Q: If I've already been playing, will I have to re-download the game if I want to play through Steam?
A: Yes, you will have to re-download the game through the Steam client and link your NC account to your Steam account.
Q: Will my current characters, time played, other data be available through steam?
A: Time played will count only towards time played through the Steam client. But your existing characters will still be available.
Q: Will VAC be used?
A: We will not be using VAC, but we may use it in the future.
Q: Can EU/international players play through Steam?
A: Steam will be accessible only for players in North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. EU players will not be able to see the game through Steam, but you can still play the game through our game launcher.
Q: If I connect through Steam, can I play with friends who don't?
A: Yes, they still connect to the same servers. The only difference is where the game was downloaded from.
Q: Will NCoin, sale items, and Prestige Packs be available through Steam (using Steam Wallet)?
A: NCoin will be purchasable through the Steam Wallet. Prestige Packs will not. We have special bundles that can be purchase through Steam or our website/in-game store.
Q: What are the restrictions for free players?
A: There are no restrictions on free accounts. Free players are able to access all of the content, character slots, and other features.
Q: If I’m a returning player, will my character still be available?
A: If your game login is your email and if you migrated your NCSOFT account before May 1st, 2015, you character and items will still be available. Unmigrated accounts (accounts that use usernames to login) have been removed.
Q: Will there be new servers?
A: Yes, we will be adding a new server named Zaken.
Q: Where will the new server be located/what is the server time?
A: The new server will be located in Texas along with the others and server time will be based off of Central Time (GMT-6).
Transfers to and from Zaken won't be available for the immediate future. Once they're allowed, we'll post to let everyone know.
u r joking right? whats the point to start playing a new server from the beginning without gear and then open the transfers to that new server?
instead of making less servers with more population. u open more servers for bots?
so a guy that started playing in zaken will be 99 in 2-3 months. and if u open the transfers in 5-6 months, these zaken players will already have disadvantage on gear + these pay 2win l2store items compare to the old players that already ahve 500bil gear.
so once again u say goodbye fair and equal competition and bye bye lineage 2.
DO NOT DO THIS. at least keep zaken kinda balanced and REMOVE l2store so players will show their true skill there and not their visa.
In order to reduce negative feedback you may want to add some things to your FAQ, like for example:
Q: Can I use WASD movement in Lineage 2?
A: Basically yes, but it is not recommended. Lineage 2 uses the click-to-move system. There is also no strafing and no jumping.
Q: Does Lineage 2 have photo-realistic graphics?
A: No, Lineage 2 is a vintage game and we try to preserve the original atmosphere of the early 2000s.
A sad truth. NCsoft, Its really hard to me understand who smoke before making bad choices that take. Good thing is that God allows you to remain a profitable company and keeps their jobs.
You go to Steam to attract new players, created a new server, and leave the fate of the BOT ???
You know better than us (I think) that if more than 10 people at the same time create the character, at certain points can not overcome the same obstacles. Not to mention if you are Ertheias. The quest impossible to do if they are more than 3 or 4 on Lizardman part.
Someone of Crew, please, Can explain why at least for 1 week they did guard GM online within 24 hours of Zaken showing that at least some cares?
In order to reduce negative feedback you may want to add some things to your FAQ, like for example:
Q: Can I use WASD movement in Lineage 2?
A: Basically yes, but it is not recommended. Lineage 2 uses the click-to-move system. There is also no strafing and no jumping.
Q: Does Lineage 2 have photo-realistic graphics?
A: No, Lineage 2 is a vintage game and we try to preserve the original atmosphere of the early 2000s.
Yeah this could also help with the misinterpretations of what the game is.
Why not move to Unreal 3? I know its expensive but just imagine if the Official servers were on U.e.3 :eek:
Porting Lineage 2 to a modern game engine was already considered too expensive several years ago. By now the situation in Asia has fundamentally changed: players are spending less and less time in internet cafes and more and more time with their smartphones. Therefore the development of pc-based games has been scaled down and resources go into mobile games. Check what Chief Financial Officer Yun Jae-su said on the last quarterly earnings press conference about NCsoft's new mobile studio (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153585243297094) near San Francisco: http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=145834&site=lineage2
(the second question/answer block)
which in the end, if nothing is implemented in the game it will slowly die, no new players attracted to a 12 y.o. game with 12 y.o. graphics and so on, yeah its expensive but that will/could attract new players and will pay off with any L2 store items being sold.
Hate seeing a game that payed itself long time ago just let it rot and the playerbase left ignored.
The outdated graphics are repeatedly brought up in the reviews on Steam, so it is indeed an issue for new players. On the other hand, millions of people play World of Warcraft in spite of the horrible graphics. And the graphics of Lineage 1 are positively primeval - nevertheless that game is the one that generates by far the most revenue in NCsoft's portfolio:
While several of the reviews give the impression of having been written by embittered ex-players who are trying to get back at NCsoft, the ones who complain about the lack of strafing are obviously totally new to the game, having actually been attracted via the Steam propaganda campaign. But then, after about half an hour of play time, they suddenly write very negative reviews. This goes to show that the low level content is crucial for not only attracting but actually keeping new players.
And here we come to the issue with ranged bots shooting down all the Training Golems in the lvl 4 starter quest "Train Like It's Real". Juji not dispatching GMs for at least a few days to keep an eye on that specific bottleneck is bordering on sabotage. Two explanations come to mind:
- He is deliberately not banning bots to simulate high online numbers, thus trying to attract players
- He got an order from his superior beings to open a new server while he himself is convinced that the existing servers should be merged, their low population making the Olympiad impossible. So he took the way of passive resistance, deliberately running things into the ground
Whatever the reason may be, the practical outcome is that new players deinstall the game again after barely half an hour. Not a smart business move.
@ BusterCasey:
I just saw another isssue that you should address in your FAQ:
Q: When I log in my character, the camera is looking straight up and spinning. What is wrong?
A: This happens when you have devices like an Xbox game controller connected to your computer. Unplug the device and everything will be fine.
For those of us who played this game since several years its not a big surprise anyway .. a straight story from the very past till now .. history reapeats itself.
NC never realy care about bots or cheats or something, when i logged in lately to check if they realy deleted 2 of my accounts and my old clan cause they didnt made it through the so called "account migration" the very first thing i got was an adena spam from a gold seller .. prolly the same guy when i logged of half a year ago.
I realy wonder what NC was thinking how the steam-community would judge about their game when they put it on that system .. is there any other game on steam that got more bad votes? ... And to make it even whorse .. all these bad reviews put the finger right in the wound, no doubt about it.
The outdated graphics are repeatedly brought up in the reviews on Steam, so it is indeed an issue for new players. On the other hand, millions of people play World of Warcraft in spite of the horrible graphics. And the graphics of Lineage 1 are positively primeval - nevertheless that game is the one that generates by far the most revenue in NCsoft's portfolio:
Don't make the same mistake NC is doing, this is a NA branch of the game, thus it should be appealing to NA players, its like saying, Diablo 2 is the most played game right now in NA (graphic wise, compared to L1) and who plays D2 right now? lol
A more interesting question would be, who in the West plays L1 right now? Once upon a time Lineage 1 was an integral part of NCNA's portfolio, with a faithful player base that paid their subscription every month. But then player numbers started to dwindle and it was shut down. Other games offering better graphics by that time might have been a factor in the decline of L1 in the West, but the main reason was that Richard Garriot tried to adapt Lineage 1 to Western tastes, in the process fundamentally changing the mechanics and ultimately destroying the game: http://boards.rochand.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1136&start=80#p23849
That's why I wrote in my first post in this thread (http://boards.lineage2.com/showthread.php?t=286327#7) that Lineage 2 is a vintage game. The game is what it is and it is famous because it is what it is. Attempts to modernize it usually fail - just think of the catastrophic results of the class unification in GoD. What with player numbers in Korea already shrinking and party matching having become increasingly difficult, the reduction to 8 classes made sort of sense at the time, but the majority of the player base did not take well to it.
I am not a Diablo expert, but I have heard that when Diablo 3 with its upgraded graphics came out, many old players complained that they didn't recognize the game any more. "This is not Diablo!"
Like you wrote above, a lot of the negative reviews on Steam are the result of misinterpretations of what the game is. People start to play Lineage 2 with wrong expectations and then are disappointed. When you look at the numbers from the 3rd fiscal quarter you can see that NCKorea's revenue is coming mainly from Lineage 1 (which nowadays is only offered in Korea) while a considerable part of the Lineage 2 revenue is generated by NCWest. So in theory we should have a say in how the game is going. But the sad truth is that NCsoft is barely devoting any resources to the development of Lineage 2 (Lineage 2 Classic gets more love). So expecting any fundamental changes like for example a modern game engine is simply not realistic.
What Hime and her colleagues can do is adopt a more aggressive advertising, something along the lines of "Lineage 2, first released in 2003, is a traditional Korean MMO with heavy emphasis on clan wars where only the most dedicated players can hope to prevail. While this game does have a captivating lore and many interesting quests, it does not hold the player's hand and everybody is free to make their own entertainment ..."
Yidao, You have right then Lineage 2 is a vintage game, and not a photo realistic game like the new FallOut 4, but, I play it for the last 8 years and the last thing I care about is photo realism.
You say Lineage 2 Classic gets more love, and it is true. Bad Expansions and no level cap destroy the gameplay of Lineage II.
A game where striving, a character who could have filled you with excitement and happiness when you were fighting against another character or will you defended from attack and you ended up winning by your own effort and dedication.
Where participate in a clan was a religion where you could make friends and defend ideals .. territories, castles while you day by day and the others managed to best characters effort every time.
Lineage 2 lost just that. The concept of being the best game to open world PVP.
It is impossible for a new person starting today, get to my level and compete against my character 99/99. In the same way that I can not compete against a level 105 character fully equipped.
Actually, I lost the sense of playing when I saw that Lineage II lost the limit level. I lost my top goals
I do not see why work hard, play another year for dual lvl 101 ?
You say Lineage 2 Classic gets more love, and it is true. Bad Expansions and no level cap destroy the gameplay of Lineage II.
I have bad news for you. In Lineage 2 Classic the level cap will be removed as well: http://lineage2.plaync.com/classic/board/letters/recent
(the 3rd point, where the Dwarf is dreaming about all the new skills he will be able to learn)
Yidao, You have right then Lineage 2 is a vintage game, and not a photo realistic game like the new FallOut 4, but, I play it for the last 8 years and the last thing I care about is photo realism.
You say Lineage 2 Classic gets more love, and it is true. Bad Expansions and no level cap destroy the gameplay of Lineage II.
A game where striving, a character who could have filled you with excitement and happiness when you were fighting against another character or will you defended from attack and you ended up winning by your own effort and dedication.
Where participate in a clan was a religion where you could make friends and defend ideals .. territories, castles while you day by day and the others managed to best characters effort every time.
Lineage 2 lost just that. The concept of being the best game to open world PVP.
It is impossible for a new person starting today, get to my level and compete against my character 99/99. In the same way that I can not compete against a level 105 character fully equipped.
Actually, I lost the sense of playing when I saw that Lineage II lost the limit level. I lost my top goals
I do not see why work hard, play another year for dual lvl 101 ?
Other characters will be 106.
There is no level restriction theorically, you can try and grind you way to 106+ and I will wish you the best of luck, exp tables and mobs being blue will slow/stop from lvling and therefore that is the SOFTCAP.
You will never see a 106+ in this expansion or the next 2-3 or maybe 4 more lol