Yep another full day of kings, death and carnage, hopefully of Burun.

The schedule. All times EDT.

King 1 - Reeshan - 12PM
King 2 - Kiree - 1:30PM
King 3 - Broodu - 3:00PM
Break
King 4 - Keerik - 5:00PM
King 5 - Rehir - 6:30PM
King 6 - Browerk - 8:00PM

The rules:

First and foremost have fun. Secondly, be self-sufficient, or if you aren't have yourself a pocket mage to buff you. From when I say buff up, you have 8 minutes. After that we go regardless. We're on a tight time schedule here, sorry. Third, if you haven't previously done all the kings, download the portal and cell dat files from the turbine site and copy them into your game directory. These dungeons are huge downloads, again we are on a tight time schedule anything you can do to help this is appreciated. Please make sure you have all spell components or supplies you will need on you before coming to the dungeons.

Listen to the leaders. Sweet Destiny will be organizing groups and giving the rules. Flandamier, Diogenes, and Willing Wolf will be sweeping the tail. I'll be leading. If the turnout is as expected, there will be lag. Pay attention to what is going on at all times please.

Due to the time constraints, we will not be waiting for second runs if people want to do them. At 11:30 AM I will be making the king channel in LC Chat. At that point if you want to know what is going on, LC chat will be the best place to find out. Type /ijoin #king to get to the channel. Substitute your command character for the first i if you have changed it.

This means that the week prior to the marathon we will not be running kings.

In celebration of the upcoming launch of Asheron's Call 2: Legions, Stratics and Turbine Entertainment bring to you a chance to win some great Asheron's Call 2 prizes!

No need to jump through hoops, nothing to buy, just sign up for a chance to win:

• A Free Lifetime Account to Asheron's Call 2


• 10 Free 1-Year Accounts to Asheron's Call 2


• 25 Signed Boxed Copies of AC2: Legions


• 10 Signed AC2: Legions T-Shirts

Q: What about allegiance swearing? What will you do about the fact that my level 126 character used to be able to have anyone swear to him, but now won't be able to take the same characters as vassals if they're over 126?

A: We're making some major revisions to the requirements for allegiance swearing in order to make it more flexible. After Throne of Destiny launches:

• Any character will be able to swear to any other character, regardless of level.


• If you swear to a character who is lower-level than you, you will not pass up any experience to that character (or the characters above him/her) until that character's level is equal to yours.


• Once you begin passing experience up to your patron (or if you are currently doing so) you won't stop passing experience to your patron, even if you outlevel him or her.


• These changes will be true for all characters, whether or not they purchase Throne of Destiny.

Here are some examples of the new system in action:

• My level 100 character is sworn to Aldryth's level 80 character. I currently pass experience up to him. Nothing will change in AC:TD; I will continue passing experience up to him.


• Meanbeard wants to swear his level 100 character to Aldryth's level 80. Right now, he simply can't do it. After AC:TD, Meanbeard will be able to swear to Aldryth, but he will not begin passing up experience until Aldryth catches up to him. If Aldryth hits level 100 but Meanbeard has gotten to level 105, Meanbeard still will not pass experience to Aldryth. Once Aldryth does catch up to Meanbeard – if Aldryth hits 105 while Meanbeard is still 105 – Meanbeard will begin passing up experience. After that happens, Meanbeard will continue passing experience to Aldryth for as long as Aldryth is his patron, no matter which one is higher in level.

We decided to use this system to create maximum flexibility – in many ways this is even better than the way things work now. For example, right now if I outlevel my patron and then accidentally break from him, I can't re-swear until he catches up to me. Once AC:TD ships, I'll be able to re-swear to him immediately, although I won't pass up experience until he catches up. The new system allows players to focus on the social aspect of the allegiance without being restricted by experience pass-up concerns.


One last note on this topic – Throne of Destiny will also remove the penalty for breaking from your patron. This penalty will be removed from all characters regardless of whether or not they have purchased the expansion pack.

QUOTE
As the wall shifted, Antoine began to smile.


For the last two weeks, he had found nothing, and was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to justify his King's trust in letting him join the expedition. While others had returned with arms full of molding parchment and dusty artifacts, Antoine had yet to make a single discovery. Until today.


Something about the edging on the bas relief had attracted his attention – something made it stand out from the decorative designs surrounding it. After carefully dusting the panel off, Antoine had placed both his hands on it and pushed with all his weight. Slowly, the panel had depressed, until it triggered some unseen switch with a satisfying click. That was when the wall behind Antoine slid out with a slow rumble.


Whoever had built these catacombs had a flair for the dramatic, he had to give them that.

WESTWOOD, Mass. - April 25, 2005 - Turbine, Inc., a leading publisher of online subscription entertainment, announced today that the highly-anticipated massively multiplayer online game Asheron's Call 2: Legions(tm) has gone gold. Legions, the first expansion pack for the graphically ground breaking phenomenon Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings®, arrives on retail shelves throughout North America in May.

After an extensive beta program, including feedback from thousands of online gamers, Turbine has put the finishing touches on the long-awaited expansion pack. The forthcoming game provides players with an ambitious new storyline and content for hours and hours of additional online adventuring. Gamers will get to explore a massive new continent, play an innovative hero system and choose new races including the mystical Empyreans as well as the Drudge.

"The development process has been exciting and fulfilling. Our beta program participants were enthusiastic and full of great suggestions, making it easy to maintain the Turbine tradition of listening to the people that make the franchise so popular," said Tom Nichols, vice president of marketing, Turbine Inc. "As an emerging publisher, this is the first of many top quality titles Turbine plans on delivering. We're sure Asheron's Call 2: Legions will be exciting for those new to Asheron's Call and will exceed the expectations of our long-time fans."

Building on the critically acclaimed franchise, Asheron's Call 2: Legions will feature:

A Massive New Continent
Players can explore the mystical continent of Knorr. The continent adds more than 30 percent to the size of the game world.

New Playable Races
Recalled from portal-space by Asheron himself, players can choose to help the Empyreans rebuild their power on Dereth or toil the land as a Drudge!

300 New Skills and Abilities Added
Players can experience completely new skill trees and hierarchies.

3 New Prestige Classes
These elite classes extend gameplay for the new race by offering special options to high-end players.

Hero System 2.0 Extends Elder Challenge
New skill system and advancement model for high-level characters includes the ability to chain skills for spectacular results in combat.

40+ New Weapons
A wide variety of weapons for all races have been added.

100+ New Quests
Designed for a full span of level ranges, this is practically a full game in itself.

20+ New Dungeons
Players enter these underground lairs of the Olthoi Queen and fight for dominance of Knorr.

10 New Monster Types
These monsters are unique to the world of Knorr and add to the already uniquely creative complement of creature in Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings®.

Engine Upgrades
Major game system improvements enhance performance and smooth the gameplay experience.

Asheron's Call 2: Legions will be distributed across North America by Station Publishing and across Europe by The Codemasters Software Limited.

THE AMAZING SCAVENGER HUNT SPONSORED BY LCC, APRIL 24, 5:00 EDT.

DATE: Sunday, April 24
TIME: 5:00pm EDT
PLACE: Hebian - To Meeting Hall
LEVEL: 35+

LCC will be sponsoring a Scavenger Hunt!! The details are listed below:

At exactly 5:00pm EDT, we will begin handing out an item that contains your first set of instructions. There will be ten locations with ten clues which will ultimately lead you to (the super sexy) Sweet Destiny.

Once you receive your first item go to where the clue leads you. There will be items on the ground by our volunteers at each clue destination. PICK UP ONLY ONE ITEM at each destination. Proceed to where that clue tells you until you have all ten items. Then scurry to where the last clue leads you and open the trade window with Sweet Destiny.

The first person to open a trade window and put in all ten items with Sweet Destiny will be our winner. The second, third, fourth and fifth place winners will be determined by Madaster Mage and Flandamier. They will have an archway of flags for people to run through determining the order in which they arrive at the secret last place. Once it is verified that these people do infact have the ten items, our winners will be announced.

PRIZES

First Place: 100 plats, 20 MMD's or 50 points on the LCC Bot
Second Place: 50 plats, 10 MMD's or 25 points on the LCC Bot
Third Place: 20 points on the LCC Bot
Fourth Place: 15 points on the LCC Bot
Fifth Place: 10 Points on the LCC Bot



IMPORTANT RULES

This is a single event, however if you wish to work with someone that is your choice. Be aware that only one person will receive the reward.

No one is to leave the Meeting Hall until the word is given. If you portal out too early, you will be disqualified.

During the course of the scavenger hunt if you are seen to pick up more than one item you will be disqualified.

Have fun and meet lots of silly people

As most of you know, we have had a problem staying logged in to our forums. Here's the problem in a nutshell and what we're doing about it:

The problem, which I'm calling "the neverending login issue" is exactly that... you find yourself having to login when entering a different forum than the one where you've been active. And, you may have to login again when returning to the original forums where you were just moments ago. This is a cookie problem.

What we're doing about it is changing our cookie logic so that there will be only one cookie stored on your computer for ALL of our Public Forums. Once you've logged into ANY of the Public Forums, the system should remember you when you visit any other Public Forums.

For instance, you log into *** the Asheron's Call Forums and then decide to switch to *** the Star Wars Galaxy Forums***. When you make the switch, you should not have to log in again. And this should remain true for ALL of our Public Forums.

Note that, once this logic is active (and it should be active on all game instances before the end of the current weekend), you will be required to login to any Public Forum you visit. Once you have done that, you should be "good-to-go" for all the rest.

One other note... there will be a separate one time login for any Guild Forums you access. But once again, after having logged in once, you should be covered for ANY other Guild Forums you visit.

New Letter from Jessica posted

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We've just posted a new letter from Jessica Mulligan with two major announcements about Asheron's Call and the development team. Please read the letter, located here.
__________________
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

April Letter from the Team
posted on 22-Apr-2005
It has been a while, hasn't it? I have two messages to deliver to you today:


1: We're pushing the expansion pack launch back. The new launch date is July 18.


There isn't any way to sugarcoat that and you probably like it as little as we do, but there are good reasons for it.


The main reason? As you probably know, we did some closed focus testing with several groups of players last month, in preparation for the upcoming general Player Preview. Before we put the Preview in front of the toughest audience in the world, AC players, we wanted to put the game in front of, well, some of the toughest audience in the world, just to make sure we had the game we thought we had. This seemed only prudent, and we made sure we had players from a wide range of servers, including Darktide.


The upshot is: Boy, are we glad we did that. It was interesting, if your definition of 'interesting' is having your flaws pointed out in graphic detail. The feedback we got from the players was great, very detailed and specific and delivered with tough love. What they told us is that we had some changes to make. And we took that feedback to heart and have started to make some of those changes, but it is going to take some time.


Don't get the idea I'm blaming the delay on the players; if anything, we should have caught some of the issues they noted earlier. As we all know, however, we can all get too close to our babies; that's why you have testing. The testers have improved Throne of Destiny with their comments and we're indebted to them. Besides, I don't know the development team that doesn't want more time to optimize code.


We'll still be having the Player Preview; Ibn will deliver more info on that next week.


2: I'm leaving the AC Team and Turbine. Today is my last day here.


Before the conspiracy theorists drown out the rest of us, this is in no way connected with the launch delay discussed above. In fact, I, among others, lobbied hard to get that delay and the fact that we got it – even though Turbine is going to take a financial hit on marketing and distribution money that has already been spent and a confidence hit with some of your fellow players – should prove that this company is committed to giving you quality. In the old adage of "You can have it good or you can have it Tuesday," the company chose the former. How many times have we seen companies choose Tuesday, instead? It doesn't guarantee a flawless launch, but it does reduce the risks to one and that's the best any of us can hope for.


So, no, the reason I'm leaving isn't about the delay; my reasons are my own and don't involve dark portents. (Remember, the Illuminati have nothing to do with my leaving. No, really. Honest.) In the meantime, you are in good hands with srand as Live Producer, backed up by Ibn, meanbeard, Scenario and the rest of the crew, some of the best developers I've ever worked with. Almost all of them came to the team as AC players – one of you and a part of you, in fact – with years of experience in the game; I don't think any other MMORPG can say that about their Live Team.


I'll still be around the industry, but I'm going to miss the team and I'm going to miss you guys. AC is still my favorite online RPG; I played it long before joining Turbine and I'll be exploring Dereth years from now. For all that a few of you are the most cantankerous players on the face of the earth, as a whole you're the best community I've been part of to date. After nineteen years and being part of more MMOGs than perhaps anyone in the industry, that's saying something. It has been a privilege to serve you, truly.


And who knows? Maybe one day I'll actually make it out of the Training Academy on Darktide without getting ganked.


- Jessica


Use this thread to discuss and ask questions about the Throne of Destiny launch delay.


Use this thread to say goodbye to Jessica.

Event - Uninscribe

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Uninscribe events for Thursday 21st of April, Friday the 22nd of April and Saturday 23rd of April and Sunday 24th of April.

I have tried to stagger the times on each world to allow European, East Coast and Pacific time zone players a chance to attend at least one event.

Location will be the Holtburg Meeting Hall
Strict duration of 30 mins at each location to allow +Leo's to move around.

We will be on each world at various times on those days, on Saturday and Sunday we will be on all worlds a few times throughout the entire day and night to accomadate all players.

Watch for the Global messege from the +Leo telling you to attend.

This event is for players to bring an item that they want an inscription removed from. We ask that you limit the amount of item's so that we have time to assist everyone.

Thank you
__________________
+LeM Kyoshi
Live Events Team Manager
AC 1 / USA

AC:TD Where in Dereth contest on Warcry

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WarCry Crossroads of Dereth has just launched a Where in Dereth contest, challenging you to identify locations based on how they look in the new Throne of Destiny client. The winner will receive a Launch Kit -- t-shirt, mug, thermos, and CD-ROM with AC:TD screenshots and the opening movie!

Check out the contest at WarCry Crossroads of Dereth!
__________________
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

Turbine Job Fair!

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Here is your opportunity to work with the online video game leaders at Turbine!

Are you a hardcore gamer local to New England? Are you 18 years of age or older? Do you need a job with flexible hours? Well, then you are invited to attend Turbine’s 2005 Job Fair!

When: 10 am – 3 pm, Saturday, April 30th, 2005
Where: Boston Marriott Cambridge
2 Cambridge Center (Broadway & 3rd Street)
Cambridge, MA 02142
Why: Cuz you have l33t skillz and want to work for a l33t company

We’re filling a number of part-time and full-time positions, so brush up your resume and visit our information page to learn more about this exciting opportunity!
__________________
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

Are you an old-time Dungeons and Dragons player? Do you remember the game with fond nostalgia? Join us tonight, Thursday, April 14th, for Dungeons and Dragons Online's very first Developer Chat which we are hosting in a Stratics House of Commons(tm!) This first HoC will be at 5pm PST / 8pm EST / midnight UTC/GMT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer.
Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado


• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado


• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany


• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here.
You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

Do join us for this inaugural chat and for the ones to come. Come armed with your questions about this online world of Eberron. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Stratics is pleased to announce next week's House of Commons chats. We have a star studded line-up coming up:

• Monday, April 11th - Planetside, 5pm PST / 8pm EST / Midnight UTC/GMT
  
• Wednesday, April 13th - Star Wars Galaxies, 5pm PST / 8pm EST / Midnight UTC/GMT
  
• Thursday, April 14th - Dungeons and Dragons Online, 5pm PST / 8pm EST / Midnight UTC/GMT
  
  
  

  You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite
  IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.
  stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:
  

  
  
  • irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado
  
  
  • stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
  
  
  • irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
  
  
  • stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta
  
  
  
  

  You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

  
  
  
  
  

Stratics is pleased to bring you an interview with Susan Barnes, the Managing Editor of SoE Worlds Magazine.

How did this project get started? Whose brain child was it? How did you feel when approached to handle this project (assuming it was not your brain child.)


The idea for it came from the folks at PC Gamer magazine. They know games better than anyone else, and they have tons of great ideas.



When I was approached about this project, I was thrilled. The opportunity to work with the top gaming magazine company, as well as with SOE, which is the top MMORPG company, was just too good to pass up.

An Introduction to Codemasters' Community Manager

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Satine, Codemasters' Community Manager. In her own words!

---
My name is Sam 'Satine' Russell, the community manager for Codemasters' MMORPG titles. Some of you may know me already!

As you are probably aware, Codemasters are bringing Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny and Asheron's Call 2: Legions expansion packs to Europe. We're thrilled to be a part of these award-winning games' history and progress - so far it's been a real pleasure to work with the Turbine guys and gals.

Why am I here then? Calandryll, Ramen, Ibn and I thought it would be a good idea if I popped my head into here every now and then so that I could answer any questions regarding the European distribution of the titles. I hear that there are a fair few queries already! I hope to allay some of your fears and ultimately bring you the information you require. I won't attempt to answer questions relating to the game as you have several veritable experts here already! In fact, I am looking forwards to spending much more time playing the games myself as I feel I missed out the first time around. I may even have some questions of my own to post!

Let's get down to business. I'll start off by giving you the following information:

1 - You will be able to get your hands on the special pre-order/bonus packs in Europe, yes Here's what the European versions come with:

Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny: you'll get a great bonus DVD disk with the cinematic trailer, not only that, for each character you have on your account, including ones you may create with the expansion, you'll receive a special item. Two different powerful gems with permanent enchantments are available to be awarded to characters: Asheron's Benediction provides a 10% health boost that lasts 24 hours per activation, while Blackmoor's Favor increases a character's natural armor rating by 50 points for 24 hours per use. Both of these enchanted gems can be combined with other spells and items to gain even more benefit.

For Asheron's Call 2: Legions you'll get a CD with a whole host of exclusive goodies such as MP3 sound tracks, artwork and screenshots. However, the pièce de résistance will be a special code, which will enable you to claim your right to an extra playable race! This special feature allows players to experience the world of Dereth as a Drudge character for the first time ever. This new feature is one of the most requested in the history of the game, and is available exclusively to people who get the bonus disk!

2 - Different countries' retailers will be using different methods - for example in one country the retailer might decide to do offer the pre-order pack before the release, which you can take away with you to enjoy, whereas another might give you the bonus pack as a gift at time of purchasing the full retail version. Unfortunately we are still waiting to get full confirmation back from our retailers regarding which methods they will be using and on what dates they will be making them available. We are assured that we will receive this information by next week at the latest.

3 - Shortly after getting these details from our retailers we will be issuing a newsletter which will list where and when you will be able to get your copy in Europe. To sign up to receive our newsletter please head over to http://www.codemasters.com/codemprogram/joinup.php Be sure to specify your interest in Role Playing Games / MMORPG by ticking the relevant tick box!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Kind regards,

Sam 'Satine' Russell
Community Liaison Manager
Codemasters Software Limited
www.codemasters.com
----

Give us your feedback on this introduction or ask questions about European distribution.
__________________
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by Ibn : Yesterday at 09:32 PM.

We've just posted the next chapter in the Throne of Destiny lore, The Execution.

Quote:
He was falling. It was dark and he was falling. The wind roared past his ears. His stomach felt hollow and queasy. Other than that, there was no sensation at all. He had no concept of time or place. All he knew was that he had been falling for years, and as far as he could tell, he was going to fall for many more. He thought that after years of falling through blackness, he would have grown used to the sensation, perhaps even welcomed it. But no. It was still as terrifying now as it was when the fall began.

Read it here.
Give us your feedback here.
__________________
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

Scattered reports of Isparians encountering strange new creatures, particularly in the northwest of Dereth, continue to come in.

What lurks in the mind of one of these raiders? Find out in Discovery:

He stepped into the portal and was thrust into portal space. He had not known this place for many years. Many... years? Was that true? Could he trust this feeling? He was dimly aware of some memory of this nauseating weightless place. Some memory of following his king - prince - general to an uncertain future. He struggled to recall the meat of the memory, but all that would come was some fleeting shadow.

Read the article here.

Give us your feedback here.



---
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

State of the Network updated

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The State of the Network has just been updated with two brief periods of planned downtime, tomorrow and again on Tuesday April 12.
__________________
Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

Upcoming Server Downtimes
Wednesday April 6, 7:00AM - 7:30AM PDT
Login servers will be unavailable during this time as we perform maintenance in preparation for the Throne of Destiny launch.

Tuesday April 12, 6:00AM - 8:00AM PDT
All worlds will be brought down to perform scheduled hardware maintenance.

Stratics is pleased to announce a House of Commons with the developers of
Planetside today. Monday, April 4th. It will be at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT in the
#StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC. As usual, Samhayne will be attendance
together with a couple of other Devs.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite
IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.
stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado


• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany


• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta


• irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.