August Event News & August 2006 Letter to the Players

[Muneman]

August Event News

The August event, Shattering the Dark is scheduled to go live on August 17, 2006. On that day all worlds will be down from 8am EST - 3pm EST. Stay tuned here for more news and updates about this upcoming event.


August 2006 Letter to the Players

Hello there and welcome to the August edition of the Letter to the Players.

During this past month we have seen Grael wreak havoc on several towns throughout Dereth. The trail of death and destruction was hard to miss as Grael and his minions tore across the land. Is there anyway to stop Grael in time to save Dereth?

Before we get into all of the new and updated things in the August event we would like to announce that we are now offering a special discount on the purchase of Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny. When you purchase AC: ToD from the Turbine store, simply enter the code ACSTORE10 in to the box marked promo code on the purchase page. This will give you $10 off of the retail price of $19.99. That means for a limited time everyone can purchase Throne of Destiny for $9.99. This is just one of the many steps we are taking to keep new and returning players coming in to Dereth. Please feel free to share this code with your friends and family, so they can take advantage of this great offer and join us in Dereth. This code is a limited time offer and will expire September 30th 2006.

Now let's see what is new and exciting this month in Asheron's Call this month!

New Content and Updated Functionality
Several weeks ago we had some unfortunate issues with our Authentication servers which caused many of our loyal players to be unable to enter the game worlds. We understand this was troubling for many, and we want the opportunity to show our appreciation for everyone remaining patient with us while we worked through the issue. To that end, when players log into the game after the August event goes live they will be able to head to one of Ulgrim's Emissaries located in several of the towns around Dereth and receive a special pack doll. This is no ordinary pack doll though. Players who so choose can turn the pack doll back in to the Emissary for a free level. Everyone who is able to log in to the game during the August event, with the exception of newly created characters, will be eligible for this reward. The pack dolls will be tradable but you may only turn in one for a free level. After that you will be able to take any others you have and hook them in your home, or save them for a special occasion. You will only be able to turn in the pack doll for a free level during the August event. Once the August event is over, Ulgrim's Emissaries will be gone and so with them the ability to get a free level from the Pack Doll. We once again would like to thank all our players for their understanding while we resolved the issues.

In our continuing efforts to help our new players along in Dereth, we have adjusted the amount of Pyreals that new players get upon entering the world. In the past when a new character was created they would start with 500 Pyreals. After the August event goes live. New characters will enter the world with 10,000 Pyreals. This is another of many improvements we want to make to help our newer players enjoy their early days in Dereth.

Due to popular demand by players we have increased the stack size of Pyreals from 10,000 to 25,000. Based on feedback we may increase the stack size further in the coming months.

Several changes have been made to the Harbinger quest. We have lowered the difficulty of the mid level version to be more in line with what we had originally wanted. Please be aware when going through this quest that there were several small changes made as well, though the overall experience should remain close the same.

Shadow Eddy's have been toned down some in order to stop them from killing anything that moves. They will still be difficult, but players should not be as easily killed by them now.

Based on player feedback we have made the final part of the Raising Grael's Island quest repeatable. If you have already done this quest and no longer have access to the dungeon, just speak to the starter NPC again and you will then be able to enter the dungeon again and help others get through their task.


In Concept
These are game changes that we are thinking about for upcoming events. We cannot guarantee when or even if these changes will be added to the game, as scheduling and priorities can change. These changes are in addition to the new quests, dungeons, and items we will be adding to the game. With each monthly event we will be discussing an in concept topic, in order to give you as much information about the item that we can.

Non- Combat Pets
One thing that we have found over the years of working on this game is never say never when it comes to what can and cannot be done with this game. This is just another example of that. Not long ago it was asked in one form or another if Asheron's Call would ever have pets. The answer given at the time was not likely given our current tech. Well times have changed and we are proud to say that we have found a way to make pets work. The first examples of pets will be introduced as Non-Combat pets. They will be critters who will follow you around wherever you go that they can follow. In the coming months if the first versions of pets are a success, we may see other more useful versions of pets. The kind of pets that may be able to do more than just look cute and follow you around.

So there are just some of the things we have in store for Asheron's Call in August and beyond. Please remember that along with everything listed here, there are several new quests and exciting things going into the game for the August event.

Thank you again for your loyalty, and don't forget to invite your family and friends to join us here in Dereth.

Original Post: http://ac.turbine.com/?page_id=476

[Avendossora]

pets..cool tehehehehei want a baby sclavus slithering around!

[Muneman]

The game keeps getting better and better

[Nash the slash]

Pets are not new to urbine just asherons call they were in AC2

good to see they may have found a way to put them in here