Since America is supposedly the Land of the Free, it might not come as a surprise then that the North American version of Lineage 2 hosts players from all around the globe.

Here in Lineage 2, you’ll find American East coast and West coast players battle it out beside a plethora of players from other countries like the United Kingdoms, Russia, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

Singaporeans are avid gamers, and there’re quite a few wandering the realms of Lineage 2.

Fire in The Hole

31-year-old Fo Jet How, or, Eric, as he prefers to be called, leads a predominantly Singaporean clan on the Lionna server of Lineage 2. The founding members of the clan, who were colleagues, migrated from a couple of games before settling on Lineage 2. Originally a Counter-Strike clan of about 3 years’ experience, some of their members experimented with other games like Redmoon Online but settled on Lineage 2 after Counter-Strike‘s charm wore out.

Said Eric, “Counter-Strike can only play 18 players at a time lah. So after awhile quite sian (Hokkien for boring). Lineage 2 graphics (are) better, look nicer and more realistic. Redmoon Online also not as nice. When we come to Lineage 2, we can have a lot of friends in one game. The chatting mode is also better than CS (Counter-Strike), and in Lineage 2 can also fight a lot more people.”

Of Booze and Buddies
Gaming alongside fellow Singaporeans or other familiar people can help make the game more fun. A good friend of Eric, Sebastian Cheng, 40, plays the game to relax and explore new worlds alongside people he can count on.

“When I get introduced to new game by friend, tag along lah, if I go to a game and I’m alone… then not so good. Not certain if I get scammed, then I can’t get any help,” said Sebastian, whose clan helped him out in-game after he was scammed by other players, losing more than 20 million adena worth of equipment. His clan helped cover part of his losses, getting him new equipment. “If not, sure quit liao,” claimed a frustrated Sebastian.

Lineage 2 being a PVP-intensive game, incidents of players being continually harassed or killed occur every now and then. A clan you can relate to, or members who play at the same time as you do, would be a great help in such times.

“I after a hard day’s work want to come home and relax. Every gamer pay for their game and if every day you get PK (being killed by other players) then not fun. I don’t get PK’ed a lot, but if you kena (get) PK, then your clan can help you PK back,” said Sebastian.

Home Sweet Home
Besides gaming with his colleagues, Sebastian also plays Lineage 2 with his family members. His 13-year-old daughter, Audrey, used to play other online games like Ragnarok Online and Gunbound, but “found them boring” after awhile. The shy secondary 2 student also plays Lineage 2“to make new friends” overseas.

Her mother and younger brother occasionally play Lineage 2 as well, though not together with the rest of the family, as the Chengs only possess 2 accounts.

Of Killing and Cash

Besides making friends in online worlds, Shawn Ngo, 24, enjoys the freedom of wreaking havoc in a virtual world and the “satisfaction of being high level and better than other people”.

Known for its beautiful graphics and pretty unforgiving levelling system, Lineage 2 turns off many casual players, but for Shawn, it’s exactly what he’s looking for.

“World of Warcraft too easy to level. Too easy not shiok(Hokkien word meaning ‘good’) anymore,” remarked Shawn, who plays an average of 6 hours a day.

His only complaint was that the monthly game service subscription cost (about $25 Singapore Dollars per month) was a little high. Lamented Shawn, “The graphics and gameplay are good, but the bloody thing so expensive”

Jonathon Liang, 16, disagrees however.

“Lineage 2 is too repetitive, kill monsters all day, the graphics are damn good though,” said the Anglo-Chinese Junior College student, “The price is around the same for all MMORPGs. It’s reasonable I think. Anyway, school start already, so no time to play for now. Maybe when holidays start again.”

So, will Lineage 2 catch on in Singapore?

Ian Wong, who played Lineage 2‘s predecessor, Lineage, 3 years ago, observed that the gaming “culture here is different” from America or Korea.

“In North America, many adults play the game and that equates to people with more spending power. Thus a good mix of ages play the game. In Singapore, adults have no time mostly. It’s a rare one that will spend time on the game. Mostly kids will play, and parents (unless they spoil their kids) are mostly unwilling to spend on this game, especially with the presence of Counter-Strike etc. and free servers,” noted the 25-year-old banker.

Because of the challenges that Lineage 2 offers, hopefully more Singaporeans will explore the world of Lineage 2, knowing that somewhere out there, among the beautiful scenery and intense clan wars, are players who can comfortably lapse into bouts of Singlish (English with a distinct Singaporean twang) or discuss the best places to grab good kway teow (tasty greasy broad noodles, a Singaporean delicacy).

“Interact. Party up. Get to know the game, explore, and learn from others, but learn to smell the roses too,” said Ian, “it’s a grind, but it’s fun.”