{{Infobox VG
|title=Asheron's Call
|image=250px
|caption=Boxart
|developer = Turbine Entertainment Software
|publisher = Turbine (2004- )
|designer = Toby Ragaini, Eri Izawa, Chris Pierson, Chris Foster
|engine = Turbine Engine 1.0
|released = November 2 1999
|genre = MMORPG
|modes = Multiplayer
|ratings = ESRB: T (Teen)
|platforms = Windows
|media = CD-ROM
|requirements = RAM, DirectX 7, Internet access
|input = Keyboard, mouse
}}

'''''Asheron's Call''''' (AC) is a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows-based PCs, released on November 2 1999. The land of Dereth and its surrounding islands, in which the game is based, is a large, seamless 3D world that is occupied by hundreds of players.
 
== General ==
Gameplay involves earning experience points through a variety of activities, including engaging monsters in combat and fulfilling quests. The earned experience can be invested to improve the character's abilities by spending it on such attributes as 'Strength', 'Coordination', and 'Quickness' or such skills as 'Unarmed Combat', 'War Magic' and 'Melee Defense', among many others. Skills start at a base level determined by a character's attributes--For instance, a character's base melee defense is the sum of coordination and quickness divided by three, which then could be raised by applying points to the melee defense skill. Each character has a limited number of skill points, which then allow one to purchase skills, which then allow that skill to be raised. For instance, if one had not purchased the melee defense skill it would always remain at the default starting level. Every few levels, more skill points would be granted, and if a character had enough skill points, they could buy a new skill. Besides experience points, questing and combat also yield equipment such as armor, weapons, health potions, and spell scrolls. Many types of loot can be improved or imbued with special spells and effects via ''Asheron's Call'''s crafting system, known as tinkering.

Unlike most other games of this type, ''Asheron's Call'' rarely uses typical fantasy fiction to draw ideas from and instead creates its own, unique creatures. Instead of elves and goblins, a large majority of the monsters in ''Asheron's Call'' are completely original. Examples include the insect-like Olthoi, the cat-like humanoid Drudges, the giant grey-skinned humanoid Lugians and the reptilian Sclavus. Many unique races and creatures from ''Asheron's Call'' can be seen in Wikipedia's list of species in fantasy fiction.

The Asheron's Call franchise was unique in providing complimentary monthly content updates or "Events" that added new quests, skills, landmasses, monsters, gameplay dynamics and bug fixes to all subscribers. Epic storylines linked multiple episodes to form distinct "story arcs".

Many other elements of Asheron's Call are radically different from most other MMORPGs. For example, ''Asheron's Call'' does not divide its world into different level zones. While some areas are much more dangerous to players than others, there is nonetheless a mix of different kind of creatures that creates much more unpredictability than is present in other games. Another key difference is that ''Asheron's Call'' does not use character level as the major determinant in the outcome of a combat. Level simply determines what skills are available, and it is the skills and equipment of players and creatures that determine the outcome. Whereas in many games a player will be able to move a cursor over an opponent and instantly know from their level whether they will be successful in combat, in ''Asheron's Call'' a character might be able to defeat much higher level foes or lose to much lower level ones, again depending upon one's skill choices and equipment. As with the absence of specific level zones, this creates a higher degree of unpredicatability than in most such games.

The game also features an unusual allegiance system, whereby a vassal swears allegiance to a lord and the lord gains a small percentage bonus of experience points based upon what the vassal earned. The idea is that the higher level lord gets experience point bonuses from his vassals, and repays his followers with money or equipment. In the words of one reviewer: "At worst, the allegiance system is a multilevel marketing scheme, whereby greedy, uncaring patrons enlist as many vassals as possible in order to gain large amounts of bonus experience. But at best, the allegiance system can provide a tightly knit companionship for players genuinely interested in helping others and developing an organized assembly."<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/asheronscall/review.html Asheron's Call for PC Review - PC Asheron's Call Review<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The magic system as originally designed was far more complicated than in any other such game, with specific formulae for each spell that the caster must discover through painful trial and error. While this had the original effect of making magic challenging and somewhat rare, this element disappeared with the introduction of third party programs that would compute one's spell formulae without most of the experimentation. The system of spell components was later phased out and replaced with a simpler system wherein magic casters would carry a "focus" for each of the magic schools they were trained in (creature, item, life and war) and a series of taper candles and each spell was learned from a scroll, either purchased or found as treasure. The old system was left in as an alternative, but spell research was eliminated and most players quickly adapted to the new system.

The four magic schools allowed players to alter nearly any stat in the game. War Magic offered projectile-based attacks that bypassed a player or creature's base armor stats and came in the form of all three physical attacks (piercing, slashing and bludgeoning) and all four elemental attack types (acid, lightning, fire and frost). War also featured multiple types of each attack, including arcing projectiles, wall spells and extremely quick blasts, which were more difficult to dodge. Creature Magic allowed a player to alter skill stats and attributes, both on themselves and on their opponents. Life Magic allowed for heals and direct damage drains, as well as spells which made creatures or players more resistant or vulnerable to the seven attack types. Item Magic allowed players to alter the physical properties of armor and weapons. It also included portal magic, which allowed the summoning of teleportation portals to a limited number of other locations. Due to the vast size of the Asheron's Call world, portal magic became viewed as nearly essential to gameplay by the vast majority of players.

Upon its launch, Asheron's Call also featured a Spell Economy system which, coupled with the game's complex spell-learning process, caused early players to jealously guard the formulas to the spells. The Spell Economy looked at the global use of each spell and made more commonly cast spells less effective, making it a wise move to protect lesser known spells. This system was removed from the game after the release of Split Pea, a third party program which allowed players to instantly figure out the progression of spell components.

The game's crafting system is much more primitive than what gamers have come to expect today, with crafting simply dependent on a skill rating that is bought from experience points.

''Asheron's Call'' is also known for its friendly stance toward third-party software, particularly Decal, which allows the creation of gameplay-altering plug-ins.

==History==
AC was developed by Turbine Entertainment Software and published by Microsoft. The first expansion, ''Dark Majesty'', was released in 2001. A second expansion, ''Throne of Destiny,'' which includes a graphics upgrade, new player race and new landmass was released on July 18, 2005. In addition to the expansion packs, the in-game story is advanced by monthly updates, which introduce new quests and gameplay dynamics as part of the subscription package. 

While neither Turbine nor Microsoft have been forthcoming in releasing exact subscription counts, it is believed that Asheron's Call peaked in popularity in early 2002 at about 120,000 accounts and has since dropped to below 10,000.<ref>http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart3.html</ref> According to the Turbine developers, Asheron's Call has far higher than 10,000 accounts, in contrast to Sir Bruce's of MMOGCHART.COM.

In December 2003, Turbine purchased the rights to the ''Asheron's Call'' franchise from Microsoft and assumed full responsibility for content development, customer service, billing and marketing in 2004.

==Story==
===Asheron Realaidain and the Empyrean===
The story of ''Asheron's Call'' takes place on the planet Auberean which was ruled by the Empyrean. The Empyrean are tall humanoids with immense life spans and a powerful mastery of magic. Prior to Portal Year (PY) 0, their civilization dominated the surface of Auberean, a feudalistic, religious society that later split into several nations such as the Yalain, the Falatacot, and the Dericost. The main setting of the game is a small island in the Yalain dominion.  The island was known in Yalaini as Ireth Lassel.

In PY0, a young Yalaini mage named Asheron Realaidain was experimenting with portal magic when he accidentally opened portals to an alien world. This planet was the homeworld of many monstrous insectlike species. One of the smaller species, the Olthoi, proceeded to invade Auberean via the portals, and legions of black, man-sized death machines spewed across the surface of the planet, skewering  all other inhabitants on their massive pincers, their magic-resistant hides rendering them largely immune to the Empyreans' defenses. Their invasion went almost unchecked and the Olthoi all but annihilated the Empyrean civilization.

In a desperate attempt to save the survivors of his people, Asheron called forth all of his power and summoned many portals, none of their destinations known to him, hoping that one would lead his people to safety. He ushered the last of his race through one of the portals, remaining behind himself to attempt to repair the damage he had caused.

These portals opened to many different worlds, bringing various creatures into Auberean. Most of these creatures were as wild animals, some violent and destructive. One of the portals Asheron opened led to the planet Ispar, the homeworld of the human-like Isparians. The Isparians were sensitive to portal magic and were lured into the portals that appeared there. Upon arrival on Ireth Lassel, they were instantly enslaved by the Olthoi, who were constructing a hive civilization under the planet. As more and more Isparians arrived, some managed to escape slavery and live as nomads, hiding in the wilderness and defending themselves from the Olthoi with weapons of their own fashioning.

===Elysa Strathelar and Thorsten Cragstone===
Looking to destroy the Olthoi for good, two of the greatest free warriors among the Isparians, two lovers named Thorsten Cragstone and Elysa Strathelar, sought the advice of Asheron. Asheron helped them organize an assault on the lair of the Olthoi Queen. During the raid, Thorsten was struck down by the Queen herself. Enraged, Elysa pulled from her quiver an arrow that Asheron had enchanted for her with an elixir he designed to slay the Olthoi Queen. Elysa let the arrow fly and it struck the Queen in the eye, sending her into death throes that sent waves of primordial fear through the entire Olthoi horde. The head of their hive mind destroyed, the Olthoi domination fell into disarray, freeing the human race from slavery. The player begins as an Isparian freshly summoned from Ispar into post-Olthoi Ireth Lassel, renamed Dereth by the Isparians.

Asheron remains present to guide the human people from the shadows, hopeful that they can restore his world to its former glory.

===The Viamontian Invasion===
In ''Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny'', players are thrown into a bitter civil war...

A race of humans called the Viamontians managed to find their way to Dereth from Ispar during a war back on the homeworld. The violent Viamontians, led by King Varicci II, were trapped on an island hub for eight years. With the help of a mage named Nuhmudira, the barrier around the islands was destroyed and the Viamontians were unleashed upon Dereth.

Players are able to choose from this new race of blue-skinned people and can interact with the world around them.

The Viamontians have always been at war with the Aluvians (High Queen Elysa's people) and upon seeing that they ruled over Dereth, declared war. 

Players must now choose to support the self-declared Queen of New Aluvia, or the violent King Varicci II.

==Game Terms==
===Pyreal===
'''Pyreal''' is a metal found on the planet Auberean. It is generally an alloy of precious metals combined in some ratio with pure mana.

In the game, the Isparians (humans), the one race to which all player characters belong, collect the metal and use it for various purposes.  The Isparians' main source of pyreal is from the enigmatic golems that roam the countryside. These creatures are constructions of the planet's previous master race, the Empyreans, and motes of raw pyreal serve as their brains.

The Isparian unit of currency, the pyreal, is stamped from this metal. Pyreal is also the chief constituent of the powerful Atlan weapons, named for Asheron's father, their inventor.

The coins used to weigh one BU (burden unit) each, and with characters often carrying thousands of them at a time, the load could grow quite heavy. In response to player feedback, the weight of the coin was changed to 0 BU, eliminating the effect of the coins on a character's burden level.  In addition, the coins used to stack up to 5K per stack.  Player feedback changed this to 10K per stack and later, 25K per stack.

There are also rings and other types of weapons and items that are made from the material Pyreal.

===Vitae===
Vitae, the Latin word for "Life Force," is the vital statistic penalized temporarily upon death. A "vitae penalty," known colloquially as "VP", "vit" or simply "vitae" describes the effect of a temporary reduction in character strength upon death. This penalty results from the (intentionally) imperfect link between Isparians and the ''Lifestones'' which resurrect them.  Said "imperfect link" refers to the magic Asheron has employed to siphon a portion of every Isparian's life to keep the trapped Empyrean alive, which happens with every death to the Lifestones. If a character is not bound to a Lifestone, they will still accrue vitae from death. As the character increases in levels, so too does the Vitae Penalty.

===Player Killers===
Player Killers (PKs) are those who choose to change their status to enable them to attack another PK in Player vs Player combat. On death they drop some of their items and the winner of the fight is allowed to take them. One server, Darktide, is dedicated exclusively to this style of gameplay.

The lore reasoning behind this mode of playstyle is attributed to Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer.  In swearing allegiance to him, the character sheds Asheron's protection from attacking each other and devotes themselves to warfare serving (preferably) the Hopeslayer.  In many instances, people have shed Asheron's protection solely to stand against those who attempt to do evil things.  Examples of this include the destruction of the ''Shard of the Herald'' and the coming of the ''Burun Kukuur''.

===Player Killer Lite===
Non-player killers can change their status to player killer lite at will. This allows them to attack other PKLs, but a death will not result in item loss or vitae penalty. However, you do lose all buffs that were self-cast or cast upon you, which can, in time, lead to a costly amount of expended components. This function is not available to player killers or on the Darktide server.

This ability, according to the lore, was granted by Oswald to the barbaric Isparians in an effort to give them a less damaging means by which to fight each other.

==Islands of Dereth==
===Vesayen Isles===

An archipelago of lush jungle islands, the Vesayen Isles are named after Vesayen Hylin, a refugee from the Olthoi who led a band of nomads to take shelter on the islands, which are located just off the coast south east of Ireth Lassel. The islands are home to many foul and dangerous creatures, such as Moarsmen, Niffis, Wasps, Zefirs, Idols, and powerful Undead, to name a few.

This set of islands can be a good home to an adventurer of about level 20. There is a portal to the initial town located just outside the wall at Shoushi. A player can also run south from Mayoi to the water and a bit towards their left and grab a portal to the north western shore of the first island.

The first island contains a mixture of low level Mossworts and lower level Versayen Island creatures. There are a few dungeons located on this island including one that has a large number of portals to other locations on Dereth. This island is connected to the next island by a bridge.

The second island contains a lifestone on the far eastern side by the next bridge. There is also a tower located nearby that contains some Jungle Wasps. Again, there is a dungeon located on this island.

The third island contains a fairly new Mosswort Fort that is part of a quest. There are a few dungeons located on this island.

At the start of the fourth island there are some Mossworts and a Dread Idol in front of a dungeon. If you take the shoreline south you will go past an important dungeon and see a small town on an island across the water. This town has a lifestone and a Copper Statue along with some merchants.

'''Asheron’s Call''' ist eine Computerspielreihe der Firma Turbine Entertainment Software. Es handelt sich um Massen-Mehrspieler-Online-Rollenspiele, ähnlich wie Everquest oder World of Warcraft. Die Besonderheit von Asheron’s Call ist die relative Einzigartigkeit der Spielwelt (Elfen, Zwerge und ähnliches kommen nicht vor) und die Detailtreue der Hintergrundgeschichte, die sich wohl auf weit über 1000 Buchseiten belaufen dürfte.

Ursprünglich wurden die Spiele von Microsoft vertrieben, Ende 2003 erwarb Turbine die Rechte jedoch zurück.

==Asheron’s Call==
===Geschichte===
Asheron’s Call 1 wurde im November 1999 für Microsoft Windows veröffentlicht, ein Verkauf in Europa außerhalb von Importhändlern kam im nächsten Jahr zustande. Um unter anderem den Wünschen der Spielern nach eigenen Häusern nachzukommen wurde 2001 die erste Erweiterung ''Dark Majesty'' veröffentlicht. Am 18. Juli 2005 gab es die zweite Erweiterung namens ''Throne of Destiny''.

Des Weiteren wird das Spiel jeden Monat durch sogenannte ''Patches'' verbessert, die neue Gegenden, Spieldynamiken und Kreaturen einbringen. Als Gegenleistung dafür (und für das Spielen auf den Servern von Turbine) wird ein monatliches Entgelt erhoben.

===Spielwelt===
Asheron’s Call 1 spielt auf dem Planeten Auberean, wobei dem Spieler nur der Kontinent Dereth und die umliegenden Inseln zugänglich sind. Setzt man die Spielergröße vergleichbar mit "echten Menschen" an, so nimmt die Spielwelt eine Größe von ca. 1000km² ein.

===Spielablauf===
Neben dem Zusammenspielen mit anderen Personen und dem erleben von Abenteuern steht wie bei den meisten Spielen des Genres das Verbessern des eigenen Charakters im Vordergrund, namentlich durch Erfahrungspunkte. Diese können durch Quests (dt. ''Aufgaben''), bzw. durch das Töten von Kreaturen erhalten werden. Mit diesen ist es möglich eigene Fähigkeiten zu verbessern, wobei die Kosten exponentiell ansteigen. Als Spieler wählt man jedoch keine feste Klasse, sondern baut sich seinen Charakter selbst zusammen. Jedoch kristallisieren sich meist klassische Archetypen wie Nahkämpfer, Fernkämpfer, Magier und Handwerker heraus.

Daneben ist auch der Kampf gegen andere Spieler möglich, jedoch nur wenn diese vorher ihren Status zu ''Player Killer'' oder ''Player Killer Lite'' ändern. Auf einem Server (''Darktide'') besteht diese Wahlmöglichkeit nicht, man ist immer ein ''Player Killer''.

===Erfolg===
Nach der ursprünglichen Veröffentlichungen konnte sich Asheron’s Call gut am Markt behaupten und erreichte bis zu 150.000 Konten, für damalige Verhältnisse eine beachtliche Zahl. In den letzten Jahren wurde aus dem Nischenmarkt MMORPG jedoch immer mehr ein Massenmarkt mit einer Unzahl von neuen Spielen, was bewirkte dass immer mehr Spieler abwandern. Eine genaue aktuelle Schätzung ist schwer da in den letzten Jahren keine Zahlen herausgegeben wurden, Vermutungen liegen jedoch bei ca.[http://www.mmogchart.com/ 11.000], wobei auf den meisten Servern durchschnittlich 250 Leute anzutreffen sind.

==Asheron’s Call 2==
'''Asheron’s Call 2''' ist ein MMORPG der Softwarefirma Turbine Entertainment, das 2003 hergestellt wurde. Es ist die Fortsetzung des erfolgreichen ersten Teils Asheron’s Call aus dem Jahre 1999.

Die Geschichte beginnt Generationen nach dem "Ende" des Vorgängers in einer nun zerstörten und geteilten Welt: Dereth.

=== Rassen und Klassen ===
In der Fantasy-Umgebung von Asheron’s Call 2 stehen vier Rassen zur Auswahl, nämlich Tumerok, Drudges, Lugianer, und Menschen. Diese wiederum haben die Möglichkeit, verschiedene Berufe (Klassen) zu erlernen:

* ''Menschen:''
** Beutejäger (Nahkampf)
** Verteidiger (Nahkampf)
** Waldläufer (Fernkampf)
** Alchimist (Fernkampf)
** Verzauberer (Magie)
** Magier (Magie)

* ''Tumerok:''
** Wilder Leiter (Nahkampf)
** Fanatiker (Nahkampf)
** Klauenträger (Fernkampf)
** Schwarmhüter (Fernkampf)
** Anrufer (Magie)
** Heiler (Magie)

* ''Lugianer:''
** Berserker (Nahkampf)
** Moloch (Nahkampf)
** Einbrecher (Fernkampf)
** Taktiker (Fernkampf)
** Elementalist (Magie)
** Weiser (Magie)

* ''Drudge:''
** Großer Boss (Nahkampf)

=== Fertigkeiten ===
Zusätzlich zu diesen Klassen stehen dem Spieler noch Fertigkeiten aus den jeweiligen Basis-Fertigkeitsbäumen (Nahkampf, Fernkampf, Magie) offen, die er frei mit anderen Fertigkeiten kombinieren kann. Somit bietet sich eine große Gestaltungsvielfalt und man kann sein virtuelles Alter Ego nach seinen Wünschen und seiner Spielweise anpassen.