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The History of Asheron's Call
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Friend & Foe
- August 2005
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August
Letter to the Players
Posted By Ibn on 08-Aug-2005
Welcome to the August Letter to the Players!
This month marks the first content update since the launch of
Throne of Destiny and we've got quite an event in store for you.
We've been very happy with the reception that AC:TD has received
from all of you, including a large number of returning players,
and we think you'll be very happy with what you'll be seeing in
this event. The August event, "Friend and Foe," is
currently scheduled to go live on Wednesday, August 17th. But
before we go into details, there's one other announcement I'd
like to repeat.
Providence AC Player's Lunch
On Saturday, August 13th, there will be an Asheron's Call fan
lunch at the Dave & Buster's in Providence, Rhode Island.
This is a combined event for Asheron's Call and Lord of the
Rings Online fans, and is completely fan-sponsored and
fan-organized! I'll be attending, representing the AC1 Live Team
and the Santa Monica Studio, as will Calandryll (Turbine's
Director of Community Relations) and members of the LOTRO team.
For more information on date and time, as well as how to
register, check out Paraduck's post on the official AC Forums.
Now let's take a look at what's coming in the August event and
beyond!
Coming Soon
(These are the items that we plan to implement in the August
event.)
Tumerok Art Upgrade!
In August we'll be using our new graphics engine to upgrade one
of Asheron's Call's original monsters, the Tumeroks! This
upgrade is similar to the Skeleton upgrade that was done for the
Throne of Destiny release. Tumeroks will have more detailed
models and textures and will be found wearing stylized armor.
This upgrade will impact the Hea, Renegade and independent
Tumeroks. The Aun Tumeroks, who have a more recent and more
unique look, are not being upgraded at this time.
That's certainly made Hea Arantah happy! He's very proud of his
new look!
New Loot Weapons!
For the August event, we're adding new styles of melee weapons,
missile weapons and casters to the treasure tables! From new
weapons like the Spine Glaive and Compound Bow to the return of
old favorites like the Board with Nail, players will be able to
find these new items in loot. They'll be fully tinkerable and
imbueable and will be comparable to other weapons in their
class, with higher damage wield-requirement and elemental bonus
damage variants also available where applicable.
Withered Expansion!
The creatures found in the Withered Atoll – creatures that are
immune to all non-projectile magic – are spreading north and
southeast along the Direlands coast in the August event. And
there are new camps and new quest weapons to be found!
As we've said in the past, the Withered Creatures are one step
in our long-term goal of providing a rewarding play experience
for those high-level characters that choose not to use offensive
Life Magic.
New Quests!
We've got a lot of great new quests lined up for the August
event! We thought we'd tease you with a handful of them:
Fort Tethana Tug of War!
Characters level 60 and above can investigate rumors that King
Varicci is attempting to capture Fort Tethana through covert
means. Will you help prevent the fall of one of Dereth's most
well-known towns, or will you aid the King in his bid for
expansion?
New Hunting Quests!
Over a dozen new NPCs order characters to hunt specific
creatures on landscape. New tech lets you keep track of how many
creatures you've killed and how many more you need to complete
your quest! There are Hunting Quests for starting characters all
the way up to characters over level 140!
Sepulcher of Nightmares!
What is the Order of the Raven Hand doing on the Singularity
Caul? What hideous servants of the shadows will they unleash?
Characters over level 100 can investigate and try to put an end
to their latest plot!
The Books of Grael!
Both a Viamontian Royal Agent in Sanamar and an Aluvian scholar
in Cragstone seek the mysterious Books of Grael, the records of
an ancient barbarian warrior. Characters over level 50 can seek
the books and choose whom they wish to help. But wait, why does
a Sclavus seek the Books as well?
Ricardo's Blood Gem!
A Viamontian Rebel named Ricardo tells of Varicci's pursuit of a
powerful Falatacot artifact known as the Blood Gem of Rikt Zir.
Characters level 80 and above can seek to capture the Gem before
the Viamontian King does!
Lunnum's Pyre! A
pyre burns in honor of the last female Fiun to survive the
Eaters' onslaught and flee to Dereth. The pyre's guardian seeks
characters above level 100 to restock the pyre's fuel, so that
the memory of Lunnum is not lost.
The Hunt for Muldaveus!
Ten months ago, the Burun named Torgluuk turned on Niarltah and
Muldaveus, the leaders of the Tumerok and Lugian Renegades.
Since that day, their whereabouts have been unknown. Level 80
characters and above are being recruited by a wanderer who seeks
to follow the Lugian Warlord's trail!
And, of course, there are many other new quests, creatures and
items to be found in the August event!
In Development
(These are the game changes that we are working on for the
September event. None of these items are guaranteed to be added
for September as scheduling and priorities can change. These
changes are in addition to the new quests, dungeons and items
that we'll be introducing in the September event. Your feedback
on these topics is particularly valuable.)
Additional High Level
Hunting!
In September we plan to add further hunting environments for
high level players. We'll be creating additional versions of
some of the existing dungeons, such as the Path of the Blind, in
much the same way that there are multiple Black Spawn Dens and
Lugian Citadels. We'll also be tweaking the experience rewards
of some high level hunting dungeons to make them more valuable.
In addition, we plan to add some new and unique high-level
landscape hunting. Keep your eyes peeled for some of the teaser
screenshots we expect to release in late August or early
September!
Treasure Improvements!
We plan to add some new loot items to the treasure system in
September as well as upgrade existing items. These include:
Crowns, hats, shoes and gloves that spawn with much higher Armor
Level than can be found currently! Now you can wear that Major
Strength crown into battle!
Cantrips on jewelry and
clothing!
Level 7 spells on loot!
Increase the damage on elemental wands through spells or
tinkering! That high Melee Defense wand will no longer be the
best wand in your arsenal!
Improved elemental protections on Leather, Studded Leather and
Scalemail armor, plus clothing!
Global Chat Channels!
Remember when I talked the enormous amount of work that went
into the new User Interface back-end, and how this would allow
us to much more easily make improvements to the game?
Yeah. Oh yeah.
In September we plan to introduce four global chat channels as
well as new Chat UI improvements! The four channels will be:
General
Trade
Looking for Group
Roleplay
Players will be able to join or leave these channels in much the
same way that they can join or leave their global Allegiance
chat channel.
We'll be providing more information about these new systems in a
separate article around the same time as the September Letter to
the Players.
In Concept
(These are the game changes that we are thinking about for
October and beyond. We cannot guarantee when – or even if –
any of these changes will be added to the game, as scheduling
and priorities can change. These changes are in addition to the
new quests, dungeons and items that we'll be introducing in each
monthly event. Your feedback on these topics is particularly
valuable.
If not mentioned elsewhere in this Letter, topics listed as In
Concept in prior articles have not changed status.)
Chat Windows!
To make it easier to manage the new Global Chat Channels, along
with the many existing forms of chat, we are working on new chat
windows. These will be floating, transparent, movable and
resizeable windows that can be configured to show any of the
existing chat types or channels. This is in addition to the main
chat window, which will stay in its current location and gain
the ability to have various chat channels and types added to it
or removed from it.
Fellowship Improvements!
We are working on major improvements to the way in which
information about your Fellowship is displayed. This includes
radar improvements to allow you to more easily find members of
your Fellowship and a floating window to allow you to more
easily track the health and other vitals of your Fellowship
members.
Friends Panel!
We are also developing a new Friends UI panel to allow you to
more easily manage your friends list and communicate with the
players on said list. This will be in addition to the existing
/friends command-line functionality.
To see a list of prior In Concept articles and topics, check out
the Current and Past Development Topics web page.
Well, there you have it – our plans for August and beyond. New
quests, new content and new features& it's a great time to
be playing Asheron's Call!
See you in Dereth!
- Ibn
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Teaser
High Queen Elysa Strathelar nodded, and the Tumerok emissary
took his leave. After he and his retinue had filed out of the
throne room, she dismissed her retainers. A dozen Royal Guards
and ladies-in-waiting bowed and exited the modestly appointed
hall. When they finished their exit, and the only remaining
member of the court was Antius Blackmoor, she closed her eyes
and rubbed her temples.
"The crown weighs heavier these days," Antius spoke.
She sighed and looked at him. "Yes," she replied.
"It does." Elysa stood up and walked to the small
serving table against the wall. She poured herself a glass of
water from the silver serving pitcher. "You know I never
wanted this," she said. "And now that the Viamontians
have arrived, I feel more unfit than ever before. They're going
to turn this world into a battleground, and I don't know that I
can lead our people to victory."
Antius placed his hands on Elysa's shoulders. She closed her
eyes and leaned back against his chest. "You are strong,
Elysa," he whispered in her ear. "Much stronger than
you believe. You will defeat this threat. You always do."
He kissed her neck and a sharp tingle ran down the length of her
spine. She turned in his arms and gazed up at him, a small smile
on her face. She placed a hand on the back of his head and
pulled him close. Her heart pounded in her chest as he tightened
his embrace and kissed her.
Her skin tingled with an unnatural energy. At first she took it
to be the physical sensations of which young love-struck poets
so often sing, but the purple light that appeared at the center
of the room convinced her otherwise.
They broke their embrace and turned to the light. Elysa placed a
hand on her chest, willing her pulse to slow.
Three shapes took form in the center of the room. Purple bubbles
swirled about, humming and buzzing, slowly becoming flesh. Flesh
and bone solidified, and the purple energies dissipated. Three
people - Hendac, Jenavere, and a rather worn and obviously
frightened Viamontian - opened their eyes and looked about the
room.
Jenavere spotted Elysa, took a step forward, and knelt. Hendac
placed a small amount of pressure on the Viamontian's back,
forcing him to kneel as well.
"My lady," Jenavere said. "I present to you the
Viamontian Carlo di Cenza."
*****
He stepped out of the cage onto the snow-covered beach. He had
not seen sunlight in months. For so long, all he had known was
the stench of their caves, the reek of their food, and the
screams of their captives. But now they were releasing him into
the world, a dire mission imprinted on his mind. He wanted to
rebel from this mission. He wanted to flee to the Duke's
protection, but the desire to do their bidding was too great.
Whatever they had done to his mind, they had done too well.
He rubbed his arm where his flesh had been stripped. That limb
was hard and twisted now, a gruesome reminder of the creatures'
vile attentions.
The Ruschk shoved him forward and grunted. He took their
meaning. It was time to begin his quest. These creatures did not
permit themselves the luxury of rest, and they certainly did not
allow it of their captives. He willed his body to turn and run,
to flee across the icy wastelands and seek refuge within the
Duke's stronghold - if it still existed. But his body refused to
obey his commands. Instead, he simply nodded to the fur-clad
barbarians, then calmly turned and walked east.
*****
Sarkin Killcrane had shadowed the cultists for months. The Order
had been unusually active of late, sacking ancient tombs and
looting tomes of the long-dead Haebrous. The High Queen had
commanded Killcrane to haunt their footsteps and discover their
goal, but as of yet he had deduced no motive to their actions.
However, the nature of the tombs which they penetrated filled
him with dread. There was only one reason to search through the
tombs of the ancients - power. Dark, malevolent power usually.
He feared the cultists had discovered some long-forgotten
secret, some key to the dark forces they worshipped.
The cultists disappeared over a sand dune before him. The desert
sun beat down on his back, cooking him in his armor. He stopped
and took a long drink of water from the waterskin he kept tied
about his belt. He surveyed the desert around him, wishing the
Order had instead developed an interest in the newly discovered
Halaetans rather than this blasted wasteland. He could do with a
bit of that chill mountain air.
Until now, Sarkin had not stopped to ponder just why they were
in the desert. He had assumed the Order members were on their
way to yet another undiscovered tomb. But then Sarkin noticed a
tingle in his flesh, and a dark fear crept into his heart.
They were heading south. They were heading in the direction of
the Obsidian Plains. Already, he could feel the dark energy of
the Bore tweaking his nerves.
No, these cultists had some other destination in mind. They were
no longer in search of dusty tomes and molding libraries. The
time for research was over.
Sarkin loosened his sword in his scabbard. He feared he might
soon need it.
*****
Commander Kurth shoved his sword into the Tumerok's chest and
watched the life fade from its eyes. The body slid off his blade
and crumpled to the ground amidst the corpses of its brethren.
The Renegade assaults had grown increasingly bold of late. The
walls of Fort Tethana were more of a battleground now than they
ever had been before. The Renegades clung to their mad desire
for this small outpost, for who knew what foolish reason. Kurth
fought them back as best he could, which was no small feat given
the size of his force. He had petitioned many times for
reinforcements from the Queen, but she chose instead to send her
soldiers in search of shadows and relics, ignoring the very real
threats that continued to assault those cities she was
duty-bound to protect.
Kurth returned to his remaining men. Only three had died in this
raid, but of course they were back at the lifestone behind the
walls. His men looked tired and worn. They were weary of
fighting and dying. They were tired of this never-ending cycle
of violence. He could not blame them for that. What was all this
worth, in the grand scheme of it all? Death did not matter here.
Every defeat was but a delayed victory, and every victory a
delayed defeat. It would never end. None of this meant a damn
thing.
Perhaps that was why the Queen chose to ignore his pleas for
aid. Perhaps that was why she left him and his men out here in
the desert to rot.
Kurth thought once again of the message he had received - the
unexpected offer that had arrived the previous night. Kurth had
pledged his loyalty to Elysa long ago, and he was loath to break
that allegiance, but the Queen had done little to inspire his
loyalty these last few years. He had been too long alone in this
blasted desert.
Commander Kurth looked to the north. A glint of metal shone in
the mountains above, an emissary waiting on an answer Kurth was
afraid to give.
The commander lowered his head and trudged back to the fortress
walls.
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Rollout Article
Posted By Ibn on 17-Aug-2005
Seneschal Dalmour strode out of the Royal Hall and observed the
prisoner before him. The man was shirtless, lash marks covering
his back and sides. The man lay on his stomach, a massive knight
pinning him to the ground with one trunk-like leg. Five other
knights stood watch around the Aluvian captive.
Dalmour knelt next to the man and moved the prisoner's
sweat-dampened hair from his face. The man glared at him out of
the corner of his eye.
"What is your name?" Dalmour asked the man.
The man had trouble speaking due to the weight of the knight's
leg on his back. But after a bit of struggle he finally spat,
"Jasten."
"Jasten," Dalmour said, "My name is Dalmour. I am
the King's seneschal. I understand you bear a message from your
Queen."
"Y-yes," choked the prisoner.
Dalmour nodded his head. "Well, I'm sure it's riveting. But
I'm afraid I haven't the time. You see, my King, he requires
much of me. I have meals to prepare, reports to write,
housekeepers to discipline, that sort of thing. I am afraid your
Queen's message will just have to wait." Dalmour beckoned
to one of the knights. "Meanwhile, I'm going to ask these
men here to cut off your arms and legs, okay?"
The knight unsheathed a massive sword and stood over the
prisoner. Jasten struggled to focus his eyes on the knight, but
was unable to roll over far enough to look at him.
"They're going to keep you alive though, okay Jasten?"
said Dalmour. "So don't fret. You won't die on their watch.
They're pretty good at this sort of thing." Dalmour stood
up and took three steps back from the panicked Aluvian.
"But in the event you do die, tell your Queen not to bother
sending us any more messages, okay? I'm afraid we're just not
interested."
The knight raised his sword high above his head. Dalmour turned
and re-entered the Royal Hall as the Aluvian screamed.
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New
Content and Functionality
- The size of the Withered Atoll
has been increased for additional high-level hunting without
offensive Life Magic.
- New styles of weapons have been
added to the treasure system.
- All Hea-style Tumeroks in game
have had their art upgraded.
Miscellaneous
Changes and Improvements
- A new splash screen for this
month's event!
- Antius has left Stonehold,
leaving an Emissary in his place.
- The buy/sell rates of the
vendors in Sanamar have been adjusted to match the rates in
Shoushi, Holtburg and Yaraq.
- The War spell Dark Flame has
had its damage increased to bring it in line with other level 5
projectile spells.
- The burden of many starting
items has been reduced in order to help prevent players from
creating new characters that start out over 100% burden.
- Characters that exit the
Sanamar Training Academy now find themselves at the gates of
Sanamar, rather than a short distance away. Many of the Portal
Guardians have retired, leaving one Guardian at the entrance to
Sanamar.
- Some creature spawns that were
too close to housing have been removed.
- Some trees and bushes that were
too close to housing have been removed.
- Using a Dark Idol on a War Bow
no longer changes the name to Dark Longbow.
- Collectors will now give you a
hint as to what to do with a Ruschk Scalp.
- Tirenia now advises characters
to take a group before leaving on the Assault quest.
- Viamontian Mages and Knights
will now protect each other as well as protecting Eaters.
- Maddened and other crazed Fiun
will now protect Eaters.
- Human-slayer weapons will no
longer do bonus damage to any Viamontian Mages or Knights. What
magic is this?
- The chat window margins have
been increased slightly.
- Lila Fiori no longer checks a
character's level when sending the character on her quest or
accepting the quest items.
- The vitae loss from the final
portal in King Browerk's lair has been reduced from 10% to 5%
- The Hermit now gives a
proportional XP reward in return for completing her quest.
- The respawn rate on the
Brewmaster Spine and Sdolin Buk has been reduced to 10 seconds.
- It should now be easier to
select objects by clicking on the object's radar blip.
- The signage and portal drop
locations for the Samsur Butte and Arida Butte settlements have
been corrected.
- It is now possible to craft
Black Marrow Keyrings from Gold Golem Hearts.
- Banished and Fallen creatures
now spawn less frequently on landscape.
- It is no longer possible to
perch on the pillars when fighting Sir Bellas.
- Some graphics issues in the
Augmentation Realm have been resolved.
- Agents of the Arcanum will now
correctly reward level 126 characters and above with 15 million
XP in return for Gaerlan's sword.
- Proportional XP awards received
by level 275 characters will now correctly burn vitae loss.
- Scriveners that sell level 4, 5
and 6 spells can now be found on the Halaetan Isles.
- It is now possible to select
Allegiance Bindstones via the keyboard.
- Selecting an item in a vendor's
shop will now show the number that he has for sale if it is a
limited quantity item.
- It should no longer be possible
to get items stuck in container slots on your paper doll panel.
- Scrolling to the end of long
vendor lists and then reopening the vendor should no longer
display a blank list.
- Rare items that have use timers
now show the timers when examined.
- You should now be able to use
healing kits, and other items that require a player character
target, on fellowship members by using them on the character's
name in the fellowship panel.
- The spawn timers on the notes
in the Oswald's Skill Manual quest have been reduced to 30
seconds.
- Pre-patch Hoary Mattekar Robes
should now have the correct icon.
- The Snow Flake Charm is now
ivoryable.
- It is now possible to pick up
Tenassa Leggings and Sleeves from the ground by selecting them
with the mouse.
- The camera stiffness slider now
functions properly.
- Brightness settings are now
saved when you log out.
- You can now hit the spacebar to
skip individual slides of the login display.
- A tooltip now appears when you
have dragged an item over to another object, player or NPC in
the 3D window, so you can be sure you're about to hand it to the
right thing or person.
- You can now bind a key to
"Create Shortcut." The default is the 0 key.
- We've upped the limits on
useable hooked items in several categories. For example you may
now hook up to 10 portal devices in a mansion.
- We've increased the cap on
maximum salvage to take into account specialized Salvaging.
- Two static Black Marrow
Reliquaries did not have the correct 1 week timer, this has been
corrected.
- The local broadcast when a Rare
is found is now bright pink. In addition, an audio cue has been
added.
- /r now works properly when the
shift key is depressed.
- Hitting OK in the keymapping UI
will now save your changes.
- Hitting the Tab key while in an
inscription window will now switch your focus to the chat bar.
- An extra carriage return at the
end of the chat UI has been removed.
- Clothing such as undershirts
and pants can now be removed by dragging them from the paper
doll even if they were equipped via the clothing slot.
- The allegiance UI will now show
the correct number of followers beneath the monarch even if that
number is greater that 9,999.
- You can now cancel charging for
jump with the Tab, Enter and Esc keys.
- A bug that could cause the
burden and pack space bars to fill from left to right instead of
from top to bottom has been fixed.
- Luressi di Maki no longer
trades portal gems for I notes.
- @log files will now properly
show timestamps if timestamps are enabled.
Minor
Details
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