BaffleBlend wrote:1. Unprotected and universal, and thus can be distributed as text
No. V2 uses some kind of unknown system to verify the authenticity of your serial. If you put in a random one that you made up, the game refuses to accept it. If you put in a valid one from a disc of a different region, the game also refuses to accept it.
The only workaround for this is that you can load existing characters on a V2 disc of any region. The first time you go online with a specific character, PSO will ask you to verify your serial. You must be playing the game with a disc of the same region as your serial, or the game won't accept your serial and thus won't let you go online.
Once you pass this initial check, though, the game won't ask you to verify your serial again for this character, so you can now play online using JPv2, USv2, or EUv2, regardless of which disc you used to create your character and go online for the first time.
BaffleBlend wrote:2. One-use only, turning used copies into coasters
No. The first time you play PSO, the serial is saved to the flash memory of your Dreamcast. Only characters with the same serial stored in their save file will load on that Dreamcast, unless you erase the flash memory and save a different serial to it. You can use your characters on an infinite number of Dreamcasts, but you must erase the flash memory on any new Dreamcast and save your serial to that Dreamcast's flash memory in order to make PSO accept your characters on that Dreamcast.
Jako wrote:I can registry on sylverant with a pso v1 key and keep playing the v2 backup?
You can register a unique V1 serial if you want to play V1, but you need to register a unique V2 serial to play V2. If you've already started a V2 character with a shared serial, the only way to switch over to using a unique serial is to delete your current character, erase the flash memory of your Dreamcast, save the new serial to the flash memory, and start a brand new character with the new serial. If you're not willing to restart, then you can't start using a unique serial now, so you can't participate in events.
The only workaround for this is to set up a second Dreamcast that you will use with your new serial and the characters created with that serial. Your new characters on the new Dreamcast will be able to participate in events, but the old characters on the old Dreamcast won't be able to participate. This also means your characters will have two different Guild Card numbers, so it will be harder for people to tell if you're online, since they have to search both of your Guild Cards, instead of only one.