English version of the interview with NCWest Producer of L2.
Przeczytaj wywiad w polskiej wersji
INTRODUCTION1.Could you introduce yourself in few words?
My name is Samuel Han, and I’m the producer for Lineage II for NCsoft West.
2.What are your duties as a producer?
A few of my duties include coordinating all of the teams who work on Lineage II here at NCsoft West, communicating directly with the NCsoft Korean teams, and making decisions for the direction of Lineage II for our territory.
3.How did your career in NCsoft look like?
I helped at an NCsoft show for Lineage II at E3 back in 2003. At that time, I had no idea that this one-week, part-time job would make me dive into the gaming industry. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had continued my career in the aviation field, but I don’t have any regrets for choosing this path. I started as a GM for Lineage II about five and half years ago. My duties have changed a few times, but I’m still on the Lineage II team.
4.Do you play Lineage II?
Of course. I slowed down after I finished the third transfer quest with my subclass, but I still play whenever I can.
LINEAGE II AND OTHER GAMES1.How do you plan to acquire new players and win back players who chose other games?
I think we have many new and exciting things coming up for Lineage II that players will enjoy. We’ve started off by introducing multiple events (some specifically designed for North America and Europe), and we will host more events in the upcoming months. We have new content on the way that we hope will appeal to both new and veteran players.
2.How do you plan to stop players from migrating to Aion and other games similar to Lineage II?
Our goal is to give more attention to our players with continuous new content, more regular events, and new services. By focusing more on our players, we feel that Lineage II will provide a fun experience that new and veteran players will want to be a part of.
3.Some people think that Lineage II is treated like a beta version for Aion or Lineage III. There are many Aion-like updates lately. Is that true? Does NCsoft want to test Aion features before the game is released?
The recent updates for Lineage II are a natural progression for the Lineage II game. We made these features with new players in mind and to offer something new and exciting for existing players. The updates are not intended to be compared to any other games or to be used to preview or test other games.
4.There is a widespread opinion that money earned from Lineage II finances other NCsoft games. Is it true? Why don’t you invest Lineage II money in improving your service (especially the undermanned section dealing with players: website staff, CM staff, GM staff)?
I cannot discuss the specific details of Lineage II finance and budgeting, but I can clarify that Lineage II does reinvest its earnings back into the game. People may not consider many aspects of the game when thinking about the costs of running an MMO. The purchases our players make definitely allow Lineage II to continue providing a fun and exciting online world for its players.
LINEAGE II1. Will the price for a character transfer to another server remain so high? Will you consider lowering it? After all, it is a useful function for all the players, as it helps to maintain a reasonable population on servers.
We do not have any current plans to change the pricing for our account services.
2. Do you plan to do anything about bots and other third-party programs? Spam’s mass banning isn’t often enough, and many cheaters get no punishment during such time. Also, there are way too much high-level botted toons and bots. Why is the banning so slow?
I cannot discuss the specifics of how our GM team works, but I can assure you the team is constantly working hard to identify players who violate our user agreement and take action against them. Our GM team has spent many, many hours investigating different methods to determine the most efficient way to handle these players. They will continue to use player reports, as well as other proactive methods, to identify players who use automated and third-party programs and take action against them.
3. Do you plan another server merge?
We have no current plans to merge existing servers.
4. Some players have said that they want the time zones of certain servers to change from North America to Europe since most of the players come from Europe. Have you considere doing so? Do you have any statistics about how many European players play on North American servers?
We have no current plans to change the server time or time zones for our servers.
5. Did you think about boosting the rate of EXP/SP to a constant value, like on the PTS?
We have no plans to boost the rate of EXP and SP to mimic the rate on the servers like the player test server. However, some upcoming events may have a similar effect.
6. What will be the maximum possible character level? I have heard rumors that it will be 90, but I’m not sure.
We have no plans to change the maximum levels for main class or subclass at this time. The maximum character level of 85 for the main class and 80 for the subclass will be in place for awhile.
7. As you know, there is a specific archetype of a Korean player—in our community we refer to them as something like a ”no life” player. Such a player only grinds on only one game world. I’m sure that you understand this. Many users think that high-end content of Lineage II is only for “no life” players or bots users. Will NCsoft change the playstyle of Lineage II? Will it be easier to get high-end stuff or level for normal players?
We introduced the Vitality system, which allows players to level faster, in Gracia Part I. Continuous updates to the Vitality system have made it more effective and given the biggest boost to leveling speed in the history of Lineage II. We are planning additional improvements to the Vitality system and to the Adventurer’s Buff system in future updates.
8. Can we expect more US/EU-only events? Will you update rewards in quests, too?
Yes. We will have more US/EU specific events and rewards will be updated with your suggestions in mind. There will be more events in the future that will reward vitality.
NCSOFT WEST AND NCSOFT KOREA1.We heard you were lately in NCsoft Korea. Any info you could pass along to players? What can we expect?
I just got back a few weeks ago. While in Korea, I was able to see and to learn a lot about the next update and the direction of development after that. I truly want to share the excitement I experienced from learning what’s coming up in the future with you, but please understand that it is too early for me to reveal future plans and content. I just want to tell you that we are currently working very hard to present the next update and many extras shortly after.
2.Most of the updates are made for Korean players. Will there be a change in this, after creation of NCsoft West? After all, the Korean and European/North American playstyle differs greatly.
Due to the time required to localize for all overseas territories, Korea launches the updates sooner than us. This does not mean that the updates only cater to Korean players. The development team reviews all suggestions from all territories all the time. The changes we have made to improve the new player experience were influenced by Western gameplay. We introduced the Vitality system, as well as the making numerous extensions for the Newbie Guide and Adventurer’s Guide buffs, to aid players with leveling. We also changed Gatekeeper teleportation costs to help new players coming into the game. These are just small examples that accommodate our Western audience in a way that Lineage II has not done in the past.
3.Lineage II is a service available 24/7, and it is for both Europeans and Americans. Yet, the GMs and CMs work only 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT from Monday to Friday (excluding holidays), leaving both game and forums unattended. When will you change it? It’s a crucial that players could get help when they need it.
We have staff available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to handle incoming support requests and in-game petitions. Additionally, many of the Lineage II team members check in on things periodically when they are not at work. While we have people available at all times, some of the escalated tickets can take more time than others. To minimize the wait time, we have recently added more staff during off hours.
FINALWhat would you like to tell to Polish players?
Thank you very much for supporting Lineage II. I strongly believe in and have a passion for this game, so I want to share this with all of our players. I am not sure if it will be possible, but I would like to visit Poland one day.
