Lineage (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Lineage is a medieval fantasy
, massively multiplayer online role-playing game
(MMORPG
) released in the United States in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft
. It is most popular in Korea and is available in Chinese
, Japanese
, and English language
versions. The game was designed by Jake Song
, who had previously designed Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds
, another MMORPG
.
Lineage features 2D isometric-overhead graphics similar to those of Ultima Online
and Diablo II
. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle
, a "prequel" set 150 years before the time of Lineage, was released in 2003. To date, the Lineage franchise has attracted 43 million players.
NCSoft announced that due to unprofitability the North American Servers would be shut down on June 29, 2011.
with MMO elements added.
Players can choose one of seven character class
es: Elf
, Dark Elf
, Knight
, Prince
, Magician
, Dragon Knight, or Illusionist. Princes are the only class that can lead a blood pledge (which is Lineage's term for a guild or clan).
Game play is based primarily upon a castle siege
system which allows castle owners to set tax rates in neighboring cities and collect taxes on items purchased in stores within those cities. It features classic RPG
elements reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons
, such as killing monsters and completing quests for loot and experience points, levels, character attributes (charisma, strength, wisdom, etc.), and alignments
(neutral, chaotic or lawful). A character's alignment affects how monsters and town guards react to the player's character, often turning hostile to chaotic players and attacking on sight.
Player versus player combat (also known as PVP) is extensive in Lineage. Players can engage in combat with other player character
s at any time as long as they are not in safe zones such as cities. By joining a "bloodpledge" (an association of players almost like a clan in other games) players become eligible to engage in castle sieges or wars between bloodpledges.
ese imports until 1998 has been cited for delayed growth in its video game console
market.
As of April 2008, Lineage has a little under 1 million active subscriptions. By way of comparison, World of Warcraft
has substantially more active subscriptions, with over 11.5 million.
On the 11th of May 2011, NC Interactive, the subsidiary of NCSoft in the United States announced it will shut down the Lineage servers (3 at that time) because of poor subscription revenues. Various events are scheduled to take place in the weeks remaining. Players will be given free subscriptions to other NCSoft titles of their choice.
As of June 29, 2011, Lineage has shut down all servers in NA, permanently. The said they want to focus on the Asian market, leaving it open.
s with same title Lineage by Shin Il-sook, and the servers of Lineage are named after the characters of the comic book. It is a fantasy story where a rightful prince reclaims the throne from the hands of a usurper. When first created, the game closely resembled the original work. As developers have added new features, however, the fictional universe
s of the two works have gradually diverged.
Medieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that encompasses medieval era high fantasy and sometimes simply represents fictitious versions of historic events. This subgenre is common among role-playing games, text-based roleplaying, and high-fantasy literature....
, massively multiplayer online role-playing game
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
(MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
) released in the United States in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft
NCsoft
NCsoft is a South Korea-based online video game company, which has published massively multiplayer online role-playing games including Lineage, City of Heroes, Wildstar, Exteel, Guild Wars and Aion.-History:...
. It is most popular in Korea and is available in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
versions. The game was designed by Jake Song
Jake Song
Jake Song, Korean Name Song Jae-kyeong , b. 1965 , is a South Korean programmer who is regarded as one of the greatest game developers in Korea. He played a major role in creating the MMORPG Lineage, an online game with huge following in Korea...
, who had previously designed Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds
Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds
NEXUS: The Kingdom of the Winds , alternately known as Nexus TK or simply Nexus, is a Pay to Play MMORPG, currently run in the US by Kru Interactive. Nexus began as a U.S. version of the Korean game 바람의 나라 developed by NEXON Inc...
, another MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
.
Lineage features 2D isometric-overhead graphics similar to those of Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
and Diablo II
Diablo II
Diablo II is a dark fantasy/horror-themed hack and slash, with elements of the role playing game and dungeon crawl genres. It was released for Windows and Mac OS in 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment, and was developed by Blizzard North. It is a direct sequel to the 1996 hit PC game, Diablo.Diablo II...
. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle
Lineage II
Lineage II is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game for Microsoft Windows. It is a prequel to Lineage, and is set 150 years before the earlier game. It has become very popular since its October 1, 2003 launch in South Korea, reporting 1,000,918 unique users during the month of March 2007...
, a "prequel" set 150 years before the time of Lineage, was released in 2003. To date, the Lineage franchise has attracted 43 million players.
NCSoft announced that due to unprofitability the North American Servers would be shut down on June 29, 2011.
Gameplay
Lineage's stat, monster, and item system was originally largely borrowed from NetHackNetHack
NetHack is a single-player roguelike video game originally released in 1987. It is a descendant of an earlier game called Hack , which is a descendant of Rogue...
with MMO elements added.
Players can choose one of seven character class
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
es: Elf
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
, Dark Elf
Dark elf
Dark elf may refer to:* Dökkálfar or dark elves, a type of elf in Norse mythology* Svartálfar or dark elves, a type of elf in Norse mythology* Moriquendi, a fictional race of elves in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium...
, Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
, Magician
Magician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
, Dragon Knight, or Illusionist. Princes are the only class that can lead a blood pledge (which is Lineage's term for a guild or clan).
Game play is based primarily upon a castle siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
system which allows castle owners to set tax rates in neighboring cities and collect taxes on items purchased in stores within those cities. It features classic RPG
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
elements reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
, such as killing monsters and completing quests for loot and experience points, levels, character attributes (charisma, strength, wisdom, etc.), and alignments
Alignment (role-playing games)
In some role-playing games, alignment is a categorisation of the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game....
(neutral, chaotic or lawful). A character's alignment affects how monsters and town guards react to the player's character, often turning hostile to chaotic players and attacking on sight.
Player versus player combat (also known as PVP) is extensive in Lineage. Players can engage in combat with other player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
s at any time as long as they are not in safe zones such as cities. By joining a "bloodpledge" (an association of players almost like a clan in other games) players become eligible to engage in castle sieges or wars between bloodpledges.
Subscription history
NCsoft has reported that Lineage had at one point more than three million subscribers, most of them in Korea. The magnitude of the number Korean subscribers compared to other countries has sparked a number of theories. A ban on some JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese imports until 1998 has been cited for delayed growth in its video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
market.
As of April 2008, Lineage has a little under 1 million active subscriptions. By way of comparison, World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
has substantially more active subscriptions, with over 11.5 million.
On the 11th of May 2011, NC Interactive, the subsidiary of NCSoft in the United States announced it will shut down the Lineage servers (3 at that time) because of poor subscription revenues. Various events are scheduled to take place in the weeks remaining. Players will be given free subscriptions to other NCSoft titles of their choice.
As of June 29, 2011, Lineage has shut down all servers in NA, permanently. The said they want to focus on the Asian market, leaving it open.
Origin of "Lineage"
The title Lineage came from a series of comic bookComic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s with same title Lineage by Shin Il-sook, and the servers of Lineage are named after the characters of the comic book. It is a fantasy story where a rightful prince reclaims the throne from the hands of a usurper. When first created, the game closely resembled the original work. As developers have added new features, however, the fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
s of the two works have gradually diverged.