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What a flop

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 15
Date: November 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Nobody is buying this game. There are no people in this game. I can't believe how horrid it is. You pick some ugly character to play and then run around killing rats forever. I tried to do a quest but as soon as I got in the dungeon, other players started fighting anything I tried to fight. They were doing just to make me angry.

This must be a game for teenagers that have no parents to teach them manners.

The game is boring and I am sorry I bought it.

An RPG abomination

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 22
Date: November 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I participated in the Beta for AC2 for a couple months, and all I can say is that Microsoft has managed to suck all the life, spirit, and heart out of something that had some promise, if only the problems were fixed -- namely, Asheron's Call (the original).

Everything about this game screams "made for X-Box", starting with the UI or the pitiful excuse for one. The colors are garish and painful on the eyes. Three races, three classes, and no consequences for making a bad character design decision. No trade skills worth using. No differentiation in battle strategies.

The characters don't even make a pretense at looking realistic -- it's as if they stepped straight out of some Anime cartoon. Chat is clumsy (I guess they knew most console gamers don't use keyboards, so there's not going to be much communication in this world).

Combat requires no more intelligence than "initiate, wait for chances to use special attacks, hope your vigor doesn't run out before the creature is dead". In other words, AC2 has made the full transition to being a "twitch" game -- no actual brains required, just a quick set of fingers and thumbs on the game controller.

The geography and game play is such that any experience you had with Dereth (the world in which AC and AC2 takes place) is useless in this new version. The world is much smaller than in AC1.

They didn't even bother to attempt to fix some of the problems from AC1 -- like dealing actively with griefing players and in-game harassment. In other words, if I was a parent, I wouldn't let my child anywhere near this game, because they've very peculiar ideas as to what constitutes adequate supervision and customer support.

A couple years ago, AC had a dedicated team of online volunteers -- all of whom were dumped unceremoniously under fear of lawsuit against MS for back pay under US labor laws (never happened, so the move did nothing more than throw the players to the wolves).

I could go on and on... but the plain fact of the matter is, they blew it. The game is garbage and it left my computer for good about a month ago. I certainly would not waste my time on the retail version.

You have to manage your expectations when playing this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: December 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Excellent game! I've been playing AC1 for 3 years almost, ran a guild, wrote plugins, organized server-wide events, you name it, I've done it... I really hated AC2 in the beta, but it was because I didn't understand it. As I really dug in deeper into it, I realized there is a whole lot of complexity underneath the hood and they just made the entry into the game simple. Sure, there are no stats to pick, and templates to build when you creaet a character... but as you progress and huge skill trees open up to you, and you get to start making TOUGH CHOICES, then it gets fun!
Sure, the game is lacking some things from the first week of release. Just remember, the world is always full of people who like to draw attention to themselves by finding something to complaint about and feel better for belittling other efforts. Patches are coming every month, once a month, and are bringing more quests and monsters and places to hunt at, as well as fixes to balance and bugs. This is what made AC1 shine, this is what will make AC2 shine. Already a first patch in Dec was a strong patch with many balance issues put in place and chat interface fixed, not to mention new quests and items and monsters, and the beginning of the "epic" quest.

Overall, was a game rushed to be in stores for Christmas? Of course... do you know of any game that hasn't been? But overall, AC2 is a stable game, with alot of good quality features, you just need to know that they exist and that they develop into something before you buy that box.

Very very good game, overall. Thanks Turbine!

Outstanding Online Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: December 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm a big fan of games like Diablo II and Neverwinter Nights, so I logically was inclined to buy this game. However, Asheron's Call 2 is a much different game than Neverwinter or other D&D games. This doesn't mean it isn't fun and very stimulating though. Just a warning for those who buy it wanting another Neverwinter Nights.

Asheron's Call 2 is beautiful in every way. The sound is amazing! Music is wonderful and doesn't get on your nerves. The graphics is best of its kind at this point in the game. And, there is little lag or drop-outs like you get in games like Earth&Beyond or the [bad] Everquest.

There is a huge land to explore. It can take hours to walk from one area to the next. In this way, it reminds me of Morrowind. There is so much to explore - you never get bored.

Finally, the best part of the game is the lack of documentation! I love that someone finally understands that we like to figure things out on our own. I'm discovering new things every day.

Buy it and enjoy!

A Real MMORPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: November 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I Played the Beta and let me tell you this is a real MMORPG. The gameplay was great. the use of skills made the fighting aspect of this game interesting and fun. The graphics were beautiful. This is the only MMORPG i have ever played that had a real story line that worked. It is combines roleplaying with PVP perfectly. It is definately a game to buy.

Current beta tester

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: October 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've been testing it for a little over 2 months now.

In good conscious I can't rate it over 3 stars right now, but it is beta. Right now it has several severe flaws, chat, fellowship looting, balance issues & XP flow to name a few. But I have faith Turbine will fix allot of the issues it has, their live team has done wonders with AC1 & I expect them to do even better with AC2. Right now it is very content lite, but it is beta & Turbine has been really good about adding new content monthly with AC1 which will follow into AC2. :p

While I can't give it more then 3 stars now, a couple months after release I'm sure I could give it 4-4 ½ stars in good conscious. :D

It was.... painful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: December 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After forcing myself to spend 5 hours over the span of two days playing this game, I found myself looking forward to getting teeth drilled. First of all, the game has been out for a month, and the servers are empty. (and I MEAN empty, during the 5 cursed hours I subjected myself to this game, I ran into 2 people) Second of all, everyone is the same anyway. You have so few options to customize your character (3 races, 6 classes, very limited weapons and minimal character customization.) Now this is coming from someone who enjoyed 2 years on a MUD and 4 month in DAOC, this game was half done. The graphics are stunning, but the game lacks any real depth. They needed to spend another year adding content and races and enemies. The world is empty, and there are a handful of the same critters everywhere for you to kill.

Ovreall, a good game. But I won't be buying it.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've been beta testing this game, and while it is great overall, there are some problems with the game, one of which is keeping me from buying it.

This problem is the rate of advancement. If you played Everquest, did you think the rate of advancement was way too quick? If so, you'll love AC2.

After level 20, you'll be leveling twice as slow as EQ. After level 30 or 40, that climbs to three times as slow.

In a decent pickup group in EQ, you can level in 5 or 6 hours, up to level 50. In your early 40s in AC2, in a decent pickup group, you'll level every 15 or 16 hours. That doesn't count time spent traveling, chatting, etc. Just pulling and killing.

There's NO indication that this issue is even on Turbine's radar, so I expect the leveling rate we're seeing now in beta to be the rate you'll see in retail.

The advancement rate is my main issue, the one which will keep me from buying the game and the one which caused me to give this game a 1. If they were to fix this problem, I'd give it a 4. If they fixed the other problems I list below, I'd give it a 5.

Here are a few other things to expect:
o No banks, player houses or mounts. These will be added sometime during the first year after the game goes retail.
o No bags, backpacks, or other means of organizing your inventory. You just have one scrolling page of inventory slots.
o Loot rights go to the individual who does the most damage. This applies even in a group. This means that support characters, like healers, will never get loot rights, and will have to depend on whatever the other party members are kind enough to give them.
o You've probably heard about vaults. They take about 5-10 minutes to go through. Seriously. Actually, its closer to 5 minutes than 10.
o Imbalances. Melee, archer and mage types all have the same armor, health (hit points), and, for the most part, damage. Mages have longer ranges than melee, and archers have an even longer range. See any imbalances here? Here's a hint: the player base in beta is roughly 75% archer.
o More on imbalances: PvP has had no significant testing. As of now (Oct 24), their KvK server has only been up for a few hours, and wasn't KvK during that time. They will only bring the KvK server up when they fill up their Red server (currently the only on up) with 3000 people. They announced that almost a week ago. They haven't hit the mark yet. Best case scenario at this point: the game will go live with about a week of serious PvP testing.
o In many cases, the base tree attacks are not usable with the weapons from the specialization trees, so you'll wind up untraining all your base skills when you spec. (Check out a website that has the skills trees listed; there are many such sites. You'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about.)
o For the most part, you can't enter buildings.
o The loot generator gives dull and uninteresting items.

There are a number of bug and content issues, which I expect to be resolved shortly after, if not at, the game goes retail. I'm only covering challenges that Turbine has given no indication of fixing, or have indicated are working as intended.

There are some positives, of course:
o Hands down, the best graphics in the MMORPG industry, bar none.
o We haven't seen this in beta, but based on Turbine's track record with AC1, I expect the industry's best monthly updates, events and story line.
o The skill trees allow for a great deal of character customization.
o A number of cool items, like being able to play musical instruments, etc.

They should have named it Pokeman's Call 2.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As a 5 month beta tester I expected more from the game upon release. Here are the problems I find and I'll try to be as impartial as I can.

* The chat interface is still bugged.

* The user interface is sub par.

* Pack space issues are a problem.

* PVP and character balance are non-existant.

* Lack of "content" which does not require constant monster killing.

* Crafting system is tedious, gives little reward or desire to even participate in it. Seems to be a money sync for gold attained while hunting monsters.

* Level advancement becomes very slow and tedious after level 20. You must fight monsters which are your level are much higher which is often quite difficult, and you get little experience for doing so.

* Spell trees are limited since many of the spells just don't work correctly, or are so unusable because of their duration/refresh time. Many spells are just prereq's on other trees, and often spell effects are not even known since their effects are not displayed anywhere.

* Vaults are very simple, and the movies which are their 'rewards' are equally as simple.

* Map areas are level restricted, items are level restricted, dungeons are level restricted, even lifestones are level restricted. Equivalent of forcing "zones" on people.

* Game is very repetitive, mostly because players little other than kill monsters.

* A majority of the beta testers did no feel the game was ready for release because of the list above - but was pushed out anyways due to the common practice of companies releasing unfinished games and expecting the players to recoup further development costs.

A MMORPG With Training Wheels

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well, It's only in beta (I'll change the review if necessary when released) but this is a STARTER MMORPG.
There is nothing complex in this game.
Everything is point and click, and very simply to play use and understand.
This makes it VERY boring for those people who have played other MMORPG's before (UO, AC, DaoC, Everquest).
But for those new to the MMORPG game genre, then you might enjoy this!! Especially once the live team comes on board.

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