Is base PSO2 still active?

[Cat_Heads]

Base PSO2 has been one of my all time favorite MMOs, but the horrible launch and state of NGS ruined compatibility for some of my friends and killed off certain parts of the base game. I'm considering getting back into PSO2, but I don't want to go anywhere near NGS.

Is the base game still active? Even with so many cut features, the core game is still present. IMO it's not worth getting into if I can't easily find people to play it with, and I'd rather hear firsthand before I clear up space on my hard drive to install it.

[Killance]

Alliances on the ships often do content together in pso2. It isn't dead, but not bustling with life like it was in 2020 and first half of 2021.

[VanillaLucia]

If you have an alliance that is active or a group of friends who are willing to play it, it is still very much active but not bustling to the point of "all" content being played. Some parts of the game are completely lopped off (Mission Pass and Fresh Finds Shop) and some aspects of the game like creating the perfect weapons/units (CRAG gear with Capsules) are impossible due to the lack of Mission Badges. The game's end-of-life state is in limbo between what Global "used to be" and what Japan currently has as their end-of-life state (both are very different) so Global may be a harder experience overall if you are trying to play it solo and really wanted the "best" even though the game doesn't really push for you having the best.

I would argue the features cut aren't so detrimental unless fashion was something you really wanted - but in New Genesis those have been rectified by Sega's Memory Scratches (reruns of popular cosmetics from the Japanese side - meaning for Global a lot of this is the very first time you can actually see those items as-is due to how much was missed).

If you do hop back in, you're likely going solo or having to wait and organize groups for content unless it's Cradle of Darkness (UH) or Twisted with Hatred because unfortunately as it is many people don't actually "play" the content unless it's in an organized group.

[Miles Bluefalls]

Nah, it's dead.
Can't get a full group of people (read: randos + parties) doing UQs at "peak hours".
Literally just got done listening to people vent how there's no seasonal UQs anymore, and they gutted others to never be seen in rotation again. Nah, they want you to BUY those triggers with SG, and why would you do that if you didn't have a group already?
People I see in mutli-lobby quests are always "one player character, 3 rentals".

Sega did its best to just smother base PSO2. And they succeded.

[Alligo]

No

[The Legendary Booty Warrior]

Dead as ♥♥♥♥ game, don't waste your time

[Gilver Redgrave]

No.

Only people playing base PSO2 right now are groups of friends or guild mates.

[0000]

No, I even meet somebody at 2/8 UQ level 75 (forgot?) Craddle, and we talk with each other ingame how dead the game.

[Prokaizer]

They killed it when they removed the Mission Badges and the Mission Pass.
No way to get easy capsules and reach 200 stats on each Unit anymore.
Also people don't run Ultra Hard missions, and since they removed the Mission Pass, you can no longer farm for Darkstones to make your Klauz.

[Crystal Sharrd]

You could finish the story, if you haven't already. Not like NGS's story is going to miraculously get better anytime soon.

[Cat_Heads]

Dang, thanks for all the replies.
Sounds like my fears were confirmed, SEGA has killed, or better, smothered the base game. Big sad.

I suppose I'll wait and see if the game shuts down. Maybe then we can get some fan servers up by people that actually care about the game.

[Killance]

Originally posted by Prokaizer:

They killed it when they removed the Mission Badges and the Mission Pass.
No way to get easy capsules and reach 200 stats on each Unit anymore.
Also people don't run Ultra Hard missions, and since they removed the Mission Pass, you can no longer farm for Darkstones to make your Klauz.

Isn't that a drop from primordial darkness, Shiva UQ and Divide quests? Sure the freebies from MP is gone, but the item itself can still be obtained.

[Killance]

Originally posted by Cat_Heads:

Dang, thanks for all the replies.
Sounds like my fears were confirmed, SEGA has killed, or better, smothered the base game. Big sad.

I suppose I'll wait and see if the game shuts down. Maybe then we can get some fan servers up by people that actually care about the game.

Ya the game isn't shutting down. That tune has be sung too many times here as is. Quarterly reports show a positive revenue and PSO is a rather big name.

The entirety of PSO would have to take an absolute nosedive in JP and global for it to ever close down. And I mean a Wildstar levels of a nosedive.

[VanillaLucia]

Originally posted by Prokaizer:

Also people don't run Ultra Hard missions, and since they removed the Mission Pass, you can no longer farm for Darkstones to make your Klauz.

If I recall, the Solo Sodam Ultimate Quest can still drop the Cras weapons directly if not the resources to make them and the units. The kicker, as you mentioned, is that without the Mission Badge Exchanges you can't make god weapons and units as easily anymore (CRAG + Reveries/Catalysts/Factors). It doesn't make the game unplayable, but it's another glaring disparity between the Global and Japanese versions of the game where the Japanese version is trucking along like it did already (having been "completed" and the things they lost were big but weren't as detrimental as what Global lost too).

Besides an alternative to Cras weapons, the Challenge Mission Quest for the Fluxio weapons is capable of being played solo so you can get a relatively decent second-best weapon without very much grinding but then unlike the Japanese side you don't have full access to its alternate and inverted weapon series (the Rinza series, which are available via medal exchanges) if you wanted to gear up every class/character you had.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Killance:

Originally posted by Cat_Heads:

Dang, thanks for all the replies.
Sounds like my fears were confirmed, SEGA has killed, or better, smothered the base game. Big sad.

I suppose I'll wait and see if the game shuts down. Maybe then we can get some fan servers up by people that actually care about the game.

Ya the game isn't shutting down. That tune has be sung too many times here as is. Quarterly reports show a positive revenue and PSO is a rather big name.

The entirety of PSO would have to take an absolute nosedive in JP and global for it to ever close down. And I mean a Wildstar levels of a nosedive.

They are talking about base PSO2 shutting down, not NGS.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Cat_Heads:

Dang, thanks for all the replies.
Sounds like my fears were confirmed, SEGA has killed, or better, smothered the base game. Big sad.

I suppose I'll wait and see if the game shuts down. Maybe then we can get some fan servers up by people that actually care about the game.

I wonder how well a private server of PSO2 would actually do. It's not like previous PSO games, they can be played and enjoyed with a tiny amount of players, but PSO2 is kinda reliant on having a decent amount of players active to keep it alive.

We can see right now how bad a private server of PSO2 would be without the players. The marketplace, UQ's, other game modes, they are a mess right now, so I don't see how that would be fixed on a private server. They would likely have to rework a lot of the game.