Hi I'm only a very new player here, but these four things have been frustrating me to no end.
Firstly, the fact that when I kill a mob, I gain around 1% experience. However when that same mob kills me I seem to lose between 7-9% each time I die. That seems a little unbalanced and a little rough on a new player (I'm only level 10).
L10 and your complaining about dying? OOOOOhhhhh-Boy are you in for a rude awakening. XP at your level is *incredibly* easy to come by. But talking about XP at that level or even at L79 simply avoids the real problem.
YOU SHOULD NOT BE DYING OFTEN ANYWAY.
If you are dying a lot, then the game is trying to tell you that you are doing something wrong! You are trying to kill mobs that are too strong for you, your equipment is too weak for the mobs you are fighting, or you need some help killing those mobs. Always carry some potions and other things to quaff if your in danger. If your already using them and you still insist on walking into the meat grinder willingly....your going to die, no exceptions.
And yes Virginia, Lineage II *does* have a death penalty. You don't get it every time, but if you die there is a chance to recieve a 'permanent' debuff that cumulatively hinders your stats. (Each death can raise the level of the debuff by 1, and you can remove the debuff 1 level at a time with scrolls sold in town magic shops.)
I strongly suggest taking a bit more time to read the guides and ask for help on determining what mobs and locations you should be grinding in....heading right for Elven Ruins with a L4 character and your starting gear is liking handing out Menu's to the mobs in there. (Know what the 'color' of a mob means versus your level for starters at least!)
Also, there doesnt seem to be a way to tell what level someone is, or what armour they are wearing. Maybe I just don't know how to, but a few other players I spoke to said they didn't know either. I imagine that if you can't yet, there is likely a very good reason. Please let me know. It just seems a little silly not to be able to tell these things, and to have to guess or ask a player there level. It seems a lot of people are exploiting this too when it comes to PKing.
Two parts here. 1)The variety of gears gets smaller not larger as your level goes up. It gets fairly easy to recognize most armors/weapons as you play the game. Most chars seem to have a 'cookie cutter' setup anyway so it is even more obvious. The more time you spend in game the easier it gets....if your still stumped, just search around the forums there are at least 2 sites that allow you to see what each armor looks like on every race/sex combo. (Weapons are the same no matter what char uses them, just the size shrinks or grows a bit to match.)
And 2nd, when it comes to PKing, there is nothing to stop a L80 char from putting on the lowest Noobie equipment and heading out to run rampant. His level/skills alone will do his dirty work. If he's wearing more than some cheap junk, all it does it tell you what his minimum level *might* be. (Hint: Most perma-reds are not much more than 40 at best.) Beyond that, 'greifers' aren't all that common. Learn where they tend to pop up and just be aware if your in that area or go elsewhere...post 40 the only reds you should have to worry about are clan war chars.
Thirdly, what is with the agro on mobs? I was getting smacked hard by a Balor Orc Leader when soloing and tried to flee from him. My WindWalker had run out, so we were even in speed. I was running away for about 2 minutes before I tried to make a stand and died. I'd lead him so very far from his spawn point too.
Was this a freak accident or is this whats its supposed to be like? If it's the norm, this needs to be fixed. Or at least in the newbie area's where people can't run away as easily. I just cant see the logic in a mob chasing and chasing a player down until they die.
A mobs aggro range is a bit odd to quantify. Basically though, each mobs has a set number of locations that it can spawn from within an area, and it's defined area is also related to a named 'zone'. Mobs will only respawn within their 'area' but will chase you all the way out of their 'zone' OR until a certain amount of time expires. (This last can take quite awhile.)
For example, "Orc Barracks" is a 'Zone'. Within the Orc Barracks are seperate 'areas', mostly recognizable by the physical camps that dot the area. If you grab aggro from mob in one area, it will continue to chase you for a long time...or until you exit the 'Zone', at which point it will give up sooner. (Not immediately though!) After which time it will return to it's 'zone' and then eventually, it's area. Sometime you can drag a mob so far from its area that it can't find it's way back and just stops in the closest 'area' in its zone. Mobs that are dragged out of their zone entirely usually make their way back before to long. The ones in the zone but not their area take a bit longer.
How far you get chased through all this is determined by how much hate you generate from the mob. As soon as you start running this 'hate' starts to tick down. If the mob can hit you or if you hit the mob back this hate rises again. Thus if the mob runs faster than you it is harder to lose it versus if you are able to outrun it. Distance = faster hate reduction. You will note that mobs will eventually 'slow down' if you keep running away. This means that they are almost out of aggro. Go just a bit farther and they will forget about you, stop and they might just get close enough to start all over again.
And lastly, travel in this game apparently gets better when you get mounts (at whatever distance level that is), but in the mean time its really annoying when you need to get to Temple of Dark Arts for instance. It's a long way on foot even with WindWalk, and if you happen to die, you have to start all the way back at your start town, along with the 7-9% experience you lost. This is in no way fun for a new player.
From the outside all it says to me is timesink. I realise there are gatekeepers and such, but that in turn requires vast (at least to me) amounts of money. Another thing that can put off new players. Other games I've played removed the pointlessness of such things like in GW where you can just map travel to a town you've already been too. Or the Griffon Towers of EQ2.
Sadly, NC seems to keep futzing with ports and their costs...usually for the worst. You either get used to it and learn all the shortcuts, or you just bone up for the ports. (HINT: If you don't die you don't have to run that distance again!) There are ridable mounts in game...but they are not cheap or easy to aquire. (Still don't have mine! >_< ) Only other thing you can do is just stay out longer and move location less. (You could just explore the world as well, and make the most of the running around as well....)
I know it seems like I'm complaining a lot, but this game has a lot going for it that other games don't have as well. The Olympiad, Castles, Manor System, lots of depth etc. It also has a very awesome interface. But in the day to day, it becomes hard to see how much good a game is when faced with such adverse conditions.
Also, please don't just tell me to leave and go play other games. I chose this game because I wanted to give it a fair shot and have heard a lot of good about it. I don't mean to sound negative so please don't flame me. If they are reasons for how things are, please let me know, as I am only new and won't know all the facts.
Good luck and happy adventuring everyone. :p
My advice....just play the game for awhile before you let one thing or another get you down. The game has enough good points to experience....and other weak points that are worth more of your ire than these piddly little annoyances. O_o!