Lineage 2: The Chaotic Throne - The Kamael finally goes on retail in Europe, and to celebrate, NCsoft Europe patched up a trailer which showcases the glorious one-winged race known as the Kamael. You may have heard what the expansion brings to the table, but if you haven't seen the Kamael swinging swords and shooting arrows, don't miss out on the full article.

Hate your name? Feel like you're trapped in the body of the wrong sex? If you're a Lineage 2 player, then NCsoft may have just the thing for you. If name changes or gender-bending aren't your cup of tea, you can always refer a friend and reaps the benefits of that, too.

More on NCsoft's Lineage 2 programs after the jump.

NCsoft recently updated its popular MMORPG Lineage II to the 1st Throne expansion. If you missed it, there's no reason to worry. We've got some notes from the NCsoft official Lineage site to help you get everything in shape. Helpful notes follow in the full article.

NCSoft has announced that their latest free expansion to Lineage II, known as The 1st Throne - The Kamael, is now available for testing on the Lineage II Public Test Server.

In addition to new items and lands, The Kamael expansion also introduces players to a new race known as the Kamael. The Kamael are a dark-attributed race capable of creating new Kamael-specific weapons out of currently equippable weapons, and also have dark magic associated with their skills. For more information, click on "read more" to know more.

NCsoft has just announced a new in-game event for MMORPG Lineage II. The event is called Trick or Transmutation and is a very well fitting celebration for the upcoming Halloween celebration. It will run from October 26 until November 6. Players who will engage in this activity are sure to get rare rewards.

Here's a little backgrounder for the MMORPG's Trick or Transmutation: Sir Edward the Alchemist has just finished his research on Philosopher's Stone creation. All the information are kept in the Alchemist's Chest but the keys to the chest were lost due to a recent monster attack. Other basic information include:

• Players can learn about the Trick or Transmutation event by speaking to the Alchemist's Servitor.
• The Alchemist's Chest Key drops during specific event drop times.
  
• Once players have obtained an Alchemist's Chest Key, they can open one of the Alchemist's Chests that are situated around the Alchemist's Servitor. The Alchemist's Chests contain the items required to create a Philosopher's Stone.
• Players must have all required Philosopher's Stone creation items and they must register the appropriate Transmutation Circle Recipe to their General Recipe Book in order to create the corresponding Philosopher's Stone.
• Once players have created Philosopher's Stones, they can double-click the stones to receive random event rewards. The rewards vary depending on what color Philosopher's Stone you're using.

The Read link below will take you to Lineage II's official page for the event where you can learn more about drop times, prizes, and other event-related schedule.

NCsoft's Lineage II will be getting a new free Chaotic Chronicles chapter called The Chaotic Throne: The Kamael. Announced at the MMORPG's official website, this update will introduce a new race, lands, and three new services.

The new race, called The Kamael, are well known for their battle prowess and their affinity for dark magic. These one-winged warriors can choose to go the path of a Berserker (males only), Abalester (females only), or a Soul Breaker (available to both genders).

Chaotic Throne: The Kamael also introduces three new lands called Isle of Souls, Hellbound, and Isle of Prayer. Isle of Souls is the homeland of The Kamael which players can visit by talking to the Gate Keeper NPCs. Hellbound and Isle of Prayer are new areas for higher-leveled players; they will provide good rewards for those who journey there and survive.

This expansion implements three new services, namely Character Server Transfers, Name Changes, and Gender Changes. Players have been asking for these features ever since Lineage II came out so it's nice to see that they're finally adding it. More updates on this MMORPG as we get them.

Artists, this is your chance to capture the visual beauty of the NCsoft's fantasy MMORPG, Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne, on paper (or your preferred medium of choice) as NCsoft announces the first ever Lineage II Comic Contest. Submissions are currently open from September 14 to October 25, 2007.

The contest will be split into two categories: one for hand drawn, painting or computer graphic entries, while the other will comprise of used in-game Lineage II screenshots or real-life photos. A total of four lucky winners (one first place winner and one runner-up) will receive rare Lineage II items, such as a Lineage II dark elf statue, Lineage II artbook and other prizes.

Only one comic entry per person will be accepted. And all entries must be in RGB jpgs, but there are no limits to the size of the actual entry. Of course, all standard copyright legalities and disclaimers apply to the contest (the prohibited use of copyrighted material from NCsoft or other works you do not own; I'm pretty sure you all know how it goes).

Two first place winners will receive:

• One (1) Lineage II Dark Elf Statue (Retail value: $75.00)
• One (1) Lineage II Art Book: Second Edition (Retail value: $30.00)
• One (1) Tateossian Lineage II Ring (Retail value: $64.10)
• One (1) Lineage II Epic Collection (Retail value: $29.99)
• One (1) Lineage II Game Time Card (60 days worth of free game time) (Retail value: $29.99)

While two second place winners will also receive the following:

• One (1) Lineage II Art Book: Second Edition (Retail value: $30.00)
• One (1) Lineage II Epic Collection (Retail value: $29.99)One (1) Lineage II Game Time Card (60 days worth of free game time) (Retail value: $29.99)

 

Whether you've hung up your swords and armor or still active and fighting the good fight, NCsoft's Lineage II wants you back in action with its Call to Arms, a massive re-opening of inactive accounts all over Aden. We get you the skinny on Strategist Lucien's worldwide plea for warriors to take up the fight and protect Aden in these uncertain times.

There are a few catches to this reactivation program, though. First off, only those accounts that went inactive between January 1 of last year to May 31st of this year are eligible for reactivation. Second, those accounts have to have been activated by paid serial codes, and are in good standing. Trial and banned accounts are unfortunately out of the scope of this Call to Arms, and will not enjoy the one-week re-opening that the other eligible accounts will.

Here are the details in full:

• All inactive accounts that became inactive between 1/1/06 to 5/31/07, were activated with a paid serial code, and are in good standing, are being re-activated for a seven-day period. Trial accounts and banned accounts are not eligible. Trial accounts and banned accounts are not eligible.
• All characters from returning accounts that are level 10 and above will receive 2 Arms Orders (shadow weapon exchange coupons) and 2 Defense Orders (shadow armor exchange coupons).
• The highest level character, that is level 10 or above, on returning accounts will also receive 2 Supply Orders (consumable item exchange coupons).
• Existing players will benefit too! The highest-level character, that is level 10 or above, on all existing accounts will receive 1 Arms Order (shadow weapon exchange coupon) and 1 Defense Order (shadow armor exchange coupon). (Keep in mind that the "highest-level" condition will take into account your sub-class as well, if you are set to sub-class status. The character you currently have set as your highest character will get the items.

One week reactivation, and shadow armor/weapons/supplies exchange for your current orders? Very neat. Do note that this event begins on July 3rd after maintenance on all servers, and will end seven days later on July 10.

Sales and distribution network company AsianMedia is happy to announce that it has acquired the rights to NCSoft's MMO video game Lineage II for local distribution in the Philippines. This means that the said country, and nearby markets as well, will finally have their own dedicated servers.

Truth be told, the Philippines is one of the emerging "gaming countries" but it's currently being wrecked by piracy. Despite that however, don't assume that fans in the Philippines wouldn't be getting the same quality of service other top markets are enjoying. Information and Communications Technology Head Apol Salud shared,

The Lineage II servers are also tightly integrated with Telco grade network equipments from Cisco Systems to increase its efficiency in handling large amounts of data traffic. This allows "direct peering" with our partner telecommunication companies such as PLDT DSL, Globe DSL, Telekom Malaysia, and SingTel.

Aside from this, AsianMedia also noted that it will be putting up a 24/7 customer service center using servers from Dell to address regional and local gamers' concerns. According to AsianMedia Chief Operating Officer Ronald Allan Aquino mentioned that these kind of services will further endear Lineage II to the Southeast Asian player,

We have a great product in Lineage II and we've done everything we can to ensure that we provide the best gaming experience possible to those who log in to our servers to play. This is the kind of game where you simply cannot afford to be lagged if you expect to get anywhere in PvP or PvE scenarios.

 

Gamers from Australia and New Zealand planning to play Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne would do well to know the changes NCSoft is implementing on the game's billing system. Current subscribers with active accounts don't have to worry though since you will NOT be affected by these changes.

It has been announced that any new accounts activated in the said markets will automatically be set up to pay in U.S. Dollars. In addition to this, any current inactive accounts that are in Australia or New Zealand will have their billing set automatically to that currency as well.

There was no word given on whether players will be able to shift back to paying with their local currencies, but a quick e-mail to NCSoft's billing support should solve that for most players. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne.