asherons-call posts

When crafting community, little goes a long way

by Eliot Lefebvre Jan 21st 2010 at 10:00PM

Filed under: Culture, Forums, Grouping, Opinion

Yes, that looks like a typo in the subject line and it ought to be "a little goes a long way." It isn't. Little itself goes a long way in making a community, as discussed in this recent post by Eric Heimburg. Speaking from his experiences both on Asheron's Call 2 as a producer and Aion as a player, his core contention is that smaller communities decrease anonymity and make politeness far more common for interactions among strangers.

One of the core reasons behind this is the question of reliance. The community of group-based games tends to be stonger than that of games where you can be almost wholly independent, since you rely upon others to work with you. By way of contrast, examine some of the behavior found in World of Warcraft's random dungeon tool, where you find yourself working with people whom you're statistically unlikely to ever see again.

One of the laments about solo-friendly games is the death of community, and while that's not altogether true, Heimburg's post certainly makes a number of compelling points. Well worth examining if you're interested in building a community or just in the ways groups develop.

Tags: ac, ac2, aion, anonymity, asherons-call, asherons-call-2, blizzard, community, community-building, elder-game, eric-heimburg, manners, ncsoft, politeness, turbine, world-of-warcraft, wow

ReSubbed Episode 1: Asheron's Call

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 17th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Asheron's Call, Opinion, Humor, ReSubbed

At this point in time, we probably have you intrigued enough to read this paragraph. You're wondering what this new column is, aren't you? Well, wonder no further, dear readers, as you're looking at the second ever weekly Massively video feature -- ReSubbed.

What's this show all about? Simple -- take willing saps, er, participants, and subject them to a random MMO each week while recording the insanity. It's a preview, a review, a revisit, and a drunken raid all recorded live, hosted by Seraphina Brennan. We go inside the game so you don't have to. Plus, you can laugh at our misfortune. What could be better?

This week on ReSubbed, Sera has recruited Kyle Horner as her wing man as she subjects him to Asheron's Call in honor of the game's 10th anniversary. What happens when Kyle figures out that all of his emotes are bound to the keys of the keyboard? Check it out, right after the break.

(The management would like us to inform you that ReSubbed does contain one instance of profanity this week. So, be warned, we're slightly NSFW.)

Tags: 10th-anniversary, 1999, asherons-call, featured, glados-has-nothing-on-this, humor, opinion, portals, resubbed, video

Asheron's Call lead designer talks 10-Year anniversary, the MMO market, more

by Tracey John Nov 6th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Asheron's Call, Interviews, MMO industry, The Matrix Online, Casual

Not many MMOs last a decade, and this week marks 10 years since the launch of Asheron's Call, the fantasy MMORPG by Turbine Entertainment. Releasing several months after EverQuest, the game held its own and found its way to becoming one of the top MMOs of its time, providing fond memories for many players.

"I'm very proud of Asheron's Call, even today," said former AC lead designer Toby Ragaini in an e-mail to Massively. "It really broke a lot of new ground and I still have people come up to me saying what a great time they had playing. That's a pretty wonderful compliment after 10 years."

Ragaini, who has since worked on Sony Online Entertainment's The Matrix Online and is now working on a casual web-based MMO called Faunasphere, reminisced about working on Asheron's Call and spoke about what it's like working in the MMO market after 14 years of being in the biz.

Tags: asherons-call, faunasphere, featured, the-matrix-online, toby-ragaini

Asheron's Call celebrates its 10th anniversary

by Kyle Horner Nov 2nd 2009 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Asheron's Call, Events, in-game, News items

Whenever an MMO hits the big ten-zero, we tend to get a little misty in the ocular slots on our heads. Asheron's Call holds a special place in many a person's heart -- because everyone has a first -- and so this post is for all of you players both past and present who cherish and adore your little personal slice of gaming love.

Turbine has plans to run live events throughout the day as part of their celebration, which includes bringing back some of the most loved (and feared) characters and villains. We hope the event is fun for all, and if any players happen to attend why not take some awesome screens and send them into our One Shots feature? You can do so by emailing oneshots AT massively DOT com.

Tags: ac, anniversary, asherons-call, in-game-event, one-shots, screen, screens, screenshot, screenshots, turbine

The Daily Grind: What unloved game do you adore?

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 4th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind

If you had to describe the MMO field in one word - without using the words "virtual" or "massive" or "Warcraft" - you could do worse than picking "fickle". It's all but a law of nature that for every game that manages to get big-time exposure, there's another whose very name provokes boredom at best and vitriol at worst. For every Aion, there's a Tabula Rasa... or, if you want to be more ironic, for every Asheron's Call there's an Asheron's Call 2.

But no matter those obstacles, someone will love those games. There is always a fanbase, always people who play the game, always people sad when and if it dies. Maybe it's some quirky system that the game introduced that was interesting enough to overlook the game's other flaws, maybe it's a surfeit of flavor and roleplaying options, maybe it's even just the fact that the game is so badly designed the player gets a strange, Mystery Science Theater 3000 thrill out of the train wreck.

Whatever the reason, we've all got our pet games, whether we think they're underappreciated gems or bad games we love anyway. What's your favorite MMO that no one else seems to like?

Tags: aion, asherons-call, asherons-call-2, design, failure, tabula-rasa, the-daily-grind

Asheron's Call gets a slew of new enhancements for the 10th anniversary

by Seraphina Brennan Sep 28th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Asheron's Call, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Patches, News items

When November rolls around, it's time for Asheron's Call to celebrate 10 years of being online. That's a pretty epic anniversary, so it makes sense that Turbine's preparing a pretty epic set of patches. This anniversary isn't being overlooked in the slightest.

While details are still coming in as to what will be offered, already we know that magic users will be jumping for joy with the new magic infusing abilities in the new augmentations area. Mastering a school of magic will infuse you with its energy, letting you cast spells without holding the Foci or components to cast spells, although you will still need scarabs and tapers. Weapons will work relatively the same way, with new augmentations increasing effective skill with certain types of weapons.

Tags: 10th-anniversary, ac, asherons-call, augmentations, gearcrafting, november, trinkets, turbine

One Shots: Heeding the call

by Krystalle Voecks Aug 20th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Asheron's Call, One Shots

The other day we asked which game you'd like to give a graphics overhaul to, and among the many answers we got was Asheron's Call, the subject of today's One Shots. While admittedly it doesn't have nearly the visual details of it's brethren, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online, this bit of living Turbine history still has quite a bit of style. Here's regular Massively commenter Bam! to set up today's One Shots scene:

This Asheron's Call shot was taken in the Darkened Halls, which is a normally very low level dungeon. It has a quest that introduces us to one of the most disturbing creatures in Asheron's Call, the Hollow Minion. Originally created because one of the nemesis races in Lore thought scarecrows were the coolest thing ever, the funny particles about their hands indicate that all the damage they do ignores magical protections both on items and natural armor. Fortunately for me my character has a very good dodge skill!

If you're playing a game we don't see here often - or perhaps have never seen here - we definitely want to hear from you. There are tons of great MMOs out there that don't get nearly enough love, but we need you to send your screens in for them. Just email them to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description. Yours could very well be the next one we feature!

Gallery: One Shots

Tags: ac, asherons-call, bam, one-shots, screenshot, screenshots, turbine

Redefining MMOs: More than lore, part 2

by Kyle Horner Jul 9th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Lore, MMO industry, Opinion

Tags: all-points-bulletin, apb, asherons-call, bioware, blizzard, ea, electronic-arts, eq, everquest, ffxi, final-fantasy-xi, free-realms, realtime-worlds, soe, square-enix, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, turbine, world-of-warcraft, wotlk, wow

A Cycle of Change...

by Tim Dale Jun 26th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Culture, Patches, Opinion

Logging into Guild Wars for the weekly guild night this Tuesday saw a bit of an unwelcome surprise; the personal fallout of the latest in a very long line of skill balancing patches. As a Mesmer, I'd generally done quite well out of these in recent months; a somewhat less popular class than most, they had seen quite a bit of improvement over a number of months, but this latest patch saw 'Visions of Regret' and 'Cry of Pain', two very potent skills I use almost all the time, significantly reined in.

Of course the initial reaction was one of personal indignation, coupled with envy at the perceived winners of this round of adjustments. It isn't fair! A moment of reflection however and I began to consider more than just my own side of the thing, and perhaps for the improvement of the wider game, the changes to these specific skills might indeed have been warranted, and in any event, those imposing the changes were sure to have far more data at their disposal, and a view of a much larger picture than me.

Balance is something all MMOs seek for themselves and their players, and yet very few achieve a state of equilibrium, in which all players share equal potential, equal possibility and equal enjoyment. Can the cycle of buffs and nerfs ever please everyone, or is an continual procession of patches a sign of life and vibrancy that the single player off-line game lacks?

Tags: asherons-call, balance, buff, featured, guild-wars, nerf, nge, patches, star wars galaxies, StarWarsGalaxies

Turbine appoints new chief financial officer

by Seraphina Brennan Jun 1st 2009 at 4:00AM

Filed under: Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, News items

Let's take a break from all of the E3 crazy for a moment and bring it back down to Earth, as Turbine has announced today that they're putting a new man into the chief financial officer's seat.

Their choice for the position has been M. Beau Paradowski, an experienced 17 year financial veteran who has previously held the CFO chair for Optasite Inc. and Clearwire Technologies.

Paradowski is excited to step into his new position at Turbine, which will oversee all of the company's global financial operations and everything related to Turbine's three big IPs -- Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Asheron's Call.

Tags: ac, announcement, asherons-call, cfo, chief-financial-officer, ddo, dungeons-and-dragons-online, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, mmo-industry, press-release, turbine, turbine-entertainment

Can a LotROCON work?

by Shawn Schuster Apr 8th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Real life, Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion

SOE has Fan Faire and WoW has BlizzCon, but could a convention centered around Lord of the Rings Online (or all Turbine games, for that matter) evoke enough interest? Many fans seem to think it's about time they had their own company- or game-specific con as a place to meet others who enjoy the work Turbine has done with LotRO, DDO and Asheron's Call. Perhaps the biggest advocate is a blogger by the name of the LotRO Follower, yet the original idea came from Moormur at the LotROCast podcast. Other members of the LotRO Blogging Collective have thrown in their own two cents, like The Middle-Earth Adventurer who makes the point that it doesn't have to start off large, as in time it will grow.

So as the general MMO-playing public, we'd be curious to hear what you have to say on this subject. Have the success of the other topic-specific cons shown that it can be done with others, or should Turbine fans just get together at other major cons like Dragon Con, PAX or GenCon?

Tags: asherons-call, conventions, ddo, dragon-con, dungeons-and-dragons-online, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, lotrocast, mmeow, pax, turbine

With friends like these: What sci-fi has, and doesn't have, going for it

by Joe Blancato Apr 7th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Opinion

Let's face it: The sci-fi MMOG space is pretty bleak. I want Star Wars: The Old Republic to set the world on fire as much as the next guy, but long and nefarious is the path to massively-multiplayer righteousness, and so far, no one's really gotten the futuristic thing right.

Over the 12 or so years that graphical MMOGs have been around, two could be considered a success: Anarchy Online, which recovered from a catastrophic launch; and EVE Online, whose launch was nearly as bad as AO's, but luckily no one was around to notice at the time. That's two games over more than a decade. Conversely, three of the original four fantasy MMOGs were successful: Ultima Online, which is still around; EverQuest, which engendered a sequel and is emulated today by World of Warcraft; and Asheron's Call, which also inspired a sequel. And nowadays, you can barely walk without stepping in some fantastic goop, be it WoW, EverQuest II, or Warhammer Online, to name just a few.

Tags: anarchy-online, asherons-call, bioware, blizzard, ccp, cyberpunk-2020, ea, electronic-arts, eq, eve-online, everquest, everquest-2, featured, funcom, imperator, jumpgate, mythic, neocron, nge, sci-fi, shadowrun, sigil, soe, sony-online-entertainment, star-wars-galaxies, star-wars-the-old-republic, swg, swtor, tabula-rasa, ultima-online, war, warhammer-online, world-of-warcraft, wow

Turbine shuts down servers/forum for problems once again

by Shawn Schuster Apr 6th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Forums, Server downtime

Server maintenance is common in many MMOs, and it's something we seldom report on at Massively. Usually, by the time a post would be written, linked, scheduled and posted, the server maintenance would be done, or the problem would be fixed. This doesn't exactly seem to be the case with Turbine lately.

For several weeks, many of Turbine's servers have experienced problems, whether it be with Dungeons and Dragons Online, Asheron's Call or Lord of the Rings Online. In today's latest downtime, the rubberbanding or "invisible wall" problem has been running rampant in LotRO, causing the servers to be taken down and curiously enough, the forums to be locked down with a special status message, according to a recent Turbine Twitter message. Rest assured though that the dev team is on the case, and hopefully these issues will be completely resolved soon. What can you do while you wait? Why, read our LotRO Lore articles, of course!

Tags: asherons-call, ddo, downtime, dungeons-and-dragons-online, forums, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, server-downtime, server-maintenance, turbine

Turbine offers compensation for Asheron's Call and Dungeons & Dragons Online downtime

by Kyle Horner Mar 31st 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Server downtime, News items

Players of both Asheron's Call and Dungeons & Dragons Online have until very recently been experiencing a significant amount of unexpected server downtime. Being right gentle- uh, developers (gentledevs?) Turbine is offering up significant compensation to players as a way of apologizing. While simply extending all player subscriptions by the time lost (one day) would've been enough, it doesn't end there.

Here's the breakdown of the additional goodies players are getting:

Asheron's Call
Bonus rare drops!
+25% bonus XP

Dungeons & Dragons Online
+25% XP
+1 bonus to loot
A special in-game item when Mod 9 launches!

Those will be for the coming weekend, so if you were a lucky player who's been too busy the past 24 hours to even notice the downtime... lucky you! We envy your uncanny ability to receive wonderous gifts. Hey, can you hook us up with some four-leaf clovers?

Tags: asherons-call, ddo, downtime, dungeons-and-dragons-online, server, turbine

Turbine recruits new operations of VP into its fellowship

by Kyle Horner Mar 10th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, News items

News on the wire is that Ken Surdan has been appointed as Turbine's new VP of operations, and will oversee worldwide operations of Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Asheron's Call. His previous gigs include senior vice president for technology for TripAdvisor, chief operating officer at Smart Bargins and a member of the "Lord of the Rings: One LARP to rule them all" group. If we had to guess, we'd say Ken probably played as Gandalf -- because that guy managed just about everything.

Okay, in all seriousness, Surdan is bringing quite a lot of operations experience to Turbine. For a company that seems to be looking at expansion in the coming years, it's a very smart hire. The only thing we're not entirely clear on is whether or not he's replacing anyone or is filling an until-now empty position.

Tags: asherons-call, ddo, dungeons-and-dragons-online, gandalf, ken-surdan, larp, larping, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, smart-bargins, tripadvisor, turbine