Five years of Asheron's Call
Nov. 12th, 2004 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchI can't believe it's been that long...
Sadly, I can't claim to have been playing since the beginning.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rackham got to play in the Beta, and I'd often watch over his shoulder, commenting on how fun it looked and how it probably wasn't my sort of game... and it really wasn't, I'm much more fond of side-scrolling platform games or puzzle games. Yet Rackham kept trying to get me to play... he volunteered one of his character slots so I could try it out, and after I created a character and never played again, he signed me up with an account of my own. That did the trick.
The difference was in the gameplay... when I was trying it with one of his character slots, I was playing alone. When I had my own account, we could play together... and *that* was incredibly fun. I remember Valentine's Day, right after he'd managed to get me hooked, we went out for a quick dinner at Cucina Presto, came home and played Asheron's Call together for five hours. The funny thing was that later I would try to recall what we'd done for Valentine's Day that year, and I'd have a clear memory of running down the beach together. It wouldn't be until I remember the part about killing Gromnies between Eastham and the portal to Arwic that it would suddenly come rushing back that the fun, romantic date had been virtual (or at least I certainly hope we weren't killing gromnies somewhere on the coast of Washington state that day, if for no other reason than it would have been incredibly cold).
We don't play that often anymore, but it's still a lot of fun to hop in from time to time and go on quests with the rest of the Allegiance. I've got a whole gang to play with, consisting mostly of my husband, my sister-in-law, and various friends who now live all over the country. I've met a few people in-game, but for the most part, I've enjoyed it a lot more when playing with people I already know.
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the game, today all of the characters were gifted with another round of toys. You read that correctly... our virtual selves have virtual collectible action figures. Do the folks at Turbine know their customer base, or what? The last round was a few years back and gave us, among others, Pack Drudges, Pack Olthoi, Plush Tuskers and, best of all, the Pocket Grievver (which led to the catchphrase "Do Not Taunt Happy Pocket Grievver"). This time, they've come up with some really cool virtual toys like the Pack Ancient Olthoi Queen and the Pack Bael'Zharon (Rackham keeps calling him Bael'Zh'Buddy). There will be much swapping in the next few weeks, and I know Rackham is probably going to try to get a full set, just like he did with the last batch.
I tell you, though, I'd pay good money to get a real life Plush Tusker or Pack Olthoi.
Anyway, if you play AC and you're not someone I already know in-game, look me up sometime. I play on Leafcull under the names Podkayne of Mars, Maureen Birnbaum, Daneel Olivaw, Chrestomanci, and Magnifico Giganticus (and bonus points to anyone who knows where that name is from).
Sadly, I can't claim to have been playing since the beginning.
rackham got to play in the Beta, and I'd often watch over his shoulder, commenting on how fun it looked and how it probably wasn't my sort of game... and it really wasn't, I'm much more fond of side-scrolling platform games or puzzle games. Yet Rackham kept trying to get me to play... he volunteered one of his character slots so I could try it out, and after I created a character and never played again, he signed me up with an account of my own. That did the trick.The difference was in the gameplay... when I was trying it with one of his character slots, I was playing alone. When I had my own account, we could play together... and *that* was incredibly fun. I remember Valentine's Day, right after he'd managed to get me hooked, we went out for a quick dinner at Cucina Presto, came home and played Asheron's Call together for five hours. The funny thing was that later I would try to recall what we'd done for Valentine's Day that year, and I'd have a clear memory of running down the beach together. It wouldn't be until I remember the part about killing Gromnies between Eastham and the portal to Arwic that it would suddenly come rushing back that the fun, romantic date had been virtual (or at least I certainly hope we weren't killing gromnies somewhere on the coast of Washington state that day, if for no other reason than it would have been incredibly cold).
We don't play that often anymore, but it's still a lot of fun to hop in from time to time and go on quests with the rest of the Allegiance. I've got a whole gang to play with, consisting mostly of my husband, my sister-in-law, and various friends who now live all over the country. I've met a few people in-game, but for the most part, I've enjoyed it a lot more when playing with people I already know.
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the game, today all of the characters were gifted with another round of toys. You read that correctly... our virtual selves have virtual collectible action figures. Do the folks at Turbine know their customer base, or what? The last round was a few years back and gave us, among others, Pack Drudges, Pack Olthoi, Plush Tuskers and, best of all, the Pocket Grievver (which led to the catchphrase "Do Not Taunt Happy Pocket Grievver"). This time, they've come up with some really cool virtual toys like the Pack Ancient Olthoi Queen and the Pack Bael'Zharon (Rackham keeps calling him Bael'Zh'Buddy). There will be much swapping in the next few weeks, and I know Rackham is probably going to try to get a full set, just like he did with the last batch.
I tell you, though, I'd pay good money to get a real life Plush Tusker or Pack Olthoi.
Anyway, if you play AC and you're not someone I already know in-game, look me up sometime. I play on Leafcull under the names Podkayne of Mars, Maureen Birnbaum, Daneel Olivaw, Chrestomanci, and Magnifico Giganticus (and bonus points to anyone who knows where that name is from).
