Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny

by Turbine

Product Features

• 2nd major expansion to online massively multiplayer fantasy RPG Asheron's Call
• Epic storyline; defeat would-be rulers; beautiful 3D fantasy world
• More immersive than ever with completely upgraded graphics engine
• Uncover new depths of mystery and experience new heights of excitement
• For players of all levels

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007PFI46
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: July 18, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,346 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #91 in Video Games > PC Games > Role-Playing
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Introducing Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny, the second major expansion to the classic online massively multiplayer fantasy RPG Asheron's Call. Boasting a completely upgraded graphics engine, the game is more immersive than ever. An epic storyline pits players against the encroaching menace of the Viamontians, a new race bent on conquering all of Dereth. In their battle to defeat these would-be rulers, the people of Dereth will uncover new depths of mystery and experience new heights of excitement. For players of all levels.

What is Asheron's Call?

The online role-playing game Asheron's Call is where thousands of players inhabit a beautiful 3D fantasy world to make friends and seek out perilous adventure. Customize your alter ego with a unique appearance and balance of heroic skills, then enter a magical frontier of terrible monsters, breathtaking vistas, and fast alliances. With over 500 square miles that offer ever more wonders to explore, Asheron's Call gives you a world of unparalleled scope and freedom, the richest setting yet for creating your personal saga or joining your friends in an epic campaign.

Detailed Features:

The sun sets in a fine shroud of mist, reddening the stucco of a cheery hilltop inn as wind sighs through the groves; in the mountains, a giant banderling shadows a warrior party amid a lulling patter of snow; and somewhere below the flagstones of the deepest Empyrean excavation, the clicking, chittering Olthoi share mad and bloody dreams. Fond human fantasies meet strange nightmares in the magical realm of Dereth. Escape into 500 square miles of hills, mountains, deserts, forests, towns, and dungeons, where no invisible boundaries interrupt your journey over the vast open spaces. With or without the stunning effects of 3D hardware acceleration, your computer becomes the window on a living world. Storms sweep the countryside, the sun sinks into the west, the moons rise and fall, and dawn creeps over the horizon.

Asheron's Call develops a heroic fantasy setting familiar enough to draw you in yet mysterious enough to draw you onward. A varied host of monsters populate the benighted, medieval terrain; mysterious artifacts of great power embellish vast treasure hoards; and sorcerers, fighters, and rogues plot both heroic alliances and base villainy. However, Asheron's Call retains a strong flavor all its own, with an original backstory and creatures, and unparalleled flexibility in character creation and development. After selecting your attire and facial features from millions of possible combinations, customize your skill set to make your character truly unique. As you defeat foes, you can allocate experience to not only specific skills but also the base attributes like strength and intelligence. And the allegiance system grants you power and prestige as you recruit followers to your service. Enter the vast and magical world of Dereth, where a new and heroic identity awaits you!

Product Description

The second major expansion to the classic online massively multiplayer fantasy RPG Asheron's Call. Boasting a completely upgraded graphics engine, the game is more immersive that ever. An epic storyline pits players against the encroaching menace of the Viamontians, a new race bent on conquering all of Dereth. In their battle to defeat these would be rulers, the people of Dereth will uncover new depths of mystery and experience new heights of excitement. For players of all levels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ah, Like Eating A Plain Potatoe, August 1, 2005

By 

Wisconsin Dad (Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny (CD-ROM)

I have been an Asheron's Call player for 5 years, and having witnessed the deterioration of the game I love from a thriving community into a desolate world, I had few expectations for the expansion pack, Throne of Destiny.

For those players who have spent any time in AC and are thinking of returning, the Throne of Destiny content is simply more (extremely) high level content. There is a new land mass, and some new XP rich dungeons, and a couple new quests, etc. In my opinion, there is very little value in what is provided. Yes, Turbine released a new land mass, but they had over 5 months without providing their customer base with monthly updates to do so.

And the new graphics update? It's ok. The textures are improved, but the feel of AC remains the same. The graphics aren't going to suck any new players into the game, and won't cause returning players to be so *in awe* that any large quantity of them will stay and play for 6 months.

The game, and the devs, is still the same. Player vs. Player is actually on life support now due to the new augmentation gems. It is even harder for a melee to kill a mage. And with high level mages having melee defense, forget about it!

If you have never played Asheron's Call I would urge you to reconsider purchasing this product. There are very few under level 100 (yes, you read that right) players to explore the vast amount of dungeons and quests available to you. Towns are empty, and most allegiances are sparse. There is little online community. I would wager half the server population at any given time is bots...macro bots, trade bots, buff bots, portal bots.

Asheron's Call is a game that got away from the developers. Early on, the dev team began providing content and altering game play for the betterment of uber players in the form of XP farming dungeons are mega-loot. The more this occurred, the faster the game, and its social aspects died.

All that remains of Asheron's Call now are the elite players who live online. There is little to no community in game. Throne of Destiny will not alter this reality, it merely adds more fuel to the already raging fire that killed AC.

Don't spend your money. It will be bargain bin in a month. The game is dead. And one more note...this game is being kept alive by a 3rd party application: Decal. That will give you a hint about the development team's feeling towards exploits and cheats.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Game, Wonderful community, December 11, 2005

By 

Susan Beals Smith "Marnie One Shot" (Johnson City, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny (CD-ROM)

I've been playing AC for going on 5 years now. I have many friends in the game, and am a member of a very active clan.

Seems like nobody plays AC without having passionate feelings about it. Even the nay-sayers act like they've had their favorite toy trifled with, and are bitterly disappointed.

The game is very well balanced with tons of content for all levels. It has exciting, heart pounding quests, and hunting for solo or group play. And there are a lot of people that play the game for the purely social aspect. Camaraderie abounds in my and other clans.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah, sweet Asheron..., September 6, 2007

By 

Skyla Grimes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny (CD-ROM)

Asheron's Call, my one true love. This game, in its almost 8 years of wonder, now has over 80 monthly content updates. Every month, the Turbine team provides us with brand new content and a developing story line which can involve people of all levels. Sure, the graphics aren't great but what this game lacks in Poly's it definaely makes up for textures. Sunrises and sunsets, cathedrals, mysterious dungeons, seasons, unknown monsters...all things that make this game unique.

When you start character creation, you are immersed into a customization that you have never before seen. Your level 1 mage doesn't look like everyone else's level 1 mage, your clothing color choice has varying options, your race has very specific skills alotted to it. It is the most in-depth customization that I have ever experienced and I have played more MMOs than I can count on both hands. You can put points into 7 sttributes, and from there spend credits on figuring out what skills you want.

You enter into a training ground, which takes you step by step through some of the major AC interactions. You leave the training hall at level 5 with the ability to immediately obtain armor and quests from nearby NPCs. You can also join in global chat channels right away and start looking for help from this extremely friendly and close-knit community.

There ARE faults with Asheron's Call, I won't lie. The server populations are low, there are some serious jerks around sometimes, and thrid party applications seem to run rampant. What this game NEEDS is new players who are willing to take the time to get into it and enjoy it with people who can show them the ropes.

I am an AC player of 7 years. I have never ever found a better game, or made better friends in an online game. There is so much to offer than I can't begin to type it all here. One thing I can say though: Just try it. Turbine now has a 14-day free trial and if you dont like it, you don't have to keep playing! You are not commited. But if you do the trial, they only charge you $12.95 and thats for the game and the first months subscription!! You will be immersing yourself into a world like you have NEVER seen. Ignore the nay-sayers. If you love thinking outside the box, things that are out of the norm, try AC.

--Ruhelos Seele, Thistledown.