Lineage 2: 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month

Hakiko · September 2006

I am going through a few games in the style of a casual gamer trying
them out. I will be trying out ArchLord, Lineage 2, and DDO over the
next few weeks (1 week for DDO as it has a seven day trial) I will
spend a few hours a night several days a week on each game (simulating
casual play style). I will make up a report that deals with the game
after 1 hour (crucial for someone trying it out), 1 day, 1 week, and 1
month (traditional end of a trial and the real moment of truth. Do they
subscribe or not?).

I will also be avoiding forums, instruction
manuals etc. for these games during this time (it is my impression that
the average, casual player does not bother with or even know many of
these things exist)

In the interest of full disclosure I have
never played AL or L2 (in fact any Korean game at all) before this
experiment. I was in DDO Beta.

The first hour:

This was the only one of the three games where I experienced startup issues. This turkey is massive (as I was to find out this must be due to art assets more on this later). I had some real problem getting it to install (my computer exceeds all recommended specs) it froze up several times and I had to reboot. It then froze several times trying to get it started. After I got it updated all the sound went away and I had to restart the game again.

All in all it was 45 minutes after install finished till I saw char creation screen.

The character art is fantastic (and I'm not just talking about T&A here). The models are beutiful. Unfortunatly there is almost no customization. However with a large scale PvP bent I suspect that this is a practical problem due to lag. Not really a lot of choices in classes are there? (After talking to a few NPCs its obvious that my class will evolve over time allowing more customization) I rolled up an orc fighter (attractive orc females a once in a lifetime chance).

My initial impression is that the controls need work WASD movement is pointless and basically is non-functional. What I really prefer is the hold down both mouse buttons to move style, this is not present at all. However during the ArchLord outing earlier in the night I had grown to appreciate point and click and the same holds true here. In fact there movement is so similar and ArchLord has exactly the smae problem with WASD that there could be some foul play here on ArchLord's part.

The Diablo 2 style interface is immediatly obvious and need little to no explanation to the Windows generation. I will take this time to remark that as a whole MMO interfaces have improved so drastically since EQ1 (Tell me about gnolls. What gnolls? I am interested in gnolls. Where are the gnolls? Is that a gnoll in your pocket?) that it deserves mention. This may be the single biggest area of improvement in the genre and has no doubt helped in their much bigger userbase we see now.

The combat is satisfying in that great Click-Kill-Loot Diablo way. Its not as in depth as FFXI's team based combat but perhaps this changes as the skill set grows.

The graphics are beautiful, stunning. This explains the download and install time. And I don't just mean technically good. There is a coherent direction with an intended effect of recreating a fantasy comic book style. I usually don't notice art unless its bad. Other than FFXI no other games art has made an impression on me the way this one does. I really felt like this was another world a fantasy come to life.

The skills were explained well and there seems to be a steady flow of quests.

I noticed that there was a lot of emphasis placed on the n00b help available. This has that "Hey we have improved the game since launch and really want to get you through this early junk to the good stuff we have done lately" feel. I am familiar with this theory as is anyone who has started a character in DAoC or EQ1 recently. As long as there is good stuff further up there is nothing wrong with this.

I am beginning to wonder if I am in an instance. I did not see another player the whole time. Has the newbie hose been turned off? Hopefully other areas are more populated. Perhaps orcs are not popular (hopefully the whole race is not gimp or something)

The NPC prices on weapons are absurd. Looking at how much I get in fights I do not see how I will be able to upgrade out of starter gear for a long time (I am 6 now)

Overall I had a good time and I would have continued to play had I just been trying this out.

Sovrath · September 2006

There are other new players. The issues is that this is a game where you really don't "dally" at the lower lvls. Especially if you want to partake in the pvp.

Most of the players are elsewhere. I won't tell you where unless you want to know since you indicated you wanted to explore on your own.

One point of interest is that the orc lands, until this latest update were completely cut off from the mainland. So you probably won't see anyone in the orc lands unless you go to its edges to where they added the new land.

Korean games usually prefer point and click. This is why the wasd is not really fully implemented.

SelfDestruct · September 2006

that was pretty hard to follow which game you were talking about for a bit... haha...

Galaxiaceles · September 2006

Yeah, you're in orc land, no one grinds there, except some remote farmer train or other newbie like
you. You could always shout in chat if you want to party with someone. If you get lucky, some
extremely bored high level will give you good starting gear, don't feel like you're a cheat because
of it, because L2 starting levels are very boring alone anyways.

Hakiko · September 2006

Accidently double clicked on a scroll that an NPC gave me. It warped me to some far away city which I spent about 4 hours trying to get back from (and died a whole bunch of times). Fortunatly a very nice stranger showed me that I could teleport back home it just took a few steps and even gave me some money to do it with.

So my first contact with another living person was positive. Unfortunatly when I got back the monsters I needed to kill were being attacked by like 20 dwarves named L4B5T or something like that (I've been around MMOs long enough to know what they are)

Jukan · September 2006

Originally posted by Hakiko
Unfortunatly when I got back the monsters I needed to kill were being attacked by like 20 dwarves named L4B5T or something like that (I've been around MMOs long enough to know what they are)

Role Players! Freakin weirdos the whole lot of em!

But seriously...

Oh yea, and there are definately farmers/bots in L2 I won't lie!

LOL the newbie trip to Giran...yay! So your PC didn't lag out because of all the stores and people running around! That is definately a good thing, lol.

Hakiko · September 2006

yeah the lag there was pretty intense (It makes the old Jeuno AH lag in FFXI look like a walk in the park)

Plus I got killed by some dragon looking thing when I tried to walk back to the Orc Villiage. I didn't care..usually you have to wait till much higher levels before getting creamed by a dragon. No if it had been a super powerful dog or rabbit (or a deer...I got killed by a deer in Archlord and I was taken down by angry chickes once in Zelda) I would have been pissed.

Jukan · September 2006

Ah yes the wonderful lag. I know it isn't due to bandwidth, well usually unless you are using dial up or something. But in order to render all those people, lets just say your processor, memory, and video card would have to really surpass all the recommended requirements. LOL Only on my friends PC have I seen Giran with smooth graphics cranked all the way up.

Hakiko · September 2006

OK here is my follow up after 1 day (casual) of play time. I estimated that even a casual player will play more than usual on their first few days in a game so I set this at about 4 or 5 hours play time (this is a loose thing here). I passed this the other day but was busy it work.

Well I have to say this game has drawn me in more than the others. There is no technical reason really (well a little in DDO's case). In fact gameplay wise L2 and Archlord are very close, at least at these lower levels.

I think what did it for me was the incident where I accidently warped into the central city and spent all evening trying to get home. It was frusterating but ultimatly it made the world feel big and real. Plus I had a positive social encounter which always helps. I have caught the explorer's bug on this one and want to progress and make my way to that city and see what lays between.

There are some problems here though. There are not a whole lot of quests where I am now. I have killed werewolves for revenge many, many times. In fact I fear for the generations of digital orcs after mine. This state sponsored genocide can only lead to a werewolf backlash against my villiage. Quests are a good chance to build the story of your world especially at these low levels. I wish there was a bit more of that here.

The enemies pretty much seem to stand around in groups waiting to be killed. They do not wander far at all. This is very similar to DAoC and it felt goofy there too. Games like FFXI and EQ1 and to a lesser extent WoW allowed the enemies to wander a bit more freely adding to the realism.

I have not attempted to buy anything from an player at this point but still find the NPC prices to be very high. Were the NPC prices always this high to encourage buying from players (odd for newbie area)? Or are the NPC prices linked to the world economy and inflated with it. I have seen that approach before and it can be a problem as it removes a price cap on some goods. This can make retaining newbies difficult.

Apart from that the game seems to be a lot deeper than it seemed at first pass. I am looking forward to figuring out the fishing and crafting systems (stupid downloaded versions and there no instruction manual having ways). Th levels are still coming pretty fast and I am having a good time.

Sovrath · September 2006

Yeah, L2 is not about quests. They range from "sort of fun" to "I hate this and want to quit (second class quests)"

If you want quests go elsewhere.

Yes... the mobs are just there to kill, with very little reason as to why they are there. Sure, Orcs Barracks makes sense (it has Orcs) but the Cemetary used to have a lot of Orcs (they might have changed it since I lvled there) and it made no sense.

High prices? Those prices aren't high. Go to Giran (I'm sure that's where you were whisked off to) and check out some of the prices that you will be paying in the future.

The Economy in this game is brutal. It's part of what L2 is about. It's also one of the reasons we have issues with gold farmers and bots. This is not a game like WoW or EQ2 where you log in and have some harmless fun. This game is hard.

Not to say you can't just "be casual" and log in and role play if that's your thing or maybe do a bit of grinding, but in the end, it's all for becoming more powerful and playing the real game... politics, server drama PvP, sieges, etc.

It's funny, I have a lvl 28 WoW character (which I've been playing since the game came out so you know where my priorities lie - L2 character is lvl 75). I signed into WoW to relax a bit and look around. It was just before a HUGE L2 siege that the entire server was anticipating. I was looking around WoW and realized that these players just don't experience that same type of "World Shattering" Siege and drama that L2 has.

Not to bash WoW at all. I think it's an extremely fine game and that the people who complain about it don't realize it is for very casual players.

But L2 is about something larger... something bigger. The game is the people. Not the quests. The people.

Welcome to L2... (oh.. and we actually have a person on the main forum who is around lvl 33 and has been playing 2 years. He loves it but is considered very casual.)

Torak · September 2006

Well Im glad to see you like the game. L2 was (it still is my favorite) although Im not really playing it. I'm just bumming around trolling the forums lately since my blowout/meltdown over the bots lol.

But L2 is about something larger... something bigger. The game is the people. Not the quests. The people.

This quote nails L2 right on the head. I've played all the others also. I played DAoC for a year back in the day and recently went back. I have had an active WoW account since launch (2 if you count my wifes) and many others. They are fine games but they are all missing that "something".

L2 isn't about the quest. PvP games generally have pretty poor content. Unfortunately PvE games use the same "quest" model so their quest generally suck also, unless you are talking about the older games like AC or FFXI, these games have far superior content. So I am unimpressed with any games content as of right now. Its all the same to me. Go kill 10 rats trash.

L2 is an actual world like old AC (Dereth). It grows and changes. Its basically location based. You want a "quest" open your map and pick a spot you have never been to. Go deep into the woods. Lots of scarey stuff out there trust me. You can talk to the Adventure Guild guy and see if there are any quest where you want to go. Thats how I would handle it. The game is always about the community. It takes hundreds of players to both assault and defend a castle. The community drama and politics are unrivaled. You make some very good in game friends. Its not like other games where people form and throw away relations. Everytime you group there is an element of "trust" involved. Everyone is a potental friend OR enemy.

As far as the economy goes.........GRRRRRRRR This is the core reason we are infested with bots. The economy is very difficult. PERIOD. Items cost alot. As a new players I would strongly recemend you use the Newbie helper to trade in your gear to save money, then once you hit 20 try to do the seven signs quest whenever you have the time and collect the seals. When you have enough, you can visit the blacksmith of Mammon and trade the Ancient Aden you get for the seals for new weapons. There is also something going on until Oct that gives you free weapons. I'm not up on it. Other then that, make some friends and try to get into a guild. It should be easier now with the new academies but I have no idea how they are working out. I wouldn't buy any weapons from anyone unless its a good price for a long time. They are cheaper in the shops IMHO. You cant get the TOP weapon but WTF cares? You can buy basically to mid C grade in shops (although C grade switches to crystals and that can be pricey also)

Casual play isn't so much the problem in L2. You can pretty much grind normally. By the way. I've been playing DAoC the past 2 weeks and the grind SUCKS so bad I'm ready to pull my hair out.....could my avatar fight just alittle gowd damn slower? It hasn't put me to sleep yet........but I digress. Back on topic, its the selling that demands your time. I use to leave my second PC running with my "shop" logged in while I was at work. I really hated to do this but I need to make the money somehow. Selling in a short 2 hour strech isn't going to cut it, not to mention is dull. So grind on "live time" sell on "down time".

So now you can see why we have a bot issue. The economy is far to difficult and frustrating for most players to want to deal with. Legit players can do it but its a pain in the ass. The currency buyers just go "order" cash and are off playing while people like us are sitting around selling crap for days and weeks. It sucks.

If it wasn't for the frickin economy this game would be something truely special.

Galaxiaceles · September 2006

While money is extremely hard to get by, if you managed to stick with a
clan for a while, clan members start to help each other out with equipment
and other expenses. While I do not advocate joining a clan so you can "borrow"
their equipment like a cheap bastard, it is known that despite all the scammers
and what not in Lineage 2, there is a huge number of great people playing
this game still not in the business to treat you like noob trash and will help
you out.

And if they don't? Do what the farmers do ... reroll a dwarf .. manor ...
grind ... grind ... grind .... <_<

Jukan · September 2006

I will have to agree with Gala...

The economy for a single player is hard and scary, and just down right impossible.

A good established clan can certainly help you with gear.

I am lvl 70 Spellsinger (been playing for about 17 months or so, I think) and am in a great clan. We aren't PvP crazy although we do like it. Everyone is treated like family once we gain their trust. Without this clan I doubt I would have gotten my A grade weapon, and my B grade robes, when I did anyway!

Large clans can make large amounts of money. People pooling their materials, even donating small amounts of adena, and just going out and grinding without soul shots and/or spiritshots make a huge difference.

This game is O.K. if you just play it without getting involved with the community. This game is FANTASTIC if you find the right group of people for you. The only think that keeps me grinding is my clan and my friends. Without them I would have tired from this game months ago.

Hakiko · September 2006

Well turns out an old friend from my old RP guild in EQOA (the RPA of Ferran's Hope, one of the nicest groups of people I have known online) is in a guild on my server and I got in with them. Also closing in fast on level 19 and my chance to become a monk. Now to hunt down those dastardly messangers a few more times to foil their traitorous scheme!

Torak · September 2006

Well, sounds like a lucky break for you Things should work out fine for you. Still think its a single player game? lol

Good luck with the Monk, don't catch "alt-itis".

Hakiko · September 2006

Ummmm... I never thought it was a single player game (in fact I only play these games to party, they are all really crappy single player games). Was just hoping there was more quest/story development (for me good lore always helps keep me interested). In FFXI almost all quests require a party, the same is true for EQ1. Why is it everytime someone asks about something that also appears in WoW everyone assumes they want whatever game is being discussed to be more like WoW?

I got flamed(not here, in game) for asking how to check how many hours I had played the other night. "Noob this isn't WoW. If you want it more like that go back." True WoW had the ability to check how many hours you played but so does almost every MMO that came before it. In my case tracking playtime would have been useful for when I make my final report. Saying that a game shouldn't have a feature, or that said feature would make the game "carebear" just based on the fact it was in WoW is ridiculous (this would also eliminate fighting monsters).

Torak · September 2006

LoL, no I was talking about your referance to how you didnt see any other players when you first started

Yeah, people are sort of offensive when it comes to WoW players "invading" other games. (they are like a plague of locust now that they are all getting bored with WoW) They are not the best crowd. I play WoW also, I don't think much of other people coming in from other games. There are really nice people and arsehats in all games. I do like the L2 community much much better but I'm an older player and not to much into the banter I guess. I tend to stick to business.

WoW is a fun game and all, I enjoy it when Im in the mood. Polished and refined so all the features work beautifully. Its a much more casual arcady type gameplay though. Again, its fine when Im in the mood for that type of play.

Hakiko · September 2006

Yeah I completely agree. I enjoy WoW but I always find myself going back to FFXI for the depth and the community. I agree that being older (only 28 but thats a good decade on the average in WoW) I am looking for something different than the average WoWer. I see my time in MMOs as what the corner bar was to previous generations (i.e. Cheers) not so much a sport or a place to prove my accomplishments.

Jukan · September 2006

The reason why there probally isn't a feature that tells you how much time you spend in game, is because it would be depressing...lol.

Once L2 grabs your soul...

You are gone forever...

/age 839302039348 hours

"You have been playing for 12 hours, we recommend you taking a break!"

"You have been playing for 24 hours, auto shutdown sequence in progress! Log out now!"

Just kidding it really isn't that bad....or is it!?

MMWHAHAHAH!

Hakiko · September 2006

One week update (late):

Sorry I got tied up at work and couldn't get enough hours in to do a one week review till now.

I am enjoying this game. I am in a clan with nice people. I got my class changed to monk and some cool new weapons and armor.

The newbie experience has been well planned out. The tickets and exchange options for items are a good idea and have allowed me to save up some money throughout my first 20+ levels.

There is a huge world here and I have only seen a fraction of it. There are many, many terms foating around that I do not have the slightest idea what they mean (remember no spoiler sites on this one) and this is great.

I enjoy the developing the character aspect of this game. I like having to do quests to open up new options for my character, I liked it in FFXI and I like it here. I am about 20 hours in and I haven't even touched crafting or fishing yet. I know there are pets but I haven't even thought about those yet.

I am also finding the grind to be relaxing in this game (which surprises me, usually I find them annoying but here its a wierd Diablo-Zen state like old time 2D shooters). There is something soothing to my engineer brain in whacking away while trying to find the balance between speed and XP value that allows me the best % gain per minute. The best mob seems to change every level or so which keeps it exciting.

I bought a book from a merchant that seems to detail quests, leveling areas, and raids. Looks like you can start raiding fairly early in this game so that is something to look forward to.

Torak · September 2006

Hey Hakiko,

Thats an awesome observation of the grinding in L2. I never had a serious problem with it either.

So starting out you are using the the newbie guild and everything, thats good. That "travelers" weapon you get at level 20 is great! I wish there was something like that when I first played. My wife joined L2 last week and has the fist weapon, (she went Monk also) it has an att of 62. Let me tell you, I did the grind from level 20 - 23 with my very first toon in the abandon camp with the silversmith hammer. (att 13) it was hell lol. The adventure NPC and Newbie helper will list all the quest and all the raid bosses (if I remember correctly) You can raid at almost any level. I know there is a raid mob in the Dwarf starter area. Not to sure on other areas.

The world is something else. No other game has a world that really matches up to it. There are places to go to at every level. Don't get caught in the trap of staying in the same place, there are multiple areas for almost any level each with a variety of mobs. On top of it the next C5 stuff has new areas for almost every level range. Being an Orc you could head to the new area that is designed for levels 20 -30(?). The enterance is near the cave of trials. You could possibly have a strictly Orc centered 1-30 experience. This brings so much more to the world.

I would suggest you take a look at the "seven signs" weekly event. You can basically keep upgrading weapons using Ancient adena (obtained by trading the dropped seals for AA) You never really need to buy weapons from players or shops. You can buy alot of other stuff also that you can sell or use. (in a nutshell) The downside is you will spend alot of time in the catacombs.

Anyway, its a great game despite NCSoft being arsehats. Keep having fun. Kill a bot. Train a bot, do anything to a bot just to screw with them

EDIT - Here it is, don't know what its like there yet, sounds go though.

The Crypts of Disgrace

The Crypts of Disgrace are located southwest of Schuttgart Castle. These crypts are part of a passageway that leads to Schuttgart Castle from the Orc Village. Players may hunt solo or in a small groups here. The monsters appearing here are at levels 25 to 32.

Rad_Roofer · September 2006

Hakiko, what server are you playing on in L2? I may be rejoining Lineage2 approx Oct 16th, and I'm interested in restarting a new character.

Torak, are you back playing L2 now? And what server do you play on?

Hakiko · September 2006

I am on Sieghart, my character name is Ocath.

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Lineage 2: 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month

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Lineage 2: 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month

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