There are a few moments in life where people – or in this instance, developers truly define themselves and their legacies.
Today, NCSoft have revealed a few new projects slated for 2022 and beyond – titles that genuinely look incredible.
And we’re going to take a look at them right now.

The teaser showcased a grand total of 5 different games:
Project E – which is a brand new upcoming MMORPG, Project R – a battle royale that realistically nobody is going to be interested in at all, Project TL – which is slated for a full release this year and will be a major competitor to Lost Ark, Project M – a new RPG collector game and Blade & Soul S – the newest game in the Blade & Soul franchise.
Yes, because evidently.. we needed another Blade & Soul game. Because Blade & Soul 2, Blade & Soul M, Blade & Soul R, Blade & Soul 2.5, Blade & Soul Unleashed, Blade & Soul 2M, Blade & Soul Rehashed, Blade & Soul Classic, Blade & Soul Awakened, and Blade & Soul the Pre-Sequel weren’t enough.
Several of these games are slated to be launching on to PC specifically, some on PC and console like Project TL – with a PC launch early this year – and a global launch at that, and a console release in the second half of 2022, and one to be releasing on to mobile. Likely Blade & Soul S.

NCSoft have games like the Lineage franchise. Aion. Guild Wars. Blade & Soul. Plenty of incredible MMORPGs that will live on for years to come. But they alone aren’t enough to sustain the company long-term, as each and every one of these games have continued to decline year after year.
So they’re looking to expand.. and they’re looking to expand quite quickly. New intellectual properties. Already existing franchise spin-offs.
They’re making 2022 a big year for them, and are hoping to capture as much of the Global market as they can, especially given the monumental success that Lost Ark has garnered.

Some of these games look absolutely stunning. Some look.. absolutely horrendous.
But one thing is for sure.. 2022 is going to be a good year for video games. And at the end of the day.. that’s all that matters.
NCSoft have confirmed we’ll have more information readily available next month.. so be on the lookout for dedicated videos on each of these games then.

I’m pretty hard on developers and publishers. There’s no denying that. But that’s because I feel as though they should treat us as players – as consumers, with more respect than we get. As opposed to the wallets and purses they see us as. Especially Eastern companies.
But I’ll give them this one. Finally, after years of waiting.. we have it. It’s here.

Although, as excited as I am, and as excited as I’m sure you’re all going to be.. I’m not even sure what to call this one. On the one hand, this game has been advertised as “Project TL” for years.
Then out of nowhere, NCSoft revealed that they were altering the name of the game to “TL: Origin,” which stood for “The Lineage: Origin.” Now, as of the last couple weeks, it looks as though the game is being listed online as “TL: Throne and Liberty?” As in, “The Lineage: Throne and Liberty.”
Again, absolutely no idea what to even title this as. It’s gone through so many rebrands that it’s almost unrecognizable.

We’ve all been eagerly anticipating Project TL. The one, single trailer we received for the game was gorgeous. But since then.. NCSoft have been silent. Many people thought they’d given up on the game.. but they were wrong.

NCSoft just released their third quarter 2021 financials last week, and while there was a noticeable decline in a lot of different areas, they went on to discuss various different titles – recently released and upcoming.
Lineage M has seen an increase of 12%, Lineage 2M has declined by 28%, Blade & Soul 2 has seriously underperformed – which is a total shocker. I wonder why. Their 5 PC games were down 4%.
Although according to the CFO of NCSoft, Lineage W has seen some of the highest numbers the company has ever had, which is promising for them. Reinforcing their need to release this in both “the US and Europe next year.”
And this is where things begin to get interesting. Once more, the CFO of NCSoft went on to confirm that “Project TL,” yes, they went and listed this as “Project TL” once more as opposed to any of the aforementioned names, is aiming to release “simultaneously in the global market.”
This means within Korea, within Japan, Russia, North America, Europe. There are no known restrictions in place with regards to the blocking of the game, something that Korea very rarely does with their releases.

The CFO, who we’re just gonna call “Hong” here as that’s his name and I’m sick of saying “the CFO,” went on to state that “It is well known that NC’s main focus is MMORPG, but we are trying to develop various genres and IPs to expand our global customer base.”
This means that NCSoft are actively looking to grow beyond what has worked for them up until this point: PC MMORPGs and Mobile ports.. of the same MMORPG repeatedly with additional letters added to them.
“I will clearly show the blueprint to the market by informing the global market expansion and platform diversification strategy in detail.” And according to those words.. he has every intention of utilizing the global market to achieve his goals of expansion.

Hong then went on to confirm that they have finished preparation of their new NFT and Blockchain technology. “I believe that the combination of NFT and blockchain will give NC a great opportunity, and I am preparing.”
I bet you’re all overjoyed to hear the direction they’re going to be taking the company. Not that any of us really even had any hopes for it either way.

Moving back to Project TL, Hong went on to confirm that “NC’s user expansion strategy will be focused on simultaneous launch in the global market.
“Not only MMORPG, but also various genres and IP development are spurred. In the first quarter of next year, NC plans to unveil its new lineup through a showcase. We are also considering releasing an in-game video.
In this showcase, you will feel NC’s global market and platform diversification strategy. ‘Project TL’ will be released based on PC-console.
NC will expand its business with two goals: a multi-platform covering mobile-PC-console and global market expansion.”

When asked about the release schedule for Project TL, according to Hong, they have reached a stage where they are merely preparing for release. The game is done. It’s entirely complete. We haven’t seen any test phases, but according to the CFO himself – it’s done.
They are expecting the game to release in the second half of 2022. Which is… shocking. After years of silence, a complete lack of connection with their players, their community, NCSoft have a complete version of the game ready to release in the next half a year. Who’d have thought.

So if you were waiting on Project TL, or TL: Origin, or even TL: Throne and Liberty.. you won’t have too much longer to wait.
NCSoft confirmed the game, which still doesn’t have a set-in-stone definitive title, is releasing sometime in the second half of next year. And it’s releasing everywhere globally.
That’s pretty sick news. Now if only NCSoft were actually a good company, we could get REALLY excited for the game.

TL: Origin is a top-down isometric action MMORPG that shares quite a few similarities to Lost Ark that has been in active development since November 2011.
Yes, as of this very minute, the game, which originally went under the name “Lineage Eternal” has been in development for an entire decade, suffering repeated delays over the course of its development cycle.
TL: Origin shares a direct connection to the first Lineage MMO, as it was intended to be a direct sequel to its predecessor.

TL: Origin, which stands for “The Lineage: Origin” just so everyone’s on the same page was originally a very different game.
To distance their game from their main competition, Lost Ark, they had opted to make a game that shared similar aesthetics, but at the same time differ substantially in terms of core gameplay mechanics and functionality.
Lineage: Eternal was built around multi-character play. What this meant was that while you had your own character to create–to control, you could recruit up to 2 additional characters and engage in much larger-scale encounters, controlling all 3 characters simultaneously.
This would make for some very complex encounters and deep customization options, as you could essentially make your own tank/healer/DPS team without the need of a single other player.
A few years into the development process, NCSoft decided they didn’t want to proceed with this type of gameplay, and instead, opted to change to a much more traditional action combat system, controlling a single character.
While not nearly as complex, while not offering the same freedom to build a team that could overcome any encounter, it definitely left players more pleased with the direction the game was going. This felt more traditional to them, and therefore more comfortable.
And that is, in essence, where we are today.

Initially, TL: Origin was being built for a South Korean audience. NCSoft had shown no interest in releasing the game overseas to an international audience.
However, towards the end of 2020, it was revealed that not only were they aiming for a Closed Beta release date within 2021, but also that they had intentions in releasing the game to a global audience.
While it doesn’t look like they’ll be capable of following through with their goal of releasing into Closed Beta testing this year, and it makes sense as to why that is, I do want to note their quote about a Western release.
In a press release last year, it was revealed that they’ve “found it to be quite difficult launching games that are successful and well known within South Korea to the overseas market.
Players just aren’t very receptive, and part of this reason is due to the fact that these games are built for Korean players in mind, not Western players.”
Under this logic, TL: Origin looks to be targeting Western players, as the developers believe for the game to be successful to a larger audience, they’re all but required to appeal to an audience they don’t typically attempt to appeal to.
They further go on to state that “TL: Origin is being built for the global audience with technologies and visuals they are familiar with.”
Whether that means that they’re going to be developing the game with an aesthetic look and feel of Western MMOs, or instead something that more closely resembles the older Lineage games players are more familiar with remains to be seen, but I believe it’s a step in the right direction developing MMOs with us Western players in mind.

TL: Origin was being built as a PC exclusive MMO. They had absolutely no intentions of making the game cross-platform compatible with neither consoles, nor mobile devices.
Fast forward to the end of 2020, and it was revealed to appeal to an even wider audience of players, the game would be including console cross-platform functionality.
They have yet to confirm anything pertaining to the mobile platform – so you guys can take a moment to relax, but at the same time they never directly confirmed specifically which consoles the game would be launching onto.
While we have a confirmed console release in the works, they have yet to shed any light regarding the cross-play between platforms.
It might be something like Bless Unleashed: Having two entirely separate games coexisting alongside one another, but with different teams working on them, or they might allow you to use the same character across both console and PC like Genshin Impact. Only time will tell.

TL: Origin has been in active development for an entire decade at the time of this going live. And after a decade, we have barely any information available to really get excited for.
We only have a single gameplay trailer released years ago. We have no confirmation as to whether the MMO will be available in 2022 or 2023. We don’t know if the team has expanded or filtered members to other sub-divisions of the company.
We know barely any more than we did back in 2017, other than the type of combat, the world, the graphical style and their plans for a global release.

TL: Origin is an MMORPG with a large, open world for players to explore.

The combat from the trailer looks incredibly high quality.

As a South Korean MMO, there’s no doubt the customization options will blow our minds.

Graphically, the game looks fantastic for a top-down isometric title.

The game is being built for a Western audience – which might be the first South Korean MMO of its kind to do so.

TL: Origin is being developed by NCSoft.

The game has been delayed for 10 years now.

It’s almost guaranteed to feature gender locked locked classes and races.

It’s a top-down isometric MMO. Players aren’t too fond of those types of games.

It’s South Korean, so we can expect heavy pay-to-win.

It’s NCSoft.

Ultimately, TL: Origin looks like it could be a really good looking new MMO. Will it become the best MMO of whatever year it releases in? Highly doubtful. This is a South Korean MMO being developed and published by NCSoft, but at the same time it is going to tie in to the main Lineage IP, so there’s definitely potential.
Whether they can live up to the potential the franchise has is another thing all together, though, as they’ve shown repeatedly over the last decade.

I know you’re probably confused by the title. “TL: Origin?” Yes, TL: Origin is the official title for Project TL, which was originally Lineage: Eternal, the main competitor for Lost Ark.
Does that mean we finally have new information pertaining to the game? Yes, yes we do. Back in May this year I did a video talking about the upcoming Closed Beta, the release date and the business model, among other things.
Now I’m here to update you all with the info that while yes, Project TL is not coming out this year – in 2020, they are still on schedule to release their Closed Beta before the end of this year, with an expected release date in 2021.
That isn’t just within South Korea, either, much to my surprise. NCSoft recently stated that they’ve found it to be quite difficult launching games that are successful and well known within South Korea to the overseas market.
Players just aren’t very receptive, and part of this reason is due to the fact that these games are built for Korean players in mind, not Western players.
NCSoft have acknowledged this, and went on to reveal that Project TL, now titled TL: Origin is actually being built “for the global audience, with technologies and visuals they are familiar with.”
This means that the game, that was expected to be a South Korean exclusive for at least a few years, isn’t being built for their market, it’s being built for ours, and us specifically.
Honestly, I’m happy to see a South Korean developer make a move like this, and I feel it’s an enormous step in the right direction that could permanently change the way Eastern MMO developers develop games if they see that we’re receptive of their interpretation of what we want.
But at the same time, this could either be a PR marketing ploy to get us interested, or they could have completely misinterpreted what we like to see in our games, and this could crash and burn. Who knows.

NCSoft earlier this year also revealed that while TL: Origin was initially expected to be a PC exclusive release, they have plans on expanding onto consoles as well. Not mobile, no. You guys can lower your pitchforks. Just console.
So probably PS4. Maybe Switch. XBox is always left out as it’s the “mistake” child in Asia.
They don’t have much in the way of information pertaining to the console release other than the fact that they want to release fully onto both PC and console platforms. This is fantastic for PS4 players as they don’t really have much in the way of diversity.
Sure, you guys have Bless Unleashed coming, but let’s be real here.. it’s Bless Unleashed.
It’s unconfirmed whether or not the game will be cross-platform compatible allowing players to play between platforms, or whether cross-save functionality will be a thing allowing you to play with the same account regardless of the method used to play.
But I’ll definitely keep you guys updated when and if they release anything on that front.

Now, regarding the name change from Project TL to TL: Origin. It was brought to my attention a couple days ago when I was doing our Weekly Byte of MMORPG News video that NCSoft had trademarked both “TL” and “TL: Origin.”
TL: Origin stands for The Lineage: Origin, which probably goes a way to explain what we have to expect out of the game with regards to the story and setting.
As noted, the game is scheduled to enter Closed Beta later this year, but what was interesting was that it was confirmed internal testing of the game would begin on August 31st.
It’s currently the 29th right now, so by the time this goes live they’ll already have begun their first internal testing phase of the game, which lasts until the 4th of September.
After the internal testing phase concludes, we can finally expect some information to release, maybe even a new gameplay trailer showing what we have to look forward to once the Closed Beta hits in a couple months – this is the perfect time to after all with plenty of people still at home playing video games.

In closing, NCSoft stated that this game is meant to be the first in a new franchise for them. In their words specifically, “it is meant to be the start of a brand new universe,” that is targeted at Western players.
So the entire Lineage franchise going forward is going to be solely dependent on how well we receive this game.
With how little NCSoft care about PC MMORPGs anymore, this might be one of the last titles they bother wasting their time on if we really don’t enjoy what we’re given. But at the same time, if the game sucks.. then the game sucks. There’s nothing we can do about that.

I’m more excited for TL: Origin than ever before. I find it interesting that they announced they were creating the MMO for a global audience as opposed to a South Korean audience shortly after Amazon confirmed they were releasing Lost Ark in the West next year.
But they’re going to be the main competition for one another, so I guess it stands to reason.
I look forward to seeing where this ends up towards the end of the year, and I’m hoping considering their grandiose vision for the game, that it ends up being remotely as entertaining as they think it’ll be.
We’ve had to wait long enough to play this game, and I look forward to playing it next year (yes, the TL: Origin release date is 2021) in whatever form we get to play it in.

So I’ve seen countless news websites and various MMO-related Youtube channels mention Project TL recently.
I’ve done several videos on the game over the last year – I was pretty much the only person talking it. I’ll admit, I began to feel a little lonely in the genre. Like I was the only one that even remembered the game existed.
But why are people beginning to talk about it now? Has there been a new information dump – an announcement that would bring the game to everyone’s attention? Actually, kind of!

See, back in July I did a video where I addressed the lack of information concerning the game.
It had been so long since we’d received any form of update from NCSoft after they had opted to rebrand the game from Lineage: Eternal and Project TL was beginning to drift into people’s memory, especially when other titles like Lost Ark, Blue Protocol and even the upcoming GRAN SAGA were receiving much more regular updates.
However, as I stated back at the end of December, NCSoft was required to supply their quarterly financial report to investors and when they did, they revealed that they were still hard at work on Project TL and that it was actually much closer to releasing than we had all thought.
More specifically, while NCSoft had no intention of releasing the game in 2020, they did very much plan on having a publicly accessible Closed Beta during 2020.
Yes – back in December 2019, they had stated that there was an expected Closed Beta planned for 2020, and then recently they’ve went on to elaborate a little more on that.

You guys know that it’s my duty – my solemn oath to make sure you’re all kept up to date with every new bit of information regarding the plethora of MMOs all in development, so it is with that knowledge, with that responsibility that I reveal the following: NCSoft reaffirmed last years statement that they had plans for a test of sorts this year.
They didn’t confirm whether the test would still be, specifically a Closed Beta test, but they did claim it would be a “test phase,” and if everything went along according to their expectations, they would announce a console port.
Yeah, no joke. Project TL, initially Lineage: Eternal was going to be a PC exclusive title, just like how Lost Ark is.
However, NCSoft confirmed not only are they still on track to release a test phase during 2020, but they also went on to state that they would have information next year regarding the actual, full release onto both PC and consoles.

They did apologize for the lack of information – the lack of communication pertaining to the game and its development process. Honestly, I still find it unusual that there’s so little information publicly available regarding the game.
Gameplay? Not really. New trailers after their initial announcement? Nope. Do we even have a confirmed list of exactly what the updates target? Not at all. This is definitely an interesting way to go about hyping up your game’s release.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been excited for the game – more so than I was ever excited for Lost Ark. When people were hyping Lost Ark as the “next big MMORPG,” I was sitting here going “A PC sequel to the Lineage franchise? Yes, please!”

Speaking of, while a lot of us are sitting here excited, I’m well aware some of you are unaware of what Project TL even is.
Other than initially being the main competition to Lost Ark, Project TL is an upcoming South Korean isometric MMORPG from NCSoft. Or, at least at the time it was an isometric MMO.
With all of the overhauls, who knows, it might be a completely different game by the time it actually releases later this year.
Supposedly, the game is completely open-world, features a selection of varying classes to choose between – I’m not sure if the classes will be gender locked.
I know it’s a South Korean game and they have an unbelievable obsession with having gender locks in place but hopefully if NCSoft have plans of releasing the game outside of South Korea, they understand we Westerners aren’t very fond of it.
The game will be completely free-to-play, much like Lost Ark and the other Lineage games in the franchise.
This will be launching into a test phase later this year, but that does not in any way mean the game will also be launching this year. As they opted to not include the type of test – Alpha or Beta, we’ve no idea exactly how far along through development the game actually is.
The test phase will likely be for South Korea only, and Westerners will be IP blocked from accessing it, much like we have been for every South Korean title, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to access it.
If you use a VPN – I myself use ExitLag personally, then you can definitely get around IP blocks like this and sign up for the Beta test in advance.
Otherwise, you’ll have to wait like the rest of us. But please, don’t be of the impression that the game is launching this year. While the Alpha or Beta test will be launching this year, the official Project TL title likely won’t release until 2021.

And there we have it.
All of this excitement for the game is over NCSoft reaffirming their intentions to release the game into a playable form later this year.
Do note that NCSoft also confirmed in December 2019 that they would be holding a “Closed Beta some time during the first half of 2020.”
And while there could be any number of reasons why that didn’t pan out, their guesstimates aren’t nearly as set-in-stone as they might have you believe.
So while they definitely have plans for a testing phase later this year, I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. Setbacks happen, and with so many developers working from home right now, it’s safe to say schedules are definitely a little out of whack and are definitely more difficult to maintain.
But if things to go as they plan, then more power to them. I’m still very excited for the game – and knowing that progress is still continuing to move along is enough for me.
By the time it finally releases it might be an entirely different game, perhaps, but all we can do is wait and see.
Like always, I’ll keep you all updated with any future info pertaining to Project TL.

Last week I did a video on Lost Ark where I talked about how we won’t be seeing the game this year.. probably not next year either. And that upset a lotta people.
And don’t get me wrong – you’re anger is warranted – you’re completely justified in being upset.
We’ve all been waiting on the game for years now, and despite Smilegate stating a while back that they planned on one day releasing in the West.. we’ve thus far gotten nothing.
I mean sure, no problem. They’re a South Korean developer, they have no obligation to us, nor are they supposed to simply acquiesce to our requests to have an English localized version of the game.

But one common response I saw on the video was “That’s fine. I’ll be waiting on Project TL which looks better and will release sooner anyway.”
So here I am, doing another video on Project TL. No, this isn’t clickbait. I’m not trying to bait you into watching, I’m legit here to discuss the game and their plans for a Western release.

So, before we go any further, what exactly is Project TL?
Project TL was announced years ago, roughly at the same time as Lost Ark.
They were.. competitors, I guess, with people taking sides like they do with Xbox and Playstation consoles. But back then it was called Lineage: Eternal. How many of you actually remember that?
Either way, people weren’t too happy with how Lineage: Eternal was turning out, thus NCSoft decided to completely overhaul the entirety of the game while undergoing a rebrand.
This set them back quite a bit, and resulted in silence from the developer for years.. until the end of December 2019.
Lineage: Eternal was built with the ability to not only field, but also control several characters simultaneously. You would go about the game, slowly recruiting various different characters that you could customize however you pleased.
It was still a pure MMO – but it would have taken the game in a very interesting direction. Project TL though is much more like Lost Ark: It’s an open-world MMO that provides a single character and sick action combat – but from an isometric point of view.
The game looks and plays like Lost Ark, it always has. That’s why people often considered them as direct competition for one another.

Now I did a video on Project TL back in December 2019. In it I spoke about a specific announcement NCSoft made pertaining to its release.
See, last year NCSoft were required to supply investors with their quarterly financials, like every year.
However, during their third quarter financials, they revealed that Project TL is still in active development, but not only that, they have a scheduled South Korean Closed Beta release date for 2020.
Specifically, “the first half of 2020.” Whether that means the game will launch this year within the region is up for discussion, but considering it’s one of NCSoft’s potential biggest hits.. they’d be crazy to continue to delay it.
Especially considering Lost Ark is losing players daily.

There were a couple different reasons I wanted to do this video.
On the one hand, we have people under the impression that Project TL will be launching this year. That is correct and incorrect both: It is correct to assume it will launch in 2020 within South Korea, but not outside of the region.
The game isn’t finished yet, and even when it finally is, North America, Europe, the entire Western market in general is a mere afterthought for South Korean developers.
I’m not saying that it’ll be 5, maybe 10 years before we get it, but it’s best to temper your expectations with regards to a release date.
Then there’s the public thought that Project TL is vastly superior to Lost Ark: That just isn’t true. I’m a fan, I’ve always been a fan of Project TL over Lost Ark, but even I know we don’t have definitive gameplay or endgame content yet.
Thus we don’t have nearly enough to gauge whether or not the game will compete with, surpass or fall short of Lost Ark.

But that’s pretty much the purpose today. I wanted to let you all know that Project TL is coming this year. It is. And it’ll likely have an English fan-translation available shortly after it releases.
But since it’s a South Korean MMO it’ll also have IP blocks in place requiring a VPN to play.

The game’s going to be a pure action MMO – but we can’t compare it to currently released games until we have a more finalized version of the game to actually compare.
And finally, no, the game won’t be releasing in the West for a while, just like Lost Ark. Sorry.

Exciting news, right? So I did a video on Project TL back in July, where I talked about the lack of information released from NCSoft in terms of the game’s future. It’s been a long time.
Project TL was originally known as Lineage: Eternal or Lineage 3 – and was expected to be direct competition to Lost Ark.
You all remember that, right? Back when both games were initially announced, and fans of the genre were on one side or the other, claiming there can only be one truly good isometric action MMORPG.
That all seems like a distant memory now, with Lineage: Eternal rebranding as Project TL and then NCSoft going pretty much completely silent for.. well, since it was announced.
The reason for the rebranding was due to a disappointing reception – people were just not happy or excited about what NCSoft had presented especially when compared to Lost Ark. So they opted to completely overhaul the game.
I’m sure you’re all aware that this takes time – so it’s understandable that the game has been delayed for as long as it has, but not keeping your fans updated with progress is still kind of a crappy move.
I know that there was whispers of the game’s development in South Korea but that was it. Until now, that is.

See, NCSoft is obliged to supply their quarterly financials – that way investors can see what’s going on with their money.
During their most recent financial report for the 3rd quarter, several things were revealed. On the one hand, mobile game revenue had declined by 5% in the last few months, while PC game revenue was actually up 3%.
But more importantly, they made mention of Project TL. According to NCSoft, Project TL is still very much in active development – and they finally have a release date for their Closed Beta scheduled: 2020.
Or, the first half of 2020 at the very least. And yes, that’s referring to South Korea, not the rest of the world. “But it’s still going to be years off from a Western release” you might be thinking.
Well let me add a little hope to that pit of despair you’re no doubt now plagued with: Project TL is NCSoft’s only PC MMORPG in development. It’s the only PC MMORPG announced from NCSoft in years.
Since NCSoft no doubt still have active PC game devs, and no other PC title has been revealed in years, it’s clear which game they’re hard at work on.
While that doesn’t necessarily equate to a quality title, it’s reassuring knowing not only that they’re going to be releasing the game into Closed Beta next year, but also that they’ve been working on the game this whole time.

I’ve always been excited for Project TL. When everyone was hyped about Lost Ark being the next big MMO, I was here thinking “But Lineage: Eternal looks pretty good, too!”
I gathered that I was in the minority at the time, and that was fine – we’re all entitled to our own opinions after all, but I’ve been watching the game evolve with eager anticipation since way back when.
They’ve reworked quite a significant portion of the game over that time – with small little releases of gameplay from people that live in South Korea here and there, and this has me hopeful.
For the most part.. I’m liking where the game’s currently at. It looks well optimized and although it doesn’t look as good as it did in its original trailer, the game still seems to be coming together well.
I’m still marginally upset that they scrapped their original ideas for the game because I thought it was a much more interesting route to take.

Lineage Eternal was originally sold with the notion that you could tackle any obstacle in a variety of ways, providing players with the ability to not only amass, but also field several characters concurrently – which goes against the normal single character control we traditionally have in MMOs.
Project TL instead opted to scratch that idea and go the generic, tried-and-tested route, just like Lost Ark and other isometric ARPGs. Which is fine, I’ll just always be curious of what it could’ve been if they’d stuck with it.
Project TL will, regardless, feature a large, completely open world for players to explore with tons of unique zones to traverse and varied events to participate in. It has action combat, obviously, otherwise it wouldn’t be an isometric action RPG.
Combat is similar to Diablo, Path of Exile and Lost Ark itself. Exactly how the combat will turn out is anyone’s guess at this point as we’re still not given a complete picture of how the game looks or how the game plays right this moment.
This is of course due to the fact that although they’ve confirmed a first-half 2020 release for the game, they’ve released no gameplay for us to get excited over.
So until then, we’ll have to take their word that the game is going to have as good combat as they claim.

Do be aware that the game is going to be an open-world PvP MMO, meaning that while you can participate in instanced Arena-PvP, you’ll also be able to fight other players in the open world as well.
Whether that is via means such as toggling a PvP mode on or off, or is faction based is up for discussion, much like several other features discussed.

Regardless, NCSoft have confirmed the game will be here next year.
What form the game will ultimately take remains to be seen but you should be excited that even if we don’t receive the English version until 2021, 2022 or even later, like Lost Ark, we’ll have an English fan-translation that will allow us to play the game outside of South Korea.. so long as we use a VPN.
Which, I use ExitLag for because honestly it’s just better than other VPN’s I’ve tried.

When was the last time we received new information on Project TL? The beginning of 2018? That’s almost a year and a half ago.
Man, how time flies. I remember the last video I did on the game speaking about how they had plans to launch the Lineage successor into closed beta during 2018 but we all know how that turned out.
Since then, we’ve all been preoccupied with Lost Ark. Why wouldn’t we, though?
Project TL, formerly known as Lineage Eternal was expected to be the main competition for Lost Ark but.. well, with Lost Ark already playable, and no word on Project TL, you know which game came out on top.
But that doesn’t mean the game isn’t still being actively worked on or that the game will somehow be inferior.

Although honestly, I would like the team behind it to come out and let us know what’s going on.
NCSoft are pretty terrible with regards to keeping their community in the loop and are more interested in earnings over creating a game that people can enjoy which is evident by their shift in focus to mobile MMOs.

Project TL, originally known as Lineage: Eternal or Lineage 3 is an upcoming 3D fantasy MMORPG that is set in the world of the Lineage franchise, supposedly being a direct sequel to the original Lineage game.
After failing to garner the attention of the MMO community under the Lineage: Eternal title, and showing disappointing gameplay they decided to overhaul the game from the ground up.
So, naturally the long delay could be due to the fact that they’re reworking so much of the game but a little bit of information I found recently kinda.. offputs me a little.
From what I was aware, NCSoft announced the game as a PC MMORPG. It had graphics that were supposed to rival Lost Ark, gameplay that was supposed to put it at the top of the Action MMO market.
But as of right now, the team promises that the game will have “streamlined gameplay and support for mobile devices.” Yes, support for mobile devices.
Because Lineage 2: Revolution on mobile wasn’t bad enough, Project TL could very well end up being cross-compatible with mobile devices as well, if they’re not already optimizing the game for it.
Lineage Eternal was sold with the notion that you could tackle any obstacle in a variety of ways, providing you the ability to not only amass, but also field several characters concurrently – which goes against the normal single character control we traditionally have.
Project TL instead opted to scratch that idea and go the generic, tried-and-tested route. Which is fine. Just a little disappointing for me when I heard it way back when.
The game features a large, fully open world with lots of unique zones to explore and events to participate in. It has the same action combat you’d expect out of an Action RPG like Diablo, Path of Exile or even Lost Ark.
Dungeons are randomly generated and offer dynamic experiences every time you decide to tackle them. There are also World bosses and Raids featuring a currently undisclosed amount of players.
PvP takes the form of open-world PvP and Arena PvP. This could be an issue for some players as they hate being killed out in the open-world while questing or leveling.

Very good question. At the beginning of 2018, NCSoft revealed that Project TL was ahead of schedule, running very well in terms of development.
They announced that they were doing so well, in fact, that they had every intent on conducting a closed beta test during the second half of 2018.
However, here we are in the second half of 2019 and not a word has left NCSoft’s mouth as to what, exactly, is going on.
Project TL was slated for a 2019 release, however with the state the game is currently in and their focus.. that seems a little unlikely.
If we don’t get any new information this year it’d be safe to say that an expected date before 2022 would be unlikely.
This is for the Korean version of the game, mind you. When could we expect a North American and European release of the game? Probably 2 years, minimum after it launches in South Korea. Probably more.
So, yes, while the game is likely not dead yet, by the time it finally releases people will have long since forgotten about it like I’m sure most of you already have.
I mean how many of you guys are still anticipating Project TL? Genuinely curious.

Honestly, I’m not entirely certain what to think.
I enjoyed playing Lineage 2. I never played the original Lineage so I can’t speak for its plot or gameplay.
I never played Lineage 2 for a prolonged period of time because honestly, although it was fun, I enjoyed other MMOs more.
Having Project TL be a direct continuation of the Lineage story is a very cool idea, and a way to bring back OG players.
However their mismanagement of the game and lack of communication with the community is disconcerting. Peria Chronicles kept people in the dark for over a year, but Nexon assured players it was still in the works.
NCSoft are completely silent. That doesn’t bode well and I feel like that isn’t a very effective way of creating a community of players that trust you.
But then I’m not a game developer, so what do I know about maintaining a community that trusts you.
I was honestly more hyped when Lineage: Eternal and Lost Ark were both announced for the former, honestly. Now? I fear that by the time I play Project TL, if ever, I’ll be nearing my 40s.
At least with Lost Ark we only have to wait another, what? 3-4 years, max. Hopefully.
I’m a little sour that they’re likely putting much more of a focus on the mobile version though as that’s where the vast majority of microtransactions and therefore, earnings are going to come from.
But then NCSoft is obsessed with them. Just like every other South Korean MMO developer and mobile game publisher.

But, what do you guys think? Are you still excited for Project TL? Did you forget it even existed? Think it’ll ever released, or have NCSoft scrapped the game?

So I have some gaudy news that might help loosen up the sphincters of anyone disappointed with the current look of MMORPGs on the horizon.

Project TL, which I’ve actually just learned stands for “The Lineage”, was announced late 2017. No real information was known about the game at the time other than that it was an MMORPG set within the Lineage franchise.
What we know now though, is that Project TL will actually be a complete remake of Lineage Eternal – you know – that MMORPG that was supposed to compete with Lost Ark? Yeah, that Lineage Eternal.
Supposedly, the game will act as a direct sequel to the original Lineage game.

Now, NCSoft have taken the time to make some changes to the game since its original iteration – to better suit the current market.
One of Lineage Eternal’s unique selling points was that it allowed you to amass and field multiple characters as opposed to an individual character, like most games.
This meant that you could build a healer, tank, DPS, and deploy which ever the circumstance required.

Project TL will change that however, instead, offering the basic, traditional single-character system that Lineage Eternal was lacking. It will also be created using the Unreal Engine 4 – so you can imagine how it’s going to look.

NCSoft revealed that Project TL is actually running very well in terms of development and further went on to reveal their intent to conduct closed beta testing for Project TL during the second half of 2018.
Granted, this is likely to apply only to Korean players, but it nevertheless gives us all something to look forward to.

NCSoft also went on to point out that Project TL is definitely slated for a 2019 release, however, due to the complexities of the development process of PC MMO games, an exact date is not within their ability to give.
However, for those interested, they did note that their mobile iteration of Project TL titled TL Mobile will likely come out before Project TL does.

So we now know that Project TL will enter closed beta this year with an official release in 2019.
Regarding how long it’ll take to get localized into English remains to be seen, but it depends on the scale of the game.

Now, are you guys excited? I’ve been personally looking forward to Lineage Eternal since it was announced, and knowing they’ve reworked some of the systems people were upset with is comforting to hear.
However my concern for the game is that NCSoft are the developers. They single-handedly destroyed Aion, Blade and Soul and WildStar by making first two pay to win, catering to whales and the third, WildStar, by just.. neglect.

With how beautiful the game is and how popular the Lineage franchise still is (especially with Lineage 2: Revolution launching to critical success), Project TL is bound to launch to a huge start.
Much larger than Bless or MapleStory 2 even – two games that are highly anticipated.
I’m just hoping that NCSoft don’t ruin another game.