Asheron's Call : Dark Majesty

                   Reviewed by Dave Booth

Every month since the game went gold, the programmers of Asheron's
Call have produced a new patch.  No, it's *not* that buggy!  The
newsgroups and webboards have coined the phrase 'prop' to
distinguish these updates from the patches which the publishers,
Turbine, introduce to fix bugs.  Monthly props include new content
and features, whether it be a new dungeon to explore, enhancements
to the GUI, changes to character skills, new spells or weapons,
and weird and wonderful new monsters to beat you senseless.  The
game is unique among MMORPGs in this respect.

So for a good two years plus, we've been treated to an evolving
game.  This does have its downside of course.  When a player
creates a new AC (Asheron's Call) character, the new toon's
abilities are effectively fixed in stone.  In Ultima Online you
can take your Mage, and by tweaking down magey abilities and
tweaking up melee ones, turn him into a sword swinger.  Not so
with AC, you cannot unlearn skills, so your BattleMage level 1
will be a BattleMage at level 61.  You can pick up new abilities
on the way, like Healing or LockPick, but they take an age to
acquire.

So when a prop is published that introduces a feature which only a
particular class find useful, players with other character classes
inevitably BMW (bitch, moan and whine) about it.  Case in point :
until a year ago, Dagger users were subjected to *point and laugh*
emotes from other players all the time.  Their chosen melee skill
was weak - fast, yes, but with a very small damage per hit, and
with a limited range of damage types.  (Monsters are commonly
vulnerable or resistant to the different damage types -
bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, fire, cold, acid, and lightning)
Then, a monthly prop introduced a new weapon quest.  The Bandit
Hilt it was called.  Players who obtained the Hilt could attach it
to their favourite weapon, provided it was a Dagger or Sword, and
the weapon would now strike twice with each thrust - effectively
dealing up to double damage.

But if you were a Dagger user with sufficient skill - your hilted
dagger would inflict TRIPLE damage!  With this one prop, the
Dagger users were propelled from laughing stock to
oh-my-God-that-is-insanely-powerful status.

Naturally the rest of the AC world BMW'd furiously.  Particularly
the Axe, Staff, Mace, and Thrown Weapon users who couldn't Hilt
their weapon at all.

A common response to this "rebalancing" of skills (as it is
euphemistically called) is for players to start a new character
with the current flavour-of- the-month skill.  The impact?  People
stay with the game, building characters to play catch-up with the
most effective character template.  Clever, no?

The other impact of a prop, that is more contentious, is when
rebalancing is attempted by *reducing* the effectiveness of a
skill or item.  The developers decided one month that a
hard-to-obtain quest item, the Shadowhunter Armour, was
unbalancing owing to its protective qualities and armour rating.
So, the next prop downgraded the effectiveness of the armour.
This overnight created a two-tier system - existing owners had
armour with its full features, whilst players who were still
working to get it, would end up with substandard product.  NERF!
was the cry.  [nerf : after the 'nerf bat', a child's toy made of
foam rubber] People have BMW'd about the downgrading of the armour
ever since.

However, whatever ups and downs there have been, every month the
player base has been treated to a free monthly prop.  Not bad
considering that other games, Ultima Online and Everquest
especially, have introduced new content in the form of add-on,
paid for upgrades.

AC was retaining its player base by constantly evolving the game,
but since its initial launch in 1999 the influx of new players had
been slowing.  The game had had no major marketing since then, and
it showed in the sales.  It started as number three in the MMORPG
'big three', and stayed there.  Then, in mid- 2001 the former CEO
of Ultima Online took over at Turbine Games.  He looked at the
sales, the player base, the prop strategy, and decided to relaunch
the game.

Thus Asheron's Call : Dark Majesty was born.  Basically a massive
prop, on a paid-for CD.  Some complaints about that were made, but
most people seemed to accept that the game needed a relaunch (a
prop of its own, if you like), and the price - $44 - was deemed
reasonable.

The major feature of AC:DM is a whole new island, called Marae
Lassel.  It is accessed from the mainland, Dereth, via portals.
Of course to use the portal requires the player to have purchased
AC:DM.  Marae is home to a host of new monster types, residing on
the land and in a smattering of new dungeons.  New quest items
have been included.  An overarching storyline has been published
to explain why Marae has come about. The main denizens of the
island, called Tumeroks, are split into two opposing camps
constantly at war with each other.  So players can earn experience
and gain quest items by aligning with one or other Tumerok tribe.

Over and above that, the dungeons are inhabited by the nasty
Olthoi, ant-like creatures with huge pincers and claws that can
rip an unwary adventurer to ribbons in seconds.  Yum yum.  The
Lore explains that the Tumeroks defeated an Olthoi overland
invasion millennia ago. Most of the Olthoi were driven to their
underground nests, where they are trapped by Tumerok magic.  Five
stone rings of Menhirs weave a powerful spell that keeps the
Olthoi underground, including the most virulent of all, the Queen.
The Hive she inhabits was blocked off by the spell of the Menhirs.

So all was as it should be, for thousands of years.  Then those
pesky Isparians (the players) decided to take adventure holidays
on Marae Lassel.  Apparently the Queen not only had simmering
ambition to eliminate all non- Olthoi life forms from the island,
but also she had uber loot and gave massive experience when
killed.  Pretty obvious what happened next!

The players have to get to the Queen, which means breaking the
Menhir spell.  The key to this in game, is again in the Lore.  The
Menhirs were constructed by the Aun Tumerok tribe, after their war
with the Hea tribe.  The Hea saw the Menhirs not as a protective
ward against the Olthoi, but as symbols of triumph built by the
haughty Aun.  They devised a magical device which could destroy
these pretentious monoliths... a bell!

The bell is constructed from pieces found in dungeons scattered
around Marae.  Five are needed, one for each Menhir ring.  On
handing a bell to one of the Aun guards, the unsuspecting NPC
rings the bell - and its spell breaks the Menhir ring.

There are three outcomes to this.  First, the bell-user is banned
from the Aun towns forever (no real surprise there).  Second, the
spell withholding the Olthoi from the surface weakens, and those
Olthoi that dwell on the surface of Marae (the survivors of the
Aun banishment) swarm in number, in readiness for the emergence of
their Queen.  Providing, incidentally, plenty more experience and
loot for the Isparians.  Finally, when all five Menhir rings are
shattered, the Queen Hive is open to the marauding Isparians, and
the Queen spawns inside the depths of it.

She ain't no ordinary Olthoi, and she is guarded by a host of
high-end Olthoi Royal Guard and Brood Nobles, plus the charming
Eviscerator Olthoi.  Lots and lots and lots of them.  This part of
the quest is only open to players of level 70 or over, and from
what I've read of it even a group of five players can be skewered
quickly in the dungeon.  But it was never meant to be easy was it?
The reward for the player who offs the Queen, is a spiffy title -
Queenslayer - great gobs of experience (as in millions, the sort
of experience that it would take WEEKS to obtain hunting the next
most experience-rich monster type), and an impressive Queen Head
plaque to hang on the wall of your house.

House?

Yes, house.  As well as Marae Lassel, the AC:DM addon features
player housing.  This is an innovation that the new CEO brings
from Ultima Online, and one which was understandably met with wild
cheers from the 'peanut gallery' (the player base).  Houses are
available in three sizes - Cottage, Villa, and Mansion.  Each has
a fixed price, with the Mansion of course being the most
expensive.  To get any property, you must have at least one Writ
of Refuge.  The method of getting a Writ changes; in the first
month of AC:DM, you would find and slay a monster that yielded an
artifact.  A non-player character called the Agent of the Arcanum
would then exchange it for a Writ.

A few months later that changed, and players had to submit a
crafted item to the Agent.

Additionally (!) to obtain a house you have to provide a specific
monster trophy or craft item - a golem heart one month, a crafted
hide coat the next.  Finally, of course, you have to stump up a
wedge of hard- earned cash.

Thus, by changing the house purchase requirements monthly, Turbine
have made house buying into a quest in its own right.

But didn't all the houses get bought up in the first month?  Well
yes, at least the 1500 per server that were available.  Realising
perhaps that there would be an enormous land grab when AC:DM went
retail, the devs have instead opted to introduce more housing each
month.  The houses themselves are placed on the landscape, but are
only made available to buy at random intervals.  Players without a
house now 'camp' newly-placed dwellings, waiting for the
server-wide Agent of the Arcanum message to confirm that this
desirable property is now ready for purchase.

It's a nice system, not immune to flaws though.  A third-party
application was developed weeks after AC:DM opened, that enables a
player to log in his character by a new house, and periodically
check the house status.  Once the status switches to 'Available'
the program automatically instructs the toon to buy the house.
All with the real-life player away from keyboard, at work, down
the pub or whatever!  Naturally, those players who disdain the use
of such apps are upset that the available houses are being snapped
up by, for want of another phrase, mindless robots.

So you got your house.  What do you do with it?  Well, the first
thing I did with mine was to bring my mules to it.  A mule is one
of your (five) characters that isn't used to adventure, but
instead to hold all the loot that your main characters can't
carry, either because of weight, lack of inventory space, or
because the item is very valuable but drops on death.  Turbine
thankfully provide a command, 'house recall' that transports
players on your account to your home.  So I have two such mule
characters sitting in front of the fire, roasting their tootsies,
immobile due to the loot cramming up their backpacks.

Secure muling!  That is a feature that players have clamoured for
since AC was introduced.  Prior to AC:DM, you either had to mule
by (a) buying a second account, (b) having a trustworthy friend,
or (c) dropping stuff on the ground and hoping it didn't decay or
was stolen whilst you logged out your main, and logged in your
mule.  More BMW'ing was done on the webboards as people had their
prized possessions whipped out from under them by a thief, lag, or
a server crash.

Houses can also be decorated.  Some decorations are buyable, or
you can put your possessions up on the wall - a shiny shield, for
instance.  Finally there are quests for house decorations too,
such as an ornate fountain that I have to say looks very
impressive indeed.

Each house also has a chest in which you can store up to 20 items,
including a backpack, which brings the storage capacity to 37
total.  However the code is buggy - a lot of people have lost
valuables in these chests, and though Turbine are working hard at
rectifying the bugs, they persist to this day.  So myself, I only
use the chest for house maintenance.

House maintenance... well, each month you must pay a sum of cash
to keep your house in good order.  This is easily done, you access
the house sign and if it says 'Current maintenance has not been
paid', throw 30,000 pyreals into your bottomless pit.  Just like
real life.

That in a nutshell is AC:DM.  As upgrades go, it is pretty good in
my opinion.  My main character spends by far the majority of
online time on the new island, hunting for experience and quest
items.  He's at a level now where he can help my allegiance
friends by collecting quest items for them. Then when he is
clogged up with goodies, a simple @house recall later the best
stuff is sitting on a mule.  A portal hop later and it's back to
Marae for more slaughter, exploring, and adventure.

AC is still my favourite MMORPG by far.  2002 promises Shadowbane
and AC2 however.  It's going to be an interesting year!












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