This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can.

Lineage (Korean: 리니지) is a medieval fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft. It has become highly popular in Korea with subscriptions counting into the millions, but is also available in Chinese, Japanese, and English language versions. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle is the sequel to this first Lineage game, considered one of largest commercial MMORPG communities in the world at 2005. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links LinC0028. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... NCsoft (KSE: 036570) is a South Korean based online computer game company. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... NCsoft (KSE: 036570) is a South Korean based online computer game company. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay. ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... Online gaming redirects here. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games in the United States. ... Windows redirects here. ... Mac OS X (IPA: ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ... A compact disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... For the history of Korea, see Korea. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video or computer games. ... NCsoft (KSE: 036570) is a South Korean based online computer game company. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne (Korean:리니지 2) is a fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for the PC, and a prequel to Lineage. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Lineage features 2D isometric-overhead graphics similar to those of Ultima Online and Diablo II. The game was designed by Jake Song, who had previously designed The Kingdom of the Winds, another MMORPG. Players can choose one of five character classes: elf, knight, wizard, prince/princess, or dark elf. Game play features classic RPG elements reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons, such as killing monsters and completing quests for loot and experience points, levels, character attributes (charisma, strength, wisdom, etc.), and alignments (neutral, chaotic or lawful). Lineage's stat, monster, and item system was originally largely borrowed from NetHack with MMO elements added, but recent updates have introduced more original content. Player versus player combat (also known as PVP) is extensive in Lineage. Players can fight other player characters by joining a "bloodpledge" (an association of players almost like a clan in other games) and then attacking a castle or fighting a pledge war. Ultima Online (UO) is a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems. ... Diablo II, sequel to the popular game Diablo, is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game in a hack and slash or Dungeon Roaming style. ... Jake Song, Korean Name Song Jae-kyeong (송재경), is a South Korean programmer who is regarded as one of the greatest game developer in Korea. ... This article is about a concept in role-playing games. ... For other uses, see Elf (disambiguation). ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... The Wizard is a magician character class in many role-playing games and computer role-playing games. ... The term prince, from the Latin root princeps, is used for a member of the highest ranks of the aristocracy or the nobility. ... For other uses, see Princess (disambiguation). ... Dark Elves are often malicious counterparts to the Light Elves (or High Elves) in modern popular culture originally inspired by the Svartálfar, figures in Germanic paganism. ... “D&D” redirects here. ... Experience points (often abbreviated as exp or xp) are a representation of a characters advancement and improvement in skills in role-playing games. ... In Dungeons & Dragons and some similar role-playing games, alignment is a categorisation of the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game. ... This article is about the role-playing game. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In computer and video gaming, a clan is a group of players who regularly play together in a particular multiplayer game, generally as a team. ...

NCsoft has reported that Lineage had at one point more than three million subscribers^[1], most of them in Korea. Some other notable MMORPG's that also have had over 1 million users include,Guild Wars, Lineage II, World of WarCraft, and Runescape^[1][2]. Despite a sharp reduction in number of active subscriptions, it remains among the most popular MMORPGs in the world, with a little under 1 million active subscribers^[3]. Only World of Warcraft, with over 8 million active users, has a larger user base^[1]. Analysts have come up with many ways to explain the difference in magnitude of these numbers. Many suggest that Korea has a thriving multiplayer computer game culture (a ban on some Japanese imports up until 1998 has been cited for delayed growth in its video game console market). Others point to the difference in subscription models: Most Korean gamers play at PC bangs that pay for their own subscriptions. This article is for the Guild Wars series. ... Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne (Korean:리니지 2) is a fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for the PC, and a prequel to Lineage. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... RuneScape is a Java-based MMORPG operated by Jagex Ltd. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... “Game console” redirects here. ... A PC bang is an Internet cafe in South Korea. ...

Despite the popularity of their games in Asia, NCsoft has yet to produce similar successes anywhere else in the world. They developed Lineage II and released it in Korea in 2003 and the United States in 2004. They hope that dramatically improved 3D graphics (thanks to the Unreal engine) and better marketing in the US will help business performance. Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne (Korean:리니지 2) is a fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for the PC, and a prequel to Lineage. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Unreal Engine is a widely-used game engine developed by Epic Games. ...

The title Lineage came from a series of comic books with same title Lineage by Shin Il-sook, and the servers of Lineage are named after the characters of the comic book. It is a fantasy story where a rightful prince reclaims the throne from the hands of usurper. When first created, the game closely resembled the original work; but, as developers have added new features, the fictional universes of the two works have gradually diverged. ^[4] A fictional universe is an imaginary world that serves as the setting or backdrop for one or (more commonly) multiple works of fiction or translatable non-fiction. ...

External links

• US Official Lineage site
• Lineage Database
• [http://www.lineage.com.hk/ HK Official Lineage site class="wikitable"

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} MMOGChart Subscribers
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ 1Q FY2007 Earnings Release(Consolidated)
4. ^ Squire, Kurt; Constance Steinkuehler (2005-04-15). Meet the Gamers (english). LibraryJournal.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.