Is casual play possible or is the game still grind fest ?

Lobotomist · November 2011

I am very interested to play Lineage 2 for first time when it goes free.

But I dont have much time to play. Hour or two a day...

Now I hear the game is huge grindfest (or was)

Would it take ages to reach any higher levels ?

HorActi · November 2011

With the changes implemented in GoD update it seems it will be easier to level than before. That being said, grinding is Lineage2 and Lineage2 is grinding. It's a sandbox afterall.

My opinion: You don't lose anything by creating an account when it goes free. I have no more than a couple of hours a day free, and still I will give it a shot, cause the game really derserves it. I had played lineage2 from 2004 to 2006, and from 2009 to 2010. You had to devote lots of hours back then to catch up with the bot-ers. Now the new server in Innova it will be bot-free, as they promise, so yeap a casual player won't have much of a problem.

Lobotomist · November 2011

Originally posted by HorActi
With the changes implemented in GoD update it seems it will be easier to level than before. That being said, grinding is Lineage2 and Lineage2 is grinding. It's a sandbox afterall.

My opinion: You don't lose anything by creating an account when it goes free. I have no more than a couple of hours a day free, and still I will give it a shot, cause the game really derserves it. I had played lineage2 from 2004 to 2006, and from 2009 to 2010. You had to devote lots of hours back then to catch up with the bot-ers. Now the new server in Innova it will be bot-free, as they promise, so yeap a casual player won't have much of a problem.

Innova is russian servers , as i understood. And its not going free on 30.Nov ....

I will probably roll on USA NC soft servers.

And yes you are right.

I will give it a try. If i find time from Skyrim

marcust · November 2011

The levelling rate is now about 3x what is was originally and you get buffs and pots that speed it up further (by not making you break as often to rest).

I just came back a week ago and it feels much faster.

Kyleran · November 2011

Originally posted by HorActi
With the changes implemented in GoD update it seems it will be easier to level than before. That being said, grinding is Lineage2 and Lineage2 is grinding. It's a sandbox afterall.

My opinion: You don't lose anything by creating an account when it goes free. I have no more than a couple of hours a day free, and still I will give it a shot, cause the game really derserves it. I had played lineage2 from 2004 to 2006, and from 2009 to 2010. You had to devote lots of hours back then to catch up with the bot-ers. Now the new server in Innova it will be bot-free, as they promise, so yeap a casual player won't have much of a problem.

Progression in Lineage 2 is not quest driven, however it is not a sandbox by most folks definitiion of the genre.

Back in the day theme park MMO's such as DAOC, L2 and others used camp grinding in their progression model, but they most certainly guide players from zone to zone progressively as their levels increase. Once you clear a zone, you'll never be back, and if you seriously craft you'll be making a special crafting oriented character separate from your main.

But when I played (which grantedly was very long ago, and early in the game's lifecycle) the grinding for levels really wasn't the bad thing, the grinding for adena in order to afford your armor and weapons was the real hidden grind which many players overcame by buying adena from outside vendors or botting.

I'd be interested to know if they reduced that aspect of the game.

Methos12 · November 2011

Originally posted by Lobotomist
I am very interested to play Lineage 2 for first time when it goes free.

But I dont have much time to play. Hour or two a day...

Now I hear the game is huge grindfest (or was)

Would it take ages to reach any higher levels ?

They're going to adjust the EXP rate with F2P conversion in some way, but I don't think any specific numbers are public yet.

Reizla · November 2011

I've played L2 for about 3 1/2 years on official servers since 2006. When I left last time (late 2009 because of those (&%^*^ bots), my char was only level 67. I returned in May this year and teamed up with old friends (yeah, L2 is so addictive that half my old friends were still around). I had a bit of powerleveling from one friend and he boosted me to 76 in about 2 weeks. When I joined a clan I played a lot more, and last month (with the F2P news and uncertain future of Naia) I quited playing, having my char at 83 on main and 68 on sub.

I also played a bit on the Russian L2 servers to see the GoD. One of the most important changes is that the vitality system has overthought. It's now account-bound and not character bound and it'll be replenished only once a week during maintenance. I thought ths might be a problem, but I played up to level 30 there and my vitality was still on max (used only a bit from it). A clanmate of me leveled to 6x and he finally used up only 1 part of his vitality (150% bonus instead of 200% which is max). So I guess that leveling will be overly easy now in GoD...
Of course, I heard that after awakening (level 85) the leveling curve goes up a lot. So from there on you'll be at the grind again...

Sovrath · November 2011

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by HorActi

With the changes implemented in GoD update it seems it will be easier to level than before. That being said, grinding is Lineage2 and Lineage2 is grinding. It's a sandbox afterall.

My opinion: You don't lose anything by creating an account when it goes free. I have no more than a couple of hours a day free, and still I will give it a shot, cause the game really derserves it. I had played lineage2 from 2004 to 2006, and from 2009 to 2010. You had to devote lots of hours back then to catch up with the bot-ers. Now the new server in Innova it will be bot-free, as they promise, so yeap a casual player won't have much of a problem.

Progression in Lineage 2 is not quest driven, however it is not a sandbox by most folks definitiion of the genre.

Back in the day theme park MMO's such as DAOC, L2 and others used camp grinding in their progression model, but they most certainly guide players from zone to zone progressively as their levels increase. Once you clear a zone, you'll never be back, and if you seriously craft you'll be making a special crafting oriented character separate from your main.

But when I played (which grantedly was very long ago, and early in the game's lifecycle) the grinding for levels really wasn't the bad thing, the grinding for adena in order to afford your armor and weapons was the real hidden grind which many players overcame by buying adena from outside vendors or botting.

I'd be interested to know if they reduced that aspect of the game.

I think I read some place that they are actually adding quests. Not like the original L2 quests but more in line with what goes on in current mmo's.

In the new expansion that is.

Reizla · November 2011

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by HorActi

With the changes implemented in GoD update it seems it will be easier to level than before. That being said, grinding is Lineage2 and Lineage2 is grinding. It's a sandbox afterall.

Progression in Lineage 2 is not quest driven, however it is not a sandbox by most folks definitiion of the genre.

But when I played (which grantedly was very long ago, and early in the game's lifecycle) the grinding for levels really wasn't the bad thing, the grinding for adena in order to afford your armor and weapons was the real hidden grind which many players overcame by buying adena from outside vendors or botting.

I'd be interested to know if they reduced that aspect of the game.

First about the sandbox thing... Yeah, Lineage II is a hybrid for sure. Sandbox mostly comes from the lack of 'hand-holding' quests like most MMO's have them, and the need to use a time (and XP) sink to level up. It's also a sandbox because of it's FFA-PvP system using clanwars, sieges (including territory control) and such. Players determine the political sandbox of L2 (much like in EVE online).

About the adena (gold) thing... Yes, changes have been made there for sure. Though it's still a problem for a lot of players, a lot of gear (now up to lower A-Grade, in GoD up to lower S-Grade) is for sale in shops. So no need to grind you ass off for mats to make it yourself (100% or 60% success rate depending on grade & recipe used) or adena to buy it from an over-priced player shop. Just hop to the NPC shop in Giran and get yours there.

...but you still gottta keep an eye on your adena though... Lineage II is an expensive game when it comes to the in-game economy...

Vittorioso · November 2011

As some ppl said before, create an acc couse its free :P
And even if you havent enough time to play, you will advance and you will find always a party, siege, RB, or Pvp for your char

L2 is a great game, obviously its nice to be high lvl, but there is "fun" always

Mikeha · November 2011

I have always thought of Lineage 2 as a sandbox and I been playing for 6 years. As soon as you make your toon in Lineage 2 you can go where ever you want and do what ever you want. There is no quest line that you must follow and no invisable walls that make you stay on a certain path or in a certain area. You can do or be what ever you want in Lineage 2. Just the other week I met a person in Giran who says they do not xp at all. They said they play the game just to buy, sell and trade so thats all they do.

Hoplites · November 2011

GoD is more quest driven than past updates, but really Lineage 2 isn't about quests. Quests are highl recommended if you want to level efficiently for Goddess of Destruction update.

Adamantine · November 2011

Originally posted by HorActi
It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

Originally posted by Mannish
I have always thought of Lineage 2 as a sandbox and I been playing for 6 years. As soon as you make your toon in Lineage 2 you can go where ever you want and do what ever you want. There is no quest line that you must follow and no invisable walls that make you stay on a certain path or in a certain area. You can do or be what ever you want in Lineage 2. Just the other week I met a person in Giran who says they do not xp at all. They said they play the game just to buy, sell and trade so thats all they do.

Sorry, but that doesnt compute. Maybe some themeparks might have invisible barriers and a predefined quest path etc. But thats in no way implied, and its pretty easy to make a sandbox with invisible barriers and/or quests. Wasnt Archeage a new sandbox that had quests as well ?

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

Sovrath · November 2011

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

Actually, it is a sandbox game. It doesn't come out and "say that" but the entire thrust of the game play depends upon the players. You want to run a clan and support an alliance? You can. you want to create an empire? You can (or try at least). You want to terrorize a town and extort money from players? You can. You want to be a dedicated crafter and work the market? You can. Raid? you can. War on your fellow man? You can.

What you can change is the political landscape. This is a game about war. You want to make back room deals to overthrow a castle holding clan/alliance? You can. You want to just get peeps and work on leveling or work on getting mats to craft something? You can.

It's your choice. It's not a "run, do quest/rinse repeat and then go to cap and raid" game.

Not yet anyway.

Raven · November 2011

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

Actually, it is a sandbox game. It doesn't come out and "say that" but the entire thrust of the game play depends upon the players. You want to run a clan and support an alliance? You can. you want to create an empire? You can (or try at least). You want to terrorize a town and extort money from players? You can. You want to be a dedicated crafter and work the market? You can. Raid? you can. War on your fellow man? You can.

What you can change is the political landscape. This is a game about war. You want to make back room deals to overthrow a castle holding clan/alliance? You can. You want to just get peeps and work on leveling or work on getting mats to craft something? You can.

It's your choice. It's not a "run, do quest/rinse repeat and then go to cap and raid" game.

Not yet anyway.

QFT!

Some ppl think that a sandbox needs to have the ability for you to change the terrain for some reason. Lineage 2 is pretty open ended, players shape the world depending on the politics, affiliations and alliances, changing servers in L2 is like playing a different game sometimes.

Each server holds their own rules and they are dictacted by players, I remember on Gustin back in the day no one outside the main alliance were allowed in DVC without paying a "hunting fee" and no one went without paying, sure you could but then you would suffer the consequences.

Sovrath · November 2011

Originally posted by rav3n2

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

Actually, it is a sandbox game. It doesn't come out and "say that" but the entire thrust of the game play depends upon the players. You want to run a clan and support an alliance? You can. you want to create an empire? You can (or try at least). You want to terrorize a town and extort money from players? You can. You want to be a dedicated crafter and work the market? You can. Raid? you can. War on your fellow man? You can.

What you can change is the political landscape. This is a game about war. You want to make back room deals to overthrow a castle holding clan/alliance? You can. You want to just get peeps and work on leveling or work on getting mats to craft something? You can.

It's your choice. It's not a "run, do quest/rinse repeat and then go to cap and raid" game.

Not yet anyway.

QFT!

Some ppl think that a sandbox needs to have the ability for you to change the terrain for some reason. Lineage 2 is pretty open ended, players shape the world depending on the politics, affiliations and alliances, changing servers in L2 is like playing a different game sometimes.

Each server holds their own rules and they are dictacted by players, I remember on Gustin back in the day no one outside the main alliance were allowed in DVC without paying a "hunting fee" and no one went without paying, sure you could but then you would suffer the consequences.

On Hindemith, when an alliance became too much of a pain in the A** the entire server would rise up and kick them out of their castle.

timmy12 · November 2011

^ this right here is what makes this game amazing....the wars are amazing and if one clan/alliance are to powerful, players around the game will all group up and make alliances just to take them down.

stayontarget · November 2011

Originally posted by Sovrath

/snip

Actually, it is a sandbox game. It doesn't come out and "say that" but the entire thrust of the game play depends upon the players. You want to run a clan and support an alliance? You can. you want to create an empire? You can (or try at least). You want to terrorize a town and extort money from players? You can. You want to be a dedicated crafter and work the market? You can. Raid? you can. War on your fellow man? You can.

What you can change is the political landscape. This is a game about war. You want to make back room deals to overthrow a castle holding clan/alliance? You can. You want to just get peeps and work on leveling or work on getting mats to craft something? You can.

It's your choice. It's not a "run, do quest/rinse repeat and then go to cap and raid" game.

Not yet anyway.

Yeah that pretty much says it all and falls squarely in the sandbox category imo.

HorActi · November 2011

Wow! I had never thought that there are people out there that question the "sandboxiness" of Lineage2, not to mention that they are ready to make such a big fuss if you say that it's a sandbox.

No, you can't grasp a hoe and open a hole in the ground. But you can shape the history of the server you are playing. Actually, every server had its own history and was a completely differend world from the other.

Mikeha · November 2011

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

Originally posted by Mannish

I have always thought of Lineage 2 as a sandbox and I been playing for 6 years. As soon as you make your toon in Lineage 2 you can go where ever you want and do what ever you want. There is no quest line that you must follow and no invisable walls that make you stay on a certain path or in a certain area. You can do or be what ever you want in Lineage 2. Just the other week I met a person in Giran who says they do not xp at all. They said they play the game just to buy, sell and trade so thats all they do.

Sorry, but that doesnt compute. Maybe some themeparks might have invisible barriers and a predefined quest path etc. But thats in no way implied, and its pretty easy to make a sandbox with invisible barriers and/or quests. Wasnt Archeage a new sandbox that had quests as well ?

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

You have no idea what Lineage 2 is about and you also have no idea what a Sandbox game is. LOL, everything about Lineage 2 is in the hands of the players. Alliances and Clans control every aspect of Lineage 2. Any real Lineage 2 player that has really experienced Lineage 2 for what it is can tell you like some of the posters above. You dont know because you have not done it. You talking to a 6 year vet thats right now sitting at max level waiting on the update so dont even waste your time talking to me because I know exaaclty what my game is.

Vittorioso · November 2011

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.
With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.
You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

Actually, it is a sandbox game. It doesn't come out and "say that" but the entire thrust of the game play depends upon the players. You want to run a clan and support an alliance? You can. you want to create an empire? You can (or try at least). You want to terrorize a town and extort money from players? You can. You want to be a dedicated crafter and work the market? You can. Raid? you can. War on your fellow man? You can.
What you can change is the political landscape. This is a game about war. You want to make back room deals to overthrow a castle holding clan/alliance? You can. You want to just get peeps and work on leveling or work on getting mats to craft something? You can.
It's your choice. It's not a "run, do quest/rinse repeat and then go to cap and raid" game.
Not yet anyway.

Agree w/ this, you are right man, for all those ppl who think that in l2 you must follow a way, thats not true. you can live happy in l2 selling/buying and crafting as a dwarf, or killing/pvp, working as mercenary in territory wars or sieges, join clan ally etc...

bazerion · November 2011

yes, very possible. I just started leveling on russian servers and got lvl 30 in about 2-3 hours just by questing. At level 20 I had top D grade wep 2x, armor, jewlry and almost 1million adena, all from quests.

Kyleran · November 2011

Originally posted by Mannish

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

Originally posted by Mannish

I have always thought of Lineage 2 as a sandbox and I been playing for 6 years. As soon as you make your toon in Lineage 2 you can go where ever you want and do what ever you want. There is no quest line that you must follow and no invisable walls that make you stay on a certain path or in a certain area. You can do or be what ever you want in Lineage 2. Just the other week I met a person in Giran who says they do not xp at all. They said they play the game just to buy, sell and trade so thats all they do.

Sorry, but that doesnt compute. Maybe some themeparks might have invisible barriers and a predefined quest path etc. But thats in no way implied, and its pretty easy to make a sandbox with invisible barriers and/or quests. Wasnt Archeage a new sandbox that had quests as well ?

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

You have no idea what Lineage 2 is about and you also have no idea what a Sandbox game is. LOL, everything about Lineage 2 is in the hands of the players. Alliances and Clans control every aspect of Lineage 2. Any real Lineage 2 player that has really experienced Lineage 2 for what it is can tell you like some of the posters above. You dont know because you have not done it. You talking to a 6 year vet thats right now sitting at max level waiting on the update so dont even waste your time talking to me because I know exaaclty what my game is.

Well, the problem is there is no single definition of what a sandbox style game is or what features it should contain to earn the title of sandbox.

To some purists, a sandbox style MMO cannot by definition have preset classes that lock a player into a particular skill path. Several folks have used EVE as their comparision, and its a good one, a player in theory can eventually pursue any path on a single avatar, and since L2 doesn't permit this sort of flexibility they reject it as a sandbox style game.

Also, to other folks a good sandbox allows players to build things in the game world, and tear them down again. Lineage 2 does not offer this, ergo its more like DAOC in terms of players controlling certain premade castles and what not and that title wasn't sandbox either.

Now the crafting is somewhat sandboxy, though its been a while and it seems to me that to really gather or craft you had to be a pariticular race (dwarf?) which again moves the title away from a true sandbox in many folks eyes.

Levels are another no-no for most sandbox style games, EVE, UO don't have them, and there is no pre-determined "end game" which L2 most certainly has and players really can't be part of until they reach the upper tiers.

So sure, it has many sandbox style elements, but compared to a more traditional title such as UO, SWG pre-NGE or EVE, it really doesn't compare.

Does any of that matter in terms of the title being fun, no of course not, but any time someone starts tossing around the term "sandbox" on these forums its always going to start up a debate.

I've thought of dropping back in for a bit once the F2P version launches, would be fun to see how the world evolved since the early days.

gaeanprayer · November 2011

Quick note, a game that just lets you kill crap over and over isn't a sandbox, it's a grinder. A sandbox is a game that allows you to do as you like, it gives you freedom. Games can have sandbox ELEMENTS, that doesn't make it a sandbox.

Back to the topic, though...

Last interview I read (which came from this site, actually, iirc) said that the leveling curve was being completely overhauled for F2P conversion. 1-40 would take only a few hours, 40-80 longer but of course but the "Lineage 2 grind" as we know it isn't supposed to kick in until third tier jobs, which is like 83ish? I don't remember exactly, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Kyleran · November 2011

Originally posted by gaeanprayer
Quick note, a game that just lets you kill crap over and over isn't a sandbox, it's a grinder. A sandbox is a game that allows you to do as you like, it gives you freedom. Games can have sandbox ELEMENTS, that doesn't make it a sandbox.

Back to the topic, though...

Last interview I read (which came from this site, actually, iirc) said that the leveling curve was being completely overhauled for F2P conversion. 1-40 would take only a few hours, 40-80 longer but of course but the "Lineage 2 grind" as we know it isn't supposed to kick in until third tier jobs, which is like 83ish? I don't remember exactly, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

This would be excellent news if true. Hopefully someone can confirm.

Mikeha · November 2011

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by Mannish

Originally posted by Adamantine

Originally posted by HorActi

It's a sandbox afterall.

Err ... what ? This is not a sandbox. You cant change ANYTHING about the game, except conquer castles.

Originally posted by Mannish

I have always thought of Lineage 2 as a sandbox and I been playing for 6 years. As soon as you make your toon in Lineage 2 you can go where ever you want and do what ever you want. There is no quest line that you must follow and no invisable walls that make you stay on a certain path or in a certain area. You can do or be what ever you want in Lineage 2. Just the other week I met a person in Giran who says they do not xp at all. They said they play the game just to buy, sell and trade so thats all they do.

Sorry, but that doesnt compute. Maybe some themeparks might have invisible barriers and a predefined quest path etc. But thats in no way implied, and its pretty easy to make a sandbox with invisible barriers and/or quests. Wasnt Archeage a new sandbox that had quests as well ?

A sandbox is a game where the player makes the game. Lineage 2 is a fixed gameworld where you cant change squat about it. And it has quests, even if not very good ones.

With your definition, Vanguard would be a sandbox, too. In fact its MORE of a sandbox as Lineage 2, because you can actually build a house or a guild hall in Vanguard.

You can just trade in a themepark as well. No game developer can FORCE you to level up, and why would they want to. Having an economy is pretty much standard in MMOs.

You have no idea what Lineage 2 is about and you also have no idea what a Sandbox game is. LOL, everything about Lineage 2 is in the hands of the players. Alliances and Clans control every aspect of Lineage 2. Any real Lineage 2 player that has really experienced Lineage 2 for what it is can tell you like some of the posters above. You dont know because you have not done it. You talking to a 6 year vet thats right now sitting at max level waiting on the update so dont even waste your time talking to me because I know exaaclty what my game is.

Well, the problem is there is no single definition of what a sandbox style game is or what features it should contain to earn the title of sandbox.

To some purists, a sandbox style MMO cannot by definition have preset classes that lock a player into a particular skill path. Several folks have used EVE as their comparision, and its a good one, a player in theory can eventually pursue any path on a single avatar, and since L2 doesn't permit this sort of flexibility they reject it as a sandbox style game.

Also, to other folks a good sandbox allows players to build things in the game world, and tear them down again. Lineage 2 does not offer this, ergo its more like DAOC in terms of players controlling certain premade castles and what not and that title wasn't sandbox either.

Now the crafting is somewhat sandboxy, though its been a while and it seems to me that to really gather or craft you had to be a pariticular race (dwarf?) which again moves the title away from a true sandbox in many folks eyes.

Levels are another no-no for most sandbox style games, EVE, UO don't have them, and there is no pre-determined "end game" which L2 most certainly has and players really can't be part of until they reach the upper tiers.

So sure, it has many sandbox style elements, but compared to a more traditional title such as UO, SWG pre-NGE or EVE, it really doesn't compare.

Does any of that matter in terms of the title being fun, no of course not, but any time someone starts tossing around the term "sandbox" on these forums its always going to start up a debate.

I've thought of dropping back in for a bit once the F2P version launches, would be fun to see how the world evolved since the early days.

Like I said you dont know what Lineage 2 is so I am wasting my time talking to you. You dont listen to people who have spent years playing the game and you are one of those that think if its not like Ultima, or Eve then its not a sandbox game. LOL

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Is casual play possible or is the game still grind fest ?

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Howdy, Stranger!

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Is casual play possible or is the game still grind fest ?

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV