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NCSoft To Close North American Lineage Servers

Posted by Soulskill on from the end-of-an-era dept.

NCSoft announced yesterday that they plan to shut down all North American servers for their long-running Lineage MMORPG on June 29th. The game came out in 1998 and gradually became one of the most successful MMOs of all time, reporting over a million subscribers as much as a decade after launch. Account creation on North American servers has been disabled, subscriptions for coming months have been refunded, and existing accounts have been reactivated for free. "We will not be making any additional content updates, but we do have US Ruleset changes and lots of great events planned for the next two months. We want to give you every opportunity to make all of your remaining Lineage dreams come true. We hope that everyone will stick around to have fun with the game you love in the time we have left. We know that we have incredibly loyal fans that have stood by us for the past ten years. As painful as it was, as a business, we had to make a very difficult, but necessary, decision."

13 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. I hate it when this happens by atari2600a · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I say any MMO operator should freeware the servers once the game becomes abandonware like this. I mean, it's like you have an entire universe in these old optical discs but you're locked out of it because you can't log on...

    1. Re:I hate it when this happens by Cimexus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Agreed. Private server software does exist for most MMOs but it's usually not as functional or stable as the real thing (unsurprising given that the software was essentially reverse engineered by fans). They should just release the official server software into the public domain.

      As an aside I've always wondered about the hardware and OS requirements for major MMO server software. Perhaps they can't release it because the hardware and environment requirements are so specific that the average Joe simply couldn't get a server running if they wanted to...

    2. Re:I hate it when this happens by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 4, Informative

      For comparison, North America is 5% is the ncsoft's market for *all* their games (lineage, city of heroes/villains, aion, guild wars). They are not going to base any decision on releasing code on how the game is doing on the North American market.

    3. Re:I hate it when this happens by Exitar · · Score: 4, Informative

      They should just release the official server software into the public domain.

      They're shutting NA servers only, not all of them.

    4. Re:I hate it when this happens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I have no idea for Lineage, but EVE Online make their server specs public. The database for their economy... well, you can't afford it. RAM. Lots and lots of RAM, in nice rackmount enclosures and linked by infiniband. They run it on a colossal ramdrive, because not even flash could handle the IOPS.

    5. Re:I hate it when this happens by RogueyWon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unless you actually, you know, like MMOs. Which are pretty much known for needing an online server to function. This isn't like refusing to buy games that have DRM requiring online authentication; this is a genre that functions only on the basis of large, centralised servers.

      I've been "clean" for over a year now, but prior to that, I spent almost 7 years playing first Final Fantasy XI and then World of Warcraft. And I don't particularly regret it. I had some good times, met a few friends and then moved on when I got tired of it. For the average MMO-gamer, their initial purchase and monthly subs represent spectacularly efficient spending on an hours per dollar basis compared to pretty much any other form of entertainment purchase.

      Having a moral objection to offline games that require online authentication for copy-protection is one thing. Objecting to a game that is fully online by its very nature for requiring players to be online just makes you look silly.

    6. Re:I hate it when this happens by Amarantine · · Score: 2

      And create a free directly competing game to their newer titles? They'd become their own competitor in an already crowded market. Not sure they'd like that idea.

    7. Re:I hate it when this happens by tebixan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think he understands you fine. The point is, if you want to play this genre of games (MMOs) then you have no choice but to rely on online servers. Without centralized servers, there is no game. It's like saying 'don't play any sports which require a team, because you might not have access to a team one day'. I think everyone who plays these games understands that one day the game will cease to exist. Also, lose the whole 'I don't play games because I have a real life' routine. It's possible to have a real life and a hobby at the same time.

    8. Re:I hate it when this happens by Saxerman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, this was was part of the entire point behind the creation of copyright law. In the US, the 'for a limited' clause was there so that the author could benefit by monetizing a short term monopoly on their work, and then the copyright would expire and it would revert into the public domain.

      Of course, this was in the days of hand written scribes and latter of movable type presses. The concept of digital information transmission did not yet exist, nor with it the idea that information could be shared near instantly at a fraction of the cost.

      Since then, copyright laws have increased in duration from the original 'Statute of Anne' which provided 14 years, with an additional 14 years of the copyright was renewed. Compared to the current US version which protects from 70 years after the death of the author, or for corporate owned works, 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication.

      We've also moved away from the publication of plain text works, to the new age of computer binary code. So even if the copyright on a computer program would expire, there are no provisions that the author need also provide the original source code. So the US copyright on Lineage should expire in 2093 (should no further extensions be added, and NCSoft is South Korean, so foreign copyrights can get even tricker) then we would be freely able to distribute the compiled client code... but without access to the never published source code or server software... well, doubtless 95 year old software would only be of any interest to historians anyways. Who could freely view the copyright code all that wanted, even during the duration of the copyright... just as long as they didn't distribute it amongst themselves for study.

      --

      A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.

    9. Re:I hate it when this happens by Machtyn · · Score: 2

      Whatever the consumer may think, a publisher is in the business of making money. If there is no money, there is no product to be produced and delivered to the consumer.

      In the case of NCSoft, why would they freeware a product that would directly compete with their existing titles? I think, in the case of MMOs, the consumer should be aware that they do not own the game in question. They really do not own their characters. They are essentially renting space for entertainment purposes. When you go to the theater, you are renting a seat for the time required. They are not selling you the seat nor the movie.

      Now, I do agree that old single player titles, abandonware, should be opened up to at least allow the user to run the game. Similar to a book. When I've bought a book, read through it several times, placed on my shelf for 20 years, I am not prevented from reading it again later. Many times, this is exactly what has and/or will happen with single player games that require draconic DRM measures (perhaps that codewheel was lost in the wheel of time, perhaps the DRM authentication servers have died a fiery death never to be resurrected). This doesn't necessarily mean the company gives up their rights to the software, code, and IP - they would still be free to create sequels, or whatever.

  2. It is sad by Garst · · Score: 2

    It is sad, but I never got into the first game. However, I did enjoy Lineage II. At least until Chinna wouldn't stop killing me. I wasn't able to level up any longer, so lost all interest in it. P.S. Chinna was the person's name. I remember because by the end, I had a macro to do "/target Chinna" to make sure i didn't have to try in vain to run.

    1. Re:It is sad by xhrit · · Score: 2

      I play Aion, which is pretty much Lineage III with an original setting. I was never into generic fantasy but the lore and art style in Aion were unique enough to catch my interest. The game has some of the most ruthlessly brutal pvp I have ever see tho, and it is definitely a deterrent to all but the most hardcore players.

      --
      Dungeon Tactics : Free Open Source SRPG
  3. Not that popular in the US by Aereus · · Score: 2

    Did they really have a million subscribers to the North American servers? I remember playing the English alpha/beta test for Lineage1 way back when, and the game felt dated even back then. There was a steep learning curve, pointless grinding, and not all that much to do.

    That said, the game met large success in SE Asia at least, with something like 4million+ accounts there alone. At the same time that North America was considering Everquest1 a huge success with 500k subscribers.