Oh Lineage 2, how I love to hate you

[Falconeer]

It's probably worse than that. To get level 40, finally wear c-grade armour and see how it looks on my Gladiatress. And to fool me into thinking that there is meaningful political PvP at the end of the tunnel.

[Cheddar]

It's probably worse than that. To get level 40, finally wear c-grade armour and see how it looks on my Gladiatress. And to fool me into thinking that there is meaningful political PvP at the end of the tunnel.

Wait a sec, you are actually playing L2?  What server?  I am on Hindesmith.


Level 28 Orc Monk LFG!

[Falconeer]

Heh, I thought about messaging you and play get desensitized together. But I have the bleeding eye for my 38 levels done on Franz (Euro server) and the idea of starting again from scratch sounds as appealing as brushing the teeth of a rotting cadaver for a late fancy funeral.

But I will think of you all the time now, o my brother in these hard times...

[Cheddar]

Heh, I thought about messaging you and play get desensitized together. But I have the bleeding eye for my 38 levels done on Franz (Euro server) and the idea of starting again from scratch sounds as appealing as brushing the teeth of a rotting cadaver for a late fancy funeral.

But I will think of you all the time now, o my brother in these hard times...

If you decide to move to a real (read: American hohohoho) server lemme know, I can probably scrounge 10 million or so Adena to get you started.

[Draegan]

I've obviously only been here for a short while.  Can someone explain the green text?

[Cheddar]

I've obviously only been here for a short while.  Can someone explain the green text?

Sarcasm.  I greened it up because I wanted to make sure Falconeer knew I was not being an asshole American.  This time.

Falconeer is my favorite Italian!



edit.  I was serious about the 10 million Adena, hence why that portion of the post was not green.

[Falconeer]

I am my favourite Italian too (well, save for Umberto Eco). That's why I would like to stop being one.

And how in hell did you get 10 millions adena?! I am sweating blood for the soulshots required to keep the raging grindmonster at bay!

[Signe]

My mother was my favourite Italian!  Falconeer is my second favourite. 

What is the new race like? 

[Falconeer]

They are snotty but so goth good looking. The one wing thing is silly when everyone around you has the same plastery tool attached on the back, but it has some sort of potential coolness when combined with better looking clothes and armours. Arbalesting sounds like lotsa fun: fast archering without the mana cost but with less range. Save for the fashion side, there's not much I've experienced of them that I can talk about. You know, Lineage 2 is not exactly the most alt-friendly game in the world 

[Cheddar]

They are snotty but so goth good looking. The one wing thing is silly when everyone around you has the same plastery tool attached on the back, but it has some sort of potential coolness when combined with better looking clothes and armours. Arbalesting sounds like lotsa fun: fast archering without the mana cost but with less range. Save for the fashion side, there's not much I've experienced of them that I can talk about. You know, Lineage 2 is not exactly the most alt-friendly game in the world 

I made a ton off of my dwarf back in the day.  I have been subbed off and on since Beta- D Shots for 20 Adena sold out like flapjacks when it was first launched.   

[stu]

I reinstalled a couple days ago, but I haven't gotten around to updating yet. I have a level 52 Orc Monk which is the stage that the grind really starts to set in. The main draw of this game for me was to hit 80 so that I can make people pay me adena so that they can cross bridges. Now that players can teleport, I may just go back for the sieges, which are pretty cool.

[Falconeer]

The main draw of this game for me was to hit 80 so that I can make people pay me adena so that they can cross bridges.

That was UO, alas, and those days are gone forever.... 

[Cheddar]

Can anyone explain how grouping works (concerning xp spread)?  For example, lets say someone at f13 was to sign up; if I grouped with him as a level 28 and went out killing stuff around Talking Island, would said person get any XP? 

[rk47]

it's strange why people liked to grind so much in Lineage. And even worse, comes to like it. I used to like it as well, till the new skill gains are just too far apart between level ups..L2 was my first MMO though so I thought all MMO are like that. They give you this carrot and kept you beating with a stick till you reach it. By the time I swallowed the carrot, I'm hungry again.

I decided to give WoW a whirl after being burned out with the grind and half the clan went botting. So I sold my lv 60 Bladedancer and 58 Prophet for a WoW + 6 months sub. I was quite pleased with what Wow offered, with all the quests and humour thrown in ...it spiced up the grind so to speak. I didn't have to sit in town just to sell my junk and make a decision between grinding or getting adena

All in all I've quit WoW. and decided to grind back in another game Dreams of Mirrors online. It's all anime cutesy, I was prepared to get burned out from a week...but it turned out to be good. Really good. A hybrid between L2 and WoW...and some secondary job combination. Good stuff. Tell you more after work

[Nerf]

Can anyone explain how grouping works (concerning xp spread)?  For example, lets say someone at f13 was to sign up; if I grouped with him as a level 28 and went out killing stuff around Talking Island, would said person get any XP? 

They'd get shit xp, as you wouldn't get anything on TI so neither would they.

If you want to help them level, get them a comp bow, a full set of NG jewels, and some armor, they'll hit level 5 or 6 on TI within a few hours, and from there they can go straight to Ruins of Despair (straight south of gludio).  The mobs are all 18-20 or so, but drop fairly fast with comp bow+ngss, you can stay there until 20 or so.  Should take around 8-12 hours from 1-20 total, maybe a little less, I'm used to playing on 3x servers and I could get a noob to 20 in under 3.

If you're playing a mage up, you might need to fight the stuff just outside RoD a bit and wait til 11 or 12 for the zombies, magic gets resisted a bit easier than arrows, but same concept (top ng level 20ish mobs)

I've leveled up 5 or 6 70s, so let me know if you hit any other grind walls.

[damijin]

It's exceptionally hard to powerlevel in L2 using characters with large level differences. There's some crazy algorithm behind it that screws everyone. High level buffers are obviously useful, and a few chronicles ago you could use a pet class with an AOE attack, as long as the pet killed the mobs outside of the range of it's owner, the low levels in the group would soak up all the XP (you could level up an alt past 40 in a few hours like this), but I think all the decent power leveling methods have been fixed.

Also out of curiosity: Have you seen another living soul on Hindemith? The North American servers are drying up quickly from what I hear. Teon is bustling with huge alliances, and I'm not sure how Franz is -- but most of the other servers are suffering from too much geographical space and far too few players to fill it up. Even at the end game.

[Falconeer]

The two euro servers are packed. Extremely.

Now one could argue that 70% are bots but still population is on heavy 24/7, on both Teon and Franz.

[damijin]

The two euro servers are packed. Extremely.

Now one could argue that 70% are bots but still population is on heavy 24/7, on both Teon and Franz.

L2 has always been looked upon favorably in regions of the world that are neglected in terms of gaming markets. Russia and Greece come to mind immediately, but South America are hugely visible on the private servers. For the majority of the time I played L2 on Gustin, my alliance consisted of 1 American clan, 1 entirely German clan, 1 entirely French clan, 1 entirely Chinese clan, and various other nationalities sprinkled in between.

That community is without a doubt the most international of any MMO I have ever played.

[Falconeer]

That, and Shadowbane.

"Regions of the world that are neglected in terms of gaming markets" keep on focusing on PvP apparently. What can I say? I am probably russian at heart.

[Cheddar]

Interesting, Neocron has been kept alive by the European market as well- it is also steep in PvP.


Anyhow, yes, I see people all the time on Hindemith.  Most are mid/high level- I have a feeling the steep learning curve and lack of game information access chases off most American noobs.

[Cryo]

Ah well, playing L2 since beta. Lvl 75 in a year, noble in another year, lead a 300ppl alliance and held aden castle during 6 months, done every epic boss at least once. Probably the hardest grind of all current MMOs, also the most rewarding, but worth it if you can overlook the huge bot/ebay issue. What kept me playing is the community and the awesome ppl I met in game (some of them are RL friends now).

Now is probably the best time to start fresh with the new expansion, lot of newbies leveling so it's easier to get into parties / meeting new ppl. Also, since the game was released they made the grind easier and easier, well it's still a hell of a grind to get to 70+ but nothing compared to what it was 2 or 3 years ago. And the endgame content is just awesome.

[Soukyan]

Actually, I will give L2 that. I met a lot of cool people in the short time I played. Hell, one night for several hours, one player taught me some Finnish words and phrases while we were grouped and leveling. I thought that was pretty cool, but then again, I'm a dork, so...

[Samprimary]

I don't it matters since Lineage 2 isn't fun. Someone will always suffer through a game to hit the highest level. But that has nothing to do with whether or not the game is fun or should be looked at for lessons.

Particularly when that lesson is "some motherfuckers will play anything."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25bjSoyXlw0

500 hours

[HaemishM]

Also, since the game was released they made the grind easier and easier, well it's still a hell of a grind to get to 70+ but nothing compared to what it was 2 or 3 years ago.

Translation: Now instead of grinding off all your skin AND crushing your testicles, it just pulls your nipples off and pours salt in the open wounds.

SIGN ME UP!!!!

[schild]

I don't it matters since Lineage 2 isn't fun. Someone will always suffer through a game to hit the highest level. But that has nothing to do with whether or not the game is fun or should be looked at for lessons.

Particularly when that lesson is "some motherfuckers will play anything."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25bjSoyXlw0

500 hours

Don't even need to click that link.

That particular fellow has a few syndromes that make 500 hours of that shit palatable to him. In other words, he's more broken than most. Some of his shit is truly truly fascinating (I've watched pretty much all of it over the years).

[Falconeer]

And the endgame content is just awesome.

You and Tisirin both said that in the last 2 days. Now I am curious: I am still playing L2 and even if I am light years from the higher levels, what is this endgame content that is so good? I really want to know. I am enduring the grind because of the eventual PvP action, but I don't think you were referring to that (one siege every 14 days can't be THAT good). Sounds like there is some kind of secret and invisible endgame, and at this point I'd love to know what I am missing. Or, should I suffer long enough, what could I get into.

[Cheddar]

And the endgame content is just awesome.

You and Tisirin both said that in the last 2 days. Now I am curious: I am still playing L2 and even if I am light years from the higher levels, what is this endgame content that is so good? I really want to know. I am enduring the grind because of the eventual PvP action, but I don't think you were referring to that (one siege every 14 days can't be THAT good). Sounds like there is some kind of secret and invisible endgame, and at this point I'd love to know what I am missing. Or, should I suffer long enough, what could I get into.

This is exactly why I resub once  a year.  THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING!

[Cryo]

And the endgame content is just awesome.

You and Tisirin both said that in the last 2 days. Now I am curious: I am still playing L2 and even if I am light years from the higher levels, what is this endgame content that is so good? I really want to know. I am enduring the grind because of the eventual PvP action, but I don't think you were referring to that (one siege every 14 days can't be THAT good). Sounds like there is some kind of secret and invisible endgame, and at this point I'd love to know what I am missing. Or, should I suffer long enough, what could I get into.

Well, I guess it depends on which server you play on, server dynamics are very different from each other.

I'm playing on Hindemith and we have lot of wars going on. If you're in one of the big clans you can find PvP pretty much anywhere in the lvl70+ areas at anytime of the day. You of course have the occasional siege weekend which is a guaranteed 200-300ppl on siege ground at least. Then you have epic bosses (and PvP for them of course), raids (more PvP), olympiad (which has been revamped in CT1, still unbalanced if you don't do class based but some changes are interesting).

So yeah end-game is mostly about PvP and politics, but then if you are not at least 70 (76 + S grade is heavily recommended) you will most likely get owned most of the time by heroes and/or full S grade PvP parties. And I know ppl will say PvP in L2 is boring, click F1 and spam pots till your opponent is dead, while it might be true for 1v1 or small scale PvP, it's an entirely different story when you do group vs group, which is the case most of the time at higher lvls (take advantage of grounds, your position on the field, who to kill 1st, buffs/debuffs, synergy with your group etc...).

And i'm not even talking about fortress, which can be really fun given their layout they makes for very interesting and tactical battlegrounds.

If you're bored of PvP? Go lvl some more, work on your gear (craft/play the market), get some clanrep for your clan (academy, festivals), do some of the new quests and instanced dungeon... the list goes on and on.

While it's not perfect and you will always find some flaws in the system, it's by far the game with the most endgame content that I've played so far.

[Cheddar]

</words>

How do you find a good group to play with?  I spent a few days asking about clans in ! chat; unfortunately the majority of players are mouth breathers.

Is there a central source of information hidden on the intardwebs?   

[Cryo]

Get yourself into a good active clan, preferably with an alliance. Ask on official forums, or on blah. I don't know which server you play on but there are always clans recruiting, moreover if you're an active player. Spend some time in Giran and watch the shouts, i'm sure you'll find some clans recruiting.

There's no secret - the ingame party matching system isn't really used, most people rely on clan/ally and friends. Have a good network of friends and you'll get lot of parties.

It also depends what class you are playing, Nukers/SEs will have to solo/duo most of the time as they aren't many nuker parties anymore. Support classes like BD/SwS, buffers and healers will get you into parties instantly. Tank/Melees DD/Archers are always wanted too, but they're so many of them that it might be harder than playing support classes.

A good way is also to make your own parties. But make good parties, otherwise people will be reluctant to party you afterward.

At last, there's hardly any parties under lvl60 because the grind is considered "easy" (compared to above 60 that is) under that level, so most of ppl solo/duo/trio they way up to 60+.

[Falconeer]

So basically Cryo, we are screwed until level 76? (To everyone uninformed, level 76 means about 3 months of /PLAYED time).

And yes I keep hearing about the greatest community, but I played it like an offline game (not because of me!) until level 38, and then after begging long enough in Giran a guy gave me some dry pointers in 1337ish/engrish and invited me to his Romanian (from Romania, not Roma) guild. Which, no need to say, is just where the silent/mute/antisocial guys are thrown. It reminds me of that scene from Animal House when Pinto and Flounder visit the Omega House and keep being pushed into the freaks group.


Lineage Romanian Leader: "Hi there, fellows. Meet Cheddar and Faggoteer"                 
Me: "Falconeer." 
Lineage Romanian Leader: "Cheddar, Faggoteer, l'd like you to meet... Mohamm3t... Jugdish, S1dney and Cl4yton. Grab a seat and make yourselves at home!"
Me: "We already met."
Lineage Romanian Leader: "Super!"

[Cryo]

Hehe, funny stuff. There's a lot of russians and greeks playing on my server so I know what you're talking about :P

It all comes down to what you are enjoying in the game. If you're only there for the PvP and endgame content, then yes you won't see any of it before 70 (76 to start pwning). If you are in for the social aspect then get yourself quick into a friendly clan, and you'll love it. Grinding isn't that bad if you are chatting with friends at the same time. Also the world is huge, and there's many place to discover (in my early days I used to stare at some landscape just because it was so beautiful).

But yeah, it's hard to get into a good active clan if you're not in, let's say, A grade (lvl61) at least. Although that might not be entirely true, because CT1 brought in some new players, and i've started to see a lot of new clan recently. Now is probably the best time to start or play again if you're "low" lvl (under 60), it should be much easier to get into a clan.

Or start your own   

[Soukyan]

Hehe, funny stuff. There's a lot of russians and greeks playing on my server so I know what you're talking about :P

It all comes down to what you are enjoying in the game. If you're only there for the PvP and endgame content, then yes you won't see any of it before 70 (76 to start pwning). If you are in for the social aspect then get yourself quick into a friendly clan, and you'll love it. Grinding isn't that bad if you are chatting with friends at the same time. Also the world is huge, and there's many place to discover (in my early days I used to stare at some landscape just because it was so beautiful).

But yeah, it's hard to get into a good active clan if you're not in, let's say, A grade (lvl61) at least. Although that might not be entirely true, because CT1 brought in some new players, and i've started to see a lot of new clan recently. Now is probably the best time to start or play again if you're "low" lvl (under 60), it should be much easier to get into a clan.

Or start your own   

Honestly, how social are the players if they don't use the in-game tools for finding groups and clans? From the methods described, it sounds like you either need to bring your own group/clan or go pound salt. Sounds like a bunch of anti-social cliques. How... lousy...

[Falconeer]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like I really need a Delta House in Lineage 2. As the only way to endure it would be getting reeeeally high on spirits all the time. Louie Louie. Shama Lama Ding Dong. Leveling has never been so much fun. (And still I am p(l)aying it).




P.S: I have NOTHING against people from Romania. Actually the opposite is true and that's why I gladly joined the guild. Sadly, the ones in this guild speak very little English.

[Nerf]

Pfft at starting your own clan, all you need is a bladedancer, swordswinger, prophet, and silver ranger.  Also, maybe a SK/DA to tank, just use in game walker and bot your own party!