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AC LIVES! Asheron's Call Darktide Is Alive and Well! New Live Stream!
bowmanjoe
Member Posts: 40
Hello,
I just wanted to let you all know that Asheron's Call Darktide is alive and well! My friends and I started playing about a month ago and it has proved to be a GREAT decision. We came to the Darktide (FFA PVP) server with no connections at all and through some strategic socializing and committed gameplay we have managed to find a guild and level 6 accounts up to 160+ thanks to the extremely active and helpful community. We all had our reservations about the decision to come back to such an old game but it turns out that the old school mechanics and even more old school community is actually REFRESHING in comparison to the newer cookie-cutter mmorpgs (known as "World of Warcraft Clones") that have dominated the scene for the past 10 years.
A couple weeks ago we started livestreaming our garage-style AC LAN parties through Twitch. The community has turned out in full! We have been having an absolute blast! The popularity of the stream has prompted viewers to donate gear and useful in game items to augment our livesteam action. We are only 3 weeks into our livesteam and we are already getting PVP kills in the extremely competitive PVP scene on Darktide! (Check out the clip titled "first confirmed kill" on our page: http://www.twitch.tv/featheredbread).
Asheron's Call can be extremely intimidating to come back to because it is so different. This game was one of the first (one of the "big three" - AC, UO, EQ) 3d mmorpgs on the scene in the late 90's and therefore has totally original code, unlike almost every other mmorpg since World of Warcraft. Therefore the physics in this game are unlike any other mmorpg to date. You have to experience it to understand what I mean. This game is FAST PACED and DIRECT. When an object is cast at another player it flies through the air independent of any "lock on" system or player tracking. Therefore once a bolt is cast or an arrow shot it is up the the player being attacked to react and dodge. Watch this clip to see what PVP looks like in AC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L17HyGpBYU
People criticize Asheron's Call, saying it is "dead", because they assume nobody plays but we have had a completely different experience. There are consistently 300-400 players on Darktide at any given time and during peak hours it jumps even higher. But these numbers do not accurately reflect the in game experience of community in Darktide. People who play Darktide tend to congregate in designated areas because rare items can only be acquired in these places. Players also fight over the best hunting spots constantly so although the total number of players logged in is low it does not feel this way because they are constantly together. I run into people all the time when I am not even looking for a fight.
I could go on for days about why Asheron's Call is still great but I will just say this: If you left AC, COME BACK. And if you have never played COME ON DOWN and play with us because we are having a blast. There are many great videos that explain why Asheron's Call is the best mmorpg ever made, here are a few:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRCgLyeUMt4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oICrTxvaQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3AWe6P9I3o
If you would like to give this game a try there is a free 14 day trial: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/news/gameId/18/showArticle/6724
The link is down for a little bit but SAVE IT and come back when its up.
If you don't believe me, if you think Asheron's Call is def BORING or "dead" then be proven wrong by our recent livestreams: http://www.twitch.tv/featheredbread
IF YOU DO decide to try out the game and you choose the Darkide server (which you should) then make sure to shoot me a pm... /tell bow man joe, bro man joe, or squirrelmouse, or email me @ bmj.trades.ac@gmail.com or pm me through these forums and I will help you get set up in game, get you in a guild, power level you, because that's how we do it here on Darktide.
AC LIVES!
Comments
Of course im promoting my stream! haha
But my purpose for the stream is, genuinely, to show off how great AC still is.
Asheron's Call truly is still something unique and fun.
There may be a small disgruntled group of Darktiders right now trying to prove some kind of point by talking about playing WoW (despite years of them bashing any change to AC as "trying to make it like WoW" as an expression for how bad of an idea it was), but the DT population is still high and thriving and it is still a great PvP experience.
Anyone who hasn't tried it certainly should hop in and give it a go. The graphics are old, but it doesn't take long to get used to that and see how great the gameplay really is.
SnarlingWolf, thanks for the support. That is much appreciated. I am aware of that small group of Darktiders and frankly, the fact that they have a decent sized clan in WoW now goes to show you how proactive the AC community has always been. I mean they organized this whole thing NOT because they love WoW, in fact they all hate WoW and have hated WoW for years, but they are so pissed off at the Devs that they have organized this whole jumping ship movement as a way of making a point. THAT is a level of coordination that you would never actually see in WoW, lol. And yet their movement is doomed to fail because the very reason that they are able to coordinate such a movement is Darktide itself. But I do admire those guys for their effort and their desire to continually keep the AC devs accountable.
AC is not alive and well. At least 35 players I know from Darktide (a sizable portion of the playerbase) have quit the game recently to play WoW or other games. The most recent monthly patch introduced no real changes or content, and the devs clearly do not give a shit about the game.
And Darktide was the most populous server. If you go out to fight you can find the same 20-30 people fighting in Arwic all the time.
Im lvling up 7 noobs right now between 150-180. When I go to town to recomp I get chased off daily. I level in some of the most obscure dungeons on the map because i dont like being interrupted when i'm hunting. I still run into pks and get into fights. I really only look for fights when im running the live stream once or twice a week, other than that I am still buffing my accounts, lvling up, and getting geared. But I still get in fights all the time! I just got killed 10 minutes ago by Aticus of Desol in Yaraq. It was really annoying because I was just trying to buy components and death items. When people say AC is dead I question how active they are. A lot of these people have ruined their reputation in game and have strong resentment toward the community.
Lately, I've been getting chased out of my hunting spots by deliberate pks who actually enjoy hunting me down (I dont know if they saw my hunting spots on the live stream or what). So I have been forced to look for more and more obscure dungeons to hunt. At this point I have a list of about 6 different hunting spots that I have to rotate between because there are so many ACTIVE pks out there hunting people down for fun. Its really annoying that they kill me when I hunt, but at the same time, I am enjoying the game of cat and mouse that we have.
Mogi, btw... Although we disagree, I do appreciate your input and you make a valid point about the most recent patch. Keep in mind this is one patch out of more than 130:
"Asheron’s Call has the distinction of being the fourth MMORPG on the market after Meridian 59, Ultima Online, and EverQuest. 13 years and over 130 updates later, Asheron’s Call is still going strong even after its successor, Asheron’s Call 2, was laid to rest (but in a surprise twist recently given a new lease on life)." http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/18/feature/7189
I have always wanted to try getting into AC but I never could get any of my friends to try it. Think that was the biggest limiting factor, logging in, being a noob and feeling stuck in a deserted noob area without any idea as to what was going on
You're making me want to try it again.
If you start an account let me know and we can power level you. feel free to pm me or email me you character's name and we'll get in touch. Like I said, I got 6 characters from 0-150 in three weeks. I can get you up and rolling in no time.