Easiest version of PSO to set up?

[AllyK86]

Hello, new user here, making my first post.

Please forgive me if this has already been asked, but I am about to buy a copy of Phantasy Star Online (V2), and would like to ask if, for online purposes, there are any important differences between the different regional versions. If it makes any difference, I have a PAL Dreamcast and am planning to use my (Japanese) broadband adapter.

I have no particular version preference, but would I be correct in assuming that the PAL version of the game is incompatible with the BBA, as this peripheral was never released in Europe? If so, between the US and Japanese versions, is one easier to set up than the other, or are they about the same? I use my BBA to play Quake 3 Arena (US), and haven't had any problems. Is it a similar process for PSO, or does it require a bit more jiggery-pokery, so to speak?

I have noticed that the Japanese version can be quite cheap in comparison, but just wanted to check with others here, before rushing into buying it.

Sorry again for the noob-ish post.

[pcwzrd13]

The PAL version is you best option. All versions and regions of PSO work with the BBA. PAL V2 also doesn't need a patcher disc to play online unlike the US and Japanese versions

As for setup, you just go to the Website option in the game to configure the BBA.

[Bob Dobbs]

I use the PALv2 GD-ROM disc but it will not boot up because I have a NTSC/U Dreamcast, so I use a boot disc to allow it to work on my Dreamcast. The PALv2 version seems to be the best as PCwzrd13 stated. We have the NTSC/U GD-ROM version working for my son in his bedroom (as PC pointed out, it requires the boot disc but for online connection purposes only).

[Aleron Ives]

As for setup, you just go to the Website option in the game to configure the BBA.

That doesn't work in EUv2, since the BBA was never released in Europe. If you only have access to EUv2, you have to configure the BBA outside of PSO, but the BBA will work with EUv2 after it's configured. A selfboot copy of USv2 is the easiest way to configure the BBA, since selfboot copies are region free.

[Bob Dobbs]

Interesting. I have an oddity whereas I cannot use my BBA for this game at all. Although not an issue, I can use my dial-up (via Netopia method) just fine. I guess because when I started my character I did it via dial-up. I did go back to setup the DC with the BBA (via XDP) but it didn't help although my BBA IP settings were different than the Dial-up settings. Yes, I did change the IP settings (75.75.75.75) to match 46.101.91.123 but still no luck.

I'm fine with connecting via the Netopia method but I thought I'd mention this.

[Aleron Ives]

Some people only get PSO to use the BBA with a certain setup method. I think it depends upon how much ISP stuff you have saved to the flash memory. PSO is easily confused.