If you’re a PC gamer, there’s quite a good chance that over the past ten or so years, you’ve dabbled a bit in an MMORPG title. Or, it could be that like the millions of others out there, you’re hooked on World of Warcraft or the many other MMO titles out there. Personally, I’ve been playing MMO games off and on for about ten years, although I haven’t touched many of the more recent ones.
Instead, I’ve been sticking to two MMORPG’s that I’ve been playing for quite a while, because I see no reason to give them up and move onto other pastures… pastures that to me, are rarely much greener. Those games are Asheron’s Call, which I’ve been playing since early 2002, and Lineage II, which I’ve been playing since even before the official North American launch, back in late 2003.
There are a couple of reasons I choose to stick with these particular titles. At the least, the games are interesting and fun to play, with solid gameplay elements that have managed to keep my attention. This is despite some rather noticeable downsides (Lineage II has the worst level “grind” I’ve ever seen in an MMO). Then there’s the fact that the game worlds are interesting, and even though they aren’t entirely random, but rather are generated by computers and humans, I still to this day enjoy exploring every last nook and cranny.
Then there is the most important part, and something that defines what an MMO should be. Friends. Without friends, an MMORPG would be little different than say, Final Fantasy for a console. It’s these friends that way, way down the road, long after your favorite MMO closes shop, that you’ll hold in memory. Usually, it’s these same friends that keep you from regretting that you ever “wasted” so much time in playing.
Recently, the people behind Lineage II on these shores held a small contest to have players submit essays relating their earliest experiences of the game, and being that it was 4AM in the morning when I saw it, and Heineken had gotten my gears running, I decided to write one. It’s since been posted on the site, so I am linking to it below for anyone who might be interested in reading. Even if you’ve never played the game, you’re likely to be able to relate to a lot of what’s said.
In late 2003, I had received an invitation to alpha-test a game I was anticipating for what seemed like an eternity… Lineage II. At the time, I was naive, and had no idea what was to come. But, all of that soon became clear. At this particular time of the game’s life, there were at most 100 testers on the lone available server, so much time was spent on solo exploration. However, It was with this solo exploration that I came to appreciate the game so greatly.