Asheron's Call Forum » Game Suggestions » Asheron's Call: Alive and Well

Allow me to rant, please.

MS ruined the chance of ever making a nickel off of AC2. They created a whole new game and wasted tons of resources trying to tie it to Asheron's Call. They had millions of gamers wanting a graphic update to the original game. What gamers got was a fake AC with beefed up graphics. I must admit, however, They did a great job with the graphics.

Yes...with a total upgrade to graphics, and some additional addons like seiges, voicechat, and perhaps mounts, AC would have thrived along side the toonmaster game called WoW.

As far as Botting goes...well, yah know what...get over it. Game devs are not the only ones with people smart enough to develop ideas, code, or addons to fit the life that most people have to spend on a 'game' that yields nothing more than a stadium filled with enthusists.

Yes, there were issues with PvP, but what game doesnt have issues. Should the devs be a fault for the exploits that players develop over months of trial and error...dont think so. But, in all fairness, they try their best to make the classes balanced (a word I have grown to hate).

AC is probably the first and last RPG that allows a newcomer to enter a world where they may not see another player for a week, if so desired, and a place to explore, adventure, and simply sink into the many, many, areas of RP that some games only reach in their titles.

LoTR, DDO, WoW, etc...they miss the mark totally.

If you've never played AC... you've missed an entire world.

I'm providing a checklist of sorts that shows the depth that other games fail to reach...

1. Born into a world where you can start exploring and adventuring at level 1.

2. Run across fields of threatening or non-threatning mobs.

3. Spend a week in a Dungeon trying to conquer it's residents.

4. Own a home with personal item storage.

5. Perform Quests when YOU want to do them.

6. Cast Powerful and useful magics.

7. Custom build toons via raw stats

8. Solve simple and complex problems for quality rewards.

9. Loot static chests for plats, scrolls, or fun.

10. Gain three levels while you sleep (wink)

I could go on...

But yah know what, AC is what it is, but I would have loved it much more with the graphic update. 

I'm answering the "checkbox questions", I'm not taking into consideration that I've "played" ac

I tried getting into AC but I couldn't because of the controls (movement mainly) and graphics

Originally posted by mo0rbid

I'm answering the "checkbox questions", I'm not taking into consideration that I've "played" ac

10. Gain three levels while you sleep (wink)

I did that in wow once

Unless you got powerleveled by another person on your account, you didnt do that.. max is 2 and a half levels of rested, soz to burst your bubble.

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by sanders01

Unless you got powerleveled by another person on your account, you didnt do that..

wrong, you figure it out

max is 2 and a half levels of rested

so what?

soz to burst your bubble.

er, ok..

 

Hmm, I've always heard that AC was a special game, but I have to admit, the OP's post did little to support that.  I've done almost all of those activities in other games, and while sometimes they were fun, most times they were worked around or we followed strict templates.

Not even a mention of the fun found on Darktide. 

This game had to be better than as described here so far.

I've done most of those too and never touched AC.  I'd kill myself before I decided to spend a week in a dungeon though.  UO had most of those including the stats.  I've gained levels in WoW at night too using a bot.  I've heard really good things about AC and I doubt they're false but your list is weak.

yeah that is a lame list, and i'm thinking this is a joke more than anything else

How about this:

1. A skill based game where levels aren't everything, just an "edge" (i.e. you can easily kill someone/something 50 levels higher than you if you know what it's weaknesses are and have the proper skills to exploit them)

2. TRULY explore! No choke points (lookin' at you WoW), zone boundaries, artificial barriers, or any kind of obvious demarcation to say "This area is for level 20-40 characters, while this area is for 40-60"

3. A deep, interesting skill based system with "trained" and "specialized" skills picked by the player.

4. Complete character freedom.

5. A fun and interesrting "crafting" system which allows for fantastically powerful gear created from basic loot, as well as truly epic quest rewards.

6. No "raids": Depending on the levels of the players involved, you can either take on most content with a small group or even solo.

7. Player skill means something in PvP, and is not overcomplicated by hundreds of overcomplicated spell/abilities.

8. Player skill in PvE: You can take on dozens of monsters at once IF you know what you are doing and prepare properly. It is truly hectic, but fun!

9. Yes, if you WANT to, you can bot. I generally don't.

10. One of the most developed and detailed stories in any game, ever; nearly ten years of a new, free patch and story update every month. Books of lore and NPC's with stories literally saturate the game world.

First of all people born into WoW as their first mmo are never gonna grip what makes AC better then WoW, they just wont.

Few things that came to mind for me that i loved about AC1,

No stealth classes. You were face up with opponents. I dont play stealthers in any mmos ive played. Its the farthest off my playstyle i can get. This option didnt exsist in AC.

Full Looting PvP. Gave one alot more incentive to stay buffed at all times and never let your guard down. Also keep like 20 DI's(death items to the unlearned)

Death was penalized, 9/10(10/10 alot trust me) there was no port to the location you died. Exceptions to places like BSD, Teth, Ayan ect. You almost ALWAYS ran back to your corpse. Oh and you didnt run back in ghost form. You ran back naked. You werent invulnerable to any mob attacks either. Just a naked guy with a corpse in the middle of 6 mobs most likely 50+ levels higher then you. Until new age mmo players experience this they wont truly know ingame rush.

Open Character options. All you got to pick at start was look, race, name. Even if you picked a specialized skill like sword, you could still wield an axe, or cast magic, or hit with knuckles, or buff yourself, or anything. Creation and flexability on this game are second to none. BM for me.

Twitched based combat. Point and click need not apply. Dont want to take that bolt on the chops? Move over a little. Archer shooting from a distance? Strafe to him. Avoidable projectiles. The key to what makes the combat system in AC second to none. Purely SKILL BASED COMBAT. Gear was of no matter at all other then how you looked on the battlefield. Gear stats meant nothing. Nothing at all. You went out and fucked someone up because you were good enough, not better geared.

Im making myself want to resub...

p.s. i like my list better then the op :P

OP list is a joke. Most MMOs offer that (and more). But that's not what AC is about. For me it was about immersion in a world that was not based on elves and dwarves etc. Exploring exploring exploring.

And yes, I know it's evil to speak of the little brother called AC2, but I liked that game too. It had many flaws, but it did possess some of the story of AC and it did feel special. And yes, I cursed the Great Devs in the Sky for making certain decisions, but I still had a good time.

The AC universe needs to be used in a new MMO soon!

Ha most MMOs offer that. OP I think you should try vanguard, it seems to suit your play style.

While I agree with most of the things you've mentioned, I have to say that a lot of other games give the same type of game play (i.e. Born into a world where you can start exploring and adventuring at level 1). I started playing WoW about 3 1/2 years ago, and I encountered the same things (a little more difficult to venture out at level 1 yes, but still fun sometimes). I played AC for almost 6 years, starting only  a few months after beta ended. I quit after realizing that the game was declining, a lot of the people I knew quit, and I started seeing less and less folks around. I always enjoyed the game in its early years for the following reasons:

1. Depending on where you started, eventually finding out that starting out in Yaraq wasn't the best place, you would try and find your way to Eastham OR you would go to Shoushi to hunt on Shoushi Mountain, but you would either get lost trying to find a way UP or when you did get on top you would run into the damned mattekars who chased you back down the mountain... or you would find yourself at the lifestone. And even when you could make it past certain monters, it was too freaking crowded.

2. Questing on the beach of Eastham was by far the greatest thing ever, and if you could take out a blue/red phyntos wasp AND a gromnie (occasionally encountering a reedshark, who, if you were a spellcaster with little armor, pissed you off numerous times... usually sending you to the lifestone because you were too burdened to run away) you were the king, and people would THEN ask to group with you after seeing your spectacular performance of clicking madly on Fire Bolt I over, and over... and over... and over... and....... until you finally realized it wasn't the right spell to use on a gromnie, anyway.

3. You find your way to Rithwic (always wanting to call it withric because it never sounded right in the first place), either running into the Banderling Tower, or being enticed by the 'A Ruin' portal.

4. You take your first leap through a portal (the sound always making you nervous because you never knew what you would run into), but you would most likely encounter double-doors. Double-clicking on them (ahh, the sounds!) you would either hear a drudge making odd noises, or the buzzing sound of a wasp.

5. Seeing a level 30+ made you stop in  your tracks in awe, because (at least, in my case) you felt like you were going to be stuck at level 13 for forever.

6. In the beginning, there were "reagents", and the players of Dereth used these items to actually CREATE spells... but, when the players failed to create them... all that was left.... ..... .. . 'fizzle'....

7. No matter how many books you read, cooking (even after trying Betty Croker's chocolate cookbook), fletching and alchemy... you failed, and failed again... wasting shaft after shaft, balms and infusions, deposits (stupid lugians). Or, if you were a real noobie, the first time around you bought WAY too many Alembic, instead of just ONE.

8. You had to find a secret spot to drop items, so you could then as quickly as you could, log off and log onto your mule. Sometimes, you would log back on, and someone would be running off with your stuff. I lost more dresses that way...

9. You dreamed about one day going to the Obsidian Plain. Your first time to the Direlands scared the crap out of you every time you turned around, because there were large groups of monsters everywhere. So for a while you would stay as close to Fort Tethana as you could while hunting.

10. Yes, there REALLY was a marriage book! And you had the option of having your monarch conduct the ceremony.

11. And, I have to put this here... the freaking white rabbit, mimicked the rabbit from The Holy Grail movie.... I hated that rabbit! But, the white slippers were awesome. But, alas, someone always had to die in the end.

12. The water really did turn red.

13. Motes were once upon a time somewhat of a rarity, unless you actually farmed for them.

14. If you weren't playing, you were on the AC Vault's forums trolling for the latest auction.

15. The Citadel was "the spot" to hunt at a lower level, stepping into that one hallway where a large crowd was waiting for the Lugian's to respawn...

16. Vitae. Enough Said.

17. Some people were actually SCARED to go PK!

18. The Asheron and Elysa event was the BOMB!

Now those are just some of the things, the beginning, in Asheron's Call. A lot of it changed, like eventually Shoushi Mountain wasn't really hunt-able anymore. The graphics sucked, but it was the best game I have ever played online (Community wise, most definitely). The allegiance system was great, you had people (most of the time) who you got to know, your patron or a vassal... the monarch (if it was a big guild) you mostly thought didn't exist because you never really saw them unless you went to the alliance meetings in one of the town halls.

These things I hope most of ya'll can remember. The sounds, the sights and the people were what really made AC. It was highly unfortunate that it ended. But, it was great while it lasted.

Yes, AC2 sucked game play wise, but the graphics were awesome. IMO, leave it to rest. If you don't like it, move on to a different game, no one is forcing you to play it.

I think the only reason I don't resurect my AC account is the graphics, I've seen the vids and they need a complete overhaul, Turbine would have to restart from scratch, Golden Gryphon was my main on Thistledown though I  had other Gryphons on other servers I only made DT chars as a favour for a friend, lol, rank hath it's privaledges. AC2 my main was Big Bad Boy, I left both AC's for 1 major reason, fighters getting nerf'd in favour of magic users .. I can still remember in AC1 buffing for 10 - 15 mins for an hours play, (if you didn't use magic you got nowhere) and having to leave whatever you were doing  so you could rebuff every 45 mins.The graphics of AC  now look crap to Age of Conan's or even LOTR. If they made an AC3 I'd proberbly give it a try.

Wow, this thread, and TuffnStuff's post in particular has invoked a lot of nostalgia for me!  Asheron's Call was the first MMO I ever played.  As such, I fear that I'll never have the same feeling of novelty and awe that I did playing AC.  Just the opening animnation of you going through the portal always felt thrilling to some degree, like you really were travelling to an alternate reality and leaving the real world behind.

I eventually gave AC up because I was getting a bit bored with it and many of those with whom I had played were moving on to new games (I subsequently played D&D Online, which is a great game for group play but has waned I think due to poor solo play), and am currently playing LOTRO.  LOTRO is fun, but I play it mostly because my main group of MMOing friends wanted to play it.  I probably would have stuck with DDO.  But then, I don't have much time to play so not having much in the way of a solo game doesn't bother me.  Both DDO and AC give you much greater control over the design of your character, unlike a LOTRO and other games that force into character templates that, for the most part, you can largely modify via the gear you acquire.  In both DDO and AC you can have two different melee oriented characters who otherwise aren't much alike at all.  The learning curve for DDO and AC are higher than average as a result, however.

You definitely worried about dying in AC.  That had its downsides, but in a game like LOTRO much of the thrill for me is gone because there simply isn't much consequence of dying except in some of the bigger instances/raids.

Early in AC, when monsters died, if you didn't loot them right away, their corpse would decay but leave the loot on the ground.  They eventually got rid of that, to help with lag I think so that the game didn't have to track so many items in the world, but I thought that was a great game element.  I can remember dying many times trying to get to some item that had fallen off a corpse in the middle of a large group of tough monsters.

I've thought about activating my account again, but I suspect that the reality won't live up to my nostalgia.  I that with Ultima III.  I have all these fond memories of sitting around my friend's Apple 2e playing Ultima III.  I found it online and downloaded it a couple of years ago.  I started playing it to try to recapture some of the experience I remembered . . . and discovered that, shock of shocks, the graphics aren't very good and the gameplay pretty basic.  Games have moved on and so have I . . . *sigh*

Originally posted by Teganx

Ha most MMOs offer that. OP I think you should try vanguard, it seems to suit your play style.

Can you dodge arrow/spells in vanguard?  Can you build up jump/run skill to catch or run away from pker?

Well I say we go a little easier on the OP atleast he was trying. He had some good things he just didnt go into enough detail on them.

I have thought of somethings that no one has mentioned yet aswell that I loved about AC.

The clan/allegiance system. It was worth ones time to go out and look for vassels. I am not sure if everyone knows what that means but a vassel is somsone who would swear allegiance under you. In return for that you would help them with many apsects of the game, from general questions about the game, to armor and weapons, to body recovery:). You were what is called there patron. Now you could have several vassels and each one would give you a % of xp. It would not be taken away from them, Just something extra you got for helping them. Now this also went on up the chain and down, If they in time got a couple of vassels then they would be recieving XP from them in turn passing more up to you, And if you had a patron yourself it would pass more up to him all the way to the monarch. Now as one had more vassels and vassels with vassels everyones rank went up and there were titles for these ranks up to king, thane ect. This system also made people a little more responsable, if there was some dill head in the clan people would be like who is that guys patron? and it was easy to tell you could click on him and see that information.

Also I would like to expand on something mentined before about complete character controll. Every time you use skills the do go up in this game, If you are trained or specialized in it. If you are trained in magic defence and something tries to hit you with magic and you resist you magid D will go up, this works the same for using weapons. Now along with this going up you also earn experience wich some of that goes into your leveling pool so that you increase in level and then there is a pool of experience left for your to spend however you like. You could So fine tune your character exactly the way you like it was crazy. If you wanted you could have a character specialized in shooting war magic and also specialized in shooting a bow and a sword for that mater. Now this would not be advised because you are spending your skill points on this and you would want to spend them on complimentory skills like for war magic you would want mana converions, that way all of your spells would cost you less mana to cast. But you had the choice. I could make a character with specialized dagger and specialized in lock picking also let say in melee defence, Now lets say I wanted him to be able to buff himself up. I could also train him in creature magic Item magic and Life magic. You also have to spend your experience on your stats. Like Strength, Endurance, Coordination, Quickness, Focus, Self. Those are base stats that help improve the things you trained in or specialized. So you can put points into those base stats and or directly into the skills.

Also they had some really cool skills like Run and Jump, how many times have you wished you could move faster in current mmorpgs? You can crank your run and jump in AC to insaine amounts. But remember doing this takes those XP points you could be spending on Spear or Crossbow or other skills.

Here is another thing I thought was huge about AC, they used to do this back in the day all the time not sure about now, but they had Live events with the Devs playing Huge villians or something. It was a blast.

They have massive Lore and quests if that is your thing yet you can play the game with out ever knowing any lore or doing any quests.

They also have a very unique set of monsters in the game. There have been so many games from EQ to WoW and many inbetween that have Foxes and Spiders and Bears and ect ect. Well how about some Hoary Mattikars, or some Noble Olthois, Maybe some Jebrit Zefirs or Umbris Shadows, throw in some Mosswats, a Gnawer Shreth and a few Drudges and we have a party now, And there are hundres and hundreds more.

They have many types of armors and you can tinker them up as you like, tinkering is crafting, there you can choose xactly what you want to tinker your armor with. Do you want to make it more resistant to certan types of damage or do you want it to have more Armor Level, or maybe have a lower value so you do not drop it on your corpse when you die. Would you like to Dye it purple or black well there is that too. There is cooking, Alchemy, Fletching, Lockpicking, Item Tinkering, Magic Item Tinkering, Armor, TInkering, Weapon Tinkering.

AC was/is a great game.

Yes its dated graphics, exspecially when creating characters. Once a get in and get your amor and helm on though you dont notice that much. Yes the other graphics are dated. The mobs are still very cool and the amazingness of the game and character customization as far as skills and stats go makes up for it.

Yes it is very low population. They really need to do something about that. Or we all need to resub and make it like the AC of old days.

I would very much recomend for turbine to think hard about there populationand server merging, also the cost of there game, it is to high for its age. I have been with turbine from day one it seams I have been through the good and the bad. I had high hopes for Asherons Call 2 and DDO Neither of them were as I had hoped. Although I think Turbine was crazy to close AC2 and not bring it back at some point. I will stand by Turbine for a while longer because they gave me my first and only true love in mmorpg Asherons Call. I just hope they dont let me down by not making the needed changes to AC. Or making a new game with similar good qualities from AC with all new story,classes,mobs,graphics, but keep the huge open world and the massivley customizable character building..

Well heres to hopeing, I apologize for any mispellings or typos ahead of time its very late....GNight  *shakefist*