Re:Refunds?

[Babbster]

Actually, AFAIK, EA is the only console publisher that is promising people that they won't be able to play EA games online after certain dates (in order to "encourage" upgrades). I'm sure that the others have some sort of disclaimer regarding the potential loss of online servers but I haven't heard anything about, for example, any of the Xbox Live titles (including sports games) losing their online capability.

Re:Refunds?

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

Next time I am in EB, I will take a look at some titles and find out. But I wouldn't think companies would leave themselves wide open and not have a disclaimer regarding the limited lifetime of servers.

Re:Refunds?

[AlexMax2742]

I haven't heard anything about, for example, any of the Xbox Live titles (including sports games) losing their online capability.

Re-Volt Online Demo support has been axed. Though this game was only avalable to beta testers, I worry about possibly other games going under.

Interesting

[Lord_Dweomer]

I wonder what would happen if they shut this down.....and it had been determined that people lost a substantial amount of money because of their characters being deleted.

It has been discussed numerous times about whether or not people's investment of time/money into an MMORPG should be protected by the law........but what if the company yanks the plug on the game in question? Would they be liable for your lost investment? This is why I think MMORPGs will never be a source of legally protected income. It literally makes it impossible for the hosting company to shut down the game once people have made a serious investment into it. Otherwise they face a barrage of lawsuits.

Re:Interesting

[HomeGroove]

I wouldn't think so. I'm no lawyer but, I would think the company shutting down the game would argue that you're paying an access fee at XX amount of dollars per month. Sure your character is at level 50 but all you're paying for is access.

perfect solution

[JVert]

If sega REALLY wanted to make people happy they would release a the server softare. Can anyone think of any good reasons for them NOT to do this?

Re:perfect solution

[Saffaya]

The reason why SEGA will never release code for a user-run server is that they used exactly the same net protocol of the DC for the GC and Xbox versions of the game.

Doing so would allow a lot more people than today to attack PSO.

The hackers that did reverse engineer PSO's protocol for their own server use have not released their program in order NOT to set a wave of attacks on the current editions of the game.

I would really like to get my hands on a DC server program though. DC PSO is my only way to play with a lot of friends in the Us.

Re:perfect solution

[Anonymous Coward]

Besides... if they did release the code for the server why would anyone with a Dreamcast be motivated to move over to another platform. Remember, they are here to make money and not provide a public service for lonely children.

Re:idiot...

[JVert]

nevermind...
They want you to buy an XBOX/PS2. And buy it.
...
again.

No more great ideas from me...

Re:idiot...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you really want to be a troll, you should at least get it right. PSO was re-released for gamecube, and sometime soon for xbox...

How long should a game last?

[Inda]

I've never played Phantasy Star Online, so this is slightly off topic.

I will not mention the name of my favourite game, nor will I mention the company who made it but there is talk of my game's server being shut down too. The game is 4 years old but is still for sale from the developers' website and a vast majority of retailers as a budget title. The last two years we have done without secure login IDs because of 'hackers'. We also have a very buggy beta patch that has been in beta for 12 months too.

The developers tell me that I've had my moneys worth from the game as I've played it a lot. They also tell me that they make no money from running a server (IRC server BTW) and that I should be grateful they've left it up this long. They have no intention of giving us the server code either.

When I bought the game there was no mention of "you only get 200 hours worth of online playtime". There was no mention that this was a limited service and that features would be removed in the future (secure login IDs, world rankings, etc).

I have so many questions that I've never received satisfactory answers to...

How long should a game last? Should it last as long as I'm still enjoying the game?

Should there be warnings on the box that say "Limited server time. The online server will not be up forever. We will never give the server code to 3rd parties."?

Is my £35 not enough to secure me and my playing friends an old box in the corner of a room with a reasonable internet connection? How much bandwidth does an IRC server use anyway?

Re:How long should a game last?

[shadowcabbit]

Should there be warnings on the box that say "Limited server time. The online server will not be up forever. We will never give the server code to 3rd parties."?

EA's sports titles already say this-- "online servers not guaranteed after the next version of the game comes out" or something like that. Actually, nowadays not too many people even really care how long a game is being run-- there'll always be something bigger or better later on, to make you forget about how much fun the older games actually were.

Not that I really agree with that, but hey. Business. What're you gonna do?

Re:How long should a game last?

[Inda]

What am I going to do? Cuss their new games on Amazon, IGN, Gamespot... No kidding.

Re:How long should a game last?

[Metroid72]

What about "A game will last as long as the revenue generated the online portion of the game can cover the operations"?

and then what?!

[Krizzzopolis]

so i buy your gamecube or xbox version, then i get screwed three years later again?! i don't think so!

Re:and then what?!

[lidocaineus]

Oh please. Have you seen how many people currently play on the DC servers? A whopping 14 total last time I checked the US servers for fun. 14. The GCN and XB versions have magnitudes more people than that. Note that Sega even kept the DC PSO servers running *AFTER* they shut down 95% of the other DC online game servers, and even then, the population was tiny.

The reason they're shutting it down is for practical reasons. If they were still making $$ off of v2 hunter licenses, you'd bet your ass the thing would still be plugged in.

Re:and then what?!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you get three years' worth of entertainment out of a $50 game (even with the $15/3 months hunters license fee) then consider yourself exceptionally lucky. I played PSO1 for 9-12 months (no fee) and eventually burned out and moved on. I'd say that I definitely got more than my money's worth out of it.

Re:idiot...

[PainKilleR-CE]

It's been out for XBox for a while.

The only thing he got wrong was saying PS2 instead of GC.

What about other region servers?

[Anonymous Coward]

The linked page says nothing about the European or Japanese servers. Will these also be closed or will they stay up?

The poor success of Quake

[pashdown]

I don't blame Sega for not making their servers public after shutting them down! Look at how bad that one game suffered from a completely open server, what was it, Quake?

All servers were completely compromised by hacks and cheats. Nobody ever improved on any security, and to make things worse, they weren't able to sell any copies of Quake II or Quake III because people were too happy playing Quake!

What a crock. Sega should release the server code when they shut down their games. I'd really like to play some Dreamcast Bomberman Online and I'd be happy to run a server to do so. It doesn't keep me from buying their new product either.

Great - where do I sign-up?

[Anonymous Coward]

"We invite you to try PSO on GameCube and Xbox and share your knowledge and skills with other PSO gamers so your legacy will continue to live on."

Great idea! Just let me know where I can send my copy of PSO for DC to in exchange for a free Gamecube version and I'll hop onboard. I'd sure feel like a sucker if I went out a bought PSO for GC, only to have you shut down your GC servers when you feel like it in the future.

Re:Great - where do I sign-up?

[ssand]

That's unfortunate, although not unforseable with the fall of the DreamCast. If it was a free game, I would understand, but stopping it out right seems outrageous, very few would want to pay for the last month knowing it will all be erased in a moment. Out of Curiosity, how many play PSO? Also, is the hacking as rampant on the GameCube and XBox?

Why are you such a jerk?

[Inoshiro]

Have you ever worked retail?

Here's the deal: when you buy the game from the store, you're purchasing the box, instructions, discs, etc. The actual service is provided for you by the company that made the game, not the store. Taking it back to the store is taking it to the wrong people.

Based on your wording, I suspect you harras the shop people for no good reason other than to get a free ride on a game you played for a while and waited to go under. Please, do everyone a favour, and stop being a jerk.

Re:Why are you such a jerk?

[Sparr0]

The store is my sole point of monetary contact (presuming a non-pay-to-play game, which this is not, but many are). You are like the person who argues that when I want a refund for Windows I should call Microsoft. No, I call the store I bought it from. If you give someone money for something then they are commercially responsible for any of the promises on the box, which are all parts of the contract for sale between you and them.

You smoke crack, too.

[Inoshiro]

"You are like the person who argues that when I want a refund for Windows I should call Microsoft."

No, I'm like the person who tells you to talk to MS when Windows Update doesn't work for IE 4 on Win98.

Windows Update is a service that Microsoft provides, just like PSO online part is a service that Sega provides. Unless you're paying the store you bought the game from for the service, you're just being a jerk.