Happy 13th Birthday, Asheron's Call (an object lesson for NC Soft)
By
Aisynia,
Posted on: 2012-11-02 09:07 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I should go back, I adore that game. Better yet, Turbine doesn't shut their games down unless they're bleeding so much money that they're unsustainable.
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
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Yeah, I saw this on Massively.com today as well.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Thirteen years ago today, Microsoft launched the award-winning Asheron's Call, now recognized as one of the first major MMORPGs along with Ultima Online and Everquest (both of which are still around, incidentally). Although subscription numbers gradually declined—especially after a certain 800-pound gorilla hit the genre in late 2003—Microsoft sold the game to Turbine in 2004 rather than shut it down.
On Twitter, Turbine sent this shout-out: "A huge thanks to our community for sticking with us through the years. AC is older than children!" AC's active community includes two wikis, independent guides, and numerous blogs and can look forward to celebrating more anniversaries down the road. |
However, I couldn't help but think that the fact that Turbine has self-published for years (as Funcom does with fellow oldie Anarchy Online) significantly helps matters in the longevity department. I mean, I can't really picture Asheron's Call having passed even its seventh birthday never mind its 13th if Microsoft was still publishing it. Let's face it, more often than not, MS initially invests in MMOs and then dumps them mid-development (Marvel Universe Online and Vanguard immediately come to mind here) never mind not keeping them running for years.
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That's exactly what MS tried back then. Turbine bought the game from them to save it, MS was gonna shut it down.
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Originally Posted by shadow35
Yeah, I saw this on Massively.com today as well.
However, I couldn't help but think that the fact that Turbine has self-published for years (as Funcom does with fellow oldie Anarchy Online) significantly helps matters in the longevity department. I mean, I can't really picture Asheron's Call having passed even its seventh birthday never mind its 13th if Microsoft was still publishing it. Let's face it, more often than not, MS initially invests in MMOs and then dumps them mid-development (Marvel Universe Online and Vanguard immediately come to mind here) never mind not keeping them running for years. |
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
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That I did not know. I only saw the news of them buying it back from MS. I guess NCSoft does not have to learn from Turbine, they should learn from Microsoft instead.
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Originally Posted by Aisynia
That's exactly what MS tried back then. Turbine bought the game from them to save it, MS was gonna shut it down.
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Precisely. NCSoft clearly fancies themselves playing in the big leagues, the way MS did when it tried its hand at the MMORPG genre (and failed). Say what you will about MSthat it's often greedy, bullying, tastelessit did accept Turbine's offer to buy out AC, and for that, it deserves the good will, as well as the money, it received.|
Originally Posted by Starsman
I guess NCSoft does not have to learn from Turbine, they should learn from Microsoft instead.
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Incidentally, while MS did shutter Asheron's Call 2 after only three that's a lesson more about when and how to launch an MMORPG sequel than about doing the right thing by a gaming community, i.e. customers.
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AC2 suffered... many other issues.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Incidentally, while MS did shutter Asheron's Call 2 after only three that's a lesson more about when and how to launch an MMORPG sequel than about doing the right thing by a gaming community, i.e. customers.
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Main one being, I guess, zero ties to the original game. There were some lore references but overall it was an extremely different game. They also did some odd experiments, at least at launch the game had zero NPCs. Not sure if it evolved past that but the idea, I guess, was "let players build the world (even if we did not give them the tools to do it.)"
EQ2 did the same, but not THAT drastically. They did keep at least the races familiar and managed to backpedal drastically on the 3rd expansion where they let players rediscover the ruins of Faydwer.
I think AC2 would have been survived had it been named something else in addition to given players the tools (at launch) to build their own cities. I don't mean necessarily player housing or allowing anyone to create buildings, but imagine how amazing it would be if the game dynamically placed buildings with NPCs to serve players wherever they gather the most!
Always was curious why Turbine did not save that one, though... was it so bad they were not able to buy it? was it due to the partial publishing partership with SOE? They were just not able to afford running both games?
Happy 13th birthday, AC!
/emote scowls at NCSoft.
I was still heavy into Ultima Online when AC launched. UO's Age of Shadows expansion launched that year and it ROCKED SO MUCH that I wasn't about to take a break from my first MMO home. But I remember having friends who left for AC or were playing it alongside UO, and I heard great things.
P.S. I did leave UO before the Samurai Empire or Mondain's Legacy expansions, to go play Eve Online. Fifteen years later, as someone who still plays UO occasionally, I've still only visited that silly tree elf city "Heartwood" twice.
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Thirteen years ago today, Microsoft launched the award-winning Asheron's Call, now recognized as one of the first major MMORPGs along with Ultima Online and Everquest (both of which are still around, incidentally). Although subscription numbers gradually declinedespecially after a certain 800-pound gorilla hit the genre in late 2003Microsoft sold the game to Turbine in 2004 rather than shut it down.
On Twitter, Turbine sent this shout-out: "A huge thanks to our community for sticking with us through the years. AC is older than children!" AC's active community includes two wikis, independent guides, and numerous blogs and can look forward to celebrating more anniversaries down the road.