PSO woes... pure evilness...

Drakkhim · Post by **Drakkhim** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 12:02 am

This is a nice little sob story if anyone wants to read it. It's quite comical in a way...

I purchased a used copy of PSO Ver. 2 from a fellow off of half.com. He told me that he never went online to play it, so I thought to myself that I'd be fine. I get the game, get online, and it prompts me to purchase a Hunter's License. Five minutes away from playing, I think to myself, as I eagerly purchase my 90-day pass, and I try to get back online.

Danger lurks...

Seems that the guy registered the game online and I can't play it. I call Sega up and tell them my dilemma, and I'm out of luck. They CANNOT reset serial numbers/access keys, and they will NOT refund you your money for Hunters Licenses. I call the guy up that I bought the game from, and he was very nice about it, as he didn't really understand why it didn't work (I believed him), and he gave me my money back. I ordered a brand new copy, and in the meantime, I play my friends Ver. 1 to get some practice while I wait for Ver. 2.

I get the game, I buy another license (Now spent $30 on licenses), and try to get online. It wants my Ver. 1 #'s and my Ver. 2 #'s. I get online, and it says that the Ver. 1 was already registered and kicks me back to the main menu. I call Sega up and they tell me to reset the internal memory which is done by holding X+B with the controller in port 2... with the web browser CD in and all of this jazz. I'm told to do it around six times, because PSO Ver. 1 data is hard to get out of the system. My ISP settings are erased, but not my PSO Ver. 1 Data.

Next alternative is to buy a new broswer for $5.99, which is better for some reason when it comes to erasing data. I didn't want to do that, as I felt that I'd already spent enough money on them. So, I talk to my friend (the original owner of Ver. 1), and he agrees to swap DC's. I go to his place, reset his DC ISP jargon, put in my jargon, and get online. Works just fine.

Now, the DC for some reason likes to reboot for no reason, and not read discs half of the time. It didn't do this until today for some reason. We cleaned the lens with a q-tip, and it didn't do much good. I brought the DC home and propped it up on two big books so that all of the vents have plenty of room to breathe, and things are working OK. For now...

I really respect Sega. I really do, but the whole security issue for PSO is crap. You spend US$40 on a game, and then your DC breaks. What do you do then? Spend another US$40 to get it professionally fixed? If you want to play PSO, you have to. The fact that if you have a real copy, you can only play on one DC is just plain terrible. If this DC craps out, which I think it may in a few days, I am out US$70 on a game that I can't play. $40 for the game, and $30 for licenses, that they will NOT refund.

So...

To end all rumors -

1. Sega will not reset your keys. A guy on another post said that he swindled them on it, and I have no clue how he did it. I tried, and tried, but no dice.
2. Hunters Licenses are NOT refundable.

PSO is a great game, but please, buy a new copy, and don't mess anything up. Take great care of your DC, too... we all should... :)

Vlad Tepes · Post by **Vlad Tepes** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 2:10 am

LOL!!!...sorry...but that was funny.

Sounds about like my story about trying to get my hands on a copy of ShenmueII. I feel for ya...I really do.

Veggita2099 · Post by **Veggita2099** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 5:25 pm

I would just play ver 1 since its free. I heard there isn't THAT much new in ver 2 that makes it worth paying a fee to play.

pkScary · Post by **pkScary** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 5:29 pm

well i had version 1 and i never payed a dime for an isp or anything. an overall great experience........why dont u try getting a gamecube? they are getting pso too with so many options.......and the gamecube is being lowered to 150 now!

go! scoot! get!

JustinVisible · Post by **JustinVisible** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 7:51 pm

WHAT THE GAMECUBE IS BEING LOWERED TO $150 I seriously can't believe my eyes when I read that maybe I should get one now, do you have a link that can prove this information?

pkScary · Post by **pkScary** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 9:36 pm

my trustworthy friend. let me ask him. sec. nope its not him. somebody else told me. i dont REALLY know. but i remember somebody told me. don't get your hopes up, im gullible

Bling_ · Post by **Bling_** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 11:09 am

ur DC resets by it self because it over heats...there was a tut in Hardware Modification about how to fix it...i followed it and the 1 of my 3 DCs works fine now

sixteen-bit · Post by **sixteen-bit** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:41 pm

Why would Sega not reset the serial numbers on their server so you could play the original game? Is this something new for PSO version 2?

I bought PSO v1 used and had to give the Sega European tech line a call; they asked me all sorts of 'security' questions about the disc, box and instruction manual. The next day my serials were reset on the server and I could play.

miah · Post by **miah** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 4:26 pm

PSO sucks anyways. After playing all of the original PS games and then playing PSO i was completely disappointed. Not only did the game only take me a day to finish, but it wasn't that difficult, there are no puzzles you need to find, and the "downloadable missions" at the time didn't even exist (I dunno if they've added some yet) but anyways, replay value in that game is super low and it gets repetitive very quickly. Run around slash the same monsters in the levels over and over. Get bored with your randomly generated *4* levels of play. What fun. I remember playing PS3 when that came out and was totally blown away with the how at the end of a scenerio you choose who to marry and it changes your gameplay a little. What ever happened to real RPG's like that? And now the FF series is more like an interactive movie than a RPG. Sure, PSO has awesome graphics, but thats about it.

-miah

Lupin[lvl] · Post by **Lupin[lvl]** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 10:07 pm

i think id have to disagree with what you're saying about PSO. Compared to the rest of the series sadly it has changed quite a bit id have to agree. But the easiest way to think of it i would say is its Quake3Arena to Quake 1 and 2. The point of the game was to be Segas, thoughnot flagship, but break into online gaming, as an online experience its really great. It is sparce on story because instead it provides you setting. Its up to the player to 'make' a story, interaction with other players is part and parcel of this, thats one thing the japanese were able to do over US and European player, as they werent as accustomed to online gaming. Treating the other players in the game as AI, almost. Also the language system was a true breakthrough, you couldnt say a whole lot in the way of casual chat, but again if u regard it to the game, you can pretty much talk to anyone in any language and play the game perfectly. That, added with the graphical compliment made for a real engrossing experience. Then, when mags are taken into account gameplay really picks up.

I think the game has to be taken for what it is instead of what one wants it to be before it can be properly appreciated

:D

0newinged · Post by **0newinged** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 12:24 am

Lupin[lvl] wrote:
I think the game has to be taken for what it is instead of what one wants it to be before it can be properly appreciated

i agree. haveing the differences between it and the previous PS games may turn some people off of it, but it's an entirly different game. It opened a whole other world for lots of people. Even though i don't play anymore (for now..) it was a great and interesting experience to interact with lots of people and make new freinds. i still think it's one of the best things that happened to the DC (besides emulation

)

Jeeba Jabba · Post by **Jeeba Jabba** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 4:31 am

Bling wrote: ur DC resets by it self because it over heats...there was a tut in Hardware Modification about how to fix it...i followed it and the 1 of my 3 DCs works fine now )

ITS ALL LIES

LukeD · Post by **LukeD** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 5:11 pm

Hehe I wonder if you hold a big magnet up to your DC....hmmmm nah nevermind.

Oz · Post by Oz » Sun Feb 03, 2002 5:29 pm

This disc will wipe all internal memory.

http://www.mamak-int.com/chabsign/FlashReset.zip

From the readme.txt:

Code: Select all

WARNING - MUST READ
-------------------

  * When you burn this on a cd, be sure to clearly write what it
    is. You won't want to use it by mistake. It doesn't ask you for
    confirmation or anything.

  * If you use this program after you gone online in PSO once (or
    more) with the serial # currently stored in your DC, you'll no
    longer be able to go online again with this serial # without
    calling Sega and ask them to reset it.

  * Beware also that all PSO saves created with a certain serial #
    won't be recognized with another serial #.

  * All your ISP settings will be erased too. (For Europeans users,
    it means that you'll have to launch dreamkey and select
    reinstall-me. This, of course, only if you don't use the PW
    browser to setup another ISP)



WHAT IT IS ?
------------

This little prog will allow you to reset your dreamcast internal
memory, erasing all isp settings, and, most notably, PSO serial
number.

It's useful to run import JP PSOv.2 over an US (and probably EU)
PSOv.1. Note that if you do this, you'll of course won't be able
to re-use your v1 saves. You'll have to restart from scratch.

Note that I don't have PSOv.2 myself, and don't know all of the
details to make it work.

I just quickly hacked this stuff together because I had to reset
my DC's internal memory for a complicated PSO serial # mess, and
it seems that many people need this these days with import
PSOv.2. There's also the alternative to use v1 PW browser and
hold B+X at start, but for people who can't find PW browser v1,
this one may come handy.