But the original phenomenon of Lineage is a fascinating tale in itself, a fun-house case study of globalism that's intrinsically tied to, of all things, the policies of the International Monetary Fund.
"Right at the time this game launched [in 1997-98] is right after the IMF had kind of cratered the economy," says Garriott. "The Korean currency devalued dramatically. Tons of layoffs occurred, tons of middle managers were out of jobs, and what a lot of them did is they started little PC game rooms."
Due to fractious relations between Japan and Korea, console games (a major Japanese export) are not readily available to Korean consumers. Personal computers were also too pricey for most Koreans -- but they could afford to pay $1 an hour to play PC games, even though at first, these venues were makeshift, "literally people's living rooms and family rooms."
At about the same time, Korean game designer Jake Song created Lineage, with T.J. Kim, NCSoft's CEO, mortgaging his own house to ensure its completion. The game's popularity grew geometrically -- one in 30 South Koreans have played it at least once -- and with it, so have the game rooms, especially in the polluted, vastly overcrowded streets of Seoul, where they've become oases of leisure. Now, says Garriott (recently back from a visit to the city), "They look like miniature casinos, with snack bars, and little couple's couches so you can play with your girlfriend ... these game rooms and Lineage grew up together."
The struggle for castles and territory is so intense that the conflicts often rage offline in brutal melees that resemble something out of a William Gibson novel, with members of competing Pledges rumbling into rivals' game-room turf, out for real blood. The Korean police even have a term for these crimes, instantly recognizable by multiplayer gamers worldwide: "off-line PK" (player killing).
And now that Lineage is growing popular among Japanese players, historical conflicts between Korea and Japan -- World War II occupation, the use of Korean "comfort women" -- are affecting Lineage's gameplay, says Garriott. "The bad blood, so to speak, that exists between Korea and Japan is surprisingly present from the Korean side," he says. Retribution for past grievances goes down online. "The game players in Korea are very well organized, and usually win out over other countries when it comes to castle sieges and other activities, and they take particular vigor in tromping on the Japanese players."
All this makes me wonder if the cultural divide is too yawning for Lineage to work in the West. If the Asian ethos is more geared toward the group dynamic and the strict hierarchy demanded by the game, what will Americans make of it? Garriott acknowledges the challenge. "People in the U.S. are taught to be individuals, and find creative solutions to problems, and a bunch of other things that make the U.S. great in many ways. However, a downside is that it's very difficult for U.S. players to swear fealty or swear their allegiance to some random other person for long periods of time when they generally think of themselves as superior."
Still, he insists, the game's fundamental appeal is universal. "Is it fun to advance your character? Is it fun to quest with friends? Is it fun to join a pledge and fight over the territories of a castle? Is that fun factor and accessibility the same in Korea as it is in the United States? I think that fundamentally the answer to that question is yes."
Next page: From Tolkien to Lineage -- the circle is unbroken