Editing Announcements - Asheron's Call Beta (section)

=== Introduction Letter ===
{{Printed Material
 | Date = ???
 | Title = THE CALL
 | Text =
A swirling portal hangs before you, inviting you to give up your ordinary life. The Empyrean Wizard Asheron, in his high, lost tower, calls you to Dereth. Will you step through?
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You are on of a select group of people who are invited to participate in the Confidential Beta 0 of Asheron's Call, a game being developed by Turbine Entertainment Software and published by Microsoft to be played on the MSN Gaming Zone. If you feel you recieved this package in error, please email us at ashtest@microsoft.com
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We know you will spend many hours of delight as you venture through our world. However, be prepared. Dereth still suffers the ravages of the Olthoi and the warping power of Asheron's magic. This is a BETA version of a complex online game, about to start its first test involving truly significant numbers of people. It will not be of the quality and stability we will attain when we ship the game. There will be server crashes and slowdowns. We dont support all 3D cards yet. Sometimes your hard-earned character will be wiped out and you'll have to start over. You'll find bizzare bugs that make your hair stand on end -- and we'll ask you to report them. We will deliberately try to create stressful situations that need your cooperation We'll also ask you to fill out surveys to help us know what is going on as you play.
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Though all of the features are done, they are not yet tuned or optimized for playability and speed. You'll stumble upon parts of the world that are bare and unfinished. Many things are out of balance; some too strong, others too weak. Not all of the quests are working properly. Many quests are not yet implemented. Lots of little polished bits are not yet there.
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Also, the world will not nessecarilly be available all the time. For technical reasons, the servers will sometimes be down. We also may deliberately keep the servers up for less than 7 days a week so we can concentrate the numbers of people simultaneously online and assure our ability to handle thousands of players in a single world. We won't do it just to be cruel.
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We also really mean "confidential". We ask you not to share information about the game with ANYONE unless they are online playing the game with you. No press leaks, no hints, no newsgroup postings, nothing. Any violation of this is grounds for tossing you off the beta list without warning. If your friends and family happen to see the game over your shoulder, it will be your responsibility for them to understand the absolute confidentiality of this stage of testing. We will let you know when we're ready to tell the world how great this game is; until then, we need to concentrate on getting there.
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Please understand that we can accept NO responsibility for anything that happens to you or your PC while testing this pre-beta product! We are reasonably sure that nothing in AC causes damage, data loss, hair loss, or the like but we cannot guarantee this. We also cannot be held responsible for your online connection fees, AC addiction, or the challenges this game can pose to your personal relationships with human beings in that little space we call "outside of the game".
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Think you can handle it? If not, we understand -- wait until the end of the year and you can buy our game in a shiny box with all of the problem's solved and the world polished. But if you feel you have the stomach for beta testing, jump on in, we're glad to have you!
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