Phantasy Star Universe temporarily collapsed

Creating a universe is a big job, and Sega is taking a mulligan on its Phantasy Star Universe to get the job right. In a letter addressed to Phantasy Star Online users this week, Sega apologized for a series of technical glitches that stymied many users' efforts to play the game online.

The game, which went on sale for the PlayStation 2 and PC in Japan on August 31, suffered problems in its online mode from the outset. When trying to connect online, players were met with various technical issues, incluing blank screens and corrupted character data. As a result, Sega was forced to shut down its servers on the evening of September 3 and is working to fix the problem. Service for testing and troubleshooting purposes is scheduled to resume tomorrow.

The game will formally re-launch in October, and the free 30-day trial included with the game will be calculated from this time. The bad news for early adopters who struggled through the game's issues to play is that "…it is possible that during the testing period, player data will be rolled back or deleted…"

I can't believe :(