If you have played some of the newer MMOs you may be set back a bit by Asheron's Call.  It was developed around the old MUD designs where you have a lot of /commands.  Plus the user interface is a bit clunky...

First be sure to understand also that to understand most of the commands in-game you have the /help command.  it will list catagories that you can then get further help by adding /help commands  for example which will list most available commands.  then there are others like /help housing and such to help with various aspects of the game.

So to help remove some of the tedium of certain elements of AC there has been the development of a 3rd party program that has been around for a long time.  And it's plugins have changed names several times due to people moving on and other people taking up the development etc.  The main program is called Decal and then there are lots of other plugins for it to help make playing AC a much more pleasureable experience.  These programs are excepted by Turbine to be used with Asheron's Call but they accept no liablity for what they may do etc.

Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm

 Be sure to read about the plugin carefully because some of the plugins are a bit redundant of other ones.  So their functions may overlap and you may have issues.  But most of them allow you to turn off/on functions you don't want to use.  Also some require a lot of setting up to work properly.  so be sure to read on their forums and such of their functionality.  Some of them don't require any setup and really help out the newbie player a lot. 

ones i would highly recommend are:

AC+ - This helps track kill quests, XP gains, enhanced target information, and helpful buff timers.  Plus many other nice functions like one touch healing (assign 1 simple key to heal) so you don't have to have to use multiple keys and/or methods to heal yourself.

Find It! - This will help find the things you are looking for.  anything from items to creatures and portals.  it comes preset well for new players but once you get an understanding of the game better this can be a very helpful tool.

Go Arrow - A very good plugin that has mapping function for most of the game.  This can also give you the best route from one point to another and  great searching features.

"Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm"

And that "plug-in" is one of the biggest reasons for begining the demise of what was formerly a great game. 

Players couldn't be bothered to actually play the game, so they made up these 3rd party apps to play it for them.  Some to the severe detriment to their fellow players.  But hey, they were getting the maximum XP/Hr for their XP chain.  Who gives a rats ass about the rest of the server.

You crack me up talking about how great of a game AC is to play, and then the first thing you do after that is refer people to a website of programs that essentially plays the game for them.  Way to let them experience the game.

Why don't you just give them the locations of the buffbotts and the newest macros so they can really fit in with the "players"(and I use that term loosely) that are left in AC.

Yeah, I'm bitter.  You jackasses ruined a great game for alot of people with your selfishness.

The four people who will join AC as new players this year will surely thank you for this information.

Originally posted by Einherjar_LC

"Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm"

 

And that "plug-in" is one of the biggest reasons for begining the demise of what was formerly a great game. 

Players couldn't be bothered to actually play the game, so they made up these 3rd party apps to play it for them.  Some to the severe detriment to their fellow players.  But hey, they were getting the maximum XP/Hr for their XP chain.  Who gives a rats ass about the rest of the server.

You crack me up talking about how great of a game AC is to play, and then the first thing you do after that is refer people to a website of programs that essentially plays the game for them.  Way to let them experience the game.

Why don't you just give them the locations of the buffbotts and the newest macros so they can really fit in with the "players"(and I use that term loosely) that are left in AC.

Yeah, I'm bitter.  You jackasses ruined a great game for alot of people with your selfishness.

 

So true...

I remember talking to some other MMO players back in the day and when I mentioned I played AC at the time (02 / 03) they were like "isn't that the game they let people bot and cheat in?"....

Its all the exploiters / plug in kings and Turbine allowing it and facilitating it, that killed AC.

Yeah thats the rep AC had.....

EDIT

Thats also why a new graphic engine for AC will not help the game unless they do something about that. Everyone new coming into a game full buffbots and auto finding detecting crap and whatever else they did....it doesn't matter what the game looks like, if its full of exploiters, botters and cheaters it will be no better off then it is now.

Originally posted by Einherjar_LC

"Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm"

 

And that "plug-in" is one of the biggest reasons for begining the demise of what was formerly a great game. 

Players couldn't be bothered to actually play the game, so they made up these 3rd party apps to play it for them.  Some to the severe detriment to their fellow players.  But hey, they were getting the maximum XP/Hr for their XP chain.  Who gives a rats ass about the rest of the server.

You crack me up talking about how great of a game AC is to play, and then the first thing you do after that is refer people to a website of programs that essentially plays the game for them.  Way to let them experience the game.

Why don't you just give them the locations of the buffbotts and the newest macros so they can really fit in with the "players"(and I use that term loosely) that are left in AC.

Yeah, I'm bitter.  You jackasses ruined a great game for alot of people with your selfishness.

 

but your rant is obviously without knowledge because most of the apps used for decal simply add functionality that is already available in a majority of today's MMOs.  Maybe not so much the xp/hr type thing, but personally it doesn't matter that much to me.  But the Mapping function which is something that was sorely needed is something worthwhile.  Find It! allows for a loot window much like what you find in WoW.  But it filters the things you are not looking for, because in AC you do end up with a lot of useless loot.  Plus the Xp chain thing was changed so that it doesn't work like it once did, that was something people took advantage of that was a faulty game design mechanic.  That was changed back in '04 or so..

The only bad thing is the player themselves that make and use such programs as UCMs etc.  which of course i'm not one of those.  I've played AC since April 2000 and with all the new functionality of newer games people that try AC now will be set back quite a bit without some of that which they are familar with.

Sorry you feel such is somehow damaging the game...   But honestly they have helped a lot to me.  But the cool part right now is how the community is real heavy on cracking down on people that do UCM.  Because there are always ways to deal with them our way rather than waiting on an Envoy.  :P  at least on morningthaw anyway. 

But you don't have to use the programs if you don't want to, the only thing that destroys one's experience is other players around them.  And that can be said about any game.  It really matters not what programs they may be running in the background.  lord knows you got plenty of them with WoW and many other games out.  but funny how no one complains about those it seems :P

Originally posted by Torak

 

Originally posted by Einherjar_LC

"Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm"

 

And that "plug-in" is one of the biggest reasons for begining the demise of what was formerly a great game. 

Players couldn't be bothered to actually play the game, so they made up these 3rd party apps to play it for them.  Some to the severe detriment to their fellow players.  But hey, they were getting the maximum XP/Hr for their XP chain.  Who gives a rats ass about the rest of the server.

You crack me up talking about how great of a game AC is to play, and then the first thing you do after that is refer people to a website of programs that essentially plays the game for them.  Way to let them experience the game.

Why don't you just give them the locations of the buffbotts and the newest macros so they can really fit in with the "players"(and I use that term loosely) that are left in AC.

Yeah, I'm bitter.  You jackasses ruined a great game for alot of people with your selfishness.

 

So true...

 

I remember talking to some other MMO players back in the day and when I mentioned I played AC at the time (02 / 03) they were like "isn't that the game they let people bot and cheat in?"....

Its all the exploiters / plug in kings and Turbine allowing it and facilitating it, that killed AC.

Yeah thats the rep AC had.....

EDIT

Thats also why a new graphic engine for AC will not help the game unless they do something about that. Everyone new coming into a game full buffbots and auto finding detecting crap and whatever else they did....it doesn't matter what the game looks like, if its full of exploiters, botters and cheaters it will be no better off then it is now.

 

 

I guess you would rather have a bunch of whiny people bugging you for a buff all the time then?  because in AC that is something at higher levels you do need, and its that innate dependency on magic that has damaged the game to me.  because not everyone feels they should have to be buffed out the gills in order to engage in the higher level content.  Like in many of other games that need is not there thus you have no need for a buffbot etc :P  But just because one person uses and another doesn't, matters not of the game experience...  And if any other game had such a random loot generator such as that of AC then you'd have 3rd party apps to sort through it also.  No matter what game you play I can guarantee you there are 3rd party apps available for it.  But in some cases ie. WoW they have designed their UI to allow you to incorporate much of the functionality of what Decal provides.  which i find that ironic.  plus the loot in many other games is much more black and white rather than the thousands of probablities of that of AC.

and read my above post, it matters not about the programs people use, its the players that destroy the game.  and most of those have thankfully moved on. 

Originally posted by Jamkull

 

Originally posted by Einherjar_LC

"Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm"

 

And that "plug-in" is one of the biggest reasons for begining the demise of what was formerly a great game. 

Players couldn't be bothered to actually play the game, so they made up these 3rd party apps to play it for them.  Some to the severe detriment to their fellow players.  But hey, they were getting the maximum XP/Hr for their XP chain.  Who gives a rats ass about the rest of the server.

You crack me up talking about how great of a game AC is to play, and then the first thing you do after that is refer people to a website of programs that essentially plays the game for them.  Way to let them experience the game.

Why don't you just give them the locations of the buffbotts and the newest macros so they can really fit in with the "players"(and I use that term loosely) that are left in AC.

Yeah, I'm bitter.  You jackasses ruined a great game for alot of people with your selfishness.

 

but your rant is obviously without knowledge because most of the apps used for decal simply add functionality that is already available in a majority of today's MMOs.  Maybe not so much the xp/hr type thing, but personally it doesn't matter that much to me.  But the Mapping function which is something that was sorely needed is something worthwhile.  Find It! allows for a loot window much like what you find in WoW.  But it filters the things you are not looking for, because in AC you do end up with a lot of useless loot.  Plus the Xp chain thing was changed so that it doesn't work like it once did, that was something people took advantage of that was a faulty game design mechanic.  That was changed back in '04 or so..

 

The only bad thing is the player themselves that make and use such programs as UCMs etc.  which of course i'm not one of those.  I've played AC since April 2000 and with all the new functionality of newer games people that try AC now will be set back quite a bit without some of that which they are familar with.

Sorry you feel such is somehow damaging the game...   But honestly they have helped a lot to me.  But the cool part right now is how the community is real heavy on cracking down on people that do UCM.  Because there are always ways to deal with them our way rather than waiting on an Envoy.  :P  at least on morningthaw anyway. 

But you don't have to use the programs if you don't want to, the only thing that destroys one's experience is other players around them.  And that can be said about any game.  It really matters not what programs they may be running in the background.  lord knows you got plenty of them with WoW and many other games out.  but funny how no one complains about those it seems :P

 

My rant is very well informed thanks.

I played AC from beta until 2005.  I saw everything I wrote about happen first hand.

As for what you consider useful.  We never needed a 3rd party app to find our way around...spend some time playing the game, exploring, and learning the portal routes.  That's what we did in the "olden days" before all you bot babies came along and couldn't be bothered to learn your way around.

The loot program is beyond ridiculous.  It takes a whole 10 seconds to open a corpse and check the loot.  But it's much easier to have a 3rd party app scan the corpse before you even open it to see if you need to waste your time.  Talk about vitual laziness.  Again, if you play the game long enough instead of letting a 3rd party program do it, you will quickly learn what is useful and what is junk loot wise. 

I am aware the XP chain was changed from how it was, but it's still going on, just a different way than before.  And the Partron/vassal system was not a poor mechanic, it was a great game mechanic exploited by unscrupulous, selfish players that cared more about XP/hour than their fellow players or how their actions would affect content.

Some players did alot to ruin the game for others around them, and it was exactly because of these laziness 3rd party programs.  I couldn't care less about WoW.  They built functionality into their game to accomodate them.  AC did not.  It was this bastardization by the players that ruined the game for many other players and it had everything to do with the programs they were running. 

Unless you're going to try and tell me buffbots and portal bots, to name a couple, are good things.  I mean the game not being challenging until level 30+ is a good thing right.  That's about how it works out with all those lower levels walking around with full 7's.  And why bother learning your way around or the portal system when there's a portal bot you know of that will summon a portal to exactly where you want. 

Anyways, I have never, nor will I ever use a 3rd party program.  These games are easy enough as it is and I am more than capable of playing the games within the intended framework the devs give us.  The only reason to use 3rd party apps IMO is laziness.

Originally posted by Jamkull

 

Originally posted by Torak

 

Originally posted by Einherjar_LC

"Decal can be found here: http://www.decaldev.com/

A good list of Decal Plugins can be found here:
 http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/DecalIndex.htm"

 

And that "plug-in" is one of the biggest reasons for begining the demise of what was formerly a great game. 

Players couldn't be bothered to actually play the game, so they made up these 3rd party apps to play it for them.  Some to the severe detriment to their fellow players.  But hey, they were getting the maximum XP/Hr for their XP chain.  Who gives a rats ass about the rest of the server.

You crack me up talking about how great of a game AC is to play, and then the first thing you do after that is refer people to a website of programs that essentially plays the game for them.  Way to let them experience the game.

Why don't you just give them the locations of the buffbotts and the newest macros so they can really fit in with the "players"(and I use that term loosely) that are left in AC.

Yeah, I'm bitter.  You jackasses ruined a great game for alot of people with your selfishness.

 

So true...

 

I remember talking to some other MMO players back in the day and when I mentioned I played AC at the time (02 / 03) they were like "isn't that the game they let people bot and cheat in?"....

Its all the exploiters / plug in kings and Turbine allowing it and facilitating it, that killed AC.

Yeah thats the rep AC had.....

EDIT

Thats also why a new graphic engine for AC will not help the game unless they do something about that. Everyone new coming into a game full buffbots and auto finding detecting crap and whatever else they did....it doesn't matter what the game looks like, if its full of exploiters, botters and cheaters it will be no better off then it is now.

 

 

I guess you would rather have a bunch of whiny people bugging you for a buff all the time then?  because in AC that is something at higher levels you do need, and its that innate dependency on magic that has damaged the game to me.  because not everyone feels they should have to be buffed out the gills in order to engage in the higher level content.  Like in many of other games that need is not there thus you have no need for a buffbot etc :P  But just because one person uses and another doesn't, matters not of the game experience...  And if any other game had such a random loot generator such as that of AC then you'd have 3rd party apps to sort through it also.  No matter what game you play I can guarantee you there are 3rd party apps available for it.  But in some cases ie. WoW they have designed their UI to allow you to incorporate much of the functionality of what Decal provides.  which i find that ironic.  plus the loot in many other games is much more black and white rather than the thousands of probablities of that of AC.

 

and read my above post, it matters not about the programs people use, its the players that destroy the game.  and most of those have thankfully moved on. 

Oh please, you lazy 3rd party app people have been throwing that whiny buff beggar line out since the buff bots first started showing up.  Before then, it was no problem for anyone to throw out some buffs.  It called community.  In the good ones like we had before you cheaters came along, we helped people out with buffs.

And you can play a magic less character in AC using arcane lore.  But why bother trying that when it's much easier to just run to the buffbot and whine about how the game can't be played without magic.

As for the loot.  Again, gimmie a break.  If you've been playing AC as long as you say you have, you should know what's junk and what isn't.  The only reason you need a 3rd party app to sort through your loot is because you can't be bothered to do it yourself.  Again, laziness.

Whether or not you can find 3rd party apps for games is not the point.  They were not designed as part of AC so they don't belong there.  Secondly, the game is perfectly playable without them, it's just that players are too lazy, and have become too dependent on them to do so.  Anymore, players don't even get to try the game without them because as soon as they show up they have someone like you shoving them down their throat as the only way to really play the game.

The players that ruined the game haven't left.  The ones that left are the ones that got tired of the cheating and dependency on 3rd party apps.  If any of the cheaters left, its because they had no one left to compete against except other cheaters and that wasn't enough for their e-peens.

To all you people bashing decal : grow up

Macroing was a problem way back, i agree. But there is no doubt this game would no longer exist without macroing, it has kept the game going through the HUGE grind that is it. there is no other game around at the moment that is anywhere near the grind that AC is, in terms of both gear and leveling. The game has been pretty much build around macroers now. However it still has the best questing system and character building system of any game out there.

If decal had been stoped back in 02/03, that would have been fine. But trying to surviving in this game nowadays without macroing is just a waste of time and the grind will make your eyes bleed to be honest.

The fact that you're still bitter about decal is kinda sad.

Originally poste