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       PHANTASY STAR ONLINE

CHEATING AND STEALING TECHNIQUES FAQ

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Written by: Joshua Dallman
Character name: Jones (Lv. 75, Miranda 01-01)
FAQ Version: 1.3.7, Original Release
GAMEFAQS.COM EXCLUSIVE






====================
I. TABLE OF CONTENTS
====================

I.   TABLE OF CONTENTS

][.  LEGAL

]I[. INTRODUCTION

IV.  THE CHEATS

     INTRODUCTION

     GAME/LEVEL

     ------> Joining a Password Protected Game
     ------> Leading Party Members Down the Wrong Path
     ------> PSO Gleaning
     ------> Freezing Up A Team's Game
     ------> Walking Straight Through Walls
     ------> Walking Through Beams
     ------> Telepipe Traps

     TREASURE

     ------> Always Sharing The Chests ... But What's the Catch?
     ------> Wow, That Player NEVER Takes Any Items!
     ------> Treasure Island
     ------> This is the PsOLICE, Freeze!
     ------> Frozen Water Pipes
     ------> Setting Down Telepipe Near Treasure
     ------> The "Bravest" Player

     BOSS

     ------> Fighting the Boss Alone
     ------> Boss Box Greed
     ------> False Confidence
     ------> Boss Weapon-Stealer

     PLAYER

     ------> May the Force of Suicide be wity you
     ------> Chat-Kill
     ------> Helping New Players Kill ... Themselves
     ------> Free: Double Saber, Cost: Guilt
     ------> Free Holy Ray +30, No Strings Attached
     ------> Follow the Yellow Brick Road ... of Doom!
     ------> Experience Points "Theft"
     ------> A Present With Six Claws and Your Name on It
     ------> Playing As Someone Elses's Character
     ------> Getting Free Items from Traders

     ITEM

     ------> Double MAG Blast
     ------> Telepiping Ups and Downs more Frequent than the Stock 
Market

     TRADING

     ------> Buying A Double Saber at Used Car Prices
     ------> Buying a Level 200 MAG for the Price of a Pack of Ragol 
Gum
     ------> Getting The Sweets From the Newbies
     ------> Waaah, Someone Stole my Double Saber!

     V.   GREETS






=========
][. LEGAL
=========

This FAQ is Copyright 2001 (c) Joshua Dallman and may not be 
distributed in whole or in part by electronic or other means without 
the expressed written permission from the author except for personal 
use.

This FAQ may NOT be posted on ANY website except for GAMEFAQS.COM.  If 
you would like to have this FAQ on your website, please do not email 
me; link to the PSO page on gamefaqs, but do NOT link directly to the 
FAQ itself.

This FAQ may NOT be modified in any way, shape, or form.  Please see 
GAMEFAQS for the most up to date version.






=================
]I[. INTRODUCTION
=================

Phantasy Star Online is not a video game.  It is a virtual community.  
Thus, when you cheat against the video game, you are cheating the 
community -- and by extension, since you yourself are part of this 
community, you are cheating yourself.

This FAQ was written not to instruct people how to cheat (it doesn't 
take brains to figure out how to steal items), but rather to alert 
players as to potential ways that their less-than-genuine party 
members may be pulling one over on them.

I have logged over 180 hours and counting into Phantasy Star Online 
(PSO), and the one thing that I preach to people over and over is 
this:

PSO is supposed to be fun.

It's simple, yet overlooked by the vast majority of 
power-and-item-hungry players.  If people would be less concerned with 
what weapon they have and level they're on, and worry more about just 
sitting back, having a beer, and enjoying themselves for a few hours, 
the game would be a lot more fun for everybody.






==============
IV. THE CHEATS
==============

------------
Introduction
------------

The ways of cheating in this game are only limited by the collective 
imagination of its players, which one will quickly realize is 
limitless.

This "cheats" section is broken down into catagories, such as level 
cheats, boss cheats, treasure cheats, etc.  Within the section are 
multiple cheats, each describing the cheat, how it's performed, 
warning signs of what to look for to see if someone is a cheater, and 
what you can do about it.  Some cheats may belong more to a section 
other than the one its listed in, so the section headings are to be 
used for vague organizational purposes.

Since most of the time there is little recourse against cheaters, the 
best advice I can give to players is this:  find people you enjoy 
playing with and can trust, trade cards, then play password protected 
games from that point on.  I have zero doubt as I'm laying bleeding on 
the cave floor surrounded by baddies that my Soul Eater +35 is as safe 
as can be.

As it is the best solution for almost all of these cheats, I refrain 
from saying "play password protected games to keep the unscrupulous 
players out" in every "what to do" section as that would be 
repetitive.

If you have a new cheat to alert users about, feel free to email me 
(jonessoda at yahoo dot com), but DO NOT email me general questions 
about the game or pleas to show you how to perform the "secret" tricks 
mentioned in this FAQ -- I won't.

As a rule, when I'm describing the cheat and I talk about the "player" 
that is the user who is cheating, whereas the "party member" or "party 
members" are the other players NOT performing the cheat, often the 
victims.



-----------------
GAME/LEVEL CHEATS
-----------------

------> Joining a Password Protected Game <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player joins a password-protected game despite knowing nobody in the 
party and not being invited.

WARNING SIGNS:

* nobody in your party knows the player

WHAT TO DO:

Preventive measures -- never make the password the same as any of your 
character names, the same as the team name (duh!), or something basic 
such as "pso".  You'd be amazed how often you can get into password 
protected games because someone failed to follow the most fundemental 
of security precautions.



------> Leading Party Members Down the Wrong Path <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player, having a map of the level from a magazine or strategy guide, 
or from knowing the level variations by heart so well, knows that 
there is a sweet pile of unopened chests in a nearby room.  The player 
then says something such as "follow me", or, being the sheep that most 
players are, party members just follow the player without them saying 
anything.

The player will lead you away from the treasure, then suddenly 
(without stopping) double back, run to the boxes, if they're smart use 
a Zonde-series technique to open them all at once (thus reducing the 
time you have to realize what happened), then grab the goods and run 
back to where you were, sometimes adding, "sorry got lost".

WARNING SIGNS:

* a player leads you back the way you came, even though there is an 
unexplored room up ahead, then suddenly doubles back

* a player leads you into a room with enemies, lets you initiate 
attack, then suddenly doubles back not just into the hallway for 
safety but far back to the unexplored room

WHAT TO DO:

Since many of the maps are admittedly easy to get lost in, this is a 
very difficult thing to spot a player doing.  You will only be able to 
accuse the player if you notice a specific pattern of behavior across 
multiple levels.

Again, about all you can do is to ask if the player is doing this on 
purpose, request that they share the treasure with you, and affirm to 
them that you'll do the same so that it'll be beneficial for both of 
you.  This can work, because sometimes a player is just paranoid that 
they won't get their piece of the pie, but often take the whole thing 
in erronous over-compensation.



------> PSO Gleaning <------

Description:

A player connects to PSO, selects a ship/block, and upon viewing the 
list of available teams to join, selects the furthest one to the top 
of the list, which means it has been being played the longest amount 
of time, and thus all or most of the levels have already been 
defeated.

After entering the game, when the other players say "take red pipe, 
ruins 3", the player instead does not reply (or pretends to be 
Japanese -- classic!) and instead goes to Forest 1.

The player then goes from level to level picking up all the items that 
the other players didn't pick up, didn't want, or missed, occasionally 
having to fight an enemy or two, and telepiping back and forth between 
"their" level and the ship to sell items.

WARNING SIGNS:

* your game has been in progress for a long time (you can't see your 
own game on the list so you don't know how high up on the list it is) 
and players enter but don't join the rest of your party

* a player does not respond when spoken to, but you can see him 
walking on ship

* the player's telepipe leads to a level you have already defeated

WHAT TO DO:

If you don't mind, then don't do anything.  Afterall, the items you 
left you didn't want or need, and if they're a lower level character 
they may find them useful.  On the other hand, the player is taking a 
valuable space (remember, only 4 players per game), and you may want 
someone who could help you to join in, especially if you're at a boss 
or want a friend to join.  

You can of course ask them to leave.  You could also try to convince 
them to join you, saying "the items are far better in the level we're 
in, and we could use your help", although most of the time this is the 
type of person likely to steal YOUR items upon death.  If you're at 
Dark Falz (or whatever) and really need to open up that 4th space, you 
COULD try following the player around grabbing items before they do to 
prove your point that there are greener pastures elsewhere so that 
they leave, but this is probably too much trouble.



------> Freezing Up A Team's Game <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player enters a team's game, then returns to the lobby, then 
re-enters the same game, then returns to the lobby, and repeats until 
desired effect is achieved (which is of course immediate).  Team 
members playing the game are completely "frozen" while their screen 
says, "PLAYER is joining game, please wait a few moments".

The motivation for this can range from "revenge" for something a 
character did (like having a double saber +20 stolen) to just plain 
adolescent mischeif.

WARNING SIGNS:

* a player enters and re-enters a game more than twice in a row, 
faster than could ever possibly be attributed to "disconnection", and 
continues to do so

WHAT DO DO:

Quit your game and round up your team members on another ship, or 
better yet another server (which will do the trick in "hiding" you as 
long as the other player doesn't have your card).  At its extreme, 
call the SEGA technical support number in the back of the PSO manual 
to report the harrassment, which is strictly against SEGA policy and 
could result in that player's account termination.



------> Walking Straight Through Walls <------

DESCRIPTION:

There is a locked door (whether red or with four red circles) and a 
player either unequips their weapon so they are punching/kicking, or 
equips a double sabre, then walks straight through the locked, 
unopened door, leaving the other members behind and grabbing the goods 
for themselves (if applicable).

WARNING SIGNS:

* player equips a double sabre or nothing at all

* they walk through a locked door, though rarely will do this in front 
of you (visibly)

* you notice on the map they are in an impossible location

* you tell them to "get on a pad" to open the door, they ignore you 
and walk straight through it alone

WHAT TO DO:

If they're grabbing the treasure, ask them to share using strategies 
outlined above.  However, if they're doing it just to short-cut 
through the level, and you're OK with that, ask for a pipe, then pipe 
to the ship and take their pipe down.  You *could* ask them to show 
you how to do it, but chances are they won't as it's one of the most 
closely guarded secrets in the game that only a few (including myself, 
heh-heh) know how to do.

Don't automatically label the person a cheater though, because you do 
NOT need GameShark to perform this maneuver, and often they are just 
looking to help the team out with a shortcut.



------> Walking Through Beams <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player sees some boxes protected behind some beams, and WITHOUT 
turning off the beams first by using the switch walks straight through 
the beams and grabs the treasure.

WARNING SIGNS:

* you see a player walk through beams (although they will usually not 
do this visibly in front of you)

* you come to an area where there are beams, but the boxes behind them 
are broken AND the items are gone

* you see a player on the map in an impossible location (where beams 
forbid you from being without turning off first)

WHAT TO DO:

The ONLY reason to walk through beams is to grab treasure, so unlike 
walking through locked doors, this person is cheating you out of your 
share.  Again, the player does not need GameShark or anything else to 
do this, and again it is among the most closely guarded secrets in the 
game (which I also can do, hah-hah), but be upfront in your 
disapproval of this since it could be the thing keeping you from that 
much sought out weapon you're looking for.



------> Telepipe Traps <------

DESCRIPTION:

You are told to "take the green pipe" and when you go down, you are 
either immediately ambushed by a multitude of enemies, whacked by a 
piston, blown away by traps, or trapped behind beams or a dead end 
room locked on both sides with no way out but the pipe.


WARNING SIGNS:

There are none.  You have no advance way to tell this will happen.

WHAT TO DO:

If you are ambushed by enemies, the other player may have on purpose 
put the telepipe in the center of a room with many enemies hoping that 
you would die so that they can then run up and take your weapon and 
money.  To keep this from happening, ALWAYS carry at least ONE scape 
doll, so that hopefully you will res yourself and be able to pick up 
your items before the other person runs in and does.

If you are blown away by traps, the other player may have found a room 
with many, many traps, avoided them (but not set them off or exploded 
them), then set the telepipe in the center where you were most likely 
to trigger the most of them unknowingly.  Again, carry a scape doll to 
prevent this.

If you are whacked by a piston, take an aspirin and chuckle.  They do 
minimum damage to you (if any) and this is usually done as a practical 
joke.

Behind bars or in a dead-end room, again, someone set down the 
telepipe after using a "walking through wall" trick in order to have a 
chuckle.  Harmless fun, take the telepipe back up (or create your own) 
and leave.






---------------
TREASURE CHEATS
---------------

------> Always Sharing The Chests ... But What's the Catch? <------

DESCRIPTION:

Player opens chests, and seems to only take their share of things per 
the size of the party.  They always leave money for you to pick up, 
and rather take items which you probably couldn't have used anyway.

Sounds fine, right?  Well, your average amount of money in a box is 
usually a few hundred AT BEST, whereas the average price of an item 
sold in the shops can be upwards of a few thousand AT WORST.  
Additionally, if they die and haven't picked up any money, they won't 
lose any money if someone decides to steal it -- and they'll keep all 
the items to sell later.  Thus, at the surface level, it seems that 
they're not taking EVERYTHING, but money-wise (and especially in the 
case of SPECIAL WEAPONS, item-wise) they're getting far more than 
their fair share.

WARNING SIGNS:

* whenever you go to an area with boxes or where there were boxes, 
there's ONLY ever money there

* NOTE: if the person who created the game has a YELLOW secion ID 
(yellowboze), this WILL occur naturally, as you will find more money 
than items

WHAT TO DO:

Again, confront the player about "sharing", and if all else fails, 
quit.



------> Wow, That Player NEVER Takes Any Items! <------

DESCRIPTION:

What a swell guy!  Player always goes ahead to treasure rooms and 
opens all the boxes, but when party members get there, nothing has 
been taken.  In fact, there seem to be LESS empty boxes than usual, 
but it's normally money or healing items in them.

What the player is doing is opening the boxes, TAKING the good stuff, 
then DROPPING items of money of a less value so that it APPEARS that 
they didn't take anything by the time you get there.

WARNING SIGNS:

* you're never finding orange or blue items (weapons/armor) in boxes

* boxes seem to be empty less of the time

* the placement of the items on the floor does not match up to where 
the boxes were (or should have been)

WHAT TO DO:

Again, confront the player about "sharing", and if all else fails, 
quit.



------> Treasure Island <------

DESCRIPTION:

Following a player, a party member enters a room.  Upon entering, the 
player is no longer in this room, but there is a huge pile of money in 
the center.  The party member walks to the pile of money and takes it, 
but they are all only one meseta.  Often the party member will stop 
and say, "What the heck?  What's all this money?"  When the party 
member catches up to the player, the player is in a room with treasure 
chests, the contents of which are now gone.

The player knew there was a treasure room nearby, so to get all the 
boxes to themself, they purposely DROPPED many 1-meseta boxes on the 
other side of the room, so that when the player entered the room they 
go and take the low-value meseta instead of following the player to 
the potentially higher value boxes.

WARNING SIGNS:

* there are more than four yellow items on the floor

* there is meseta where there were no boxes

* there is a treasure room nearby, and the player you were following 
is there

WHAT TO DO:

Leave the 1 meseta yellow items and follow the player to the real 
stuff, adding something to the extent of "wait up" or "hey man, 
share".  If you suspect they did this on purpose to dupe you, this is 
probably a person you will never find any good items with because they 
will always be grabbing them first.

Note, this isn't always done with ill intentions.  I personally love 
doing this for purposes of provoking humor or relieving boredom, ie 
waiting for other players to come down from ship when I'm at a boss 
portal.  It's harmless, looks pretty neat on the ground (especially if 
you drop a hundred of them!), and fun when they finally DO get down 
there ("What the heck...?!").



------> This is the PsOLICE, Freeze! <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player is in a game with only one other party member.  The party 
member is an obvious vet of PSO and familiar with both the BSOD and 
BSOD warning signs (reference: see Black Screen of Death BSOD FAQ on 
gamefaqs.com).  Near a room with treasure, the player suddenly and 
inexplicably stops moving, just stands there.  The player does not 
respond to the party member when the party member talks to them.  The 
party member, fearing the worst (BSOD), exits the game immediately.  
The player is then reanimated (it's a miracle!  I can walk again!) and 
goes to the room with the treasure, claiming exclusive dibs.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player stops talking AND moving

* you suspect BSOD, however, you can STILL PICK UP ITEMS

* you suspect BSOD, howver, you can STILL TALK

* other party members are in the game, and they can move and talk fine

WHAT TO DO:

Remember, before a BSOD hits, you CANNOT PICK UP ITEMS (or talk).  To 
test this, drop a meseta and try picking it up again.  If you can, 
then don't worry; the player is either trying to trick you, got 
disconnected legitimately, or (as is most often the case) just took 
that much needed once-every-eight-hours-of-straight-gameplay bathroom 
break.

If you think your player is really that devious, try dropping an item 
near them ("I found a double saber, here take it") and watch how 
quickly they come back to life (the item you really want to drop of 
course should be just a standard throw-away weapon).



------> Frozen Water Pipes <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player leads the party into a room with slimes.  Instead of 
attacking them, the player freezes them on purpose, which causes them 
to split in to.  While the rest of the party now wastes time ridding 
Ragol of the watery pests, the player runs back and grabs treasure in 
an unexplored room.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player ignores a side room with treasure and leads group into room 
with slimes

* player freezes slimes instead of attacking (though some newbies 
don't know better)

* player leaves room after freezing slimes

WHAT TO DO:

Standard treasure-stealing tatics, it would be best to follow the user 
back out of the room to get your share of the items too, if that is 
indeed their intentions.



------> Setting Down Telepipe Near Treasure <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player, having a map of the level from a magazine or strategy guide, 
or from knowing the level variations by heart so well, knows that 
there is a sweet pile of unopened chests in a nearby room.  The player 
then says something such as "let's go to the ship to buy supplies and 
heal" and will open a telepipe.

The player will then wait for everyone to go up, then they will go up, 
but they will GO BACK SECONDS LATER.  This, of course, closes the 
telepipe so that they have no competition when they go to grab the 
treasure.  They will then set up a SECOND telepipe in the same place, 
and because party members are busy in the shops, nobody will notice it 
was missing for a few seconds.

WARNING SIGNS:

* a sudden, usually unwarrented call to "go to the ship"

* insistence that EVERYONE go up, not just one or two players

* player waits for everyone to go up first

* telepipe disappears, then reappears on ship telepipe area

WHAT TO DO:

Again, there's not much recourse you have here, short of the above 
reccomendation to be firm yet polite and not immediately accusational 
with the player.



------> The "Bravest" Player <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player runs into a room full of enemies without fear (or being 
slowed down by walk/blocking), busts open treasure boxes, then returns 
to the doorway to fight with you (all without breaking the run).  They 
are able to do this by pressing the ^ START button while running, 
which keeps you from walking slowly (and can also save you in some 
situtations!).

WARNING SIGNS:

* you notice that the player isn't automatically slowed down 
(walk/block defensive stance) when close to enemies

* player strikes boxes before they strike the enemies

WHAT TO DO:

Again, ask the player to fight FIRST, grab items SECOND, and reassure 
that you will do the same and will always share with them equally.






-----------
BOSS CHEATS
-----------

------> Fighting the Boss Alone <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player runs to the boss pad alone, and answers "YES" to "ARE YOU 
READY?".  The player does this only if they know they can beat the 
boss alone.  The player then recieves all the treasure without having 
to share it, which is a quantity greater than if they played a single 
player game.

WARNING SIGNS:

* none, this comes without warning

WHAT TO DO:

* sadly, there is nothing you can do but cross your fingers that the 
character is weaker than they believe and will be killed by the boss.  
Since players that purposely do this will often leave the game 
immediately after the boss, there is little recourse (save for verbal 
abuse).  The only protection you can provide yourself is to get your 
team on the boss pad BEFORE sending a telepipe to a new player 
entering the game.



------> Boss Box Greed <------

DESCRIPTION:

Once a boss is defeated, the player will use a Zonde-series technique 
to open ALL the boxes immediately, then sprint the area pressing the 
"A" pick-up-item button as quickly as they can, indiscriminately 
taking items.

WARNING SIGNS:

* none -- just because a player opens the boxes with lightning, it 
does not mean they intend to "gun-run" all the treasures

WHAT TO DO: 

Grab as many items as you can as soon as you hear the far-too-rapid 
sound of items being picked up, then talk to the person openly about 
it, and offer to share your bounty if they'll share theirs.  
Otherwise, there's really nothing you can do.



------> False Confidence <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player encourages a fight against the level boss despite the fact 
that the other party members are dangerously under-leveled to and 
inadequately prepared to fight the boss.  There are reassurances from 
the player to the party of "don't worry, I'll heal and res you".  The 
player sets up a telepipe before the boss portal, unequips their 
weapon (making sure that all money is in the bank), then immediately 
upon fighting the boss commits suicide and returns to the ship.  Once 
at the ship, they take the telepipe back down to in front of the boss 
portal and wait for the other teammates to die.

Once all party members are dead (and have cursed thoroughly), they 
return to the ship thinking they can just take the telepipe back down 
to the portal to get their weapons, however, discover that the 
telepipe is no longer there (because the player went down).  The 
player then enters the boss portal alone (weapon unequiped), grabs 
everybody's weapons, then dies again and returns to the ship to either 
sell the weapons, bank them, or bribe the teammates if they want them 
back.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player enters boss arena with no weapon equiped, or an obvious 
throwaway weapon (ie "handgun")

* player makes little or no attempt to hit the boss and instead dies 
without remorse

* player DOES NOT WAIT TO BE RES'D, and instead returns immediately to 
the ship

WHAT TO DO:

Don't fight a boss you know you are not ready for, no matter how much 
"talking into it" another player tries to get you.  If you're not 
ready, you're not ready.  That's different from the boss being a 
challange of course -- the boss shouldn't be TOO easy to beat, but not 
IMPOSSIBLE.  Most importantly, if you've brought a good weapon to the 
boss and you see someone who's died and returned to the ship and you 
suspect it's for this reason (hint: were they the one to lay down the 
telepipe in front of the boss?), then unequip your good weapon and die 
cutting your losses, or equip to a throw-away weapon so you won't lose 
anything.  Better still, make sure to have a Scape Doll on hand at all 
times when carrying good items.



------> Boss Weapon-Stealer <------

DESCRIPTION:

Player enters boss arena with either no weapon or a throw-away.  
Player makes no attempt to fight boss, but rather protects just 
themself.  Player does not cast RESTA as that will (at higher levels) 
give life to teammates -- player only uses the "-mate" family to 
increase life as that only heals them.  Player then waits for anyone 
-- ANYONE -- to die, and steals their weapon, sometimes even getting 
away with all three other players' weapons.  Player then DISCONNECTS 
the line and immediately dissappears, or unequips weapon and commits 
suicide in order to return to the ship and then the lobby.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player enters boss arena with no weapon equiped, or an obvious 
throwaway weapon (ie "handgun")

* player makes little or no attempt to hit the boss and instead dies 
without remorse

* player does not res other players, either with a reverser or moon 
atomizer, and makes no attempt to heal or help them whatsoever

* player usually tends to be quiet and not speak much, if at all

* player may have a pattern of stealing earlier in the game, ie 
someone dies and they run up and take the weapon and money, only to 
realize that it's not a good weapon, so res the party member and give 
item back

* note: if a moon atomizer or reverser is mapped to the RED "A" 
button, then this "stealing" is usually an accident and the player 
will apologize and give the item/money back right away

WHAT TO DO:

Spot the warning signs early, though often they'll go unnoticed even 
by experienced players.  Don't use your absolute best weapons against 
bosses of an even moderate difficulty, because no matter how high 
level you are there's always that possibility you'll get caught in the 
wrong place at the wrong time.  Carry Scape Dolls so that hopefully 
you can beat the thief to your items.






-------------
PLAYER CHEATS
-------------

------> May the Force of Suicide be wity you <------

DESCRIPTION:

Player, usually a force, will unequip a weapon and commit suicide by 
running into a group of enemies without attacking.  A party member 
will then res them.

When the character is res'd, not only is their life bar filled 
(obviously), but they have all of their technique points back (so they 
don't have to spend it on a -fluid) AND their photon blast will be 
more charged up.

So basically, they get a free power-up at the expense of your own TP 
to res them (not to mention the life you risk getting to their dead 
body).

This WOULD be a great technique against bosses where TP is very 
critical and you can easily run out of -fluids, because you are 
esentially filling another character's TP completely at the expense of 
your own, but they can then turn around and do the same to you.

Fairly pointless tatic, except perhaps for Forces who are too cheap to 
buy -fluids or use TP draw weapons.

WARNING SIGNS:

* a character, typically Force, will die at very regular intervals (ie 
every time their TP is gone) with no weapon equipped (so if thieves 
come they have nothing to lose but money) and often with a telepipe 
they laid down in the area (so if they have to go back to ship because 
nobody will res, they can easily re-join the party)

WHAT TO DO:

If you notice the pattern, and are certain they're doing this to skip 
using -fluids, it's simple; don't res them.  If they want to go 
through the trouble of dying every five minutes and telepiping back 
down, that's fine.

A variation of this is instead of dying, just telepiping up, running 
ALL the way to the nurse, blowing the ten meseta, then running ALL the 
way back, and repeating every time they run out of magic.  If the 
player is an asset to the team, offer to buy -fluids for them if the 
reason they're doing that is just to save cash.



------> Chat-Kill <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player enters a game and takes a pipe down.  Their screen is 
immediately filled up with empty chat balloons from the three players, 
they cannot see anything, and either hit some bombs are are surrounded 
and killed by enemies.  Someone takes your weapon and money and laughs 
manically.

This is similar to the telepipe trap trick, but the variation here is 
that three "buddies" all have a macro with 75 spaces (a full, large, 
empty chat balloon) which they are continuously streaming to your (and 
their own) screens so that you cannot see.  They are in a safe place, 
you are not; you die.

WARNING SIGNS:

* you take a telepipe down into a room with bombs

* you take a telepipe down into the center of a enemy circle

* your screen is flooded with blank messages or large graphics that 
don't cease

WHAT TO DO:

If you suspect that your teammates set this trap for you to walk into 
and they they're not just incredibly intellectually dull, then hit ^ 
START and open up a telepipe (technique or item) to get the heck out 
of there.

This is of course ineffective against bosses.  I often find myself 
trying to placate the verbal urges of my party members during boss 
fights because I can't see, and they don't realize it.



------> Helping New Players Kill ... Themselves <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player in a lobby finds a character near the breaking point between 
normal/hard, or hard/vhard.  In other words, they find a player in the 
low 20's or in the low 40's, and convince that player to join them in 
a hard or very hard game respectively.  The player then goes straight 
to the Ruins where the party member has no chance and the party member 
dies immediately.  The player grabs the party member's weapon and 
money, then leaves.

WARNING SIGNS:

* if you are in your lower 20's or lower 40's, there is little chance 
for your survival in the LAST level of that series, so you should stay 
away anyway

* if someone significantly higher than you wants to go straight to the 
Ruins (or Mines for that matter, where you'd be easily as whupped) and 
finds the Forest or Caves out of the question (where you could 
probably hold your own), it might be a trap

WHAT DO DO:

This is hard one to spot, because often high-level characters will 
legitimately help out the newbies because when they were new somone 
came into one of their games and helped THEM out and so the circle is 
complete.  However, if you have your suspicions, equip a shoddy weapon 
and carry under a hundred meseta, then die on purpose and see if your 
"big brother" takes your items and ditches your or leaves your items 
and res's you.



------> Free: Double Saber, Cost: Guilt <------

DESCRIPTION:

Player enters game, asks if anyone has a double saber.  One party 
member does, but says that they only have one and that they're using 
it so it's not for sale.  The player then joins the party, and fights 
exclusively with the party member with the double saber.  If the party 
member should happen to die, the player immediately snaps up the saber 
and leaves.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player is quiet except for comments regarding the double saber, ie 
"for sale?", "nice saber", etc.

* player follows the character with the double, literally clipping the 
graphics of the two characters

* player heals only using -mate family, never using Resta as that 
would heal the party member with the double saber whom theh player 
wants to die (exception: androids with no TP)

WHAT DO DO:

Spot the warning signs early, they're usually GLARING.  I can always 
spot a thief in a party I join, they're unusually quiet, they follow a 
specific character around, the grab as many items around them as they 
can even though they have barely contributed to the battle except for 
protecting their own tush.

Carry a scape doll if you're going to break out the good weapons in 
non-password-protected games, and beware of being overwhelmed by 
enemies.

I have seen many, MANY double-sabers stolen from party members by 
unscrupulous players, and it kills me every time.  Be careful, and 
don't have too much pride to be shrewd enough to only use your good 
stuff OFF line.



------> Free Holy Ray +30, No Strings Attached <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player is giving away unbelievable items: Holy Ray, Real Agitos, 
Double Sabers, Mag Cells, and tons of money.  They ask for nothing in 
return, and in fact leave after dropping the items.

WARNING SIGNS:

* mass quantities of free special items -- need I say more?

WHAT TO DO:

Well, if you have no qualms with disrupting the natural global flow of 
the game, thereby corrupting a delicate virtual ecosystem previously 
perfectly balanced by video game mathematicians and scientists, then 
hey, go for it.  The items were, of course, either GameShark cloned or 
duplicated through the aid of a little-known bug in the game which is 
a highly guarded secret as it does NOT require the use of GameShark or 
other cheating device and thus cannot be detected by Sega.  GameShark 
or not, remember, you're disrupting the balance of a global community, 
the game equivilent of "inflation" whereby even a Holy Ray then 
becomes worthless because everyone's got three in the bank.

Otherwise, if you're a straight shooter like myself (heh, right 
Sage?), then simply don't take the items.  If you're feeling VERY 
reactionary, then take all the items before other players do, create a 
game, drop the items, then quit -- so that the items have been 
annhilated into the void of PSO cyberspace (the equivilent of "burning 
money" to stave off inflation).  I wouldn't reccomend this later 
strategy, though, since any morale high ground you gain is likely to 
be thwarted by your new-found enemies.



------> Follow the Yellow Brick Road ... of Doom! <------

DESCRIPTION:

Upon walking into an area, a party member sees what appears to be a 
"road" of yellow meseta.  They grab each meseta and follow the road, 
grabbing each 1 meseta as the go along, possibly uttering "what the 
heck?" as they're doing so.  At the end of the road lies a hallway 
with multiple bomb traps which kills them, or, leads them into the 
dead center of a room where enemies spawned while they were too busy 
counting the money and then kills them.  The player then comes into 
the room and takes the party member's weapon and (ironically) meseta.

WARNING SIGNS:

* there's a trail of yellow meseta on the ground

* the level you're in could kill you if you played it alone

* when you ask what the meseta road is, there is no reply, or urges to 
"follow it"

WHAT TO DO:

Sure, take the meseta, but use trap vision and be as cautions 
following the END of a trail into a room as you would if you were 
entering the room alone without the distraction of the meseta.

Most of the time, this is done harmlessly again out of boredom or fun. 
 Sometimes, it actually aides as a navigational element.  One time, my 
party all went to the ship while I stayed down and fought through a 
few rooms.  So that they could find me from the telepipe more easily 
(which wasn't my telepipe), I left a trail from the TP to the room I 
was currently battling in, which they dutifully followed (after a few 
moments of confusion and laughter).

Again, the ubiquitous solution of a Scape Doll would work nicely here, 
lest your fellow player have less honorable intenions than myself.



------> Experience Points "Theft" <------

DESCRIPTION:

Ahh yes, the old "experience points theft" trick.  One that we're all 
guilty of, knowingly or not.  The way the game was designed, if one 
player inflicts 10 points of damage onto an enemy, and another player 
inflicts 950 points of damange onto an enemy, they both recieve an 
equal number of experience points when the enemy dies.  Thus, you can 
have two players, one who does 95% of the work, the other who does 5% 
of the work, at the exact same level.

This tends to occur naturally with Force characters through no fault 
of their own, due to their weaker HP total.  It will also tend to 
occur in a game where there are one or more players WAY out of their 
league in a level, and again, this isn't neccessarily cheating.

What *IS* cheating, however, is purposly entering a room, striking 
every enemy ONLY ONCE, then returning to the safety of the doorway 
while the other party members do the real work, for the specific 
intention of getting the experience points.

WARNING SIGNS:

* a player is using a quick firing melee weapon (handgun) and only 
doing 1-hit combos to every enemy in the room, then running to safety

* a force character is using a multiple-enemy hitting technique 
(zonde-series typically) only once, then returning to safety

WHAT TO DO:

If you suspect a person is "using" your game to build experience, all 
you can do is politely ask the user to do their share of the work or 
leave.  Afterall, they're taking up a valuable space in your game that 
someone else -- who would help your team -- could be taking instead.

If that doesn't work, then do nothing.  Go no further in the game.  
Just stand there and wait for them to leave.  Since they are basically 
"weaklings" at heart (no matter if their Level indicates otherwise), 
they will never blaze a trail and enter new rooms alone -- thus, they 
will quit your game and move on to greener (less informed) pastures.



------> A Present With Six Claws and Your Name on It <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player will enter a room, usually with the "Booma" series enemies in 
it, and lure them all into one huge group following them.  When 
another party member enters the room, the player will then run 
STRAIGHT INTO the party member (graphics clipping their bodies) and 
into the doorway -- the party member will then be surrounded by all of 
the baddies, and if even a moderate level character, will have a high 
probability of dying if they can't ward them off.  If this happens, 
the player then snags the party members weapon and money, then leaves.

WARNING SIGNS:

* none.  This is actually a legitimate fighting tactic when equiped 
with weapons that can hit multiple enemies (Swords and the like), and 
it is possible that after getting THAT many enemies on their rear they 
may feel they can't take them on afterall and run for safety, but they 
should help YOU out once your're in trouble instead of just standing 
there waiting for you to die

WHAT TO DO:

Chances are you yourself are not properly perpared to fight against 
that large a group of enemies alone, so the best thing would be to 
duck back in the door along with the player.  Otherwise, carry a Scape 
Doll as always in case things get ugly (or a telepipe mapped to a key 
for an emergency exit).



------> Playing As Someone Elses's Character <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player notices a "friendship" between two players, and notes both of 
their names and physical descriptions ("tall skinny HuMar, red hair, 
black clothes").  A player then creates a character with the same name 
and physical description and goes to the same ship/lobby to find his 
"friend".

When he finds the "friend", (being careful to make sure the "real" one 
is not online), he explains that he lost all of his items, his 
character, etc.  The "friend", being the nice person they are, then 
gives the player plenty of money, items, and other goodies.  The 
player thanks his "friend" then leaves.

WARNING SIGNS:

* your "friend" is typing differently, both speed and langauge usage

* your "friend" doesn't remember specific things you've done togeather

* your "friend" skips the small talk and goes straight to asking for 
items

WHAT TO DO:

The BSOD (Black Screen of Death) has destroyed many a player, but 
that's no reason to check for ID before parting with that beloved Twin 
Brand +20.  Make sure they are who they say they are before you give 
them anything -- or pretend to not give them anything and see if they 
protest.  If they don't protest, it's probably your real friend.



------> Getting Free Items from Traders <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player goes online and notices a recurring room on a specific 
ship/block called something along the lines of "ItemTrader" or 
"WeaponsForSale".  The user enters, notes the weapons dealer's 
description and name, then leaves.

A period of time later, on the same ship and block when the "weapons" 
game does NOT exist, the user creates a new character with the weapons 
dealer's name and physical description and creates the game with the 
same name.

Most of the people entering the room "know" the dealer and have 
established trust with them.  When the person puts down the weapon or 
money, the "fake" dealer takes it and leaves.

WARNING SIGNS:

* the weapons or items dealer is a level 1 character, or very low

* the weapons or items dealer is a lower level then before

* the weapons or items dealer does not put anything "down" to let you 
look at it first, insisting that you put yours down first

WHAT DO DO:

Leave, and tell the real one about the fraud when you see them.  Warn 
other users in the game lobby if possible.






-----------
ITEM CHEATS
-----------

------> Double MAG Blast <------

DESCRIPTION:

Player lets rip a mag blast against a group of enemies or boss, then 
seconds later, let's rip a SECOND one.

WARNING SIGNS:

* a player rips out two photon blasts in a row

* a player has come from the ship and yet can let rip a photon blast 
immediately (ie the ship trip did not reset their PB meter to 0%)

WHAT TO DO:

Don't automatically assume GameShark is the culprit.  This is a trick 
performed easily enough through a bug in the game (I love doing double 
Photon Blasts!), and since it in most cases HELPS you since it KILLS 
the enemies (assuming a non cute-twins blast), there's nothing to be 
glum about.  That is, exept if between the two blasts a boss falls 
without your having gotten a single shot in, in which case you'll get 
zero exp. and have right to be irritated, but there's still nothing 
you can do.



------> Telepiping Ups and Downs more Frequent than the Stock Market 
<------

DESCRIPTION:

A player joins your party, then telepipes up, is gone for about a 
minute, comes back down, but then goes back up immediately, gone for a 
minute, comes back down, repeats.

Since special weapons, special armor, and special items (scapes, 
grinders) appear in the shops with about the same probability as 
appearing in item boxes, the player is "resetting" the odds every time 
they go back to the ship, "spinning the wheel" if you will.

WARNING SIGNS:

* up, down, up, down... 

WHAT TO DO:

First, especially if they are a Force, ASK them what they need.  It 
could just be they're out of Trifluid and are having bad luck at it 
appearing in the store.  This being the case, sit out their absense or 
go help them to double their odds.

However, if someone has joined your game EXCLUSIVELY to do this 
(because they're under the mistaken impression that there's any 
difference in shop itmes for normal/hard/vhard or 
forest/caves/mines/ruins), then tell them they they have the SAME odds 
in a single player game alone if you really need that 4th space open 
that they're taking up, or just let them do their thing and they'll 
eventually leave on their own.






--------------
TRADING CHEATS
--------------

------> Buying A Double Saber at Used Car Prices <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player offers to sell their double saber for a set amount of money, 
or to trade it for an item that a party member has.  The party member 
wants to see it on the ground before they drop their money.  When the 
party member sees it on the ground, it says "?SPECIAL WEAPON" with the 
sword icon.  The player assures that it is a double saber because they 
have seen it equipped, the party member drops the money and takes the 
weapon.  The player takes the money and leaves.  The item is actually 
a common DB saber after being tekked.

WARNING SIGNS:

* the item on the ground has not been tekked

* they are selling the double saber for under 200k (it took me 160 
hours to find ONE; yes, without GameShark, it really is a quite rare 
weapon)

WHAT TO DO:

I would strongly reccomend against ever buying or selling double 
sabers.  For some reason (thanks Lucas!) everybody wants one even 
though they're not THAT powerful and can really get you whupped in a 
hurry against a pack of baddies.  I have personally seen more people 
get ripped off by double saber deals gone bad than any other weapon, 
by far.  If you want one, find one, or trade with someone you trust 
absolutely.  I actually LOANED my double saber to a friend for 24 
hours because he didn't have one and wanted to try it out; yes, I did 
get it back, but only because I had played with him for dozens upon 
dozens of hours prior in password protected games and there was a high 
level of trust involved.



------> Buying a Level 200 MAG for the Price of a Pack of Ragol Gum 
<------

DESCRIPTION:

A player offers to sell their level 200 MAG to a party member.  The 
party member agrees.  The player drops the MAG, the party member sees 
it on the ground, drops the money, then picks up the MAG.  The player 
takes the money and leaves.  The MAG turns out to be a low-level MAG.

There is an incredibly easy way to accumulate MAGS for free in this 
game, though it is someone tedious.  Simply create a new character, 
enter a game with a friend, drop the MAG, quick, come back as your 
"real" character, and take the MAG.  The new character is then deleted 
and the process is repeated for up to six mags, after which they 
mysteriously disappear when dropped on the floor.

Therefore, since this is within reach of all people to do, they don't 
care about "losing" a low level MAG despite the relatively infrequent 
"in-game" finding of one, because they have an endless supply of them 
anyway.

WARNING SIGNS:

* a legitimately raised MAG to level 200 (without the assistence of 
GameShark or other cheat) is a very, very valuable item -- and even 
moreso if it's a superior MAG, like Bana or Asparas.  Therefore, 
beware anyone selling one for under 500,000, as they may be pulling 
one on your OR have GameSharked the item

* the name of the MAG on the floor is not kosher to what a third 
generation MAG's name should be, which you would need a game guide to 
verify

* the player does not want you to actually PICK UP and LOOK at the 
MAG's stats until you have dropped the money (although this is tricky 
because they could be worried about YOU taking the MAG and ditching)

WHAT DO DO:

You need to pick up and look a the MAG if you suspect it's not what 
the person says it is.  If they don't let you do this, and you can't 
tell by looking at the MAG's name on the ground, then forget the deal 
and go somewhere else.  

Better still, raise your own MAG to level 200 -- it's not that 
difficult if you keep an analog watch or clock around, and every time 
the big hand is on a number (ie every five minutes), feed the darn 
thing.  It only took me two full nights of "not playing" (playing the 
easy levels) and just "feeding" to a watch to get mine to level 200 
(Bana!).



------> Getting The Sweets From the Newbies <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player asks a group of mid-level characters (20's, 30's) if anyone 
has a rare item such as a DelSaber's Arm, which most people don't know 
what to do with.  When somebody who doesn't know what it is says yes, 
the player offers to give them a low-level special item (Varista, DB) 
in trade for it.  The player agrees, but asks what the Arm does, since 
Tekkers won't tell you.  They are told that the arm is, "a lame item, 
it's a green box item so you need two of them and it will then act as 
Trimate and Trifluid combined but you can only use it once", or 
something to that extent so as to downplay what it really is.  The 
party member agrees, and makes the trade happily, feeling they got the 
better end of the deal.

Well, perhaps this isn't so much a game cheat as it is just outright 
lying, but nonetheless I feel the neccessity to warn new users against 
this.  There are many items that cannot be Tek'd which are FAR more 
rare than ?SPECIAL WEAPON items -- DelSaber's Arm is one of these, of 
course, but there are others.

If you DO want to get rid of it because you don't want to go through 
the trouble of an offline quest to change it into the cool weapon it 
is, make sure you understand the true market value of it and be sure 
to get the best deal possible -- a Del's arm is worth at MINIMUM a 
DragonSlayer or Crush Bullet.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player enters game and immediately asks if anyone has any of 
non-Tekable items (S-Beats, Del's, etc.)

* player offers only DB's or Varistas in trade for it, and outright 
lies about what he plans on doing with the item, or why he is seeking 
one

WHAT TO DO:

Again, this is simple.  Know your options, and know the true rarity of 
these much-maligned un-tekkable items.



------> Waaah, Someone Stole my Double Saber! <------

DESCRIPTION:

This trick is even older than the "stealing someone's double saber" 
trick.  Player enters game with other party members who tend to be of 
a higher level.  Player then moans to the party members that they had 
just gotten their one and only double saber (or insert weapon here) 
STOLEN by a neferaous user.  The high level party member, feeling 
sympathic, gives the user a double saber and tells the user to join 
them down below.  The player then leaves.

The player, of course, never had a double saber let alone had one 
stolen, and is merely prying on people sympathy and generousity to 
manipulate one out of them.

WARNING SIGNS:

* player seems too low a level to have had said weapon (Lv19 with a 
Spread Needle, no way)

* player joins game and immediately whines about said weapon, but 
takes no actions towards joining your party in battle

* if player's comments are not responded to with a gift, player goes 
as far as to ask for the donation outright

WHAT TO DO:

It's a tough call, you can never really tell if they lost one or not 
unless you saw it with your own eyes.  If you've got tons of said 
weapon, offer a fair trade that tips to their side slightly, but I'd 
reccomend against outright donations unless you're just unloading on 
extra DBs and Varistas.






=========
V. GREETS
=========

No FAQ -- much less an online multiplayer FAQ -- would be complete 
without a "greets" section.  So, greets goes out to a small but 
growing number of people:

* CROJO -- my lost friend, and the coolest person I've met online 
(where are you?!)
+ quote: "these teenagers are ruining this game for me, the same kids 
that make Quake 3 online so intolerable!"

* SCAVENGER/SAGE -- my "WeaponsDealer" who one time hooked me up with 
a Dim Mechgun, which I then thanked him for weeks aftwerwards until we 
started dealing exclusively in specials, and now laugh at the idea of 
a (ha!) Dim Mechgun
+ quote: "How bout some HOLY RAY Jones?! ... How bout some HOLY RAY 
Falz?!"

* DUSK -- for showing me the impossible, and letting me play the role 
of teacher in return; alas, the apprentice has surpassed the master, 
right pond-skipper?
+ quote: "wow, you talk just like a 200-year-old japanese kung-fu 
master!"

* NEON -- my official right-hand "yes" man, always standing ready in 
"ego-massaging" position at my side, as well as acting as my personal 
Simple-Mailman to deliver my messages postage-free
+ quote: "you da man!  hey everyone, Jones is da man!  you rock 
Jones!"

* JONES -- me, myself in the virtual flesh.  I don't cheat myself, 
save for the occasional level shortcut (right, Dusk?), and am always 
up for a good game with a great group of people.  After my obsession 
with this game hit (at around 150 hours I believe), I decided that 
writing a FAQ might help me "excorcise the demons" and quit playing so 
much.  It hasn't.
+ quote: "I can't believe they censor the word SA.TURD.AY ... AND the 
word BA.SEMEN.T! :P"
+ quote: "wait...traps...clear...wait...traps...clear...wait......"
+ quote: "Create some change, run with the little guy -- Jones Soda! 
www.jonessoda.com"

   o
  /|\
 <END>
  \|/
   o
