f13.net forums - Lineage 2 Open Beta

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April 19, 2024, 01:07:03 PM

we're back, baby

I haven't signed a NDA agreement as yet (obtained a key today though)but had this forwarded to me via email. If you clever mod types want to remove this as NDA breaking or just because Lineage 2 bores you, ok and sorry :)

I like the prizes, no chance of wining one but I like them.

Welcome to the Lineage II Beta Testers Newsletter!
The Closed Beta period for Lineage II has come to an end! Thank you all for your help!
Here are some of the things coming up in the Lineage II Open Beta!

The Open Beta phase for Lineage II begins on March 28th, 2004! Characters from the Open Beta will not be deleted after its completion! You get two months of actual play time for free! One month during Open Beta, plus one free month subscription when you purchase the Lineage II game

The Lineage II Open Beta test will introduce Prelude, the latest version of Lineage II in North America!

New Lineage2.com coming!
Check back later this week for an all new look Lineage2.com and
further details of everything that's happening during Open Beta!

NCsoft will be hosting an array of events during the Open Beta period. Invite your friends to play and compete to win!

Top Clans of the Land!
At the end of Open Beta, the top 10 clans (based on clan level plus total clan member levels) will be entered into a clan drawing. First prize is a $200 gift certificate for every clan member, second prize is a $100 gift certificate for every clan member, and third prize is a $50 gift certificate for every clan member!

Movin'on Up Drawing!
Any player who successfully achieves the first career transfer at level 20 will be entered into a drawing to win a gaming system, an LCD monitor or a video card!

World's Strongest Man Competition!
Become the ultimate warrior! First player to achieve level 40 wins a gaming system from Alienware!

Are You a Virtual Photographer?
Submit your screenshots to Lineage2.com and each week a winner will be chosen to receive a digital camera!

Lineage II Directors!
Bi-weekly prize for the best 30 second game trailer!

That's very cool. A good way to get people involved in the game.

Quote from: Arthur_Parker

Welcome to the Lineage II Beta Testers Newsletter!
The Closed Beta period for Lineage II has come to an end! Thank you all for your help!
Here are some of the things coming up in the Lineage II Open Beta!

The Open Beta phase for Lineage II begins on March 28th, 2004! Characters from the Open Beta will not be deleted after its completion! You get two months of actual play time for free! One month during Open Beta, plus one free month subscription when you purchase the Lineage II game

Not sure I like this idea. Its pretty smart from a business standpoint, since people will invest time into the game and be able to keep their players.

I'd be pissed if I bought the game when it went retail tho, since testers have a month headstart on the uber treadmill. I guess its not that bad, but still would discourage me. That said, im so bored lately I might even give the game a try.

Very nice things they are doing to promote the game, but don't expect much from the game itself. At least in my opinion. I got into the closed beta recently and was very disappointed. There's a complete lack of attention to detail.

Oh, and "Transfer Standby Mode" is the icon label to toggle sitting. Who'da thunk it?

That's one way to get rid of release day fuckups. Make sure that your beta testers already have characters made and advanced beyond the newbie lands. So long as your login server holds up, you won't have to worry about the complaint that newbie hunting grounds are overcrowded.

If any company can have a smooth launch it's NCSoft. They will have done it 2 times before NA goes gold. I remember the first time I logged into TWOB and it was smooth as ice. Was very impressed.

Everyone who wants to try L2, here's your chance. 1 month totally free and another free after you buy the game. That's definitely a nice perk.

So does this mean the beta download will be available to non fileplanet subscribers on the 28th and unique keys will no longer be needed?

I figure what the hell, if I beta'ed Slug O Rama and got a shirt, I can at least give this a spin.

Xilren

I'm pretty sure you'll still need a key. Just sign up for the beta and you'll get one. Everyone I know that signed up did yesterday.

So they're basically releasing the game, except they're calling it "beta" for another month or two, so no one can complain about "bugs present at release". And when the major bugs are dealt with, they get another chance to do a big advertising push ("Hey, we're releasing!!") to increase their player base beyond the current fans.

If you want to play L2, get it now.

Quote

World's Strongest Man Competition!

Become the ultimate warrior! First player to achieve level 40 wins a gaming system from Alienware!

Ouch. So, how many people are going to keel over at the keyboard attempting to be first?

I wasn't interested in the game, but if its a free open beta with no silly credit cards required, I might give the game a shot. Better than falling asleep waiting for new interesting content in SW Galaxies! I think I might check it out!

Quote from: Xilren's Twin

You can download the client from here download section of lineage2.com

Don't think that's a secret it's linked from their main page, I grabbed it a couple of weeks ago, might be an idea to get it now rather than next week though if you are going to give it a go.

If it's the same client I downloaded, the latest large patch is not included so launch it to patch it after the install, you don't need to log in to do that either.

How long will it be before we see contests like this in released games?

They need to set up a webcam so I can watch a few teams of freakish obsessives powergame for the alienware system.

Quote from: Arthur_Parker

World's Strongest Man Competition!
Become the ultimate warrior! First player to achieve level 40 wins a gaming system from Alienware!

Catass to Victory!!

How many hours do you think it would take to get to lvl 40? any one playing have any guesses? Cause that probably how long the winning catass will have been playing straight with out a shower or even much food, only Diet Coke.

Not very long at all really.

I wonder whether a sploiter will be the first to 40 and winner of the l33t computer.

They were also running a screenshot contest, with the winner receiving a digital camera. Can anyone say upskirt elves picture contest judge? Wonder who does the judging.

This is as close to a staggered, download only launch as we have seen. Good signs of things to come.

Quote from: Jain Zar

I'll second that... downloading the client now, what the hell

Signed up and am downloading the client at home.

I will try most anything for free, even when I'm almost completely convinced I will hate it.

NDA appears to have been lifted, Click me - lineage 2 beta boards no password required anymore.

Scan them quick for info, believe read they will be wiped on saturday.

If real bored scan the Clan Hall forums for the unoffical pvp server threads, never in the field of human history has so much stupidity been gathered in one place.

Seems to be a decent FAQ here on the game.

Xilren

I got into the lineage beta but I just cannot make myself play it. Its like shadowbane with lace panties. They make a few very large concessions to make the game run decent with a lot of people. The biggest is basically 0 character customization.

You get like 2 hair styles, 2 or 3 hair colors, two faces which for most look identical and thats it. So if you like being in a game with 2000 people who look exactally like you then lineage is your ticket.

I am guessing though those who really liked shadowbane may find it good. The lack of character customizatoin means that the engine does a really good job of having a butt ton of models on the screen without dying. So if you are big into city vs city and guild vs guild faceless trooper combat this is your game. Oh and bring an extrordinary tolerance to the leveling grind as this game has it in spades with very little to look forward to for your effort.

Myself I will rather play coh a game that actually was fun for me right away.

Kaid

I'm currently just enjoying the boards, where people are complaining about the (going-from-one-beta-stage-to-another) pwipe this weekend.

The forums are a cesspool, or were last time I looked.

This game has a low shiny/hour ratio, no doubt about it. I probably won't be playing L2 past beta, but I have to admit that I kinda like it.

Quote from: Arthur_Parker

If real bored scan the Clan Hall forums for the unoffical pvp server threads, never in the field of human history has so much stupidity been gathered in one place.

Wrong! Obviously, you didn't read the Shadowbane boards much, back in the day. Actually, The Clan Hall forums look suspiciously like them.

For those just picking up the game, a couple helpful tips.

First, you don't have to click on the ground to move, you can click anywhere on the screen, so if you want to go forward you can just click on the sky right in front of you and you'll start running.

Second, the orc shaman levels slow to start. Even with spiked gloves. The human and elf wizards level pretty fast. It helps to have a third mouse button to do the 180 degree camera flip, so you can cast spell at mob, hit 180 degree flip, run back to steps, then cast again so you can kill the creature before it gets to you. Doing this technique you can get to level 10 easily in a few hours. The orc shaman on the other hand has to regen health so much it takes forever.

Third most of the quests are repeatable, mainly the ones that tell you to retrieve X trophy items. Like the quest the Orc Guard gives, he doesn't always give you the best reward, but you can sell the secondary reward for cash.

Welp, the servers came back up around 4:00 am and were immediately hammered. It's barely possible to play with all the people crowding the n00b areas killstealing from each other.

Mostly people can't get past the login screen. I've been lucky... if you consider it luck. Once in, lag is terrible and the mobs don't even fight back. I was just standing around, fiddling with my options, when suddenly I heard, "ding, ding, ding." It was the sound of the loot I had been collecting for the last 10 minutes or so being recognised. NC is taking a huge bashing on the boards, which are now open to the public.

That's because they decided to stress-test their hardware by reducing the 6? servers they had to 3. It's the first day of open beta, too, so it's crowded.

Ah, another exciting MMORPG launch. After 15 minutes of clicking the login button, I wrote up a little macro. Every 3 seconds it attempted to connect to the server... it ran for 8 hours today. I never got in.

In case you feel like you are missing out, check out this exciting new video of real gameplay from the L2 launch!

http://lin2.mmoghell.com/temp/fyrn-l2ex.wmv

Edit: Oooh, and another one...

http://www.clubrubika.com/random/NetCongAbleNo.html

I thought the login screen had tits.

You all need to step back for a second. This is not the launch. this is the start of Open Beta. If you start playing now you get two free months to begin your subscription.

I think NCSoft is miles ahead of any of their competitors getting through the opening day clog / delay of login servers and N00b grounds by staggering the release through open beta.

When actual launch comes, when you have to buy the box, the transition should be quick and painless.

If you look at NCSoft has set this up though - there is not going to be a character wipe before the real launch, and they are giving out all kinds of prizes if you start now.

This is a PvP centric game - pretty much every serious L2 player/guild was probably trying to play yesterday. Nobody wants to start a seige type game where they are a month behind on a big level treadmill... if you start on the real launch day, you're just cannon fodder.

Maybe someone here from closed beta can confirm this:

My understanding is that they had 6 servers up in closed beta but only opened up 3 for open beta to fully stress test them. It explains all the issues for sure, and is a good way to stress test them. The beta is not exactly for your amusement, but for the product's gain.

I will agree that they way they are handling this beta certainly gives it too many appearances of a final released game (no wipe, all the prizes, etc...), but it is still beta. And I believe they are TRYING to kill the servers in order to make them better.

[edited to add:]

All that said, I played about 6 hours on Sunday split between 2 servers. I now have a level 9 and a level 5 character. And this is from coming in raw with no idea what I was doing, where anything was, and a lot of exploring. The levels fly by like crazy at the low end.

I have enough money on my level 9 character to afford a full suit of leather from the prices other players are quoting (7k of their currency, most players seem to sell leather pieces for about 2200). I just have to find one when I have some time to make a purchase.

The game has a pretty slick instant merchant type ability. You can put items in your personal store (an interface box opened by a hotkey accessable anywhere) and set prices for them. When you start the store the items in there appear over your characters head and anybody else can walk up, 'use' you and buy from it. Nice to put stuff in there and turn it on when you are resting. I put crafting components in there for abit over their store selling price and find that people will sometimes buy them when I am afk. Sold some extra cloth that way as well as a duplicate quest item I got.

I would say the gameplay is very much like shadowbane meets daoc. It may be even more shadowbaney than I think because I have not played shadowbane, just watched my wife. The fighter played a lot like a daoc fighter. Hit your hotkeys on their timers, except the powers are in independent timers. I like that. I can fire off a bow powershot and then switch to melee and fire off a sword power shot almost instantly. Spell casters vs the newbie mobs are RARELY interrupted in combat. Making the caster SIMPLE to level. My level 5 was in less than an hour including familiarization with the area and searching for quests. Maybe 30 mins of actual fighting. Just hit the button for the spell twice with the right timing. mob dead. Can do things well over my level at the low end. Was playing a pansy elf, I hear other races are different with casting.

My fighter is level 9 now and I am wondering when new skills will become available. I don't know if I should save up my skillpoints or spend them now. Anyway, he has most he can train at this level anyway. All the sword powerstuff, the sword mastery, the defense mastery, the rest skill (faster healing when sitting), 2 levels of bow powershot, and still points to spare.

Pretty standard mmog faire at this point. Nothing new at all really.

Quests so far are either delivery or killtasks. The killtasks drop special loot drops directly into a special quest inventory if and only if you have the quest active. They are certainly tedius though. One was to get 20 adamantite ore bits eaten by giant frogs. Maybe 1 in 5 frogs dropped them and the reward was a bunch of cash. Needless to say the frogs were HEAVILY camped all over the isle. That problem will lessen as people move on I am sure. But killing 100 frogs is hardly fun even if they were lining up to die. Same goes for the 40 wolf pets with about a 50% drop rate.

I have heard others and seen signs of a third type, the dreaded rarespawn. Oh yeah, back with a vengence. People complaining about who killed whose rarespawn, who went out of turn, etc... It was fun to laugh at poor silly people camping uncampable random spawn rare mobs.

Tons of fanbois in the game shouting over open channels about how awesome this game is and how it has 'sucked them in'. Its not a bad game at all. It works fine, but it is vanilla. At least early on before the PvP. Nothing real special at all early.

Okay, let me not be too harsh. Things I actually LIKED about the game. I like pressing the mousewheel for a toggle chasecam. That is real useful in many situations. I like the skillpoint concept. Levels and exp take a backseat to the number of skillpoints you have. Death takes exp and can take levels, but the levels are almost useless. The real power is in skills. Death takes away no skills and no skillpoints. So technically a level 9 player who has died a lot will be stronger than a level 9 who has not died at all. Kind of odd, but true.

Level is used to unlock quests, and I presume skills. Your first skills unlock at level 7 for mages and level 5 for fighters. Have not gotten a mage to 7 but I understand that you first buy a spellbook with cash and then head to a trainer to level up the spell. So you can make existing spells stronger or diversify with more spells. hard choice. Fighters are similar, but at least at levels 5-9 we don't have too many choices in abilities yet. Generic powershot for the 3 weapon types (bow, sword/club, dagger), weapon mastery (passive), armor mastery (passive), rest (passive). I assume and sure hope there are more skills that unlock soonish. Hopefully level 10 or something.

I grouped with two friends last night and it went very well. Two options for loot, finders keepers or random distribution. We just left it on random and grabbed everything. Everyone in the group gets an equal shot at the quest items it seems so you can speed up quests greatly in a group. The exp appears to get shared in the group, but the skillpoints appear to still be max for everyone in the group. This is a big advantage if it is true. It will easily keep your skills maxxed for your level. I have to do some grouped and ungrouped kills side by side to be sure though.

I was getting real bored until my friends showed up and then started having fun again. The group dynamic is decent so far. Mobs (at these levels) don't heavily pursue fleeing targets if being attacked so you can switch up the damage reasonably. I will be out of interest totally pretty quickly if I don't get some real funky new skills soon though.