One of the best MMORPG's has always been the red headed step cousin of Everquest and Dark Age of Camelot and that is Asheron's Call. I have never found another MMORPG like it, and I am afraid probably never will.

Asherons Call had no classes, you were given a set number of skill points and beginner stat points, from that point on you tried to max everything out. Ofcourse, there was recommended builds, ofcourse specializing 2 Handed Sword and War Magic left you with little else and didn't maximize attributes, but you could do it if you really wanted to.

Sandbox world, that's right, a legit sandbox world. You could run from one end of the continent to the other, ofcourse an awesome portal system made the game a lot easier as you could "tie" to a couple portals and use a portal hub area to move around a ton faster.

Grinding, without feeling like grinding. In AC, you killed stuff for XP, quests gave items. This World of Warcraft popularized idea of quests being the main form of experience annoys me, while Korean games have such a grinding curve that it is almost unenjoyable.

Ultimate PvP server, I heard Ultima Online was good, and Darkfall was supposed to be similar to Darktide, but Asheron's Call is really most known for its full drop no safe zone full pvp server "Darktide"

I remember awesome stories of people going into town, and dropping half their suit to a famous monarch leader. Now, people became wise eventually items drop on value, so they would find valuable items that don't have any function and/or purpose and carry them at all times as "death items" this made dropping you're actual useful items a very low % chance.

Over 250+ Dungeons, a fully sandbox explorable world, PLAYER HOUSING on the continent, thats right, if you own a guild wanna own a mansion on a cliff? Wanna run you're entire guild across the desert to a rival mansion and fight them on their lawn? You could do it.

---- Ofcourse Asheron's Call was missing some features, an auction house, "raids" although it did have some boss monsters. It also has a complete lore and creature list thati s worthy of a full screen movie?

So what killed Asheron's Call?

Turbine now runs Lord of the Rings Online, successfull in its own right. What also killed Asheron's Call was they made a sequel ahead of its time (Graphics/client base wise) Asheron's Call 2, WHICH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ASHERONS CALL 1,THAT IM SPEAKING OF.

It would literally be like Final Fantasy coming out with Donkey Kong and calling it Final Fantasy 2, and AC2 was a flop. So they basically destroyed an awesome, unique game that still has loyal followers and just rolled into LOTRO.

I know World of Warcraft is successful, and I know that Asheron's Call wasn't perfect, but the complete control of your character, the endless world, the lore, the exploration of never knowing what cave or portal you were crawling into, owning literally a mansion on a mountain a piece of the land, and having "vassals" real people sware allegiance to you and your guild for a portion of XP bonus, was such a good tutelage idea. So many unique ideas in AC have gone unused in other games.

When are they going to quit pumping out typical modern day "MMORPGs" and go back to the roots of the variations of EQ, Ultima, DAoC, and AC1, and look at the alternative idea's pioneers had, and come up with a good innovative game. They are going the "FUNNELED, LINEAR PRETTY GRAPHICS" line now, (Rift, SWTOR) and it's just not working...

Anyone who played AC or knows of a sandbox MMO comparible let me know, but I sware I've tried almost every MMORPG that has come out in the last 10 years.

/END RANT.

"

They were made for gamers, by gamers, not for masses.

Old games had options for failure. Depth. Risk vs Reward. Unique systems. Heart and soul poured into them.

Modern games don't.

Old MMOs were about coming together as a community against the harsh game world. Modern MMOs are about every individual being the hero and never failing." -Garvon3

I like this quote, about games in general these days.

Im with you man, I havnt found a game yet that comes close to being as good as AC. I played it from 1999 on, and im about to resub to it again.

I wonder if any other game has done monthly updates since it was released like AC has done? and im not just talking bug fixes but content added to the game every single month. I allways felt like my 12 bucks was going to somthing when patch day came along.

Originally posted by Andrew0988

"

They were made for gamers, by gamers, not for masses.

Old games had options for failure. Depth. Risk vs Reward. Unique systems. Heart and soul poured into them.

 

Modern games don't.

Old MMOs were about coming together as a community against the harsh game world. Modern MMOs are about every individual being the hero and never failing." -Garvon3

 

I like this quote, about games in general these days.

Ha! Thank you for the shout out :)

AC was one of the games I regretted never getting a chance to play. So ahead of its time.

I too was spoiled by Asheron's Call. How thankful I am that it was my first MMO experience, I can't express, but there's pros and cons to that, obviously.

How large and open the world was, the freedom with housing, the flexibility with builds and classes (especially after they added the option to be able to slowly respec), and just the community in general back from '99-2004 was amazing. And honestly, the allegiance system in place of the guild gave an entirely different feel to the world. You had mentors that actually cared, you had a system that worked, that was mutually beneficial on everyone's part for contributing to progress and assistance.

However, I do not feel that LOTRO or AC2 killed Asheron's Call. AC2 killed itself. I personally loved Asheron's Call 2. I appreciated the two titles on different levels, but loved each of them equally. Asheron's Call 2 introduced systems and possibilities I had never experienced in an MMO before, and it was very fresh feeling at the time.

What killed Asheron's Call was the age. The game looks and feels it's age. While I loved 99% of the systems in the game, they have been the same systems and mechanics for the last 10+ years. Old players hesitate to return due to playing for so long, and new players hesitate due to the graphics and the lack of hand-holding.

I haven't followed Asheron's Call much for a few years. Sometimes I take a peek and skim over the updates, but most of the updates with the new races and such took away the original feeling of the game to me. It expanded it, sure, and made it more interesting for current players. But for players seeking nostalgia, it eliminated it.

The franchise would be revived if they would make a true sequel, a soul successor.

Also, just to throw it out there, it's hard to find a replacement for Asheron's Call after all these years because of how dedicated the monthly updates were. Asheron's Call always felt like a REAL world because it was constantly changing, HUGE events that had an impact on the world. It's a shame most companies never followed suit.

http://www.gamespot.com/asherons-call/reviews/asherons-call-review-2538046/

Was reading through the original Gamespot review of AC. Surprised he never really touched on any of the sandbox elements. Did the devs ever fix the combat issues listed in this review?

Originally posted by DrunkWolf

Im with you man, I havnt found a game yet that comes close to being as good as AC. I played it from 1999 on, and im about to resub to it again.

I wonder if any other game has done monthly updates since it was released like AC has done? and im not just talking bug fixes but content added to the game every single month. I allways felt like my 12 bucks was going to somthing when patch day came along.

The closest you'll get to the monthly updates Asheron's Call ran would probably be RIFT. And honestly, they're not even close. But they do make an attempt for pretty constant interaction directly with the players ingame.

There hasn't been another company to follow what was set with Asheron's Call. Sad, indeed.

Originally posted by Andrew0988

"

They were made for gamers, by gamers, not for masses.

Old games had options for failure. Depth. Risk vs Reward. Unique systems. Heart and soul poured into them.

 

Modern games don't.

Old MMOs were about coming together as a community against the harsh game world. Modern MMOs are about every individual being the hero and never failing." -Garvon3

 

I like this quote, about games in general these days.

 I could not have said this better. 

AC is one of the big reasons I find many newer MMOs so disappointing. Now, I'm not about to say AC is the end-all-be-all of MMOs, but there were a lot of great things about it that so many new games simply lack. No, I'm not getting all crotchety bitter vet on you, and I'm not talking about the 'hardcore' or 'old school' stuff, but just the very basic simple things.

• Attack areas - Mobs had high/med/low hit areas, and some areas weren't as protected as others. Some areas also simply didn't exist for logical reasons - swing high as much as you want, but you'll never land a shot on that rat at your feet. :) Likewise, mobs had different areas they would attack players. For example, lugians would go for your head, armoredillos would go for your feet and hands.
• Damage type meant something - Right now, the biggest determining factor in when to use a certain spell is the cooldown timer. When was the last time you switched up your spells based on the mob you were fighting? Crushing damage on the granite golem, then frost/water spells on the magma golem coming in behind it, etc. Hell, when was the last time ytou switched weapon based on your target other than to go from rangeds to melee? Slashing, piercing, crushing, electric, acid, frost, fire... it all does something in AC. It all means something in AC.
• Perching is not evil - In AC, if you leaped up onto a rooftop or stood along the back walls of the fort to fire at the approaching minions, it was considered logical and tactical gameplay, especially since casters and archers are usually paper cannons. In most of today's MMOs, that's considered exploiting, and there are either game rules or game mechanics to prevent that.
• Downtime once every... month.

I regret never playing AC. but i absolutly loved ac2... my favorite game. If AC was released today with new graphics, i would  be very excited to play it.

So funny that you starting this thread.  I have been on a rant of late how MMOs nowadays are NO WHERE NEAR as fun and exciting as the ones of old...specifically EQ1, UO, and AC.  Those are my three LOVES.  AC is the only one I have gone back to multiple times.  In fact, I re-subbed about 3 weeks ago...started from SCRATCH and am loving it! 

Anyway...I'm with you OP.  I'd play a new game like AC in a heartbeat...and so would hundred's of thousands of others....the devs just don't believe it, because all they see is WoW and their model.....

Sad

I stumbled across this the other day.  Really awesome insight into the making of AC and how Turbine was formed.

http://www.mit.edu/~jonmon/Business/Turbine/

I made a thread similar to this in the AC forum a few years ago.  I really do miss the concepts behind Asheron's Call.  Guilds actually meant something in this game.  The patron/vassel system was fantastic.  I've kind of given up hope on Turbine ever making a fantastic successor to AC.  But I still dream about a new next gen engine being introduced along with new (pre peasoup) concepts for spells etc.

No bots, no apps, just good old fashioned AC with a new engine and an extended story to tell.  /sigh  Even the combat was ahead of it's time.