I'm inclined to load this game back up... It's been years, but the thought of just going adventuring appeals tons. Playing Dragon Nest now for a similar reason, even though that's just a dungeon crawler.
I'm inclined to load this game back up... It's been years, but the thought of just going adventuring appeals tons. Playing Dragon Nest now for a similar reason, even though that's just a dungeon crawler.
Good luck to you then. I went back a year or so ago. I spent more than a year in AC, a long time ago. I just couldn't get back into it. I ***REALLY*** hate corpse runs, and the graphics are WAY too dated. I've played Dragon Nest up to the level cap (24 at that point), and its a fun game, but I moved on, because every time there was a patch, it broke my install.
The patcher keeps throwing a C++ library run time error (unusual termination), and I have to uninstall and download the new client and re install. Once is just one of those things (happens), but every time the patcher runs is just sloppy. Never have that on any other app.
Corpse runs never tended to bother me (famous last words...). I can "never really go home again", but for nostalgia's sake will try and experience one last romp through Dereth.
Dragon Nest is a fairly decent game, just shallow. I haven't had update woes yet though.. That might change my mind.
Actually there are probably over 1000 quests in asheron's call. There is also no grinding necessary to level in AC anymore. Most low level quests give you over 1 level worth of xp.
Take a look at that, it is a leveling guide that only uses a fraction of the in game quests and gets you to level 150+ very quickly.
Does AC put exclamation points over NPC heads? No, thank god.
Does AC force you on one starting path the way games like WoW do? No, thank god.
Does AC require you to think for a moment before randomly running off into the woods, killing a creature, saying there are no quests and saying that the game is a grind and shouldn't be played? Yes, thank god.
Asheron's Call provides a better experience than any MMO out there today, and I've played them all.
And the landscape textures look great. Uncheck the landscape detail textures button. Some video cards now cause the ground to grey out with that checked due to changes in graphics hardware.
All of the above is also easy to figure out if you simply ASK OTHER PLAYERS IN GAME. Click the chat button and change the channel to General Chat (the same way you can in every other MMO) and then say "Hey I'm a new player and need some help." AC tends to be the most helpful community out there. (You can also just do /cg).
Maybe put more than 3 seconds of effort into a game before calling it "A review". If all you've done is grow up on WoW and WoW clones that hold your hand every step of the way. Highlight every NPC, every quest location on the map and every mob you need to kill, well better get ready.... you might have to finally use your brain.
I'd like, firstly, to echo these sentiments.
Secondly, as a player, I have to point out some inconsisitencies that at best are lapses of memory and, at worst, complete fabrications.
1 ) The picture you used to show how dated the graphics are was taken years and years ago, prior to the retexturing and model-changes. While the game isn't WoW or Guild Wars in terms of graphics, the picture you chose does not represent the current look of the game or the character models therein. Below is a link to the same character depicted (Asheron) and how he looks like today:
My character being the one waving.
2) Your story about your first moments playing as a Viamontian (blue-skinned character) has a mistake in it. In it, you said that after you died you were brought back somewhere in the wilderness. This is wholly incorrect as a character, when they die, would be brought back to either their Lifestone (The one near the location you started being within eyesight of the town) or, if you didn't use a lifestone, the point your character arrived at upon leaving the tutorial dungeon; in your case, as you chose Sanamar going on your description of being the northern-most locale, would be right at Sanamar's town gate. This shows that either you are going off of older memories of playing before December 2001 (the date that starting at an outpost was removed and, instead, you started in the tutorial dungeon and ended up in the town of your choice) or are going off of second-hand accounts from that same era. Neither case shows that you yourself recently played the game unless you intentionally fabricated this account which still shows that this review is inaccurate and that the journalistic legwork just wasn't done.
Asheron's Call isn't game for everyone, but then again no game is so it's not that your review wasn't glowing that seems odd to me, it's the fact you seemed to use little-to-no facts, or ones that are out-dated and do not reflect the current state of the game that makes this review seem suspect.
AC1 also has a very complex damage type and vulnerability system (slash, pierce, blunt, fire, cold, acid, and hollow - lower damage but ignores buffs; as well as physical vs. magical versions of all these) that make you think long and hard about how you are going to equip yourself for any particular upcoming adventure. But I guess strategic thinking is out, and nonstop action is in these days. In fact, playing modern MMORPGs sometimes reminds of being in an extremely loud, stupid and obnoxious Jerry Bruckheimer movie. But many people do seem to love that kind of entertainment.
And as for those who complained about travel and body runs - well - I actually enjoyed having to earn my way into a new area by facing great danger and using my wits. Or carefully planning what death items I would carry (generally useless items most likely to drop if you died), and then taking my chances. But if you always need a reset button and zero real risks, I guess today's MMORPGs have you covered.
I was so unhappy with the article that I was compelled to write a detailed rebuttal:
Opening paragraphs regarding graphics:
Yes, it's old. Yes, there are vastly prettier games out there, which have been visually polished to the point of perfection. AC does not compete with newer titles and it's extremely unlikely that a graphics overhaul will ever happen.
"From an extensive selection of races to the application of attribute points in to certain areas, Turbine’s original MMO harks back to that old tradition of you know, thinking about what kind of experience you wish to have from the game. It is kind of refreshing in a way."
- I would argue that this is more than refreshing - it forms the very foundation of why we play these games. If I wanted to start MMO life as a replica of every other Elven Hunter that had ever started the game, there are hundreds of choices out there. Right from the opening credits, AC gives you the choice and flexibility to be exactly who you want to be.
"Everything looks dated and ugly, and while the game is of an age, it feels as though it has passed the point of playability."
- Amazing insight here from someone who has just spent their first 5 seconds in the game world. How dare you label the game like this before you've even started playing.
"After some time of wandering around mindlessly slaughtering the wildlife, I notice that I have wandered away from any discernable path, and am truly lost. Slightly panicked I head east for a short while, then second guessing myself, head south. Now I am truly lost. I stumble up inclines and head along shore paths, thumbing at the map key hoping for a glimpse of settlement."
- Interesting, the author knows how to open the map, but apparently cannot connect the player and settlement on the map, using the ever present compass to actually tell which direction to run in to find his way.
"Respawning in the wild, I look around again for any glimpse of settlement. Oh nuts to this, I am re-rolling."
- You don't respawn in the wild - you respawn at the lifestone which is....in clear sight of the settlement you started at. Maybe turning and looking behind you was a bit complex.
"Asheron's Call is about one simple thing: grind"
- UNTRUE. No other game out there offers the same experience of exploration, and while the quest system is not spoon-fed to you as with other games that assume you have the deductive reasoning of a colour-blind frog, there are dozens of quests available to people, from open play discovery, buying rumours from venders and chatting to NPCs
Every game - including AC - has grind. Whether a choice to accelerate advancement, gather components or simply because that's what you do in-game. The difference that AC offers is that the quests here don't feel like grind, unlike the "kidnap 10 squirrels" formula that the modern MMO has forced on us.
"At its core, grinding enemies for the goal of levelling is fundamentally boring. We know this. We knew this in the late nineties, and the guys at Blizzard knew it when they added a questing system. While many complain that the genre has gone a little too far in making the experience more linear than was ever meant, the overall tools for progression Asheron's Call show that the genre has developed and refined ultimately for the better."
- Really? Kidnap 10 squirrels repeated over and over in various themese and locations is "refined ultimately for the better"? Are we really that monumentally stupid or possessing such a lack of patience that we can't handle a quest that actually provides a mental challenge? There are any number of quests at any level in Ac that offers vastly more gaming and world immersion than this overused, scripted grind, un-cunningly concealed behind a golden glowing exclamation mark!
"While simple missions can be tedious, they do give a certain reason for doing so and as such give a layer of immersion and purpose, and sadly this is where Asheron's Call now fails."
- Now I'm getting truly vexed. Every single quest in AC offers the same, if not better background and "reason for doing so" than any I encountered in games like WoW, DDO, LOTRO etc. AC doesn't fail - it offers a challenge which modern MMOs feel we're unable to deal with.
"While the game still has a number of servers, the player base feels relatively thin. Aside from the occasional shout in the trade channel, the population of the game seems to be thinly spread about the world, and a lower level community is all but non-existence."
- Yes, numbers aren't what they were and can't compete with the modern 'giants' of the MMO gamespace. But even a little investigation will get you in touch with one of the numerous allegiances (guilds), offering support for new gamers, putting you in touch with other people starting a new character and giving you a very active gaming ecosystem.
"In almost every way Turbine's original MMO has been outshined by newer titles..."
- Argh! (Deep breath)...
Name one game with better character creation and flexibility? Didn't think so.
Name another game with more area to explore? Didn't think so.
How many other games offer the same sort of customisation around equipment and items. Hmmm, pretty short list.
How many other games reward you for adapting your combat techniques to the environment and opposition. Really that few?
Got many games which offer this level of control over your development through the game? Didn't think so....
AC is outshone in graphics - no question. In almost every way, modern MMOs have dumbed down the innovations that defined the genre to the point that you might as well be watching a movie - looks good and you know how it will end.
In conclusion
I began playing AC in 1999, eventually stopping when other interests took over in life (marriage and sport). I began playing again recently after several years of playing newer MMOs - WoW, DDO, LOTRO, EQ2, Fallen Earth, Rift and Perpetuum. I am happy that my $$$ are better spent each month, providing more satisfaction and enjoyment, as well as at least as active a social experience as most I've encountered.
I amy be doing Mr Tingle an injustice, but his article reads like he has logged in, died a couple of times through inattentive play, formed some instant opinions and called it a day. Games as bad as he makes out don't retain the paying player-base that AC has, especially for this length of time. Many of his observations offered are simply untrue, or are not indicative of the everyday circumstances in game.
I would encourage any gamer who can see past the graphics into the game to give AC a fair chance if the opportunity presents itself. It won't be for everyone, but just maybe, you'll come to realise what we have been missing since Blizzard re-invented the genre.
Comments
I'm inclined to load this game back up... It's been years, but the thought of just going adventuring appeals tons. Playing Dragon Nest now for a similar reason, even though that's just a dungeon crawler.
Good luck to you then. I went back a year or so ago. I spent more than a year in AC, a long time ago. I just couldn't get back into it. I ***REALLY*** hate corpse runs, and the graphics are WAY too dated. I've played Dragon Nest up to the level cap (24 at that point), and its a fun game, but I moved on, because every time there was a patch, it broke my install.
The patcher keeps throwing a C++ library run time error (unusual termination), and I have to uninstall and download the new client and re install. Once is just one of those things (happens), but every time the patcher runs is just sloppy. Never have that on any other app.
Corpse runs never tended to bother me (famous last words...). I can "never really go home again", but for nostalgia's sake will try and experience one last romp through Dereth.
Dragon Nest is a fairly decent game, just shallow. I haven't had update woes yet though.. That might change my mind.
I'd like, firstly, to echo these sentiments.
Secondly, as a player, I have to point out some inconsisitencies that at best are lapses of memory and, at worst, complete fabrications.
1 ) The picture you used to show how dated the graphics are was taken years and years ago, prior to the retexturing and model-changes. While the game isn't WoW or Guild Wars in terms of graphics, the picture you chose does not represent the current look of the game or the character models therein. Below is a link to the same character depicted (Asheron) and how he looks like today:
My character being the one waving.
2) Your story about your first moments playing as a Viamontian (blue-skinned character) has a mistake in it. In it, you said that after you died you were brought back somewhere in the wilderness. This is wholly incorrect as a character, when they die, would be brought back to either their Lifestone (The one near the location you started being within eyesight of the town) or, if you didn't use a lifestone, the point your character arrived at upon leaving the tutorial dungeon; in your case, as you chose Sanamar going on your description of being the northern-most locale, would be right at Sanamar's town gate. This shows that either you are going off of older memories of playing before December 2001 (the date that starting at an outpost was removed and, instead, you started in the tutorial dungeon and ended up in the town of your choice) or are going off of second-hand accounts from that same era. Neither case shows that you yourself recently played the game unless you intentionally fabricated this account which still shows that this review is inaccurate and that the journalistic legwork just wasn't done.
Asheron's Call isn't game for everyone, but then again no game is so it's not that your review wasn't glowing that seems odd to me, it's the fact you seemed to use little-to-no facts, or ones that are out-dated and do not reflect the current state of the game that makes this review seem suspect.
AC1 also has a very complex damage type and vulnerability system (slash, pierce, blunt, fire, cold, acid, and hollow - lower damage but ignores buffs; as well as physical vs. magical versions of all these) that make you think long and hard about how you are going to equip yourself for any particular upcoming adventure. But I guess strategic thinking is out, and nonstop action is in these days. In fact, playing modern MMORPGs sometimes reminds of being in an extremely loud, stupid and obnoxious Jerry Bruckheimer movie. But many people do seem to love that kind of entertainment.
And as for those who complained about travel and body runs - well - I actually enjoyed having to earn my way into a new area by facing great danger and using my wits. Or carefully planning what death items I would carry (generally useless items most likely to drop if you died), and then taking my chances. But if you always need a reset button and zero real risks, I guess today's MMORPGs have you covered.
I was so unhappy with the article that I was compelled to write a detailed rebuttal:
Opening paragraphs regarding graphics:
Yes, it's old. Yes, there are vastly prettier games out there, which have been visually polished to the point of perfection. AC does not compete with newer titles and it's extremely unlikely that a graphics overhaul will ever happen.
"From an extensive selection of races to the application of attribute points in to certain areas, Turbine’s original MMO harks back to that old tradition of you know, thinking about what kind of experience you wish to have from the game. It is kind of refreshing in a way."
- I would argue that this is more than refreshing - it forms the very foundation of why we play these games. If I wanted to start MMO life as a replica of every other Elven Hunter that had ever started the game, there are hundreds of choices out there. Right from the opening credits, AC gives you the choice and flexibility to be exactly who you want to be.
"Everything looks dated and ugly, and while the game is of an age, it feels as though it has passed the point of playability."
- Amazing insight here from someone who has just spent their first 5 seconds in the game world. How dare you label the game like this before you've even started playing.
"After some time of wandering around mindlessly slaughtering the wildlife, I notice that I have wandered away from any discernable path, and am truly lost. Slightly panicked I head east for a short while, then second guessing myself, head south. Now I am truly lost. I stumble up inclines and head along shore paths, thumbing at the map key hoping for a glimpse of settlement."
- Interesting, the author knows how to open the map, but apparently cannot connect the player and settlement on the map, using the ever present compass to actually tell which direction to run in to find his way.
"Respawning in the wild, I look around again for any glimpse of settlement. Oh nuts to this, I am re-rolling."
- You don't respawn in the wild - you respawn at the lifestone which is....in clear sight of the settlement you started at. Maybe turning and looking behind you was a bit complex.
"Asheron's Call is about one simple thing: grind"
- UNTRUE. No other game out there offers the same experience of exploration, and while the quest system is not spoon-fed to you as with other games that assume you have the deductive reasoning of a colour-blind frog, there are dozens of quests available to people, from open play discovery, buying rumours from venders and chatting to NPCs
Every game - including AC - has grind. Whether a choice to accelerate advancement, gather components or simply because that's what you do in-game. The difference that AC offers is that the quests here don't feel like grind, unlike the "kidnap 10 squirrels" formula that the modern MMO has forced on us.
"At its core, grinding enemies for the goal of levelling is fundamentally boring. We know this. We knew this in the late nineties, and the guys at Blizzard knew it when they added a questing system. While many complain that the genre has gone a little too far in making the experience more linear than was ever meant, the overall tools for progression Asheron's Call show that the genre has developed and refined ultimately for the better."
- Really? Kidnap 10 squirrels repeated over and over in various themese and locations is "refined ultimately for the better"? Are we really that monumentally stupid or possessing such a lack of patience that we can't handle a quest that actually provides a mental challenge? There are any number of quests at any level in Ac that offers vastly more gaming and world immersion than this overused, scripted grind, un-cunningly concealed behind a golden glowing exclamation mark!
"While simple missions can be tedious, they do give a certain reason for doing so and as such give a layer of immersion and purpose, and sadly this is where Asheron's Call now fails."
- Now I'm getting truly vexed. Every single quest in AC offers the same, if not better background and "reason for doing so" than any I encountered in games like WoW, DDO, LOTRO etc. AC doesn't fail - it offers a challenge which modern MMOs feel we're unable to deal with.
"While the game still has a number of servers, the player base feels relatively thin. Aside from the occasional shout in the trade channel, the population of the game seems to be thinly spread about the world, and a lower level community is all but non-existence."
- Yes, numbers aren't what they were and can't compete with the modern 'giants' of the MMO gamespace. But even a little investigation will get you in touch with one of the numerous allegiances (guilds), offering support for new gamers, putting you in touch with other people starting a new character and giving you a very active gaming ecosystem.
"In almost every way Turbine's original MMO has been outshined by newer titles..."
- Argh! (Deep breath)...
Name one game with better character creation and flexibility? Didn't think so.
Name another game with more area to explore? Didn't think so.
How many other games offer the same sort of customisation around equipment and items. Hmmm, pretty short list.
How many other games reward you for adapting your combat techniques to the environment and opposition. Really that few?
Got many games which offer this level of control over your development through the game? Didn't think so....
AC is outshone in graphics - no question. In almost every way, modern MMOs have dumbed down the innovations that defined the genre to the point that you might as well be watching a movie - looks good and you know how it will end.
In conclusion
I began playing AC in 1999, eventually stopping when other interests took over in life (marriage and sport). I began playing again recently after several years of playing newer MMOs - WoW, DDO, LOTRO, EQ2, Fallen Earth, Rift and Perpetuum. I am happy that my $$$ are better spent each month, providing more satisfaction and enjoyment, as well as at least as active a social experience as most I've encountered.
I amy be doing Mr Tingle an injustice, but his article reads like he has logged in, died a couple of times through inattentive play, formed some instant opinions and called it a day. Games as bad as he makes out don't retain the paying player-base that AC has, especially for this length of time. Many of his observations offered are simply untrue, or are not indicative of the everyday circumstances in game.
I would encourage any gamer who can see past the graphics into the game to give AC a fair chance if the opportunity presents itself. It won't be for everyone, but just maybe, you'll come to realise what we have been missing since Blizzard re-invented the genre.