NCSoft's MMORPG Lineage is a massive hit in its native Korea and this month the full fledged sequel, Lineage II, launched in Korea as well, with plans to release it in North America soon. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with the game's lead designer Raoul Kim to find out more about their plans for Lineage II.

HomeLAN - When the time came to start work on Lineage II, what were the development team's main goals?

Raoul Kim - Our main goal was to inherit the world view of Lineage and at the same time create a new game. We also made an effort to make the game fun to play for both participants of single play and for those of party play equally.

HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the storyline for Lineage II and how it relates to the original game?

Raoul Kim - The background timeline for Lineage II is 150 years prior to Lineage era. The dark elves that first appeared in Episode 1 of Lineage: Dark Conquest; were hiding out in the underground world and took vengeance on the races that dwelt above ground. However, in Lineage II, they are still active in the above-ground world. In Lineage II, players will find out how the dark elves ended up moving into the underground world.

HomeLAN - How will Lineage II handle character generation?

Raoul Kim - The characters that can be generated in Lineage II consist of five races -- human, elf, dark elf, orc, and dwarf. For each race one can generate a current maximum of nine types of characters over time branching from two classes, fighter and mystic (mage). The same base occupations have distinctly different characteristics for each of the races according to each race uniqueness. In addition, when a character completes its first transfer which occurs at level 20, and completes the second transfer which occurs at level 40, the occupations are further diversified into a total of 31 professions over all. Also, when one completes the third transfer, the class system is even more diversified into many different specialties.

HomeLAN - What sort of skills and professions will be available in the game?

Raoul Kim - The skills in Lineage II are basically divided into passive skills and active skills. A passive skill is a skill that one can put to work without activating any particular technique. An active skill requires one to activate a separate technique. An active skill consumes mana (MP) and after a specified time period passes, it needs to be activated again. Professions in Lineage II offer diverse choices as characters progress in levels through the game (as described in question 4 above), branching out into 31 varied occupations including Spellsingers, Blade Dancers, Gladiators, and Tyrants.

Raoul Kim - How "big" will the game universe be and what sorts of locations and settings will Lineage II have?

Until now, Lineage II has been played on only one continent. Later on through a large scale update, the plan is to create many other continents. The actual area of each continent will be about the size of Seoul in scale. The continents will have distinct weather conditions to reflect weather patterns in different parts of the world.

HomeLAN - How will the game's quest system be handled?

Raoul Kim - Lineage II will break away from the framework of a simple form of quest (one-quest) that has been generally utilized and will start using the characteristics of mixed-quests found in a true Role Playing Game (RPG). In other words, it will be the system in which while one is engaged in one quest (must-quest), one has to resolve a sub-quest to accomplish one original goal. These quests are divided into required quests (must-quests) that one is required to fulfill (e.g. the transfer quests to gain access to new occupations), and optional quests (choice-quest) that one carries out only if one so desires. Of course, the optional quests are further divided into the types of quests that one cannot do again once it clears and the type of quest one can do repeatedly as many times as one desires.

HomeLAN - What sort of NPCs and monsters will be seen in the game?

Raoul Kim - Most NPCs that appear in Lineage II will make their first appearance. They are the creatures that appear in the world view that is unique to Lineage II. The types of conversation, characteristics, and appearance, these creatures exhibit exist only in the Lineage II world. Most monsters that appear in RPGs are created after obtaining ideas and hints from a fantasy world view and myths gathered from different parts of the entire world. In many occasions, creatures from these myths and legends have been re-constructed to fit the Lineage II world and its story. Of course, several monsters are totally unique. But their number is relatively low in terms of overall proportion of monsters in Lineage II.

HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the game's magic system?

Raoul Kim - Magic skills and active skills are the same in the sense that players use them while consuming MP. One difference is that in the case of an active skill, one can obtain it for the first time only with SP. But to acquire a magic skill for the first time, one must have a spellbook that is applicable to the magic skill one is trying to obtain as well as SP (For Orcs, an amulet is required instead of a spellbook.)

HomeLAN - How will players communicate with one another?

Raoul Kim - Lineage II offers a range of in-game communication options for players, ranging from player-to-player chat to clan chats to global server chat. Access is also available to community message boards where players may continue in-game conversations out-of-game.

HomeLAN - What other unique gameplay elements will Lineage II have?

Raoul Kim - The existing Lineage has perfected a new system that allows a blood pledge to own a pledge house and a big blood pledge to own a castle through a siege war. Lineage II has developed the system one step further by introducing the concept to unify different castles. As a result, players are given the chance to rule over a kingdom.

This system is one in which players can control politics, economy, products and the manufacturing process within the kingdom. This is a huge attraction of Lineage II. Other unique gameplay elements of Lineage II are the dragon system in which a character raises a dragon from egg to hatchling to strider to wyvern as well as the manufacturing-based economic system controlled by the dwarf class.

HomeLAN - Why was the decision made to use the Unreal engine for the game and what did NCsoft do to modify it?

Raoul Kim - The reason that NCsoft has decided to use the Unreal engine was that among 3D graphic engines that engine allows the highest degree of flexibility. However, in order to create the type of game that we wanted to create, many modifications had to be made.

HomeLAN - How has the game's beta testing come along?

Raoul Kim - Lineage II open beta test was carried out for three months from July 9 until September 30 in Korea. During this period, gamers freely tested Lineage II by accessing its 20 test servers. In order to offer smooth and fault-free service of Lineage II, numerous tests have been conducted. Beta testing for North America is currently in planning stages.

HomeLAN - What is NCsoft planning on doing for pricing for Lineage II and will current Lineage subscribers get some kind of pricing deal for the new game?

Raoul Kim - In North America, our pricing model is still being determined. We can tell you that the game will be sold at retail. And updates will be available for download from the Internet.

HomeLAN - What is the current status of the game's progress and when will it be released?

Raoul Kim - From October 1, 2003, Lineage II has been offered as a commercial service (in Korea). In North America the game is expected to launch commercially sometime after the first of the year.

HomeLAN - What plans does NCsoft have to release new game content after the game's official release?

Raoul Kim - We will be generating new content on a regular basis, very similar to the way we release new episodes for the current version of Lineage.

HomeLAN - The massively multiplayer genre continues to expand with more games being released and announced all the time. Is NCsoft confident that Lineage II will be able to compete in this growing market?

Raoul Kim - Yes, of course. Lineage II will continue to develop through regular updates. Regardless of the increase in the number of games in the MMP genre, we expect to have the competitive edge in the market.

HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Lineage II?

Raoul Kim - We hope that Lineage II will start its service in North America as soon as possible so that the gamers in the region can enjoy the new breathtaking experience that Lineage II offers.