Why was "Dragon Ball Online" even made?

[kemuri07]

I couldn't read it with a straight face and I started to laugh. How in the hell does GT not exist when I am watching it right now??

In the comic-book world, it's called a "retcon." Of course DBGT still exists in its physical form. However, from what I understand, DBO made GT non-canon - rather than GT happening after Z, DBO occurs - making it the equivalent of an "elseworld" title in the DB universe. Makes sense since Akira Toriyama has been directly involved in DBO.

[Ahiru77]

For the money.

Storywise, I think it's worth just as much as GT.

[Fox666]

For the money.

As the whole Dragon Ball series?

Just out of morbid curiosity, would this imply Vegeta eventually reached SSJ3? Otherwise, how could he stand a chance against Goku or even consider himself close to Goku in terms of their full power? Sure, they may be dead even as SSJ2s, but Vegeta would want Goku at his very best. He was pissed at Goku for hiding SSJ3 before and basically leading him on into thinking he stood a chance back in the Buu Saga.

I believe it's probable for Vegeta to reach it. It appear that the Super Saiyan transformations are relatively easy to copy after you see them for the first time. Even Super Saiyan 3 was copied by Gotenks in no time.

[JulieYBM]

I couldn't read it with a straight face and I started to laugh. How in the hell does GT not exist when I am watching it right now??

In the comic-book world, it's called a "retcon." Of course DBGT still exists in its physical form. However, from what I understand, DBO made GT non-canon - rather than GT happening after Z, DBO occurs - making it the equivalent of an "elseworld" title in the DB universe. Makes sense since Akira Toriyama has been directly involved in DBO.

Non-canon to what? Has it ever pretended to be a continuation of the comic? It's a continuation of the anime at best, but that still doesn't account for the numerous plotholes. Consistent canon and Dragon Ball are pretty foreign objects to one another in this case, so it just doesn't make any sense now to claim any affect GT has is any less relevant than Online's.

[Fox666]

I don't know why some people avoid Dragon Ball Online story because it's a videogame. Hadn't Toriyama always been involved in Video Games series?

[Makaioshin]

Future Trunks starting a Time Patrol? Yes. X3

Stupid idea for two reasons:

1. Trunks is no more qualified for such a role than anybody else.

2. Travelling through time splits off timelines. A "Time Patrol" can't save the past, just create a new timeline where DBO's villain was stopped...which means the timeline where it wasn't stopped still exists...and the original timeline remains unmolested because when the big bad travelled back that in itself created a new timeline.

It's a stupid shit gimmick created so people can refight the same old battles with copy-pasted fighters while patting themselves on the back for playing an 'original' game.

But the group he is fighting against is also traveling back in time. He is trying to stop them from creating their own timeline/getting Goku or something. It is not like he is going back and killing Bibidi.

[Herms]

In the comic-book world, it's called a "retcon." Of course DBGT still exists in its physical form. However, from what I understand, DBO made GT non-canon - rather than GT happening after Z, DBO occurs - making it the equivalent of an "elseworld" title in the DB universe. Makes sense since Akira Toriyama has been directly involved in DBO.

That's not the situation with DBO though, just what some fans would like to be the case. Neither Toriyama nor anyone else involved with the game has said anything about DBO's story replacing GT, or rendering GT non-canon, or whatever. Fans can think of it that way if they want to, but it's not official the way Marvel or DC retcons typically are, with the creators actually saying X is replacing Y.

[Fox666]

Well, it's not like mangakas have such an habit of saying which story "happened" (canon) or not. I also have the impression they are too modest to think their own story teling is that important compared to adaptations or such.

So far I have only seem Toriyama refering to fillers and such as "alternate universes" (or something like that). And I believe he only did that because the plot-holes and differences in the fillers are too blatant, otherwise he wouldn't even mind to call them like that.

Of course Toriyama don't seems to care much about that either, so I don't think his opinion affect the canonicity of anything.

[Rocketman]

But the group he is fighting against is also traveling back in time. He is trying to stop them from creating their own timeline/getting Goku or something. It is not like he is going back and killing Bibidi.

They create their own timeline just by going back. When Trunks follows, he doesn't destroy their timeline, he just creates another one where he goes back also.

[Rory]

Dragon Ball Online is an MMORPG.
It was made for the same reason other MMORPGs are made, to make money.
Funny enough, that's also the same reason Dragon Ball was made.
Dragon Ball GT isn't canon anyway, so don't worry.
Also, Kai has no relevance to the canon ending of Dragon Ball, it just happens to end before the Boo arc starts.
You call it a piece of garbage. Have you played the game, or are you just basing this on absolutely nothing?

[Xyex]

Vegeta is almost 20 years older than Goku, shouldn't he already entered the old phase?

He's 5 years older than Goku. Well, 14, if you count all of the time dead/in the RoSaT too.

You're not the only one. There are people who'll take anything over GT. I'm not one of those people. I think DBO is completely ridiculous. The story itself doesn't bring anything interesting, and to me, it sounds like a bad fanfic.

Nothing interesting?

I... I have no words to properly convey my reaction to that statement.

I'm not someone who will 'take anything' over GT. But I certainly will take something better than GT over GT. And DBO is definitely better.

[GamingBuddha]

DBO's backstory is it's storyline, or at least the vast bulk of it at the moment. But it's not only the backstory parts, but the stuff with Mira and so forth, too, that I like.

No, the backstory is not the storyline, it just explains what happened to make the current story come about. While we might be told about Vegeta and Goku's epic battle, I doubt we'll actually get to experience or see it in the game. It's just an additional bit of information that's added on to the game. Similarly, no matter how epic Grandpa Gohan's fight with Roshi was, it doesn't make the Dragon Ball storyline any better since we never actually get to see it happen.

All I know about the actual story is that there is a time-traveling group that'll let you go through time and play through events from the actual series. That plus the multiple characters that seem like clones of the originals just makes it seem like a rehash of the series. Granted, I haven't actually seen any of the quests, but that's just what it seems like at this point.

[Rukura]

Boo finds out about the wonderful breeding process through porn and makes a wife for himself....Boobi. That sells it for me
I think there are a lot of things in the DBO story that i can consider part of my fanon, the same way i do with Neko Majin.


My serious question is this:
Can someone explain to me the LOGIC of a Dragon Ball game (a series made in Japan, by a japanese man) NOT being released in Japan?
Yes, some American games way back didn't go to Japan......but none of them had NEW story, created specifically for this game, by the author of the original series him self. I. DO. NOT. GET. THAT. AT. ALL.

[Fox666]

I am not sure. But Korea has produced several "free" games.

[Citrinate]

But the group he is fighting against is also traveling back in time. He is trying to stop them from creating their own timeline/getting Goku or something. It is not like he is going back and killing Bibidi.

They create their own timeline just by going back. When Trunks follows, he doesn't destroy their timeline, he just creates another one where he goes back also.

It's been a while since I watched the Cell saga, but from what I can remember the act of time travel does not necessarily create a new timeline. We know this because, on multiple occasions, travelers have popped in and out of the "main" timeline without creating a new one. In addition, we've also seen two different travelers from two different timelines use two different time machines and both end up in the same exact timeline. So not only is it possible for the Time Patrol to follow people into the past, but it's nothing new either.

My serious question is this:
Can someone explain to me the LOGIC of a Dragon Ball game (a series made in Japan, by a japanese man) NOT being released in Japan?
Yes, some American games way back didn't go to Japan......but none of them had NEW story, created specifically for this game, by the author of the original series him self. I. DO. NOT. GET. THAT. AT. ALL.

The game has suffered a bunch of set backs and was very poorly received by Korean gamers. I'm not sure what their original plans were, but at this point it seems as if they don't want to release a game in Japan that they know is going to fail miserably. Currently, much of their focus seems to be on redesigning certain parts of the game (mostly the combat).

[Rukura]

*snip*it seems as if they don't want to release a game in Japan that they know is going to fail miserably.*snip*

After tons of gameplay videos being seen since it came out, after so many details about the game being known, many people still want it.
The way i'm looking at it, there is an actual demand...and it is not being satisfied. That's profit that they are denying themselves. (isn't it being tested in Taiwan and Hong Kong, or something? And STILL NOT Japan?)

There seems as much silence about DBO info in Japan as there is about the japanese music being announced to be in Project Age 2011 on it's thread...

[Herms]

Can someone explain to me the LOGIC of a Dragon Ball game (a series made in Japan, by a japanese man) NOT being released in Japan?

I think part of it is that, if I understand right, Korea is more or less the world capital of MMORPGs. So they might have wanted to release it there first because it would be the most receptive market to a game like this. And so far the game hasn't done well enough there to justify immediately releasing it elsewhere.

[Rukura]

Can someone explain to me the LOGIC of a Dragon Ball game (a series made in Japan, by a japanese man) NOT being released in Japan?

I think part of it is that, if I understand right, Korea is more or less the world capital of MMORPGs. So they might have wanted to release it there first because it would be the most receptive market to a game like this. And so far the game hasn't done well enough there to justify immediately releasing it elsewhere.

I have to agree with you and Citrinate on that aspect. Yet we're STILL talking about it, long after the fact. Yes, Korea IS indeed the world capital of MMORPGs. But this is like if a Starcraft game were to be developed by the Blizzard in Korea and were to never be released in North America (which is insane)

For the first time ever, a Bleach Playstation game is being released in America and Europe...because there was a demand for it. There are very few Dragon Ball games not released in America and Europe nowadays, and the fact that this one (with original creations from the original author, no less) is not even being released in the country that spawned the franchise.

[Kiyza]

I think it's just best to give them their time when working on this game. If they want to maximize the cash they'll make off of it, it needs to be a lot better by the time it's released in Japan. Japan will probably have the largest number of people playing it, so that only makes sense if you ask me. I constantly hear complaints about the game's combat system and balance issues between the classes. If you ask me, they need to work out most of the kinks in that before even thinking about a Japanese release.

[Citrinate]

*snip*it seems as if they don't want to release a game in Japan that they know is going to fail miserably.*snip*

After tons of gameplay videos being seen since it came out, after so many details about the game being known, many people still want it.
The way i'm looking at it, there is an actual demand...and it is not being satisfied. That's profit that they are denying themselves. (isn't it being tested in Taiwan and Hong Kong, or something? And STILL NOT Japan?)

There seems as much silence about DBO info in Japan as there is about the japanese music being announced to be in Project Age 2011 on it's thread...

Watching someone play a game and playing it yourself are two different things. The gameplay doesn't look that bad in small doses, but it gets real stale after you've been playing with it for a while.

Remember that this is an MMO. You don't make money off an MMO by simply releasing it. You make money by keeping a large and active user base that is either spending money on a subscription fee or buying items out of an item shop. A lot of the hype surrounding this game is also focused on its release. If you don't make a good first impression you'll scare off your target audience and might never get most of them back as they could have built a negative image of the game (which may never be destroyed no matter how much the game is fixed) or have moved onto a different game.

And yes, there's beta testing going on right now with the Taiwanese version (open beta will begin on June 2nd) and a Chinese version is scheduled to release sometime near the end of this year/beginning of next.