My Opinions of Lineage 2 during beta/launch

jonsnow13

 
Keep in mind that I want you guys to tell me what has been fixed, and become better about this game, so please feel free to write about what parts of this are outdated... it's an old review.
 
Lineage 2 Review
by Jon Snow (alias)

I will start with telling you of how much experience I have with mmorpgs to prove that I have some validity to my arguement, I started with the very beginning of UO (Ultima Online) playing it off and on for about 5 years, and moved to AC (Asherons Call) periodically at one time inbetween for about 4 months, along with going to AC2 for a month or two, A Tale in the Desert for a month, Rubies of Eventide for about two months, various beta tests for low budget mmorpgs for several months (not going to name these, unimportant), played DAOC for about 6 months to a year (off and on), Horizons for a month, Shadowbane for 6 months or more, and have been developing a few video games in my spare time for over 3 years now. I am 19 years old, I grew up on video games because I moved around a lot, so they were the only way to play with friends long distance, family, and to also make and keep friends permanently.
Ok now that I got that out of the way, let me begin on my little review (ok you can call it a rant, just remember this is based on closed beta and a part of launch) of Lineage 2 and I'm not sure if these were fixed, but some people asked me to write a review of what I thought of it back then and then you might be able to shed some light on if it has become a better game :
I personally started the game thinking WOW, this is an absolutely gorgeous game with a very easy interface and was very excited to get playing, as with every new mmorpg I move to I pray that this has what I'm looking for in a game and will keep me happy for the rest of my days. My first character was an orc on Siegfried and got him to level 13, and my new recent character is a level 17 (almost 18) dwarf on Erica. Which in the end, ended at about level 25 before I quit L2.
The leveling system in affect currently with Lineage 2 is by far the slowest system I've ever played in any game. Sure, maybe it's not slow in actual reality if you compare time comparisons with other MMORPGS, but it seems like an eternity, namely as a dwarf. Playing the dwarf is definately a chalenge, and leveling is slow mainly because you have no skills other then spoil/sweep that make the game any more different through the lvls of 1-20. This level grind of absolutely nothing new each level but the given weapon mastery and armor mastery (mind you is lazy designing since a lot of RPG's include this in just the level ups themselves) make for some boring levels. In fact this is a huge draw back, because each level other then the key lvls (5, 10, 15, 20, rinse wash and repeat...) only gives more hp, more mana, and huge new xp bar to fill with the same old abilities you had the level before, even the key levels usually only give you a new level of the already boring/lame current skills. Now, I have experience with other characters however it wasn't a mage, I have not tried the mage class to comment on them. However, I did play the orc fighter and felt that the only difference between the dwarf and the orc fighter was that the orcs had an attack ability (only one until lvl 20) and relax (a faster way to regenerate hp). This is completely lacking any kind of originality, or even thought. When does the strategy come in, specifically in pvp? Level 40? Is that when we get skills that define our class? Well from the current leveling system, I'd say if it keeps taking longer and longer each level, that could be months away, and from looking at the skill trees, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot more other then variations of the power attack you got at an earlier level, and specializations in specific attack areas. What happened to stun attacks, bleeding attacks, and all other variations of weapon attacks that other MMORPG's have at the very least? Sure it makes balancing simple and easier, but this game has so much funding that it should be the most original game out there, no excuses hands down.

You must understand other reasons why I rant about the leveling system. Mainly the first 20 levels, since this is where if a player is coming to this game, is going to be playing the most in his first couple of weeks and decide if he wants to stay. If the first 20 levels lack originality, and are not enjoyable and seem like just a grind with nothing better to do then kill the same monsters(mind you is something you do a lot especially as a dwarf, you kill weavers/bats probably all the way up until level 20, starting usually at level 10), and pray you're almost to the next key level where you can spend your huge amount of SP saved up on something new. Again, I stress the first 20 levels as being very important, another reason is because this is where a player is going to be involved, and get connected with the community, and if I know anything about MMORPGS I know the game can be crap but as long as you have friends who keep you playing the game you can stay at that game for years. So, if the game is boring in the beginning and players end up leaving before they get their foot stuck in a community, then the game won't make as nearly as much profit as it could, and is bad design flaw. One thing I'd like to point out about specifically Lineage 2, Lineage 2 is a sequal to possibly one of the most popular games in MMORPG history (if not the most) and generates enough income that there is no excuse for lazy design flaws in it's sequal, since they have enough money pooring in from the first game to take their time and make this game the greatest game out there.
Ok lets get into the main thing that brought me to this game and a lot of others, and of course it's the pet dragon idea. Like Horizons (yes I know I'm using it as an example, bad very bad Jon! I need a spanking!!) Lineage 2 uses dragons as a marketing advertisement, to draw people to the game as well as siege/pvp. Frankly the pet idea is awesome, and so far I haven't had any complaints with the pets other then the leveling is a bit slow and they're weak at first but other then that I think that just giving the option for a pet, and the ability to help it get stronger is steller, that's what kept me at UO for so many years with my GM tamer. It was always a blast taming dragons and making them stronger. This is a personal preference though, and the pet system probably doesn't appeal to some of you, but as a dwarf any help at all in the damage output is like an instant mind orgasm when it comes to thinking about how much quicker you'll kill things.
Lets move on to the combat system, the pvp system that is supose to be the bread and butter of the game, once you reach the end game. So far, as I've seen in pvp skirmish's, it seems like if you were dieing and you wanted to run, you could just run, and keep running, and keep running as has happened to me in several chases I've had with run ins with pks. Not to mention how many people abuse the notoriety system, and how they say that people abuse the instant log off by causing the client to crash or whatever, and how they promise they are going to add a 15 second timer that lets them stay in the game. Well, at earlier levels at least, I know I can't kill someone in 15 seconds, it sounds like so much a better idea that a character shouldn't log off unless they're out of combat, and then it'd take 15 seconds and if they are attacked, the 15 seconds resets itself. That's just me though, to keep those people from escaping what they've probably deserved. I am no professional game designer, but this definately sounds better then what they came up with.
Next, one of my huge gripes about the design ideas of this game, is it's reward system. A reward system to me, is a system that grants the player items, or awards whenever he accomplish's something like a quest, or killing a monster (perhaps several levels higher then him.) The one thing I know that makes a game great (lets use Diablo 2 as an example) is that the player receives awards often enough to keep the game exciting. If you kill monsters for an hour straight solo and get no new drops but gold, or a few craft items (sometimes in lineage 2 it's even worst then this) that's hardly enough motivation to push you to get to that next lvl and keep killing the same monsters for up to 10 hours for some levels. Lets look at Diablo 2, a simple game that is click oriented and is really just a mindless game, yet it's still popular and it's still going even after so many years. Why? Well because every time you play, you get something new and cool, a warhammer of tittling for your fiddle!! OMG, I gotta go see how much this is worth and brag to everyone! Well, you get the idea. It is exciting, and keeps the game fresh if the content is large enough and the drops frequent enough. This is a simple designer rule though, that the player needs rewards for his actions. A game cannot succeed without a well thought out rewards system, and even a well thought out one can be rejected by the players and have to be re-thought out. The fact is though, that in order to keep a lot of gamers in the long run, they're going to have to revamp the reward system and consider giving drops out atleast twice as much as they do now (a drop rate of .00342? Why even bother?) and listen to what people want. I saw a post earlier on the warcry forums about what items would you like to see in game, to craft or whatever and I read a lot of the replies, and they were things that sound stupid to some of us, but it's not the name of the item or the item in general that they want that's important, but what they're trying to say. They're trying to say, FEED ME CONTENT, give me content and I'll be happy.
Last but not least, the leveling bug. I found a bug in this game where if you were on just enough incline a monster could not attack you, but you could close range them. I used this bug a lot, why? It was a lot faster then doing it the legit way, and honestly if I get to save 10 hours of doing monotonous BS I can't help but want to. When a player see's going to the lengths to get this bug to work (it was hard) as a viable way to level, then that usually means there's problems either in their technique (which is impossible you only have like 2 or 3 skills to use how could you do that wrong?!) then it's a sign of bad design.
So far, Lineage 2 has a lot of areas that if it was improved could easily dwarf the MMORPG market with it's huge player amount, and just run with it. However, because of it's lazy design flaws and it's sub-par everything but music and graphics, this will not happen anytime soon unless things are added and changed. I will reply here and there about more issues and such that I find in lineage 2 once I try it off a free trial or something (if they offer it), not for the sake of ranting but to hear some of the replies that come from other players.
My opinions and ideas are subject to change, so do not think these are my set opinions and these are OLD opinions, but more so what I am thinking at the current time and keep in mind I wrote this after a long day of work (got home at 9:30) and I am not thinking straight. Thanks to everyone who reads this.

Vampir

this has been said a million times in this particular forum

Puoltry

Wow that was a long rant for a game that EVERYONE knows requires longterm dedication.

Why not just go outside and play in the sun?

You would have a much better time than writing a long review that most wont evewn see.

jonsnow13

This was actually an old review... I wrote it DURING BETA. LOL...  I just thought I'd repost it, then you guys could comment on if anything has changed...  Was just curious

Deadangel

Maybe MMORPG's shouldn't feel like a fulltime job to people?