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Questions by Cody “Micajah” Bye
Answers by Tim Tan, Producer for Lineage II

As the Ten Ton Hammer editorial staff posts this interview, the Lineage II development team is prepping the servers for the massive update known as The Kamael: The 1st Throne. If all goes according to plan, the Kamael expansion will go live at 4:00 PM Central Time on December 12th and players will rush into the new areas to battle for fortresses, explore the new Isle of Souls, and create legions of new Kamael characters.

To mark this momentous occasion, Ten Ton Hammer sat down with Lineage II’s producer, Tim Tan, and asked him an assortment of questions that explore different parts of the expansion content and why new players should give the game a try. We also discuss fortress battles and the Kamael class roles, so sit back and enjoy the article!

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Ten Ton Hammer: To start, what roles do you think the Kamael classes will fill in the game? Would you say that they’re a versatile race, or are they mainly focused towards a specific area?

The Kamael, according to Tim, are a very specialized race.

Tim Tan: Between the different Kamael class choices, there’s a lot of specialization. There are certain classes that are particularly melee heavy and specialize in close combat attacks, but there are also other classes, like the Arbalester, that focus on ranged warfare. Finally there’s the Soul Breaker who’s a mesh between the two. I do feel that if you choose the right class path you can do particular things very well. Overall, I think that the race is balanced because of the class choices you can make.

In terms of their role, it will be balanced because of the way the Kamael skills work. It’s all about taking souls and using souls for various purposes using their dark magic. Regardless of what class you have, you can certainly use that dark magic for a variety of purposes: buffs, melee, ranged attacks, etc.

I think they’re also going to be very useful because in the later areas of the game there are areas that require trap-finding abilities, which only the Kamael can do.

Ten Ton Hammer: Do you think groups are going to be limited if they don’t bring a Kamael along to find the traps? Or are there ways around the traps?

Tim: There should be ways around the traps, but the Kamael just make it easier to get by them.

Ten Ton Hammer: Why do you think new players should be interested in the expansion? What about Lineage II – and the expansion in particular – should new players be excited about?

Tim: This isn’t really specific to the Kamael expansion, but we’ve had so many updates over the past few years – all of the chronicles and general updates – that have helped ease the new player into the game. You can now acquire buffs that help you advance from level 8 to 23, and the Kamael update extends that buff period out a bit longer. We added a bunch of solo functions that just generally help the players in those early levels.

All of these other changes just filter into this Kamael update and really draw players into making new Kamael characters. Along with that, a good portion of the existing player base will re-roll to try out the new race so it’s a good time for new players (or those players that haven’t played in a long while) to come in and try out the game.

We’ve created a brand new starting area, the Isle of Souls, for the Kamael race, and a set of monsters associated with that new area. There are also low level dungeons that are in the area, so it’s really just a combination of everything coming together at the same time. The changes we’ve made – combined with the new race – are a driving factor to bring more players into the game.

Ten Ton Hammer: What do you feel that the greatest area of improvement has been? You’ve changed a lot since I played back in the early post-launch days, and I’m curious about what you think the biggest area of improvement has been.

Fortress battles should be one of the more exciting parts of the Kamael expansion.

Tim: The clan system, which is also my favorite part of the game. From the beginning, we had a clan system that you could level up. Originally I think we had levels 1-5, and there’s always been a cap on the number of players you could allow into your clan at each level. Throughout the years and the updates, we’ve actually enhanced that system over and over again. Eventually we revamped the clan system to support levels all the way to level 8. So instead of having just 40 people, you could expand all the way up to 120.

Reputation points have also been a big part of our clan system. For instance, if you win a siege you’ll get positive reputation points. You can spend reputation points on clan type skills that affect everyone in the clan. That whole system is really an exciting part of the game, and we feel like its something that’s been constantly improving. In the Kamael update, we’ve increased that level number even higher; you can now advance your clan up to level 10. There are also lots of elements that tie into fortress battles and many of the other systems.

Ten Ton Hammer: What do you think is the most exciting part of the Kamael expansion?

Tim: I’d have to say the fortress battles. In general they should be a lot of fun. These battles are easy to engage in, meant for small groups and clans, and there’s plenty of politics and intrigue tied to the whole system. The battles are also tied to item rewards that you get when you win fortress battles along with a number NPC relations that change when you take over a fortress. There’s a large number of these fortresses, so players should be able to engage in these confrontations if they so desire.

Ten Ton Hammer: Why did you decide to integrate fortress battles into the game? Small group / clan oriented combat has never been a big focal point for Lineage II, so why did you decide to bring that into the game at this point?

Tim: I think there’s been an underlying desire from the player base to have more accessible world PvP. I think our castle system, which features a large siege every two weeks, is a great system. It’s full of large scale battles along with lots of strategy and maneuvering, but there’s an outcry to have more controllable lands and things that are a little more accessible for everyone in the game.

While the castle lords still have the power of the castle, but they can choose to fight with the fortresses if they wish. However, this just adds another nuance to the political and faction system, and it also encourages players to grab these fortresses because of the skills and items that you can pick up from these various fortresses.

Since a portion of our player base isn’t advanced enough to play in a full scale castle siege due to not being in a large clan, it really boils down to an accessibility sort of thing. Really, I think it fills out that next tier of combatants in the overall scheme of things.

Ten Ton Hammer: What really drives the popularity of Lineage II? Obviously the game is extremely popular in Asia and has its fair share of fans in North America as well. What about the game draws people to it?

Tim: That's a great question. Often when people talk about Lineage II, they discuss how hard it is or how it’s not for everyone. But I believe that the game is all about a sense of accomplishment, which creates a lot of player loyalty to the game itself. For most players, you get out of L2 what you put into it. If you put a lot of effort into the game, you get a lot back in return.

The Isle of Souls is the new starting location for the Kamael race.

It’s also a type of game that’s continuous. Other MMO games that are on the market right now may be easier, but they don’t have the same sort of continuity you find in L2. In L2 you have lots of levels to achieve and plenty of social interaction between clans and alliances.

Although the battles may change from week to week, that social structure is continuous. If you work really hard to achieve something, like a high level clan, you want to keep that going. We have a loyalty that breeds a great community, and at times it’s almost contagious. You want to bring more people into that sort of loyalty, so that your overall ranks are stronger.

Ten Ton Hammer: Beyond the Kamael expansion, what are your plans for Lineage II in the future? What should we expect out of the game?

Tim: More of the outstanding content you've come to expect from us. With our updates, we really try to enhance the gameplay. We add systems, items, skills, and lands. There are lots of good systems and types of combat in the game already, so with the next few updates we’ll just continue to add more content to the game.

I’m sure there are lots of good things coming down the pipeline that I can’t talk about right now, but players should expect more of the high quality monsters, areas to fight in, and items to collect. Couple that with enhancements to existing systems, and players can continue to expect quality updates from us.

Ten Ton Hammer: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Tim! We hope everything goes well with the Kamael update!

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