Over the past year, Asheron’s Call, and the Massively Multi-Player Online Gaming (MMPOG) genre as a whole, has undergone some impressive changes, growing by leaps and bounds. Naturally, we are ecstatic about the growth in activity and awareness. However, our growth has precipitated the need to evolve the way we provide community support to our players. To this end, beginning with our February update, we will make some changes to benefit our community infrastructure.

Beginning February 15, we will be making some changes to our community support infrastructure that will enable us to guarantee players that trained, full-time professionals will be available to answer community concerns. This new infrastructure will be referred to as the Community Support Service (CSS). This means that the Sentinel and Chancellor programs are now discontinued; and on Thursday, February 15, the Advocate program will be discontinued as well. Microsoft would like to thank all these volunteers for their dedication to the players of Asheron’s Call.

The new CSS model is an important part of Asheron’s Call and the MMPOG genre ’s future. Initially, this support team will be available to you from Noon to Midnight PST, 7 days a week. Players will be able to contact the Support Administrators by using the “Report Abuse” or “Urgent Assistance” buttons ingame. You will be able to recognize a support Administrator by the “+Admin” in front of their character name.

Everyone plays an important role in a strong community and we will continue to encourage those who wish to help their fellow players. To facilitate this, we will be introducing a new emote in February, so any player who wants to help others can alert players in a local area. We will also continue our dedication to providing the tools and support necessary for a prospering MMPOG community. We believe the changes we are making are the next logical steps for supporting a MMPOG community, and hope to see you in Dereth!

Ken Karl
Program/Community Manager – Asheron’s Call
Microsoft Corp.

GameSpyDaily: In Korea, what was the highest number of players that were able to log on to a RedMoon Online Server?

Kevin Hannah: We see an average of 5,000 concurrent players per day in Korea playing on 5 logical servers (each made up of 6 to 7 physical servers). The maximum we've seen on one server is 2,000.

GameSpyDaily: How many servers will be available for the U.S. version of RedMoon (upon its official retail launch)?

Kevin Hannah: When we start commercial service next month we will have 1 logical server (consisting of 7 physical servers), with a plan to add 2 more as we progress through the year.

You can see the rest of the interview here.

Honestly, I was thrilled to see the online game tutorial. I always find tutorials helpful because of the "hands-on" gameplaying experience you get early on. Also, available in the game interface is a help button at the bottom. It pops-up a window with a basic help guide and chat commands. You would think with all this 'help stuff,' I would have sailed through gameplay. Unfortunately, I found the game hard to adapt to in the beginning because of a lack of true understanding of how to play the game on my part.

I didn't realize how important specific abilities were to the success of the advancement of my character through levels. I made many mistakes that I ended up learning by either 'trial and error' or from seeing helpful comments in the chat window.

You can read the rest of the preview here.

With the possibility for illegality present CCP have come up with a cunning way of keeping players inline. They have integrated a security system whereby each player has their own security status, which depending on their actions in the game will be modified accordingly. Your security status is important because if it falls too low then you will be restricted from various weapons or information that you might want or have a bounty placed on your head. The good news is that you can raise your security status over time by being a good space citizen or by performing voluntary service.

Read the rest of the revolutionary concepts here.

Technically, the online aspect of the game is masterfully done. Even with the system's 56K modem, any lags, framerate drops and disconnects were negligible, even in a battle with four players and more than a handful of monsters. The only noticable pause occurs when a new player joins the crew. SonicTeam should be commended for designing an incredibly complex game that works online without a hitch.

Graphically, PSO is impressive, though not to the level of Shenmue or Skies of Arcadia. The game benefits greatly from well-modelled characters, detailed textures, and a believable high-tech world. The soundtrack is somewhat disappointing, as the series' legendary reputation for music is not lived up to despite fitting the action well. A mix of decent ambient msuic and well done orchestral songs, the score manages a few memorable moments, including an the opening medley that gives tribute to Phantasy Star II.

You can read the rest of the review here.