Turbine to purchase Asheron's Call, expansion announced

[KiTA]

Official AC site on Turbinegames (http://ac.turbinegames.com/)
Full Press Release on Turbinegames (http://ac.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=139)
Letter from the AC1 and 2 Producer (http://ac.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=136)
Letter from the AC live team (http://ac.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=138)
Gamespot's take on it (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/asheronscall/news_6085702.html)

Ibn's (AC's version of Absor) post on the largest AC fan board about it. (http://vnboards.ign.com/AC_General_Board/b5141/61266443/?80)


back in the day, when Turbine made AC, they had to delay it because of lack of resources and finally MS stepped up to the plate, purchased it, and released it while hiring Turbine to program for it.

Now Turbine is going to purchase it back from MS.

There's a few cool things about this.

1. While the MS guys on this side were really, really, cool, a lot of the higher ups in MS did some questionable things. For example, if I remember the story right, Turbine said that they had a fix for Unattended Combat Macroing ready for like 6 months, but MS refused to let them do anything about it because they didn't want to lose any customers. They finally were able to when the number of people leaving the game cause of it outnumbered the number of people buying secondary accounts just to macro up to max level.
2. Turbine also officially announced a graphics update expansion in the letters. (AC1 that looks like AC2? WOOT!!!)
3. Turbine taking control of AC2 means that they *might* be able to salvage some of it. The way I understand it, AC2 was largely MS's fault. ;)
4. Turbine owning the game means no more Microsoft Gaming Zone. WOOT WOOT WOOT.

[Edit: Fixed typo]

[Volas]

Too little, FAR too late.. that game was a total flop from the word "go" Even though Microsoft technically "led" the project, Turbine still developed the game, and it was a horrible idea. The ONY reason Microsoft is even selling it is because they realize what a total flop the game is compared to other titles out there, and upcoming releases. Because of that, im sure turbine got the rights for a song.

[KiTA]

Er, you've never played Asheron's Call 1, have you?

They got *both* AC1 and AC2. Not just AC2. That's important, since AC1 is still a goldmine. :)

AC2, while it has it's problems, is slowly getting better with the monthly patches. AC1 on the other hand, has been great for several years. And with the announced Graphics overhaul planned for AC1, that means that even more people will be playing it. =)

And who knows, they might be able to retrofit AC2 with some new ideas that might make it a bit better. Giving characters more stats than HP/MP/Endurance/EXP Level might be a good start. ;)

[Naryn]

Sounds interesting. I found it amusing that my best friend, who has disliked every MMRPG I've talked him into playing, actually loved Asheron's Call 2 and got rather far for himself.

Mebbe they did so good of a job making it for newbie players and those who didn't have a lot of time that the rest of us just couldnt' stand it hehe.

[Landsknecht]

Heh, I tried the AC2 15 day trial and it REALLY feels and plays like a single player game. You are led from point to point by the story and it feels like you have no choice but to follow the path that it lays out to you. A do like the crafting system though.