Phoenix. Server merge

Some of you might know that soon some of our servers will be merged soon and our beloved Hindemith server will be merged with Gustin and that new server will be called Phoenix. The name came out from the forum voting poll so players chose that name. I personally prefer “Darion” as a server name, but…ah well…majority rules. So anyways I’ve decided to post some info from the official lineage2 message board about the upcoming merge. You can read it under the link below.

Since we opened server transfers in February this year, we’ve all seen a noticeable shift in what servers the Lineage II population is playing on. Many players transferred from some of the lower population servers to the higher population servers in the name of greater competition and more players, while others simply transferred to play with others in their region. All of these are very valid reasons and we’re happy to offer our players the choice to move to a server they would prefer.

The heart of Lineage II has always been its clans and highly competitive PVP, be it grand-scale castle and fortress sieges, or one-on-one combat. I think we can all agree that being a part of hundreds of players on a castle battle field is an incredible adventure that all should be able to partake in. We recognize that in order to offer the best experience equally for all of our players, some population balancing is needed.

In an effort to maintain the very highest quality Lineage II experience for all of our players, we will be combining several of our North American servers. We aim to make this as smooth and painless a transition as possible for our community and believe that the end result will be a more lively and thriving server community for all.

Over the next few weeks, we will be here to answer your questions and address your concerns. The Lineage II community is as strong as ever, and our players remain dedicated, enthusiastic, and active participants. Our goal is to balance the population to ensure the best possible competitive environment for all and, in turn, promote server growth. Please read on for all the details.

Server Merge Date

• July 8, 2008
  

Servers to Be Merged

The server merge plan is based upon current server population balancing needs and the physical locale of the server hardware. Servers 1 through 5 are located in North America on the West Coast and servers 6 through 8 are on the East Coast. As such, only servers in the same physical location are eligible to be merged. With that in mind, below is the server merge plan.

• Server 2 (Sieghardt) + Server 5 (Erica) = New Server A
  
• Server 3 (Kain) + Server 4 (Lionna) = New Server B
  
• Server 6 (Gustin) + Server 8 (Hindemith) = New Server C
  

*Please note that the new servers will not experience any latency issues as a result of two server populations being combined on them. The new populations will still be below our very highest population servers.

The new server names are yet to be determined. We will be requesting server name nominations and creating an official poll from the top picks. This will be done in each individual server forum on the official website. We will take nominations until June 19th at 5:00 PM Central time. The names will be voted upon and ultimately chosen by each of the server communities.

After the merges, the old server names will be deleted and not used again.

Servers 1 (Bartz), 7 (Devianne), 9 (Teon), 10 (Franz), and 11 (Luna) will not be involved in these merges.

Account Services *Updated*

In order to facilitate the smoothest possible merge, all account services will be turned off one week prior to the merge. We are also turning off all transfers to the affected servers on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 (after the regular weekly maintenance).

We will be turning on all account services again, including server transfers, on July 8th after the maintenance.

Characters

Characters will transfer over with all of their individual belongings, including all items and Adena in their private warehouse, inventory, and equipment slots. Individual character status and info, such as quest info and karma, will also transfer over intact with the exceptions of hero status and Olympiad points, which will be reset.

Dormant Character Deletion:

• In order to minimize duplicate character names, all characters that are level 10 or lower and have not logged in for more than one year will be deleted.
  
• To prevent the character deletion, that character simply needs to be logged in once prior to the server merge.
  

Character Name Conflict Rules *Updated*

• If a character name exists on both servers, a pop-up window will appear on your character selection screen and you must type in the name you want for that specific character. If the name you type in is already in use, you will get an error and be prompted to type in a different name.
  
• If a character name conflict occurs, you must type in a name for that specific character before you will be able to log into the game.
  

Character Slots

• If you have more than a total of seven characters between two servers that are being merged, the seven characters that have the most EXP will be kept—the rest will be deleted.
  
• If you have more than a total of seven characters between two servers that are being merged, and their EXP is the same, the older character(s) will be deleted.
  

Miscellaneous

• All characters will be moved to the nearest town.
  
• Character creation will be turned off on the merged server for one week after the merge.
  
• All unique colored names from Battle Tournament will be reset.
  

Clans & Alliances

• All alliances will be disbanded.
  
• Clan information and organization, such as Clan Warehouse, Reputation Points, Clan Skills, clan level, clan leadership and ranks, etc. will be transferred.
  
• The in-game clan community board and clan crest will be reset.
  
• All clan wars will be ended.
  

Clan Name Conflict Rules *Updated*

• If clans from the servers being merged share the same clan name, a number will be attached to each clan name. The clan name may be changed at the High Priest/Priestess in any village. The clan name change request will be applied during the following week’s regular maintenance (on Tuesdays). Please note that once the clan name change request is complete, it cannot be revised or changed.
  

Castles, Manor, & Clan Halls *Updated*

• All castles, manors, and clan halls will be reset.
  
• All clans that own a castle/siegeable clan hall prior to the merge will be reimbursed with clan reputation points (on July 8th).
  
• Castle Warehouse will be initialized and all items will be deleted.
  
• All clans that own an auctionable clan hall will be reimbursed with Adena (winning bid amount) on July 1st during maintenance, prior to the merge. The reimbursed Adena will appear in the Clan Warehouse. Clans who purchase an auctionable clan hall after July 1st will not be reimbursed.
  
• The manor system and all items associated with it, such as seeds, will be reset.
  
• All fortresses will be reset.
  
• The first castle siege time for a merged server is to be determined.
  

Olympiad

• Olympiad points will be reset.
  
• Hero status and associated hero weapons will be reset.

Miscellaneous

• Cursed weapons, Seven Signs Quest, and the in-game community board will be reset.
  
• Seal Stones and Ancient Adena will be transferred and deposited Seal Stones will be returned to your characters. Seal Stones that were contributed to the priest of each cabal will be converted into Ancient Adena and placed in your private warehouse prior to the server merge.
  
• The Hellbound stage unlocked will be set to the highest stage reached between the two servers being merged.
  
• Auction sales rewards will be deleted if you do not collect them prior to the merge.
  
• Pet names will be reset.
  
• Character’s in-game email will be deleted.
  
• Friend lists and ignore lists will be reset.
  
• Raid points will not be transferred.
  

Source: Official Lineage II Message Board

L2 Lineage 2 Beginners Guide

By Ryan

The backround fiction behind Lineage II is your typical Fantasy, three large kingdoms with ego problems and delusions of grandeur trip over their own feet to usurp power from one another. Gobs and gobs of internal strife complicate matters across the board, allowing the chance for all players to overthrow a few rulers and claim their own peice of the world.

Concept Art: Elf - Female

You won't be throwing anyone over in Lineage without a decent character, and Lineage II has plenty of options in that department. Five differnt fantasy races are available: Humans (Ok so there not fantasy, who cares!), Orcs, Elves, Dark Elves, and Dwarves. Newbie classes consist of little more than your basic warrior/mage. But you'll be able to pick more focused occupations later on. Each race and class combination has plenty of hairstyles and equipment textures which means the chance to dress up, or in more perverted cases, dress down, a female dark elf to your hearts content.

Doing battle with the games randomly spawned monsters nets you experience and spell points. There used to buy new skills and occupations, you start with a limited selection of skills. and new skills become available when you get addidtion professions (3 so far ^^, Starting, 2nd, and Final). Sadly, Dwarf characters draw the short stick when it comes to spellcasting (aka, they can't), but they do make up for it with their amazing ability to craft items. This yeilds some of the games better items, so the Dwarf community rules Lineages econemy with an iron pudgy fist.

Ruling and controlling is the name of the game in Lineage II, with much of the action being centered on player conflict. Not so fast, though, unprovoked attacks bring karma penalties, and too much negative karma will turn you into a bright cherry red target. Other players will then have an open license to finish you. Death brings experience loss(something very costly at high levels), along with a quick boot to the nearest town and the possible loss of a few precious items. Tread lightly, vicious Pkers (Player-Killers).

If you're looking for better gear, there are plenty of NPC quests to undertake. One noteworthy mission rewards Level 35+ players with a dragon egg, which hatches into a cuddly dragonling pet, and later incubated into a mountable two legged "Strider", and eventually, after much effort (owning a castle *laugh*) a badass flying wyrven.

Violence and NPC quests are just the tip of the iceberg and at its core, Lineage II is all about seige warfare.Setting seige on a castle results in a free-for-all, winner-takes-everything battle that anyone and everyone and can jump in on. Being lord of a castle grants you control over the local shopkeepers and castle defenses. Also considering, the longer you hold a castle, the harder it is to take. Fortunately, you can forge alliances and create many sub clans to help secure your holdings.

Note: Lineage II has new downloadable expansions approximately every six months, right now we are into Chronicle 1.

Newbie Tips:

• Do map quest right away, the map is the most valueable quest (not money wise) you'll always be lost without it, even if your pro.
• Always get weapon first! Never armor, Weapon first, armor last.
• Keep a few healing potions, they can be the reason you usually live when running, unless you dont mind losing valuable exp.
• Chat commands, ! shout, "(name) whisper, @ clan chat, # party chat, Theres also regular chat, thats nothing.
• Never and I mean Never, Hit someone unless you fully understand the consequences even if they hit you, even if red, its best you run until higher level.