I have to chime in and add my support for AC, even though I quit it several years ago. I still talk about how great the gameplay was to my friends who are just entering the MMO world. I dumped many, many points in to jump and run so I could jump on to the buildings. Great fun.
I went back to the game about two months ago and tried the 14-day trial. I was suprised by how much I remembered. Location of mobs, for instance (although I do recall them changing mob spawn locations from time to time). However, I didn't continue, mainly due to the interface. I don't think it had mouse-look, and I can't function with the keyboard only. If they were to update it to a more modern UI, I may return for a few months.
Here's hoping that we get a real sequel to it some day.
Originally posted by ManJunk Downloaded the free trial the other day... I fall under the same category as the OP having never tried the game.
Black screen. That's it. Could create a character but would only get to see the UI when entering the game. Checked my video drivers, firewall, reinstalled, and to no evail. Figured I couldn't be alone on this so I did a search. Many people having the same problem and there seemed to be no solid fix.
The games been out for what? wow
You didn't forward the ports on your router or also I found I Netgear WGT624v3 usually does not work with AC.
PLEASE NOTE: Currently, Microsoft Vista is not a supported operating system for Asheron's Call.
At the present time Turbine does not support Windows Vista. We are working towards adding compatibility and workaround information to our Knowledge Base. If you are unable to locate an answer to your question please feel free to post on the Technical Support Forums. We will be using the forums as our main point of reference for new issues and continue to add additional support topics from our forum research.
There are a few things that you will need to do to get Asheron's Call working on Vista. First, since there is a new security model in Vista, you need to explicitly add your credentials to the Access Control List for the folder that you have the game installed in or you will not be able to patch up the game.
To do this, right click the folder that will contain the game's files. Then open the Security tab on the dialog, then press the "Edit" button. You will need to confirm that you want to run this action. Once you do that then click the "Add..." button. From here add your account to the control list. When you have your account on the list, grant yourself Full Access to the folder.
Browse to the folder that the game lives in, and right click the client executable (leave the launcher alone). Open the compatibility tab on the dialog and check the following options: Disable Visual Themes, and Disable Desktop Composition. This will make it so that when you are running the game the 3D desktop will not cause extra work for the video card.
Additionally, be sure to update the ATI or nViDIA drivers for your video card.
The level cap was never 100. It was, however, 126 for a period of time. Also, LOTRO is....terrible. No penalty for dying. Oh wait, YOU CAN'T EVEN DIE in that game. I hate that game so much.
wow, if that's the only reason you don't like that game and the only thing that you can think of to diss you need to grow up and stop drooling over this game.
The level cap was never 100. It was, however, 126 for a period of time. Also, LOTRO is....terrible. No penalty for dying. Oh wait, YOU CAN'T EVEN DIE in that game. I hate that game so much.
wow, if that's the only reason you don't like that game and the only thing that you can think of to diss you need to grow up and stop drooling over this game.
I think the main point of this post is obvious. He's calling you a liar, and rightfully so. It's sad that you have to "claim" to know AC b/c you played it, when it's obvious you are a poser. Now, go play wow with the rest of the 16 year old no0bs.
erndog. Perhaps you should take your own advice. You're bashing anyone who liked the game, listing off these other 'great games' (I find it funny how you list Darkfall, when their skill systems are almost identical), and coming off as a typical 17 year old kid. You're the reason there are stereotypes about people your age. Some are mature, and can engage in meaningful conversations without resorting to name calling and childish insults. You're the complete opposite, spouting out complete crap about a game that you likely never played in its prime, and would have been too young to fully enjoy the high end content of the game, not to mention the PvP and guild politics in the game.
It's no wonder nobody here is taking you seriously. Every time you say something about the game, it becomes more and more obvious that you know nothing about it in reality.
Edit: I also find it interesting that in another of your posts, (which took a single click to look at your profile and see a post at the right side that you had posted previously), you mention the following as the "5 must have things" in an MMO -
"no leveling, good combat system, non-gear based combat, inventive storyline and lore, moderate-good graphics"
1. No Leveling. First, levels in AC meant nothing. If you had actually played it and enjoyed it as you claim, you would realize that. Raising the level cap meant nothing. It added a few numbers and gave a few extra skill points. AC is, and always has been a skill/attribute based game. XP is spent on your individual skills and attributes, meaning there are no classes.
2. The combat system. While the melee and archer side of it was a simple 'push a button' and wait system, the casting system was great, and that's not even getting into PvP. Any type of character became instantly more than a simple push button combat system the moment you stepped into the PvP portion of the game. It took skill, combinations of keys, avoiding spells and arrows, and kept you on your toes. Add that with real penalties to death, and you have a winning combination.
3. Non-gear based combat. I don't know what you want here. AC was nothing like EQ and WoW where you were required to raid to get the best gear. In AC, your gear wasn't received by raids. You got it by doing long multiple piece quests (for special armor), or finding better and better loot from killing things. Then came the introduction of tinkering so that you could modify your loot armor and make it better. Regardless of all that, having amazing gear wasn't a necessity. You could have the crappiest gear ever and still do well if you knew how to play the game.
4. Inventive storyline and lore. Um, seriously have you ever played AC for real? I'm really doubting it at this point.. REALLY doubting it. AC had one of the most original and compelling stories in any MMO to date. It kept the players VERY involved, and most everyone knew the story. There were huge story arcs spanning over months and months, which would have live GM events where characters controlled by GMs would show up randomly and give people quests and items, or would start killing people or eachother if there were more than one GM. IE - the Asheron vs. BZ story arc.
5. Moderate-Good graphics. Well, AC has very moderate graphics. They are by no means awe-inspiring, but they are not absolutely unbearable, and they have been improved greatly from what they were years ago. When turned up all the way, not only is it not machine intensive, but it is still impressive for a game that came out over 8 years ago.
Great response, thanks Zaxtor. So I'm guessing it'd be a bad idea for a newbie to start on a PVP server? I do want to do PVP.. Can you do any PVP at all if you're on a PVE server?
Originally posted by seven456 Great response, thanks Zaxtor. So I'm guessing it'd be a bad idea for a newbie to start on a PVP server? I do want to do PVP.. Can you do any PVP at all if you're on a PVE server?
Yes, you can PvP anytime on a PvE server by typing /pklite. This is what 99% of the players on PvE servers do. You don't drop items and there is no penalty for dieing in this mode. You turn into a pink dot on the radar and your status changes to "Player Killer Lite" (PKL). PKLs can only fight other PKLs.
There is another option where you turn into a red dot and you're status changes to "Player Killer" (PK). To become a PK you have to use a special statue. PKs can only fight other PKs. When you die in a PK battle you drop items and there is a death penatly. You can also take other players items if you kill them. Very few do this on PvE servers because it's more work and they don't want to deal with items dropping.
I don't like item drop or death penalties. I prefer PKL and I wish there was an all PKL server.
To me, PKL was what killed AC. Even on white servers there were still large followings of people who PKed religiously. It was all they did when they logged on until the time they logged off. Guilds warred with eachother even on the white servers, and there were always several of the largest guilds on each server that had a good sized group of people who PKed.
As soon as PKL came out, it took the fun out of it for the people who PKed all the time, because there was no longer any penalties and there were too many people who started to do PKL that just weren't honorable like some of the old PKs. There were no fair fights.. and then slowly people just stopped going PKL except for duels.
The fun of PKing in AC was that there was a penalty for dying, and you knew it. People didn't wear their BEST gear to PK because they might have run of out good death items. The days when people ran around in shadow armor and a store-bought helm/gaunts/solls were the best. If you could afford to carry expensive death items you might dare to wear your good stuff, but most of the time you didn't.
Your best bet would be to get the hang of PvP on a white server, and then start on Darktide. Although people are lightyears ahead of you on Darktide, if you play on a white server long enough to get the hang of how things work, and how to level quickly on your own, you should be fine on DT (though you will get killed a lot).
It's the only place with PvP worthwhile. And it's the only place you'll find PvP all the time. On white servers, there are so few people that bother with it anymore that it has just become a "I'm better than you" elitist attitude, and there will be maybe 10-15 people who even go PKL randomly. NOBODY goes PK anymore on white servers. NOBODY.
I've played pretty much everything out there, with a few exceptions, especially the older MMO's which have been around for a while. The only one I have never experienced is AC. I chose the DAoC route when AC and DAoC were in their prime, which is why I guess I've never tried it out. I'm currently bored out of my skull with nothing to play and I'm considering checking AC out. Is it worthwhile doing? What's good about it? Has it been completely ruined like oh so many other of the older MMO's? Is there PvP? Any information you guys can supply would be appreciated.
I played it recently, and it's still a good game. However, one of the downsides for me is that everyone's extremely high level. I still ran across more people in game than I expected to, but everyone has uber equipment and uber stats and uber spells and uber fluff. And you can't combat that aspect of the game very easily without major rollbacks - which at this point I'd be in favor of personally. I'd like AC to keep the graphics it has today, to dumb down the power of the equipment a little, do away with purchasable scrolls and level 7 spells, and increase the amount of experience it takes to level or lower the amount of experience you gain per kill because people already know all the good spots to camp and how to powerlevel.
So it wouldn't be a return to the original release, but it would probably draw some players back with nostalgia and would help to create a community feel again for a longer duration if the playerbase sticks with it. Not that I'm up for petitioning for these things anymore; I'm just saying what would make me enjoy the game a little more.
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather "Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
PvP is on the Darktide server only, and is very ruthless. There is NO safe zones at all. These days, expect to get 1 hit killed often by many level 200+ characters with nothing better to do then whack a noob.
Seriously, if you can't stand getting blown apart and probably looted by a dude you have absolutely no chance nor hope of killing, then you don't belong on Darktide. Never have, never will.
That's why they call it pest control.
-- xpaladin
[MMOz] AC1/2, AO, DAoC, EQ1/2, SoR, SWG, UO, WAR, WoW
Darktide does have the highest population average at about 400-420ish online.
The others range from 90-250ish.
Honestly I wouldnt waste my time with AC/DT nowdays. The game has been broken for YEARS and having come back to try out the 14day trail it appears the game is STILL broken.
Free for 14 days should give you enough time to play the game and decide for yourself if you like it or not.
Darktide is the only server worth playing and unless your standing around in a few certain towns you wont get killed too often due to the low population on the server.
UO was still better then AC.
But both UO and AC(darktide only) "Were" the best pvp MMO's ever made.
Comments
Downloaded the free trial the other day... I fall under the same category as the OP having never tried the game.
Black screen. That's it.
Could create a character but would only get to see the UI when entering the game.
Checked my video drivers, firewall, reinstalled, and to no evail.
Figured I couldn't be alone on this so I did a search. Many people having the same problem and there seemed to be no solid fix.
The games been out for what? wow
I have to chime in and add my support for AC, even though I quit it several years ago. I still talk about how great the gameplay was to my friends who are just entering the MMO world. I dumped many, many points in to jump and run so I could jump on to the buildings.
Great fun.
I went back to the game about two months ago and tried the 14-day trial. I was suprised by how much I remembered. Location of mobs, for instance (although I do recall them changing mob spawn locations from time to time). However, I didn't continue, mainly due to the interface. I don't think it had mouse-look, and I can't function with the keyboard only. If they were to update it to a more modern UI, I may return for a few months.
Here's hoping that we get a real sequel to it some day.
You didn't forward the ports on your router or also I found I Netgear WGT624v3 usually does not work with AC.
You didn't forward the ports on your router or also I found I Netgear WGT624v3 usually does not work with AC.
Not only did I have all my ports forwarded but I also opted to enable DMZ and still no luck.
Vista - General Support Information
To do this, right click the folder that will contain the game's files. Then open the Security tab on the dialog, then press the "Edit" button. You will need to confirm that you want to run this action. Once you do that then click the "Add..." button. From here add your account to the control list. When you have your account on the list, grant yourself Full Access to the folder.
Browse to the folder that the game lives in, and right click the client executable (leave the launcher alone). Open the compatibility tab on the dialog and check the following options: Disable Visual Themes, and Disable Desktop Composition. This will make it so that when you are running the game the 3D desktop will not cause extra work for the video card.
Additionally, be sure to update the ATI or nViDIA drivers for your video card.
That is wierd. In 8 years i've never had that problem.
Only problem i get is connection problems with certain routers (netgear is bad).
Contact Customer service? They are usually pretty good at Turbine.
wow, if that's the only reason you don't like that game and the only thing that you can think of to diss you need to grow up and stop drooling over this game.
wow, if that's the only reason you don't like that game and the only thing that you can think of to diss you need to grow up and stop drooling over this game.
I think the main point of this post is obvious. He's calling you a liar, and rightfully so. It's sad that you have to "claim" to know AC b/c you played it, when it's obvious you are a poser. Now, go play wow with the rest of the 16 year old no0bs.
erndog. Perhaps you should take your own advice. You're bashing anyone who liked the game, listing off these other 'great games' (I find it funny how you list Darkfall, when their skill systems are almost identical), and coming off as a typical 17 year old kid. You're the reason there are stereotypes about people your age. Some are mature, and can engage in meaningful conversations without resorting to name calling and childish insults. You're the complete opposite, spouting out complete crap about a game that you likely never played in its prime, and would have been too young to fully enjoy the high end content of the game, not to mention the PvP and guild politics in the game.
It's no wonder nobody here is taking you seriously. Every time you say something about the game, it becomes more and more obvious that you know nothing about it in reality.
Edit: I also find it interesting that in another of your posts, (which took a single click to look at your profile and see a post at the right side that you had posted previously), you mention the following as the "5 must have things" in an MMO -
"no leveling, good combat system, non-gear based combat, inventive storyline and lore, moderate-good graphics"
1. No Leveling. First, levels in AC meant nothing. If you had actually played it and enjoyed it as you claim, you would realize that. Raising the level cap meant nothing. It added a few numbers and gave a few extra skill points. AC is, and always has been a skill/attribute based game. XP is spent on your individual skills and attributes, meaning there are no classes.
2. The combat system. While the melee and archer side of it was a simple 'push a button' and wait system, the casting system was great, and that's not even getting into PvP. Any type of character became instantly more than a simple push button combat system the moment you stepped into the PvP portion of the game. It took skill, combinations of keys, avoiding spells and arrows, and kept you on your toes. Add that with real penalties to death, and you have a winning combination.
3. Non-gear based combat. I don't know what you want here. AC was nothing like EQ and WoW where you were required to raid to get the best gear. In AC, your gear wasn't received by raids. You got it by doing long multiple piece quests (for special armor), or finding better and better loot from killing things. Then came the introduction of tinkering so that you could modify your loot armor and make it better. Regardless of all that, having amazing gear wasn't a necessity. You could have the crappiest gear ever and still do well if you knew how to play the game.
4. Inventive storyline and lore. Um, seriously have you ever played AC for real? I'm really doubting it at this point.. REALLY doubting it. AC had one of the most original and compelling stories in any MMO to date. It kept the players VERY involved, and most everyone knew the story. There were huge story arcs spanning over months and months, which would have live GM events where characters controlled by GMs would show up randomly and give people quests and items, or would start killing people or eachother if there were more than one GM. IE - the Asheron vs. BZ story arc.
5. Moderate-Good graphics. Well, AC has very moderate graphics. They are by no means awe-inspiring, but they are not absolutely unbearable, and they have been improved greatly from what they were years ago. When turned up all the way, not only is it not machine intensive, but it is still impressive for a game that came out over 8 years ago.
Great response, thanks Zaxtor. So I'm guessing it'd be a bad idea for a newbie to start on a PVP server? I do want to do PVP.. Can you do any PVP at all if you're on a PVE server?
Yes, you can PvP anytime on a PvE server by typing /pklite. This is what 99% of the players on PvE servers do. You don't drop items and there is no penalty for dieing in this mode. You turn into a pink dot on the radar and your status changes to "Player Killer Lite" (PKL). PKLs can only fight other PKLs.
There is another option where you turn into a red dot and you're status changes to "Player Killer" (PK). To become a PK you have to use a special statue. PKs can only fight other PKs. When you die in a PK battle you drop items and there is a death penatly. You can also take other players items if you kill them. Very few do this on PvE servers because it's more work and they don't want to deal with items dropping.
I don't like item drop or death penalties. I prefer PKL and I wish there was an all PKL server.
To me, PKL was what killed AC. Even on white servers there were still large followings of people who PKed religiously. It was all they did when they logged on until the time they logged off. Guilds warred with eachother even on the white servers, and there were always several of the largest guilds on each server that had a good sized group of people who PKed.
As soon as PKL came out, it took the fun out of it for the people who PKed all the time, because there was no longer any penalties and there were too many people who started to do PKL that just weren't honorable like some of the old PKs. There were no fair fights.. and then slowly people just stopped going PKL except for duels.
The fun of PKing in AC was that there was a penalty for dying, and you knew it. People didn't wear their BEST gear to PK because they might have run of out good death items. The days when people ran around in shadow armor and a store-bought helm/gaunts/solls were the best. If you could afford to carry expensive death items you might dare to wear your good stuff, but most of the time you didn't.
Your best bet would be to get the hang of PvP on a white server, and then start on Darktide. Although people are lightyears ahead of you on Darktide, if you play on a white server long enough to get the hang of how things work, and how to level quickly on your own, you should be fine on DT (though you will get killed a lot).
It's the only place with PvP worthwhile. And it's the only place you'll find PvP all the time. On white servers, there are so few people that bother with it anymore that it has just become a "I'm better than you" elitist attitude, and there will be maybe 10-15 people who even go PKL randomly. NOBODY goes PK anymore on white servers. NOBODY.
So it wouldn't be a return to the original release, but it would probably draw some players back with nostalgia and would help to create a community feel again for a longer duration if the playerbase sticks with it. Not that I'm up for petitioning for these things anymore; I'm just saying what would make me enjoy the game a little more.
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather
"Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek
AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
That's why they call it pest control.
-- xpaladin
[MMOz]
AC1/2, AO, DAoC, EQ1/2, SoR, SWG, UO, WAR, WoW
Darktide does have the highest population average at about 400-420ish online.
The others range from 90-250ish.
Honestly I wouldnt waste my time with AC/DT nowdays. The game has been broken for YEARS and having come back to try out the 14day trail it appears the game is STILL broken.
Free for 14 days should give you enough time to play the game and decide for yourself if you like it or not.
Darktide is the only server worth playing and unless your standing around in a few certain towns you wont get killed too often due to the low population on the server.
UO was still better then AC.
But both UO and AC(darktide only) "Were" the best pvp MMO's ever made.