Lineage II Role Playing Association

The Lineage II Role Playing Association (L2RPA) is a group of players across all servers who enjoy role playing, exploring the myths and lore of Aden, and staying in character whenever possible. Adorna, Olorae, and KyraelWardancer of the L2RPA took a break from role playing to answer some of our questions.

1. How long have you been playing Lineage II?

Adorna: I know it was in open beta. There were only three servers when I started to play. I began my life on Sieghardt, but when Lionna was opened up I moved to that server, because the RP association declared it the unofficial RP server. I have been a member of the L2 RolePlayers Association since April 24, 2004. The site was started March 11, 2004. So that gives you some idea of how long I have played L2.

Olorae: I've been in game since Open Beta.

KyraelWardancer: I've been playing L2 since the middle of Open Beta, and on the Lionna server since the first few hours it went live.  I have taken a few breaks here and there for a week or two at a stretch, though.

2. What are your character names and servers? Which classes do you play?

Adorna: Adorna is my main character. She is affectionately known as The Adorable. I basically am devoted to the Lionna server. Adorna is a Plainswalker. I do have other characters, but they just don't hold my attention. I have played with a Wizard, and a Scavenger. The Dwarven females are a lot of fun. I have been experimenting with an Orc Mystic a bit lately as well. But, it is not the class that I am in love with so much, more so the personality that I can create when I am in their skin so to speak.

Olorae: My primary character is Olorae, on the Lionna server. She's a Shillien Elder, and a member of the Dark Hand clan. I maintain a few alts on that server that I toy around with to break the monotony, as well as a few I maintain for purposes of storyline. I also maintain a human wizard on Bartz, named Tirs, as that was my original server, back during Open Beta and during the first few weeks after release. Given that there is fresh interest in RP on the Bartz server, I may find myself on her a bit more often.

KyraelWardancer: KyraelWardancer, 64 Swordsinger, Lionna (main), Branwyn, 36 Scavenger, Lionna (alt), Tabandrilyth, 23 Elven Scout, Lionna (alt), Madcat, 29 Dark Wizardess, Lionna (alt)... and a legion of other alts that have been rerolled, deleted, and rerolled again.

3. Please tell us a little more about your character.

Adorna: Adorna is a light elf. As a child of Eva she is a dreamer. Eva's love of poetry and music lives within Adorna's heart. She is innocent and pure of heart. She loves to give grumpy Dwarves hugs, and severely dent their armor. She has matured greatly since she has had to be out on her own. Not as naive as she once was, but still compassionate and forgiving. She loves her goddess Eva. She believes that to swim is to be wrapped in Eva's loving arms.

At the young age of 9 she left the protection of the Mother Tree and began her journey to see the world. Please note that leaving the Mother was not an act of rebellion, but the first signs that her path was to be one of a Plainswalker. She has a natural curiosity about her. Her journey ended at talking island where she met a priest who became her guardian. This priest saw something extraordinary about Adorna and proclaimed that she was The child of prophecy. He knew her role in Aden is to bring about peace among the races. Although she is blissfully unaware that she has this unique gift or calling.

Unfortunately, her human priest left Aden some time ago and no word has been heard of him. From time to time Adorna gets a far off look in her eyes. This usually happens when she meets someone who reminds her of her guardian. She will never forget him, but will not give her heart away to anyone.

Olorae: Olorae is the daughter of a merchant and minor noble family of the Dark Elven people. She has always been drawn to the church, and dedicates her life to spreading the ways of the Abyss. She is the eldest of a set of twins (her sister became a warrior instead, but that's a whole other story).

She is considered evil by quite a few people (myself included), and makes no compunctions about killing supposed innocents. Despite being a monster, she holds herself with the highest sense of honor and dignity.

KyraelWardancer: Kyrael is a study in paradox.  As a player, and as a reader and amateur writer of fantasy fiction, I'm fascinated by the concept of Elves, of a race that lives to such great lengths as to be able to see entire epochs of human history unfold in their lives.  This, to me,  is an amazing experience to explore through writing and role-playing.  Kyrael, as I play her in-character in the world of L2, illustrates the extremes of the nature of Elves. 

On the one hand, as she travels through Human-dominated lands, she takes part in the events that determine the fate of the entire kingdom.  She is considered by nearly everyone she meets to be some sort of heroine, a veteran swordswoman of countless wars, a wielder of ancient magics unlocked through the power of songs, a woman charting her own course in life by virtue of great longevity that allow her a foresight and patience that humans cannot hope to match.  However, back home, Kyrael is still considered a child by the standards of her race, as she's not even a century old yet! Thus, she must still contend with all of the things that this entails.  The dichotomy of this situation, of living two very different lives in two very different societies, is an interesting and often humorous experiment for me as both a writer and a player.

Though age is not a factor to the mechanics of the game, Kyrael is portrayed as being somewhere in her early to mid teens, not quite on the brink of adulthood.  It's a lot of fun to try to recapture some of the innocence and devil-may-care attitude of a teenager, facing the both the pressures of what is expected of her as a hero in the world at large, and yet also having to worry about all those little dramas we went through growing up.  To illustrate, one of the most fun times I had playing in-character as Kyrael was trying to escape the peer-pressure of being called to hunt Unicorns and Treants in the Enchanted Valley.  These are great mobs to hunt at the right levels, of course, but for an Elf, who had grown up surrounded by guardian treants and sacred unicorns, the very idea of hunting them was unthinkable! Besides, as she explained, her mother would be ever so cross with her should she ever learn of it...

4. What do you enjoy the most about Lineage II?

Adorna: I love the graphics, but they would be nothing without the community that I have come to love. Lately, I see many old friends returning to the game. It seems other worlds can not hold them. Aden's seamless world, beautiful characters, music, and my many friends come together to give me great joy that no other media can compete with.

Olorae: For me, it's the in-depth storyline, the outstanding graphics, and the community. I was recently forced to take a sabbatical when my processor burned out, and were it not for my clan and the RP community, I probably wouldn't have returned.

KyraelWardancer: Without a doubt it's the people that make a game worth playing.  All the graphics, quests, items, spells, whatever else you want to list as "content" in the world don't hold a candle to being able to meet with and associate with some of the brightest and most creative individuals from all over the world.  Certainly, the role-playing aspects of MMOGs are lost on a large number of players, but without role-players there would be no MMOGs.

What amuses me is that there is a rather sizeable number of players, in almost any MMOG, that is rabidly anti-RP, yet, without there having been role-playing enthusiasts, there would not be MMOGs to play in the first place.  The irony of the situation is cause for much mirth, and much confusion besides.

5. What is the Lineage II Role Playing Association?

Adorna: L2RPA or the Lineage II Role Playing Association is a community for players that want to promote role-play in the online game Lineage II. We provide a web space at where players can interact in various ways including: forums, event calendar, photo gallery, and chat. This community has grown to over 1000 members since open beta.

Olorae: The Role-Playing Association is a community resource for all individuals interested in role-playing. From the RP veterans from other games, to the neophytes who are more interested in the story behind a character than the stats, to the power-gamer that enjoys a diversion from the grind, the RPA is there to meet other role-players, to post plotlines and histories, and to plan live role-playing events in the game.

The Role-Playing Association can be found at http://www.l2rpa.org.

KyraelWardancer: The L2RPA is simply a congregation of players that enjoy developing actual personalities to the avatars they use in the game world.  We're rather not content to employ the lore and storylines that the developers of the game provide, so we create and stage our own events, dramas, conflicts, romances, fallings out and fallings in; we are, in a sense, our own self-contained content team^^.

6. What do you enjoy about role-playing?

Adorna: There is no way I could mindlessly hack, slash and quest my way to level 75; it would bore me to tears. Role-play offers me the opportunity to be creative. Each time I enter Aden it is like a new adventure awaits. My character wakes up, dons her armor and sets out to defend Aden and help others.

Adorna is of lawful/good alignment. The challenge comes when she meets up with a chaotic/evil character. I have had some very enjoyable role-play chats with some of these encounters in game. There is one character who wishes to kidnap her into slavery. Actually there maybe more than one. She is well protected because so many love her, so I doubt that will ever happen. (Looks over her shoulder with a bit of apprehension.)

There is no way I could solo in this game because role play requires someone to interact with. It requires a bit more work as you should try to keep in character and out of character separated. That is sometimes a challenge.

Olorae: I enjoy the fact that I get to write a story. Role-playing, for me, is about creating a character taht doesn't just exist within a world, but as a part of it. I enjoy that my actions, through the various plotlines that I have developed, affect a portion of the game. While I never presume that any of my plotlines will affect the overall metaplot of the Lineage II storyline, I am content with seeing how it affects other players. Given that this is an interactive setting, the players drive the story for me, working within the metaplot.

KyraelWardancer: I think role-playing, at its core, boils down to simple escapist fantasy.  Everybody wants to be someone else for awhile, especially if it allows them to do things, say things and be something other than what they are in the real world.  Whether this is to be the knight in shining armour, a dastardly villain, an enchanting temptress, a dashing rogue, a cunning assassin or what-have-you, role-playing allows people to explore aspects of their personality, and their own creative minds, that they may not otherwise have an outlet for or venue for such exploration and discovery. Personally, I just like to be an interesting character in an interesting storyline.

7. Which figure or event in the lore of Lineage II interests you the most?

Adorna: I would definitely have to say Adorna relates to Eva. She embodies the spirit of Eva in many ways. Many would say that Eva is a coward, but I would say that she is the Cinderella of the goddesses. She was the last child of Einhasad and Gran Kain; she was never destined to rule. She was destined to bring peace through music and poetry. The selfish desires of her parents thrust her into a place she was never supposed to be. She took the blame for their lack of integrity and leadership. I would say that Eva is the peaceful and loving goddess. Because of her trials she has empathy for others, especially her sister Shilen who first suffered abuse from her father Gran Kain, only to be rejected and banished by her mother Einhasad. Einhasad as a loving mother should have protected her daughter, but instead she pushed her away.

Olorae: I have to say the storyline behind Shilen's imprisonment, and the revelations I've come across as I progress in the game. I am always looking for more information to add to the lore. I do like the premise behind the seal competition, in that there may be a chance to free Shilen in later Chronicles, and can't wait to see how that progresses.

KyraelWardancer: Being that I am such an elf-o-phile, the lore surrounding the schism in the Elven race is of particular interest.  On the one hand, there is much talk of the two Elven races having once been one, and splitting along religious lines when Shilen was cast down and the goddess Eva set in her place.  Yet, there are other sources of lore within the game that suggest that they were separate races all along, and yet others that suggest a separation along ideological lines that grew into bitter hatred, but a shared cultural history.  These latter two would certainly do much to explain the obvious, ah, differences in build between the females of each race.

Given that the history of the Humans in L2 is a state-supported cult, and a false one at that, I sometimes wonder if there is not a similar self-delusion within the Elven culture, that they deny that their origins stem from Shilen and not Eva, in order to separate themselves further from the Dark Elves.  Given that L2 is a game based upon conflict and warfare, this would seem to make some sense.  It's far easier to wage war upon "those pagan savages over there" than it is someone with whom you share a common ancestry, religion and culture.

8. What advice would you give to a player interested in role playing in Lineage II?

Adorna: Read the lore. It is a jumping off point for your characters personality. Choose a stance be good or evil. Neutral can be very wishy-washy. If you must be neutral have a reason to be there, such as you are a peace maker who wants to reconcile the races.

Decide who you are, where you were born is a good first step. Choose a good name this will follow you and make your character easier to play. You DON'T have to talk in old English if you do you will probably be considered a bit off. If you are not sure how to act, then react to others role play.

Some characters are easier to get into then others. Dwarves are a lot of fun to role play, especially the girl Dwarfs. I find evil characters if they truly play evil can run into trouble with others taking their role playing out of context.

Mixing in character chat with out of character chat can end up in disaster. That has to be the most difficult thing to keep in mind. (ooc... out of character messages should appear as this to avoid confusion.) We have a number of role playing guides and various heated discussions on the topic on our site to help people who are new. 

There are no hard fast rules on how to role-play. Some people bring table top RP experiences to the game, others like me just wing it. Most of all have fun, after all it is a game don’t take yourself or others too seriously. Don’t let outside annoyances (like the uber 1337 doods) bother you. After all they pay to play for this game as well. If you think about it anyone even, the 1337 doods can be part of your RP experience. When you walk down a street in a busy city do you know all the hordes of people who pass you? Do they agree with the way you live your life? I would think not. So enjoy your time in Aden no matter how you choose to play the game.

Olorae: Have a thick skin. The non-RP crowd can be very cruel, but if you play for how you want to play, then that is all that matters. No one can hurt you without your permission.

Study up on the vast lore that has been provided for us, and immerse yourself in this outstanding world.

And, most importantly, don't give up. It might seem a bit harder at first to balance RP and grinding, but play to have fun. This game is whatever you make of it.

KyraelWardancer: First and foremost, introduce yourself to the role-playing community, find yourself a server that has a number of other role-players that can at least give you a hand up starting out (Lionna is not the only game in town these days, though it is by far the most active) and find a group or clan that best fits you and your character's needs.  Most servers that have RP communities on them are large enough now to support both "good" and "evil" clans, with still others taking a more "neutral" stance on the subject of ethical and moral alignment.

Secondly, and most important of all, make sure you're having fun at what you're doing.  Above all, have fun in and with the game.  Part of this is to remember that this is, after all, just a game, and its for everyone to have fun at.  I might add that this axiom holds true for every other player as well.

Thank you to Adorna, Olorae, KyraelWardancer, and the members of the Role Playing Association!