January 2011 - Patch Page

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Teaser

Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=624-learning-from-experience&catid=85-2011&Itemid=68


Learning From Experience


"Master." the large Gurog said with a bow, "I have reports from the surface."


"Speak." replied the undead, perched upon his stone throne.


"The small ones continue to attack us in numbers. They have even set up a small outpost close to us, from which they launch attacks against us."


"Are you saying that the 'Mighty Gurog' cannot handle a motley, disorganized assortment of 'adventurers'?"


"No, Master. We kill many, and drive off the rest, but they are depleting the Frost Golems you have added to our lands." The gurog looked a bit uncomfortable with the strength of his people being questioned, but would not risk challenging his known superior.


"Yet, even with the assistance of the golems, the wights AND the snow tuskers, you can not drive them off for good?" The undead lord settled into his throne, clearly looking tired of the conversation.


"The others hamper our defenses, master. The golems and the tuskers are little better than beasts, and the cold ones, the wights, refuse to listen to orders!" replied the gurog, getting even more agitated.


"I'll bet." replied the bored looking undead. "Do not underestimate the 'peoples of Dereth', as they call themselves. If there is any skill they take naturally to, it is destruction. One wonders how they've managed to build anything without falling upon one another..."


"They do not have our strength, Master." replied the Gurog, puffing up his chest, "It is that, no matter how many times we kill them, they just come back!"


"Ah, yes. The upstart Asheron's Lifestones. They do pose a challenge, do they not? Very well. I had been waiting for the appropriate time to unleash these, and it seems now may be that time." The undead looked to his side, and gestured a small wight forward.


"Yes, my lord?" said the wight, with a deep bow.


"Tell Lord Kastellar it is time. Release the Bloodstones."

Rollout Article

Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=625-january-rollout-fiction&catid=85-2011&Itemid=68


January Rollout Fiction


Slowly pulling his bow string back, the young Aluvian took aim at the resting armoredillo. He lined up his shot, trying to get it perfect so the animal would not run off with only a wound. As the shot was released, the ground shook fiercely causing the Armoredillo to jump up and roll away as the arrow drove into ground.


The young Aluvian sighed as he pulled his arrow out of the ice. "I guess I won't be enjoying that armoredillo sandwich today like I was hoping." As he peered around for any sign of what may have caused the tremor the ground shook once more. This time the shaking was severe enough to cause the ice to form cracks all around him while nearly knocking him off his feet.


Curiosity overpowered the urge to flee from the scene. He climbed up to the peak of the icy mountain and scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary. That is when he saw it… a large rock golem pounding his fists into the side of the mountain causing rocks to shatter off in every direction.


With bow drawn, the boy carefully worked his way towards the golem. Each step firmly planted to ensure the shaking ground would not cause him to fall, leaving himself defenseless to the monstrosity before him. As he got closer, it was clear that the golem was shouting things over the crashing of the rocks. With no one else in sight, the only one the golem could be talking to was himself.


"I have tried to be kind!" "I have tried to peaceful!" "But I will not let them attempt to destroy me again!" "This time I will destroy them!" "Destroy them and any other creature who tries to disturb me!"


"They will regret what they have done to me, but they will regret returning to this place even more! Why would those frail little beings help bring me together only to turn around and bring back the evil Empyreans who had been gone from this world for so long.... They shall pay for that mistake." He muttered as he paused in his relentless beating of the rocks.


With the pounding of the rocks silenced, the boy suddenly realized that the ice was making crackling noises under his feet with each step he took. He froze with fear as the golem turned in his direction. With remarkable speed for a creature of such immense size, the golem had the boy pinned to the ice with one of his large boulder shaped fists while the other was raised in the air ready to crush the Isparian with a single blow.


It might have been the pure terror in the boy's eyes, or maybe it was simply that the golem wanted his message to be spread through the land, but the golem did not crush the helpless young Aluvian before him.


"Tell them all I wish to remain undisturbed. If they leave me alone, I will leave them alone as well. I am tired of being hunted and tortured by other creatures when all I ever wanted was to live." The golem spoke with purpose while staring deep into the eyes of the captured boy, "Be gone from this place at once and never return. For if you do; I will not spare you from the painful death once more. This I promise you."


Upon feeling the fist lift off of his body, the boy scrambled free and ran off without looking back. So quick was his exit that his bow remained on the ground where he had been trapped and almost killed. All of the townsfolk heard of his tale that night and the boy never considered, even for a moment, about returning to try and retrieve his bow.

Release Notes

Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=621-january-release-notes&catid=85-2011&Itemid=68


January Release Notes


Happy New Year! Greetings and welcome to the January 2011 Release Notes! It is a new year, and what better way to start things off than with sweeping quest xp love. The majority of the quests in the game have undergone an xp facelift. Let's see what else is going on this month in Asheron's Call!

  • Monthly Killtask is updated
  • Ned the Clever and Oswent the Pale should now give you a quest item if you've foolishly misplaced yours.
  • Upped the base damage on the Spear of the Given Heart
  • Corruption 7 will now cast bolt speed projectiles like the other levels of the spell.
  • Body Part drops have been removed from creatures.
  • Gear Knights and Empyreans should be able to get into the Forgotten Chasm and through the blocked portal in the Bellas dungeon.
  • Floating Shadows should now move as they originally did.
  • A new Snow Tusker killtask is available near the Gurog one.
  • A new collection task is available for the ice area also near the Gurog killtask.
  • Uber Aerfalle now spawns an NPC at the end which accepts the luminance tokens.
  • Olthoi speed has been slightly adjusted.
  • Olthoi drop tokens which can be turned in once a week for rewards. The NPC is located in the human village on Olthoi Island


Luminance was added to the following quests:

  • Ithaenc Quiddity Seed (Dreams of the Hopeslayer)
  • Amelia
  • Apostate Nexus (Nexus Crawl)
  • Apostate Excavation (Gearknight Excavation)
  • Apostate Citadel (Uncovering the Renegades)


Quest XP Update
The majority of the quests in the game are getting an xp boost, including ones that previously had been updated. We have a new baseline for XP. We want people to get to 150+ sooner now that we have created so much content that is only available in those later levels in the game.


So there are just some of the things coming to Asheron's Call in January. Please remember that along with everything listed here, there are several new quests and exciting things going into the game for the January Event.

Developer Comments

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