Regarding the Red Ring and Parasite Gene Flow items

[Sodaboy]

Just so it's known, Red Ring does NOT drop from Falz on this server and neither does Parasite Gene Flow from Olga Flow.

There have been requests to enable this on this server from players, but I wanted to make a poll regarding the request on the forum.

If we enable these items from the bosses, we will be taking a small step away from being SEGA like. Not a huge step, but on the SEGA servers and vanilla Blue Burst experience, these items never dropped from the bosses. The items were in the drop data for the bosses but due to either a bug or an intention, they never were dropped. All you got for killing Dark Falz or Olga Flow was a middle finger.

To me, enabling these items is not that big of a deal, but for some it may be. For that reason, I'd like to hold a poll and see what the community thinks about it.

We'll hold the poll open for at least a month. (Don't want to make any rash decisions.) Whatever the result is will be what's implemented or not on the server. Edit: CLOSED EARLY

I know we have already taken a step away by enabling the common bank so that you can share items with the different characters associated with your account, but I believe that is an improvement to the game that was so desperately needed. Even SEGA realized that a common bank is needed with an online only game when they developed Phantasy Star Universe at a later time. Having to rely on another person to hold an item for you, just so you can sign off and on to retrieve it a minute later is really a hassle and the common bank eliminates that.

So, yeah, please vote on the poll regarding the Red Ring and Parasite Gene Flow, and post any input you have on the matter too.

Thank you.

 

[metalhawk]

We talked in game a little about this already but I'll post here as well and flesh out my thoughts a little and maybe get some discussion going.

As you said, the drop data is there but was never enabled for one reason or another implying that the drops were going to be utilized or obtainable in some way at some point later on. Depending on how closely you want to emulate the SEGA experience I see three options:

1) Enable the drops. I voted for this in the poll myself and personally don't have a problem with it. Drop rates can always be adjusted along with item stats to balance things out.

2) Leave drops disabled completely. For the die-hard SEGA experience this is the way to go. Maybe leave these items for staff members only?

3) Leave drops disabled, but have the items available through events. Either through things like christmas/easter/whatever other holiday events PSO has, or have a small custom event where the drops are enabled periodically throughout the year (ex: every 2nd weekend enable the drops).

 

[Gnome]

I like the idea that Metal has, regarding the items being available through events, I think this would get alot of people hunting, potentially together during those periods.

Its always good to try to bring the community together.

 

[Neirene]

I would vote No on this one, mainly because I go for the complete SEGA-hardcore-like experience. And because those items were never intended to be in the game in the first place, enabling them and trying to balance them somehow would require extra work for the admins and developers of the server and pretty much trying to play in the dark trying to guess how those items behave in the final game.

 

[Gnome]

I think re-balancing them wouldn't be entirely difficult, alot of play testing with them will be required and I'm happy to do that, Soda.

In the end, I'm happy either way, whichever the community decides, but if they are added, I do think it should be only during events and that we re-work them to fit the end-game.
Although, sticking to the SEGA experience would be nice, I think allowing for those few items that weren't quite implemented but were around in SEGA's work could be added, we'll just have to see what happens.

 

[NDW]

I voted yes on this poll.

I feel like these drops should be enabled at all times. Not everyone has the time to play PSO as long as they would like to due to work or school.

If Red Ring and Parasitic Gene Flow become only available during events, then I'd imagine that it would disappoint players if they are really interested in obtaining these items, but can't obtain them during events possibly because they don't have the time to play during the event at all, if not much.

 

[root]

PGF isn't too big of a deal for me, but Red Ring should be enabled. It's the only shield a FOmar/FOmarl can use that increases their ata over the max. If it's disabled a secondary option should be there like having force wall add ata or something. (Rangers have ranger wall and cast hunters have s-parts2.01 etc)

 

[Aleron Ives]

If we enable these items from the bosses, we will be taking a small step away from being SEGA like. Not a huge step, but on the SEGA servers and vanilla Blue Burst experience, these items never dropped from the bosses.

Technically, I don't think this is accurate. A few years before Sega pulled the plug on PSO, they transferred operation of the BB server to a Korean hosting company, and it was during that time that PSO got its final wave of content, including the final Hopkins quest (Lost HELL PALLASCH), a quest to bridge the gap between Episodes I and II (Fragments of a Memory), and Dark Falz and Olga Flow finally started dropping items. JPBB was the only platform where the final bosses dropped their rares (or anything at all), and it was only near the end of the game's life. It's true that enabling the drops won't give a traditional Western experience, but Tethealla already uses the Japanese client and the extra non-Western items that come with it, so there's already a precedent for enabling the final boss drops. One could argue that the content wasn't released by Sonic Team, but it was part of the official server and thus has to be considered a canonical part of the game. It isn't possible to know what the official BB rates were for the final boss drops (or for anything in Episode IV, for that matter), but as long as you stick to the rates contained in the GC drop files, then it ought to be as official as you can get.

 

[Sodaboy]

Wow, that's something I didn't know and thank you for the input!

You know, we're using the GC files as is with the current development version of Tethealla. (Exception being the Episode 4 files since nobody had access to those being stored server side by Sonic Team.) In the case of Episode 4, we created the files as close to GameCube as possible regarding #s.

Tethealla even uses the exact same function the GameCube uses to expand the drop rate and check if an item has been won

ANYHOW, like I said, thanks for the input, it's very interesting. Will have to check the data, though, to see if the Red Ring level requirement has been corrected. It's long been though it should be level 180 and *not* 108. If it's 108, we will definitely patch the file to make it 180, should it be released!

 

[Matt]

I like the idea of these items dropping -- they're items in the client with legitimate statistics and uses, and they add an uber item to the game and everyone loves ubers to hunt and trade for.

My question is, if PGF was to drop, would you unlock the combos on the weaponry? I ask because they're not really useful without unlocks (aside from Flow, which is okay) and many most likely won't be interested if they're added without an unlock, although they are locked by default.

 

[adamck]

I vote yes. They can still be a very rare drop and it'd be great to have these cool items be obtainable.

 

[Aleron Ives]

Will have to check the data, though, to see if the Red Ring level requirement has been corrected. It's long been though it should be level 180 and *not* 108. If it's 108, we will definitely patch the file to make it 180, should it be released!

The level requirement is absolutely a typo. Red Ring requires level 181 in Ver.2, but Sega transposed the digits in GC. Derp. :lol:

Another thing to consider is that if you use the GC files, not all IDs get Red Ring. Some get Red Ring, others get Rico's Glasses, and others get Rico's Earrings. I would assume that all IDs get PGF from Olga Flow on GC, but since BB has other Olga-related items, perhaps those should drop on certain IDs, too. I'm not sure if JPBB only dropped RR/PGF or if the other items were available as well, but my guess would be that RR/PGF were activated on all IDs as some sort of server patch. Depending upon how you configure it, it might be an opportunity for some ID balancing (e.g. making Pinkal the only ID that can get both RR and PGF, as Pinkal was already sub-par on the GC charts and became even worse on BB).

 

[Villain]

Right, I am wondering where I went wrong with not finding the drop charts besides PSO-World for Ephinea yet. I guess I scanned this entire forum too quickly. So many newbies coming to this server, so I can barely keep up with all the booming posts as if this is faster than moles in Wack-A-Mole.

Anyways, I consider this server as tasty as French Vanilla really because there's no substitute for the real thing, which I never played. You programmers and moderators up there in the Tethealla PSO Server Project subforum got this!

At least this poll exists, but yeah, combo-locked Dark Meteor and Dark Flow are going to be funny to watch.

 

[Sodaboy]

Oh!!! You know what, thank you for reminding me, I need to post the drop chart. I will work on that now.

 

[diemildefreude]

Dark Bridge's status effects aren't a problem if you change weapons often. Its vanilla powers just aren't that great. Mercurius Rod has a better Grants boost. The TP-economizing and piercing Megid are good when using Megid, but otherwise, I'd rather equip a weapon that boosts other techniques... I also prefer V502 + Hell in general to Megid.

And yeah, I think RR and PGF should be available. PGF will hardly be game-breaking if the weapons are kept vanilla and RR at LV180 is fine. As someone pointed out, it helps make FOmar playable.

 

[Neirene]

In the japanese wikis they managed to update the drop charts shortly before the closure of PSOBB in the Japanese servers here you have the link with the drops for both monsters in ULT mode.

http://wikiwiki.jp/psobb/?EP1%20%A5%A2% ... 5%B9%A5%C8


we pay close attention to this two rows:

Olga Flow

Drops:
Parasitic Gene Flow and D Photon Core

Dark Falz

Drops:
Red Ring, Red Glasses, Dark Falz Shield, Rico's Earrings

Each color represents the Section ID's they drop and we already know all of them (├Æ├óÔòù├ö├¬├ç├Æ├óÔòù)├Æ├ó├ä

 

[metalhawk]

Dark Falz

Drops:
Red Ring, Red Glasses, Dark Falz Soul, Rico's Earrings

Now THAT sounds like an interesting item :lol:
Do we know what this item is/does or what it's used for?

 

[Neirene]

Sorry it's actually just a shield, Dark Falz Shield Ôò¼├║(├ö├½┬║├ö├╗┬ó├ö├½┬¬)

I remember they added those brand new monster shields and DF had one of them, you could also get a De Rol Le one I got it but I think it was very ugly so i traded it for something else back in the day lol

 

[Villain]

Wow, now I see what it stands for: DF Shield is Dark Falz Shield. My face when that was translated so long ago. I wonder if DF Field has the same idea. Maybe that's a coincidence since I have no idea what a light green looking flash has to do with Dark Falz.

 

[Aleron Ives]

Poor Pinkal always gets shafted. :lol:

I was about to say that there's a black section ID, but common sense tells me that it most likely is the boss's name.

Yup.
├Æ├ó├ç├Æ├óÔòØ├Æ├®┬╗├Æ├ó├▓├Æ├®├¡├Æ├ó┬¢├Æ├®Ôòú = Dark Falz (da-ku farusu)
├Æ├®┬¼├Æ├ó┬¢├Æ├®┬╝├Æ├óÔòØ├Æ├ó├▓├Æ├ó┬í├Æ├®┬¬ = Olga Flow (oruga- furou)