L2 Free Private Servers vs Official Lineage 2 server

[dusaka]

Lineage 2 Free Private Servers vs. Official Lineage 2 Server


As many of you know, there are many non-official "private" free Lineage 2 servers out there. Usually, they are two kinds: low rates and high rates.

Low Rate private Servers   
(1X-70X)       

                     

The difference between low and high rates usually is that on low rates, the Lineage 2 experince is more of a newbie friendly kind, and it`s also closer to what Lineage 2 was intended to be. The comunity of a low rate non l2j server can reach even 5000+ players during a few years, but usually they offer a poor game
experience, not beeing able to keep up with new add-ons, they are running obsolete add-ons for years, thus the game experience may suffer alot.

The crafting system is kept allive and it`s as close as it gets to the retail server. Also, keep in mind that there are two kind of private servers. Those based on l2java, wich can support a maximum of a thousand or so players, after wich it becomes laggy and unplayable. And there are those that are developed by custom development teams that can support literally thousands and thousands of players, the only technical impediment beeing the connection and hardware of the server it`s hosted.

The Good.

On low rates you`ll be able to learn to play the game, with all it`s sublime class and skill system.
The leveling beeing somewhat harder, it will allow for a greater variety of player levels on the server, thus giving roots to a more stable and larger comunity then high rates. Usually a good low rate server can go on for years and it`s comunity can reach even ten thousand of users.

Private servers are basically free. It`s a fact that most of the people who didn`t had any contact with Lineage 2 would rather try it for free then spend any amount of money. Also there are many people that just refuse to pay for a game, even after all these years, when monthly fee became something usual when it comes to mmo`s. So, with the download of a small patch, usually, you can play Lineage 2 for Free. The crafting system is usually specific to low rate servers.


The Bad

Private servers are far from the latest update running on the official server. Thus, usually a non l2j private server runs a one year old "add-on", developed by it`s own development team.

Skills and game data beeing developed by a custom team, most of the times are not accurate. Many skills can be missing, many classes gimped or overpowered for months, or simply unplayable, before getting a fix, geodata can be buggy (terrain bugs), mobs ai can suffer, animations can get missing in the process, exploits are given birth, thus making the game and comunity suffer.

Most of the quests get missing, new areas are not accesible, new gameplay modes are not implemented for almost a year after they are on official servers.

On a good Lineage 2 low rate private server, server whipes are very rare. But in most of the cases they occured or can accure. Thus leaving you without all you worked for, in many cases years of hard work just go to dust, due to many reasons: server failure, data loss, server closing up, after too many exploits
the comunity even can demand a server whipe.

Economy on a private server is the most delicate thing. Since many of the drops are implemented step by step, many times errors can occur, drop rates rocket sky high or are at a minimum, making some items more expensive then they should up, for a time.

After a fix, the prices fall, thus making the prices fluctuate. The lack of some missing quests also makes the economy get insane after a few years. Usually inflation occurs, but it`s different on every server and a subjective matter.

Exploits are common on private servers, allthough a good and active developing team can solve them pretty fast, usually it takes some months to fix all the known exploits or they don`t get fix at all. But on most servers not even the gm`s are active. Months can pass before you see a GM in game, and it`s even worse with the development team.

Lags and freezes usually occur on private servers. Having limited resources , most of them can`t afford a connection or a hardware that is good enough to support the amount of people they wish to host. Usually there are lags, freezes or frame drops due to the server configuration. Especially during sieges these are most noticeable.

There are thousands of private Lineage 2 servers on the internet. Usually, most of them are just horrible copies of the official game, full of bugs and exploits.

At the end of this article i`ll recommend 2 of them that have a long history and make up for a great experience.

High Rate Servers.

Usually high rate Lineage 2 free private servers are l2j based. This means they are somewhat limited, but as oposed to non l2j based, usually they have the almost the latest of the add-on implemented, even if many things are not working as they should. You must remember that in Lineage 2 the "add-on" of the game, can anytime be a stand-alone game , they are huge and broaden the Lineage 2 universe alot, either with new gameplay features, new areas, skills and so much more. So a Lineage 2 add-on is crucial and most important.

Beeing a high rate server, reaching high end level is not an issue, also most of them have "gm shops" wich allows players to buy any kind of gear, but the game doesen`t end here. As most of you know with the attribute system, the gear is not top priority, so you`ll have plenty to do after you reach end level and top gear. Sieges, Raids, Epic Raids are still happening and in most of the cases can be even more entertaining then on low rates.
Usually these kind of servers have Events, wich make the great even more entertaining.

Donations are more common when it comes to high rate servers, allthough most of the low rate servers have donations too. These kind of servers are basically offering for real money some exclusive game items, the money they collect beeing used to further improve the server, or so they say. Fact is there is no good donation service and it greatly unbalances the server with time, just like exploits.

High rates have usually a smaller comunity then low rates, due to the fact that many are ill conceived, and dont offer a good system that would allow players to stick to them. But also there are few exceptions. Some pvp servers have thousands of players on daily, there are mass pvp events every ten minutes, that enrich the game experience, PVP beeing the strenght of Lineage 2, they exploit it to the max and players love it.

High rates are not a good thing for inexperienced players. If you didn`t play Lineage 2, never join a high rate server. THese servers are for experienced players, that usually don`t have the time to play a low rate server or simply they join a good high rate server to explore the newest add-ons the game offers, since most of them are l2j and far ahead of low rate servers.

Official Lineage 2 Server

The Good. The Bad.

There are no bugs, if any exploits appear there are fixed almost instantly, it delivers the game as it was intended to be, all the skills work of course, the economy is somewhat stable after years and years, and every six month you get a brand new add-on. Usually these add-ons dramatically add to the game experience, prolonging it`s life and interest of the players for years to come, catching up taking usually another six months for a dedicated player.

There are no lags or freezes at sieges if you have at least a mediocre internet connection.

Reaching high end levels is somewhat easier now as it was, but still is as hardcore as an mmo can get. It will take you many months, if not years to reach high end levels and top gear. But this is challenging, thus making Lineage 2 an extremly competitive and addictive game.

Botting. It`s a well known fact that Lineage 2 official servers were crawling with bots, and botting was always an issue. Nowadays, they seam to have been somewhat get rid off, still botting is a well known fact on official. You can get banned and lose your account with everything on it. There is even a report button, wich alerts the gm to observe the supposed botter. So, efforts are beeing made to remove bots and garentee a better Lineage 2 experience for legit players.

E-baying. Also, Lineage 2 beeing a hardcore mmo, all in all, for those who are too lazy to invest as much time as it requires, there are always players that sell their gear for real money. Allthogh this was specific to official server, nowadays more and more of the older low rate private server players are also practicing item selling for real money.

Worst Private Servers

High rate private server

Don`t even bother loging in. The GM`s are banning accounts for no aparent reason at all, weaks pass before a server restart occurs, fortresses are buged the only good things are the events, but these thing are featured in many other servers. My advice, don`t bother with this server. It`s a purely donation driven server.

L2KIllers.
Another Donation Driven Server. Every new accesory/weapon type is buyable only with DONATION COINS. It`s a big mess of a server.



p.s.   copy > paste from L2Media

[kidicarus]

And your point being?

[Furesy]

The things L2 official offers compared to private servers can in my honest opinion never cross the mere meaning of paying monthly for a game, which I will never do.

As Pay-To-Play doesn't bother thousands of players, and they in return play close to as much as they can, I find paying to play a game a non-sense, even if I had all the money in the world I would not pay monthly to play a game I play for mere entertainment.

[PanzerKunst]

The things L2 official offers compared to private servers can in my honest opinion never cross the mere meaning of paying monthly for a game, which I will never do.

As Pay-To-Play doesn't bother thousands of players, and they in return play close to as much as they can, I find paying to play a game a non-sense, even if I had all the money in the world I would not pay monthly to play a game I play for mere entertainment.

then play football at the street... online game is a service, including: hosting, machines, dev team and customer service team (and, of course, administration and taxs). All that mean money, neither Drake is doing this for free.
There are a lot of different models to gain the money for expense and profit. L2 have the lesser friendly payment system (monthly payment) for non hardcore players, in others places ncsoft games have other system, depending on the dealer, for example Aion in China have a  payment per hour system.

[Furesy]

then play football at the street... online game is a service, including: hosting, machines, dev team and customer service team (and, of course, administration and taxs). All that mean money, neither Drake is doing this for free.
There are a lot of different models to gain the money for expense and profit. L2 have the lesser friendly payment system (monthly payment) for non hardcore players, in others places ncsoft games have other system, depending on the dealer, for example Aion in China have a  payment per hour system.

Your point is?

As if I don't know that, I never cared for official, or the fact I won't play there, and indeed, I'd rather play football outside.

[PanzerKunst]

Your point is?

As if I don't know that, I never cared for official, or the fact I won't play there, and indeed, I'd rather play football outside.

free services, at this level, are not feasible. you said "i dont pay, here or wherever", but someone must pay for it, keep that in mind. Of course monthly fees for guys like me, whom play upto  two and half hours by day, have no sense.

[Furesy]

free services, at this level, are not feasible. you said "i dont pay, here or wherever", but someone must pay for it, keep that in mind. Of course monthly fees for guys like me, whom play upto  two and half hours by day, have no sense.

Ye you're right, and therefor I'm happy I can play here for free, with bugs, downtimes etc. but it remains for free.

[PanzerKunst]

Ye you're right, and therefor I'm happy I can play here for free, with bugs, downtimes etc. but it remains for free.

me too

[TheLox]

Ye you're right, and therefor I'm happy I can play here for free, with bugs, downtimes etc. but it remains for free.

me too

This wasn't supposed to end on friendly talk! >.>

[Ashlynn]

Low Rate private Servers   
(1X-70X)       

Since when is 70x Low rate?

Few reasons I wouldn't join official servers:
- it doesn't have stacking subs. You can tell whatever, but this kind of subs seems to me much logical then retails. My point: you are PP, you learn certain skills, then you sub yourself to a TH for example. Why should PP forget all his skills he learned and should know only TH ones as it is on retail? It is plain bullshit

- L2 is not entertaining enough for me to play on such low rates and with such illogical subs


As far as monthly fees are concerned. Every fun costs something. You want to drink beer, you gotta buy it. You want to play football, you gotta buy a ball. You want to play MMO, you gotta pay for its services.

[jygh]

i choosed playing on private server cause i wont give even 1 dollar cent for smthign in game .... what with lil time i can get by myself lol playing on official is kinda different but this paying shit is stupid

[benonslyp]

The things L2 official offers compared to private servers can in my honest opinion never cross the mere meaning of paying monthly for a game, which I will never do.

As Pay-To-Play doesn't bother thousands of players, and they in return play close to as much as they can, I find paying to play a game a non-sense, even if I had all the money in the world I would not pay monthly to play a game I play for mere entertainment.

hehe then u dont go to the movies? to the beach? to a park? the "mere entretainment", as you call it... is all the same.. only that mmo's can be a little adictive "mere entretainment".

P.S. psp, xbox, movies dvd, ps3, wii... ALL COST MONEY HONEY