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Revision as of 23:48, 5 March 2014

Main game topics: Getting Started | Gameplay | Player Character | Items | World | Patches | Live Events
Sub-topics: Asheron's Call | Player Guides: New Players, Returning Players | Character Creation | User Interface | Glossary | FAQ


Asheron's Call

Asheron's Call (AC) is a fantasy Massively multiplayer online role-playing game delevoped by Turbine, Inc. released on November 2, 1999.

Game Info

See also: List of Categories

The following list is not exhaustive.

Asheron's Call Updates

Game Release and Expansions

1999
Release 		2001
Dark Majesty 		2005
Throne of Destiny

Major Monthly Updates

  • See Patches for a list of all the regular monthly updates made to Asheron's Call.
Event Main Content/Features
August 2008: 100th Update
October 2009: 10th Anniversary Update
April 2010: "Big" Update
December 2010: "Big" Update
May 2011: "Big" Update
  • New level 180+ hunting and questing area
  • Contracts
  • Prismatic Ammunition
  • Shield Tailoring
  • Alternate Currency Exchangers
February 2012: Skill System Overhaul
August 2012: "Big" Update
February 2013: "Tier 8 Loot and a New UI"
August 2013: "Tier 8 Loot and Weapon Tailoring"
January 2014: "Tier 8 Area Released"
February 2014: "Spring 2014"

This as indicated by Turbine will be the last Patch for Asherons Call.

  • Enlightenment - A system designed for our most dedicated players, Enlightenment allows a character who has reached the pinnacle of levels and Luminance to let it all go and start over. The process of Enlightenment is certainly not for the faint of heart, but enlightenment will provide an avenue for players to prove that they are some of the most hardcore players of the game.
  • Gauntlet - A brand new coliseum to challenge players and top end characters has been added.
  • Paragon Weapons - A weapon upgrade system that creates Paragon weapons has been added to the game. Characters can slowly enhance their favorite weapons by forging them into Paragon weapons.

Rules

By playing Asheron's Call, all players agree to the following documents:

History of Asheron's Call

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1995 - 1999

Game Development

  • Development of Asheron's Call began in 1995 after Turbine and Microsoft had entered into a developer/publisher agreement where legal ownership of the property and subsequently-developed properties were owned by Microsoft.
  • All of the games Servers and the initial beta testing were also hosted on Zone.msn.com as part of the publishing agreement with Microsoft.
  • "Empyrean" was the code name Microsoft used to refer to Asheron's Call in 1997 when the game was still in development. [1]

Click image for full size version.

  • Early Development Screenshots

1999

Beta Testing and Release

  • The AC Beta consisted of three phases which spanned from May until October of 1999.
  • Other important events that occured before and during beta testing:
    • Turbine's beta page, http://www.zogblaster.com/tweb/asherons-call, goes live.
    • Microsoft's Asheron's Call page, http://www.microsoft.com/games/zone/asheronscall/, goes live.
  • November 2, 1999 - AC goes retail, it is the third major MMORPG to be released at this time.

2000 - 2003

Microsoft Gaming Zone

2003

Turbine buys Asheron's Call license back

Turbine bought back all franchise rights from Microsoft in 2003[2] and consequently took responsibility for server hosting. The servers remained at a facility in Washington State until 2008 when all server hardware was replaced and relocated to a facility in Massachusetts near Turbine headquarters. Due to various quality of service issues that caused extended downtime the servers were moved to a new facility on March 30th, 2009.

2004

Turbine unlocks Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty for all AC subscribers

Turbine announces that all Dark Majesty content will be available to every subscriber regardless of whether they have purchased the expansion pack in the past or not. [3]

Turbine Green Lights AC Expansion Pack

An announcement is made that fans of the award-winning online role playing game Asheron’s Call® will receive a new expansion pack (Throne of Destiny) in early 2005.[4]

Turbine Jolts Asheron's Call® and AC2: Fallen Kings® in Europe

Turbine Entertainment Software Corp., a premier provider of online subscription entertainment, announced today that it signed a deal with Jolt Online Gaming Ltd., Europe's largest independent online gaming network, to operate the company's critically acclaimed Asheron's Call® franchise games in Europe.[5]

2014

Turbine ends updates to Asheron's Call

Once this next update is in the hands of the players, the updates to Asheron’s Call will be limited. We intend to fix critical bugs and continue maintenance and support on the game. While there is always a chance we will put out a small update if time permits, players should have the expectation that updates will be limited to maintenance, bug fixes, and perhaps balance iterations of February content such as the new Coliseum.
Let me reiterate that we have no plans to close Asheron’s Call. We plan to keep the game open and the servers running.
Although this change of focus is necessary for our company, we love the Asheron’s Call games and we want them to live forever. We understand that players who have been enjoying our monthly updates will be disappointed at the change to Asheron’s Call. Our long term plan is to make the game free to all active accounts. We are working on a date in the not-to-distant future where all active accounts will be able to play the game for free. Asheron’s Call and Asheron’s Call 2 will be a gift to our loyal players.
Link to Original Article
Severlin - Producer

History Articles

Game Awards

Related Articles

Gaming Website Articles

Reviews

  • Computer Games Online - 4.5/5

Previews

Interviews

Other

Developer Diaries

Archives

Microsoft Archives

Turbine Archives

Patch Announcements

Turbine Archive Index

Informational Pages on Turbine's Official AC Website

Developer Chats

AC News Archives

Images

Click image for full size version.

References

  1. ↑ 1997/07 ZDNet - Let the Online Games Begin
  2. ↑ 12/17/2003 Turbine Games - TURBINE TO BUY ASHERON’S CALL FRANCHISE FROM MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS
  3. ↑ 02/04/2004 Turbine Games - TURBINE UNLOCKS ASHERON’S CALL: DARK MAJESTY® FOR ALL AC1 SUBSCRIBERS
  4. ↑ 04/13/2004 Turbine Games - Turbine Green Lights AC Expansion Pack
  5. ↑ 08/30/2004 Turbine Games - Turbine Jolts Asheron's Call® and AC2: Fallen Kings® in Europe
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