Hello all. Sorry if I had worried anyone but I’ve been relatively bombarded by in real life issues that demanded a great deal of my attention and then Hard Drive related issues which further set me back. I’ll get into detail with the Hard Drive issues at a later date but onto the news I have received that has me buzzed. This is quoted word-for-word from the main site.
"Dear fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE,
Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE DUEL ACCELERATOR is an online game for PC which allows players from all over the world to compete in online duels following the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's OCG that thanks to all of you reached worldwide popularity.
Though the Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE adventure started in 2005 and it was enjoyed by so many worldwide, unfortunately this adventure must come to an end. Due to internal decisions Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE DUEL ACCELERATOR will go offline on 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
You may find a detailed schedule for the next 6 months and a basic FAQ at the bottom of the page.
Our heartfelt gratitude go out to all the dedicated and loyal duelists all over the world who have shared their passion with us, contributed to build this service and all those who have participated. We hope that you enjoyed your duels and trades and look forward to having you compete against friends worldwide with the next great Konami game.
We're commited to supporting service until the very last day.
Please excuse the inconveniences.
Your Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE team
03/30/2012 20:00 Pacific Standard Time: End all BOOSTERPASS sales.
09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time: Close down all service.
Players can play the game until 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
Please use up all in-game items, such as BOOSTERPASS Cards, BOOSTERPASS Codes, Duel Passes, and BOOSTERPASS Points, by 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
BOOSTERPASS Cards, BOOSTERPASS Codes, Duel Passes, and BOOSTERPASS Points cannot be used after 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time ."
And from the closing FAQ:
"Can we use unused BOOSTERPASS Cards and BOOSTERPASS Points after the end of service?
Unused BOOSTERPASS Cards and BOOSTERPASS Points will become unusable after the service is closed.
Please use all BOOSTERPASS Cards and BOOSTERPASS Points by the end of the service.
If the player's country of registration is Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Japan, Korea and Taiwan:
We will refund these players' unused BOOSTERPASS Cards and BOOSTERPASS Points after the end of the service.
Details will be announced on 10/01/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time.
* Players' countries of registration can not be changed.
Are there any changes to Duelist Premium?
If the expiration date of the Duelist Premium is 03/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time or later, it will be extended to 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
If players receive the Duelist Premium on 03/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time or later, expiration date will be extended to 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
What is the deadline for entering BOOSTERPASS Codes?
Users can enter BOOSTERPASS Codes till 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
What is the deadline to register as a new player?
Player registration will be available till 09/30/2012 17:00 Pacific Standard Time .
Can we use Cards and Avatar items after the end of service?
No, players cannot use Cards or Avatar items after the end of the service. "
Depending on how hardcore you were into the game this is a rather bitter pill to swallow. For me I’m not the least bit surprised and I’m going to tell you why:
- Though I’m not sure exactly the number of regions that this was done to but there were several regions that, while having access to the game were unable to by Boosterpasses in their region killing lots of potential business.
- Lack of steady new content. To this day there are two regions on the in game map that are still inaccessible to this day.
- The trading system was user unfriendly. The cards (when you went to trade) that were untradeable (either because they were a giveaway, the starter cards you get for signing up or the structure deck cards) got mixed in with the tradeable ones (which were limited to only cards you got from the packs). Which leads me to the next issue.
- GREED MURDERED THIS GAME! Accessories in game cost about as much or even more so than a booster pack. Booster packs had their issues too and you paid too much for too little in terms of cards and God help you if you didn’t get anything you could at least TRADE for something you want and don’t get me started on Duelist Premium! Actually, I WILL get started with “Duelist Premium”.
- Duelist Premium (for those who had never played Yu-Gi-Oh! Online) was a service offered to anyone who entered Boosterpass codes for Duelist Points (DP for short and will be referred to as such for the rest of the post) that for 30 days allowed you access to exclusive things(a gripe about Duelist Premium I’ve had was that regardless of how many passes you entered the highest amount of days for the service would ALWAYS be 30). Those things being able to battle against more NPC’s that came from the Anime Series and to partake in tournaments hosted by Konami which offered prizes for their victor.
The second part seemed pretty cool, until you realize that by fighting in events like Duelist Trial & Gunslinger you didn’t “win” any prize cards. You “won” the right to purchase these cards for a limited time! That’s right ladies and gents. Even though you spent money to get the DP to buy unrelated stuff you need to spend more DP to get access to the cards you “won”! WHAT A FUCKING RIP! Konami, this was bad and you should feel bad!
As I’ve seen in some places, we got people who believe this is a prank since it was so close to April first. I don’t think any company would pull such a stunt as a prank. The backlash would be devastating.
I spent a bit of money on this game. Am I sad to see it go? Not really? Am I surprised? Only that it took so long to happen. Do I have fond memories of it? HELL NO! That game gave me nothing but stress and grief! I couldn’t EVER get anything to trade with or anyone to trade with me for what I wanted and the place was littered with kids and huge spenders who stomped on people like me like bugs. In other words it was too much like the offline version.
I haven’t played the game in awhile but I plan on going back in for as long as it remains up and antagonize the kiddies with more money than sense, laughing like a madman that their investments ultimately amounted to absolute zero.
In the end, those like me get the last laugh, so I hope we all get to yuck it up. Let’s all dance around the bonfire and take a big, long piss on this dying game and the rich kiddies that made life difficult on it. While you’re at it, take a dump on it too.
I didn't know this had happened. Sad face :(
ReplyDelete