Asheron's Call
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| Asheron's Call {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
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| Developer(s) | Turbine Entertainment Software {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | October 31, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | Windows {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Asheron's Call (AC) is a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows-based PCs, released in late 1999. It features a vast, nearly-seamless 3D world simultaneously occupied by hundreds of players and fantasy creatures.
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General
Gameplay involves earning experience points through a variety of activities, including engaging monsters in combat and fulfilling quests. The earned experience can be invested to improve the character's abilities by spending it on such skills as 'Unarmed Combat', 'War Magic' and 'Melee Defense', among many others. Besides experience points, questing and combat also yield equipment such as armor, weapons, health potions, and spell scrolls. Many types of loot can be improved or imbued with special spells and effects via Asheron's Call's crafting system, known as tinkering.
Unlike most other games of this type, Asheron's Call rarely uses typical fantasy fiction to draw ideas from and instead creates its own, unique creatures. Instead of elves and goblins, a large majority of the monsters in Asheron's Call are completely original. Examples include insect-like Olthoi, the cat-like humanoid Drudges, and reptilian Sclavus. Many unique races and creatures from Asheron's Call can be seen in Wikipedia's list of species in fantasy fiction.
Asheron's Call is also known for its friendly stance toward third-party software, particularly Decal, which allows the creation of gameplay-enhancing plug-ins.
History
AC was developed by Turbine Entertainment Software and published by Microsoft. The first expansion, Dark Majesty, was released in 2001. A second expansion, Throne of Destiny, which includes a graphics upgrade, new player race and new landmass was released on July 18, 2005. In additional the expansion packs, the in-game story is advanced by monthly updates, which introduce new quests and gameplay dynamics as part of the subscription package.
While neither Turbine nor Microsoft have been forthcoming in releasing exact subscription counts, it is believed that Asheron's Call peaked in popularity in early 2002 at about 120,000 accounts [1].
A sequel, Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings, was released on November 22, 2002, but was shut down on December 30, 2005 due to weak subscriber numbers that consistently lagged behind the original game.
In December 2003, Turbine purchased the rights to the Asheron's Call franchise from Microsoft and assumed full responsibility for content development, customer service, billing and marketing in 2004.
Story
Asheron Realaidain and the Empyrean
The story of Asheron's Call takes place on the planet Auberean which by the Empyrean. The Empyrean are tall humanoids with immense life spans and a powerful mastery of magic. Prior to Portal Year (PY) 0, their civilization dominated the surface of Auberean, a feudalistic, religious society that later split into several nations such as the Yalain, the Falatacot, and the Dericost. The main setting of the game is a small island in the Yalain dominion. The island's was known in Yalaini as Ireth Lassel.
In PY0, a young Yalaini mage named Asheron Realaidain was experimenting with portal magic when he accidentally opened portals to an alien world. This planet was the homeworld of many monstrous insectlike species. One of the smaller species, the Olthoi, proceeded to invade Auberean via the portals, and legions of black man-sized death machines spewed across the surface of the planet, skewering the corpses of all other inhabitants on their massive pincers, their magic-resistant hides rendering them largely immune to the Empyreans' defenses. Their invasion went almost unchecked and the Olthoi all but annihilated the Empyrean civilization.
In a desperate attempt to save the survivors of his people, Asheron called forth all of his power and summoned many portals, none of their destinations known to him, hoping that one would lead his people to safety. He ushered the last of his race through one of the portals, remaining behind himself to attempt to repair the damage he had caused.
These portals opened to many different worlds, bringing various creatures into Auberean. Most of these creatures were as wild animals, some violent and destructive. One of the portals Asheron opened led to the planet Ispar, the homeworld of the human-like Isparians. The Isparians were sensitive to portal magic and were lured into the portals that appeared there. Upon arrival on Ireth Lassel, they were instantly enslaved by the Olthoi, who were constructing a hive civilization under the earth. As more and more Isparians arrived, some managed to escape slavery and live as nomads, hiding in the wilderness and defending themselves from the Olthoi with weapons of their own fashioning.
Elysa Strathelar and Thorsten Cragstone
Looking to destroy the Olthoi for good, two of the greatest free warriors among the Isparians, two lovers named Thorsten Cragstone and Elysa Strathelar, sought the advice of Asheron. Asheron helped them organize an assault on the lair of the Olthoi Queen. During the raid, Thorsten was struck down by the Queen herself. Enraged, Elysa pulled from her quiver an arrow that Asheron had enchanted for her with an elixir he designed to slay the Olthoi Queen. Elysa let the arrow fly and it struck the Queen in the eye, sending her into death throes that sent waves of primordial fear through the entire Olthoi horde. The head of their hive mind destroyed, the Olthoi domination fell into disarray, freeing the human race from slavery. The player begins as an Isparian freshly summoned from Ispar into post-Olthoi Ireth Lassel, renamed Dereth by the Isparians.
Asheron remains present to guide the human people from the shadows, hopeful that they can restore his world to its former glory.
The Viamontian Invasion
In Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny, players are thrown into a bitter civil war...
Original Creatures
Armoredillo
An armoredillo is a large reptilian. Many species of armoredillo exist across Dereth, all of which have adapted to a particular environment. For example, "freshwater armoredillos" are very rare; they can only be found at the source of the River Prosper. Other types include "bronze armoredillos" and "sandy armoredillos". Regardless of where they live, all armoredillos feature the same basic physical attributes. Ranging in length, the armoredillo is long and slim, with a chain of rock-hard fins scaling down its back. The creature's legs are small and feeble, so it often moves simply by curling into a wheel-like shape and rolling towards any intruder. It attacks using its fins or by biting, for it has a large, sharp beak. Armoredillo spines are sought after, mainly for the blades of weaponry. The Silifi of Crimson Stars, for example, requires a spine for its blade.
Banderling
Banderlings can be most commonly compared to the trolls of folklore. They vary in size and strength.
Carenzi
The Carenzi are a small, ferocious, badger-like animal from Ispar. They are sometimes used as a symbol of Aluvian gutterfolk, who could not accept conquest by Viamont.
Drudge
Drudges are bipedal, cat-like animals who range in size and strength from feeble to deadly.
Empyrean
An ancient race of highly magical beings. Asheron Realaidain used portal magic long ago to send the Empyrean to safety after the initial onslaught of the olthoi hordes.
Fragment
Floating above the ground and slow-moving, fragments are strange creatures that don’t appear to be living at all. Shards can occasionally be harvested from the corpses of fragments, and combined in the creation of shadow armor.
Gelidite
An ancient cult of Empyrean necromancers responsible for a sudden, harsh winter in 10 P.Y. In the underground city of Frore, the Gelidite had constructed a machine known as “the great work.” Abrim led the party that destroyed the great work, though some Gelidite still remain in Dereth.
Grievver
Grievvers resemble large, gray spiders, and are highly resistant to magic.
Gromnie
A young dragon-like creature that is not fully mature and therefore cannot fly. Asheron's Call 2 introduced larger specimems.
Hollow Minion
Conceptually similar to robots, the Hollow Minion is a magical construct of the Virindi. Essentially they are a physically hollow humanoid shell made of the anti-magical metal chorizite, and animated by a strong core of magical energy held within. The core essence is programmed to follow the will of the creator, although a more complex personality can be used, even creating semi-sentient thought. Their seemingly contradictory construction method is unknown, but the result is an anti-magical automoton controllable by magic. They attack with punches which are capable of ignoring all magical protection and enchantment, and are themselves extremely resistant to any form of magical attack.
In a setting where magic is so commonplace that it is used as the primary form of defense at all times, Hollow Minions are a devastating force. To the warrior using magic to increase their armor's effectiveness, they are a nasty surprise. To the mage who thinks to enchant a simple cloth robe into superior physical armor, they are downright deadly.
Their form vaguely resembles that of scarecrows, and when otherwise inactive the Hollow Minions will stand with their arms held up as if they are hung from a supporting beam. The Virindi did this intentionally, thinking that the minions would thus blend in seamlessly.
Olthoi
The Olthoi are a race of giant insect-like creatures. They have a hive mentality, similar to ants, and spit acid at their enemies. In various parts of this virtual world, Olthoi have nests or "dens" in which they live. You can enter these underground hives through spinning portals. Various maps are available on the web to help you navigate their hidden depths. The name of the first expansion pack of Asheron's Call, Dark Majesty, is a reference to the Olthoi Queen. The race as a whole were a bane to the Empyrean Civilization, as they were resistant to magic, which was the staple form of combat for the Empyreans.
Ursuin
Ursuin are are quadrapeds and have some resemblance to a bearcat, as their name may imply, with its similarities to the adjective 'ursine' which means bear-like.
Game terms
Pyreal
Pyreal is a metal found on the planet Auberean.
In the game, the Isparians (humans), the one race to which all player characters belong, collect the metal and use it for various purposes. The Isparians' main source of pyreal is from the enigmatic golems that roam the countryside. These creatures are constructions of the planet's previous master race, the Empyreans, and motes of raw pyreal serve as their brains.
The Isparian unit of currency, the pyreal, is stamped from this metal. Pyreal is also the chief constituent of the powerful Atlan weapons, named for Asheron's father, their inventor.
The coins used to weigh one BU (burden unit) each, and with characters often carrying thousands of them at a time, the load could grow quite heavy. In response to player feedback, the weight of the coin was changed to 0BU, eliminating the effect of the coins on a character's burden level.
Vitae
Vitae, the Latin word for "Life Force," describes the effect of a temporary reduction in character strength upon death. Known colloquially as "VP", short for the full term "Vitae Penalty," this penalty results from the imperfect link between Isparians and the "lifestones" which resurrect them.
Player Killers
Player Killers (PKs) are those who choose to change their status to enable them to attack another PK in Player vs Player combat. On death they drop some of their items and the winner of the fight is allowed to take them. One server, Darktide, is dedicated exclusively to this style of gameplay.
Ganking is a term used in many MMORPG's for a large group of PKs grouping and ambushing just one player.
Player Killer Lite
Non player killers can change their status to player killer lite at will. This allows them to attack other PKL's, but a death will not result in item loss or vitae penalty. This function is not available to player killers or on the Darktide server.
External links
- Asheron's Call official website
- Asheron's Call Vault
- Warcry's Crossroads of Dereth
- Maggie the Jackcat's Kick-Ass Fabulous AC Site
- AC Mystics
- Nakamuro Zataki's Archive
- The Loresraat's Ultimate AC Resource Site
- Decal (Third party plugin system for Asheron's Call)
- Sucamarto's AC Heaven (Third party plugin listing)
- Asheron's Call cheat codesde:Asheron's Call 2