Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Welcome to the Asheron's Call overview video.
before I even go into anything, I want to answer a common question that a player might ask...
when they're choosing a massive multiplayer online game (MMORPG)
Why Asheron's Call?
there are tons of MMORPG's out there that now have more updated graphics, more players...
and features that Asheron's Call isn't even capable of replicating
Well... here's why.
Movement
This is a big one, your character's run, jump, and range of motion is not fixed.
Yeah, other games have this feature to a degree, but Asheron's Call goes much, much further than this...
and it's one of my favorite features of this game.
Your run and jump are dictated by actual skills in the game, which means that if you're not satisfied with...
how fast your character can run, or how high and far they can jump, you can always work to change this.
This is important because these skills can mean the difference between surviving, and dying horribly.
Take projectiles for example, a skilled player can effectively dodge ranged attacks (including magic based ones)
by strafing and moving out of the line of fire which isn't always easy especially if you're surrounded.
This really adds a skill element to the game because if you can control your character right, you can defeat monsters
far above your level, and you get rewarded immensely for it.
That said, this game actually has a Y-axis to it. Most other MMORPG's are restrictive as far as movement goes...
but in Asheron's Call (AC), you'll find yourself jumping across floating platforms...
accurately navigating dungeons with dangerous pits...
and there are times when you'll have opportunities to take advantage of your environment to gain the
upper-hand in combat.
Again, how skilled you are as a player is rewarded in this game, not just how high level your character is.
Simply said, learning the way movement works if vital for any player.
This unique design allows for many different stragegies.
For instance, you can perch your archers or mages on a raised platform to safely fire down on your opponents...
while your more heavily armored allies attack from below.
No classes
That's right, there are no classes in Asheron's Call.
You can mix and match any set of skills that you want, that best suits your playstyle.
You are not stuck with a cookie-cutter choice that is made for you, so the character that you play...
is really your own unique creation.
If you decide later that you want one skill over the other, you can even change that too.
Swarms of monsters!!
Can you recall in any other MMORPG where you were surrounded by over 40 monsters
determined to pick you apart and kill you horribly... and survived??
I think not.
Player made programs
Asheron's Call actually allows you to use programs created by other players...
to assist you in your travels,
They add features that many players find vital to enhancing their gameplay experience.
These range from dungeon mapping, to selling goods to other players while you're away from your keyboard.
10 years of content
Asheron's Call has existed since 1999.
Since then, over 100 updates have been implemented, each adding new features and quests to the game.
Many people who have played this game since its release have yet to explore everything it has to offer.
Alright, with that said...
let's jump into the details of Asheron's Call.
Story
You really don't need to know the story of Asheron's Call to enjoy it, but the basic idea is that...
Asheron, from a race known as the Empyreans, discovers the lost art of planar magic that allowed use of portals.
Thanks to his student, Gaerlan, and the emperor's insistance on bringing test subjects from other worlds...
a portal to the homeworld of a magic resistant race known as the "Olthoi" was left open,
leaving them free to destroy and pillage whatever they wanted in their path.
There are a bunch of other characters and happenings, but that's something i'd need another video to cover.
Character creation
As I said earlier, you are given free reign on the type of character you wish to make.
The basic idea is that you have your primary attributes, which are. . .
Strength...
Endurance...
Coordination...
Quickness...
Focus...
and Self.
Your secondary attributes, which are your health, stamina, and mana. . .
and your skills.
At the very start of the game you are given a set amount of points to which you can put wherever you want.
It is important to realize the relationship between your primary attributes and your skills.
How many points you put into a certain attribute will dictate how well your character will perform...
at a given level.
Every skill in the game derives it's points from your primary attributes by applying a simple calculation.
For example, if you were to take sword, your base skill would be determined by your Strength+Coord/3.
So, taking this example let's expand on that. . .
Let's say you want to make a sword character and decide to put all of your points into Str, End and Coord.
This would in turn give you an excellent offensive template, and high starting hitpoints and stamina. . .
but the points you did not spend in your other 4 primary attributes will severely hinder your ability to use...
skills that require them.
By this point setup, your character would have mediocre melee defense, a slow run speed. . .
and will only be able to cast trivial spells.
Any skills that you pick up that would require any of those attributes as their base. . .
your character will perform poorly in them for their level.
So, when you're making a character in Asheron's Call, you really have a lot to think about...
and your first character will probably not be your most powerful one.
As a general rule of thumb though, its usually best to only specialize in one weapon skill.
That way, as your character levels and becomes more powerful you can focus all of your points. . .
into that one weapon skill instead of having to divide them among several.
However if you do decide that you want to replace some of your skills or re-allocate your points. . .
that can be done through a special location in the game. This might sound nice but. . .
there are timer restrictions to this, so it might take you a little while before re-allocate the points. . .
to get them to where you want them to be.
When choosing skills you'll notice that there are 4 types. There are untrained, unusable skills. . .
these are skills that you absolutely cannot use unless you train them.
The next type are usable, untrained skills. These are skills you can actually use. . .
and putting points into your primary attributes will still raise these. . .
but your character, in general, will perform very poorly in these skills.
Next up the tier are trained skills. These are skills that you can raise at any time using experience points you earn.
And finally you have your specialized skills. At the cost of a few extra skillpoints, you can make it so that. . .
your specialized skill will cost less experience points to raise. This typically results in your character. . .
being much more proficient in that skill at any given level.
This game is much more simplistic as far as your choice of races and appearance goes.
You can choose from 4 races, each having their own set of free skills that you get.
But typically, its not critical which race you choose so that just leaves you with your character appearence.
Appearence custimization is a pretty simple process. . .
but it does still allow you to customize your character to a wide degree; to make them unique.
You have a set number of hairstyles you can use, you can customize your eyes, nose and mouth which all use. . .
seperate textures to create a unique look.
And you can also set the color of your skin and eyes in order to finalize that personal appearance that you want.
And while you can customize your starting clothing as well, this is not as important because. . .
you can always replace your clothing and probably find some enchanted garb, which will benefit your character.
Finally, you get to pick a starting town. . .
I would do yourself a favor and pick holtburg, because thats the most popular place. . .
and you'll be more likely to run into other people who can help you.
Afterwards just pick a name and you're good to go.
(End of part 1)