Player sagas
It's an odd thing to realize how far MMOs have come right in front of our eyes in a relatively short span of time. After all, 1999 wasn't that long ago, despite what Prince and Y2K would have you believe. One day we'll be telling our children -- if we aren't already -- about the primitive MMOs that didn't feature RealGore™, motion sensor-linked emotes, and mostly nude elves dancing for tips on mailboxes. They may gasp and sputter in disbelief, but you'll assert that it is true: You experienced an era when polygons were blockier than LEGO pieces, people logged in over dial-up connections, and the community was small enough for GMs to host personal live events.

There's been a lot of love flowing into my email inbox and Twitter since posting the first Game Archaeologist on Asheron's Call, enough to tell me that this title is a dear old friend to many a seasoned gamer out there (including a few on the Massively staff who won't stop writing epic haikus about AC in its honor this month). As a result, I got in touch with two die-hard fans of the game, and they agreed to scribe their memories of this MMO for future generations to discover, generations who will undoubtedly marvel at the hardship and perserverence that such scrappy gamers showed in being part of the first wave of MMO players.

Without further ado, please give a warm round of applause to Amanda and Jon. No, nobody can hear you clap over the internet, but it's the thought that counts.

The Game Archaeologist: Please introduce yourself, your awesomeness, and why you started playing Asheron's Call!

Amanda: Hi, I'm Amanda, I'm in my early 30's, married, a full time professional and part time student, and I absolutely LOVE MMOs. In my Asheron's Call days I was known as Murren, Talai, or Areia.

I started playing Asheron's Call just after it came out. My boyfriend (husband now) bought the game on release day, and I'd gotten tired of watching him play. I wanted to play too, and I thought it would be a good way for us to spend time together.

Jon: I'm @ModemMisuser on Twitter, Jon Craig in real life, and Sevok/Sovek/Pazuzu and a host of other names in MMOs.

I started playing Asheron's Call before it was released -- in fact I was in Beta 0. This was back when betas came on physical CDs and you had to physically sign NDAs. I started playing because it was really the second MMO available. I was playing Ultima Online, which was the only "major" MMO (Meridian 59 never hit "big time"), so I heard there was a 3-D MMORPG coming out and signed up for the beta and was accepted.

How long did you play Asheron's Call for? What type of character did you play?

Amanda: Well, in total I probably played more than six years. I played AC continually for three years, and after that I always returned to AC when I grew bored with other MMOs.

My first character was what was later called an OG mage (life and creature magic specialized; the other magics trained). In the early days it was really difficult to level as an OG mage. My next was what I always called a tank mage (others called it a battle mage). She had war magic specialized and started with high strength. She was strong enough to wear plate armor and carry enough spell components to last for 10 or more hours of play, so she could tank golems and mattekars and kill them quickly.

My favorite of all time was my macer. For a very long time she had the highest mace skill on any server. It was only the last time that I returned that someone had finally surpassed her skill.

Jon: I played through the beta process (six months or so I believe) and then off and on for a few months here and there throughout the years. I mainly played mages -- always have in most games.