Lineage II by NCSoft

Lineage II. Enough said in the world of Player vs. Player (PvP) gamers. Lineage II is quite possibly one of the most intense PvP MMO's on the market. If you were to take a poll in the US and ask who has played Lineage and who has played Everquest; you'd most definitely get a larger number on the Everquest end. The thing is, when it comes to a worldwide audience, the Lineage series dominates. World of Warcraft claims to have about 8million+ copies sold worldwide, while Lineage II alone has had 14million+ sold. The game's largest market is in Korea where the development team and publisher reside.

Visually the game is magnificent. The effects for spells, the animations, the arrows sticking in people, all things that just make you jump for your wallet and car keys! The game is using the same engine as Unreal Tournament 2003, which was an amazingly great idea. What better way than to build your game on an expandable engine. The graphics fit the theme quite well, unlike Everquest 2 that had characters being higher detailed than environments. Lineage II captures the very essence that MMO developers try to achieve graphically. Perfectly structured spell effects that never get old or annoying. To be honest, it is visually flawless.

Now to some people, character customization is extremely important. The feel of being unique and identifiable is a sense of pride that they have. Unfortunately, Lineage II is not one of those games. There are only a few options for Face, a few options for Hair, and a Male/Female for each class; not leaving many options around for anything else. But for this game, it's not the look that gets you the crown of unique. Actually, it's quite the opposite, because at the highest level, the players look virtually the same; with the exception of weapons which have different glows depending on how "over enchanted" they are. In Lineage II, your name is your title. You don't need unique looking armor in Lineage II to be an icon; you need to prove yourself on the battlefield.

The game has an open PK system where you can kill any player anywhere except in town. Obviously doing so causes a negative effect on your character, in this case karma. The bright side is that karma can be worked off by killing monsters or dying. If you have any karma and you go in a city, better run fast because the guards will be on your heels. One of the drawbacks casual gamers see in Lineage II is the experience loss and item loss system for deaths. When you die in Lineage II to a monster you lose Experience and a chance to drop a few Items from your inventory. While in PvP you still lose experience, you do not drop items however.

There is something in Lineage II which makes me gasp in awe: Castle Sieges. Never before have I seen so many players involved in a single fight to complete the same thing, capturing a castle. Clans sign up over a week ahead of time to siege a castle. If the castle is owned by a Clan then that Clan is set to defend and their allies can defend with them. Now some people would think that only a few clans would sign up, but no. At one point 72 Clans were signed up on the Bartz server to siege the Aden Castle which turned into a 2000+ person PvP fight where no clan got even close to capturing the castle. It was definitely a resource hog.

Some complaints about Lineage II is that the game requires too good of a computer to run. Yes the game is amazing in graphics, but that obviously came at a price. Upon release of the game, not even a top-of-the-line computer could run Lineage II on full settings and not heave for air in towns or any populated area. Lots of people find it to be a problem; I find it to be a good strategy. Why not build your game for computers of tomorrow, you want your game to be played tomorrow. It was perfectly executed, because the game looked fine on low settings, and as people upgraded their computers, they came to realize the stunning features of Lineage II. They'd notice the somewhat recently added High Dynamic Rage Lighting (HDR) and they'd notice the water reflections. They would notice things like flowers on the ground that they did not see before with their graphics turned all the way down. It was almost like getting a new game without them actually changing anything.

Something that I found great about Lineage II was how hard the Raids were. In the beginning it took something like 200 people to kill Antharas, which was the main boss back then. I found it amazing that 200 people would work together in a PvP game to take down a giant dragon and then be honorable enough to split the loot among the Clans participating. Loot drops in Lineage II are very tricky. The group that does the most damage wins basically. If I do 51% of the damage and you do 49% of the damage, the loot is mine. It doesn't matter if you hit the monster first or not. The same goes for experience. If you do 25% of the damage and I do 75% of the damage and we are the same level, I get 75% of the experience and the loot and you get 25% of the experience. It is a great system for a PvP game. I love anything that causes conflicts!

The level grind was ridiculous to some, great for others. See, I love the fact that it took the first player like 9 months into the game being released to hit max level. I think it’s great to put your level cap so high that it’s near impossible to reach; it promotes drive and sets the slackers apart from the workers. Sure you should be rewarded for spending your time in the game. Look at World of Warcraft, anyone can hit 60, what do you do then? Well most people start raiding or they make a new character. Not in Lineage II. Hitting the max level in Lineage II is a cause for celebration because it is a feat not just anyone can do, especially if you are the first.

I cannot stress enough how much I loved this game. The PvP, the items, the graphics, the Castle Sieges. All of the features in the game make me love it even more. I am having a hard time trying to decide the worst features. When it comes down to it, I’d have to say the worst feature of Lineage II is any lag issues that arise during large numbered PvP fights, that's the truth. Not a bad bone in this body. If I could sum Lineage II up in three words they would be: "Undoubtedly the best."

Pros:
-Frequent Free Expansions in the form of Chronicles
-Stellar Graphics
-Very Detailed Tutorial
-Amazing PvP on a Massive Level
-Perfectly Difficult Raid Bosses
-Large Teamwork Focus
-Long Level Times for Ages of Game play

Cons:
-Requires Godly PC's for Crowded Areas
-Click to Move (A Con to some, a Pro for me)
-Slow Response Time on Occasion
-Too Long for Casual Gamers
-Tailored For A Select Crowd and not the Masses

Learning Curve: Takes a second

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