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Explain Lineage to me

CrimsonSixCrimsonSix Member UncommonPosts: 42
So this is a bit random, but here goes.

I was browsing message boards on one old school gaming site and noticed that Lineage 2 board had the most users on it. It was almost 500 users vs 50 for WoW. This had me intrigued, because I've been looking for a grindy/community-based MMO to play for a while now, so maybe L2 is it? So I looked more into it, and now I am feeling confused.

What's going on with servers? Are there official 'live' versions of the game? Is the live version of the game good, or has it been 'casualized'? Are there official 'legacy' servers? Which expansion was the best one, which one killed the game? I see there are a bunch of private servers? Which server / patch should I play on?

What's the game about? Is this full loot pvp? Is there pve content? Dungeons and raids? What do you do at end-game? Is combat typical tab-target trinity?

Thanks a lot!

Comments

  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    edited May 2016
    I played it for years and enjoyed it playing mostly solo even though it's more for groups and guilds.  Servers are still up, they redid the starting area so now it takes days instead of weeks to level early levels but mid levels and up are still a big grind.  

    PvP loot is partial with a small chance to drop something important unless you're a red named player who lose a lot when killed by players.  Bots were a big problem and were all over the place at higher levels.  

    Fun game and good community.  I just got burnt out on it but do return from time to time to see what's going on.  Haven't been on lately.  

    Combat was addictive.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • KabulozoKabulozo Member RarePosts: 932
    edited May 2016
    L2 is not worth playing anymore, NCsoft killed it through several bad updates. I hope they come back to the true roots of Lineage (aka Lineage 1) with Lineage Eternal.
  • RavenRaven Member UncommonPosts: 2,005
    At it's peak L2 was a game very much like EVE, at least politically speaking, it was all about the political meta game, territory control, castle sieges, wars between alliances and so on, what made the game great is that you had to work together to achieve stuff, this made it so that alliances and clans were always the main event.

    For some reason NCSoft didnt think that the political meta game was worth expanding and instead they have worked tirelessly since around Chronicle 4 ( one of the last good updates to L2 ) to try and shoehorn more and more PVE stuff into the game to cater to the casual player that only cares about min maxing and to play alone.

    This game is simply no longer worth it, this game isnt about team play anymore its about botting your way and equipping yourself to maybe have the privilege to be part of some massive zerg that maybe has 1 castle where you will be a no named peon.

    image

  • QuarterStackQuarterStack Member RarePosts: 546
    edited May 2016
    @Raven I have to agree with you there. Back from Prelude up through Chronicle 5 was Lineage 2's 'Golden Era' for me. After that it started going downhill. Goddess of Destruction pretty much ruined it altogether.

    In its heyday, though, it was an amazingly fun game, for all the reasons stated above in this thread - the meta game, the player-driven politics, the sieges, it was always a dynamic experience. You could feasibly take a break from the game for a couple weeks, come back and find the power balance on the server had drastically changed, due to changes in alliances, back-stabbing. I was never very good at PvP and tended to stick more to support type classes (my main was a Bladedancer, for example). Still, I loved the environment an open-world, player-driven PvP experience created.

    Also, NCSoft had the mix of PvP and PvE nailed down, in my opinion. It's common to see people say you can't mix PvE and PvP in the same game. I beg to differ - you can, and once-upon-a-time, NCSoft did. Unfortunately, they decided to hop on the me-too bandwagon of making the game into something it wasn't, going all out cash-grab with their in-game shop, and so Lineage 2 is no longer the game it once was. It still can be fun, but it's a shadow of its former self.
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    I mostly PvE and I played the game for years and had fun.  They did have the PvE and PvP nailed in the game.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • ReizlaReizla Member RarePosts: 4,092
    Best thing I liked about the old L2 Chronicles was the TOTALLY OPEN WORLD. There was not a single instance in it. If you wanted to do a dungeon, you'd go to Ant Nest, Eva's Garden, ToI or LoA (with a party) and there bump into other parties. Of course, when that happened PvP was inevitable because the 2 of you wanted the same spot.

    With the coming of instances (Zaken/Frintezza being the 1st ones as I recall), everyone started to get those (now not so) epic jewels and the game became more and more like WoW and other themepark MMOs where you'd grind the same instanced dungeons over and over again each day.

    Up to 2011 I've had a blast playing L2 with around 4 years of total subscriptions paid (and never hit cap). When it became F2P) and fully a daily instanced themepark grind I dropped the game ASAP...
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    "A day in the life..." good times.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • SavineaSavinea Member CommonPosts: 6
    So this is a bit random, but here goes.

    I was browsing message boards on one old school gaming site and noticed that Lineage 2 board had the most users on it. It was almost 500 users vs 50 for WoW. This had me intrigued, because I've been looking for a grindy/community-based MMO to play for a while now, so maybe L2 is it? So I looked more into it, and now I am feeling confused.

    What's going on with servers? Are there official 'live' versions of the game? Is the live version of the game good, or has it been 'casualized'? Are there official 'legacy' servers? Which expansion was the best one, which one killed the game? I see there are a bunch of private servers? Which server / patch should I play on?

    What's the game about? Is this full loot pvp? Is there pve content? Dungeons and raids? What do you do at end-game? Is combat typical tab-target trinity?

    Thanks a lot!
    Which old school site was it?
  • esp22esp22 Member UncommonPosts: 2
    @crimsonsix soon starting new rpg-club server you can join
  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 31,937
    So this is a bit random, but here goes.

    I was browsing message boards on one old school gaming site and noticed that Lineage 2 board had the most users on it. It was almost 500 users vs 50 for WoW. This had me intrigued, because I've been looking for a grindy/community-based MMO to play for a while now, so maybe L2 is it? So I looked more into it, and now I am feeling confused.

    What's going on with servers? Are there official 'live' versions of the game? Is the live version of the game good, or has it been 'casualized'? Are there official 'legacy' servers? Which expansion was the best one, which one killed the game? I see there are a bunch of private servers? Which server / patch should I play on?

    What's the game about? Is this full loot pvp? Is there pve content? Dungeons and raids? What do you do at end-game? Is combat typical tab-target trinity?

    Thanks a lot!
    This is one of the earlier "grind games" therefore the pve content is more about grinding than, say, quests.

    I played it for over 4 years but since then there have been quite a lot of changes on the official servers. It's not full loot. You used to have a chance to drop an item on pve death. Not sure if that changed or not. If you were red you had a greater chance of dropping an item. I'm always one for official servers and I think the game is f2p now so just check it out. It's an incredible world.

    However, I highly suggest you join a clan (guild) unless you enjoy solo grinding.

    there are castle sieges, fortress sieges, some pretty epic raids but it's not like WoW where you have a cap on participants, sometimes you have to get as many as you can get.

    gear is crafted gear. They do drop from some bosses but most of it can be crafted.

    The Dungeons are open dungeons.
    Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb." 

    Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w


    Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547

    Try the "Special Edition." 'Cause it's "Special." https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/64878/?tab=description

    Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo 
  • ILastW1shIILastW1shI Member UncommonPosts: 5
    Kabulozo said:
    L2 is not worth playing anymore, NCsoft killed it through several bad updates. I hope they come back to the true roots of Lineage (aka Lineage 1) with Lineage Eternal.
    Kabulozo agree with you, but u can try clasic
  • KonfessKonfess Member RarePosts: 1,667
    You can be mob grinding at a low level, say level 5, and someone will come up and gank you.  Other players know this and avoid any contact while grinding.  They ignore group invites, for fear of Player Killers.  I'm not talking PvP, I'm talking nuisances ment for LoLs.

    The class diversity and complexity is great.  The crafting reminds me of vanilla WoW.  But what I'm talking about is from before 2008.  It's a good game, but a group of real life friends or know online players is a must to group with while leveling.  Above level 20, you will be fighting other players for mob spawns.  Other same faction players will PK if you come near their grinding.  Even if there are only 3 players on the map.  Everyone so fears being PKed, they will PK first.

    The art is ancient by now, and was even when I first saw it.  But it is impressive.  It has the over sexy model design seen in GW 1.  Some cities are meant to look or feel monolithic, others are stock simplistic.  When you get to city with the shopping hub, it will look simple.  All those player sitting around the town as vendors because there is no auction house.  They will be selling End Gear items, so it will be impossible to find or sell low or mid game items or gear.

    There are supposed to be Legacy Licensed servers now, but I don't know a thing about them. Good luck.

    Pardon any spelling errors
    Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven
    Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
    Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
    As if it could exist, without being payed for.
    F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
    Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
    It costs money to play.  Therefore P2W.

  • crisstexxcrisstexx Member CommonPosts: 5
    Lineage! its not a game Its a IDEA! All gamers!! love this game! <3 Best game ever!!!
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