Asherons Call: Gamecloud Interview with Ibn

Gamecloud - First, how does it feel to have Turbine in in full control of the Asheron's Call franchise?

Alex Beckers - While we enjoyed a good working relationship with our former publisher, we're very happy that we brought the AC franchise back to Turbine.

Gamecloud - When the time came to relaunch the original game with new content, what were the team's main goals?

Alex Beckers - The content for Throne of Destiny is intended to create fun, rewarding experiences for characters -- and players! -- of varied levels and experience. Two areas that we specifically focused on were the new character experience -- there are some fantastic "newbie" quests in AC:TD -- and content for our highest-level characters. For these characters we've created new hunting dungeons that have a greater challenge -- and reward -- than anything that existed in the game up until now.

Gamecloud - What can you tell us about the backstory for Throne of Destiny?

Alex Beckers - Many years ago, a magic-using race called the Fiun doomed their world when they accidentally created a horde of ravenous beasts known as Eaters. The last surviving Fiun fled through magical portals to Dereth, the world of Asheron's Call, but the Eaters pursued them. To prevent this new world from being destroyed by the Eaters, the Fiun created a protective barrier shielding the Isles on which they had arrived from the rest of Dereth. The Fiun and the Eaters were trapped inside.

During the years in which Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call Dark Majesty took place, a new group of Isparians -- the Viamontians -- found portals to Dereth. Back on Ispar -- the home world of all player characters -- the Viamontians had begun a war of conquest and had great success. However a rebellion in their homelands drew their attention away from the front. After the rebellion was crushed, the rebel Duke and his daughter fled through the portals to Dereth, closely pursued by Prince Varicci II.

Both found themselves on the Halaetan Isles, trapped there by the magic of the Fiun. After crushing the remnants of the rebellion, Varicci spent years trying to break through the barrier, so that he could bring his war to the Isparian people of Dereth.

Finally, he has succeeded. Varicci II has led his armies out of the Halaetan Isles onto the mainland of Dereth, and seeks to overthrow High Queen Elysa Strathelar. A war has begun, for the Isparian throne of Dereth!

Gamecloud - What new playable races, if any, will be available in the new expansion?

Alex Beckers - The Viamontians, described above, are a new playable heritage group. Coming from a warlike society, riddled with intrigue, these blue-skinned Isparians can choose to ally themselves with Varicci or the remnants of the Duke's rebellion.

Gamecloud - What new locations and settings will be put into Throne of Destiny?

Alex Beckers - The Halaetan Isles, a chain of wintery isles to the northwest of Dereth, are introduced in Throne of Destiny. These include quests and hunting areas for characters of all levels and a number of cities, including the Viamontian capital of Sanamar.

Gamecloud - What new creatures can we expect to see in the expansion?

Alex Beckers - The Viamontians are a powerful new enemy, including footsoldiers, mages and the towering magic-warped Viamontian Knights. Players can also expect to fight the ravenous Eaters and the remnants of the once-mighty Fiun. Additional monsters found on the Halaetan Isles include the totemic Ruschk ice barbarians, the skittering fungaloid Thrungum, and penguins ranging in size from the harmless to the monstrous.

Gamecloud - What other new gameplay features will be put into Throne of Destiny?

Alex Beckers - We've increased the maximum character level from 126 to 275 and added new forms of advancement for the most powerful characters in the form of Augmentation Gems. These Gems cost a great deal of experience but provide abilities and enhancements that can't be found anywhere else in the game.

We've also added a whole new system of Rare items which can be found and used by anyone. The most Rare items include incredibly powerful weapons and armor, but other Rare items include valuable crafting materials and enchantment gems.

Gamecloud - Will there be any new graphical features added to the expansion?

Alex Beckers - The entire graphics system has been vastly updated for the expansion pack to use DirectX 9. We've updated every single texture in the game to take advantage of this update as well as updating many of the in-game objects. We've also upgraded some of our older low-poly creatures, such as the Gromnie and Monouga. The result is tremendous -- the game is still recognizeable as Asheron's Call but everything is more crisp, more detailed than ever before.

Gamecloud - What is the current status of the game's progress and when will the expansion be released?

Alex Beckers - The game is on-track for our July 18th launch. We're approaching the end of our Open Preview period and are just making our final polish passes!

Gamecloud - Can you tell us Turbine's plans for both of the Asheron's Call titles following the release of Throne of Destiny?

Alex Beckers - At this time we're completely focused on making the ACTD launch a success. We'll announce our plans for the rest of the year following launch.