Champions Of Norrath

[twobells]

Friday 13th:
Seems that it was unlucky for me as CON is not what both some respected gaming websites suggested NOR what Sony advertised.

My first impression was one of rushed product.
The lip-synch is completely out and the cgi flicker's in scene.
This is not a bad disk, many people have reported the same.
Similar reports have uncovered the game not rendering correctly on older ps2's, countless DRE's (disk read errors) and crashing in the game and while loading (I had three in-game crashes in ten minutes)
The majority is due to problems with it being DVD9.
The developers originally had the final game ready for review on two single DVD5 disks which in my opinion would have saved a lot of grief both for themselves and their customers. (remember what happened with the japanese release of Xenosaga and to a lesser extent with the US & PAL release?)

Anyway, on to the game, its Dark Alliance 1.2, pure and simple.
So far its been one endless dungeon crawl with a quest 'hacked' on as an afterthought, more to follow on that later.

Saturday 14th: Online Play Day

CON didn't 'detect' my network adaptor although its plainly visible in the 'hardware' area at the bottom.
Hmm, that means it 'sees' it but doesn't ALLOW it.
Ok, off to GAME for a Sony Network adaptor.
(saw alison, man she's FINE, opps sorry)

Ok, installed Sony adaptor, lets GO!
ERROR -833, o....kay...
Lets see..error -833 'Your PS2 is too old'
Too old? wtf??
Seems that Sony want me to send in my perfectly good and cared for PS2 for a 2nd-hand 'refurbished' one that's slightly newer.
Yeah right., I'll do that.

Sunday 15th

Borrowed a friends ps2, ONLY six months old, WITH the Sony adaptor.
ERROR -811....this is getting old quickly.
ok, let's see....-811 'You are not from the US', um thats right, so?
Seems NON US customers can play CON.
I need a PAL version.

So, in conclusion Sony believes we all need to be segregated onto our own little servers, with PS2's that were built after a certain date and run on Sony's own adaptors.

More to follow after I talk to Sony US on Monday.
Expect fur to fly.

Twobells

Update Tuesday 17th Febuary:

Seems that your game AND console must match for the 'DNAS' system to 'allow' a connection.
See the QA forum post: 'Anyone got a jap ps2 bb adaptor and hard drive. help!!'
'Be aware that DNAS will prevent you from going online with recent non-Japanese games. The game and machine region must match.'

Expect that all future SONY games to be the same, importing the game for OFFLINE play is fine (so far) but forget online play.

My feeling is that the SONY 'DNAS' system is a further attempt to remove import gamers from the equation.
What with lawyers representing Nintendo threatening importers and now this the days ahead look bleak indeed.

Update: Thursday 19th Febuary

Ok, I now know exactly what the problem is with the DNAS system and PAL ps2's.
The system doesn't detect the console it detects the NETWORK ADAPTOR.
If you have a PAL PS2 & a US NA then you can play.
The last three days I have tracked down EU SOCOM II players who all say the same, so if you want to play ANY forthcoming SONY game (FF XI for example) you'll need a US network adaptor.

This is TwoBells of the 'CONFAQ' signing off.

[John Beaulieu]

and some people claim that the ps2 online system is better than xbox live

[Darwock]

I've never heard ANYTHING as bizarre as that. For the record, I've played lots of US games online from my cosy little flat in Glasgow, using my V3 PAL PS2 (about three/four years old?). The only connection error I've ever encountered is 603 or something, which is a DNAS error and is means ports need forwarded.

edit - I didn't even realise there was such a thing as a 3rd party network adapter. Most people have trouble even finding the official ones on the shelves, never mind the cheap knock-offs

[twobells]

Darwock

I really want to get to the bottom of this problem and hope perhaps you have some ideas.
Can you play (or anyone else for that matter) SOCOM II online?
It seems that SOCOM II uses this new 'DNAS' system for network verification.

If you CAN play SOCOM II online please let me know, and post your network settings here or via PM.

TwoBells

I've never heard ANYTHING as bizarre as that. For the record, I've played lots of US games online from my cosy little flat in Glasgow, using my V3 PAL PS2 (about three/four years old?). The only connection error I've ever encountered is 603 or something, which is a DNAS error and is means ports need forwarded.

edit - I didn't even realise there was such a thing as a 3rd party network adapter. Most people have trouble even finding the official ones on the shelves, never mind the cheap knock-offs

[D-SG]

Yeah, you can't play CoN online outside of the US; they did make this clear from the start, though. There's DNAS tomfoolery that will block you.

The loading/synching problems vary from PS2 to PS2, depending on how the console feels about running the dual-layer DVD. My copy runs faultlessly (with occasional sound skipping) - with the caveat that it runs faultlessly one time in about 20, and won't recognise the DVD at startup on the other 19 attempts (my PS2 is a worn-down launch model with a ****house Magic chip, so I wouldn't expect anything better from it).

Bought the game for offline play, though, and it rocks bells, albeit in a lowest common denominator chainmail-bikinis-and-high-cheese way. Easily the most multiplayer fun I've had in years; it's surprisingly good for converting non-gamers into drooling hackenslash fanatics; and there's slightly more to it than you'd expect thanks to some neat mechanics and a vitality that the other BGA engine games are sorely lacking.

If you're a fan of EQ you'll be disappointed; if you're expecting a "role-playing game" you'll be disappointed; if you want a straight dungeon crawl they don't crawl any better. The online portion is an afterthought, as with most of Sony's online stuff - multitap 4p co-op, meanwhile, is close enough to heaven.

[Darwock]

Sent you a PM, but anyway -

I can play SOCOM 2 pal version online, in fact I've been beta testing it. I won't be getting the US version and won't need to, cos I won a free copy as part of the beta trials

Anyway, I'm at work right now but I will double check and post my connection settings when I get home. I'm fairly sure I selected auto everything though. I connect via ICS on Windows 2000.

edit - or maybe not. Isn't Champions of Norrath released on PAL? I don't get why they've limited US people to the US version when they've never done that before. For that matter, I don't know how they can tell where you're connecting from in the first place!

Is this from a chipped PAL PS2 or an actual US PS2?

[D-SG]

edit - or maybe not. Isn't Champions of Norrath released on PAL? I don't get why they've limited US people to the US version when they've never done that before.

It's not out on PAL yet, but they won't be sharing servers: European players can't play with American players. Which is crap, but so it goes. The blurb at the back of the manual mentions, amongst other things, that it's an anti-importing measure. SOE are the new NOE!

I tell a lie about them making it clear, though: I was sure the official FAQ mentioned that Europe and US would be incompatible, but I've checked it just now and it doesn't.

[Darwock]

So it's a new development. Hmmmm. Presumably it knows when it's a PAL PS2 playing a US game, as I can't see how a US console could be barred even if it's connecting from Antarctica.

I do know that the infrastructure of SCEA and SCEEs network gaming services is very different, for example they don't have such a thing as a Central Station server (so no moderation, anti-cheat stuff etc). Maybe it's just not possible to combine the two.

[twobells]

Sent you a PM, but anyway -

Is this from a chipped PAL PS2 or an actual US PS2?

Actually I have both, but still can't play, probably due to the fact my NA is from the EU :-(

Is SOCOM II out PAL then?
Or you have it due to beta testing the EU version?

TB

[D-SG]

So it's a new development. Hmmmm. Presumably it knows when it's a PAL PS2 playing a US game, as I can't see how a US console could be barred even if it's connecting from Antarctica.

Yeah. I've seen posts on forums about CoN refusing modded US PS2s as well, although I assume that's from within the US.

I do know that the infrastructure of SCEA and SCEEs network gaming services is very different, for example they don't have such a thing as a Central Station server (so no moderation, anti-cheat stuff etc). Maybe it's just not possible to combine the two.

Bizarrely enough, Ubisoft is handling the PAL version of CoN, not SCEE, so I don't know what the serverside deal's going to be.

[twobells]

I just don't understand how it can be a good idea to segregate players like this.
And its NOT going to be very good for UK/EU players is it?
Without the numbers of US/Worldwide gamers online together I can't see CON online doing too well here.
Hopefully I am wrong and that it will do well, but one of the PC online gaming success's DIABLO did so well BECAUSE so many players from around the world could get together.

TB

[twobells]

Sorry dual post

TB

[Darwock]

I'm not worried, there will always be plenty of Dutch people online, they seem to love network gaming over there! Much more than the sour-faced brits anyway. The Dutch are a comedy nation too, good to play against.

[Uli]

I really want to get to the bottom of this problem and hope perhaps you have some ideas.
Can you play (or anyone else for that matter) SOCOM II online?
It seems that SOCOM II uses this new 'NDAS' system for network verification.

If you CAN play SOCOM II online please let me know, and post your network settings here or via PM.

TwoBells

I can't connect to SOCOM II's online system. SOCOM worked fine for me but now - I guess your right - it's maybe due to this new "NDAS" system.

Now I strongly think about canceling my Resident Evil Outbreak order. I guess the Offline experience, which seems to very much like every other part of the series, wont justify the purchase!

[twobells]

Wait, this is (so far) only SONY games, not third party, I would check though to be sure, just ask if the game is using the 'DNAS' (thanx Darlock :-) system.

TwoBells


[/quote]

I can't connect to SOCOM II's online system. SOCOM worked fine for me but now - I guess your right - it's maybe due to this new "DNAS" system.

Now I strongly think about canceling my Resident Evil Outbreak order. I guess the Offline experience, which seems to very much like every other part of the series, wont justify the purchase![/quote]