You guys know I tend to play a lot of different MMOs, or other games in general! It's only natural I'd want to make a comic about this, especially since it affects me in a big way. (Well, that and it's also comic number 440, and Codon Alicia there is a GH440 partner machine ... A coincidence too good to pass up!)

Codon Alicia is the name of my (F Gattaca) partner machine in Phantasy Star Universe. Normally I portray her with different colored clothing, but here in RW she sports the usual 440 colors.

A few days ago on January 21st, it was announced that Sega is shutting down the non-Japanese PC/PS2 servers after March. It's like last year when Tabula Rasa shut down ... around this same time, in fact. Tabula Rasa was a pretty good game that got screwed over by bad decisions and practices.

For those of us outside Japan, PSU turned out like this as well. I won't get into it, but a lot of the problems would be familiar to players of many MMOs. Much of it in this case stems from the fact that Sonic Team just wouldn't give Sega of America what they needed to manage the servers right.

It's been like this for years ... and all of Sega's non-Japaneses servers have a very short life thanks to that.

Our PSO: BB servers lasted from June 2005 to March 2008. Our PSU servers lasted from October 2006 to March 2010 ... but in Japan, PSO: Blue Burst is still going strong, as is their PSU PC/PS2 servers. So, I've got some advice for you anyone reading this: the next time Sega announces a Phantasy Star MMO, save yourself the grief—play on the Japanese side.