End of AC2?
Is the end of Asheron’s Call 2 inevitable? It’s a shame really how much of a disappointment AC2 was after such a great initial offering of Asheron’s Call until all the game hacks showed up. Turbine really introduced the concept of an on-going storyline rolled out monthly, bringing new events to the game continuously. However, when they did AC2, they dumbed the game down too much, probably trying to attract more casual gamers.
I also think AC2 fell a little into the trap most MMO’s seem to be these days… focusing too much on the technology and not enough on the core game content. With all the time spent on fancy particle effects, I think the core of the games are being neglected. Regardless, AC2 will need something substantial to revive itself. I logged in tonight just to take a look at it, since I haven’t been on in a few months, and haven’t cancelled my account yet. There was a total of 1900 players on ALL servers (most servers with less than 200 players each.) They have made substantial changes to the game lately, so much so that when I logged in, I found my character’s skills all reset, requiring me to reapply my experience to skills (which I didn’t bother to do…logging out looked more fun.) It looks like another case of too little, too late.
Maybe someday, MMO publishers will realize it doesn’t always pay to rush a game out the door. As much as the potential was there, I fear Star Wars Galaxies will follow suit.