Lineage II - Vision Post

[RustNC]

Hello all,

At a few people's requests, here I am to let you know what is going on with Lineage II now that I am the game's producer, as well as what is to come. Unfortunately, there will be many things I cannot disclose to you, but I still think that I can give a pretty good idea of where we are at and where we hope to be going.

For starters, I know the popular discussion around these parts are the botters and adena farmers. Let me begin by saying that we have always been working hard to combat this, but I'll admit that our methods in the past have not yielded the results many have been looking for. Yesterday we banned 2657 accounts for botting and using 3rd party software. This is result of some new and improved procedures we have currently underway. Obviously, I cannot go into detail as to these methods, but I will say that we feel it will make a significant impact on the presence of bots in the game going forward. This is not the first time we've banned this many, and it won't be the last, but it will probably be the last time I announce the specific number. As well, this procedure is just one of several ways we are looking to combat the presence of 3rd party software within the game. The North American Lineage II team is dedicated to making the game playable and enjoyable to our legitimate and hard-working players.

As well, we are making concerted efforts to bring new events and GM driven content to the game. Hopefully it's been noticed that we've had more underway lately, and we hope to continue this trend. We think in the coming months you all will be pleasantly surprised with the variety and nature of the events coming your way. Again, I apologize for the need to keep the specifics under wraps, but we'd like the events to be a surprise until announced.

Many of you have also aired concerns that we are not making enough of an effort to reach out to new players. This is not the case. We have several programs underway to bring Lineage II to new folks and bring back former customers. We intend to make a significant marketing push for Chronicle 4, including expanded advertising and our trial code/buddy code programs. Also of note is that the new Lineage II Game Time Card boxes will come with a full C3 version and buddy code making it even easier for new players to get into the game. We're currently looking long and hard at our strategy and how to reach as many people as possible.

In general, I think there's a lot we can do and are doing to improve our support of the title. Consolidating the team to Austin has had a huge benefit to our daily operation. It's just a whole lot easier to get things done when you can go and knock on somebody's door. As well, we have a wealth of new talent in some key roles and the results are really starting to show. There are a lot of new and good ideas getting kicked around. Also, you've likely noticed that I'm around on the boards pretty frequently. We've been paying a lot of attention to your, the players, concerns and are tailoring our efforts to best suit this community, both vocal and non-vocal.

So that's what's up with what I can discuss. We're all hard at work here on the stuff above as well as getting C4 ready for our territory, so I'll probably be slow with responses in this thread. There will be further initiatives, efforts and programs as we go along, but I just wanted to say that we've got our heads down and we are doing everything we can to keep Lineage II the marquee PVP MMO on the market.

Thank you guys for making Lineage II the game and community it is today.


Adam Davidson

PS - Now leave me be, Choch!

[Elrohir]

Thanks for the info, BC!! :cool:

[KariTR]

Thank you for the great news Rust!

I shall be taking a keen interest in the starter villages over the coming week.

*Sharpens her dagger*

[Matilda]

RustNC,

Thank you very much for this post. It brings joy to my ears/eyes (I sometimes read it out loud) to see the improved precense on these boards.

Respectfully
/Matilda

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
I shall be taking a keen interest in the starter villages over the coming week.

*Sharpens her dagger*

[/ QUOTE ]
Elro on Kain is still on TI... :(

[KariTR]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I shall be taking a keen interest in the starter villages over the coming week.

*Sharpens her dagger*

[/ QUOTE ]
Elro on Kain is still on TI... :(

[/ QUOTE ]

Good, he can help me :p

[Sovrath]

Wow... I am beyond surprised but thank you very much for this.

I've noticed that other games have had a similiar type of info messages offered to the player base but until this time I've never noticed an NC one... (well... other than one about how you really are combatting bots).

I would love to have NC continue with this type of communication.

[uNDeRPaNTS_GNoMe]

Well, finally something players have been screaming for.

Thank you Rust for giving us a glimpse of what's ahead.

PS..... Fear not SirE I don't think Kari will give you the same treatment Bertha gave you on PTS. ;) Let me know if you need help getting off TI :D

[Lothlian]

[ QUOTE ]
PS..... Fear not SirE I don't think Kari will give you the same treatment Bertha gave you on PTS. Let me know if you need help getting off TI

[/ QUOTE ]

You can kick him hard enough to get him all the way across that water?

And thanks for the info Rust, it's very much appreciated!

[TailChaser]

Well I was gonna skip this post because I thought it was another bag of hot air, melted cheese, and molten metal from the big rust but I was wrong. Wow that's a lot of banned accounts and it's nice to actually see numbers instead of just guessing. It's also nice to see that push for C4 since I've ran out of people to sell equipment. New people means lots more noobs needing gear... and I'll be there selling them their tools of the trade :D

One request: how about a nominal fee in C4 to sell us the new CDs for the game without registration codes. Since I already own the game I just want new disks so I don't have to update FOREVER even on a cable modem when reinstalling. I have delayed reinstalling my operating system a few time because of this. The other option I'm using is copying the game to a backup drive but being able to cleanly install from a CD makes things much nicer in case one's computer get the case of the bugs and viruses. Or have a package for download that get be burned into CDs. Thank you very much.

[Lothlian]

[ QUOTE ]
The other option I'm using is copying the game to a backup drive but being able to cleanly install from a CD makes things much nicer in case one's computer get the case of the bugs and viruses.

[/ QUOTE ]

Zip your L2 directory, split it, and burn it to a couple (or 4 or 5, if your screenshot directory is anything like mine) CD's.

[Galil]

wow
thank you NCsoft. I always had faith in you guys :D

I really like the idea of making an advertising push for c4. I would like to see the starter towns full of noobies again.

[Nevnariel]

[ QUOTE ]
Well I was gonna skip this post because I thought it was another bag of hot air, melted cheese, and molten metal from the big rust but I was wrong. Wow that's a lot of banned accounts and it's nice to actually see numbers instead of just guessing. It's also nice to see that push for C4 since I've ran out of people to sell equipment. New people means lots more noobs needing gear... and I'll be there selling them their tools of the trade :D

One request: how about a nominal fee in C4 to sell us the new CDs for the game without registration codes. Since I already own the game I just want new disks so I don't have to update FOREVER even on a cable modem when reinstalling. I have delayed reinstalling my operating system a few time because of this. The other option I'm using is copying the game to a backup drive but being able to cleanly install from a CD makes things much nicer in case one's computer get the case of the bugs and viruses. Or have a package for download that get be burned into CDs. Thank you very much.

[/ QUOTE ]

The download of the game client has been available from this web site since the very beginning:

http://www.lineage2.com/pds/game_dw.html

It won't fit on one CD, but the zip file contains a number of parts that can be split across several CDs or you can just put the whole thing on one DVD.

[TailChaser]

I think the content is old and still needs a lot of updating. I've not done it since OB so I'm not really sure.

[TLuirn]

Normally an announcement of how many bots have been banned and that you are working hard on fixing the problems would provide me with several hours worth of laughter at how stupid you must be to think we'd believe you.

However, repeatedly going in game and seeing all the server status saying good, and the amount of bot groups I have seen for months that are no longer around have forced me to say something I never thought I'd be saying.

Well done.

The increased communication with the players has been something we have been asking for since the game came out. Again I must say, Well Done.

[Sovrath]

[ QUOTE ]
However, repeatedly going in game and seeing all the server status saying good, and the amount of bot groups I have seen for months that are no longer around have forced me to say something I never thought I'd be saying.
Well done.


[/ QUOTE ]

Kind of scary when you come to think of it. That stopping "x" amount of Bots would have such a noticable effect on server status.

[HammerThorn]

I hope that you will massage the drop rates so the economy wont tank....... That will also make less demand for adena and less employment for farmers. I have seen the drop rates adjust in lineage 1 to compinsate for changes I am sure you can do it here too
Hammer

[Greywolf005]

One question, does NC North America have the autonomy to change the game mechanics? i.e. the failing manor system. There are some basic things you guys could do there to remedy it. Is that something you can touch on?

Thanks,
Art

[Sent]

[ QUOTE ]
I hope that you will massage the drop rates so the economy wont tank....... That will also make less demand for adena and less employment for farmers. I have seen the drop rates adjust in lineage 1 to compinsate for changes I am sure you can do it here too
Hammer

[/ QUOTE ]

The economy will be fine. Screw botters/farmers and eBayers. It's possbile to play this game without them.

Maybe I can turn in and buy some seeds now.

[Cuj0z]

Awesome News!

Keep up the good work! ;D

[SlyCutter]

hey id pay 20 bucks just for a hard copy of the updates from prelude to c4 and i think many people would. Im on 56k to update from prelude to c3 even would take me more then a week and with all the content of c4 means almost 2 weeks. (god forbid of a hard drive crash or something).

I might buy a copy of the new c4 update just to have it and maybe use it for a 2nd account :)

[ThomasCovanent]

THANK YOU NCSOFT!

[SargeNC]

The new Game Time Card box that will be appearing on shelves shortly will have a hard copy of the game, including C3.

Sarge

[Nevnariel]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the content is old and still needs a lot of updating. I've not done it since OB so I'm not really sure.

[/ QUOTE ]

The download on the page I linked is the current C3 client. I downloaded it when I reactivated my account in July. The updater didn't download any files before launching the game. From my past experience with the download, they appear to update the download after every patch.

[AppleBuddy]

[ QUOTE ]

At a few people's requests, here I am to let you know what is going on with Lineage II now that I am the game's producer, as well as what is to come.

[/ QUOTE ]

What does games producer mean? Your the new person in charge of L2 in North America and Europe?

[SlyCutter]

[ QUOTE ]
The new Game Time Card box that will be appearing on shelves shortly will have a hard copy of the game, including C3.

Sarge

[/ QUOTE ]

:) I <3 Sarge looks like sly is getting another account :D

[Severity_]

Interesting. I've been patted on the head and assured "everything will be alright" by SOE for the last 5 years,

Hopefully NCSoft is the kind of publisher that means what it says, and doesn't just post vagueries to keep the masses hopeful.

[RustNC]

[ QUOTE ]

What does games producer mean? Your the new person in charge of L2 in North America and Europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I probably should have clarified that.

[Reidmar]

Thanks for the update, Rust. Your vision for the game is encouraging for us to hear.

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

What does games producer mean? Your the new person in charge of L2 in North America and Europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I probably should have clarified that.

[/ QUOTE ]
When do we get our frikken lasers???

[SlyCutter]

just thinking about C4.... who is going to lead the FJPTS this time? *scratches his head*

[PameanWraith]

Excellent news. Thanks for the update.

[Wyzeguy]

*wonders if being a producer really means you get to smoke cigars at work*

*wonders if there's a producer-ed program at the community college*

[ QUOTE ]
The new Game Time Card box that will be appearing on shelves shortly will have a hard copy of the game, including C3.

Sarge

[/ QUOTE ]

*wonders when "hard copy" came to mean CD -- used to think it was a trashy fake-news TV show*

Wonders of wonders, thanks rusty sarge!

[Lord Chaos]

Thank you very much, that is some nice additions that might help the game significantly.

Will these enhancements be done to europe as well, will the new boxes be distributed there now that you have an NCSoft Europe department?

[DiNightcrawler]

Must say i am more than impressed. All them account that were banned has opened up alot of hunting grounds on teon.Not to mention alot of the sell bots are gone .

[Kronine]

<3

[Z3ph3r]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

What does games producer mean? Your the new person in charge of L2 in North America and Europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I probably should have clarified that.

[/ QUOTE ]
You have no home you hobo.... Source (http://www.lineage2.com/community/teambios.html)
BTW Cambist > Rust in terms of Viciousness...I mean come on the Evil Elpy will Decimate all.

Rust goes to pet....AHHHH it bit my hand off...runs to Mistryl for magic loving.

P.S Thanks For the info...can't wait to see what event roll around.
MontyPython FTW too

[Choch]

Rust gets his first + 1 for content and follow-through.

But I think I have finally figured out that Rust is my arch-nemisis Mr. Event Planner Man (who always schedules or does things when I'm really really busy at work or having surgery so I don't have the time to look over things that I would like to) so he gets a -1 for being Mr. Event Planner Man.

So after the post, he's still at 0. That's pretty good for a producer :)


+++++communication i always say^^

oh and I do recall Ornery saying he'd be doing the same but I haven't seen his yet.....too busy crapping all over the office I guess ^_^

[LordDurham]

Awesome news! Thank you... now to get back the friends that left the game. :)

[Z3ph3r]

[ QUOTE ]
Rust gets his first + 1 for content and follow-through.

But I think I have finally figured out that Rust is my arch-nemisis Mr. Event Planner Man (who always schedules or does things when I'm really really busy at work or having surgery so I don't have the time to look over things that I would like to) so he gets a -1 for being Mr. Event Planner Man.

So after the post, he's still at 0. That's pretty good for a producer :)


+++++communication i always say^^

oh and I do recall Ornery saying he'd be doing the same but I haven't seen his yet.....too busy crapping all over the office I guess ^_^

[/ QUOTE ]
He isn't the event planner he is the event approver....Give credit where Credit is due...Kyleran & Kragg are the Event Coordinators.

:D

If me be wrong Rusty inform me .

[Aenorin]

[ QUOTE ]
just thinking about C4.... who is going to lead the FJPTS this time? *scratches his head*

[/ QUOTE ]



ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sandron]

thanks for the info

events have been good. keep it up

and the news on your marketing strategy is good to hear as well

[Diatress]

Keep it up Ncsoft, and u might turn this mmo around back to it's players.

[Bighands]

Nice post Rust!
It's amazing how far something like this goes in terms of goodwill with the community.

A fine job on swinging the BAN hammer there Mr. Spam and co.!!

All in all, this stuff is good to hear. Thanks Rust, and everyone at NCSoft.

[MuddBow]

I was wondering why the prices of everything doubled today. :eek: :confused:

[Skult]

Thank You

[LordDurham]

[ QUOTE ]
I was wondering why the prices of everything doubled today.

[/ QUOTE ]

Prices went down! And even if they did go up on your server... WHO CARES... no bots and no [censored]****** is a blessing to the future of L2. Get rid of the cheaters! :)

[MuddBow]

I'm not complaing, the past few days I've been able to hunt in the Cemetary hassle free. Never been able to do that before.
I hope they keep the ban hammer swinging, the economy will work itself out eventually.

And the price increase probably saved my bow today. Yesterday, I could only afford 3 Ench Weap B's at 1.5mil each. Today everyone was asking 3-3.5 mil each. No way I'm buying another one now. :cool:

[naikoo]

I don't see how you can get banned for botting. 90% of the time I petition about someone I get a generic reply. I wasted over 10 petitions on some guy that was afk botting. After wasting a good 5 hours with NCsofts /gm feature and still not talking to anyone, I took care of it. Trained the guy and got some of his gear. /gmlist allows you to see who is actually logged on as a gm on the server. Its funny because you wait forever to see if you can get a GM on to help you with this botter, and the only help you get is some generic response that you have read 20 some times.

I don't want to hear we banned botters, because known botters on devianne are still there. Even after this banfest you guys had, the botters are still there. The same botters that I petitioned about in c2 are still around in c3. Only difference is in c3 you can't for the life of you talk to a actual gm. After 10+ petitions finally talking to a gm, showning the bots auto get up, run to a mob attack it. Run away when i target it...he says, "he will take care of the issue."

They are still there.

[cyzco21]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't see how you can get banned for botting. 90% of the time I petition about someone I get a generic reply. I wasted over 10 petitions on some guy that was afk botting. After wasting a good 5 hours with NCsofts /gm feature and still not talking to anyone, I took care of it. Trained the guy and got some of his gear. /gmlist allows you to see who is actually logged on as a gm on the server. Its funny because you wait forever to see if you can get a GM on to help you with this botter, and the only help you get is some generic response that you have read 20 some times.

I don't want to hear we banned botters, because known botters on devianne are still there. Not just after this little claimed "banfest" you guys had. The same botters that we petitioned about in c2 are still around in c3. Only difference is in c3 you can't for the life of you talk to a actual gm. People I petitioned in c2 and c3...and after 10+ petitions finally talking to a gm about it he says he will take care of the issue.

They are still there.

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew someone would cry :mad:

[naikoo]

not crying just calling bs. Gameguard didn't do jack. It clearly caused more problems for legit players then the botters it was supposed to stop. I know for a fact when you try to talk to a gm you aren't going to. So /gm isn't going to stop them. So they post about them banning accts? Did they run around and find this out themselves because I know players didn't help to get these accts banned.

Im sorry but when I /gm and get a generic response I am not going to assume that someday the botter will be banned. I sure they banned a lot of botters...just like server transfers were comming in c2.

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
Gameguard didn't do jack. It clearly caused more problems for legit players then the botters it was supposed to stop.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is not GameGuard's purpose.

[ QUOTE ]
just like server transfers were comming in c2.

[/ QUOTE ]
Where on earth did you hear this??

[Nooblar]

[ QUOTE ]
Yesterday we banned 2657 accounts for botting and using 3rd party software.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hurray! I can't wait to log in tonight and see what a dent this makes in some of the farming spots, not to mention the giran shops.

[Maitreya]

Yippie!!!

Thank you for that post Rust!

It is very nice to know that some stuff is being done to improve and make more sales of this game.

I am very suprised, and I will be even more impressed when I actually start seeing the new marketing of L2!

[TrumpD]

Thank you for finaly doing this nice to see you DO care about the game not just the $$$ it makes you.

Keep it up...they will be back

[Lorak]

The amazing lack of Bot parties on Bartz was very much noticed today. Thank you NCSoft. We have heard numbers before. But this was the first time I have been able to actualy notice the effect in game.

Granted there were still farmers. But I can live with farmers as long as they have to actualy play the game like we do.

Bravo!

As for the buddy code program. Please don't schedule any network changes around then. I talked several friends into trying the game out during the last one for C3. But do to the horrible lag that whole month. They all ran away.

Thanks again for the news. and update!

Lorak

[Aenorin]

You know, logically naiku could have a point. It is a possibility that they didn't ban anyone in fact. I'm not here to say they did or didn't, but the idea that they could just pick a number out of their hat and say "we banned THIS many" isn't totally ridiculous. As long as they are able to convince someone that the problem is gone, then they will believe that it is truly gone. Like the placebo effect. Lets just 'pretend' that GameGuard wasn't actually anti-botting software at all and that they just put in little GG symbols (kinda like having The Slomin Shield sticker in your window but never buying the alarm system).

Then the parents just tell the kids "See? Now all the criminals will be shunned by the very sight of that shield!"

Just having the sticker makes the kids feel like they are safe. I wouldn't say that this is necessarily unethical though. I mean, you are creating safety in their minds. And if perception is reality, then they are in a sense fixing the problem. Of course once the realization sets in that this is what happened everyone starts to clamor that nothing was actually fixed and blah blah blah.

Its very fun to watch it all happen though I must say. Banter on :D

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
You know, logically naiku could have a point. It is a possibility that they didn't ban anyone in fact. I'm not here to say they did or didn't, but the idea that they could just pick a number out of their hat and say "we banned THIS many" isn't totally ridiculous.

[/ QUOTE ]
This exact discussion occurred some time ago. Someone demanded to know the number of bots banned each week or something like that.

Again, the number, by itself, is meaningless. I applaud what's-his-name :p for actually posting a number but, without context, you can't tell too much from it.

[Twinkles]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't see how you can get banned for botting. 90% of the time I petition about someone I get a generic reply. I wasted over 10 petitions on some guy that was afk botting. After wasting a good 5 hours with NCsofts /gm feature and still not talking to anyone, I took care of it. Trained the guy and got some of his gear. /gmlist allows you to see who is actually logged on as a gm on the server. Its funny because you wait forever to see if you can get a GM on to help you with this botter, and the only help you get is some generic response that you have read 20 some times.

I don't want to hear we banned botters, because known botters on devianne are still there. Even after this banfest you guys had, the botters are still there. The same botters that I petitioned about in c2 are still around in c3. Only difference is in c3 you can't for the life of you talk to a actual gm. After 10+ petitions finally talking to a gm, showning the bots auto get up, run to a mob attack it. Run away when i target it...he says, "he will take care of the issue."

They are still there.

[/ QUOTE ]

He is right. There is another program out there that is not affected by the hammer. The botters will all clamour to that proggie once they know they cant use the other one. I ran into 2 bot groups in Garden of Eva couple days ago on Teon. They were still there after the hammer. And not phazing in n out like some were doing. So, not all bots have been banned.

Good job though on finding the ones you think were bots. hmmm. Or not. Lets see how the hammer keeps them from coming back. I suspect Spam will see an increase on the servers in about a week. Prolly in the starter towns if the botters find another proggie to work for them and buy new accounts.

[Aenorin]

I'm envisioning how fun this could be. Its almost as if this is steering like a ship with no main mast right into the rocks. There could be a witch hunt of sorts, all the noobies getting pked in the name of keeping the farmers at bay!

Man I feel like Darkmotion today......creepy......

Edit-- SirEl, I must add that your avatar is quite disturbing. Or funny, I can't decide.

[soltyspl]

Well that's surprising to hear. Even positively surprising :)

Although I'm a bit more sceptical than Tluirn. Major oog bot was fixed just today, and botters are a bit more careful. So we will see if our friendly automatons reappear in their usual places in the following days... or maybe not.

But indeed L2 became much more quiet place for the time being. And the number is nice.

Rust:
A much more interesting question for me - suggestions forums. Is it going to be as feedbackless/dialogless as always, or will some [small at least] steps be taken to change it in nearby future ?

[Clainin]

Still LOADS of bots on Lionna from my eyes. Sad but true. I haven't been on lately but last night there were still lots of people that used 3rd party programs that weren't banned. I even had someone tell me they were botting one time back in C2, I sent an e-mail with the screenshot and time. No result. So if they have their own ways of finding the botters, well more power to them. Swing the ban hammer and smack em right upside the head.

[Caleria]

I refuse to read through all those 6 pages of joyful comments... but let me add mine. ;)

Thank you for the post Rust, that way of communication and transperancy is really appreciated. :)
That is really an impressive ammount of banned accounts there... and the effects are noticable! Nowhere near perfect but... less bad. ;)

Regards,
Cal

[_StREAk_]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

What does games producer mean? Your the new person in charge of L2 in North America and Europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I probably should have clarified that.

[/ QUOTE ]
When do we get our frikken lasers???

[/ QUOTE ]

With Sharks attached to them.

[GaladronsBoy]

A few steps in the right direction. SALUTE!! :) :)

[Splatter]

Very good post Rust. The only other thing i wanted to add of whats on the players minds is.

A new Lineage ][ Guide.....

Prima has failed in bring a guide for the players, is NCNA looking for other vendors for a players guide?

[Kaldonius]

Great news...so happy to hear this, after sieghardts downtime yesterday I logged back on to see pretty much no bots whatsoever, and I havent seen many since =D

<3 <3 <3

[Malchor]

This is a bittersweet victory for the majority of the community. Firstly, most of us that have complained, at one point or another, about farmers or botters, have done so because it infringed on a specific hunting area; by nature, most of the community that has complained hasn't thought of the detrimental impact such a “clean-up” like this would have on the in-game market. I, for one, know of only a few spoilers that use the majority of their play time farming materials on a regular basis; nor do I know of many groups that will tolerate a spoiler collecting those items exclusively. In the end this means that the price of mats/items will greatly increase while the number of players that are hurt by this increase will far outweigh the number of players that have been adversely affected by having their hunting areas flooded with bot trains and farming groups.

I could care less about the buying and selling of adena, I don’t partake of this activity myself, but I’m indifferent to it as it does not take away from my gameplay. Some would say that it allows for a more casual gamer to get ahead before someone that plays on a regular basis and tries to acquire these items in a traditional manner, however, consider this: we are playing a PVP based game, where balance and eye-level odds make the game inherently more enjoyable; if Player A decides to buy adena to equip himself in gear he would otherwise be hard-pressed to purchase through normal means, and Player B simply plays the game enough to do so in a traditional way, than in affect the playing field is leveled at a tolerable equilibrium for both camps, and therefore a more enjoyable experience overall, when it comes to the PVP content, is the end result.

I side with the decision to ban these accounts, if only for principle, however, at the same time, I disagree with their decision because of the obvious outcome. Lineage 2 is no where near being a top-selling MMO in this country, nor do I see it ever becoming one. If we haven’t garnished a sufficient amount of subscribers by this point, the influx will usually stay relatively balanced; a player starts, a player quits. The problem lies in the fact that by banning these accounts, NCSoft has shot themselves in the foot, eliminating accounts which rely on the game as a source of income for certain individuals, and thereby are accounts which are longer lasting and more consistent than the average player; they essentially have limited their consistent player base substantially. The affects this has on the game are apparent given the fact this means NCSoft has taken away a huge portion of their annual income and made it even more difficult for themselves to stay afloat in a very competitive market (which will be growing and expanding and offering even more options to the consumer as this next year rolls by). Take into account too, that there will be players who will grow ever more frustrated with the inflated market and will choose to play a game which has a more forgiving, or more tolerable, system for acquiring items. Though (SOE) is not my choice company, they really understood the American market enough to make an educated decision in this area, and their game flourishes and continues to grow daily.

To end, any good company assumes they can design some major marketing ploy to pull in those customers that have gone awry or to gain new customers in which to add to their projected gross income, however, the chances of this being successful for a game which, by nature, caters to a different market, has a history of poor support and production interaction, and which has some of the most shallow content on the market, is slim to none.

Who wins? Only NCSoft’s pride and the few players who are oblivious to the adverse outcome this will have on the market. Hunt all you want in your newly cleared areas, when it comes time to buy that new bow you’ve been drooling over, be prepared to spend a lot more time there.

Note: Welcome Rust, and please, take no offense from this post, just a simple, educated observation from a player that has been with the game since beta as a clan and alliance leader and is well aware of both the botting problem and the positives and negatives of ridding the game of this ongoing issue.

[Linspatz_]

[ QUOTE ]
Yesterday we banned 2657 accounts for botting and using 3rd party software.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would like to see numbers like this more often. And if possible the numbers by server. So we know how well your cleaning our server.

[blessedsoul]

erm, and no words on server transfer. should i give up this dream?

>.>

[Lorak]

Malchor,

I'm not quoting your entire post. But what you say rings true to an extent. Without the botted farmers, material prices are going to go crazy. Scrolls and such on Bartz all ready have.

But I hope NCSoft has the insite and the ability to adjust drops and massage the economy to bring it back in line with a legit player base.

Sarge seems to have a interest in this area, so hopefully she can see and relate to the problem, and advise her co-workers on how to fix it.

Banning Bots and farmers is a great first step. It just remains to be seen if NCSoft follows through on step 2. Which is looking and making adjustments to the real fan base.

Lorak

[Malchor]

[ QUOTE ]
Malchor,

I'm not quoting your entire post. But what you say rings true to an extent. Without the botted farmers, material prices are going to go crazy. Scrolls and such on Bartz all ready have.

But I hope NCSoft has the insite and the ability to adjust drops and massage the economy to bring it back in line with a legit player base.

Sarge seems to have a interest in this area, so hopefully she can see and relate to the problem, and advise her co-workers on how to fix it.

Banning Bots and farmers is a great first step. It just remains to be seen if NCSoft follows through on step 2. Which is looking and making adjustments to the real fan base.

Lorak

[/ QUOTE ]

Let me first say this: I agree with this decision, wholeheartedly in fact; I should have clarified this more in my original post and I feel, that now, the former statement contradicts my original point to some degree.

Let me explain:

I am not susceptible to the outcome of this change as much as the general populace because I have learned to become resourceful in my time playing L2. I am the oldest BD on Lionna, completing the second class change only second to a character that had quit shortly after C1, however, I am within an average level bracket because I spend my time hunting and farming the materials needed to equip my clan and my own characters. In fact, one of the oldest members of my clan, an SWS by the name of Abriel, had joined me at level 40, while I was well in my 50s, and has not only hit level 75, but has also leveled her sub substantially in the time since; we play the same amount of time per week and have the same habits, yet I find myself in town buying and selling and being able to equip my characters at a more efficient rate, given I devote myself to the market more than she. Though a poor example, given most average players have not yet reached the level cap, the story is still relative. Had I spent the same amount of time, proportionally, as Abriel did on leveling, than not only would I have achieved having a level 75 subclass by now, but I might have been well on my way to a third.

My main concern does not reside with the players that have grown accustomed too the market and have learned to foresee specific changes and use them to their advantage, but with the average player; players like or unlike Abriel whom do not have the know-how to dedicate or that grasp the market well enough to become self-sufficient members of the economic community. Though Abriel has been lucky enough, given drops and coming across a good deal here or there, the fact remains, the “average” player is most affected negatively by what can be seen as a significant change in the overall market.

I hope that changes such as you mentioned, streamlining drop-rates, etc, are a viable addition to helping the community recuperate from this sort of circumstance, however, history shows that the North American development team is not given as much slack in this respect, and as such will most likely not change major gameplay elements, such as drop and spoil rates, to simply satisfy the average user.

[PacificaCasull]

Good to hear from NCSoft and their future plan. Though vauge, such words are comforting.

But abt issues like publishing the numbers of banned botters, I hope this will not be the last time. Nor I hope this will be the last time I hear from admins some of their thoughts.

[Wyzeguy]

I'm a believer in the bot ban, at least temporarily. It's eerily empty out there!

[adoy_erica]

[ QUOTE ]
Hello all,

At a few people's requests, here I am to let you know what is going on with Lineage II now that I am the game's producer, as well as what is to come. Unfortunately, there will be many things I cannot disclose to you, but I still think that I can give a pretty good idea of where we are at and where we hope to be going.

For starters, I know the popular discussion around these parts are the botters and adena farmers. Let me begin by saying that we have always been working hard to combat this, but I'll admit that our methods in the past have not yielded the results many have been looking for. Yesterday we banned 2657 accounts for botting and using 3rd party software. This is result of some new and improved procedures we have currently underway. Obviously, I cannot go into detail as to these methods, but I will say that we feel it will make a significant impact on the presence of bots in the game going forward. This is not the first time we've banned this many, and it won't be the last, but it will probably be the last time I announce the specific number. As well, this procedure is just one of several ways we are looking to combat the presence of 3rd party software within the game. The North American Lineage II team is dedicated to making the game playable and enjoyable to our legitimate and hard-working players.

As well, we are making concerted efforts to bring new events and GM driven content to the game. Hopefully it's been noticed that we've had more underway lately, and we hope to continue this trend. We think in the coming months you all will be pleasantly surprised with the variety and nature of the events coming your way. Again, I apologize for the need to keep the specifics under wraps, but we'd like the events to be a surprise until announced.

Many of you have also aired concerns that we are not making enough of an effort to reach out to new players. This is not the case. We have several programs underway to bring Lineage II to new folks and bring back former customers. We intend to make a significant marketing push for Chronicle 4, including expanded advertising and our trial code/buddy code programs. Also of note is that the new Lineage II Game Time Card boxes will come with a full C3 version and buddy code making it even easier for new players to get into the game. We're currently looking long and hard at our strategy and how to reach as many people as possible.

In general, I think there's a lot we can do and are doing to improve our support of the title. Consolidating the team to Austin has had a huge benefit to our daily operation. It's just a whole lot easier to get things done when you can go and knock on somebody's door. As well, we have a wealth of new talent in some key roles and the results are really starting to show. There are a lot of new and good ideas getting kicked around. Also, you've likely noticed that I'm around on the boards pretty frequently. We've been paying a lot of attention to your, the players, concerns and are tailoring our efforts to best suit this community, both vocal and non-vocal.

So that's what's up with what I can discuss. We're all hard at work here on the stuff above as well as getting C4 ready for our territory, so I'll probably be slow with responses in this thread. There will be further initiatives, efforts and programs as we go along, but I just wanted to say that we've got our heads down and we are doing everything we can to keep Lineage II the marquee PVP MMO on the market.

Thank you guys for making Lineage II the game and community it is today.


Adam Davidson

PS - Now leave me be, Choch!

[/ QUOTE ]
dude my hat is off to you ... this is the first positive thing i have seen since the duplication-item-exploit banning

as for the players complaining that this is not enough ... they had better realize that some 10 billion adena has just evaporated from the botters on these servers ... AND THEREFORE these same botters will think twice to come back to this game and wipe them and their cheating ways out again!

[Malchor]

Good post Lorak, btw...

[LordDurham]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm a believer in the bot ban, at least temporarily. It's eerily empty out there!

[/ QUOTE ]
Perm BAN! :)

Hey and if the server population is low... go out and everyone let their friends know NCSoft is finally doing something about the bots and people will come back.

Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising.

[Mizwisfist]

Ty for the words Rust and gratz on the good work being done.

Don't forget however to monitor closely our economics systems and watch for the price of base mats. You can then adjust the drop rates accordingly to prevent a too big inflation that would surely ruin the game as well as farmers did.

Als remove the cap of seeds turned back in the manor would help, as well with several seeds cash in per day.

Keep up the good work.

[Monstrosity]

I must say.. I really did not expect to get a battle plan from you guys.

I'm impressed.

[Lampis]

WOW!!! That was impressive! Until now many people believed that there was some kind of conspiracy, a secret agreement between NCsoft and botters. But now, I'm speechless....
I hope you continue this way. A better game for everyone

[Neferioth]

nice...i hate chinese farmers :) :) :)

[Valdis]

Yay! The bot clan that hunted DI is gone now. We were able to crawl our way through toward the back and never saw a single bot. For that matter, we only saw one other group, and they were obviously not bots. Nice work NCSoft.

[AlphaCentori]

Great news,

This week I made a reply where I mentionned that imo, cheaters (not only botters) won this game by KO.. well keep up to that direction and we will be able to finally compete fairly and see what this game is capable of.

Nice move indeed and for those who are wondering about materials: now without the botters, try the manor system out.. cause NCsoft just give it back to it's intented owners: legit players. :)

Great news again!

Edit: and if you need a specific material: go make a clan hunt for it, talk and pay a bounty hunter.. play the game as it was intended!

[Choch]

I think some people are losing sight of the forest while looking at the trees.

To me, this is seems like the first (public) step in a well thought out marketing campaign. Let's break it down.

Botters/farmers have been a plague on Lineage 2 for many many players. People either quit or never pick up the game over it. Current players also voice their outrage over it. So NC works to combat this, and does a sweeping ban that cleans up the servers (Bartz at least has been amazingly farmer free so it seems to me their new technique worked). At the very least, this banning shows that NCSoft HAS been working on it and DOES care and can and will do something about it. This is what most players ask for at a minimum and something that hasn't been very obvious to the playerbase up until this point. So that's major concern and issue people stop playin over they have addressed. For pretty much the first time, it is obvious to all players that NC is doing this and by doing it in such a public way so now they have credibility, which can go a LONG way.

Another concern that people have is events. They've been developing events and we've been having events more and more and more. They even announced an event team in the team bio section. This is the first glimpse that players have into the inner workings of NCNA and provides us some transparency so we know that people yes, in fact, people in NA ARE actually working on events for us.

In addition, people have complained about some types of events catering to botters/farmers. Well what I just mentioned above should alleviate many of those concerns because those accounts have been banned. So it frees up another concern with regards to events. Rust says more exciting events are coming and as I said above, for the first time, players have a reason to believe this.

In addition to all of this, they are launching a marketing campaign aimed at getting C3 back onto shelves for new customers and most likely to get re-reviewed by magazines/websites that gave it poor reviews in prelude/C1 due to the botters/farmers or the levelling curve for noobs. Both have now been addressed (new player bonuses). So that should help tremendously in terms of both getting new players and getting returning players because when they read the reviews the reviews SHOULD say that the major problems they had with L2 have been addressed. This should translate into many new or returning players.

He then points out that many of these changes have come about since the move to Austin and provides a little more transparency into how NCNA works. I have no doubt that the consolidation of the teams has and will continue to help the service and support of L2.

Finally, as a result of his post and his activity on these boards, players finally feel as though they have a way to communication with a PTB. No offense to Sarge or Ash or Dheverin, but many times it seemed to me like their hands were tied by their higher ups. Now players have a way to, when necessary, communicate with one of those higher ups and give (and receive) feedback. Knowing who is supporting you behind the scenes is an amazing feel for a player and something we have not had up until this point.

So don't just get caught up in the fact that they've banned a lot of farmers and botters. I think that's great and they deserve a pat on the back for a job well done there. But that seems to be just one piece in a much larger puzzle that truly is designed to make Lineage II more enjoyable for the players. Before all of that, I had just kind of accepted things for how they were as a status quo. Now I at least have some hope that won't always be the case.

As I've always said, +++++communication is good. Rust has brought (and allowed in the policies that I'm assuming he's setting as producer) a lot of transparency into many of the issues that players have had and given us insight into the workings of L2's staff and the direction NC's service is heading.

One area I'd like a little more transparency is in the whole NA suggestions and how they get fed over to Korea and what types of decisions (and changes) NCNA can actually make for themselves versus what decisions are ulitmately up to NCKorea. While I always asked for that kind of information to be published and we've never really gotten a clear answer on it and just kind of expected to never hear one, like I said, this post and the policies give me hope so maybe one day we'll hear a little bit more about that aspect of how NCNA works :)

But you shouldn't get completey bogged down on one aspect of this post/vision and realize that it is an integral part of what at least seems to be Rust's overall plan for Lineage II and what seems, at least to me, to be a very good plan to improve the service and reach out to the players.

But he still gets a -1 for posting it while I'm really busy with work. And if he really is Mr. Event Planner Man (not events as in in-game events but the bigger things) and helped plan the launch of L2 in NA for the day after I went in for surgery so I had to start off playing while on a morphine drip, I'm still going to kick him in the nuts if I ever see him. Even though he's done all this good work, that heinous crime can never be forgiven :cool:

[Wyzeguy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm a believer in the bot ban, at least temporarily. It's eerily empty out there!

[/ QUOTE ]
Perm BAN! :)

Hey and if the server population is low... go out and everyone let their friends know NCSoft is finally doing something about the bots and people will come back.

Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, for sure, I hope it's a permaban for all that were using 3rd-party botters.

What I meant by temporarily is that, just as the kudzu or ivy in your backyard, the farmers will come creeping back.

Those accounts are banned, but botters can always get another CD key. But it looks like they'll need a new M.O., perhaps even farm their adena the legit way.

The ones I'm most glad are gone are those that, ironically, we'll feel the most -- the non-commercial players who infiltrate our clans (or our enemy clans) and used the bots to get an unfair advantage. (go ahead and rise up in their defense. Myself, I was in denial about my former clanleader-no way he was a cheater! Until he confessed to me it was true. You just don't know what someone's doing w/ the other 6 character slots on their account).
Hopefully they won't be back.

[FatesHand]

WOW. Nice gift to wake up to this today.

Rock on! -Fate

[ QUOTE ]
Hello all,

At a few people's requests, here I am to let you know what is going on with Lineage II now that I am the game's producer, as well as what is to come. Unfortunately, there will be many things I cannot disclose to you, but I still think that I can give a pretty good idea of where we are at and where we hope to be going.

For starters, I know the popular discussion around these parts are the botters and adena farmers. Let me begin by saying that we have always been working hard to combat this, but I'll admit that our methods in the past have not yielded the results many have been looking for. Yesterday we banned 2657 accounts for botting and using 3rd party software. This is result of some new and improved procedures we have currently underway. Obviously, I cannot go into detail as to these methods, but I will say that we feel it will make a significant impact on the presence of bots in the game going forward. This is not the first time we've banned this many, and it won't be the last, but it will probably be the last time I announce the specific number. As well, this procedure is just one of several ways we are looking to combat the presence of 3rd party software within the game. The North American Lineage II team is dedicated to making the game playable and enjoyable to our legitimate and hard-working players.

As well, we are making concerted efforts to bring new events and GM driven content to the game. Hopefully it's been noticed that we've had more underway lately, and we hope to continue this trend. We think in the coming months you all will be pleasantly surprised with the variety and nature of the events coming your way. Again, I apologize for the need to keep the specifics under wraps, but we'd like the events to be a surprise until announced.

Many of you have also aired concerns that we are not making enough of an effort to reach out to new players. This is not the case. We have several programs underway to bring Lineage II to new folks and bring back former customers. We intend to make a significant marketing push for Chronicle 4, including expanded advertising and our trial code/buddy code programs. Also of note is that the new Lineage II Game Time Card boxes will come with a full C3 version and buddy code making it even easier for new players to get into the game. We're currently looking long and hard at our strategy and how to reach as many people as possible.

In general, I think there's a lot we can do and are doing to improve our support of the title. Consolidating the team to Austin has had a huge benefit to our daily operation. It's just a whole lot easier to get things done when you can go and knock on somebody's door. As well, we have a wealth of new talent in some key roles and the results are really starting to show. There are a lot of new and good ideas getting kicked around. Also, you've likely noticed that I'm around on the boards pretty frequently. We've been paying a lot of attention to your, the players, concerns and are tailoring our efforts to best suit this community, both vocal and non-vocal.

So that's what's up with what I can discuss. We're all hard at work here on the stuff above as well as getting C4 ready for our territory, so I'll probably be slow with responses in this thread. There will be further initiatives, efforts and programs as we go along, but I just wanted to say that we've got our heads down and we are doing everything we can to keep Lineage II the marquee PVP MMO on the market.

Thank you guys for making Lineage II the game and community it is today.

Adam Davidson

[/ QUOTE ]

[Erilin]

One of our clannies don't like it... No more farmer hunting! ;)

[Toe]

Wow, NC. I'm impressed. Very impressed, and VERY suprissed.

I seriously had no hope for L2 NA anymore, I was just making different toons to waste time while my months ran out. Time to renew my subscription. C4's gonna rock.

[blessedsoul]

[ QUOTE ]
erm, and no words on server transfer. should i give up this dream?

>.>

[/ QUOTE ]

again, what about server transfer?

please advise.

[LordChowder]

sticky this thread! something! infact make a section on the website only about this sort of information and update it atleast once a week ^.^

[serelina]

[This thread is not the place to air individual grievances, nor are the forums for that purpose at all, barring game-related smack talk, of course. :) -- Tisirin]

[Knightwish]

Good [Beeping] Job NC. Now we can all move on with our lives and see how those that have always depended on farmers suffer and quit cause their main source of income is now bye bye. The economy may be a little *****ed for a while, but once things pan out......

No one is perfect and hopefully people will see this as a second chance to be honest gamers, and earn EVERYTHING the right way. GL to those that have gone wrong and try to change and bye bye to those that open their RL wallets and can't live without it, money won't buy everything , even happiness in a game last so long when you're bored with all your fancy toys.

[blessedsoul]

dont count your blessings too soon. on lionna, those choo choo trains in toi still exist. on bartz, there are new characters being created as we speak.

anyway, whatever...it seems like my question about server transfer will always be unswered. i wish they just come out and say.."forget about it. it'll never happen."

[SlyCutter]

Rust since your the game producer in NA would it possibly (just wondering if its even in the reaml of possiblity) to alter the things to cater to the NA community that are different from Korean and other Asian communities?

Like it was posted NCSoft nerfed the drops rates in C3 because of what was happening in Korea but that wasnt the case in NA. Also just NA's playstyles are different from Korea the drop rates are just one example im sure there are plenty more just because are cultures are different. I was wondering if you being the producer can instute changes to gameplay without NcSoft Korea approval?

[_StREAk_]

Choch sorry to be pessimistic.. I give it 2 weeks you will see that same types of botters all over place.. since NC gave new player buffs... ohh have you been to dorf town lately.. seen some errily fimilar names popping up already.. i saw on another site they got walker up and running again.. ohh and some new bot thing too sumthing wind now too.. i call BS too the number banned although bartz was good for whole 8 count them 8 hours the same as when they did sumthing and stopped the bots for a while. We would have good server i check unamed site all boasting WORKING bot 3 hours later bartz full.. now normal already. some farmer shop just hasnt got his accounts set up yet then we will be full again.
NC omg W#@ powzerd about 8 hours of less laggy server time for us BIG DEAL.
If they fix this crap for longer than 8 hours.. day or a week straight. then only then and rightly then ill eat my words.. but for the next friggen ****** thats going to come on ohh why did you say the bot names is i dont think NC soft NA has and intellect of a bumble bee to look this up themselves.
[please refrain from attempting obscenities -- Tisirin]

[RingOfPower]

/Stands Up And Cheers Wildly!

The game has light at the end of its tunnel and I am very much looking forward to being around to see all these changes for the better. TY for the encouraging post GM.

Ring
ProjectX
www.projectxgaming.com (http://www.projectxgaming.com)

[RingOfPower]

[ QUOTE ]
Choch sorry to be pessimistic.. I give it 2 weeks you will see that same types of botters all over place.. since NC gave new player buffs... ohh have you been to dorf town lately.. seen some errily fimilar names popping up already.. i saw on another site they got walker up and running again.. ohh and some new bot thing too sumthing wind now too.. i call BS too the number banned although bartz was good for whole 8 count them 8 hours the same as when they did sumthing and stopped the bots for a while. We would have good server i check unamed site all boasting WORKING bot 3 hours later bartz full.. now normal already. some farmer shop just hasnt got his accounts set up yet then we will be full again.
NC omg W#@ powzerd about 8 hours of less laggy server time for us BIG DEAL.
If they fix this crap for longer than 8 hours.. day or a week straight. then only then and rightly then ill eat my words.. but for the next friggen ****** thats going to come on ohh why did you say the bot names is i dont think NC soft NA has and intellect of a bumble bee to look this up themselves.


[/ QUOTE ]

Clearly a very immature post with no thought put into it, or even better, a very ungrateful player that should be added to everyone ignore list of (has no posts worth reading).

I think you missed the whole point m8. I wont attempt to speak for anyone other then myself but I am a grateful player who welcomes the upcoming new changes as well as the attempts to relieve the stress of the botting issue. That is called progress in a positive fashion.

To attempt to shoot down their efforts to better the game for us shows very bad taste. Your post comes across as a very bitter player who needs a good long break from Lineage, or even better, you might want to find a new game.

If people want to make a post on topics such as this, why not give positive suggestions as many people do. Give idea's and possible solutions and if they don't rewrite the games script to your needs, that is no reason to flame them.

There isn't much we can do as players to make the game perfect, but we can make it more enjoyable by reporting rule violations, giving idea's, reporting bugs, exploits etc.... It just takes allot less whining and fame posts and more positive feedback. I do what I can to make the game better for all of us and whining isn't on my list of efforts.

Ring
ProjectX
www.projectxgaming.com (http://www.projectxgaming.com)

[_StREAk_]

[Refrain from personal attacks and flames, please, as well as attempts to hijack this thread. -- Tisirin]

[Toe]

Ignore Streak's last post. He's trying to start a flamewar. I'm serious, just ignore it. Let's keep this thread good and clean.

[RingOfPower]

[ QUOTE ]
Ignore Streak's last post. He's trying to start a flamewar. I'm serious, just ignore it. Let's keep this thread good and clean.

[/ QUOTE ]

As if you had to point that out. I stopped reading his post once the wannabe gang banger slang started. Or perhaps it was when I was called boy. Well, I was almost a boy when my, now 19 year old daughter was born.

I learned 35 or so years ago that one can not reason with ignorance. So I'm not going to even touch this one. But to show the public a good example of what I was talking about, read his post. It doesn't get any better then that.

Now on to something new. Tonight in Giran, I noticed it had half the population it normally does. I also noticed that none the of players in trader mode I always got my SS from were there. The thing that struck me as odd was that Dion is really starting to fill up with players in trade mode like it used to be about the first 6 months of L2 launch.

As for the prices on armor and weapons, that all seems to be the same, just allot less of it. I predict the prices will get crazy for awhile. My point is, it shows that allot of accounts were terminated.

Ring
ProjectX

[Morgase]

[ QUOTE ]
Well I was gonna skip this post because I thought it was another bag of hot air, melted cheese, and molten metal from the big rust but I was wrong. Wow that's a lot of banned accounts and it's nice to actually see numbers instead of just guessing. It's also nice to see that push for C4 since I've ran out of people to sell equipment. New people means lots more noobs needing gear... and I'll be there selling them their tools of the trade :D

One request: how about a nominal fee in C4 to sell us the new CDs for the game without registration codes. Since I already own the game I just want new disks so I don't have to update FOREVER even on a cable modem when reinstalling. I have delayed reinstalling my operating system a few time because of this. The other option I'm using is copying the game to a backup drive but being able to cleanly install from a CD makes things much nicer in case one's computer get the case of the bugs and viruses. Or have a package for download that get be burned into CDs. Thank you very much.

[/ QUOTE ]




I agree 100% I'll pay for the cd's but at least make it available to us.

The bot bans were huge. I can now do my own "FARMING" withought having to deal with bot trains. TY!!!!!!!!!!

[soltyspl]

Generally about the economy:

Someone earlier said that economy would be fine. Well, don't expect it.

Current economy is not set for normal humans. 24/7 bots have problems with keeping economy alive (regardless of the territory; the most RMTed and botted one is Korea of course, plus you can account share there at will). Even with them - many recipes are close to non-existent, many key-parts as well and materials hard as hell to get. If you remove significant part of the server that exist only to farm 24/7, economy won't be magically fine. Players farming 24/7 manually won't suddenly show up from nowhere, especially not pvp crowd spending most of the time in arenas. Manor will supply only a fraction of what the server population needs.

Don't forget you play the game where the 60% weapon [gambling] recipe requires ~24,000 materials, and AoE group after 4-5 hours of small genocide (~7000 mobs killed during my todays party) go back with ~50 - 100 materials per person. And some of the more lucky members with 1 more or less worthless blade (I got 1 blade, 3 parts of some B armors, 72 (precise figure) materials).

You said you banned 2500+ accounts. Good. Whom did you ban ? People who left bot trains and shops on autorelogin, sometimes very rapid one. So you got both some "professional" farmers, but also some casual players using free version of one of the bots as lightweight shop-mode client. And you shouldn't just ignore the reasons, why they use it - not because they love to bot, but because some basic features of the game have been broken since the beginning - forcing people to stay online to do anything (and disconnections being pain in the *** because of that, especially if someone has a job); boring timesinked crafting (click click, wait, click click....); ridiculously limited amount of what you can sell/buy; unability to buy and sell at the same time; and few more.

IG bots were safe. OOG of one of the bot was fixed momentarily. OOG of the other one - much later (and after one version, I wonder how many customers they have lost, hehe :p). Generally - anyone with quarter of the brain who was able to turn few things off after the reset wasn't banned. Those who weren't and/or kept relogging their larger trains in the same second, got caught. Tough luck. They will know better in the future. But major workforce is good and well.

The supposed "backbone" of the economy - spoilers and crafters, nerfed beyond any reason in C2 (r.books, shops, manor) and while lying on the floor requesting something, kicked further (along with some other classes) in C3 (Mammon). It's already hard as hell to craft anything D - C and slowly B. Not even mentioning something more unusual. Spoilers prefer dual boxed duo than wasting time in larger group. Especially that for a 9 people group sweeping makes small difference in the end. Have your designers ever asked why do (usually) people choose classes like crafters or let's say, "collectors" ? Why are they less of them ? Why can't you craft a [censored] even if you have everything ?

If NC is serious about more mass bannings (regardless if the current one was intentional, or if they just used a window of oppurtunity), they should really drastically fix some parts of the game - starting with drops / spoils ratio, distribution and quantity (and simple let's make them x N won't help). They need to fix trading, warehouses, dwarves, [at least key] quests and few other things. Then L2 has a chance to become a game where bots are not needed anymore. Without those changes it's just shooting yourself in the feet, or worse.

ITOW they should fight the reasons of the mess L2 is today, not only the effects (which may produce more harm than good). If they don't fix the former, the latter will certainly never go away.

[ QUOTE ]
In addition, people have complained about some types of events catering to botters/farmers. Well what I just mentioned above should alleviate many of those concerns because those accounts have been banned.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course they were, and they still are (with excpetion of L2Day so far, and early contests like video/screenshot). Pretty much the whole game is (points to my sig once again).

Besides, what has botters' bannings got to do with catering events to botters ? It doesn't matter if they get or don't get banned. Event will still be cartered to them.

[ QUOTE ]
In addition to all of this, they are launching a marketing campaign aimed at getting C3 back onto shelves for new customers and most likely to get re-reviewed by magazines/websites that gave it poor reviews in prelude/C1 due to the botters/farmers or the levelling curve for noobs. Both have now been addressed (new player bonuses). So that should help tremendously in terms of both getting new players and getting returning players because when they read the reviews the reviews SHOULD say that the major problems they had with L2 have been addressed. This should translate into many new or returning players.

[/ QUOTE ]

They say they are launching. It's not the first time I hear about marketing L2. We'll see how it goes in practice this time.
Botters/farmers are far, far, far away of being addressed (you really sound like if you believe thay are suddenly magically gone).
Leveling curve is still brutal. Sure noobish (only 1 character per 1 server - don't forget that when a reviewer decides to check some other class) levels are a bit easier to play. But good reviewer won't be fooled by some SS crack, some buffs, and ability to exchange equipment. Especially seeing that besides everpresent grind there's barely anything to do in the game (considering things featured by the game, not roleplaying or whatever else). That wasn't any different in pre-prelude. And it isn't any different now - it all degenerates to camping spawnpoints for hours. And majority of players don't really enjoy it.

[OmbredeLune]

Ok, now, if you could do something to ban ebayers...

And don't worry about the economy, it will settle nicely once those who have too much adenas are gone.

[Racudal]

Ahahaha. Exceelent, just excellent.

That has gotta kick the botters where it hurts! ^____^

(probs in the face, as most are fem dorfs. Ugly freaky thngs.)

[PameanWraith]

Rust, how about producing a server for sieghardt that stays up longer than a half an hour at a shot?

All the vision I've been able to spot has been in the background of the "You've been disconnected from the server" message.

[Mezzovhal]

Without farmers it will be impossible to craft A, much less S grade. I hate botted famers taking the good spots as much as anyone, but we need access to materials, and right now 24/7 farmers are the only way to get them. Make mats available in npc stores, or go back to dropping more mats per high level mobs. This lame attempt to make BH's a desireable class has utterly failed.

[ElGalloMagico]

another point u have to look at though is, if NC actually does keep the bots from being able to play it would dry up the adena sellers reserves pretty quick i'd imagine. this would cause the prices of adena to skyrocket and therefor less people would be able or willing to purchase adena online. with less adena buyers there would be less people willing to pay those outrageous prices.

sure there would be small supply and a large demand which usually means higher prices but if the people demanding can't afford it then the prices will come down. the way the economy is right now would work with just a few small tweaks. but the key factor is keeping the botters/farmers gone. this wouldn't be an over night adjustment either. it would take awhile for the adena reserves to dry up but... it would happen eventually.

it's always funny to me to see people use the supply/demand example even though i just did. sure it works in rl and in l2 in theory. but unlike in rl, in l2 u can get enormous amounts of money quickly and easily. that throws 'supply/demand' right out the window imo.

[Nanashi_Naomhan]

man i'm loving this nc done one kickass job
right now a new bread of farmer has emerged the "actually at the key board farmer"
i love it so much seeing the dorf stop to buff himself carefully consider agro and note the players all around him
finally i feel the farmers are playing the same game as me

it amazed me how many farmers emerged with +'ed weapons and buff bots that actually had to be told what to do

good friggn job nc hope to see more in future along with the econemy tweaks i've always said would be needed once the farmers were removed

[PameanWraith]

Ok, so Sieghardt had a good day after the hour-long (or so it seemed) shutdown.

Thank you!

As far as the farmers being gone and the mats being in greater demand. Good!

That what you wanted, so live with it. I mean, hey, you whine/cry/blubber about the Bots and Farmers. So they are gone. Now by all means, trot your heinies out to the hunting fields that you were so upset about losing to bots, and kill kill kill.

Work that manor system since the bots aren't buying all the seeds and selling all the crops.

I know you don't want your cake and eat it too.

Out to work ladies and gents. :D

[LordDurham]

[ QUOTE ]
Without farmers it will be impossible to craft A, much less S grade.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? How so? Have you ever crafted an A Grade item? (I have)

A Grade just requires a little more mats... nothing unattainable when you have leveled 65+ levels. (Or make a BH... NCSoft did give you 6 more slots to play with for a reason)

The main components-Patterns and such are gained via Quests. Run them.

Seriously, there is NO reason to have Bots in the system. NONE. So please don't make excuses supporting them. We don't want them. Period.

/unequip flamethrower :p

[GaladronsBoy]

[ QUOTE ]

The thing that struck me as odd was that Dion is really starting to fill up with players in trade mode like it used to be about the first 6 months of L2 launch.

Ring
ProjectX

[/ QUOTE ]

This is to be expected as more and more players start doing their subclasses. Much easier than porting back to Giran to get something. :)

[Xabbu]

Thanks for your post! Wow.. 2600 accounts equal a little under 40 grand a month revenue.. bravo.. (bet that hurt).

[ QUOTE ]

Many of you have also aired concerns that we are not making enough of an effort to reach out to new players. This is not the case. We have several programs underway to bring Lineage II to new folks and bring back former customers. We intend to make a significant marketing push for Chronicle 4, including expanded advertising and our trial code/buddy code programs. Also of note is that the new Lineage II Game Time Card boxes will come with a full C3 version and buddy code making it even easier for new players to get into the game. We're currently looking long and hard at our strategy and how to reach as many people as possible.


[/ QUOTE ]

My only concern is with payment methods... Currently I don't have a credit card. I don't plan to change that fact.. ever. I would love to be able to play L2 by using Paypal (specifically for my situation) or any other type of online payment scheme. I despise running down to the local gaming store only to find that L2 cards are out of stock without any date for reorders. Not only that.. by going with this method it costs me an extra $5 per month to play. That doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about NCSoft.

Thanks!

Xabbu

[Sovrath]

Actually... you could do worse than to get a credit card.

Heck... if you wanted, you could even get a credit card with a 500.00 limit.

Use it to pay for L2 and pay it off every so often. You will build credit history which will only help you in the future, especially if you ever decide to buy property.

Credit Cards aren't evil... it's just that some people forget that they are not a substitute for real money.

Also... there have been times of huge emergency that having a credit card has been a life saver.

Just don't abuse it.

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
My only concern is with payment methods... Currently I don't have a credit card. I don't plan to change that fact.. ever.

[/ QUOTE ]
Why? Credit cards are great! They give you money, interest free for a month. What's the downside?

[ QUOTE ]
I would love to be able to play L2 by using Paypal (specifically for my situation) or any other type of online payment scheme. I despise running down to the local gaming store only to find that L2 cards are out of stock without any date for reorders. Not only that.. by going with this method it costs me an extra $5 per month to play. That doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about NCSoft.

Thanks!

Xabbu


[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with the alternative methods though. There should be other options.

[nolerahl]

If you use a check card I.E: Navy Fed,North west Fed. or any other check card.

It will take the money right out of your acc, and seting that for 12 month fee, at 11$ is much cheeper then tring to run to the store every month or two to get a new card, and less expenceive then a Cedit card is; do to the APR.

[Sovrath]

uh... Interest free? What type of Xanadu (http://upx.primenova.com/1/mpp_main/Xanadu.jpg) credit card are you using?

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
uh... Interest free? What type of Xanadu (http://upx.primenova.com/1/mpp_main/Xanadu.jpg) credit card are you using?

[/ QUOTE ]
They don't charge interest immediately.

[Sovrath]

ah... I see your point.

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
ah... I see your point.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh, and I would've had to hunt you down like a dog for posting that picture but I already heard that stupid song yesterday in a store at the mall. The ensuing killing spree was only stopped by the fact I didn't have any of my guns on me at the time.

[pullmyfinger]

I heard a rumor today that some clans were protected from the mass banning that happened because they have a gm or their alts in the their clan. Even self proclaimed botters and supporters of botters on other boards didnt have any of their members banned. Does anyone know if this rumor is true?

[Sovrath]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ah... I see your point.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh, and I would've had to hunt you down like a dog for posting that picture but I already heard that stupid song yesterday in a store at the mall. The ensuing killing spree was only stopped by the fact I didn't have any of my guns on me at the time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember when that song came out.... that's all you heard on the radio... and in the air... and in the stores...

kind of creepy... (even though I thought she was "cute as the dickens"

[Woodsman]

[ QUOTE ]
I heard a rumor today that some clans were protected from the mass banning that happened because they have a gm or their alts in the their clan. Even self proclaimed botters and supporters of botters on other boards didnt have any of their members banned. Does anyone know if this rumor is true?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would expect the opposite. If a GM notices someboy in his clan ebaying/botting he is more likey to turn that person in then another gamer would. So I think this rumour is based on wild speculations from some rumormongers.

[Coriantumr]

Life without bots was nice for a few days, but sure enough they seem to be returning ... the same ones that have always been around.

Tried to take a low level down into the Necropolis of Sacrifice today, and every single room was filled with characters with names like: Danceboy1, ccjjjllove, hhhhsuuu, OolovliOo ... etc.

So I went on my main to hunt up outside Disciples Necropolis and the place had some of the same botted farmer groups that have been up there for ages.

Was this banning of bots only temporary? Have they found a way around it already?

[LordDurham]

Report them... the bots will try to return and will be low level characters for awhile.

Report every Bot you see... with refernce to this thread and what RustNC has said if necessary.

[PameanWraith]

My suggestion is to make a compilation of all the rumors you here, sort them by type and subject, print and bind them, place them in a fire-resistant container and burn them in a safe place with a fire extinguisher nearby.

Rumors matter most to those who sincerely want them to be true.

[Melech]

Unfortunately part of your 'new procedures and methods' seems to be to ban innocent players, who wouldn't dream of using third party software and are totally against botting and adena-buying.

One of my real life friends had his account banned yesterday - he has no idea what he's supposed to have done and your support people won't reply to his emails or talk to him.

You've lost a good customer for nothing, and I am wondering whether it is worth continuing myself.

As I don't use bot programms or ebay or anything either - all I can deduce from the way he's been treated is I am obviously equally at risk of getting banned at any time for no reason and with no chance of redress or even of an explanation.

Very disgruntled and indeed outraged customer who can't believe you treat people like this.

[Sovrath]

Not to say that NC is in the "right" because it is more than possible that they are in the wrong...

But what about the guy who came on here who told us a story about how his brother (yes... HIS BROTHER) was banned without any reason and he knew for a "fact" that his brother was never a botter or an e-bayer until one day he discovered that his brother was guilty.

It happens.

[HGMspam]

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately part of your 'new procedures and methods' seems to be to ban innocent players, who wouldn't dream of using third party software and are totally against botting and adena-buying.

One of my real life friends had his account banned yesterday - he has no idea what he's supposed to have done and your support people won't reply to his emails or talk to him.

You've lost a good customer for nothing, and I am wondering whether it is worth continuing myself.

As I don't use bot programms or ebay or anything either - all I can deduce from the way he's been treated is I am obviously equally at risk of getting banned at any time for no reason and with no chance of redress or even of an explanation.

Very disgruntled and indeed outraged customer who can't believe you treat people like this.

[/ QUOTE ]

No bots were banned yesterday. He may have been banned for another reason? Or maybe he is not banned at all? Have him contact support.

[HGMspam]

[ QUOTE ]
I heard a rumor today that some clans were protected from the mass banning that happened because they have a gm or their alts in the their clan. Even self proclaimed botters and supporters of botters on other boards didnt have any of their members banned. Does anyone know if this rumor is true?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is untrue. I would ban my own mother if she was botting.

[ThePriest]

[ QUOTE ]

No bots were banned yesterday. He may have been banned for another reason? Or maybe he is not banned at all? Have him contact support.

[/ QUOTE ]

And still there are many.

[Elrohir]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

No bots were banned yesterday. He may have been banned for another reason? Or maybe he is not banned at all? Have him contact support.

[/ QUOTE ]

And still there are many.

[/ QUOTE ]
Perhaps they are banned on a specific day or days? Seems smart to me.

[Wyzeguy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I heard a rumor today that some clans were protected from the mass banning that happened because they have a gm or their alts in the their clan. Even self proclaimed botters and supporters of botters on other boards didnt have any of their members banned. Does anyone know if this rumor is true?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is untrue. I would ban my own mother if she was botting.

[/ QUOTE ]

spam's mom plays lin2?!?

I like the orc ladies! :D

humms "spam's mom has got it goin' on!"

[LordDurham]

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately part of your 'new procedures and methods' seems to be to ban innocent players, who wouldn't dream of using third party software and are totally against botting and adena-buying.

One of my real life friends had his account banned yesterday - he has no idea what he's supposed to have done and your support people won't reply to his emails or talk to him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Best thing to do is for him to contact support. Posting here will not help you.

I personally find it hard to believe that he didnt do what they claim. NCSoft doesnt randomly ban people and they have rarely banned people in the past (until the big 2600+). They seem to review things pretty closely before banning folks.

He is your friend and you find it hard to believe they cheated. However, you just never know... and honestly in my experience I would say your friend is not telling you the whole truth.

Oh and btw... he knows what he is supposed to have done... they send an email to the person Banned and tell them what they did.

[Mizwisfist]

[ QUOTE ]



I personally find it hard to believe that he didnt do what they claim. NCSoft doesnt randomly ban people and they have rarely banned people in the past (until the big 2600+). They seem to review things pretty closely before banning folks.


[/ QUOTE ]

If they have a 2% error margin on banning (which is small) ... it still let 52 innocent peeps on the side of the road...

What you find hard to believe is just pure normal and usual statistic. Gms are humans, and humans do mistake. 2% being a very low statistic for human mistakes...

[LordDurham]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I personally find it hard to believe that he didnt do what they claim. NCSoft doesnt randomly ban people and they have rarely banned people in the past (until the big 2600+). They seem to review things pretty closely before banning folks.


[/ QUOTE ]
If they have a 2% error margin on banning (which is small) ... it still let 52 innocent peeps on the side of the road...

What you find hard to believe is just pure normal and usual statistic. Gms are humans, and humans do mistake. 2% being a very low statistic for human mistakes...

[/ QUOTE ]
Read closely.

His friend has no idea why he got banned? Sorry they send out emails explaining. So he has to know why.

We can talk percentages... 90% of those busted for cheating will deny they cheated.

[VetusAnimus]

where do people keep finding all those % ?
stop guessing

[Mizwisfist]

[ QUOTE ]


His friend has no idea why he got banned? Sorry they send out emails explaining. So he has to know why.

We can talk percentages... 90% of those busted for cheating will deny they cheated.

[/ QUOTE ]

The mail says "use of 3d party software".

That's not a precise description of what he's supposed to have done.

Read smarter...

And if you really believe any human decision can be 100% infallible you just prove yourself a fool.

[Nanashi_Naomhan]

in a recent study it was found that 60% of all statistics are made up

[Mizwisfist]

[ QUOTE ]
in a recent study it was found that 60% of all statistics are made up

[/ QUOTE ]

As yours fail into it that means only 36% of all statistics are made up.
But even that prolly won't make Durham get it

[Choch]

[ QUOTE ]
No bots were banned yesterday.

[/ QUOTE ]
slacker! no rest for the HGMs!

[Angdil]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
in a recent study it was found that 60% of all statistics are made up

[/ QUOTE ]

As yours fail into it that means only 36% of all statistics are made up.
But even that prolly won't make Durham get it

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a joke. You need to add an, 'including this one.' at the end.

As for NCSoft being infallible; they aren't, that is why you email support, to give them a chance to correct things. As far as your friend 'never doing anything wrong;' he probably did and isn't telling you.

[LordDurham]

[ QUOTE ]
But even that prolly won't make Durham get it

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh I get it. I also get that most people that cheat will deny it till the cows come home.

He shouldn't be here complaining about it... his friend should be mailing support.

The only reason to post here is to shed doubt on the recent bannings... and I don't agree with negativity towards this action by NCSoft. The 2600+ bans were an awesome job. Bot population is drastically reduced and players that use 3rd party programs are on edge... again AWESOME JOB NCSOFT! Keep it up.

[Mizwisfist]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
in a recent study it was found that 60% of all statistics are made up

[/ QUOTE ]

As yours fail into it that means only 36% of all statistics are made up.
But even that prolly won't make Durham get it

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a joke. You need to add an, 'including this one.' at the end.



[/ QUOTE ]

It indeed is a very old joke about stats and I was just playing along but nvm..

As for the friend ... I don't know what kind of relations you have with people but when someone tells me something they rarely lie... You know, friends and lies are notions that merely fit in the same category.. At least it's like that with the people I know...

Also I don't know where you pulled from the notion about being assumed guilty but we don't share it either.

[_StREAk_]

Wooo Bartz is full all the time again NCSoft -1 Bots +2000..
Only took the botters a week to come back.. So i don't have to eat my words now.. Ok NC now fix plz kkthx..

[Wyzeguy]

As long as people keep buying adena for $ the problem won't be 'fixed' and done with. It's more like sweeping your floors and washing dishes, you have to do it over and over as maintenance.

I'm glad they've at least started on the dishes. Keep it up, rusty!

[Kriegherr]

[ QUOTE ]

He shouldn't be here complaining about it... his friend should be mailing support.

The only reason to post here is to shed doubt on the recent bannings... and I don't agree with negativity towards this action by NCSoft. The 2600+ bans were an awesome job. Bot population is drastically reduced and players that use 3rd party programs are on edge... again AWESOME JOB NCSOFT! Keep it up.

[/ QUOTE ]

You obviously arn't aware of nc supports policy on bannings. They end all emails with "this issue is not up for debate and all new emails will be ignored"
and thats exactly what happens. His friend has him come here because he isnt going to get answers from support. EVER. Support isn't required to show proof of anything, so they don't.

If you call the play nc hotline, it will tell you they do not handle such matters over the phone and to email support. Good luck!

Back to the topic on hand, how can you call the 2000+ bans good? I don't know what it's like on your server, but on bartz prices have shot up across the board, but suprise suprise, there are just as many bots now as there was a month ago. Nc punched the bartz economy in the stomach with this recent banning spree, and repopulated all the newbie zones with fresh bots.

Instead of having these random genocides every other week or so, nc needs to stop the problem at its source: stop the bot programs from connecting permanently.

Banning the bots does nothing but hurt the legitiment players. It throws the economy into a chaos that it still hasnt recovered from and it harms the new players that are trying to level up the following week when the bots come back in mass.

In the end, it is the farmers who have gained from this. Adena prices are higher then ever out of game, and they are getting away with selling materials ingame for an equally higher price in game. So they lost a few accounts, big deal. They are bringing in so much more cash now then they were a few weeks ago. Those that escaped the bans completly are even better off.

Maybe it's different on your server, but that's how it is on mine.

[Coriantumr]

It does not appear that anyone was banned at all. I see many of the same bots I have always seen, in the same places I have always seen them.

Bartz is once again always "Full."

[Sent]

[ QUOTE ]
It does not appear that anyone was banned at all. I see many of the same bots I have always seen, in the same places I have always seen them.

Bartz is once again always "Full."

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to agree. I went in to Disciples Necropolois yesterday for a tour. 4 full bot parites with names like 000o0oI1ii01 ahbBbbssd123 IiiiIiiIiii0i botting away. It's so obvious its makes you question the competency of the GM's and the comitment of NCsoft to legitimate play.

These are not new bots, it's the same level 75 crews that have been at it for months.

[Torqq]

Banning 2600 isn't enough, and sorry, but that doesn't impress me at all. Go into any dungeon and you'll see almost all bot farmers.

Care to explain this Mr GM?

[MuddBow]

Is there anyway that a party always consisting of the same members, logged in and hunting in the same spot 23-24 hours per day 7 days a week is not botting or breaking the EULA in some way?

Are there any legit players out there that run into the same rock for 20 minutes straight? My supervised 8 year old daughter playing her dwarf is not even that incompetent.

Are there any legit ultra-bored players out there that sit/stand/sit/stand...for another 20 minutes straight?

I could go on, but what other tests need to be perfomed in situations like these? If people can be sent to prison based on "beyond a reasonable doubt" I think botters should be banned similarly.

These are the situations I petition about and have yet to see one single bot be banished from the game. I write names down and still see the same names following each other around. For some reason, I especially hate the dwarf, dagger, healer trios.

If noone else is using the ban hammer, can I borrow it for a day? I'll give it back after I add an SA for Wide Blow. Get that whole bot party in one swing.

[LordDurham]

It seems most of the bots are back on Kain as well.

RustNC... any comments? Havent heard anything for a while now. Why are the bots back... same names...?

[EcronyteIDC]

yeah they were definently gone for a while. My favorite hunting ground was no longer too crowded for me to exp in. But now the exact same farmers have returned. I dont understand how it is that they could have disappeared for a while (supposedly having been banned) and then return as if nothing had happened. Were they banned? or was L2s defense against 3rd party programs upgraded, causing a temporary inconvenience for the farmers? Did they get a warning and are allowed to keep their accounts as long as they stop botting?

[Darian_Kain]

[ QUOTE ]
Hello all,

At a few people's requests, here I am to let you know what is going on with Lineage II now that I am the game's producer, as well as what is to come. Unfortunately, there will be many things I cannot disclose to you, but I still think that I can give a pretty good idea of where we are at and where we hope to be going.

For starters, I know the popular discussion around these parts are the botters and adena farmers. Let me begin by saying that we have always been working hard to combat this, but I'll admit that our methods in the past have not yielded the results many have been looking for. Yesterday we banned 2657 accounts for botting and using 3rd party software. This is result of some new and improved procedures we have currently underway. Obviously, I cannot go into detail as to these methods, but I will say that we feel it will make a significant impact on the presence of bots in the game going forward. This is not the first time we've banned this many, and it won't be the last, but it will probably be the last time I announce the specific number. As well, this procedure is just one of several ways we are looking to combat the presence of 3rd party software within the game. The North American Lineage II team is dedicated to making the game playable and enjoyable to our legitimate and hard-working players.

As well, we are making concerted efforts to bring new events and GM driven content to the game. Hopefully it's been noticed that we've had more underway lately, and we hope to continue this trend. We think in the coming months you all will be pleasantly surprised with the variety and nature of the events coming your way. Again, I apologize for the need to keep the specifics under wraps, but we'd like the events to be a surprise until announced.

Many of you have also aired concerns that we are not making enough of an effort to reach out to new players. This is not the case. We have several programs underway to bring Lineage II to new folks and bring back former customers. We intend to make a significant marketing push for Chronicle 4, including expanded advertising and our trial code/buddy code programs. Also of note is that the new Lineage II Game Time Card boxes will come with a full C3 version and buddy code making it even easier for new players to get into the game. We're currently looking long and hard at our strategy and how to reach as many people as possible.

In general, I think there's a lot we can do and are doing to improve our support of the title. Consolidating the team to Austin has had a huge benefit to our daily operation. It's just a whole lot easier to get things done when you can go and knock on somebody's door. As well, we have a wealth of new talent in some key roles and the results are really starting to show. There are a lot of new and good ideas getting kicked around. Also, you've likely noticed that I'm around on the boards pretty frequently. We've been paying a lot of attention to your, the players, concerns and are tailoring our efforts to best suit this community, both vocal and non-vocal.

So that's what's up with what I can discuss. We're all hard at work here on the stuff above as well as getting C4 ready for our territory, so I'll probably be slow with responses in this thread. There will be further initiatives, efforts and programs as we go along, but I just wanted to say that we've got our heads down and we are doing everything we can to keep Lineage II the marquee PVP MMO on the market.

Thank you guys for making Lineage II the game and community it is today.


Adam Davidson

PS - Now leave me be, Choch!

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Best way to get the game out there in North America. MAKE A TV COMMERCIAL!!!!

[RustNC]

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

[Woodsman]

Dear Santa,

Please give NCRust a nice huge box of "klapsigaren". He enjoys his smoke and I am sure he likes the fireworks as well.

Woody

So, for the benefit of us European players who never see things like advertisments, what commercial activities can we expect to appear soon?

Ps. Santy, make them big "klapsigaren". :D

[Matilda]

[ QUOTE ]
Best way to get the game out there in North America. MAKE A TV COMMERCIAL!!!!

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I heard they are having a sale on Super Bowl Ad's.

Thanks
Matilda