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Asheron's Call was a revolutionary game for the MMO industry. It promised a seamless world space, where you could run from one end of the land mass to the other, and never have to worry about zoning or load times. It promised massive quest arcs without the reliance on camping for hours. It even promised monthly update content that would tie into its on-going storyline. Each of those was a first for the MMO genre, and each had its detractors. People said that the dynamic server structure that allowed for the freedom from zoning would never work, that the lack of camping for good items would destroy any in-game economy, and that the monthly content patches would burn out a development team and make the code incredibly unstable form all the constant changes to it. The detractors were wrong on every count. The dynamic server structure became a model for almost every MMO that followed, the AC economy is one of the most robust and complex in any MMO, and the patches have provided a dynamic element to the game that has only affected the game stability adversely three or four times in five years. From a design and technical standpoint, AC was a sweeping success. Although its numbers would never climb as high as the much-reviled rival, Everquest, they would be enough to be able to count the game as a success.

Initially, AC was built to run on computers that were barely even Pentium-level, and with no graphics card. They were attempting to snatch up the low-end user who could not afford the graphics card required to play Everquest. Because of this, the graphics were never spectacular. Even when running with a graphics card and all setting to maximum, the game still looks rather bland over all. However, the textures are being upgraded with the forth-coming expansion pack, and the new game art has been taking advantages of game minimum specifications that require you to have a graphics card, which means that the newer art looks a lot better than the original stuff. Still, the game is over half a decade old, and its age is showing.

However, the game still plays like a million bucks. The combat in AC is very loose, with the players being able to slide around to dodge incoming projectiles while lining up their next attack. Unlike most games, AC's ranged combat does not track. Missiles are fired at on a set path, and you can only hope that your target is there when it hits. While this may sound bad, it really isn't. Monsters tend to stay in one place while they whack on you, and the pathing allows for some very interesting PvP play. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have heard AC referred to as the finest fantasy PvP game in the market, and this loose combat is the reason. Another chief difference between combat in AC and most other MMOs is the number of monsters that you face at one time. Most MMOs have you facing 1-2 monsters at a time, while in AC you can face down hordes of a half dozen and walk away unscathed. This always made the game a lot more fun for me than other MMOs.

Socially, AC built itself around a giant pyramid-style vassal/patron system. The short version of how it works is that you have a patron who is a higher-level player who provides you with hand-me-down armor and game advice. You, as the vassal, passively pass up a percentage of your experience to them. The developers lovingly refer to it as the "Amway" system. It is not the best social system in any current MMO, but it was innovative at the time, and the XP pass-up helps the higher-level players through the exponentially larger upper levels. Sadly, there is only allegiance, patron-vassal, party, local and direct chat. There are no world channels or skill/class channels, which would allow the newer players to learn the intricacies of the gameplay much faster.

The shining jewel in AC's crown is its on-going storyline. Every month since launch the players have found new content added to their world. Be it new items, new monsters, new dungeons, new code or art updates, it has been added like clockwork every month. There have been patches the size of expansion packs in other games that are given to players for the simple price of their subscription fee. For those that have followed AC, they relate their experiences as being part of a massive novel, with each month being a chapter in the story. Storylines will tend to run for 6 to 18 months, and can have literally hundreds of pages of in-game story written for them. This is conveyed to the players by NPCs in the game world and through bits of translatable lore that are found in the dungeons that dot the landscape. Some of the finest fantasy work I have ever read came out of Asheron's Call.

For gamers who can look beyond the cover of a book to see the depth in its pages, Asheron's Call is the MMO of choice. It is a game for players who demand a reason behind their actions, and for whom story is paramount. It is a game for players who do not have five or eight hours to throw into a massive raid and for the player who loves solo play just as much as group play. It is a game for the player who wants a challenge from the world, but more so from his fellow player. Simply put, for me, this is the best MMO on the market. I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for something different.