Turbine's posted the 2nd in their series of Nostalgia blogs regarding Asheron's Call today:

There are very few games, as I look at them in retrospect, that have had significant, lasting impact on my life. Thief: The Dark Project was my first experience being fully immersed and scared witless in a video game. Final Fantasy 7 displayed just how much power and emotion a cut scene can have. But for me, one game stands out on its own - as it not only had a profound impact on my grades in college (for the worse, I am sad to say) but I also wouldn't be here, doing what I do for a living and writing this article, were it not for this one game. I am speaking, of course, about Asheron's Call - the game that I feel in love with and helped me to become an embodiment of Turbine's motto (Powered by Our Fans).

In March 2001, I was nearly at the end of my second term in college, working part time at a Software Etc and trying to figure out what my next game purchase would be. I had beaten Half-life and was becoming tired of Team Fortress Classic and Counter-strike. I wanted something new and different. It was then that my manager introduced me to Asheron's Call.

While it wasn't the best looking game on the shelf, I had never played anything like it before! I could make my character the way I wanted to make it. I wasn't bound by classes or the conventions of fantasy. Sure - there were creatures that were analogs for the fantasy mainstays but the game didn't dwell on them being analogs. It marched forward and developed the characters and cultures to the beat of its own drum. There was always something new to look forward to. Each month, my roommates and I would patiently wait for the servers to come up (despite the mantra of "Never Play on Patch Day"), ready to devour the new quests and dungeons we were certain would be there waiting for us. Each month, the story of Asheron's Call grew - I had never seen the story of a game evolve like this before. I had never seen a game where the players impacted the course of events.

I got a call the week of Christmas, 2002. It was Turbine and they wanted to interview me for a position on one of their art teams. It wasn't for Asheron's Call (some no-name project called Middle-earth Online or something) but it was my foot in the door and the beginnings of my time here at Turbine. Eventually, I found my way onto the Asheron's Call Live team and was put in charge of art. And during my time on the team, was probably one of the most prolific artists AC1 had seen.

In total, I have contributed to over 25 live updates. I've created over 10 unique monsters and countless variations of existing monsters. I have generated scores of weapons and armor. And, I've even done a little bit of quest designing. If I hadn't played and subsequently fallen in love with the game, I don't think I would have thought to apply here at Turbine. As AC1 has grown over the years, so too have I. I've moved on to other projects - over loves. But I will always fondly look back at the time I spent working on AC1, for all you fine folk in the community.