Filed under: Lineage 2

Should MMOs have sequels?

by Brendan Drain Jun 11th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, EVE Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Lineage, Lineage 2, Business models, Culture, Expansions, MMO industry, Opinion, Runescape, Academic, Education, Virtual worlds

From movies and books to computer games, the concept of the sequel is firmly embedded in the entertainment industry. It's usually a much safer bet to make a new part to an existing successful intellectual property than it is to back an untested product. In the games industry, sequels are a great way to make more money from the same game concept but as usual MMOs have proven to be something of a different animal. Subscription MMOs don't conform to the same rules as non-subscription games, favouring recurring orders and longer-term customer commitment over single purchases. While development studios often take sequels for granted, I'm forced to ask whether MMOs should have sequels at all or if a different paradigm is more appropriate.

In this article, I explore the games industry's obsession with repetition as I ask the question "Should MMOs have sequels?"

Cloaks finally come to Lineage II in Gracia Final

by Colin Brennan May 27th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Lineage 2, Expansions, Patches, Endgame

Lineage II never had cloaks. It's funny that we never really realized this before, but those characters just never wore cloaks. Luckily, the developers have realized their oversight and have finally fixed it -- cloaks will now be available to characters in the Gracia Final expansion. However, don't expect that you'll get a cloak just for logging in.

Cloaks are reserved for players who fight in Territory War, have high ranks in their clan, and those who fight against some of the major raid bosses of the game. The cloak rewards for these accomplishments are the Ancient Cloak, Knight's Cloak, and Holy Spirit cloak respectively.

Gallery: Gracia Final Cloaks and Items

Lineage II anniversary event runs into snag, now extended to May 12

by James Egan May 9th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Events, in-game, News items

5 years of operation for a massively multiplayer online game is cause for celebration. The sad fact is that many games never live that long, and not all titles that run for 5 years have a lot of steam left by that point. This doesn't seem to be the case with Lineage II which still appears to be going strong in both Korea and in the West. Massively recently interviewed the Lineage II developers about the 5-year milestone they've just hit with the game, and we also mentioned the anniversary celebration was about to get underway.

Unfortunately, there were some technical issues that affected the commencement of the event. NCsoft has decided to make it up to the players. Originally slated to end on May 5, the 5th anniversary event has now been extended to May 12. The Lineage II team clarified: "The letters that dropped from monsters in Aden and Gracia will begin dropping again by 2:00 PM Central Time Friday, May 8th and will continue until maintenance begins on Tuesday, May 12th. The Event NPC's will still be removed from the game during maintenance on Tuesday, May 12th, so be sure you exchange all of the words you've collected before the servers are brought down."

Massively's anniversary interview with Lineage II

by Shawn Schuster May 1st 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Expansions, Interviews, MMO industry, Massively meta, Massively Interviews

NCsoft's Lineage II has just celebrated its fifth anniversary earlier this week, and as we've previously reported, they've marked this occasion with a brand new expansion entitled Gracia Final. Plus, there have been in-game events, special contests and free reactivation for lapsed accounts! What else could you ever want?

How about an anniversary interview? We had the chance to sit down with the Lineage II team and ask some questions about the last five years with the game. What were their biggest challenges? Will there be a Lineage III? Follow along after the cut below to find out more!

Lineage II reactivating lapsed accounts for free in 5th anniversary celebration

by James Egan Apr 29th 2009 at 9:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items

We've got good news for any former Lineage II players out there who may have been toying with the idea of heading back in to see how the game's changed since they last subscribed. Lineage II is letting former subscribers return to the game for free, for a limited time, in celebration of the title's 5th anniversary.

The NCsoft announcement states: "To help Lineage II celebrate its 5th anniversary we've reactivated all former players' accounts that are in good standing. This reactivation begins today [April 28th] and will end on May 11, 2009 at 11:59PM Pacific Time." It's a no-frills announcement really, but you can check out the details on the official Lineage II site for more info about how to get your free play time until May 11th.

Lineage 2 talks aerial combat arena and changes to the olympiad coming with Gracia Final

by Colin Brennan Apr 22nd 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Lineage 2, Expansions, Game mechanics, PvP, News items

Aerial combat is cool and all, but wouldn't you like a PvP gametype to go with it? Of course you would, and now you don't have to wait too long!

Lineage 2's last expansion on the Gracia continent, Gracia Final, will be adding a brand new aerial combat PvP arena to the world, as well as making some changes to the olympiad event. The Aerial Cleft, the new PvP arena, will pit players against one another as they race to shatter crystal cores and score points for their side. To the victors go special Emery shards that can be combined with Star Stone pieces to create attribute cores to change your class up.

As for the olympiad, now you can participate in teams of three instead of one on one! Also, the olympiad event will now reward olympiad tokens upon winning, so victors can spend their tokens for the equipment of their choice at the olympiad vendor.

The full developer log is included after the break, so continue reading for the full explanation of the events from the words of the developers themselves! Also, check out our screenshots of the expansion in the gallery below.

Gallery: Gracia Final -- Aerial PvP & Olympiad Shots

NCSoft adds its titles to Steam

by Lesley Smith Apr 22nd 2009 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, Aion, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, News items, Free-to-play

If you're one of those gamers who prefers the digital minimalist approach as opposed to having game boxes everywhere then you're in luck. MMO-giant NCSoft have announced they will be offering their titles -- including City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage -- via Steam. They're also planning to offer their latest, most anticipated and shiny MMO, Aion as well when the game launches later this autumn.

The company seem really excited and the press release sent to Massively Towers includes not one but two quotes. NCSoft are especially keen to note that there will be plenty of special offers on their products via the site and it's a great opportunity for anyone who prefers digital downloading.

Lineage II expansion Gracia Final gets preview site

by James Egan Apr 15th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Expansions, PvP, News items

The next free expansion for Lineage II is Gracia Final which is expected to bring a number of new features to the long-running fantasy MMO title. NCSoft announced this week that Gracia Final will expand gameplay to a new continent which offers aerial hunting grounds. The Gracia Final expansion will give players new ways to get in on PvP action, including three-vs.-three, or heading into the Aerial Cleft PvP arena solo for random match-ups.

Gracia Final will bring expanded clan benefits that come with the ability to level up your clan to 11. Another change for Lineage II is the Territory Battles feature, a capture-the-flag form of PvP that differs from the territorial control systems already present in the game. NCSoft states, "Unlike castle sieges, where battles are fought between clans, territory battles allow individual players and groups unassociated with clans to participate as anonymous mercenaries in these epic wars over the lands of Lineage II . All territory war participants can receive Territory which can be traded for new items through the Territory Manager."

The Lineage II Gracia Final preview site is now up and gives a basic overview of the upcoming expansion.

One Shots: Revenge!

by Krystalle Voecks Feb 24th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lineage 2, Lord of the Rings Online, One Shots

I can't tell you how many times I've personally swooped back to an area full of mobs that gave me trouble as I was leveling up. Of course, in Lord of the Rings Online, the fun part about it is that slaying tons of certain types of monsters will net you a deed - as well as just being good fun for revenge killing. Today's One Shots from Rhedbierd shows off one such scenario of going back and cutting a swath through some bad guys, just for the hell of it! He writes in: This is a shot from Rhedbierd of the kinship Laer En Tul Acharn as they finish off their Giant Slayer (Advanced) deed in northwestern Evendim. Sometimes its fun to just go back to those mid-level areas as a high-level character and complete deeds very quickly. You can never go wrong with killing hundreds of giants in a little over an hour.

One Shots needs your screenshots - no matter what game you're playing, or what your story is. Gather some up and email them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the game its from. We'll post your screens and let everyone know of your deeds.

Gallery: One Shots

Celebrating the holidays with Lineage II's Saving Santa event

by James Egan Dec 15th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Events, in-game, Quests, News items, PvE, Humor

The holidays are in full swing across several of the games we've been covering at Massively. In fact, a number of massively multiplayer online games now have holiday-themed quests, items, and unique winter settings, and NCsoft is getting in on the action as well. The latest holiday event announcement we've gotten word of is happening in Lineage II with its Saving Santa Event, which will run from December 16th through December 30th.

The holiday event pits you against one "Thomas D. Turkey" who holds Santa Claus captive. If Santa is freed, he will visit random players throughout the world, placing presents into their inventories. Some of the rewards include specialized buff scrolls for your occupation, weapon exchange tickets, a year-round Christmas tree, and for a rare few -- a Rudolph Agathion (pet).

If celebrating the holidays in Lineage II sounds like your thing, you'll want to check out the full announcement for the Saving Santa Event.

Lineage II's Kratei's Cube has ruthless PvP, extremely creepy mobs

by Samuel Axon Nov 24th 2008 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Patches

Having looked at Pailaka and New Kamaloka, we're as pleased about Lineage II's Gracia Part 2 update as anyone, but we have to admit we're now a little... creeped out. NCsoft has described another adventure area appearing in the update -- Kratei's Cube -- and as awesome as it sounds, those demented killer anime doll monsters are just plain freaky. It's high fantasy, not Chucky, alright?

Kidding aside, we've got the scoop on what you can find in Kratei's Cube. Once you sign up through an NPC on Fantasy Isle, you'll be whisked away to a big maze that resets every 30 minutes. During each cycle, players kill monsters -- and each other -- in a competition to rack up the most points. Once things settle down, folks receive experience, SP, and Fantasy Isle coins based on their performance.

The cool thing is that if you die in the maze, you'll pop back in with full health and mana, so there should be very little downtime. If you're in a party, carrying a cursed weapon, or of chaotic orientation, don't bother signing up though -- you won't be allowed in. Poor you!

[Via MMORPG]

Tabula Rasa's subscriber rewards explained

by Shawn Schuster Nov 21st 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Aion, City of Heroes, Lineage 2, MMO industry, New titles, Tabula Rasa

As we're still digesting the sad news from earlier today of Tabula Rasa's demise, some may have overlooked, or simply become confused about the special rewards that NCsoft is offering their current TR subscribers. We thought it only fair for us to explain them a bit.

First off, it's important to note that all of these goodies are only available to people who were subscribed to Tabula Rasa at the time of this announcement. That's right. There was no warning, or time to prepare. They are rewarding those who have stayed subscribed to the game, rightfully so.

Lineage II Update: Pailaka and New Kamaloka

by Michael Zenke Nov 17th 2008 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Patches

The folks at NCsoft were kind enough to give us a heads up: there's some great new content coming to Lineage II! An all new, all free expansion to the game called Gracia Part 2 is coming soon to the game and we have a chance to look inside two of the new areas being added to the gameworld! Or should I say, being added near the gameworld? Pailaka and Kamaloka are the two new areas in question, and they're unique instanced content for players of a wide level range.

Pailaka in particular sounds very interesting - it's a series of solo instances intended to challenge and reward players who take on big tasks on their own. We have extensive details from the developers below the cut, and lots of images of the new content in our gallery below. Go check out the pretty pictures, or read all about it!

Gallery: Pailaka and New Kamaloka

Massively.com giveaway: Lineage 2 Fantasy Lover prize packs

by Michael Zenke Nov 3rd 2008 at 10:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Contests

Lineage 2 is one of NCsoft's flagship products, a gem of a fantasy game most popular in the company's home country of South Korea. We know there are a lot of Lineage fans, and generally fantasy fans, here in the states. We're happy to be able to offer up five awesome prize packs for the game! Each of the 5 packs we have to give away includes 1 boxed copy of Lineage 2 The Chaotic Throne (retail $39.99), 1 Lineage 2 mousepad, 1 Lineage 2 T-shirt, and 1 Lineage 2 papercraft figurine (the one from the DVD collector's edition) ! Total estimated retail value: $83. Plus, every NCsoft giveaway we do today is going to get some extras, like City of Heroes/Villains balloons, buttons, and bumper stickers.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite fantasy movie of all time is! You'll need to comment before 7:00 AM EST Wednesday, November 5th. You can only enter once per person, and after the contest closes we'll ship out these fantastic prizes to 5 randomly-selected winners. Give us at least a week to ship out this massive pile of swag. To win you must be age 18 or up and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). For full eligibility details, we suggest you read our official rules. Good luck!

Lineage II becomes more accessible for new players

by James Egan Aug 18th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Expansions, PvP, Leveling, News items, PvE

Among the fantasy MMO titles out there, Lineage II has gained a reputation for being a bit grindy, requiring hardcore dedication to get the most from the game. The latest update, Gracia -- Part 1, is changing all that. Players now have easier leveling thanks to the new Vitality System, which gives an 'experience bonus for time either spent away from the game or in safe zones.' Starting characters begin the game with maximum Vitality and enjoy increased rewards for quest completion, taking down bosses, and a wider array of items available in general, allowing for faster leveling.

A recent press release quotes Tim Tan, NCsoft's North American producer, as saying, "The increase in leveling speed allows players to create new characters and advance nearly twice as fast as before. This will allow players to experience the meat of Lineage II quickly, giving them the ability to visit new and exciting areas and cool high-level content much quicker than before. While this game is still a hardcore game, these changes with Gracia -- Part 1 make the game much more accessible to new players." Do the changes make the title more appealing, or do they detract from the 'hardcore' aspects of Lineage II? If you're a serious Lineage II player, how do these changes sit with you?

[Thanks, Torak]

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Fallen Earth Launch	Q2 2009
Global Agenda Closed Beta	July 2009
CrimeCraft Launch	Aug 25 2009
Champions Online Launch	Sep 1 2009
Cities XL EU Launch	Sep 3 2009
Aion Launch	Sep 22 2009
Earth Eternal Open Beta	Q3 2009