Asheron's Call: Difference between revisions

'''''Asheron's Call''''' is a [[Cult Classic]] fantasy [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] by the small but respected development house Turbine, who is also responsible for ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online (Video Game)|The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' and ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online (Video Game)|Dungeons and Dragons Online]]''.

It spawned the first MMORPG sequel in history, ''Asheron's Call 2'', which after [[Screwed Byby the Network|years of mis-management by Microsoft]], was also one of the first major name MMORPGs to end.

The original game is sometimes considered a [[Franchise Zombie]] -- while monthly content updates continue, the active ''Asheron's Call'' player base has been shrinking for years. Many theories abound to why this is -- most people agree that at least one of the 100+ monthly updates fall under [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]] -- but the answer may be more marketing than anything else. Whereas ''[[Ever QuestEverQuest]]'' released its expansion packs as new titles (thus keeping it eternally inside game stores) ''Asheron's Call'' instead chose to release its expansion packs as free downloads. As such, the game propagates mainly by word-of-mouth, and not much by that since a lot of things are showing their age nowadays.

{{quote| '''Town Crier''' tells you: ''Do you have an UST already?''}}

* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: Every big crisis is followed by yet another big crisis.

* [[Arrows Onon Fire]]: And frozen, and electrifying...

* [[Attack of the 50 -Foot Whatever]]: {{smallcaps|TREMENDOUS}} monougas.

* [[Big Creepy -Crawlies]]: Olthoi, and later Grievvers.

* [[Canon Dis ContinuityDiscontinuity]]: By [[Word of God]], some or all of lore and future history told in ''Asheron's Call'' 2 might not be canon anymore.

* [[Cast Fromfrom Hit Points]]: A Life Magic spell lets you turn your hit points into mana. The other routes are also available -- Mana to Health, Stamina to Health, et cetera. This is a primary reason for taking Life Magic, as it allows a mage to cast magic effectively nonstop.

* [[Deal Withwith the Devil]]: Bael'Zharon is a product of one of these. Virindi are a major source of these, too.

* [[Death Is a Slap Onon The Wrist]]: At the time it had one of the kindest death penalties in [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]]: a penalty to skills and attributes ("vitae") that went away by gaining experience, and leaving on your corpse a number of the player's most valuable items (defined by their vendor value). This lead to the unusual practice of D.I.s (Death Items), expensive but useless equipment carried around solely for the purpose of dropping it on death instead of the day-to-day working tools.

* [[Everything's Better Withwith Monkeys]]: Tuskers. Big, stupid... save for Oolutanga.

* [[Everything Is's Better Withwith Penguins]]: Just penguins.

* [[Everything's Squishier Withwith Cephalopods]]: [[Flying Seafood Special|Levitating]], spell-casting Nautiloids, to be precise. They're called Nifflis.

** There's even [[The Gingerbread Man (Literature)|a ''Gingerbread golem''!]]

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: The Empyrean Mage Council that defeated the Third Sending of Darkness.

* [[Kill It Withwith Fire]]: Or [[Kill It Withwith Ice]], or with [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|whatever element it is vulnerable to.]]

{{quote| '''Asheron''': Stand back, citizens!}}

* [[MinmaxersMinmaxer's Delight]]: Item Magic school. Don't leave home without it.

* [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same]]: Lugians fit the traditional dwarf niche... but they are 9-feet tall hairless marsupials (although the marsupial part might be [[Canon Dis ContinuityDiscontinuity]] now).

* [[Perpetually Static]]: While the developers often come with plausible explanations for this, N.P.C.s have moved, died and even whole cities have dissappeared. Then there was the incident during the first year's arc (the Fourth Sending of Darkness) where the players were charged with defending the last [[Crystal Prison]] keeping the [[Big Bad]] in check. On the other hand, great rewards were offered to those who destroyed the crystal and set him free (players were required to go PVP to participate). In most servers a half-hearted defense was mounted and the crystal was quickly destroyed, but in one, Thistledown, they were able to mount a round-the-clock vigilant defense. Unfortunately the developers had expected the crystal to be destroyed for plot purposes, and thus were forced to intervene (in game, with overpowered [[GMPC]] characters) to keep all of the servers on the same page. Read the whole story [https://web.archive.org/web/20150131154641/http://www.ethblue.com/acpaper/page2.htm here] and [http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-elaborate-dick-moves-in-online-gaming-history_p2/ here].

* [[Screwed Byby the Network]]: Multiple times. Initially, they couldn't find a publisher as Sony was pulling in favors to ensure that [[Ever QuestEverQuest|their MMORPG]] wouldn't have competition. Microsoft stepped in to publish it in exchange for effectively owning the rights to everything involved... and then proceeded to run the game into the ground over several years.

** ''Asheron's Call 2'' had the in game discussion system break down. Turbine had a fix within hours... but Microsoft refused to allow them to push it for months. The fact that Microsoft was starting to push ''[[wikipedia:Mythica|Mythica]]'', what amounted to Asheron's Call 2's replacement, at the same time, did not go unnoticed by anyone. Turbine was eventually allowed to fix the chat system, ''almost a full year later'', but the damage was done and [[AC 2]]AC2 closed shortly afterwards.

* [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]]: Bael'Zharon, for a long time.

* [[Shout-Out]]: The [[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail|Killer Bunny]].

{{quote| '''Bright Eyes''': [[Soylent Green|Mushed Nanners is people!]]}}

{{quote| ''On far [[Volcano Lair|Aerlinthe Island]], an intrepid band has found the lair of the [[The Undead|Dark Lady Aerfalle]], at whose whim the earth itself does shake. But the bold [[An Adventurer Is You]] has driven her back into her hidden crypts, and the ground stills... until she next awakens.''}}

[[Category:AsheronsMicrosoft CallWindows]]