Ancient history - AC2

[Rasix]

Hah, Seros died.

[Riggswolfe]

The catering to explorers in AC1 hasn't been seen since in a MMO, which is really frustrating to me. Perhaps the most fun I've ever had in an MMO was taking off by myself from Danby's Outpost as a medium-level character and trying to make my way to Teth on foot.

This is the number one thing I miss in AC and wish would return in an MMO. Heck, if they just reskinned AC so the graphics weren't so fugly and fixed a few problem areas (back when I played, if you didn't have Item or Life magic you were a gimp) I'd resub in a heartbeat.

I still remember I played the game mostly with 2 friends of mine. We'd log on, chat a bit, then pick a random direction and go exploring. Unfortunately exploration is pretty dead in most modern MMOs.

[MournelitheCalix]

Citan, Jeassa, and the liars Ken, all were clueless as developers and from reading this I see Citan hasn't gained much wisdom with age.  While reading what Citan wrote, I found it completely ironic that he seemed to gloss over the fact that AC2 hype completely lied to the customers on what they were going to deliver.  I remember very clearly becoming excited when we were told that we could rebuild the world.  Literally players were supposed to be able to mine/harvest resources and rebuild Derith.   That was what initially brought me in.  Sadly I don't think they ever had an intention to deliver on that promise.

It really is a shame Turbine didn't release AC2 as an upgraded version of AC DM.  The mechanics in the original Asheron's Call and the unique command center controled ldungeons were visionary.  Its really sad we haven't seen a game like that since.  I would be there in a flash if we did.

My favorite memory was wondering in the Obsidian Plains looking for dye plants and stumbling upon the singularity bore.  That was a great time.  it seems to me that this was also a critical failure of turbine's second offering.  People went in expecting AC1 with great graphics and got EQ instead.  Very sad, AC2 could have been a great game had it stayed closer to its namesake.

[Cheddar]

This is the number one thing I miss in AC and wish would return in an MMO. Heck, if they just reskinned AC so the graphics weren't so fugly and fixed a few problem areas (back when I played, if you didn't have Item or Life magic you were a gimp) I'd resub in a heartbeat.

I still remember I played the game mostly with 2 friends of mine. We'd log on, chat a bit, then pick a random direction and go exploring. Unfortunately exploration is pretty dead in most modern MMOs.

You no longer need life or item.  Graphics are still fugly. 

[Stormwaltz]

While reading what Citan wrote, I found it completely ironic that he seemed to gloss over the fact that AC2 hype completely lied to the customers on what they were going to deliver.  I remember very clearly becoming excited when we were told that we could rebuild the world.  Literally players were supposed to be able to mine/harvest resources and rebuild Derith.

A little tale:

Back when the ACDM expansion pack was brought out, Turbine's in-house artists spent weeks developing a box design that would pop out on the shelves. Elements of it were used on the web site, and our t-shirts.

Then MS sent us box art by some commercial artist they'd contracted. It showed a hulking warrior dude wielding a two-handed sword (which we didn't have), accompanied by a mage-woman in a pink harem girl's outfit (that didn't look remotely like any female armor in the game -- except for the infamous "boobie dress," our armor designs were unisex).

MS then suggested that the box art needed to reflect the content better.

So they asked us to add a pink harem girl's outfit to the game.

...

[Margalis]

If my memory is correct that was around the same time that Microsoft made Relic use their broken networking layer and ruined any chance of Impossible Creatures catching on due to the fact that the online multiplayer (in an RTS, hello!) didn't work properly.

[Grimwell]

I found it completely ironic that he seemed to gloss over the fact that AC2 hype completely lied to the customers on what they were going to deliver.  I remember very clearly becoming excited when we were told that we could rebuild the world.  Literally players were supposed to be able to mine/harvest resources and rebuild Derith.   That was what initially brought me in.  Sadly I don't think they ever had an intention to deliver on that promise.

Yes, well... having been there myself from a pre-beta stage, and having been excited about those very same points... I might suggest that you are placing the blame on the wrong folks.

By my personal observations (meaning, you are free to ignore me or bring up contrary facts), AC2 was the game MS told Turbine to make. It wasn't the game they would have made had they been able to do it their way. It was really an odd thing to watch, as the NDA boards had players telling MS exactly what was needed/wrong and seeing anything but that done.

I don't blame the folks on the ground, they did what they could in the framework they had.