How did YOU find Ephinea?

Ivanorrosso

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I am seeing a massive new influx of players, as many others have pointed out. I have been actively seeking ways to promote the playing of PSO in the modern day. I am very curious, and it would help my endeavors greatly, if anyone who sees this could tell me how you came to find this place. Thanks in advance, and if you can read this, that means you still care about PSO in 2023, and that means you're amazing.
 
I played Schtach (sp?) back when I was looking for free MMOs with more action-y combat in my teens, and then heard about Ephinea being the "best" private server more recently. All modern MMOs have gone in directions I find to be contrary to what MMOs were about to me growing up, so I've been digging into private servers like this one these days. Shoutouts to PSU Clementine, too!

I reckon the stagnation of FF14 and the death of PSO2 following the stillbirth of NGS have got a lot of people looking for something different.
 
Played on GC, then heard from a friend about schthack for the GC version. Played on there for a while, since I had all the neat items and the keyboard adapter. Then I played on schthack's BB server for a little while, since I never experienced episode 4. Eventually got bored and stopped playing, and between then (like 2011) and sometime in 2019 I heard that Ephinea was the definitive experience. Decided to give it a try with some friends and the rest is history.
 
Mew, like others are SCHTHACK Refugee/Survivors! Mew's case is a bit sad tho... While we waited and waited on schthack forums for SOME sign or answers to why the server had been down for weeks.... 'Whispers' of a new server arose.... a 'VANILLA Server'...."Ephinea...." She REFUSED to let go of the pile of ashes that was once our home (8 Years!). Until loved ones started sending mew SCREENSHOTS of ppl in lobbies ALL with the chat bubbles of "WE MISS YOU MEW!!!!" She CRIED IRL~! ='). So, when the day finally came when Crono put the schthack website "For Sale".....mew came to this "Ephinea" she heard so much about! This was how she found Ephinea....

Well, its finally Happened... Schtserv forums are gone. Just when mew was about to post her final farewell... Feeling Very sad, but don't wanna waste the final words she's written, so mew'll post it here...
For those we leave behind...

Hear us!

You look around at what was once our home
The ashes smolder still warm with our sorrow
Many a memory now lay battered and broken
your Faith shattered, you sigh unsure of the morrow

Your eyes still sting at the sight of the end
you close them not wanting to be believed
Your ears still deaf to the idea of starting over
You sneer at what you once had achieved

Many a year we were grateful for the labors of others
Their sweat and tears to provide a place to call our own
They gave us the honor to fight and die amongst friends
Now Homeless, what of the dreams left to be atoned?

So what now Warrior? Do you not hear our voices?
Has the Din of a new battle now reached your deaf ears?
You may wallow if you wish, to hide the love you once had
But a Passion still lives in you even after all these years!

My voice upon the wind Raises your face from the ashes
The cries of Lost ones will Not go Unheeded!
My lips press against you still wet with blood whispering...
"Hear our voices....GET UP!!!...You are Needed!!"

=') RIP Schtserv... and above All..... THANK YOU! <3
 
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I also played the original on DC, then a bit on Schthack. Hadn't thought about the game in years until a IRL friend mentioned Ephinea to me while we were at a car meet last summer. Lol we played ONCE together and he has never been on again since, while I've stuck around for 8 months now :wacko:

So glad I discovered this community and was able to make some great friends! Even got another IRL friend, @VickiKat, to join the server recently through a random FB post I made about Ephinea \o/
 
We may has a new family member among us, soon too! While buying a new XBOX Pad for PSO....(PSO has KILLED Moar xbox pads than HALO Ever did~!!) mew had mentioned WHY she needed the pad and the Gamestop sales rep looked amazed like "W...Wait, PSO is still around?!". Told him to look for "Ephinea!". Should prolly start making really glossy business cards to start handing out to ppl, huh? XD!!
 
I originally played ver1 on DC way back in the day as a small child. Stopped playing it, and a couple years later my friends all got PSO1&2 on gamecube, and we spent a large amount of late childhood/early teens playing PSO together splitscreen. A little later I played BB on pc, and when that shut down, never played PSO again. In 2017/2018 one of our original group told me about Ephinea, and the four of us came here. We played for quite some time, but ended up stopping to play. Within the last couple of weeks, we've all been slowly starting to play and come back again. It's great to be back!
 
I originally played ver1 on DC way back in the day as a small child. Stopped playing it, and a couple years later my friends all got PSO1&2 on gamecube, and we spent a large amount of late childhood/early teens playing PSO together splitscreen. A little later I played BB on pc, and when that shut down, never played PSO again. In 2017/2018 one of our original group told me about Ephinea, and the four of us came here. We played for quite some time, but ended up stopping to play. Within the last couple of weeks, we've all been slowly starting to play and come back again. It's great to be back!
Hana-chaaaaaan~! *Squeeeeziiiies~!* And mew feels blesseded to has you Home too! =3 <3
 
For me it was when I tried to login on PSO2 again after having quit the game for about 3 years just to find out that they had added ip block to the japanese server, then I decided to finally give PSO a try since I already had seen plenty of speedruns on GDQ/ESA and had Ultima bookmarked, but since their player count wasn't very encouraging I ended up asking Mr. Google for other servers, which brought me to Ephinea.
 
I was playing another PSO BB private server, saw Ephinea come up day 1 and one of the major things Soda was working on was Challenge Mode, so figured I'd play here to help test that out, although "I would never play vanilla".

Hm.
 
Played PSO way back on the Gamecube. Last year I got curious and wondered if their existed a private server for PSO. I found Ephinea and played since. I wish I knew of the server years earlier, been enjoying it and waiting for Anniversary quests.
I know exactly how you feel. Went without this game in my life for almost two decades, never knowing it was right at my fingertips the whole time.
 
I was playing another PSO BB private server, saw Ephinea come up day 1 and one of the major things Soda was working on was Challenge Mode, so figured I'd play here to help test that out, although "I would never play vanilla".

Hm.
Aaaand Ephinea would never had been the Same wiffout one of its more vital and Cherished 'Cogs', luvy! <3!
 
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I got recommended by a couple friends to play here for a round of Challenge Mode within the first month of the server's launch. I didn't think I would enjoy vanilla after having been on the original Schthack for several years and being used to all of the changes, but thankfully I did end up giving Ephinea NM a proper try because it turned out to be a far better PSO experience.
 
Played GC way back on release, even online. Lots of offline play ensued after. Had some problems getting on private servers and just gave up (and I don't remember what those problems were). Suddenly got an urge after corona hit, googled around, found Ephinea, tried it out.

Went around 3/4th of a year offline, had a good deal of fun, then went more online, had a lot of fun again, and now I'm a regular that's currently only held back by a bruised pinky.
 
Played GC way back on release, even online. Lots of offline play ensued after. Had some problems getting on private servers and just gave up (and I don't remember what those problems were). Suddenly got an urge after corona hit, googled around, found Ephinea, tried it out.

Went around 3/4th of a year offline, had a good deal of fun, then went more online, had a lot of fun again, and now I'm a regular that's currently only held back by a bruised pinky.
Pinky's aren't even necessary; PSO is life. Show your pinky what's REALLY important, and make it tougher by continuing to train it to play through the pain, lol.
 
Originally played offline for Dreamcast. Then one day I decided to do a play-through on Dolphin and learned about Episode 2. I was browsing a website looking for some information on a weapon and I saw that they had another version called Blue burst. So I did a google and Ephinea came up and it was online so naturally, I had to try it.

Biggest waste of time ever now I am stuck here. Send help. JK.

I never had a chance to play on sega servers and finding out a private server existed was more than enough to finally play ONLINE.
 
I made the decision based off a reddit post probably 5ish years ago. Considering options based on nostalgia. I had only played schtack for a couple days in the early 2010s, so wasn't fully committed. Especially since I really wanted to play Episode 3 for PC, which wasn't (and still isn't) prevalent then. Honestly, I decided to go into Ephinea because word of mouth of how wholesome the community is in comparison to the other private servers. Enjoyed my nostalgia trips in this server every couple odd weeks in a year.
 
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