Lately I've been complaining alot about things in this game which have been getting on my nerves but I don't want to turn people away from L2 so I've created a list of the reasons I still play.
Here are the PRO's of L2 (in my opinion)
The world of Aden totally rocks, I love the scenery and the ambient background noises in most remote locations. It's extremely well designed, I don't think there is a single item put on the map which wasn't well thought out, from the faces on the cliffs in Heine to Gludin & Rune harbours.
The graphics are totally awesome, in terms of the resolution and colour range and also the manga appeal to it all.
No instances, I hate instances. If all games had instances I'd probably just play playstation.
The feeling of belonging is a good one for me. People see you around and get to know you and learn if they can trust you or not.
Afk shops are another thing I like in L2. For the above reason too and also because it really feels like you're going shopping when you turn up to giran and see a load of text you know you're about to begin decrypting so you can get a good deal... this is fun.
PvP is probably the biggest selling point of L2. Good graphics can only take a game so far and people want to interact with one and other. PvP is like sport and it takes teamwork, dedication and alot of elbow grease to succeed at it. L2 PvP is great except for a few balancing issues and the seperation of high level players and low level players in PvP is virtually inexistant.
The tactics.... for the most part, awesome. Alot of people complain about PvE in L2 but I beg to differ. There are downsides to the PvE but I think its great when you have a full DVC party with a crowd controller, bd, sws, healer and some dd's because you feel uber. I haven't done this since C2 though so I don't know if it still happens after some changes.
The freedom, possibly the most untalked about blessing of this game. Ever played another mmo like eq2 or wow? **** they suck, I don't care how many quests they put in those games I feel like I'm on a production line that everyone else has already been on. I love running on top of a hill and looking down on Gludin waiting for my next prey, or planning an ambush on my enemies in a clan war. I do sort of wish however there was a bounty system in place.
Crafting & economy is a totally bizarre thing in L2 and although it has taken a massive beating from virtual goods resellers I still think it is one of the best things in L2, crafting a weapon gives the same feeling as building something in real life and afterwards is an ultimate feeling of satisfaction.
A major bonus with L2 is the chronicles. Each chronicle comes with an massive increase in areas to travel between, changes to classes, addition of weapons, armour and skills, new mobs, usually the level limit is raised and a ton of stuff is added to the game. Each chronicle is a major game expansion and we get all this for free. There is nothing worse than logging into a game and having a selection of servers differ between those who paid for the expansion and those who haven't aquired the correct version so they have to play gimped.
The last thing I'll come up with right now is the community, there is something which divides the L2 community from other games and I think it's because we all know we're playing one of the tougher mmo's on the market (next to FF maybe?) and enjoying it too. I feel as though I'm sharing an experience with a bunch of strangers that most others wouldn't understand because they refuse to give L2 a fair go.