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Lineage II
File:Lineage2 Gracia Final Poster.jpg
Developer(s) NCsoft
Publisher(s) NCsoft
AsianMedia for South-East Asia
Designer
Engine Unreal Engine 2.5
status Status Missing
Release date October 1, 2003 (KOR)

April 27, 2004 (USA)

Genre MMORPG
Mode(s) Multiplayer
Age rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T)
GRB: 15+ (non-PVP) 18+ (PVP)
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Arcade system Arcade System Missing
Media Download, CD, DVD
Input Keyboard, Mouse
Requirements 2.0 GHz Pentium IV CPU
512MB RAM
NVIDIA FX 5700 GPU
10 GB hard disk space [1]
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough
File:L2 dark elf.jpg

Dark Elf with a Grand Khavatari (Orc) subclass

File:L2 great wolf.jpg

a mounted great wolf

Lineage II (Korean: 리니지 2) is a fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, and a prequel set 150 years before [2] Lineage. It has become very popular since its October 1, 2003 launch in South Korea, reporting 610,918 unique users during the month of March 2007.

Gameplay

Basic gameplay

File:Shot00011.jpg

Lineage II screenshot of an elven character

To begin playing Lineage II, players create a character as their avatar in the game's medieval-style virtual world. Humans, Elves and Dark Elves start off in the Kingdom of Aden while Dwarves and Orcs start off in the Kingdom of Elmore. Players can choose from either fighter or mystic professions at the start, except for Dwarves and Kamael which are only able to select the fighter profession; this choice acts as an archetype for later profession options. Each race has its own set of classes, even if humans, elves and dark elves have a lot of classes that are very similar to their counterparts in the other two races.

As players kill non-player character (NPC) monsters, they accumulate experience points and skill points (SP). As experience points accumulate, the character's level increases, meaning various attributes of the character are augmented. Players purchase and then upgrade their character’s skills using SP. Players can play alone or as part of a group to fight monsters and complete quests for new skills, experience points, and items. Player versus player (PvP) is a significant portion of the game. The game provides many social, political, and economic aspects which are developed through the community and by the actions, in-game, of single players.Lineage II features siege warfare like the original. To make sure PvP stays under control, the design includes a Karma system that provides negative consequences for killing other players when they are not fighting back. When being in a chaotic state (karma number higher than zero) with a PK count of 5 or more, players have a high probability of dropping items after being killed.

Classes and subclasses

There are currently a large number of classes (36) for all races all together. Each race and subsequent class has a set amount of Stat Points already assigned to their class.

Upon completing the quests after reaching level 75, a player may add subclass to their character. This subclass starts at level 40. Limitations are put in place on which subclass one can choose (e.g. Dark Elves may not choose Elf subclasses. In addition, a player may not choose a class that matches their main class (a Dark Avenger may not become a Paladin, likewise a Treasure Hunter may not become a Plains Walker). Once a subclass has reached level 75, players may choose another. A character may hold a total of three subclasses in addition to their main class. The level cap of all subclasses is limited to 80, while the main class can get to 85.

Heroes are Noblesse characters who have accumulated the most points for their class during competition in the Grand Olympiad while having a minimum of nine matches with at least one win. There can only be one Hero per class for a maximum of 35 Heroes at any time. Competing players are limited to their character's main class. Heroes are able to choose one of the Hero class weapons and receive Hero only abilities; in addition, they may speak globally to the entire server. They also receive a glowing aura so that they stand out against other characters.

Pets

In Lineage II, a player can obtain a monster that becomes his or her pet through the completion of quests. Unlike other summons or magic, as long as certain conditions are met, a pet will not be bound by time limitations, nor will it be dismissed by force. These pets can also hold most items in their inventories while they are called, including pet weapons and armor that can be equipped on the pet.

Plot

The game follows a fictional history through sets of plots called "Sagas". There are currently two sagas; "The Chaotic Chronicle" and "The Chaotic Throne". Large-scale updates/expansions known as "Chronicles" are done every six months, which introduce new story elements as well as new features and add-ons. Each chronicle also adds a great deal of new content to the game, including new skills, quests, areas and items; some chronicles also increased the level cap.

Setting

Lineage II is set in the world of its predecessor, Lineage, though the main storyline begins 150 years prior to the events in Lineage.[2] The world of Lineage II is divided into three kingdoms, Aden, Elmore, and Gracia.[2][3] Aden lies south of the Border Outposts its capital castle is Aden Castle. Elmore lies to the north of the Outposts and encompasses Goddard, Rune and Schuttgart. Its capital castle is Rune Castle. Gracia lies to the west of Aden and Elmore. Aden's geography ranges from deserts to tropical forests. Elmore is more rugged having mostly mountainous regions along with a frozen winter wastelands.

Characters

Characters act as a player’s avatar within the game. Players are afforded up to 7 characters per server. There are currently six races in the world of Lineage II: the Humans-similar to modern-day humans and who have all-around balanced characteristics; the Elves-with superior dexterity, movement, and casting speed, but weaker offense; Dark Elves-with higher magic and melee attack capabilities; Orcs-who have higher HP and MP but slower movement; Dwarves-powerful melee attackers and master craftsmen; and Kamael-humanoids with single wings and gender-specific job classes.[4]

Development

Hyeong-Jin Kim, the Production team head for Lineage II, came up with basic concept for the game in early 2000, and development began in October to November of the same year.[2][3] Kim and producer James Bae have stated that their reasons for developing a prequel for Lineage rather than a sequel is that "Lineage will continue to be updated as a game", and that "by working on its past, we will not be risking conflict with the direction of updates that Lineage will take in the future."[2]

File:L2 elf.jpg

A screenshot showing a female elf moonlight sentinel standing in the Elven Village.

According to Kim and Bae, the game's initial subtitle, "The Chaotic Chronicle", was developed with the intention to "express the large-scale war, strategies, conflicts, and collaborations that we hope to encourage among players."[2]

Lead Game Designer Raoul Kim said that the reason for rendering Lineage II in 3D was "simply because most games today are [also] using 3D graphics", and because they deemed it "more appropriate than 2D for the things that we were going to create." Developers chose to utilize the Unreal Engine 2 game engine because of its capacity to render outdoor scenes and its powerful editing features.[2][5]

According to Game Design team head, Cheol-Woong Hwang, there were different concepts for each of the race's home villages. He described the concept for the human village in Talking Island as "ordinary", while the Elven Village was designed "so as not to lose the natural and royal high-class feeling." They designed the Dark Elven village based on a "grotesque and serious feeling in order to express the rough history of these who had been expelled from the Elves."[6]

NCsoft Publisher Partnerships

NCsoft & AsianMedia

Lineage II - South-East Asia or simply L2-SEA is NCsoft's first "Publishing License" grant for their flagship game to a completely independent company. NCsoft granted a distribution license to AsianMedia for ArenaNet's Guild Wars for the Philippines. AsianMedia has been licensed to distribute, publish, and operate Lineage II. NCsoft's licensing grant initially limits AsianMedia licensing to three countries namely, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

On December 22, 2009 It was announced that the contract between NCsoft and AsianMedia was not renewed. All players in L2SEA are now notified and given 30 days before AsianMedia closes down on all servers in L2SEA. [7]

Reception

 Reception

The overall reception for Lineage II is mixed, receiving average review scores from various video game rating websites. Scott Stahl of the The Daily Orange praised the game's graphics and design, though he also mentioned that the game "quickly degrades into an incredibly tedious and monotonous process of killing the same monster a thousand different times", and that the character creation options are "incredibly shallow, with maybe two or three different faces and hair styles for each type of character." Andrew Park of Gamespot said that the game "offers either a repetitive grind or a stiff challenge", and is not suitable for casual gamers who can only play an hour or less per day.[10] Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch called the Kamael "an interesting race in that, unlike other Lineage II races, they focus specifically on the warrior path with high-level class paths segregated by gender."[13]

The Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood expansion won the Expansion of the Year award at Stratics Central Editor's Choice Awards 2006, [14] and Lineage II earned an Honorable Mention for the Game of the Year award.[15]


References

  1. System Requirements. www.lineage2.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-11
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Aihoshi, Richard. Lineage II Interview. Retrieved on 2007-09-21
  3. 3.0 3.1 Making Lineage II: 1. Unfolding the Fantasy Land. www.lineage2.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  4. Races, Classes, and Skills. www.lineage2.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-12
  5. Lineage II Q&A. www.gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  6. Making Lineage II: 2. Turning the Dream into Reality. www.lineage2.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  7. [1]
  8. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle - PC. Game Rankings. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  9. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  10. 10.0 10.1 Park, Andrew (2004-06-02). Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle Review. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  11. Allen (2003-11-13). Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle (PC)). GameSpy. Retrieved on 2008-03-01
  12. Butts, Steve (2004-06-18). Lineage 2: The Chaotic Chronicle. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-11
  13. Rausch, Allen (December. 7, 2007). Lineage II: The Kamael: First Look (PC). pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-12
  14. Editor's Choice Awards 2006: Expansion of the Year. www.stratics.com (2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-11
  15. Editor's Choice Awards 2006: Game of the Year. www.stratics.com (2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-11

External links

Official

bg:Lineage II ca:Lineage II cs:Lineage II fr:Lineage II ko:리니지2 ka:ლაინეიჯ 2 lt:Lineage II nl:Lineage II pt:Lineage II ro:Lineage II sk:Lineage II sv:Lineage II th:ลินเนจ 2 tr:Lineage 2 vi:Lineage 2 zh:天堂II

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