Asheron's Call was the best MMORPG ever

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texan1337

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It didn't have all the hyper-regulation of WoW, like level caps, pvp restrictions (on Darktide), and lack of xp sharing with guilds. The freedom you had in the game really made it resemble real life more than any other game, and as a result, has yet to be unmatched by any current MMORPG looking to appeal to everyone.
 
texan1337 said:
It didn't have all the hyper-regulation of WoW, like level caps, pvp restrictions (on Darktide), and lack of xp sharing with guilds. The freedom you had in the game really made it resemble real life more than any other game, and as a result, has yet to be unmatched by any current MMORPG looking to appeal to everyone.
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Wrong. Ultima Online in it's prime had much more freedom, and was in turn more fun.
I still loved Darktide though...

UO > AC > EQ.
 
Woot, go Asheron's Call! I played from November 1999 to March 2003. I was on the Frostfell server. I remember the first monthly update in December 1999, where it snowed on Dereth. The first Shadows, a mote, BZ (I am not spelling his name!), fizzling on making a taper spell, and how you can become gimp.

To bad Microsoft screwed up on Asheron's Call 2 (anyone notice how the storyline is similar to EQ2)? In the future, where the old cities have been destroyed, etc.

I have heard that Vanguard, is Asheron's Call-like, some of the people call it AC3!

Now I play WoW but AC1 will be my very first MMORPG, when RPG were still in the game.
 
|MaguS| said:
Everquest > Asherons Call

:p
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not even close. you could practically be any lvl and group with your friends no matter what lvl they were. you felt you were actually powerful. THe loot system till this day is still untouched by any mmo. oh and didnt like the color just dye it. so basically noone ever looked the same. except everyone wanted pure black armor. lol . Loved teh allegiance system prior to xp chains. yes there was some stuff that needed to be fixed by MS didnt care at the time and basically what drove alot of people away.

i played on the frostfell server also.i've proabbly played every single MMO out there and nothing has touched AC. MIcrosoft dropped the bomb on AC. and when turbine finally got full rights i think it was too late. i always wished they would redo AC with ac2 graphic engine and rerelase the game.

and PVP actually took skill in AC. i remeber this guy on frostfell wont mention names casue some say he cheated at the time and others think he was just taht good. basiclaly he could kill 8+ people on him at the same time. unlike wow where its basically gear oriented and classes not being ballanced for pvping.not here to argue that point but with no doubt nothing has touched PVP in ac.

i use to love the term. GO RED BITCH. those were days ill proabbly never expericne again an a mmo
 
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
 
texan1337 said:
It didn't have all the hyper-regulation of WoW, like level caps, pvp restrictions (on Darktide), and lack of xp sharing with guilds. The freedom you had in the game really made it resemble real life more than any other game, and as a result, has yet to be unmatched by any current MMORPG looking to appeal to everyone.
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XP chains were the worst game mechanics ever invented for any genre of any platform in the history of gaming. They integrated a pyramid scheme into core gameplay.

And yes, UO had far, far more freedom, which in turn was eclipsed by the freedom of some old MUDs, which in turn had less freedom as the pen & paper RPGs that they were based on.
 
I played both AC1 and EQ1 religiously for a time. I played EQ1 longer, only because I knew more people in RL who played it.

However, I think AC1 had better game dynamics, and better gameplay. I loved PVPing in Darktide and lvling up, etc. Just having a bitch gank fest on Darktide for a few hours I was lvl 12 by end of the night, and I didnt even kill a bunny. Just from being killed and trying to kill others.

I liked the fact you could level up without even killing mobs. EXP for doing anything as you are doing it, didn't require monster kills... I loved the skill based game, rather than level based game.
 
Yes, in Asheron's call there was actually a downside to getting killed making the dynamics all the more better. Your opponent could loot your corpse and you had to work off handicapping vitae. Games these days just try to appeal to the lowest common denominator mass market so they sell the most copies. Yeah, WoW looked pretty, but you really couldn't accomplish anything special and the restrictions on everything from level caps to pvp made it dull after a while.
 
My first was SWG, so I guess the guy above is right.... I think it's the best. MUCH better than EQ, EQ2, or this Asheron's Call game which doesn't even look worthy of a download to me.

Sorry, I'm not into the whole medival type era games... too old fashioned. And no, I don't like Star Wars at ALL.

The PvP was the best in SWG!
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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yup, which is why i don't think any mmorpg will give me a better experience than eq did back in 99
 
Luxor said:
My first was SWG, so I guess the guy above is right.... I think it's the best. MUCH better than EQ, EQ2, or this Asheron's Call game which doesn't even look worthy of a download to me.

Sorry, I'm not into the whole medival type era games... too old fashioned. And no, I don't like Star Wars at ALL.

The PvP was the best in SWG!
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You need to remember Asheron's Call came out in November 1999, and it was not a medival game. The game had it's own set of monsters that were never seen before, there were no Trolls, Gnomes, Dragons or anything else that was familar. We did have golems though. :)

And yea the game was made without 3d in mine, if I remember correctly, you did not need a 3d card, so it was similar to Ultima Online. AC did get an update to use DirectX several years ago, but it was very hard to make it a 3d game.

Oh, one thing I did forget about AC, was that you can actually DODGE spells, this was awsome and it was very comedic when I play WoW and see a spell follow it's target all over the place. :D
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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Totally true, it's like your first love (not to sounds too geeky). For me it was EQ. Never played AC myself but a lot of my friends that originally got me into EQ did and they loved it. But whatever happened to Dark Age of Camelot? I played that after I quit EQ, man the pvp system in that game was so much fun. The three different factions really made it dynamic. Man were the Battlegrounds a blast.
 
The best multi-player online RPG that I've played was a MUD called Forgotten Kingdoms. It was D&D based, with PvP and a heavy emphasis on role-playing.

It isn't an MMORPG, but those old MUDs were sort of the birthplace of them.
 
Morningthaw in da House!!
Jumpcasting, Spincasting, BaelZharon (I can still spell it) Tusker Island, Shadow invasion, The run from Holtburg to Glendon Wood as lvl3 Newbs (Scariest thing EVAR!)
I Loved AC...I go back every now and then...
Have yet to find a game that can keep me involved so well or for so long.
POOKIE!!! DON'T ID HIM!!!
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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For 95% of the people, this would be correct. Although for me it isnt so. I played UO when it came out and quit after my free 30 days. Played again when they made some patch or expansion with my friend for 30 free more days. Quit again, didnt like pvp. Laughed when my friend got EQ1 the first day when he couldnt log in. After I saw him log in it was all over, I was hooked for the next 3 or 4 years.
EQ was the shit for me even though it was my second MMO.
 
I have to say Asherons Call was the best in 1999, but the downfalls were many. The buffing system spending 10 min to buff/bane everything only to get an hour of killing time. Macros, so many people used macros to get them self to 126+. The housing system killed major towns that were the hub of where people gathered. Unfortunately there will never be another game like AC1.
 
tronmaster said:
You need to remember Asheron's Call came out in November 1999, and it was not a medival game. The game had it's own set of monsters that were never seen before, there were no Trolls, Gnomes, Dragons or anything else that was familar. We did have golems though. :)

And yea the game was made without 3d in mine, if I remember correctly, you did not need a 3d card, so it was similar to Ultima Online. AC did get an update to use DirectX several years ago, but it was very hard to make it a 3d game.

Oh, one thing I did forget about AC, was that you can actually DODGE spells, this was awsome and it was very comedic when I play WoW and see a spell follow it's target all over the place. :D
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Yes, I loved dodging spells! I played as an Unarmed Atlan wielding characater, and whenever I took on war mages it made it so much more exciting because your reflexes were crucial to dodge and stay alive. And after a victorious fight you were rewarded wit XP and some nice loot, while your opponent was forced to work off crippling vitae and shell out about 10,000 more pyreals for some more drop items.

Your opponent would remember you though, and his guild would remember you. Bonds were tight as XP was shared throughout the heirarchy. This could lead to some enthralling guild conflicts and epic battles for control of various towns. (i.e. Bloods at Ayan Bakur, Sabrewolf X at Kara, Alberon Mindeater at Fort Teth...)
 
I have to agree with you. It was the best MMORPG to date. I played on Frostfell for many years and started the day of it's release. It wasn't my first MMO but it was the most enjoyable. For me, player requests such as housing is what killed it. After housing, everyone went to their homes and it destroyed the social aspect of the game. There was no longer a need to hang out in the Subway, converse in town, stand around a lifestone, etc. The first two years were amazing. If housing were removed, I'd go back.
 
MY first one was SWG wich was alright then shortly after light speed was released they changed the whole game and it sucked balls. Then I switched to GW wich was great I thought untill nightfall came out and then I just tierd of it. I tried WoW and just couldnt get into it. I would say that GW was my best MMORPG experience so far.
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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For 95% of the people, this would be correct.
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I would also be part of that 5% that does NOT think their 1st MMO was the best. Why? My first MMO was Lineage 2...which is a stinking pile of poo.
 
Asheron's Call was one of the best, until the original crew either quit or went off to do AC2.

It truly died the day a developer posted that "Attended Combat Macroing" was permissable.
 
Neurofreeze said:
XP chains were the worst game mechanics ever invented for any genre of any platform in the history of gaming. They integrated a pyramid scheme into core gameplay.

And yes, UO had far, far more freedom, which in turn was eclipsed by the freedom of some old MUDs, which in turn had less freedom as the pen & paper RPGs that they were based on.
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Turbine has a found a way to top that.

In LOTR, if you preorder and become a founder, you can take your beta characters into retail! :)
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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Well, I enjoyed AC more than UO, despite playing that second. If I were to rank the ones that I've played based on how much I enjoyed them for their time, it would rank as:

Asheron's Call
Ultima Online
World of Warcraft
Dark Age of Camelot
Final Fantasy XI
Asheron's Call 2

This list is a little misleading, since the population sample is so small. I'm sure If I've played more than just 6, FFXI and AC2 would rank much lower. AC2 would probably still be last - talk about killing a good franchise.
 
oh... there is much worse than AC2... horizons for instance or saga of ryzom... :p
 
CubicleGeek said:
Well, I enjoyed AC more than UO, despite playing that second. If I were to rank the ones that I've played based on how much I enjoyed them for their time, it would rank as:

Asheron's Call
Ultima Online
World of Warcraft
Dark Age of Camelot
Final Fantasy XI
Asheron's Call 2

This list is a little misleading, since the population sample is so small. I'm sure If I've played more than just 6, FFXI and AC2 would rank much lower. AC2 would probably still be last - talk about killing a good franchise.
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I'm kinda' in-between on some of the items listed here. My ranking would look similar to the following (based on the MMORPG's I have played):

World of Warcraft (w/ Burning Crusade expansion)
Asheron's Call (w/ Dark Majesty expansion)
Asheron's Call 2
Horizons
Star Wars: Galaxies

You might ask "why on #%)&%# does he have Asheron's Call 2 listed so high?" I'm ranking based solely on gameplay under ideal conditions (storylines, available skills and level of challenge in gameplay.) Yes, Asheron's Call 2 suffered from the worst set of perma-lag I've ever seen in an MMORPG, but the Vaults were a fantastic idea whose idea should have been grossly exploited for mass entertainment and enjoyment.

Some other highlights from my list:

Horizons; quite possibly the best style of tradeskill implementation in an MMORPG. If only it had followed through on the "techniques" and come up with a few hundred more recipes to compliment an otherwise fantastic "crafting-only" style of gameplay. (You could be a Level 1 Warrior and a Level 90 Tailor [with undoubtedly a half-dozen or more tradeskills leveled up as well].)

Star Wars: Galaxies; I was definitely the first Master Doctor on my server (Naritus), and reportedly one of the first in the game. I made millions doing fantastic amounts of experimenting in my rediculously-sized house, exploiting my college roommate's skill of finding highly usable mineral sites for harvesting. After a few months of being "on top" I ultimately found the game unsatisfying. I have no doubt the game's been changed to fix many of the original issues I had with it.... but it is too late to get me back, I've been playing WoW for over 2 years now. *SIGH* I still have this feeling that there are sufficient amounts of resource harvesters playing the game that, if I searched a bit, I could probably find a website with 24/7/365 real-time data outlining the existing server landscape, current mineral densities and qualities, etc. The game just "felt" like that was doable.... and that was more than enough to turn me off (in a resource-heavy game the resources should change faster than the players can properly catalogue and advertise them, to keep prices changing.)

I never played UO, EQ, Final Fantasy or Lineage.... so no comparisons are made relative to those games.

202276
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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Not with me. Every MMO I've ever played is nearly the worst game I've ever played.
 
hmm I'd have to say it's a tie between UO and SWG for myself. I really enjoyed how in UO you could kill anyone, anytime, anywhere (this was early in the game, I heard they changed that eventually). If you didn't roll with a posse, or you weren't a certified badass, you were just waiting to get ganked. Oh, and that halberd of vanquishing and those reagents and that sweet armor you had? Kiss it goodbye, because your corpse could be looted while your ghost stood there cryin "oooOOOoOoOOooooOo"

And SWG was fun because you could max out your character template in a couple days and be ready for some fun PVP right away. I'm one of the few who actually liked the CU because it balanced out the ranged weapon users. I'm sorry, but seeing the fencers and doctors constantly own the riflemen and bounty hunters in the first year of that game was just plain stupid. I was one of those guys who got master bounty hunter before vehicles then made another char on another server until they implemented bounties and made the bh viable in pvp. I must admit, I did have fun hunting jedi up until the nge, when I promptly got a refund for the Trials expansion and cancelled my account.
 
SPent nearly 4 years combined on carebear and DT servers and I find it EXTREMELY hard to get into ANY mmorpg just because the PvP elements are so lacking when compared to AC. The whole threat of being looted and the idea that you can gank anyone anywhere just made for fu(n/strating) gameplay.

And the fact that the PvP took more skill than any mmo i've seen made it possible for pretty much anyone to kill anyone regardless of levels (to a certain point of course).

I've resigned to believing there's never going to be anything as perfect as the AC experience around Dark Majesty time when the servers were blooming :(
 
Ah, I loved AC because the Devs let you play with the system. All those other games didn't allow any third party utils. WoW did it right by making a framework specifically for that, which is something that AC2 promised by never did.

Still, I wish WoW wasn't so restrictive as I really want to rewrite some of my old apps in the WoW world but can't as they turned off a lot of those features.

#acdev was my home for a very long time, but I finally quit when some jerk stole a lot of my code and included it in his more popular "cheating" program that he "sold". All he had to do was include that he borrowed from my work to keep with the license, but that was way too much from him and all the cheesehead cheaters "couldn't live" without his app and slammed me for lieing that he was using my code even though I pointed out 8 things that proved he used my stuff..
 
Focker said:
Everyone's first MMORPG experience will be "the best". Once ya go through it for the very first time you'll never get that feeling back.
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This is so true. Honestly I think its because MMOs are so similar its like playing the same game over and over.. They aren't giving people a fresh gaming experience! MMOs are designed more and more to last years and years (level caps, etc) but really mmos should be dead after a year and half if that, then the company should release a new one with new content for everyone to enjoy.
 
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