Asheron's Call

== Asheron's Call ==
Asheron's Call (AC) was a fantasy Massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Turbine, Inc. released on November 2, 1999.
* Asheron's Call 1 and 2 services ended on January 31st, 2017. (source: forum post)
* Asheron's Call private servers were not released. (source: forum post)
=== Game Info ===
See also: List of Categories
The following list is not exhaustive.
* Dereth
** Creatures
** Locations
** Lore
** NPCs
** Quests
* Gameplay
** Allegiances
** Combat
** Housing
** Magic
** Fellowships
** Game Mechanics
* Player Characters
** Character Races
** Character Creation
** Skills
** Augmentations
=== Asheron's Call Updates ===
==== Game Release and Expansions ====
1999Release	2001Dark Majesty	2005Throne 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
* Societies of Dereth
* Land Control
* 7th Loot Tier
* New Item Sets
 	October 2009: 10th Anniversary Update
* Quest Journal
* Gearcrafting Skill
* Two Handed Combat Skill
* Trinkets
* Quest XP Passup
 	April 2010: "Big" Update
* Tailoring
* Barbers and Hairstyles
* Aetheria
* Playable Shadows
 	December 2010: "Big" Update
* Olthoi Play
* Luminance
* Void Magic
* Playable Empyreans
 	May 2011: "Big" Update
* New level 180+ hunting and questing area
* Contracts
* Prismatic Ammunition
* Shield Tailoring
* Alternate Currency Exchangers
 	February 2012: Skill System Overhaul
* Dirty Fighting
* Dual Wield
* Finesse Weapons
* Heavy Weapons
* Light Weapons
* Missile Weapons
* Recklessness
* Shield
* Sneak Attack
 	August 2012: "Big" Update
* Weather Effects
* New quests and hunting areas
* Atlan Weapons Update
* Isparian Weapons Update
* Exploration Society Letters Update
 	February 2013: "Big" Update
* New UI
* Legendary cantrips introduced
* New Summoning skill introduced
* Loot Tier 8 introduced
* Creature loot tiers adjusted
 	August 2013: "Big" Update
* Weapon Tailoring introduced
* New Loot Tier 8 hunting area, the Rynthid Infested Plains, introduced
=== Rules ===
By playing Asheron's Call, all players agree to the following documents:
* Asheron's Call Code of Conduct (CoC)
* Asheron's Call End User License Agreement (EULA)
* Asheron's Call End User License Agreement (United States)
* Asheron's Call Terms of Service (ToS)
== History of Asheron's Call ==
:Back to top
=== 1994 - 1999 ===
==== Game Development ====
* Development of Asheron's Call began in 1994 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.(source?)
* 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. 1997/07 ZDNet - Let the Online Games Begin
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=== 1999 ===
==== Beta Testing and Release ====
* The AC Beta consisted of three phases which spanned from May until October of 1999.
** See the Asheron's Call Beta page for full details and links.
* Other important events that occured before and during beta testing:
** Turbine's beta page, http://www.zogblaster.com/tweb/asherons-call, goes live.
*** See the ACCWiki's Zogblaster Archive to take a look back at the site.
** Microsoft's Asheron's Call page, http://www.microsoft.com/games/zone/asheronscall/, goes live.
*** See the ACCWiki's Microsoft Games Archive to take a look back at the site.
* November 2, 1999 - AC goes retail, it is the third major MMORPG to be released at this time.
=== 2000 - 2003 ===
==== Microsoft Gaming Zone ====
In addition to the hosting of the game Servers, all AC announcements including patch teasers, rollout articles, letters to the players and patch notes were released onto the AC section of the Microsoft Gaming Zone. Some announcements were also made on the Microsoft Games AC site.
* See the ACCWiki's Microsoft Zone Archive and Microsoft Games Archive to take a look back at the sites.
* See also: :Category:Microsoft Zone Archive, :Category:Microsoft Games Archive and :Category:Event Announcements.
==== Solclaim server goes live ====
The first Asheron's Call server to be added since the game's release goes live on 6th of June 2000.05/25/2000 Microsoft Zone - A New World Soon to Open in Asheron's Call
==== Wintersebb server goes live ====
The second server goes live on January 24th 2001 to accommodate the ever increasing population of Asheron's Call.01/24/2001 Microsoft Zone - Wintersebb Opens!
==== Microsoft announces the AC expansion pack: Dark Majesty ====
Microsoft announces on June 25th 2001 that the Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty Expansion Pack will be available later in the year. The expansion pack would include the original Asheron's Call, new additions such as housing and storage, and the new landmass Marae Lassel including many new creatures, dungeons and quests.06/25/2001 Microsoft Games - ASHERON'S CALL: DARK MAJESTY EXPANSION PACK AVAILABLE THIS HOLIDAY
==== Turbine buys Asheron's Call license back ====
Turbine bought back all franchise rights from Microsoft in 200312/17/2003 Turbine Games - TURBINE TO BUY ASHERON’S CALL FRANCHISE FROM MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS 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. 02/04/2004 Turbine Games - TURBINE UNLOCKS ASHERON’S CALL: DARK MAJESTY® FOR ALL AC1 SUBSCRIBERS
==== Turbine Green Lights AC Expansion Pack: Throne of Destiny ====
An announcement is made that fans of the award-winning online role playing game Asheron’s Call® will receive a new expansion pack in early 2005.04/13/2004 Turbine Games - Turbine Green Lights AC Expansion Pack The name of the expansion is announced at a later time.
=== History Articles ===
* The Turbine Story - In depth history written by the founder of Turbine Entertainment, Jon Monsarrat.
* Postmortem: Turbine Entertainment's Asheron's Call - Behind the scenes account of what went right, what went wrong. Written by Toby Ragaini, one of the original developers.
=== Game Awards ===
File:Gamespytop50.jpg|July 2001 - GameSpy's Top 50 Games of All Time
File:Gamespottop10.jpg|April 2001 - Gamespot's Top 10 Multiplayer Games of All Time
File:Bigaward.jpg|2000 - The Academy Interactive Arts & Sciences - Adventure/RPG of the Year
File:award_gamezilla.gif|1999 - Gamezilla's Game of the Year
File:award_gamersvoice_sm.gif|1999 - Gamer's Voice - Best Online/Multiplayer Game
File:ac_award1.jpg|1999 - Gamer's Voice - Best of E3 Awards
File:award_cnet_sm.gif|1999 - Gamecenter's RPG of the Year
File:Gameindustrynewsgoty.png|1999 - Game Industry News' Game of the Year
File:awarditself2.gif|1999 - IGN Vault Network Awards: Outstanding Technical Achievement
==== Related Articles ====
* 2001 AIAS Awards - Asheron's Call scores two nominations -- including "PC Game of the Year"!
* Asheron's Call Wins Gaming's Equivalent of the Oscar - At this year's E3 convention, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences dubbed Asheron's Call the Adventure/Role-Playing Game of the Year. Awards from the AIAS are among the highest honors bestowed in the gaming industry.
* Best-of-the-Year Awards - Gamezilla joins Gamecenter and Gameindustry.com in giving AC top honors.
* More Rave Reviews for Asheron's Call - Gameindustry.com gave AC their 1999 Best Overall Game of the Year award, and several other sites have recently queued up with accolades, too.
* Stellar Review from Computer Games Online - Cindy Vanous gives Asheron's Call 4 ½ out of 5 stars and a detailed critique.
=== Gaming Website Articles ===
==== Reviews ====
* GameSpy - 84%
* Adrenaline Vault - 4/5
* Computer Games Online - 4.5/5
* Daily Radar - Hit
* Eurogamer - 8/10
* Eurogamer - 9/10
* Firing Squad - 4/5
* Gamecenter - 8/10
* Games Domain
* GameSpot - 8.6/10
* Happy Puppy - 9/10
* IGN PC - 6.4/10
* RPG Vault - Special Report
==== Previews ====
* GameSpy - Should the Stars Fall "Dream Event"
* Gamespy - Twilight's Gleaming Event
* Daily Radar
* Desslock's RPG News
* Firing Squad
* GA-RPG
* Gamecenter
* IGN
* RPG Vault
* July, 1997 - ZDNet
* July, 1998 - Gamespot
==== Interviews ====
* GameSpy - Sean Huxter, Art Director
* Crossroads of Dereth - Chris L'etoile
* Desslock's RPG News - Toby Ragaini, Lead Designer and Jon Grande, Product Planner
* ActiveWin - Scott Herrington
* Computer Games Online - Jon Grande and Jeremy Gaffney
* Dr. Twister - Jason Booth
* Eurogamer - Scott Herrington, Producer
* IGN PC - Toby Ragaini, Lead Game Designer
* RPG Vault - Patricia Pizer, Lead Designer
* RPG Vault - Eri Izawa, Designer
==== Other ====
* RPG Vault - Special Report with AC Producer Scott Herrington
* Asheron's Call Dark Majesty hits #1 in PC Games Sales
* GameSpy - Top 10 Asheron's Call Items
=== Developer Diaries ===
* GameSpy - Developer Diary, Part 1
* GameSpy - Developer Diary, Part 2
* GameSpy - Developer Diary, Part 3
* GameSpy - Developer Diary, Part 4
* GameSpy - Developer Diary, Part 5
== Archives ==
=== Main Archives ===
* :Category:Turbine
** Microsoft Games Archive
** Microsoft Zone Archive
** Zogblaster Archive
** :Category:Event Announcements
** :Category:Featured Articles
=== Developer Chats ===
* Developer Chat - 1999/08/06
* Developer Chat - 1999/11/03
* Developer Chat - 1999/12/01
* Developer Chat - 2000/02/03
* Developer Chat - 2000/03/14
* Developer Chat - 2000/04/12
* Developer Chat - 2000/05/10
* Developer Chat - 2000/06/15
* Developer Chat - 2000/07/18
* Developer Chat - 2000/08/16
* Developer Chat - 2000/09/20
* Developer Chat - 2000/10/18
* Developer Chat - 2000/11/21
* Developer Chat - 2000/12/20
* Developer Chat - 2001/01/17
* Developer Chat - 2001/03/28
* Developer Chat - 2001/05/02	
* Developer Chat - 2001/07/05
* Developer Chat - 2001/07/17
* Developer Chat - 2001/09/25
* Developer Chat - 2002/02/06
* Developer Chat - 2002/03/12
* Developer Chat - 2002/05/01
* Developer Chat - 2002/06/06
* Developer Chat - 2002/06/20
* Developer Chat - 2002/08/13
* Developer Chat - 2002/09/23
* Developer Chat - 2002/11/01
* Developer Chat - 2003/01/28
* Developer Chat - 2004/01/14
* Developer Chat - 2006/04/18
* Developer Chat - 2007/03/16
* Developer Chat - 2008/09/30
=== AC News Archives ===
* News Archive - 2013
* News Archive - 2012
* News Archive - 2011
* News Archive - 2010
* News Archive - 2009
* News Archive - 2008
* News Archive - 2007
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== References ==
Category:Turbine
Category:Getting Started