PSO 2019 [AKA Dreamcast Online in 2019]

[SpaceBooger]

I finally have a landline again and last night I tried to boot up PSO on the Sylverant server and found out the free dial-up ISP I was using last time (2016-2017) has shut down.
I scoured the internet and was struggling to find a free dial-up service and all of the ones from NYC to California that I found (and had bookmarked from 2016) were shut down. There were tons of paid services still around costing anywhere from $10 to $30; which surprised me.
I'm not looking to spend any money to do a DreamPi or anything, just looking for a free dial-up provider. So if anyone uses a free dial-up ISP for your Dreamcast please help me play some PSO online again.
Thanks!

[BoneSnapDeez]

My man,

any reason you need to play this on DC and not PC?

[SpaceBooger]

My man,

any reason you need to play this on DC and not PC?

Two words: My Character
I guess I could emulate DC on PC... Or does the Sylverant server same cross character?

Now hearing my reason, Bone should I start over on PC and why?

[BoneSnapDeez]

I can bet that very few people are still playing the DC version of the game online these days. Think of how much difficulty you're having getting the DC online. How many other folks do you think are willing to put in the effort when Blue Burst can be up and running in minutes? What I'm saying is that even if you got your DC online I suspect you'd be playing alone, and at that point you might as well just go full offline single-player. Or do you know someone specific that you want to join games with?

I understand wanting to keep a character, and I don't possess the technical know-how to tell you if one is transferable from one platform to the next. I've played a lot of PSO and basically went at it in three "rounds."
Original DC version, followed by Version 2
Episodes I & II on GameCube, followed by Plus
Blue Burst on the Ultima Server
(never played the Xbox version)
So, three different characters total.

Oh, and most (all?) of the PC servers have modified the game in several ways. Experience is multiplied so grinding is less of an issue. Easier to get back into things from scratch.

[Arenegeth]

I have plans to start Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast myself eventually, through Broadband adapter or Dream Pi, when I eventually can excuse the funds to get them.

I want the Dreamcast version because I want to emulate the experience I would have on the Dreamcast back when the game came out, since I missed out on it because I didn't have access to the internet back then.

But unlike you, I'm not all that particularity concerned about playing with other people, since from what I understand everything in the Dreamcast version can be done solo, and knowing myself I was going to be playing predominantly solo even back in the day where the game was really active. I just like having the option to play with other people occasionally.

But anyway, more specific to your needs, with a quick search I was able to find a save editor for the PC version, which would allow you to recreate your character, but is for a offline only version of Blue Burst. So that doesn't help.

From the two most popular servers which is Ultima and Ephinea, Ultima might be the best for you since it will allow you to organically get old progress back much faster due to their 3xp bonus and some other stuff.

There may be some minor servers out there that allow complete character customization, but they probably have a lower population and/or balance issues.

But yeah if you want to play the game online with other people these days, sounds like the Ultima server on PC Blue Burst is the way to go.

If you absolutely must continue on the Dreamcast, I advise just eating the cost of a Dream Pi, since is the most effective way to go about it, and will probably give you better access to Dreamcast online related features well into the future.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Just want to drop a heads up about Blue Burst (online)... The default play mode is multiplayer. If you're playing alone you need to select "one person" when you log in; certain quests are rendered impossible otherwise.

Oh, and Arenegeth, if you approach PSO with the same obsessive fervor that you've approached Shenmue ("must do literally everything") you're looking at like 1000 hours.

[noiseredux]

PSO rules.