Lineage II is the visually-stunning prequel to the world?s most popular online game, Lineage. Players can group with friends, tame powerful dragons, participate in epic struggles, and lay siege to majestic castles in this massive medieval fantasy world created with Epic?s Unreal? engine.

NCsoft also announces that characters created during the open beta phase of the game will not be deleted at launch. Players can create their Lineage II characters with the assurance that they will be able to carry those characters into the commercial version of the game. Prior to launching open beta on March 28, NCsoft will delete all characters created during the initial closed beta phase of the game. This reset will allow all players to begin the open beta period on a level playing field, and to experience the game with thousands of new players in North America for the first time.

Those participating in the beta will also be eligible to compete in several challenges created just for the beta test. Free gaming systems, gift certificates, LCD monitors and video cards are among the prizes to be given away. Drawings and prizes will be awarded to the top 10 clans (based on clan level plus total clan member levels), the first players to reach level 20 and level 40, screenshot of the week winners and players who create the best game trailers.

Everyone who registers for an account will be allowed to participate in the free open beta testing phase of the game. In order to register for an account and download the game, players should visit the official Lineage 2 website.