NBrid

So here I sit at the end. Time to move on. Before I go, let me express my gratitude for an enjoyable life learning experience. Well, at least on card battle techniques.

I'm not going to lie. This past week I almost had to force myself to play Phantasy Star Online. It just wasn't as fun as it used to be. I only went on because I still enjoyed the people I "hung out" with. No, losing had nothing to do with it. I did alright for myself. But except for people I "knew", everyone seemed to talk less and less, and that leads to really boring games. Plus I just need a break after three months living in the world of PSO (Episode 1 & 2 and 3!).

Before I get all sentimental in here, what have I discovered about the game of Phantasy Star Online Episode III itself? What's changed since I started?

First is game length. All previews of PSO Ep. 3 stated how games take an average of 30+ minutes, and my initial experience confirmed that. Well once you learn how to play, and others REALLY learn how to play, games are much faster. Now I'd say the average is closer to 15 minutes. 30 isn't rare, but the average is far less.

You also learn the COM (computer controlled opponent) is a moron. One of the flaws of this game is that the only way the COM is any challenge is when the deck is stacked completely against you, and even then it's not bad. You learn defense is an important aspect of this game, and so when the COM doesn't understand this, you can exploit it and easily win.

However, the thing I've learned the most is that luck determines the winner more times than not. At this point in time, most people understand the basic strategies of the game. So the winner is determined by dumb luck. Sure if you have an amazing deck with amazing cards you stand a better chance, but this only applies to those dedicated enough to be level 50+. You don't want a deck of all R1 and S cards, but a few certainly help. Everyone else is at the mercy of chance, and it takes many forms.

The most obvious is the dice. Not only the dice that determine how many points you have on any turn, but during attacks dice rolls play a part. You have NO control over this (unless you have Dice Fever, cough). A bad roll late in the game can doom you. That said, you can deal with this better than any other form of luck, and I find I lose fewer games to this type of luck than the others. Well, unless I have no weapon equipped and only have a 4-dot card in my hand. And so next I give you...

Another major form of luck is in the cards you draw. You can roll a 6-6, but if you don't have the cards in your hand to use it, who cares! At the same time a roll of 2-2 can be dealt with better if you have the right cards at the right time. You always want a variety, and you always want at least one defense card. The only way to limit this is to have a good deck. Which gets me to my next point.

The structure of your deck is the #1 factor in determining who wins. Period. And I don't mean who has a better deck (though that's part of it). It's who has a deck better suited to battle the other player and the particular structure of their deck. This is especially true when playing in tournaments since you know nothing about your opponent beforehand. Not even if they are a Hunter or an Arkz! Hence you have to make as well-rounded a deck as possible, but with only 30 cards, there's no way you can cover it all. Don't even try. A 'jack-of-all-trades' deck is a master of none. Hence you cross your fingers and jump in blind. Let me give you a couple examples to illustrate this.

High level players from Japan love to beat up on us US players who don't have crazy S cards yet (coughloserscough), but even they can be beat. Just last week I played a level 98 JP player. He was Sil'fer and had all sorts of crazy swords I had never even seen. Yet the way he made his deck, it had a major weakness: techs (magic). The whole match, the only d-cards he ever used were Companions (which hurt us both). By chance, I picked a Force. It took a long time, but item by item, I used my techs to destroy him. It wasn't the dice that doomed him, or even bad draws (if anything, I had the bad luck there). It was my lucky choice before the match even started to use a tech based character, and his choice to use a deck that couldn't counteract it, that let me win and gain 50 EXP.

A really good deck can limit this. But better yet, if you know something about your opponent before the match you can make a better deck selection. Take Valerie Tyr for example. She had watched me play as Kyria, and so when we played each other, she knew exactly how to take me down. I was schooled that match. However, when we played again, I knew she was going to be a Force of some kind, and picked a different deck with action disrupters galore. This time I won. More often than not though, you don't know your opponent. So you just hope you pick the right deck.

In the end, I enjoyed my time here in PSO. Yes, I also played Episode I & II, but that was mainly just for the first month or so. I enjoyed it too, but I've enjoyed Ep. III a lot more. Met a few people, learned a few things, won a few tournaments, was FSOD'd (which is more annoying than anything). If I have anything to pass on to current PSO players it's this: the game is meant to be fun! Like I've already hinted at, there is nothing worse then sitting through a match where the other player doesn't say a word. (Which is one reason I don't like players from Japan. Not to mention why I try to avoid solo COMp stomps like the plague.) Also, use different characters and decks! It gets boring using the same thing over and over. If it didn't, I'd probably still be Sil'fer and would have a higher level than 20 (and more than 65,000 meseta) to show for it.

To many of those I did play and had fun with, thanks! Thanks to Elaine for that level 5 Anti. Thanks to Val for showing me it is possible to score on... that far off Go-Go Ball goal. Thanks to Cam for his cool website suggestions and raps. Thanks to Luigi for that pizza. Thanks to Mr. Bot for... bah! He can kiss my ass for calling me "names". Be sure to check out my picture gallery of PSO snapshots (Episode I & II and III) taken from my time on Ragol. (Maybe someday I'll get to adding that photo gallery to the site...)

I never thought I'd enjoy a card battle game, but, I did. Even more surprising, I liked it more than Ep. 1&2. If it was a traditional (ala Magic) or even a RPG based card battle, I probably would of been bored with it within a week. Since it's really more of a strategy/tactics based card battle, it keeps you thinking, and keeps things interesting. I never got the cards I wanted to put together the deck I really wanted, but oh well. Who knows, maybe at some point I'll go back. (But only when I can learn to stay standing after being poked...) But for now...

Peace! I'm outta here!

- IgNigNokt 7G