Jim Moreno tackles the difficult task of roleplaying a merchant in this edition of RoleCraft: "Even roleplayers are known to struggle with this cookie cutter gameplay, and with keeping their characters from looking and acting just like every other character in game. What to do? One sure way to avoid the pitfalls of routine is to realize that there are many other classes in game besides adventurer. It's time to become a professional roleplayer!"
From the "that's cool" files, Lineage II has added a widget on the L2 Marketplace site that lets users know, based on their input, if their Nvidia drivers are up to date.
If you have a Nvidia card, check it out. You don't even -have- to be an L2 player to use it. *g*
Sean Bulger's periodic community column today looks at the concept of Open PvP (player vs. player) and what it does to games and their communities.
A while back we talked about conflict between players and what sort of a role that it can play in a game and for communities. During this, it was noted that player competition can be implemented in numerous different ways. This week, I would like to revisit this discussion and talk about one of those particular methods: the open PvP world.
Open PvP is one of the more controversial topics in MMO circles and plenty of people have fairly strong opinions one way or the other on the subject. That said, I would like to explore both the positive impacts and negative ones on the player community. Open PvP has the potential to help bond a community fairly tightly, but it also has the potential to truly tear it apart as well.
Read more after the leap.
Lineage II devs announced some important changes to trial accounts due to abuses.
Lineage II community, we hear you!
Lately, we've all witnessed a staggering increase in the number of Lineage II trial accounts that are being abused. As we all know, the purpose of a trial account is to give someone who hasn't tried Lineage II before a chance to give it a test drive. Unfortunately, our trial codes are being used more and more, by individuals who are not true members of our community, in ways that harm the player experience. We have received an overwhelming number of requests from our player community to put a stop to this trial account abuse; so, we have made a reluctant, but absolutely necessary decision. As of today, April 29, 2008, we will greatly limiting trial account creation. Current trial accounts that have already been activated will be left active.
Read the rest after clicking below.
One of the key new features found in Hellbound is the ability of mid- to high-level characters to 'transform' into other creatures. Developers have prepared a write up of transformations and provided several screenshots to accompany it.
Tuesday 29th April - Brighton, UK/... NCsoft Europe presents a new Lineage II Hellbound feature describing how moderate-to-high-level players can transform into a variety of creatures.
While our Lineage II players generally enjoy playing and advancing their own characters, they still like to have a different experience every once in awhile. Our players also crave something new and diverse-something they can't get in any other fashion. How about playing something one normally wouldn't play, like one of the game's many dangerous creatures? Players who have experienced Lineage I have seen something very similar to this with polymorph scrolls.
Read the rest and see the rest of the screens after the jump.
Last week, Jonathan Steinhauer's column looked at the design of outdoor areas in The Dangerous Wilderness, Part 1. In Part 2, he continues his thoughts on the basic challenge most every MMO faces.
The easiest solution, though it avoids the root of the problem, is to disperse the ground spawns to a more realistic population level. There are areas where one would expect to encounter monsters, and that is where the heavy concentrations should be. Hard core hunting should occur in the fortresses and camps of the various villains, monsters, and animals that are the bane of the adventurer, not every time you step off the path. This opens up the wilderness for travel and casual hunting while giving players the kind of combat that exist in epic stories: battle in the lairs.
Read more after the leap.
The Lineage II developers announced today that the Public Test Server has been taken down as of today and will return sometime next week.
The Public Test Server will be down for maintenance and a wipe at 3:00 PM Central Time (9:00 PM GMT +1) today, April 25, 2008. The test server is currently scheduled to return next week. We will post more details (date and time) as soon as they are available.
Thank you everyone who helped us test the Hellbound update!
We'll keep you posted as to what's coming next.
NCsoft has released Hellbound, the latest installment in the Lineage II series. The expansion comes with a brand new retail box as well that bundles several together, although it itself is free.
Read more after the leap.
Lineage II passed around a little developer journal today that asks "what's so cool about Hellbound and the 4th anniversary edition". Along with it come 16 new screenshots from the update.
Read and see it all after the click.
NCsoft has moved a step further down the microtransaction path with the introduction of a new single currency for their games: NCcoin. This allows players to buy items in their games that use cash for item transactions.
Read more after the leap.
