just received an email that said I'm in :D

all I know is that the beta goes from 19th to 28th this month, and it’s aimed at testing out some interface related to the whole micro transaction thing and a final test to basic game systems

the disclosure guideline mentioned participant can post screenshots as long as it's accompanied with some statements like "it's just beta, doesn't mean this is the full game" and censor out character names

so I guess there'll be some screenshots here later :D

Does the character creator let you walk around and compare your height to other characters such as NPCs before finalizing your character?

It bugs me to make a character that is way shorter/taller than I had expected. (since it's not like I'd have any way to know) (and other features such like size compared to NPCs and how ridiculous your character/outfit looks when running) It's a seriously big problem with the Phantasy Star titles. Especially when you have to sit through a ton of story before and after every failed attempt.

I thought this wasn’t going to be released outside of Japan? But any insight and pics would be nice to see. A lot of memories from PSO form the Dreamcast!

@JustKamToo: There's been no word on a localisation and it seems unlikely. But it was pretty easy to get into the Japanese beta, if you cared enough.

I'm in for like 30mins, seems to be problem in server-side and I'm either stuck in tutorial or stuck in loading screen :(

" keep in mind the screenshots are beta and does not reflect actual product"

that's all I got so far :/

let's see if Sega fix the server later

@egg: no, on this it's the same as that character creation demo. you can only know how tall your character is in on top right corner of the char. creation or salon screen. But my character is set around 185~191(depends of which costume I'm wearing) and she's about a head taller than most NPCs, so I guess the average is around 180?

@WinterSnowblind: @JustKamToo:

I'm not sure, but I notice there's a language option in the launcher(though there's only Japanese right now), so I guess Sega is planned to release PSO2 outside Japan sometime in the future?

________

here's a list of what I noticed

• that staging area I mentioned is called "camp ship", the function is exactly like that small room when you head out to mission in PSPo2/PSPo2i. it has terminals for quest, buying/selling consumables, item bank, medical center and summoning NPC partners.
• the lobby is separated in 2 area: gate and shop
• gate area is where you get quests, switch between the 3 classes, guild options(available when you reach lv.10) and allocate/reset your skill points. part of the area is a medical center, you can spent mesta for a one time defense/HP buff.
• shop area basically is a mall, with shops for everything from weapon, armor to salon, room goods and item identification.
• there are 3 currency: mesta, FUN point and Ark Cash
• mesta is your ordinary ingame money
• Ark Cash are for the micro transaction thing, you can use them to buy services like the "my room", an extra 50 slot for your inventory, up to 2 extra item banks(200 slots each), certain cosmetic option in beauty salon, reviving items and a luckydraw that contains a lot of random stuffs.
• the lucky draw has a list of 10 specific items, most of them are costumes. if you can collect all 10 of those costumes you are rewarded with some special item. In this case is a Rappy suit you can wear.
• FUN points can be used to exchange randomly for stats boost items, cosmetic items or room goods, they are obtain by spending AC points, continuous login for certain days, and sending/receive a "goodjob message"(you know, like sending gifts in farmville or something) to/from friends.
• the "client order" in PSPo is back, most of them are fetch quest or weapon challenge(kill X mobs with certain weapon type), others are tutorials
• there is a campaign story mixed in between all the quest and grinding, so far doesn't see any connection to PSO/PSU except terms like poton and mags
• the story progress is store in something called "motherboard", in order to progress you have to search for key items or meet certain NPC in the lobby or during quest.
• there are 3 PA slots for each weapon, you can mix and match them with normal attack for different combos. this is especially enjoyable if you're using melee weapons
• firearms' normal attack does not consume PP now, instead you have a bunch of skill shots like "piercing shot" and "grenade shot" that consume 30~50 PP each shot

#EDIT 26/4/2012

I've been getting connection errors all the time since 23/4, so I'm kinda stuck at level 10

also, once you get to lv.10 you can receive a client order about "mag license" somewhere near quest counter. too bad I couldn't get my hands on the mags due to the connection issue :(