How important is it for me to get a unique PSO v2 serial?

[azel]

Hi everyone, working on getting my Dreamcast online soon. Was hoping to finally play PSO as I didn't have my console online back in the day. I'm a little bit confused about the shared serials and how important it is to have my own unique one.

Also the serials are region locked right? I can get a japanese copy of the game very cheap but an NTSC one is pretty expensive especially with the Canadian dollar being low. I've put a shared serial in and am using the prepatched NTSC PSO v2 EP disc to make a character and give it a a try in offline mode until I get my Dreampi setup.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[mistamontiel]

Boss! Check

dr_orangejuicer got a boatload of new stock.. ahh.. he boosted his price on this

I just went for a used one, also you're on the right track definitely right way to be using Ives CDI instead as the GD certainly is a drive killer, if you choose this route be sure from seller the SNAK (serial #+access key) it's a sticker on the jewel case right beneath where the GDROM sits

As for importance, not required but definitely a nice thing to have, you can register your chars on the Sylverant site and when events happen (like one's been underway now until the 17th), you can have your kills tracked (automated run ingame commands one n done) and earn rewards ingame

If you do decide on your SNAK you'd use the Dreamcast Flash Memory Eraser from Ives' PSO Palace then back into the game it prompts you again for it

Welcome

[azel]

Thanks, I guess I will keep an eye out for a deal on a copy and get a unique serial. I will play with the shared serial for now in offline mode and learn the ropes. Only at level 5 but the game seems awesome, can't wait to get online.

Just gotta watch my cash, spent way too much on Dreamcast past couple weeks with a dchdmi and gdemu and a Dreamconnector ps1/saturn/ps/2 adapter so I can use my ps1 fighting stick, saturn pad and mech keyboard to chat when I get into PSO

[Ragfish]

As mentioned above, it's only required for a few optional things. Nice to have but not needed if you simply want to play the game online. So to answer the question of how important it is, I'd say it's a little important but probably skippable if you don't care about server events and character backups. I do recommend getting one eventually though if you really enjoy the game.

[mistamontiel]

Yeh you can dial in PSO with shared no doubt

Save backups from ingame quite mystifying? Supposedly it's partial only and your storeroom can't be saved? But I've seen UGB /load and gets everything no losses..

For good measure, it's good practice to make hard backup of your save as leveling gets longer! It's the 15 block one, but it gets locked! So I boot into Dream Explorer aka VMU Tool and bypasses that

[NightBreeze]

Your save games are btw encrypted with the serial, so if you change serial you won't be able to use your old saves (does anyone know a way around this?).

Also, it's possible to have multiple serials on a console (this can be a bit confusing), and your character can be encrypted with a different serial than the one you are using for online play(!). This is why the flash memory eraser mistamontiel mentioned is important.

Make a note of all serials you use in case you ever want to access your old saves.

[azel]

Sounds good thanks for the advice everyone! My modded usb modem is in the mail and I've just gotten my Raspberry Pi setup with Dreampi.

Really excited to play this online soon, I will keep working on my character offline until then

[mistamontiel]

Din't know the char saves are tied to SNAK? Dayum

[Aleron Ives]

Yes, azel will have to delete his character and make a new one in order to use the new serial.

[azel]

That's okay, I will continue with this character for now. Will probably be a week or so until I get online and I'll probably keep playing with that one for now while I keep an eye out for a deal on the game,

What level is a good level to start at online? I just finished the first cave quest where you have to go deep into the caves to get cake for someone haha. I'm at around level 12, is that good or should I keep working at it until my modem gets here?