<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Preview of Asheron's Call --> <!--X-From-R13: X Q Znjerapr <pynjNhaqre.rate.ftv.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Fri, 4 May 1998 05:56:48 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199805041925.MAA04802#under,engr.sgi.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Preview of Asheron's Call</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00363.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00365.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00365.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00352.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00364">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00364">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00364">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Preview of Asheron's Call</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Preview of Asheron's Call</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 04 May 1998 12:25:11 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Sender</em>: "Petidomo List Agent -- Kanga.Nu version" <<A HREF="mailto:petidomo#kanga,nu">petidomo#kanga,nu</A>></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.gamepen.com/desslock/asheronscall/preview.html">http://www.gamepen.com/desslock/asheronscall/preview.html</A>> Preview of Asheron's Call Developer:Turbine Entertainment Software Publisher: Microsoft Target Release Date: Fall, 1998 System Requirements: (for early beta test, subject tochange) Pentium 133 MHz, Windows 95 or Windows NT, 32 MB RAM, 50 MB of Hard Drive Space, Video Card and Monitor Capable of 800x600 and 16 bit color (1 MB VRAM), Modem speed of 14.4 or faster, with Internet connection. General Description: An online massively multiplayer role-playing game that will be played over Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone (www.zone.com). Turbine Entertainment Software and Microsoft are creating an expansive gaming world that has a rich, unique history. Asheron's Call is set on Dereth, an island that was formerly inhabited by a mysterious race of people known as the Empyrean. The Empyrean were a race of people who were very advanced in magical and arcane lore, but who have all disappeared, perhaps through the magical portals scattered throughout the island. Characters start Asheron's Call by realizing that they have been mysteriously brought, or "called", to this island, and they must uncover its secrets in order to survive. In a step away from traditional fantasy role-playing convention, player characters will all be human (elves need not apply), but will come from one of three "heritage" groups, which will be roughly modeled on the cultures of medieval England, the ancient Moors of southern Spain and feudal China. Players are able to view the true 3D world of Asheron's Call from a variety of perspectives (the default is a first person perspective). Players will be free to explore on their own, but are encouraged to form parties of adventurers. To curb anti-social conduct, all characters will initially be unable to attack other players. Characters can acquire the ability to attack other characters only after completing a particular quest, and even then they will only be able to attack other "player killers". A feudal "allegiance" system will increase the fame and strengthen players who actively recruit and protect new players. Turbine and Microsoft are hoping to create a world that will truly expand and evolve based upon the actions of players. Key Features: -- An expansive gaming world - characters will be able to explore approximately 575 square miles worth of varied terrain, which to scale is over twice the size of Hong Kong or half the size of Rhode Island. Terrain types include icy mountain ranges, deserts, forests and swamps. -- Characters must be from one of three distinctive "heritage" groups, and can combine attributes and skills to create characters that are truly unique. Players can choose to work from a series of templates which will pre-set their characters attributes and skills to specialize in one of 16 "professions" or character classes. The skill-based development system allows you to further individualize your character at that point, as well as automatically increasing your skills in those abilities you most frequently use. Experience points can also be allocated to help you develop those skills you use infrequently. -- A true 3D engine, where all characters, monsters, items and scenery will be comprised of fully 3D texture mapped polygons. The engine is capable of dynamic lighting, seamless integration of indoor and outdoor environments and latency compensation techniques to handle inherent Internet lag. 3D graphics support will either be included in the game's initial release or will be added shortly after the game is released. -- Unlike other massively multiplayer role-playing games, Asheron's Call will put all players on one gaming world, instead of spread out over various "mirror" worlds. -- An elaborate "Allegiance" system, which encourages higher level characters to recruit less experienced characters as apprentices. This symbiotic relationship gives the more experienced character a percentage of the experience points earned by the apprentice (apparently "pyramid schemes" aren't illegal in Dereth) and also increases the experienced character's nobility. The less experienced player, in turn, gets protection, training, or whatever the mentor chooses to provide as compensation. -- Non-player characters will play a minor role in Asheron's Call, essentially being limited to merchants and enemies. Player characters can have a significant impact on the world through the social structures within the game. -- Real time combat that has a number of tactical elements. Weapons will vary in attack speed, and characters will be able to control the strength of a particular attack and the height at which it is aimed. -- Hundreds of spells that players can develop through a malleable system of spell components. In a unique touch, spells will become weaker the more frequently they are cast, creating a "spell economy". -- Characters will only be allowed to kill other characters once they complete a specific quest. Once that quest is completed, characters will only be able to attack others who have completed that quest. The Good: -- Lots of originality for a fantasy role-playing game. In addition to an intriguing background story, Asheron's Call offers a variety of unique gaming elements, such as the inclusion of "heritage groups", a spell system that can radically change depending upon how it is used by players, and real time combat with an unusual number of tactical options, -- All players will be the same gaming world, as opposed to spread out over a variety of mirror worlds on different servers. The single world should create more of a "community" and give players additional opportunities to influence the development of the game...plus it'll be easier to find your friends. -- Excellent graphics and a powerful 3D engine capable of a variety of effects. -- The feudalistic "allegiance" system and the ability to remain safe from player killers should make Asheron's Call less intimidating for new players than most currently available online role-playing games. The Bad: -- Competition. Established games like Meridian 59 and Ultima Online already have loyal fans, and there are a variety of new massively multiplayer games in development or on the verge of being released, such as Everquest and Underlight. Asheron's Call will have to establish its own unique identity in order to successfully compete in the increasingly crowded market for massively multiplayer role-playing games. -- Having all of the game's players on one world will be great - provided that Asheron's Call's technology is capable of handling the resulting difficulties of operating such a large scale, graphic-intensive game played over the inherently quirky Internet. But the development team is well aware of the technical problems other online games have experienced, and have designed Asheron's Call's engine with a variety of latency compensation techniques to help avoid Internet lag problems. The Bottom Line: All massively multiplayer games are ambitious projects, and a lot can go wrong. Without giving Asheron's Call a "test by fire" with hundreds of players online, it's difficult to judge how successful the game will be at managing Internet lag and other technical issues. But the support of Microsoft and its established Internet Gaming Zone should help Asheron's Call get off to a running start. There are a lot of things to like about Asheron's Call. In addition to the excellent graphics provided by the game's powerful 3D engine, its development team has created original spell, combat and social systems. Although innovative in its own right, clearly Turbine and Microsoft have learned from the experiences of other online games, and have carefully designed Asheron's Call to avoid making the same mistakes other games have made. Asheron's Call marks a step forward for massively multiplayer online games. -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net (Contractor) Internet: coder#ibm,net ---------(*) Internet: claw#under,engr.sgi.com ...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... -- MUD-Dev: Advancing an unrealised future. </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00363.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: PK's: A solution?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00365.html">[MUD-Dev] Asheron's Call Interview with Toby Ragaini, Lead Designer, and Jon Grande, Product Planner.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00365.html">[MUD-Dev] Asheron's Call Interview with Toby Ragaini, Lead Designer, and Jon Grande, Product Planner.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00352.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Wired, UO, and Internet Gaming (was Re: OT:</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00364"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00364"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: Character development [was Re: ]</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00389" HREF="msg00389.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Character development [was Re: ]</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Tue 05 May 1998, 07:38 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00374" HREF="msg00374.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Motivations for Creating Mud-Like Worllds and Servers | Was: Re: whitestar Crossfire MUD</A></strong>, John Bertoglio <a href="mailto:alexb#internetcds,com">alexb#internetcds,com</a>, Mon 04 May 1998, 16:37 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00390" HREF="msg00390.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Motivations for Creating Mud-Like Worlds and Servers</A></strong>, Holly Sommer <a href="mailto:hsommer#micro,ti.com">hsommer#micro,ti.com</a>, Tue 05 May 1998, 07:53 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00365" HREF="msg00365.html">[MUD-Dev] Asheron's Call Interview with Toby Ragaini, Lead Designer, and Jon Grande, Product Planner.</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Mon 04 May 1998, 13:01 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00364" HREF="msg00364.html">[MUD-Dev] Preview of Asheron's Call</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Mon 04 May 1998, 12:56 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00352" HREF="msg00352.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Wired, UO, and Internet Gaming (was Re: OT:</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Mon 04 May 1998, 07:47 GMT <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00450" HREF="msg00450.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Wired, UO, and Internet Gaming (was Re: OT:</A></strong>, John Bertoglio <a href="mailto:alexb#internetcds,com">alexb#internetcds,com</a>, Thu 07 May 1998, 02:04 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00342" HREF="msg00342.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Wired, UO, and Internet Gaming (was Re: OT: Birth announcement )</A></strong>, John Bertoglio <a href="mailto:alexb#internetcds,com">alexb#internetcds,com</a>, Sun 03 May 1998, 13:39 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00340" HREF="msg00340.html">[MUD-Dev] LIST: The "MUD-DEV" MUD Development mailing list</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#greek,kanga.nu">claw#greek,kanga.nu</a>, Sun 03 May 1998, 12:56 GMT </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>