How is Lineage 2 in 2023

Lineage II is a cult MMORPG that has formed a unique gaming community. Meetings in real life, an active game on city and regional servers – you could go to a neighbor and agree to farm the boss together. Players today remember many elements of the Line with nostalgia: PvP in the open world, large-scale events like sieges and territorial wars, epic dragons and the pursuit of loot. Is the game alive in 2023, when many olds have already brought up the next generation of gamers?

Three versions of one Lineage II

In 2023, in parallel, there are three official versions of Lineage II – Main, Classic and Essence. According to the developers, gamers can choose a game mode that suits them in terms of pumping speed, content complexity and other characteristics. It is easy to guess that such a division of the community into three independent titles is negatively reflected online in each specific version. Empty locations scare away newcomers, and the main problem of Lineage II – a poorly developed economy – does not allow you to catch up if you started playing much later than other users.

According to official figures, in 2008, more than 14 million people around the world played in Lineage II, but the online game could not keep such an indicator. 17 years after the release of MMORPG, they prefer to remain silent about the server population. It is unlikely that good performance would be kept secret, right?

Lineage II is a classic Korean MMORPG that meets the needs of Asians and cares little about how to please the West. And if the endless grind doesn’t scare anyone, then the need to invest real money in the game that has emerged over time has squandered the dense ranks of “linemen”. Now, for accelerated pumping, obtaining additional loot, strengthening equipment and other things, you need not only to kill monsters and bosses, but also to “farm the store.” This is especially true Essence – version of MMORPG, where the character can buy literally everything. The slogan “The player is sleeping, but the experience is on” contradicts what experienced players in Lineage II are used to seeing.

A turning point in the history of Lineage II occurred in 2011, when the developers released the massive update of The Chaotic Throne 3: Goddess of Destruction. Perhaps the idea of ​​creating these chronicles was associated with a drop in popularity – deliberate simplification of gameplay was evident in the eyes. Over the years, it became clear that most of the “linemen” enjoyed the complexity of MMORPG: many wanted to “survive” and did not switch to easy-mode. The latest chronicles before the massive changes – The Chaotic Throne: High Five – have become the most popular on the “free shards” (from the English freeshard – this is what pirate servers are called in the Lineage II community).

This is not to say that the outflow of users is associated exclusively with new content, because there were major updates to Lineage before GoD. For example, the old, after the Kamael race appeared in the game, grumbled with displeasure that the last “normal” chronicles were Interlude. However, the kamaels eventually got accustomed and got enough fan love in the form of art and fan fiction, and there was no shortage of “winged” servers – they all suffered from stunned berserkers and were angry when the “hens” stole powerful buffs from them.

However, the main distinguishing feature of all additions to GoD was the preservation of the main mechanics, familiar locations (albeit with some revisions) and the pumping system. This strategy is still used by Blizzard with World of Warcraft, releasing add-ons that transfer heroes to new mini-universes, but leave the opportunity to look into old locations and recall the past. In modern Lineage II, it’s boring to play at low levels.

In early 2023, NCSoft announced the following major changes. Studio is planning update the outdated game engine, as well as rethink the speed of pumping, the mechanics of mining equipment and other elements of the game. That doesn’t sound too convincing. The only thing that inspired me in the description of the new products was the world siege of Aden: mass events will definitely benefit MMORPG.

Lineage II Classic – a spark from which the flame did not flare

NCSoft made one serious attempt to bring the old people back to their wing by opening the classic version of Lineage II in 2015. The resonance was no less than in the case of World of Warcraft Classic – the servers could hardly withstand the load, users were waiting in line for entry, and the publisher had to rush open several new worlds to satisfy demand. I giggled when Blizzard couldn’t handle the flood of players breaking into the WoW Classic, the story repeated.

It is still unknown how the World of Warcraft Classic will develop, but NCSoft made a critical mistake in working with Lineage II. Many expected the game to go back from the classic to the modern version again. I often heard from friends how they want to play again on the official servers with their favorite chronicles, whose times are far behind.

This did not happen. Lineage II Classic received an alternative development, which – and how does NCSoft come out with it? – Again, it ruined everything. The entry lines have ended, and in the locations it has become empty. It cannot be argued that the consistent introduction of old chronicles would save the situation, but the outflow of players would certainly not be so swift. Now in the official Lineage II Classic community on VKontakte there are only 38 thousand users, and in the main group – 132 thousand. For comparison, more than 376 thousand people are subscribed to the WoW page in the same social network.

Pirate servers – this is interesting, but forbidden

Bloody wars between players in World of Warcraft and Lineage II ended with the capitulation of the latter, but the partisan movement is still continuing an unequal battle. Korean MMORPG pirate servers live even in 2023.

During the opening of the new “free shard” fans crowd rush to pump their characters from scratch. The gradual progress that is characteristic of the genre was replaced with a session game – after a few months, users reach the “ceiling” in the development of the hero and switch to a new server. Popular hosting companies open them regularly, and sometimes even on a schedule, adopting new game rules.

In 2023, character development in the realities of old chronicles takes much less time than before. The user repeats the same chain of missions from time to time, honing the acquisition of levels to automatism. Mining equipment also becomes easier – you already know how many pieces of armor you need to knock out from a particular mob, and build your leveling route so that the required resources are stuffed in the process.

There is little top content in Lineage II – sieges and territorial wars take place every two weeks, and the cycle of the Great Olympics – the 1×1 or 3×3 arena – is updated once a month. In addition, the winners at the Olympics, who receive the title of Hero and powerful reinforcement, are only one for each profession. On average, 6-10 thousand people play on large pirated servers, and units receive a reward. Those who cannot accept the bitterness of defeat go to the next server to try their luck there.

Pirate servers – a raided business vulnerability. In many countries, the rules regarding unlicensed content vary, so the hosting administration is looking for an opportunity to transport its hardware to countries more loyal to the “pirates”. You cannot host such servers in Russia, this is a criminal offense, but many settled in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Cyprus. NCSoft is actively struggling with such teams.

Streamers, which generate content from pirated servers, are the most affected by the enforcing of the law. They are much easier to reach, as all channel owners sign an agreement with Twitch or YouTube, which contains copyright clauses. On Twitch, player profiles that show pirated content get bans instantly. Broadcasts may work for some time on YouTube, but after a direct complaint from NCSoft they will inevitably be deleted. It’s impossible to officially monetize such content, so many streamers broadcast exclusively on enthusiasm.

It’s more interesting to play on pirates than on official servers, and this makes us very sad. This is not to say that I did not try to fall in love with the licensed version, but their diversity seemed deceptive to me. They all turned to the wrong one or, as in the case of Essence, were originally thought to be “soulless”: dungeons instead of open locations, the lack of world PvP, a million tasks of the same type. Previously, quests for the second and third profession, passage to epic bosses or to the status of a nobleman could be done for days or even weeks. They were challenging but interesting. In the process, you had to fight for monsters with other players or negotiate with the warring clans in order to have access to the desired location. And how exciting was the wait for the bosses in the Tower of Insolence! In addition, in order to theoretically be able to compete for the title of Hero on the official server, you need to spend millions of rubles on a character or organize your own sect in order to be able to “flood”, that is, win contractual battles. To get a unique title on the pirate in 2023, the ability to play (and a strong fifth point to sit online for a long time) is still enough.

The Freechards retained the advantages of clanism and social gaming, unlike official servers, where it became much easier to play alone. On pirate servers, TX’s “Chris” are still stealing prey from gaping groups, and they carry a good bishop on their hands. And, despite the NCSoft struggle, online pirates are growing from year to year. Hostings do not hesitate to publish statistics: more than 10 thousand people were online for two weeks on a new server from one large site, and this is only one of several dozen pirate worlds in Lineage II.

Many would like NCSoft to think about returning their favorite chronicles like C4, Interlude, Gracia / Epilogue or High Five. This development is unlikely, because, according to rumors, the necessary data to recreate the official chronicles has been lost. In addition, the old Lineage II developers have already retired – the game is in the hands of new game designers. Here is a paradox: pirates can make servers with old chronicles at least every day, and the developer and publisher of NCSoft will have to create everything from scratch, and he is hardly interested in this. Most likely, the Korean studio will develop a more modern direction of gaming – its recent release Lineage 2M. While in the mobile niche there is no eternal rival in the form of Blizzard and its World of Warcraft, which means that something can work out.