Sign Up Issues
1.1a How do I set up my IME (Windows XP)?
1.1b How do I set up my IME (Windows 2000)?
1.2 I don't have Windows XP or 2000! That doesn't work! Can I still do anything?
1.3 OK, I have an IME installed, how do I sign up?
1.4 I got the email, where is my login and password?
1.5 I got the client as a rar file, what now?
1.6 Where do I get the client?

Pre-gameplay issues
2.1 How do I put in my Login/Password?
2.2 I still don't have XP or 2000... And still can't type it in, what now?
2.3 I can't connect to the patch server! What do I do?
2.4 My computer sucks and I need to turn down the graphics!  How?
2.5 I put in my Login/Pass and selected the top option to play, but the game crashes to the desktop. Why?
2.6 Umm, what do the options in the Options selection from the main menu mean?
2.7 I'm getting error message 1xx or 9xx when I try to sign on! What do I do?
2.8 How do I know if the server is actually down for maintenance or not?
2.9 What do all these pre-gameplay menus mean?
2.10 How can I tell my Section ID? They've changed from GC/XBox!

Gameplay Issues
3.1 What do all these in-game menus mean?
3.2 How do I open new stages?
3.3 Can I play any old offline quests?
3.4 I can't type at all! How do I type?
3.5 I can't type in English! How do I do so? 
3.6 Ok, I can type in English but where are the English players?
3.7 I can't read anything! What are these items?

Sign Up Issues
1.1a How do I set up my IME (Windows XP)?
1) Go to Regional and Language Settings in Control Panel
2) Head to the Languages tab
3) Check Support for East Asian Languages.
4) Press Ok
5) Install and restart if necessary.
6) Go back into that same menu
7) Click details.
8) Add Japanese Microsoft IME Standard 2002
9) Now, to switch modes, either click the EN button which is somewhere on your screen now (likely the upper right somewhere), or press alt + shift

1.1b How do I set up my IME (Windows 2000)?
This method also works for Windows 2003 Server, but umm, why are you using a Server Operating system to play games?
1) Go to Keyboard in Control Panel
2) Go to the Input Locales Tab
3) Click Add, and Select Japanese from Input Locale
4) In the Keyboard layout/IME box, select Japanese Input System (MS-IME 2000), not just Japanese.
5) Press OK, and you're done.  Restart if necessary.

1.2 I don't have Windows XP or 2000! That doesn't work! Can I still do anything?
Actually, you can!  If you have Windows 95/98 or ME, you can still download the IME and install it.  Installation files are here, and installation is even easier, just run the downloaded install file and follow the instructions.

1.3 Ok, I have an IME installed, how do I sign up?
Follow the tutorial here
1) On line 2 with the two boxes, change the IME to full width katakana and type a few characters. 
2) On the 4th line (which is address) put it into Hiragana mode
3) Type "aichiken" 
4) Press space. This will make it into 3 complex characters (kanji). That works for an address.
5) Follow the rest of the tutorial.

1.4 I got the email, where is my login and password?
1) Scroll down to where you see your user name
2) Look and see if there is a j behind it. If so, ignore the j and write down the user name
3) The next line contains your password at the end.
4) Again, if there is a j at the beginning of it, ignore that.
Here's a picture displaying your Username and Pass are, with the encoding probably how you have it set. The User ID is that fractalized area, and the Pass is the next line down.  Notice the J behind both of them, this is your key to finding them.

1.5 I got the client as a rar file, what now?
1) Use Winzip or Winrar to un-rar the file
2) Now you should have a cdi file. This is a Discjuggler disc Image.
3) Use Discjuggler to burn the image to a CD.
4) No CD Burner? No extra CD? Use Daemon Tools
5) Once Daemon Tools is installed go to the system tray icon, right click
6) Choose these options: Virtual CD/DVD ROM/ Set number of devices/ 1 Drive
7) Virtual CD/DVD ROM/ Device 0:/ Mount Image
8) Navigate to the cdi file and mount the image
9) Either way you just did it, go to the CD Drive it's on now and install the program

1.6 Where do I get the Client?
The official Sega download is available here or here.  Simply run the exe and install.  MUCH much easier than the rar version type install previously.  Have fun!

Pre-gameplay issues
2.1 How do I put in my Login/Password? 
First, try pressing alt+shift on the keyboard to switch to JP text entry mode, this should allow you to enter your login/pass and allow you to type in-game. 

If this does not work, try the following method.

1) Right click the EN or JP icon in the taskbar
2) Click settings
3) Set Japanese Standard IME to your default input language
4) Say ok and restart if necessary.
5) Enter Login and Pass.

At this point, your ID will be saved, and you can change it back to EN. However, for some users, this disables typing in-game. In that case, change it back to JP default. You'll have to live with Windows starting in JP mode every time. Shouldn't matter much unless you hit the wrong keys, if you do, change it into EN mode again.

2.2 I still don't have XP or 2000... And still can't type it in, what now?
So, you have Windows 98 or ME, and obviously the above stuff doesn't apply.  Not only that, but the IME doesn't work for anything outside of Outlook and a few web forms with Unicode support. The bad news is, you're not going to be able to enter your username and pass, nor type in-game.  The good news is, if you have a friend you can trust that *is* capable of typing the username and pass on another computer, you can still get in.  This involves messing around with your registry, so make sure you make a backup of it, and don't screw with anything other than what is stated.  Still, no responsibility taken for your computer pooping afterwards and all that stuff.

Steps for this method
1) Have friend input your username and pass, and login with it.
2) Friend logs out of game.
3) Friend runs regedit.
3) Friend goes to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Sonic Team/PSOBB
4) Friend copies down the information under keys ACCOUNT and PASSWORD.
5) On your computer, use regedit to go to the same area.
6) Enter or create these keys on your own computer, using your friends written information.
7) The keys ACCOUNT_CHECK and PASSWORD_CHECK may need to be changed to a 1 instead of a 0, if they aren't already.
8) Exit regedit and restart to make sure you didn't just blow up your computer.
9) Run Blue Burst, your User Name and pass should now be enetered, and you should be able to login as normal.

2.3 I can't connect to the patch server! What do I do?
Check to see if you have any firewalls running. PCcillin blocks the incoming connections needed for the patch server, you need to disable this to play. Zonealarm users should be ok, but you may need to allow PSO:BB to access the network.

If you are still having problems, find out if your ports are blocked at the router side of things.  Different routers have different methods of finding out, check your manual.  The ports that PSO:BB uses for Patch and Gameplay servers are 6073 UDP and 2302-2400 UDP and TCP.  If the ports are closed, open them, and if that still doesn't work, you can always attempt to forward them.  A good way to test for router blockages is to try directly connecting the computer to the DSL or Cable modem (assuming your modem isn't a router as well).

2.4 My computer sucks and I need to turn down the graphics!  How?
From the menu outside of the game
1) Click the 3rd Option (options)
2) The 3rd boxed in area is Graphics.  The upper left is for Hi-End, upper right for mid-end, and lower left for low-end.
3) Try each of these settings and see which works for you.

2.5 I put in my Login/Pass and selected the top option to play, but the game crashes to the desktop. Why?
Most common reason is that the password is incorrect. Try re-inputting the user name and password and try again.  If the problem still occurs, check for running firewall programs and disable them.

Also check that your system meets minimum requirements.  The game requires: Windows 98 or higher, 700 MHZ Processor, a Geforce3 or Radeon 8500 or above card, a soundcard, DirectX9.0b, and 1.3Gb of free space.  A lack of any of these could very well be causing your crash back to the desktop, especially the graphics card.  Try at least updating your drivers for your card, see if that helps, otherwise, it may be time to upgrade some hardware in your system.

2.6 Umm, what do the options in the Options selection from the main menu mean?
Check this picture here for an English translation of the settings. The detail settings that are cut off are Model, Shadows, and Textures. Thanks to whoever made the English version of the Options, too bad it's not in sync with the newest version or it would be worth distributing.. As it is, it'll just get killed with the next update cycle.

2.7 I'm getting error message 1xxx or 9xx when I try to sign on! What do I do?
So far, I've heard of messages
100- Couldn't connect to the server, check your network settings.  This either means the server is down, or else your network connection went down.  If you still have net access, it's the server.
903- Lost connection to server, server is under maintenance.  For whatever reason, you lost connection to the server, but you were able to connect to it for a moment.  Probably that the server is in fact under maintenance, and booted you.
904- Invalid User Name and/or Password. Check for errors in your typed password.  Try logging into your account here to make sure it works.  If not, you can always register again. This means the L/P that you entered doesn't exist in their records.
905- Invalid User Name and/or Password. Check for errors in your typed password.  Try logging into your account here to make sure it works.  If not, you can always register again. Means either the Login or Pass exists, but one was incorrect.
906- Need a screenshot to find out
908- Says the server is under maintenance.  See 2.3 I can't connect to the patch server! What do I do?
914- Servers are currently having errors with their data log.  Please wait 10 Minutes and attempt to login again.

2.8 How do I know if the server is actually down for maintenance or not?
The servers are under maintenance from 10:00 to 13:00 JST every day.  Convert to your local time zone for times in your area.  If you are trying to connect to the server during these times, you may or may not be able to.  Generally, and unless ST says otherwise, if you are already playing before maintenance, you will be able to continue playing during the maintenance times.  Any unscheduled maintenances will likely be posted in the thread here. 

2.9 What do all these pre-gameplay menus mean?
Check the Visual Guide here, just put your mouse over any relevant area you need the translation for.  The various screens are navigable as if you were in-game.

2.10 How can I tell my Section ID? They've changed from GC/XBox!
Here you go, handy dandy Section ID calculator.

3.3 Can I play any old offline quests?
The Offline Quests are still available.  When making a game
1) Choose the third option (Mode)
2) Choose the last option on the list (Play Alone)

This will create a 1 Player game, where you can take the Hunter's Guild quests as if you were playing Offline.  Note that at this point, only the first 3 Tier 1 quests are available. 

3.4 I can't type at all! How do I type?
If you're just trying to speak to others in the lobby or in-game, press space, then type.  If this does not work press alt+shift to change IME modes, this should allow you to type again. If that fails, do this outside of the game

1) Right click the EN or JP icon in the taskbar
2) Click settings
3) Set Japanese Standard IME to your default input language
4) Say ok and restart if necessary.

3.5 I can't type in English! How do I do so?
Press the alt+tilde key on your keyboard (the key to the left of the 1 key).  This will put you in Romaji mode, which will let you type in English letters.  This resets from time to time, so if it changes again, simply use the same process to put it back into romaji mode.  You can also press Shift+Caps Lock to lock this mode into romaji until you restart, but remember to press it again when you get out of game, otherwise the IME will do some odd things when typing normally.  With a JP keyboard, you can also lock the text into English by pressing the Katakana/Hiragana/Romaji button until it clicks into romaji mode. 

3.6 Ok, I can type in English but where are the English players?
The PSOWorld Official block is Ship 05 Leo, Block 03, Lobby 05.  There is also a cheats site that calls Leo 3 their home, ostensibly for more English players to play with. Given the patrolling of GMs and the online only nature of the game, you shouldn't have too much to worry about from the less legally minded of the English crowd, but you should know that they are around.

3.7 I can't read anything! What are these items?
Here, I've made a group of charts of every item that is available in the Blue Burst Beta. Likely to be updated with a ton more items when the retail comes out. Should be pretty printer friendly, not sure.

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