Westwood, Mass. - February 26, 2001- Turbine Entertainment Software, a leading developer of Internet-based massively multi-player (MMP) PC and video games, has announced that it has signed a contract with Microsoft to produce a sequel to the highly successful massively multiplayer RPG, Asheron's Call.

"We're delighted to announce this news," exclaimed Production Director, David Bowman. "Not a day goes by where I'm not asked whether or not we're working on it. It's a relief to finally say 'Yes, we are in production on a sequel to Asheron's Call!'" At this time, Microsoft and Turbine have not announced a potential release date or final name for the title.

With development well underway, Turbine has continued hiring artists, designers, and programmers to contribute to the sequel in addition to continuing content being developed for the original Asheron's Call. "We're expanding operations to handle these projects, both in terms of employees and our facilities," said Bowman. "Because of the resources needed to create MMP games like Asheron's Call, we've been looking at new facilities to accommodate our growth. Recently, we decided on a nearby site for our new headquarters and should be settled in by early March."

Turbine will be showing The Turbine Engine 2.0 (TTE2.0) - the core client and server tech behind the sequel to Asheron's Call - at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose this March. "It's the first time we've felt comfortable showing the technology powering our next generation of games to potential competitors," said Michael Steele, Tech VP. "In private showings to other game developers, the demonstration of the engine's power and flexibility have literally taken their breath away."

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.

It all begins with meetings with the content team, and the designers propose quests and feature changes, and we kick the ideas around. We all contribute, and we end up with an art task list that is needed for the month. I then look at it, estimate the time I can steal from the other artists, and if I can get some of their time we try to do more than if I have to do it all myself. Then I write up the task list and we get going. We sketch up concepts for new weapons, creatures, whatever. Then we run those by the design team, and work begins once they approve the sketches.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Due to low submissions we are now reinstating the mote contest! If you send a photo of yourself for the album between now and February 15th, you will be entered into a drawing for a free mote! Remember, you must be on Solclaim and it must be a picture of YOU, not your in-game character or something else. I will announce later if there will be more drawings for previous entries.

Thanks to AC Corner for picking this up.

Valentine's Day approaches, when a young warrior's heart turns from carnage to more romantic pursuits. One of the most popular features of Asheron's Call remains its social aspect -- and as a result, we know Dereth is filled with great romance stories!

In observance of Valentine's Day, we want to hear about your own romantic AC experiences. Made a connection with someone in Dereth that evolved into a full-blown romance off-line? Do you play with your partner, and has it helped or hurt your relationship? Tell us about it, and your tale of true love (or true woe) could appear here on the AC site! Please keep all submissions to 300 words or less, PG-rated, and send them to website@asheronscall.com by February 6, 2001. If we decide to use your story, we'll notify you and may follow-up for additional details.

Guess folks were hoping to become the first person to hit level 2!