Phantasy Star Universe -- The Restructuring of PSO.

I've reached level twenty-seven with my main character. That's enough time for me to see what's changed and what's stayed the same.  Phantasy Star Online never was a true massively multiplayer online game, and I was thankful for that fact. It was massively multiplayer and online, but it's structure kept it from true MMORPG conventions. It allowed you to connect to the game and potentially play with the entire world. Just with four players at a time. You signed on, picked a ship, then chose a lobby, and then you could go one further and select a region for that lobby. On the Dreamcast versions of the game, the VGL used Oberon 8-5 as their virtual home on Pioneer 2. You pretty much had the lobby to yourself. You would occasionally see someone strolling through, and wouldn't have to worry about declining property values from some moron moving into the neighborhood. From the lobby you created your games. We always locked our games. So we were cut off from the general population of the game.  Phantasy Star Universe has changed things. In Phantasy Star Universe, you pick a universe, and then you're set out into one of the cities within the world of Phantasy Star Universe. The cities in PSU are open and potentially full of other players. There are midway points and post mission areas that are also communal in nature. They're open to the public. So whenever you need to hit the shops, or whenever you're heading towards where you'll access the missions, there is the potential of Joe Public Gamer. It creates the illusion of a more living world compared to Phantasy Star Online. In the Dreamcast Phantasy Star Online there were ways of actually destroying another person's character in the game and in the lobbies via cheat devices. In PSO there was a real need to isolate yourself off from the public. The way it's set up now, with thirty some universe servers, you can have it your way. You can select universe one or two, which are always filled with people, and wade through the teeming masses. Or you can find yourself a nice out of the way universe where there aren't very many people and only have to deal with passing a person here or there on your way to wherever. As long as SEGA manages to keep the cheating out, and thus far they seem to be, then I don't think I'll mind having to mingle with the public while just hitting up the shops on Parum. Next time should cover the changesin combat...