| Text
| - 5400.0
- 1.84086E7
- I got a call the week of Christmas, 2002. It was Turbine and they wanted to interview me for a position on one of their art teams. It wasn't for Asheron's Call but it was my foot in the door and the beginnings of my time here at Turbine. Eventually, I found my way onto the Asheron's Call Live team and was put in charge of art. And during my time on the team, was probably one of the most prolific artists AC1 had seen.
- In March 2001, I was nearly at the end of my second term in college, working part time at a Software Etc and trying to figure out what my next game purchase would be. I had beaten Half-life and was becoming tired of Team Fortress Classic and Counter-strike. I wanted something new and different. It was then that my manager introduced me to Asheron's Call.
- As for the mechanic for creating the spells, what I put into the previous document is all we're giving out - in a way, it's a sort of research, so you'll need to experiment around with the various components. Yes, eventually people will have them on spoiler sites, but that's fine, and we don't think the mechanic is going to be so difficult as to require a spoiler site to figure out.
- One hundred updates, of those I contributed to forty-seven updates and portions of two expansion packs. Nearly half of the one hundred!
- That first year concluded with Oolutanga, also known as Bobo, and my homage to Planet of the Apes. Has anyone ever given Brighteyes mushed nanners? These were the fun days, the early days, and though I cannot go back there I can still hold them as dearly as I do. At the 2002 ACPL I met a great many friendly people, all of them playing Asheron's Call and all of them happy or inquisitive of what we were doing next where we were going. I knew where I wanted to go and in the winter of 2002 with an uncertain future before us we moved to an episodic story arc. This changed into the Olthoi Arc ending with the defeat of the Olthoi Queen from Knorr.
- While it wasn't the best looking game on the shelf, I had never played anything like it before! I could make my character the way I wanted to make it. I wasn't bound by classes or the conventions of fantasy. Sure – there were creatures that were analogs for the fantasy mainstays but the game didn't dwell on them being analogs. It marched forward and developed the characters and cultures to the beat of its own drum. There was always something new to look forward to. Each month, my roommates and I would patiently wait for the servers to come up , ready to devour the new quests and dungeons we were certain would be there waiting for us. Each month, the story of Asheron's Call grew – I had never seen the story of a game evolve like this before. I had never seen a game where the players impacted the course of events.
- Once a player is part of a Society, they will need to complete a series of tasks in order to gain favor with their Society's leadership. Each series of tasks will take place in different locations around Dereth, based on what Society ranking the player is attempting to acquire. When the system goes live, players will be able to ascend to rank five in their Society, but this process will take some time and effort. Gaining ranks in a Society not only unlocks more tasks, players will also be rewarded with things like pulls from Level 8 loot chests and unique Society based armor sets.
- *descends from the mountain with a tablet*
- Congratulations Asheron. You done good.
- In total, I have contributed to over 25 live updates. I've created over 10 unique monsters and countless variations of existing monsters. I have generated scores of weapons and armor. And, I've even done a little bit of quest designing. If I hadn't played and subsequently fallen in love with the game, I don't think I would have thought to apply here at Turbine. As AC1 has grown over the years, so too have I. I've moved on to other projects – over loves. But I will always fondly look back at the time I spent working on AC1, for all you fine folk in the community.
- Just the new one.
- There are very few games, as I look at them in retrospect, that have had significant, lasting impact on my life. Thief: The Dark Project was my first experience being fully immersed and scared witless in a video game. Final Fantasy 7 displayed just how much power and emotion a cut scene can have. But for me, one game stands out on its own – as it not only had a profound impact on my grades in college but I also wouldn't be here, doing what I do for a living and writing this article, were it not for this one game. I am speaking, of course, about Asheron's Call – the game that I feel in love with and helped me to become an embodiment of Turbine's motto .
- This is just a brief overview of just one of the new features coming with the 100th content update for Asheron's Call. There are more details and nuances related to this system which we will describe in more detail as we get closer to the launch of the event. We have many more features and updates that we will be discussing in the coming weeks as well as a few surprises.
- Where to start…they say that you never forget your first love – I am not certain who they are and how they know this is true, I have never been certain – they are right. Asheron's Call was my first and it is still an important part of the designer that I am now.
- In order to join a Society, players will need to have reached certain goals in Dereth. The leaders of each Society want only the strongest members of society. To that end, players will need to be level 180 in order to join a Society. Those who are below that level will be able to help out Society members on certain tasks, but they will not yet be able to join a Society. .
- My intention all along was to re-imagine Elysa, not kill her. When Nuhmudira hired Oswald it was with the intention of assassination, but Elysa was too strong-willed to die. Nuhmudira on the other hand was my favorite lore character next to Antius Blackmoor and I loved writing her fall to Falatacot practices. Nuhmudira was, I feel my strongest character, she had goals and dreams and would stop at nothing to reach them. Plus, she also enabled me to write my favorite quest ever: The Noir Investigation. Forgive me, but this is a nostalgia piece.
- I still love that quest and the next ACPL, I remember asking the woman who the previous year mentioned weak female characters, what she thought of them now and she said that I had done much better. That made me smile, that is what designing AC was all about – now what designing LotRO is all about; making people smile.
- Players will begin their journey into the world of Societies by speaking to one of the Society recruiters located in Hebian-to, Cragstone or Zaikhal. These recruiters will know if you have already joined another Society, so do not try to fool them. If a player has not joined a Society yet, the recruiter will send them on a task to speak to another. And thus the journey begins. The path to joining and gaining favor in a Society is not an easy one, but the rewards for doing so are well worth it.
- There will be three Societies to choose from, The Radiant Blood, The Celestial Hand, and The Eldrytch Web. Each Society has its own ideals and beliefs as to what should happen on Dereth and beyond. Players will be given the chance to discover the principles of each Society and choose which group they want to join. But choose wisely, because changing Societies will not be something easily done. There are penalties for those who are not loyal.
- My first offering was Danby's Outpost located on the northern shore of the inland sea. It was a foray into something new, landscaping, npc creation, item creation and quest design. It was a colossal failure. Maybe not colossal to players but to those on the AC team it was more work for them from an armchair designer who meant to do well but had none of the knowledge of skills necessary to accomplish their goals. Without some serious assistance from Annuvin and Crowley it never would have seen the light of day. I learned a lot from that though. I learned that I needed to study the system to become a good designer. So I did.
- Sorry if I was unclear - the new components are for crafting the spells only.
- We're actually not necessarily trying to limit the spells to certain levels as much as increasing the value of the schools in which the buffs reside, particularly Creature. Level 8 spells will drop on weapons and armor, though, so an Arcane Lore Melee should have limited access to the new buffs - just not complete access.
- I ended my run with the Burun Arc, tying pieces of the lore of AC1 and AC2 together. It was a fun run, a fun time and Asheron's Call is still one of my favorite games of all time. I miss it and love it and let me just say thank you to all the folks still working on the game, playing the game and all those who have come and gone. Asheron's Call reaches a milestone at 100, the first 100, 100 and going strong.
- It was a year where the failures of the previous land invasions were learned and we built out the new invasion of Olthoi. We introduced massive assaults overrunning sections of land and making the deus ex machina nature an infirmity as his power was countered by his greatest foe and failure. Paralyzed by this fear, Asheron was removed from the equation and Elysa needed to step forward and become a leader. I remember this very well; I was cornered at the 2003 ACPL and asked why the female characters were so weak. It was a valid question; Elysa has always been a difficult character for me, personally. She was strong, surely, surviving against the Olthoi and struggling through when her husband was killed and the leader of the first people of Ispar to arrive on Dereth. The players were a different sort though, they were not those initial subjects and Elysa was distant from them. Every effort to empower her was met with difficulty. But then there was Nuhmudira.
- As many will remember, we made a brief visit to Factions during the Grael story arc, where we let players choose sides. For the most part these Society choices were cosmetic and did nor have a real impact on gameplay. With this new system, players will choose a Society and their choice will have an impact on their game, both directly and indirectly.
- The words drip from my fingertips like moisture ringing a glass of cider over rocks in a smoke-filled room on the fringes of Lytelthorpe. Outside of the bar, I hear the discussion ebbing to the posters outside of all major settlements across Dereth, there is unease in those voices, concern over where they come from and who this Dame that needs help is. Dame Brinna O'Shea paid me well to place the signs and keep my mug full and my mouth shut. I sip the cider slowly and watch the throng grow. They'd figure out soon enough that the Royal Guard had the 4-1-1 and then be off to speak to the Dame. With any luck she'd need my help again and then I'd have a few more pyreal to line my pocket.
- Players who join a Society will also gain access to Society strongholds. These Strongholds are the hearts of their Societies, where Players will go to complete quests for their Societies, resupply, rest, and hang out. They are designed to be Society-specific hubs, complete with quests, Vendors and relevant Lore.
- Close. We are shooting for the the 26th, but with a patch this size that date is subject to change. Once the date is set in stone, I will let everyone know.
- I thought I mentioned this in the treasure document, but all components in the new research system will drop from loot except for the scarabs. Ideally, these components will become items in the economy just as much as top-tier weapons and armor.
- As we fast approach the 100th content update we felt it was a good time to start detailing some of the key features that will be included in this major event. Working towards and on this event has been a pleasure for all of us and we sincerely hope everyone will enjoy what we have in store. So without further delay, lets discuss out first new feature, Societies and the new Society system.
- Perhaps the display of one's faction could depend on their Deception\Assess Person skill... ;)
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)