I know, it's been a while since anyone probably even thought about this game. I myself re-subbed in the last year for one month just to check what's changed since I stopped playing back in... 2007? And honestly, while I enjoyed my brief revisit to Dereth, and talking with one of my old guildies, I knew I couldn't justify a monthly sub for it.
As of August, the monthly sub is done. You can buy a lifetime subscription for a one-time $10 fee, and that's it. It also gives you access to the beta test of AC2, which they're working to bring back online. I figure with my one account, even if I only log on for a few hours, once, I'll still get my money out of it. Just wanted to throw this out there for anyone wanting to take a walk down memory lane.
Woah.
I played AC1 only briefly, but I enjoyed AC2 quite a bit and played it for several months. I'm sorely tempted to check them out again.
I knew that AC1 was still going strong, but the fact that they'd now resurrect AC2 (which shut down ages ago) is fascinating to me.
Oooh. That's tempting. $10 for a nostalgia trip of that size might be worth it.
I think about this game far too much still.
The last I knew, they planned on allowing for player-run servers to start popping-up. The details were still sparse the last time I looked, but it seemed like that wasn't going to be a free-for-all process; there would be some sort of vetting in place. Of course, the downside is that they stopped making content patches (which, amazingly, they were still doing until sometime early in 2014).
I think I'd enjoy starting from scratch on a new player run server. Maybe even a GWJ server!
Apparently they released the server code last month.
I hopped in game, and one of the things I thought about was just how old my characters were. My main, who was an abysmally weak item-only archer, was created in Oct 2000, and is only level 105. My mage, who was my first real alt, was created on Sept. 8, 2001, and is level 56. I feel old.
Wow, the old characters are still there? Is that because they kept them around, or you've logged in periodically since then to keep them alive?
Well, when they moved characters to to the MSN zone login, I was still active and transferred my account over. Years later I migrated it over to the account system they use now. If you didn't do that, you likely won't be able to get access to your old account. But you get all the expansions with the lifetime account, so at least it doesn't cost more to start over.
It's actually kind of funny how I migrated my account over. I quit during the Dark Majesty expansion, and it was years before I decided to give Thrones of Destiny a shot. The GameStop I went to had one copy on the shelf, and this was a few years after it had been released. I picked it up, it was listed as $15 I think, and I took it to the counter. They guy told me that the copy was paid for as a pre-order already, but there was no information in the system as to who it belonged to... so he just gave it to me.
Well, when they moved characters to to the MSN zone login, I was still active and transferred my account over. Years later I migrated it over to the account system they use now. If you didn't do that, you likely won't be able to get access to your old account. But you get all the expansions with the lifetime account, so at least it doesn't cost more to start over.
It's actually kind of funny how I migrated my account over. I quit during the Dark Majesty expansion, and it was years before I decided to give Thrones of Destiny a shot. The GameStop I went to had one copy on the shelf, and this was a few years after it had been released. I picked it up, it was listed as $15 I think, and I took it to the counter. They guy told me that the copy was paid for as a pre-order already, but there was no information in the system as to who it belonged to... so he just gave it to me.
Cha-ching!
Ah well, I wouldn't have known what to do with my old character anyways, but it would have been nice to have a buff fellow to run around the world with and not get stomped. I recall AC having a pretty slow level progression, is that still the case or has it been sped up since then?
PurEvil wrote:Well, when they moved characters to to the MSN zone login, I was still active and transferred my account over. Years later I migrated it over to the account system they use now. If you didn't do that, you likely won't be able to get access to your old account. But you get all the expansions with the lifetime account, so at least it doesn't cost more to start over.
It's actually kind of funny how I migrated my account over. I quit during the Dark Majesty expansion, and it was years before I decided to give Thrones of Destiny a shot. The GameStop I went to had one copy on the shelf, and this was a few years after it had been released. I picked it up, it was listed as $15 I think, and I took it to the counter. They guy told me that the copy was paid for as a pre-order already, but there was no information in the system as to who it belonged to... so he just gave it to me.
Cha-ching!
Ah well, I wouldn't have known what to do with my old character anyways, but it would have been nice to have a buff fellow to run around the world with and not get stomped. I recall AC having a pretty slow level progression, is that still the case or has it been sped up since then?
It was sped up over the years. I vaguely remember a big bump around 2002/2003 or so, and then at some point more recently they created a beginner's quest hub. It was a small dungeon with groups of portals, put together by suggested level of completion. The portals generally sent you out to dungeons/quests that you used to have to run forever to get to. Typically you would gain some item from the dungeon and return it to the quest hub for a big chunk of XP. I think this took you up to level 60 quite quickly (someone rushing it could probably do it in an hour or so). Some would argue the game didn't begin until you hit much higher levels I think, and that still took awhile (I've never agreed with that though).
Yeah, if you know where to go, leveling can be insanely quick. Earlier in the year when I re-subbed, I had an old allegiance mate spot me, and we got to talking. I was level 95 at the time. She had me tag along on a couple runs, and after a couple hours I was level 105. Some places are insanely fast leveling now, but I feel like I have to do a lot of out-of-game research to know what's going on anymore.
I loved the beta for AC1, but never played the full release game, think I was trapped in EQ addiction land at the time or was it WoW? Anyway, if there is a server other GWJers are on, would love to play again.
Oh, just paid my $10, what server is everyone on? Anyone want to do a GWJ guild?
I can't believe it's 2014 and we're talking about starting an Asheron's Call guild. This is so cool. 
If I work up the gumption to drop the tenner on it I'd definitely be in, but I don't know if I'll bite or not.
Is this really playable by modern mmo standards? I never tried it way back when so looking at the pictures doesn't tell me much.
Is this really playable by modern mmo standards? I never tried it way back when so looking at the pictures doesn't tell me much.
I haven't played this in a decade, so PurEvil could speak to this better, but my recollection is that it tried things not attempted since, but will be very dated in others. What always stuck with me was the world. It has one huge overworld with no boundaries, no loading screens, and a creativity and beauty that made the most of its limited graphics. I had a sense of exploration in this game that nothing has quite come close to since. The combat was pretty simplistic, though, the towns and NPCs are very static, level geometry fairly simple, things you'd expect for its age, though I found its approach to skills to be fairly complex for the time. If I buy in I'd be doing it to see the world again but expecting to just putting up with the combat.
Server wise, I believe Frostfell is the most populated of the carebear servers. Darktide is still relatively well populated, but that's a whole different thing.
I logged in and tried to connect to multiple servers, but nothing happened. Selected server, pushed the next button and it would not connect to any server I attempted.
You may be hitting a permissions issue, AC doesn't work well with UAC. Did you try running as administrator?
If you are going to use decal, you may want to move it out of the default installation path alltogether, as it will also have issue if AC is in the default location.
Doctor the Absurd has been portaled to Dereth!
They guy told me that the copy was paid for as a pre-order already, but there was no information in the system as to who it belonged to... so he just gave it to me.
That makes me think the person whom pre-ordered it died.
I heard the screams of drudges and demanded that Absurd tell me WTF was going on. I bought my ticket for that nostalgia train!
PurEvil wrote:They guy told me that the copy was paid for as a pre-order already, but there was no information in the system as to who it belonged to... so he just gave it to me.
That makes me think the person whom pre-ordered it died.
I doubt it. The game was really sinking in subscriptions by that point. AC2 had already been released and shut down. WoW was released in Nov. 2004, and ToD released July 2005. It's more likely someone pre-ordered their copy, hopped over to WoW, then forgot about it because they quit AC completely.
Is this really playable by modern mmo standards? I never tried it way back when so looking at the pictures doesn't tell me much.
It's... Well... I guess the best way to describe it, is it's way more hardcore than anything I've played in recent years. I played AC from mid-2000, and I'm pretty sure I was still off-and-on playing it until I switched over to WoW in... 2006? After quitting WoW, I played a few more modern F2P MMO's and such, but they tended to stick pretty close to what WoW put together as a more streamlined play experience. Things you wouldn't really think about when you see them in a modern game, like quest givers, trackers, instanced dungeons that cut down on competition, strict character builds for specific roles, level-specific areas, and such. Even something like LOTRO really holds your hand as you play, compared to AC.
AC was much more of an open-world type game. You suck starting out, but leveling speed was increased with the expansions. You lose items (based on value/level/etc) on death, and incur a death penalty that you have to work off. The game will give you coordinates, and you have to go grab your stuff off your corpse. There's nothing in the GUI to indicate quest givers, you really need to know where you're going, there is no instancing so anything popular and you're competing against anyone else on the server, etc. Character skills are simply based on points, and nothing else. They did add a dungeon and skill tokens so that you can remove, or downgrade specialized skills later on, assuming you can survive running there. Questing involves either knowing someone who can run you through the content, or doing a lot of homework on what you have to do, and where you have to go.
There was a graphics upgrade that I think came with the second expansion, though at this point it's still horribly outdated.
If you're a returning AC player, especially if you never played ToD, there's a lot that's changed. The weapon skills aren't Sword, Mace, Staff, Bow, and such any more, but Missile, Finesse, Heavy, etc. They put in a 5th magic, which is Void Magic, and I have no experience with it yet. They did do some upgrades to the combat. They added in dirty fighting which gave a reason to switch between high, medium, and low attacks. Sneak attack is a skill, and pumping points into it gives you a chance to proc one from the front. I think the assess skills give you bonuses to damage now, which is good as they were completely useless before. For those that never got in, this game still has the most complicated skill system I've ever dealt with (in terms of skill points and such, there are no actual abilities in melee or ranged combat, and only casting spells in the magic combat). And the magic system can buff or de-buff any skill or protection in the game, which makes it pretty complicated too.
Another thing is, when the game was released you had your choice of three Isparian races: Sho, Aluvian, and Gharun'dim. In addition to those three, you can now create a character that is:
Viamotian: New island race brought in with ToD, I think they were an enemy race, not entirely sure.
Umbraen: Essentially a floating Shadow model, some magic bonuses.
Panumbraen: Another Shadow character, but with legs. These two are Isparians that willingly became Shadows.
Gear Knight: Per the info in the game, a mechanized race of unknown origin.
Undead: Zombie/Skeleton character that sides with the Isparians.
Empyrean: The original inhabitants of Dereth, that opened up the portals in the first place.
Aun Tumerok: Lizard people.
Lugian: Essentially a giant blue mountain of flesh, with a dwarf-ish background a skill set.
Olthoi Soldier: Bug melee
Olthoi Spitter: Bug mage/ranged.
It's playable, assuming you have a lot of patience, and it's better if you know people that have been playing a long time. The guild I'm still a member of is still going pretty strong, though the leadership has changed hands a few times. They're on Morningthaw, so if you're ever over there, my main character is Pur Evil.
The default keyboard configuration doesn't really mesh well with a natural keyboard.
There's nothing in the GUI to indicate quest givers, you really need to know where you're going, there is no instancing so anything popular and you're competing against anyone else on the server, etc. Character skills are simply based on points, and nothing else. They did add a dungeon and skill tokens so that you can remove, or downgrade specialized skills later on, assuming you can survive running there. Questing involves either knowing someone who can run you through the content, or doing a lot of homework on what you have to do, and where you have to go.
While not exactly a 'quest guide' GUI as a moden MMO would have, they did add a a 'Contracts' system. Some vendors will sell contracts that will give some information about a quest. I think it tells you where to pick up/turn in for the quest, where the actual questing place is, and a countdown on a timer if its repeatable (though I think most quest timers were reduced to something trivial enough to make them a moot point). I don't believe there are contracts for every quest, but they can be a good guide for getting going. And, of course, there is the facility hub which is just a bunch of portals to various quests to help you get the early levels going.
You may be hitting a permissions issue, AC doesn't work well with UAC. Did you try running as administrator?
If you are going to use decal, you may want to move it out of the default installation path alltogether, as it will also have issue if AC is in the default location.
Tried running as admin, same problem. What does UAC mean? Not sure what decal is? I'm running windows 7 pro 64 bit.
Give me a Dark Age of Camelot nostalgia trip and we are talking.
Tried running as admin, same problem. What does UAC mean? Not sure what decal is? I'm running windows 7 pro 64 bit.
decal looks to be an add on for AC.
At a glance anti-virus is also a common issue. One could try compatibility mode as well as running as admin.
Give me a Dark Age of Camelot nostalgia trip and we are talking.
UAC is windows 'User Account Control'. It does things like prevent unauthorized programs from writing to certain places. On Windows 7, AC will default to installing under Program Files (x86), which is one of those places, and AC doesn't know how to ask for permission. It might be worth trying to reinstall to somewhere like C:\Games
Decal is a third-party piece of software that lets you install plugins. It's not so different from a mod system, except that its all third party. Virindi Tank is a fairly useful Decal plugin. While its primary purpose is to use as a combat macro, it does other useful things that I used to use it for instead. Things like auto-loot based on whatever rule-set you provide, provide dungeon maps, provide cross-server chat (for anyone using the plugin), and assisting with buffing. Decal isn't necessary, but can help smooth some of the rougher edges of the game. I'm seeing how long I can go without this time around, for that full-on nostalgia feel.
Vrikk wrote:Give me a Dark Age of Camelot nostalgia trip and we are talking.
HERE'S MY WALLET.
Set the game to compatibility mode and set it to run as administrator after reloading. Game is starting, but taking forever to get the 14,159 k in the loading screen. Game installed in c:\turbine\Asheron's Call.
What server is everyone on?
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