Final Fantasy XI PS2 beta test question

Is the FFXI PS2 beta hdd the same as the one that came with the retail version. Also did the beta come with a network adapter? If so is that the same as the retail one?

 

I am pretty sure. Even though I was accepted into the PC beta, I know that the PS2 beta people got the network adapter and the HDD for free.

 

I know they were suppose to give them back. I wanted to know if they were the same as retail or if they said beta or something on them.

 

The package had:

Retail Harddrive 40GB (same as final version)
HDD Utility Disc 1.00 (retail final version but it was never released so people call it beta even though it was not)
PlayOnline Beta Edition CD-ROM
Final Fantasy XI Beta Edition DVD

Folder with codes for creating the account.


You were expected to ship the HDD back probably for them to collect performance data from it.

I bet the discs are incredibly rare (and useless too) now.

 

Why would they be useless?
I mean, if they are the same as the final retail version, they can still be used, right?

 

No, they cannot be used. They're disabled on the DNAS server. You would get a message about the title not being in service anymore.

 

Oh, ok, now it makes sense.
I thought you were talking about these being completeley useless... but they're just useless for online playing.

Thanks for clarifying

 

But you missed the point. They're completely useless as FFXI is not playable offline.

You can't even install it to a harddrive without authenticating to DNAS, so yes I really meant completely useless.

Only disc that is not useless is the HDD Utility Disc.

Edit:
The PlayOnline install disc just has a short video on it's title screen.
The Final Fantasy XI disc has a teaser video you can watch. Besides that, there's nothing else you can do with the discs. Their only purpose is install the product to the harddrive. It's only playable on the installed form.

 

Does the disc contain any game data? Surely it would be possible to fake the authentication process and get the game installed on an HDD. They might be useless now but I'm sure in the future someone will be able to make use of them, it wouldn't be the first time an online server has been emulated to allow play of an obsolete game.

 

You won't be able to boot the game without the encrypted reply from the DNAS server. The encrypted game boot file and it's KELF encrypted launcher comes from there.

 

I did get that; I was talking about other unofficial usage
You can still use the HDD with HDLoader, OPL, etc.

But yeah, we're talking about this particular game in this thread, so I guess I kinda missed the point.

 

FFXI is not a normal game by any means. You load it through a loader program (PlayOnline Viewer) and without a paid subscription you can't even get FFXI to boot. Even on a PC. Also like I stated before the PS2 discs serve only the purpose of installing the game files on the PS2. There's no "other uses" for this software. HD Loader with it ? It wouldn't work for sure. Would conflict with a lot of things within HD Loader. It uses stuff like encrypted ERX (EE DLLs, like IRX files are for the IOP), DNAS encryption and several other layers of encryption. It even has a protection called "purify" which prevents you from hooking the kernel and run things such as Kermit with it. (that's also why you need to disable modchips when you play it. you get the PS2 to crash on a black screen if you don't).

There's programs for PC that can make the client boot and then are able to emulate some of the server so you can walk through the zones with a character you made.

But it doesn't even implement 10% of the game on there. When you are playing FFXI you're dealing with a enormous database server which actually runs the real game. The client is just music and graphics. Even the cutscenes scripts are server sided.

 

We're getting lost in translation here
I was talking about using the HDD with HDLoader, OPL, etc... not the FFXI game. I know the game can't be used with HDL/OPL/etc.

I guess my post was just clarifying that the HDD is not useless per se; only useless if you want to use it with anything that uses DNAS.

 

I already stated that the harddrive is the same as the original. And because I started to discuss the game discs I thought you meant them. You were slightly ambiguous, my friend.

Since there's no longer any point on restraining yourself with a 40GB HDD get something like a 120GB HDD and use it with SONY OSD. It works, with the new hacked OSD that selfboots without any mods.

 

There's no guide for explaining how to do this yet, right?

 

Not yet but the major roadblock (the MBR) has been solved.

 

I did manage to construct a 1.00 HDD utility disc from an incomplete dump many years ago. I managed to get it to boot by combining hidden "files" from the 2.12 DVD Utility disc in very specific locations. It's kind of funny that I actually got an explanation about it from some character named l_oliveria many years later why it worked.

Anyway It's basically an english version of the 1.00 disc but it does say 1.00 (Beta) when you boot it. I would like to acquire the discs at some point for just for collections sake.

 

I have a copy of it. It does not say BETA anywhere.

The PlayOnline viewer disc does, though.

 

if i remember right i got that beta disc somewhere,complete with both discs and manual

 

If someone could upload some pics it would be greatly appreciated. I would like to put together a complete beta set from both the PC and PS2. Also FFXIV ps3. I would like to know exactly what I need to keep an eye out for. Thanks.