Posted by Stropp on
April 11, 2012
When I played Asheron’s Call, there was a server called Darktide. It was an unrestricted server with Free For All PvP as its main drawcard. As to be expected, this meant that anyone playing on Darktide was a target of the Player Killer (PK) especially those players new to the server. Lot’s of these players got together and formed guilds on that server wholly devoted to ganking anyone that crossed paths with them.
The there were the players who liked PvP but were opposed to the wholesale slaughter wrought by the PKer. Like the PKers, these got together and formed the Anti-PK guilds that didn’t go seeking out the weak and alone to gank, but set out to help them by protecting them from the PKers, and actively fighting against the PK guilds.
Asheron’s Call wasn’t alone in this. Ultima Online also had players who banded together to oppose PK players.
I have a question for you. I hear a lot about the corporations and alliances in Eve Online that engage in PK activities where it’s encouraged to go out and gank all and sundry. Each year (or few months) the Hulkageddon event takes place where players vie for prizes for high-sec ganking of unarmed/undefended commercial spacecraft like the Hulk. The Goonswarm alliance is about to set Jita on fire, which means that lots of highsec non-PvPer players are going to get burned.
There seems to be lots of FFA PvP in Eve focussed on ganking.
But I hear very little about the player corporations that are set up to oppose that sort of behaviour.
Can you tell me. Are there Anti-PK corps in Eve Online?
Posted by Stropp on
April 14, 2011
Asheron’s Call is perhaps one of the most loved of the early MMORPGs. You’ve heard me reminisce about the game, fondly, and the comments I’ve seen always seem to regard the game with the same feelings. It’s rare to hear a bad word about AC.
The big problem these days is that Asheron’s Call is terribly dated. While other games like Everquest have had a bit of the old nip and tuck to make them look fresher, AC has had precious little done to the graphics and even less cosmetic surgery on the GUI. There was a engine upgrade a while back, but that didn’t make that much of a difference to the look.
So here’s the scenario.
If someone made a Asheron’s Call a-like, keeping the game mechanics as they are now, perhaps with some streamlining and a modern GUI, but with 2011 standard AAA graphics, would you drop everything and subscribe?
Or, do you prefer classes, highlighted quest-givers, and the modern themepark presentation over the gameplay of Asheron’s Call?
Posted by Stropp on
December 25, 2009
It’s kind of an expected activity for bloggers these days. At the end of each year, we make a bunch of predictions for the coming year and review the ones we made last year. But since I didn’t actually make any predictions last year, there’s only one thing to do.
Make some predictions for the coming year, 2010.
I did consider writing my predictions in some form of abstract poetry like our friend Nostradamus (pictured right.) After all, anything written in an abstract and obtuse manner can be interpreted as 100 percent correct after the fact. But really, where’s the fun in that? And writing poetry isn’t really my forte — There once was a man called Enis…
So time to put on my silly hat and on to the prophetically predicted prognostications.
Prediction 1: The release date for Star Trek Online will be pushed back from the initial February date at least once, possibly twice.
Reason(s): Not many modern MMORPGs or their expansions actually make the first release date. There’s always more to do, and beta testing often reveals serious problem that need to be corrected.
Probability: 90%
Prediction 2: Blizzard will release Cataclysm late in the year around November, or early 2011 in February.
Reason(s): Based on past experience, these are the dates that Blizzard releases their expansions.
Probability: 80%
Prediction 3: The Star Wars: The Old Republic release date (the rumoured October 2010 date) will be massaged in a similar fashion as the date for STO, but I expect that EA-Bioware will announce and push for a November 2010 release.
Reason(s): EA are going to want a successful MMORPG on the streets sooner, rather than later. Since the rumours (apparently coming from EA) so far indicate a late 2010 release for SWTOR, I’m expecting an announcement sometime around June. The rumoured October date may be announced, but I expect that will be pushed back to late November in time for Christmas stockings.
Probability: 50%
Prediction 4: Corollary to Predictions 2 and 3: Blizzard will wait until EA-Bioware announce the release date for SWTOR and then announce the Cataclysm release date to be around the same time.
Reason(s): This appears to be a standard policy at Blizzard. For the last few years, when a threat to World of Warcraft’s dominance appears, real or perceived, Blizzard times their expansions or major announcements in an attempt to steal their competitors thunder. Some of this might just be unfortunate timing, but it’s happened a number of times. SWTOR is a very high profile game with a good chance to become at least number two in the MMORPG space and give Blizzard a run for their money. I’d be very surprised if Blizzard doesn’t try and slow them down, and releasing Cataclysm (which is effectively a reboot of WoW) will throw a huge monkey in Bioware’s wrench.
However, if Bioware don’t release late 2010 or early 2011, Blizzard will be forced to release Cataclysm well before SWTOR and that won’t have as much of a negative effect.
Probability: Very High if Bioware intend to release SWTOR in 2010.
Prediction 5: The micro-transaction model will be applied to more existing games.
Reason(s): A bit of a no-brainer this one. In some ways 2009 was the year of micro-transactions for Western MMORPGs with Dungeons and Dragons Online proving that the model not only works, but can re-invigorate a game that was previously struggling on the subscription model. I expect that we’ll see the DDO model adopted more and more for other games that haven’t been as successful as the developers have hoped and there will be some MMORPGs announced in development by Western developers intended to be micro-transaction based.
Probability: 100%
Prediction 6: In 2010 the MMORPG communities will be rocked by IP type lawsuits with far reaching implications.
Reason(s): I pretty much hate making this prediction, but based on the increasing number of patent troll lawsuits in other technological arenas, there’s a good chance that there will be one or more lawsuits in the coming year that will be won by the trolls, and may result in either the termination of a game or the radical modification of game play to comply with the IP requirements. In fact there is already a case going on initiated by a company called Worlds.com that has serious implications for MMORPG companies.
As an aside to this, it’s also possible that there will be at least one lawsuit between two MMORPG companies. This could be between two of the big players (which is less likely) or between one of the big boys, possibly EA or Blizzard, and one of the smaller players in the market.
Probability: 70%
Now for some long-shot predictions.
Prediction 7: Turbine will announce that they are going to move Asheron’s Call to a free to play, micro-transaction model. This will cause fuss in the AC community, but Turbine will sweeten the pot by creating a new client for the game.
Reason(s): AC is still being supported by Turbine with new content each month, so they haven’t consigned it to a maintenance status. Coupled with the increased interest on the tenth anniversary, Turbine will see an opportunity to reinvigorate the AC franchise.
On the other hand they may just announce Asheron’s Call 3.
Probability: 10%
Prediction 8: Blizzard will announce the name and details of their new MMORPG.
Reason(s): It’s entirely possible that Blizzard will announce the details of the new game sometime in 2010 simply because there’s a lot of interest. I’m giving it a lower chance of happening because the game isn’t expected until 2014ish and Blizzard don’t tend to make early announcements. It may happen in the coming year or two, but there’s a better chance of an announcement in 2012.
Probability: 10%
Prediction 9: SOE will announce Everquest 3.
Reason(s): There was some buzz a while back about SOE working on Everquest 3. It was apparently mentioned in the last chapter of a book on MMORPGs by someone at SOE. Personally, I’m skeptical. I’m not sure SOE will want to risk damaging the EQ2 population and diminishing that game.
That said however, there would definitely be a contingent at SOE pushing for a new EQ, and there’s a possibility that SOE will act (or has acted) on that push. EQ2 is now five years old, and it would take three or four years to develop EQ3. If SOE have been working on EQ3 for more than a year, there’s a good chance it will be announced this year for release sometime in 2013.
Probability: 20%
Prediction 10: EA will announce the next Ultima Online MMORPG.
Reason(s): This is a real long shot mind you, but there have been a few attempts at getting a sequel to Ultima Online. Ironically, the original sequel UO2 was canned because someone thought it would negatively impact on UO. Now, after 12 years of UO, a sequel won’t be nearly so bad for the game. You can be guaranteed someone at EA has thought about it.
However, given EA’s recent sackings, and their consolidation of their interests, it’s highly unlikely that such an announcement will be made this year. But I did want to make one really really way out prediction.
Probability: 1%
So there you have it. My Christmas-time predictions for the next 12 months. Fortunately I’m not taking or placing bets on these ham and turkey induced prophecies as things rarely turn out the way anyone expects. About the only thing I can guarantee will happen is that the MMORPG industry will continue to change and mature. But whatever happens, it should be interesting to watch.
Posted by Stropp on
November 4, 2009
I don’t usually make a habit of posting release or patch notes for the games I play. For the most part these tend to be fairly widely reported if the game is popular. But on this occasion I think there’s merit in reporting the release notes for the tenth anniversary of Asheron’s Call.
It’s worth noting that the monthly events are one of the things that are unique to Asheron’s Call. No other MMORPG releases new content along with updates to the storyline each and every month. Sure a lot of games patch monthly, or even weekly in some cases, but new content? That is the strength of Asheron’s Call, and probably the major reason the game has survived to this day in a world of new shiny.
Without further ado, here are the release notes for the tenth anniversary event.
Happy 10 Years Dereth!
Greetings and welcome to the Release Notes for the 10th Anniversary of Asheron’s Call! It has been an incredible journey so far, one which we hope continues for a long time. As our way of celebrating this occasion, we have made some really exciting additions to the game. We are really excited about these changes and what we have in store going forward. Most importantly we want to thank all of our players. Without you, none of us would be here working on the game we love. Thank you!
So without further delay, lets see what is new and exciting this month in Asheron’s Call!
Two Handed Weapons
The Viamontian masters have agreed to offer training in the art of Two Handed Combat to the peoples of Dereth. Due to the expanded use of Two Handed weapons they have become more readily available and will be available in all tiers of loot.
This new skill can either be used as a new player, or can be trained via the training temples already in-game.
Gearcrafting
With the return of the Gear Knights to Dereth also comes Gearcrafting. This skill is used by the Gear Knights to augment their abilities through a variety of implements and trinkets. The clever peoples of Dereth have quickly learned and adapted Gearcrafting.
Implements have been crafted to Expose Weaknesses of creatures through Creature Assessment, so that Leaders can increase the moral of their fellowship and with it their Health, to enhance both the Stamina and Mana of a party through tokens of Loyalty and in combination with Virindi magic using Deception to enhance understanding of Arcane Lore.
Gear Knights bring a variety of technological trinkets to Dereth. These trinkets may be imbued through the use of Gearcrafting to unlock latent magic. These magics enhance Health, Stamina, Mana, XP Gain, Damage and Damage Reduction.
You can read more about Gearcrafting here.
Quest Journal
Players can now keep track of all their quests in the game via an editable in-game quest journal. You can read more on the Quest Journal here.
Augmentations
Eleven New Augmentations have been introduced with this Update! These Augmentations include:
- Foci Free Casting for War, Creature, Item, and Life magic.
- Weapon Master Augments that will increase all Magic, Missile, or Melee skills by 10 points.
- Damage Boosting and Reducing Augmentations that can enhance players Damage Rating.
- Augmentations that will increase players Critical hit Frequency and Critical hit Multiplier.
Gear Knights
Gear Knights have returned to Dereth! Originally encountered by the Empyreans before the Olthoi Invasion, this race of mechanical beings has reopened their Portals to Dereth, seeking lost compatriots and vengeance against those who endangered them. Will you seek to do battle with this new threat to the peoples of Ispar?
New Quest Hubs
Players can now explore low and high level versions of the new Gear Knights, via quest hubs.
Quest XP
Quest XP will now pass up from Vassals to Patrons to Monarchs. This will help encourage more questing.
10th Anniversary rewards
For those with existing characters on actively subscribed accounts when the 10th Anniversary goes live, you may find yourselves with a new companion on your adventures through Dereth.
Special Live Events to celebrate 10 years of Asheron’s Call
On November 2nd, special Live Events will take place all day long. Asheron has discovered that the portals of Dereth have become unstable after being open for 10 years. This is causing portals from the past to open in the present. Creatures from the past 10years are suddenly going to appear all over Dereth. Asheron, Elysa, Borelean and others will need players help to contain this “invasion” from the past.
Miscellaneous Changes/fixes
Throne of Destiny
With this update, every player will now have access to all Throne of Destiny Content. Please be aware that the migration of accounts will still be a Premium Service.
Nvidia/Sky Flickering
Good News! After many, many long hours of work, this issue should now be resolved!
Chat
For some time now, we have been trying to discover the cause of some players having trouble entering chat when logging into the game. While we were unable to determine the root cause, the team has added a retry on entering chat when players are logging into the game. If a player does not enter chat when they first log in, the game will see this and retry up to three times for them. This should help resolve the issue.
So there are just some of the things we have in store for Asheron’s Call in October. Please remember that along with everything listed here, there are several new quests and exciting things going into the game for the October Event.
Posted by Stropp on
November 3, 2009
Sometimes it’s hard to fathom how fast time seems to pass by.
It doesn’t seem all that long ago when I played my first FPS, System Shock I on my new 486 laptop (DX2 66 FTW!) It also doesn’t seem that long ago that I installed my first MMORPG on my PC.
That MMORPG happened to be Asheron’s Call, and it was only chance that it was AC being installed and not Everquest.
You see, I was in a bit of a gaming funk one evening around May or June of 2000 and finally decided to try out one of these MMORPG thing that I’d been hearing about. I’d previously dismissed the idea of a game (UO) where you had lots of players socializing along with playing. And the idea of a monthly subscription was ludicrous. It took a couple of years for me to come around to the idea. So when I finally got the urge to try a MMORPG, the only name I knew (aside from UO) was Everquest. I did a little research on the Internet, and headed out into the Autumn weather to a computer store.
When I got there, there was no Everquest on the shelf. Instead there was this box with a brownish artwork. It wasn’t Everquest, and to be honest that artwork wasn’t really that great. I was a bit dubious, so I studied the blurb on the box to make sure I was getting what I wanted, headed to the counter and bought the game and headed home to install it.
Of course, the best laid plans and all that. After I installed Asheron’s Call, I couldn’t log into the game. I’m taxing the old memory here, and can’t remember the exact reason (I suspect it was something to do with the Microsoft passport system), but I spent a while looking though the online FAQs and finally, disgusted, I logged a support ticket.
I was so disgusted in fact that I almost decided to write the whole thing off as a bad joke. However, a day or two later, support resolved the issue and I logged in to Dereth for the first time.
It really didn’t take very long to hook me.
It was incredible to have the freedom to run around and do whatever I wanted to do, which was die a lot early on. I spent the next few months happily playing my completely gimped jack of all trades, Axis, before I realized that it was important to properly choose my stats and skills early on and rerolling, and rerolling again. Hmmm. Maybe AC is to blame for my altitis? Nah.
And like a gateway drug, I have since gone from one MMORPG to the next. Sometimes spending a lot of time in the game, WoW had me for four years on or off, EQ2 probably the next longest stint.
Oh, and I did eventually get Everquest. It didn’t last as long as AC though. There’s something about a first game that imprints a set of expectations of game play that no other game can really ever wash away.
So yeah, all that seems like it didn’t happen all that long ago.
The 2nd of November, 2009 marks the tenth year that players have been tooling around Dereth, called by Asheron to help clean up his mess.
It’s been a good run, and I for one would be happy to see Asheron’s Call around for a few more years.
