PSO

Play an old favorite for free!!  http://www.groundtactics.com/forums-2/phantasy-star-online-blue-burst/  (Must be a registered member of this site)

Groundtactics Phantasy Star Online

For those that don’t know what this is – Phantasy Star Online is an MMORPG originally developed for console systems by SEGA.  It was an online spinoff of an old yet popular franchise known as Phantasy Star.  PSO was originally released on the SEGA dreamcast, then later ported to a number of platforms.  You had to pay for the game, then pay for service.  SEGA has discontinued all service for this game.

At some point during the game’s lifespan, a PC version known as “Blue Burst” was released.  This was a free client for PC that was used to lure people into the paid service.  It’s also the best client to date.  Unfortunately, this one was never released in the United States.  This is where GroundTactics enters the picture.  Since SEGA dropped the title, I’d say it’s fairly safe for GroundTactics.com to pick it up and offer a free version. 

For a detailed history of the game, check out here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasy_Star_Online

To play GT-PSO (Registration/Client Download/Etc..):

There isn’t much to it. 

First of all, you need an account on this site (So sign up already dammit!)  Once registered, you’ll have access to the GT-PSO forums.  The forums can be found here:  http://www.groundtactics.com/forums-2/phantasy-star-online-blue-burst/. 

The second step is to create a server account.  You’ll find the registration link in the forums (The reason you signed up).

The third step is to download and install the game client and client addons.  The links and instructions are posted in the forums.

The fourth and last step is to run the game and play! 

Registration for the server will only be available to members of this site.  This is a ‘private’ server after all..

Credits to:

The people on http://www.schtserv.com/ - they’re the biggest PSO private server I know of.  I used a lot of materials (mostly translations) from their site to make make my client addons pack. 

The contributors on www.pioneer2.net and the creator of the PSOBB server emulator.  That’s what my server is based off of.

And to anybody else I may have ‘borrowed’ something from.  If your work is in here and you want credit for it, let me know as I have no intention of holding back where credit is due.