Asheron's call
| Asheron's call | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio |
 turbine
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| Publisher |
Microsoft
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
November 2, 1999 | ||
| platform | PC ( Windows ) | ||
| genre | MMORPG | ||
| Game mode | Multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard & mouse | ||
| Age rating |
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Asheron's Call is a computer game company Turbine Entertainment Software in 1999. It was massively multiplayer online role-playing games , like EverQuest or World of Warcraft . The peculiarity of Asheron's Call was the relative uniqueness of the fantasy game world (elves, dwarves and the like do not occur) and the attention to detail of the background story. With Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings , the game received a sequel in 2002.
The games were originally distributed by Microsoft , but Turbine reacquired the rights in late 2003. Both the Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 servers were shut down on January 31, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. CET.
Game world
Asheron's Call takes place on the planet Auberean, whereby the player only has access to the continent of Dereth and the surrounding islands. If the player size is compared to “real people”, the game world takes up a size of approx. 1000 km².
Game flow
In addition to playing with other people and experiencing adventures, as with most games in the genre, the focus is on improving your own character, namely through experience points. This can Quests (dt. Tasks are obtained), or by killing creatures. With these it is possible to improve your own skills, whereby the costs increase exponentially. As a player, you don't choose a fixed class, but build your character yourself. However, mostly classic archetypes such as hand-to-hand fighters, ranged fighters, magicians and craftsmen emerge.
You can also fight against other players, but only if they change their status to Player Killer or Player Killer Lite beforehand . On a server ( Darktide ) this option does not exist, you are always a player killer .
Development history
Asheron's Call was released for Microsoft Windows in November 1999 and was sold in Europe outside of import dealers the next year. In 2001 the first expansion Dark Majesty was published in order to meet the wishes of the players for their own houses . On July 18, 2005 there was the second expansion called Throne of Destiny .
Furthermore, the game has been improved every month with so-called patches , which introduce new areas, game dynamics and creatures. In return for this (and for playing on Turbine's servers), a monthly fee was charged.
reception
Reviews
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According to the rating aggregator Metacritic , the game received mostly positive reviews.
Awards and sales success
After the original publication, Asheron's Call was able to hold its own in the market and reached up to 150,000 accounts, a considerable number for the time. The Dark Majesty expansion was even able to land at number 1 in the US game charts for a short time. In 2000 the game received the DICE Award for Best RPG . In later years, however, the niche market MMORPG became more and more a mass market with a myriad of new games, which caused more and more players to leave. An exact current estimate is difficult as no figures have been published in recent years, but estimates are around 11,000, with an average of 250 people on most servers.
Emulators
Very early on after the publication of Asheron's Call, the first emulators were developed which made it possible to operate your own server independently of the turbine, but with an enormously reduced range of functions. Since the shutdown of the official Turbine server, a lively developer scene has emerged, so that gaming is possible again at the moment.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Halistran: It is with a heavy heart did we must announce the end of our support for Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2, and will close Both services on January 31st, 2017 . In: Turbine , December 20, 2016. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved on December 21, 2016.
- ^ A b Asheron's Call for PC Reviews. In: Metacritic . Retrieved on August 16, 2020 .
- ^ Asheron's Call - Massively multiplayer RPG reviewed. In: Eurogamer . July 4, 2006, accessed August 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Andrew Park: Asheron's Call Review. In: GameSpot . May 9, 2000, accessed August 16, 2020 .
- ↑ https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/us-charts-online-rollenspiele-top-,1332415.html
- ↑ MMOGChart ( Memento from December 3, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ https://emulator.ac/
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.pcgamesn.com/asherons-call/asherons-call-mmo-project-gorgon
