• Category Archives Asheron's Call
  • Put Your Money Episode #1: ________ Station Pass

    Posted on by Omali Comment

    Back in January I asked a pretty simple question: Since Sony has had so much success with the Station Pass, an offer where players can pay the fee of two MMOs to gain access to eight (previously nine) MMOs, why don’t we see more packages where developers or publishers bundle together MMOs to increase subscriber numbers and population?

    Put Your Money is my response to people who have been asking me just that: Put my money where my mouth is. If I’m soooo smart, then maybe I should come up with some deals. And deals I have come up with. I give to you, my ideal picks for what individual Turbine, Mythic, Cryptic (above), NCsoft, and Funcom. My goal was to hit a price with reasonable savings, while at the same time reasonable cost, with regards to number of games and their individual subscription price (as not all games have the same price). I did not include any upcoming games.


  • Asheron’s Call Graphics Upgrade: Terrain!

    Posted on by Omali Comment

    Turbine may just be the master of aloof announcements. In a thread titled “Oh by the way…” Community Manager Frelorn simply had this to say:

    “Guess what?”

    followed by three pictures of an upcoming graphics update to the ten year old Asheron’s Call, one of which you see above.

    An important note to remember is that the engine is not being changed, and a lot of limitations are still in place, namely the inability to have moving water (water will still be a static texture).

    Turbine is aiming for before November for the update, before the big November update, with the idea that ‘sooner is better.’ Asheron’s Call continues to have a small, yet relatively healthy community, despite being one of the oldest MMOs still remaining on the market, and still receives regular large updates.

    Despite its limitations, Asheron’s Call is still worth a look, and a two week trial can be enjoyed, with the client costing approximately ten dollars.

    More on Asheron’s Call as it appears.


  • A Downward Spiral Does Not Mean Death.

    I like to take some time every now and then to detail certain parts of MMO Fallout, usually terms and expressions I use, that generates the most feedback from fans. More recently, I’ve had a few questions about my consistently ending certain product articles (Star Wars Galaxies, Age of Conan, Planetside, and several others) with “More on ____’s downward spiral as it appears.” Some of the readers appear to be under the impression that I’m calling the deaths of these MMOs, lovingly pointing out that I have said from day one that I will never predict the death of an MMO.

    Well they are right, at least on the last point. When I say downward spiral, I always have facts to back myself up, and I am not always referring to subscriber numbers. Take Funcom for example, who not only cut off 20% of their staff, delayed a non-dated MMO, announced a massive revenue drop, and somehow is still finding the time to develop a free to play kid MMO. When I say Funcom is in a downward spiral, I mean financially that company is in a downward spiral, that changes direction depending on your hemisphere and leads right into the septic tank.

    I don’t call death because, to be honest, it’s redundant. Dwindling subscriber numbers? Yes. Financial ruin? Yes. Ponzi Scheme? Stargate Worlds. Calling death on an MMO is akin to calling yourself a soothsayer and predicting that someone would die, but they would have financial gain at some point before they do. Not when they’ll die or what the financial gain is, and all that can be chalked up as everyone dies and, generally, everyone has an income at some point in their lives. Blamo, you’re the most generalized soothsayer in all the land.

    (more…)


  • Asheron’s Call Hits Double Digits

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    10 years going strong.

    Like the rest of us, MMOs are born, they live, and eventually they all die. Although 2009 has seen the passing of Richard Garriot’s Tabula Rasa, Shadowbane, and The Matrix Online, it has also seen the continuing run of Ultima Online (celebrating twelve years), Everquest (ten years), and now Asheron’s Call hitting ten years old. Sadly, we celebrate this over the death of Asheron’s Call 2, that occurred less than four years ago.

    Happy birthday Asheron’s Call! Have a seat…no, not there, that’s the chair that hurts your back. Sit in your rocking chair, right over there. You old coot you.

    I think he just fell asleep.



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