Lineage 2 vs World Of Warcraft

Disclaimer:I want all of you who read this article to keep in mind that I am an avid player killer. If you are the type of person who would rather spend enormous amounts of time killing artificial intelligence without a challenge, please stop reading.

Yes, this topic has been beaten to death. But, now you can hear an opinion from someone who still likes both games and has played Lineage 2 since Open Beta. I'll try to keep this short and to the point. So, where do we start?

Graphics:
The detail in Lineage 2 is unsurpassed if you play with all the options on. Many people complain about the "cartoonish" graphics of World of Warcraft, but I haven't seen any screenshots that really show the details you miss from seeing it in action.

Level Grinding:
Do I really need to mention this? Lineage 2 is one of the most hardcore grinding games you will ever come across. Is this a good thing? Of course it isn't. If you are truly looking for a pvp game that rewards skill instead of time, Lineage 2 isn't it. This is one of the major reasons why the larger more well-known clans like Sin and The Combine left the game early on in my opinion. But, there is one positive thing about the grind. You gain a sense of accomplishment after you reach the next level. I think this gives enough satisfaction for certain players. But, for people like myself, I get more satisfaction from placing another human character face down in the grass. It is much more satisfying to know you "outskilled" your opponent rather than "outleveling" or "outgearing" your opponent. Where does this leave World of Warcraft? In world of warcraft, the grind is a joke in comparison...seriously. Within 48 hours of play time, I am almost done with the grind. Many will say you can spend an eternity grinding for uber gear etc. etc... but that is a choice. An easy grind has nothing to do with the quality of the game. Soon enough, more and more developers will open their eyes and realize the American public doesn't have time to waste grinding for digital crack. We would much rather spend our time perfecting our abilities to kill another human opponent.

Money and Items:
IGE and other adena selling companies are rich for one reason...getting money in Lineage 2 is a test of patience. You are constantly behind the curve when it comes to leveling and equipping yourself. Crafting equipment would only be harder if there weren't farmers. Let's see how long it takes you to farm 8769234 animal bones the legit way. Money and items come easy in World of Warcraft, but in order to get the best of the best, you need to reach insane levels of pvp honor points and/or grind 40-man instances(dungeons unique to your group)and HOPE your item drops.. After that, you better hope it's your chance to pick it up.

Community:
Most MMORPG communities are the same. You will always have newbies, idiots, scammers, griefers, pks, carebears, helpful people, and the rightful elite. In both games there are a large amount of idiots, but Lineage 2 has the MOST people who have delusions of granduer because of thier clan, alliance, level, or gear. Take those same people to a game that requires more skill...and you will never hear about their names. In some ways, the same can be said for WoW.

Player Killing:
I don't seperate pking and pvp. Online killing is online killing in my opinion. Player killing is usually defined as killing someone even if they don't want to engage in combat. Plaver versus player takes a more consentual approach. You can do both in Lineage 2 and World of Warcraft. In Lineage 2, the price you must pay for killing whoever you want, when you want is unnecessary in my opinion. When I first signed up for L2, I was told that it would be all out carnage; killing everywhere you want it. But, the rules force the opposite to be true. Yes, you can pk someone damn near anywhere; but at what cost? Is it really worth risking that gear you took months to grind for to kill someone? This only forces people to only attack those who they outnumber, or completely overpower when pking. As soon as a challenge arrives, prepare for the force log/insta-scroll. There is one thing that keeps a few hardcore killers playing L2. Satisfaction. If I kill someone, it is a 98% chance that they will be pissed off. More importantly, you have essentially stolen 30-45 minutes of that persons life if they don't get a good rez. There is plenty of PK/PVP action in World of Warcraft. Anyone who tells you otherwise is completely misinformed. Make sure you play on a decent pvp server. Pking in WoW consists of ambushing those who would rather level. Pvp can be found damn near anywhere. Yes, there are zones that don't allow you to attack the other side unless they attack you first, but that isn't a problem like it sounds. You are forced to go into the free for all contested zones to continue leveling. There are some who may only level in instances, but no where near the amount that you are led to believe. "But, you just kill the same people over and over in WoW with no point Tay." This is only an issue if you choose to stick around and kill the same people over and over. If you are any good, you will kill the same person 3-4 times in a row before they get the point that they can't win and move on. Here is an example of one day in WoW at level 30. While I am running around completing quests, I end up killing over 50 DIFFERENT people without looking for a fight. That number is very low for some people, but huge compared to Lineage 2. I can easily rack up hundreds (for some, thousands) of kills in a day simple by the sheer number of enemies to kill. The sheer number of battles completely consumes any pvp in Lineage 2. How many people in Lineage 2 do you know who have over 10k kills? Nuff' said.

Conclusion:
So, what have we learned from this article? For most this answer will be nothing. Both games have followers that are so supportive of their chosen game that they will block out all negative information about it; even if it is the unbiased truth. After writing all of this, there are several key issues that need to be address in another article. Will there ever be a perfect pk/pvp game? How do we convince developers that they can satisfy the cravings of all who play a game and make money at the same time? What is it that pvpers/pkers really want in a game? For some, the satisfaction of holding a castle in L2 is greater than anything else. For some, like myself, becoming known as a killing machine and earning ridiculous amounts of legit kills is more satisfying. I also love pking someone in Lineage 2 and reading all the hate tells afterwards. It's especially funny when the "self-proclaimed elite" send their entire alliance to kill only a few guerilla specialist. *cough*
Anyway, I can't end this article without offering a few suggestions for the developers. These are a few immediate changes to both games that would bring way more people back to L2 or WoW:

Lineage 2 Suggestions

Create all-out pvp zones with no red penalty and no drop. The small arenas aren't going to cut it. Create an entire area that allows people to kill one another without penalty. How about adding special mobs/drops to the area to REWARD those who venture into these areas. (Developers need to master risk vs. reward)
Dusk vs Dawn? I was under the impression that this would be similiar to alliance vs horde. Do you know how much more fun it would be if Dawn could kill Dusk in the catacombs or the necros without penalty? It doesn't make sense that I can level in the same group as the opposing faction.
Reduce the level and adena grind. Wasting time grinding doesn't make you elite. It's the reason why so many people are botting now...

World of Warcraft

The ladder system is flawed. Yes, its nice that you can obtain nice items through pvp, but those who play 22 hours a day are always going to screw up a system that doesn't reward SKILL How do you help eliminate this? Creating an algorithm that takes into account your kill/death ratio is a start.
Both games need to give you the ability to alter the environment through pvp! The possiblities are endless with this idea. I will go into more details later.
Clan wars - If this IS an option, you will have to excuse my ignorance. But, as far as I know, you are unable to war other clans.
Inner alliance conflict - If it was up to me, everyone would be killable anywhere. People have been begging for a no-holds-barred pk server for both games. But, there should always be open pvp areas with RISK VS REWARD in all games that claim to be pvp oriented.
RISK VS REWARD!!! I can't stress the importance of this anymore. It is this balance that will truly make a great game.