Asheron's Call

Discount Price: $13.59

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Asheron's Call, the Greatest MMORPG in Existence [Posted on 2003-04-06]
Still alive and well, AC has some life in it. I've played since release and love it more today than I did then. Sure theres a monthly fee, but the game gets new monsters, quests, items, game systems, etc. EVERY month. For many there is no need for another game to play! So that a flat rate there, $ for all your computer gaming for a year! Tis an incredible deal. The above reviews are very old, cheaters have been removed. Wonderful third party applications have been added that enhances the game, allowing one to chat on IRC while in-game, control Winamp while in-game, etc. These fall under the plug-in Platform "Decal", found on Sourceforge. Balance has returned to Asheron's Call, some will always do better at some monsters than others, its the advantages of that class. But thats just it! These days if ya don't like how you've done your char, you can make some adjustments via new quests. The skill system of Asheron's Call is of untold beauty and far out does any other game in existence, especially Ever Quest or Asheron's Call 2. AC is a very social game, allegiances take care of their own and will help many a newbie. However, one can survive very well as a soloer, I am kinda a mixture of both. Theres puzzles, tons of quests, PKing (by choice), Trading (an unimaginably dynamic economy), and so soo much more...

Greatest RPG on the Market [Posted on 2003-06-30]
This is the best game I have ever played. It never gets old, because it changes every month. I highly recommend this game.

Its a bunch of fun. [Posted on 2003-07-27]
This is game is pure fun. Its addictive. Im not writing much because i just got odne writing why not to buy ac2. Not kidding. Look for my other post for alot of info on ac1. Its under ac2 reveiws. Name -- doesn't cut it -- AC1 has alot of landscpae, lvls, ppl, skills, and jsut alot of other things, tkae my word for it, ITS AN AWSOME GAME.

Love Hate Relationship with this Game [Posted on 2005-08-01]
Having never played a MMORPG before Asheron's Call, I was floored by the immensity of the world and the depth of things to do. I subscribed to the game in early 2000, and other than a few months away from time to time, finally official unsubscribed at the release of AC's 2nd expansion pack, Throne of Destiny, this past month.

I spent 5 years of my life spent playing Asheron's Call, investing 5-10 hours a week. I have tried many RPGs since, but nothing has hooked me like AC did.

Unfortunately, my experience with AC was dysfunctional at best. The first year was amazing. I met many friends, and had a blast exploring. After 2 months I realized that my level 13 swordsman (without any magic) could barely hold his own against even the weakest of mobs, so I re-rolled. I created a spearman on a whim, and went to the packed Mossie Fort to level. It was there that I met Corrozus, my soon to be good friend and patron. Every night for a year we played together...laughed together, struggled together and leveled together. Everything that Dereth had to offer was explored by our ever-increasing alliance.

I was a level 31 plinking away at Granite Golems in the Dires with my spearman the day that Turbine introduced the first wave of mobs that became the first chain on a link that lead to the ultimate death of the game. They were acid wielding, shield carrying skeletons, and my character couldn't touch them. In fact the mobs were so difficult that I heard rumors that players were now re-rolling en masse to create characters with Life Magic.

As anyone who has played AC knows, Life Magic was broken from the start, and it took a while for the player base to learn this, but once we did, the game became a mere shell. Soon, uber characters abounded, and friends we once played with daily went off to level up their new uber toons. It seemed almost overnight everyone was level 50 killing Olthoi and Lugies in XP leveling dungeons while friendships and allegiance began to crumble.

It was at this point that the original devs left, and the new team not only continued to allow life magic to remain unbalanced, but they built virtually all content around it. It was at this time that I began to dislike the game I once loved. I had few friends that weren't uber-focused. Allegiances became quest oriented as opposed to exploration oriented. And the devs catered to the elite players and ignored the average game player.

Housing came and went, and I quit and re-subscribed several times. My playing time decreased severely to the point were I might log on once a week to seem no one from our allegiance on.

Asheron's Call, it could be said, died a premature death because it listened to the 1% gamers who lived online. AC kept feeding the game XP and loot to keep them happy, and soon even a newbie couldn't step a few clicks outside of town without running into a level 79 mob.

The Throne of Destiny expansion pack is more of the same. The game is all but dead, and simply exists to pull in funds to support Turbine's up and coming releases, D&D Online, and Middle Earth. I won't be trying either. Just like a bad relationship, my time with Turbine is over and I want my 5 years back.

Update - 2007 [Posted on 2007-01-02]
Yes, the person who wrote the "stay away" was absolutely on the mark in the year 2000.

Seven years later its really has grown and is quite the game, content is added every month (do the math 12 world updates * 7 years).

The game has seen 2 major revisions (the latest is Throne of desitny) which had a major graphic upgrade.

I started playing in the year 2000, and after 7 years of playing, I think the game has never been better.

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