Asheron's Call 2

[___________Zeroshift]

In AC, you had to use different kinds of swords on different kinds of monsters, because some monsters were more fragile to a certain type of damage. This resulted in a sword user having to buff 4-5 swords before a combat, incase of adds, and in AC, in the the early days, it could be a PAIN to get the cool buffs onto your weapons.

No offense, but you were either a n00b or you never played a melee character if you think you have to buff 4-5 swords before battle.

A sword character was my main, had him long before the introduction of bandits even. Just because some monsters are more vulnerable to certain types of damage doesn't make it any harder to kill stuff using good ol' slashing.

Usually you know what you are hunting in the arena and can choose one sword anyway.

[Mysticknight]

my fav was my lvl 55 swordsman
did alot of my hunting in the lugian high ore mine
so only 1 sword needed buffed
i used atlans exclusively
1 for each element
9-18 damage was alot better than the 8-17 tachi's
didnt care for the bandits
double hitting just didnt seem right to me :/
if I was in an area that had different types of mobs I just pulled out the hollow sword that had it's own buffs

[___________Zeroshift]

-- Getting burdened by loot and having to break up hunting every 10-20 minutes to go sell.

-- Getting burdened by arrows so that you can only hunt in 10-20 minute sessions.

-- Getting burdened by comps to the point where you can't even loot stuff because you hate having to go restock on them all the time.

===========================================


Comps and arrows were a money sink that is not needed in AC2, and really a waste of everyone's time. I like diablo 2 style where you just picked up a bow and didn't have to worry about ammo.

The burden system is like item/XP loss on death, nothing but a relic of an older time that just creates annoyance.


Requiring arrows and comps is also totally impractical because AC2 has no NPC's. You can't expect archers to live off other players making them arrows and suffering if they play on off-peak hours.

Gee, why don't we just implement Solar Guns like in AO who doesn't need ammo at all, let's cut the realism out of the games totally, BUT hey, let's focus on making the grass move with the wind, have the light reflect correct on objects, nice sunsets and birds singing.

If you want realism then fantasy games probably aren't for you

For me it's the best of both worlds. It cuts out the unnessesary and annoying tasks while giving cool visuals.

========================================

Also the fact that you had to research spells was cool. I remember the day when, umm forgot his name , casted Halo of Frost for the FIRST time in AC's history, big screenshots all over the place, was on Frostfell.

Researching spells is also a game mechanic that just didn't work out, which is why they removed it from AC1.

Spell research combined with a "spell economy" was meant to make people horde their spells to themselfs to make them remain more powerful. Thus also encouraging people to figure out new spells

The fact is that the forumlas become common knowledge and there was no longer any research.

So the end result is that learning new spells was just a redundant and boring task, the real purpose of the system having been lost.

[Mysticknight]

Originally posted by Zeroshift
-- Researching spells is also a game mechanic that just didn't work out, which is why they removed it from AC1.

Spell research combined with a "spell economy" was meant to make people horde their spells to themselfs to make them remain more powerful. Thus also encouraging people to figure out new spells

The fact is that the forumlas become common knowledge and there was no longer any research.

So the end result is that learning new spells was just a redundant and boring task, the real purpose of the system having been lost.

what ended that was programs like splitpea and spiltbeans
My lvl 54 mage was doing lvl 6 spells before I used either of them :/

[Cheddar]

The spell research system was cool for about a month. It was a neat little mini-game that eventually turned into an bothersome time-sink.

It should be noted that Turbine has done a stellar junk rooting out time-sinks and AC is all the better for it.

- The comp system has been mostly elimated (if you choose).

- Arrows can easily be made by the thousands.

- Mana stones can be used to recharge all your equipment at once.

- Buffs now last way, way longer.

- Pyreal is weightless and stacks in greater amounts.

- For those with houses, muling is effortless and safe.

These are just the things I can think of offhand. AC is a great game because Turbine listens to their custumors and speaks directly with them. Moreoever, AC is extremely solo friendly and always has been. If I choose, I can go to places where there isn't a soul around for miles and hunt for good exp and rewards. On the other hand, I can join a party of friends (or strangers) and quest for the afternoon with lots of rock'em sock'em action.

Sadly, even the best games get old as the years roll by. That's why I look forward to AC2 - if Turbine correctly applies their learnings from AC, the game could be truly awesome.

The skill tree idea looks cool too. That was a hit in Diablo 2.

[Nikki.]

Why do some people always want to waste their time on boring tasks? Well I think its because its the only thing that seperates them from the players that like to have fun. Those boring tasks keep them seperated from the casual/fun minded players for large amoutns of time so they can feel like gods.

They forget though that games are meant to be fun and entertainment. That no matter what system is put out there, that if its fun then the UBERS will carve out a niche for themselves. They always have and always will. The trick is to keep the peasents around so that your kingdom MEANS something. Dont worry about your own fate, since if you truely belong on top then no system will stand before your destiny. What matters is the size of the kingdom you rule. Haveing a game that caters more to the casual players only assures that you will have a large kingdom.

Fun is what its all about in the end.

[Mysticknight]

Originally posted by NikkiDial
Why do some people always want to waste their time on boring tasks? Well I think its because its the only thing that seperates them from the players that like to have fun. Those boring tasks keep them seperated from the casual/fun minded players for large amoutns of time so they can feel like gods.

They forget though that games are meant to be fun and entertainment. That no matter what system is put out there, that if its fun then the UBERS will carve out a niche for themselves. They always have and always will. The trick is to keep the peasents around so that your kingdom MEANS something. Dont worry about your own fate, since if you truely belong on top then no system will stand before your destiny. What matters is the size of the kingdom you rule. Haveing a game that caters more to the casual players only assures that you will have a large kingdom.

Fun is what its all about in the end.

well said
if it aint fun you lose the players

[Ezeel]

Define fun.

Who decides what's fun?

Does people have different opinions of what's fun and not?

Like I said, I loved the spell research, I loved buying components, I didn't mind going to sell loot every 20 minutes, I loved AC like it was back before they changed it to something people had whined for for ages on the boards.

When they took away burden on cash, introduced the casino, and made everything that meant something before mean nothing now, they wrecked the game imo, and that's why I left, new content couldn't keep up with the fact that they turned AC into something a 2 year old could play.

People were getting bored with AC, and left, Turbine then followed the whiners requests and gave them everything they wanted, just to get people to stay.

Ofcourse I see why, they want the cash.


And to you who said I shouldn't be playing fantasy games if I wanted realism.

What tree did you fall down from?

A fantasy game is real life with a fantasy setting, aca, fantasy monsters, spells etc etc.

Everything is built on what we know today, take a house for instance, it's build correct even in a game, if not, people would wonder how the house could even stay up, basic things remain the same all over, and with a bow comes arrows.

There is ALOT of realism that reflects our ordinary world, so don't come say fantasy is all made up.

As for you who said i'm a noob because I used different swords for different kinds of monsters, well, some people want to do the most damage possible, stay alive, while others stick with what does averege damage, either way, both ways are liable playstyles and neither are considered to be a noob way of doing things.

It's just like AO, some people use Nova's and Flashpoints, some use only Nova's, is either way a noob way?

And who are you to decide what's noob and not?


My opinions!

I speak for noone else but myself and what I feel!

[Cheddar]

Fantasy computer games are 100% make believe. There is nothing tangible, only pixels used to loosely represent things present in real life. But nothing is even close to real. Everything blossoms from the mind of a twenty-something year old programmer and exists solely for the purposes of casual recreation.

I, on the other hand, live in the real world. It is in the real world where I work hard and make sacrifices to better myself and those who depend on me. Why? Because only in the real world do these things count for anything at all. In the fantasy world, they count for nothing. From the fantasy world, I require only casual entertainment that temporarily removes from my mind, the rigors and trials of the real world. It's a form of relaxation, nothing more. When I'm done relaxing, I term my computer off.

If a computer fantasy game is excessively work intensive, is it not relaxing. Consequently, I and countless others do not bother with it.

There is no crossover between the fantasy world and the real one for me. There is for others, but they are only sad excuses for individuals, existing in the shells of a human body. But they too live in the real world. And when the lines unblur, the following moments of clarity can lead to a horribly depressing realization of what they have become. Remember, for every Shawn Woolley there are 1000's of poor souls who are nearly as bad.

Twenty years ago I played a fantasy game called Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. When it got late and the parents went to bed, we turned on HBO and watched movies with naked chicks. Even in youth, we knew what was really important

[Waffen]

Twenty years ago I played a fantasy game called Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. When it got late and the parents went to bed, we turned on HBO and watched movies with naked chicks. Even in youth, we knew what was really important

I'm pleading the Fifth on that one.

As for the talk of realism tied to carrying ammo - I'll touch on that a little.

My everyday round for 9mm is a 124 grain Federal expanding FMJ. A container of 1000 rounds weighs about 30lbs. (13.6kg). 1000 rounds of .45 ACP (handgun cartridge) weighs about 50lbs. (22.7kg) For simplification, I left out the weight of the magazine the ammunition is loaded into.

See where I'm going with this? People are rountinely carrying 5000 rounds and more in Anarchy Online. And we're generally not talking small bores as shown above.

Pure fantasy and make-believe, nothing more.

[Nikki.]

Lets look at reality real quick! Asherons Call is SOFTWARE made by Microsoft! They could care less about how FUN the computer geek is having with the latest linux release. They dont make the Software for the few. They WANT to cater to the MANY.

Plain and SIMPLE! Microsoft is about pleasing the most people in the least amount of time. Sure the hardcore people b1tch and moan, but the product was never meant for them.

So considering WHO makes the game, HOW do you think the reality of the game will shape up to be? Whos version of reality will be satisfied when it comes to FUN? Well it's simple, the will of the many is who will be satisfied. This is Microsoft we are dealing with.

jason-

[______________Tirlis]

If you didnt like researching spells and stuff try playing AC now. They changed most of that stuff recently in AC. Spell durations are much longer now and no more research, you just read the scroll and wham o, you have a spell.

I have played every mmorpg / mmog on the market and AC is still the best. Even if you have done everything in AC you can be sure next month there will be something new to do.

In AO if you have done everything, you can be sure next month there will be nothing new to do and what you use to beable to do will be harding *NERF NERF NERF!*

AC support is pretty good, when I send a message I get a reply in a few minutes time.

AO support, when I send a petition I get a rude ark hours later then I get told to wait for a GM that never shows up or tells me to piss off.

AC is totally underrated and im happy because it is, then I dont have to deal with the whinning masses and influx of noobs.

[Nikki.]

No Thanks :OP

Ill wait the 3-4 months until the game is released :O)

jason-

[_____________Paldorr]

Beta for AC 2 will be active AC players.

Got my fingers crossed.

[Nikki.]

The beta player list was decided back on May 25th. They took a snapshot of the playerbase at that time. I wasnt a player then :O(

So anyone have a beta account they want to share with me :O)
Ill share all info on my discoveries, play when you most likely wont be and help you in AO if necessary :O) Just let me into beta with you :OP You know Im trustworthy :O) And you know Ill figure out all the neat leveling tricks and stuff fast which will help both of us :O)

SO if anyone wants to share it would be a good chance to get the info I glean from my beta time :O) Just like my uniques list :O) I gather as much info as humanly possible :O) Because info is what makes you level faster and more easily than others :O)

jason-

[__________Blackfists]

The best part of AC2 is that tradeskill are raised by use, not by exp. Experience is used to raise your combat/magic skills.
What does that mean?

No gimping your char to do some trade skills that's what! woot

You can have a level 1 who is a master craftsman.
(for the trade skills there are: make armor for the 3 races, make weapons for the 3 races, transmutes etc)
Or you can have a level 100 archer who is a great at making his own bows and arrows.

Oh, and the AC2 skill system is a tree approach like diablo 2.
You have 4 trees. Trade is a seperate tree . Then there are Melee, Ranged and Magic trees.
You can only raise one of those three all the way to the max. There is no way to have 2 trees maxed.

Some skills eliminate others, so if your are a master armorer you cannot be a master at weapons.

So that means even a trade guy cannot be great at all of the skills.
But a regular player can have a few good trade skills

I almost forgot. There is a skill that will transmute loot to gold.
Another from gold to trade items.

No more crappy loot runs. Plus, you'll like this Nikki, a guild can feed their trade mule gold and recipes and the guy can stay in town all day.
(A recipe tells you how to make tradeskill items like a smash stick)

[Nikki.]

You dont have to convince me :OP
Just share your beta account with me and im there :OP

jason-

[__________Blackfists]

Oh, gee. If only I had re-activated both my accounts.

*darn*

[__________Blackfists]

On Jun 25th the first round of AC1 accounts were let it. Previously it the beta had the Dev and Microsoft testers. Turbine plans to left in more and more ever week or so until they are all in.

According to the NDA the most people can say is

"I'm in!"

that's it. You can't say more than

"I'm in!"

If you say more than

"I'm in!'

you can be banned from beta. So don't look for to much more info just yet other than

"I'm in!"

posts.


Just a little fyi from the 'foot

[___________Solinarus]

Interesting to read this since I just started AO (the 7 day trial, but I'm going to keep playing after) and came from AC.

Tirlis, I thought your views on support were funny. Not in a bad way, just that my experience so far has been the opposite . The few times I've had to ask for help in AC, I never got a response. Ended up having to go to message boards, friends, etc; or not have the problem solved at all.
The first time I played AO, I got trapped in a zone. Didn't even know about /petition- sounded more like something about joining a guild, but since I couldn't find anything else I gave it a shot. 7ish minutes later, I was free. I've also run into ARKs a few times who have been very friendly, chatting and offering information.

At any rate, guess the experience depends on timing. I liked AC, dropped it a year ago and picked it up again a couple months ago. It's a different game now, and I think they've changed too much... Aos cool for now, something different . At least until SWG comes along (I think I'm with the person who said they've had too much AC- I may do AC2 beta, but I doubt I'll buy the game).