And I have to say this is one of the most visually impressive games I've seen in awhile.

Starting as a Dark Elf Fighter and having to do missions in the School of Dark Arts, the world looks pretty impressive. The Skeletons I had to hunt in the School were awesome, particularly the Archers. Really nice animations there.

The only things I'm having problems with are the low populations in the Newbie zones (It's quiet. Too, too, quiet). And the dearth of information available. Common Items vs. Normal Items? Is there a difference  should care about at low levels? I bought a set of D-Grade armor before I was qualified to wear it. Had to figure out that my rank was why I was running so much slower with gear that weighed less than I could carry.

I figured out shortcuts and macros on my own, mostly. Mostly. Info on this game is hard to come by, so if anyone has a link they'd like to share....?

I'm really liking the look of this game so far, but it's feeling kind of empty. Low level blues, I know, find a clan. It's still holding my attention longer than WAR did. Or DDO for that matter. 

Any pointers experienced players would be inclined to add would be welcome. Anyone thinking of trying the game, I bought the box at my local EB for $15 and it came with 60 Days free. Once I had it loaded, I got a free trial from NC (as a CoH customer) so that's 2.5 months free. Well worth the time, give it a shot.

But really, any help would be most welcome :)

What server are you on?

Hi I found this thread to be a lot of help, al thou it's about making gold ingame, it covers alot more, A major help to newbies as well.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/98734/Toraks-Guide-to-Making-Adena.html

I just started again, im on phoenix server this time. Curious to what server you are on? The newbie zones are always going to be kind of empty because of how old the game is. The population isn't actually that bad once you get a few more levels, at least on phoenix it looks fine.

The newbie zones are low population but as soon as you leave the newbie toon you will start to see more people. You should not spend more than a few hours in the newbie town before its time to leave and start your first class change quest. My advice for a new player is to just hang in there. The game gets much better when you make it out of the newbie town. Also if you on Phoenix I can help you out.

Originally posted by X-Porter

And I have to say this is one of the most visually impressive games I've seen in awhile.

Starting as a Dark Elf Fighter and having to do missions in the School of Dark Arts, the world looks pretty impressive. The Skeletons I had to hunt in the School were awesome, particularly the Archers. Really nice animations there.

The only things I'm having problems with are the low populations in the Newbie zones (It's quiet. Too, too, quiet). And the dearth of information available. Common Items vs. Normal Items? Is there a difference  should care about at low levels? I bought a set of D-Grade armor before I was qualified to wear it. Had to figure out that my rank was why I was running so much slower with gear that weighed less than I could carry.

I figured out shortcuts and macros on my own, mostly. Mostly. Info on this game is hard to come by, so if anyone has a link they'd like to share....?

I'm really liking the look of this game so far, but it's feeling kind of empty. Low level blues, I know, find a clan. It's still holding my attention longer than WAR did. Or DDO for that matter. 

Any pointers experienced players would be inclined to add would be welcome. Anyone thinking of trying the game, I bought the box at my local EB for $15 and it came with 60 Days free. Once I had it loaded, I got a free trial from NC (as a CoH customer) so that's 2.5 months free. Well worth the time, give it a shot.

But really, any help would be most welcome :)

Reading what you wrote I would say you should stay with this game.

Get to level 20, do all the quests in Dark Elf Village. I know, can't believe I'm saying that but with the changes that they made, the starter quests will get you a lot of xp. However, this is not really a quest game so there will be more grind ahead.

Get into a clan academy. At lvl 20 you will find more people in Dion. Used to be Gludio but Dion is sort of the low lvl hub.

You will of course find most people in Giran.

Since the game has been out ... about 5 years, and since it is a bit of a niche game, most people are elsehwere.

Also, given the nature of the game, you will really find that it's all about clan an alliance. If you are not in a clan or alliance then you will miss out on most of the game. In the "old days" that was not as true as you could be a lone pk'er. but as there really isn't a lot going on to warrant being a lone pk'er (if that is your cup of tea) most of the interest revolves around the politics of the world.

Personally I think you will do well. And if you think places like School of Dark Arts (one of my favorites) is cool (and as a side note I became hooked on the game, all those years back, when I ented Dark elf village [then crowded] and saw the hand of Shilien raised up towards the heavens, power streaming from her fingers to the void above) you will go nuts for some of the other places in the game.

Yeah, sorry. I should have mentioned I'm on Phoenix.

Transferred to Palus Knight a couple of days ago and been doing quests out of Gludin. Got one that has a Big Bad at the end, but I'll work that out at some point.

And yeah, the Shilien Statue was pretty awesome. Looking forward to what else this game has to show me.

back when L2 first came out it was AMAZING looking, yes the statue in DE village always stood out for me, along with mobs like... the mirror in forest of mirrors (love that thing) and mothra from garden of eva (think he got removed, or moved).

even 5 years later I think the MOB models are still incredible, along with animations.  the enviroment of course doesn't look as great compared to newer MMOs, but i think the design makes up for it.

I've come back for the free re-activation, but I guess i'm still jaded from the rampant Ebaying and exploiting that went on back when i played.  if you enjoy it, stick with it! you can always quit later if things change, but you may love it.

also good choice with Palus knight.  I thought the Shillen Knight was one of the most fun classes in game (most fun tank personally, though i can see the draw of the human tanks) and you can still go Blade dancer, which is a very important group class, and still holds its own.

Originally posted by X-Porter

And I have to say this is one of the most visually impressive games I've seen in awhile.

Starting as a Dark Elf Fighter and having to do missions in the School of Dark Arts, the world looks pretty impressive. The Skeletons I had to hunt in the School were awesome, particularly the Archers. Really nice animations there.

The only things I'm having problems with are the low populations in the Newbie zones (It's quiet. Too, too, quiet). And the dearth of information available. Common Items vs. Normal Items? Is there a difference  should care about at low levels? I bought a set of D-Grade armor before I was qualified to wear it. Had to figure out that my rank was why I was running so much slower with gear that weighed less than I could carry.

I figured out shortcuts and macros on my own, mostly. Mostly. Info on this game is hard to come by, so if anyone has a link they'd like to share....?

Some parts of the game is visually appealing, and especially taken in mind that it's a 5 yr old game. However for those into the visual side, the fact that L2 has one of the most poor visual character customization options still makes it score low on this. Later on you will also see that the visual options and differences in armor is even worse than in games like WoW where people complain that their look end up being the same.

Doing the questline from the newbie guide should take you from lvl 1 to 20 in around 45 minutes of playtime. This extremly fast lvling in the first lvls I compare to Age of Conans strategy with Tortage Island. Give the new players some quick and fun lvling in the start and hope they get hooked and pay for the game, cause later on you will regret it.

So, the reason you don't see anyone but bots gone crazy running into the guards again and again in the newbie areas is cause you by design don't have to "hunt" for more than 45 minutes in this area. Later on you will see that more than 50% of the characters you encounter in hunting areas either are bots or players with bots on follow.

The game is heavily gear dependant, and the difference between common gear and normal gear is that you can't enchant common gear which makes you extremly weak compared to other players wearing it. Unfortunate the economy is so inflated that on later lvls you will have an extreme hard time affording anything but common gear, soulshots for grinding and healing potions and elixirs.

I'm really liking the look of this game so far, but it's feeling kind of empty. Low level blues, I know, find a clan. It's still holding my attention longer than WAR did. Or DDO for that matter. 

If you are still in the newbie area ( which you should have left after 45 minutes following a starter guide) and you claim that this game is holding your attention longer than WAR your preferences are not understandable. Bloody hell, you might even enjoy getting lost in this game and find the community with the bots amazing.

Any pointers experienced players would be inclined to add would be welcome. Anyone thinking of trying the game, I bought the box at my local EB for $15 and it came with 60 Days free. Once I had it loaded, I got a free trial from NC (as a CoH customer) so that's 2.5 months free. Well worth the time, give it a shot.

I believe you can still get a free trial on this game, and download it online for free. However you got 2.5months kinda cheap, but what is important is how you spend your time as it's the most valuable you have. It might at first seem odd that you can't find a good webpage for a 5 yr old game, but later on when you see what the community is like it hopefully does make sense to you. However, L2 Stratics ( google it) is one of the best sites for the game even though it's very incomplete.

But really, any help would be most welcome :)

I would also recommend that you read through my thread with a warning to new players 

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/46/view/forums/thread/234600/Warning-to-New-Players.html
 

Originally posted by X-Porter

Yeah, sorry. I should have mentioned I'm on Phoenix.

Transferred to Palus Knight a couple of days ago and been doing quests out of Gludin. Got one that has a Big Bad at the end, but I'll work that out at some point.

And yeah, the Shilien Statue was pretty awesome. Looking forward to what else this game has to show me.

What is your username?

Korvenus, my in-game name is Talesien.

And yes Norze, I've read all three of your posts here.

Oooh, update!

I got Ganked for the first time the other night.

It was a 3-on-1 as I was hunting Lizardmen outside of Gludio.

Tragically, my second ever interaction/conversation with another player in this game looked something like this:

"GTFO"

*One sided beat-down ensues*

"wtf owned?"

So... I guess these guys were supposed to be badass or something? Honestly I had to laugh. I didn't think people actually talked like that in games. It was like getting mugged by lolcats.

That is surprising that took place given ganking is not common at lower levels like it used to be.

Originally posted by redcap036

Hi I found this thread to be a lot of help, al thou it's about making gold ingame, it covers alot more, A major help to newbies as well.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/98734/Toraks-Guide-to-Making-Adena.html

that post was 2006, too old. l2 has too many changes...

Well, wrap up time for this thread.

My L2 Trial just finished and I won't be subbing. Great looking game, no life to it.

In the 70 days I had to play, I spoke to 2 people. One gave me a bunch of advice I'd already figured out for myself. Thanks, appreciate the thought. The other shit-talked me after he and his 2 high level friends ganked me. Enjoy your empty game, Dick.

Aside from them I encountered (aside from people sitting around in towns waiting for something) about 3 other players going about their business, one fishing-bot, and one guy that would run and attack a town guard, die, respawn, run and attack the guard, die, repeat.

Sure, the game may be all about clans, but where exactly are you supposed to meet people and talk about that? And what the Hell is with the equipment costs in that game? 5K for a piece of D Grade Common unenchantable armor? Really? No.

Oh well. It might be the game for some people, but not for me obviously. Good hunting to the current players, and thanks to all who responded with helpful advice here.

 LMAO There is no way you played this game for 70 days.  In 70 days you can easily become a A Grade character thats able to participate in Sieges and Territory wars. You can make a LV 1 character and go visit every town in Lineage 2 from the start of the game and see people so please dont tell me you went to towns like Dion, Giran, Aden, Goddard and Rune and did not see anybody. I play on Phoenix so you cant just come in here and say that this game is not populated because thats a lie. This is the first time I have ever hard of a person complain about the cost of common armor.Sorry but I dont even see why you even bothered with posting because anybody who is playing or has played this game knows that its a bunch of BS.

I dont understand why people just cant tell the truth. Why not just come out and say that I tried the game and its not for me or its too hard to level or too hard to make money. Why do people have to try and find escape excuses instead of just saying the real reason why they quit. Do they feel that it will make them look like they are weak or something?

 Hmm I leveld a academy noob to 20 yesterday and after 1st class change I had Best Common Dgrade equipment that will last him to level 40.

But this game is really, either you hate or just love it.

You will only enjoy this game if you get in a good active clan that does things together. That is the only way you will make it to high level.

Originally posted by X-Porter

Well, wrap up time for this thread.

My L2 Trial just finished and I won't be subbing. Great looking game, no life to it.

In the 70 days I had to play, I spoke to 2 people. One gave me a bunch of advice I'd already figured out for myself. Thanks, appreciate the thought. The other shit-talked me after he and his 2 high level friends ganked me. Enjoy your empty game, Dick.

Aside from them I encountered (aside from people sitting around in towns waiting for something) about 3 other players going about their business, one fishing-bot, and one guy that would run and attack a town guard, die, respawn, run and attack the guard, die, repeat.

Sure, the game may be all about clans, but where exactly are you supposed to meet people and talk about that? And what the Hell is with the equipment costs in that game? 5K for a piece of D Grade Common unenchantable armor? Really? No.

Oh well. It might be the game for some people, but not for me obviously. Good hunting to the current players, and thanks to all who responded with helpful advice here.

Why didn't you advertise for a clan or alliance in the main forums? This game is about being proactive. It's not really about you leveling in some areas hoping to be discovered. That's other games.

You could have easily pm'ed me on this forum for advice on how to get into a clan. Heck, I could have suggested a few. Also, you have to work at making money. Did you use the manor system? Did you learn the economy or make a dwarf to help you make money?

This - is - a - hard - game.

No and's, if's or but's about it. And you have to be proactive.

I have mixed feelings about this thread, while I agree that the OP did not experience or did not choose the right route to play the game and he most certainly did not play for 70 days, L2 is really hard to get into right now, unless you already know people that are playing, even after joining an academy it will be hard for a new player to actually get into the game, sure you can find home with one of the less influent clans, but at the end of the day the fun in this game is being able to be part of one of the big alliances and clans.

The territorial control has added alot to the game and you can certainly have fun without having to be part of one of the biggest clans, but there is only so much you can accomplish with this system before you start feeling left out, clans in L2 are not your tipical "join and we will help you" (not anymore they used to be back up until maybe C5)  type, apart from the core members who usually will have all of the clan perks, you are expected to "get it yourself", there is so much ebaying around that when you need money or some piece of equipment the most likely response you will get from people is "just ebay some adena", also grouping is usually very strict, certain key players will have buff bots and they will pretty much dictate who goes in the XP group and the people are usually the same core members.

L2 is a very fun game , very politically rich, but I think for you to actually get into it, you either know people who already play and that will boost you up in the clan chain or you will have to cheat your way through, it will also require ALOT of time spent, you can play the game casually and still have fun, but if you want to be involved in what L2 is all about then you will have to play it alot, alot of XP sessions, alot of farming, leveling crafter alts or buy another account and get a couple of buff bots, the sad reality is, unless there another big patch that will add more of the territorial control type features where players will be able to participate in clan events without having to spend 1 year pimping out their character, L2 for new players will be mainly about leveling and then quit.