You don't wanna say it, but you know its true, the old fat lady in the gaming community still keeps her place as one of the most played games ever. There are so many MMORPGs today but only selected a few have a place in the hall of legends, that is the case for the first sandbox title i have ever played.
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The game economy
I could say so much about this game, i definately have better memories from L2 than WOW or SWTOR. The map of ELMORDEN is huge, there are some quests but who cares, the real quest is to find the right material at the right time and sell it in a huge market of players (auction does exist but is not used so much). Purple shops to sell things yellow shops to buy things and Red ones are meant to sell in one go what they have inside, orange shops are for you to get your materials and money and craft you the item you need for a price. The currency is Adena but L2 actually has so many currencies that you could say it looks like cryptos so much. Attribute stones, ancient adena, enchant scrolls, Raid boss jewels and materials themselves are all currency in game. A trade based society you could say,weapons and armors worth some particular price based on server, because nowadays playing official is not so much fun, but there are mastercrafts because nealry all items can be crafted and having mastercraft is a great boost in pvp, and the game is pvp based. But what about clans, yes yes, there are clans they can number hundreds of players and they have ranks that have some reputation inside server.
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The clans and gameplay
L2 is team based to a great extend, clans are trading and gathering materials and items as hard as they can, having top tier items is the main way to conquer the main targets of the game which are fortresses, castles, territory wars and of course open free pvp all around the world, the only safe places are inside towns and villages. If a clan acquires dominance over a castle they have dominance over the adena of the town that the castle "protects" and the clanleader is the Lord of the territory. Clans of course don't only need to have dominance over castles and fortresses, most of them are trying to buy clanhalls which are bases that you rent inside the towns and they have many benefits over those who does not have any of the above. Of course Clanhalls, Castles and Fortresses are numbered and clans have to find a way to acquire them, by trade or war. The best way to be able to fight and win a war against the others clans is to be able to acquire Raid Boss jewels, they have extremely higher power than the simple jewels that only protect you from magical attacks, moreover bosses drop final tier weapons and armors. The only problem is that the highest rank of bosses are not instances and clans have to fight the opposition to acquire the boss fight, and if they die in the boss well maybe if you are lucky and find the respawn timer you ll get your second chance.
In gameplay as in all the games of the genre out there here too, there are mounts, they are earth dragons or wolfs that you have to rise yourself and there is even a flying wyvern but it is very difficult to acquire. People do not really care about mounts in this game.
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Classes and Races
Lineage 2 has a very big variaty of classes and races, everyone can be quiet unique. Races are Elfs, Dark Elfs, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs and Kamaels. Every race has its unique stats which make them faster or stronger or having more armor or maybe more hitpoints or having mana or magic resist. Everyone is needed, everyone can have a useful place among other players and by their class specifications they are by far more useful and unique. There are tanks, damage dealers of physical and magical attacks, archers and assasins, crafters and scavengers (dwarves only), healers and buffers. Every race has its own spells for their army of classes and of course their own gods and history. All races start from their respective villages (not in the new expansions they all start from human island) and have their own quest lines in order to advance to a higher tier of their class's spells and passive abilities.
(Image source: http://www.lineage2.com)
In conclusion
Lineage 2 has a lot of grinding, players need to be vigilant at all times and have basic understanding over money. All in all it is a great game with its own map, lore, game tactics, HUD and community. People still play because there is nothing like it in the newer games that is so good at giving freedom to players. Lineage 3 of course is a title that i do expect and i am thinking of it as a myth maybe like Half Life 3.
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You can find more articles of mine here: @diasdr For all personal thinking content, i am sorry if you find it in any way offensive, i didn't mean to offend anyone just to discuss/express my opinion.