"Amazing game, rubbish support."

Ok, this is the first of what I hope to be many reviews from me, renzokukenexe.

Storyline:
Lineage II is set in the mythical lands of aden, where magic, monsters and swordsmen are all common place. But other then that, there isn't much in game storyline to tell. Although the creators of lineage II have written an elaborate and in depth storyline on the official website, this features very little in the actual gameplay suffice of a few short references, which is a shame.
5/10.

Gameplay:
You start your lineage II experience by creating a character, you can give them a name, choose one of the five races, and choose from a limited set of visual features such as hair, skin tone and facial features. Unfortunately character creation is very limited by the small array of character details, this often leads to one character looking exactly the same as another while online.

After creating your character (referred to online as a "toon") You'll enter a starter location within your starter village, the newbie guide nearby will give you some helpful instructions and your first quest and from there you pretty much grind. This can be pretty repetitive as most new players from levels 1 to 30 are left out of the social and pvp elements of the game due to the low numbers of people frequenting the starter towns.

Once you've hit that magical level 30 this game begins to come into it's own. Raid parties will become more available to you, giving you the chance to work with a team to take out a raid boss. Clans will be more likely to recruit you, giving you a better chance to enter castle sieges, parties and exp groups. All of this means more social interaction, more friends, and a more fun game.
8/10.

Graphics:
Lineage II is a visually stunning game, it features some of the most amazing locations I've ever seen in any MMORPG. Weapons, armour and magical attacks all look incredibly impressive. Although nothing quite compares to the sight of mass PvP in the form of castle sieges or clan wars. All of this is aided by the easy to use camera system, which allows for a full 360 degrees of vision simply by holding down your right mouse button. Even with low quality graphics settings, it's still very easy to enjoy the beauty of this game.
10/10.

Support:
Now, this is where lineage II fails, pretty dramatically. Technical and account support for lineage II is very often late, unhelpful or a series of automated replies. Also the game is currently overrun with "bots", automated computer controlled players used to collect money, items and exp. This is strictly against the terms of the user agreement given out by NCSoft which prohibits the use of third party programs in their games. Although these "bots" are allowed to go about their business unchecked due to NCSoft's unwillingness to ban them. (probably due to loss of profits from their account subscriptions.) Many of the players who have reported this to NCSoft, seem to have had their accounts banned "for unrelated reasons". And posting about this on the official lineage II forums will result in a friendly forum ban.
-10/10

Overall:
This is not a game for those new to MMORPG's. The grind is tough and the items are expensive and PvP is not babysat like World of Warcraft, and probably never will be. This is a game for those who want to play a hardcore MMORPG and meet some amazingly friendly people.
7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/06