An Introduction

My second "end of beta" has come to a close. Technically I was in the UO beta but after being killed and having my farm ransacked I never logged back in. AC1 beta was just an amazing experience. I had to explore the countryside and see all the towns. Dereth was a very different place then. A lot more running, when a new spell was discovered we all clamored around and begged the mage to cast it again. Very few people had magic skills.The joy of discovery spurred me on more then anything. That and trying to see an Olthoi first hand...

Well I jumped into AC2 beta very early, late May to be exact. Between the Lag and early quirks and constant wipes I got to the point where it wasn''t worth doing the updates and keeping up. With the End of Beta announced I started to feel some pangs of guilt. That Icon on my desktop hadn''t really been explored the way it should have. I felt I hadn''t given AC2 a fair evaluation. Too quickly had I dismissed it as dumbed down and likened it to a console game. I made a silent pact with myself to devote the final week to AC2.

So again I ventured to the little island choosing a Female Human Archer named Grasp. Here I found a little perk of being in Beta. I was created at level 10. This meant a lot of things. The first of which was I didn''t have to level to 6 to get inside the famed vault dungeon. I carefully applied my skill credits up the archery tree and moved my icons to the task bar then set out to improve my armor and weaponry. With a better bow and some basic armor I headed across Osteth with no idea of what to do or where to go. The Quest head that was near the drop in point made the decision for me. This rather simple quest was to run the portal loop. It was kind enough to give me the portal coordinates. I ran thru looking for some rather un-hidden pillars and advanced the quest. I still felt lost but I was doing something, and that overshadowed my confusion. Once I completed the quest, I was given some Glyph''s that allow entrance into three vaults. Each Glyph had a coordinate location on them. I calculated which one was closest and headed that way. I soon found that there are impassible mountains and annoying creatures with distance weapons. Being able to recall a portal and recall a lifestone is a godsend for early travelers.

I reached the first vault and was quite daunted to see that my mountain climbing and swimming wasn''t needed. A road comes right up to the entrance... I head inside and start the journey. There are many creatures to battle or run by if you''re of a mind to do that. Then you hit a portal that takes you to the heart of the matter. Inside is a boss creature that is very tough to kill solo. Well in my case it was tough for a neophyte archer level 10 to kill solo. A kindly stranger gave me another Glyph and I headed back inside. This time there was a group and we all competed for the kill. After awhile I got the kill and headed to story time. The vault gives you a picture show of some lore with a voice over. At the conclusion you are dropped at the doorstep another level higher.

As I started to learn my way around I found that the portal system here is very well thought out. There are main portals that go from town to town and ''loop portals'' that take you around that particular area. For instance; lets say you''re in Shoushi and you want to go to Cavendo. You would simply hit the Cavendo portal or, alternatively hit the Cragstone portal and then hit the Cavendo portal. All the towns have reciprocal portals which makes errors in portal hopping easy to connect. Okay now your in Cavendo and you want to travel the nearby countryside. You would then take the loop portals that will keep you near Cavendo but allow you to quickly get to the other areas without negotiating the mountains. A few quick notes and I found myself able to get around Osteth quite efficiently. At the next vault I discovered the joys of fellowships. It turns out if your fellowship kills the boss creature you all can precede into the vault. This made the next two vaults much easier to negotiate.

I had a pack full of loot. None of it was better then what I was wearing. I started to make it all into gold and in the process I started thinking about the crafting skill. I poked around a very confusing section of the interface. I read through each category and wasn''t sure what to start with until I saw one, Human Weapon''s. My Bow, while the best I have found so far, could it be better? So I clicked and clicked until I saw bow and a small window asking for wood appeared. I had no idea where to get wood. I was about to shelve this idea when an idea struck me. Sure enough my new green leggings had the ingredients listed on them and one of them had 10 wood. Unfortunately I had just finished grinding everything into gold. So I went off hunting again until I found some more items with wood. Then I tried to craft a bow. My first try was a flawed try. The flawed bows stats equaled the one I was using. I quickly found that my current bow had a good amount of wood in it so I put that one into the window. Lo and behold I got a much better bow. The way this works is simple. You make a certain number of bows and you discover how to make even better ones. The higher the ranking of the element the better your chances of making an item are. I soon had a very nice bow and some gauntlets and boots.

Now with gear and transportation licked I moved on to exploring dungeons and progressing in skill level. One of the things on my ''must do'' list was to visit Tou tou. This first excursion ended badly as did the next few. I scaled back my goal and went out for the remaining four vaults.

The event started and Shoushi was a smoking ruin. There was a general to kill in my quest window and some new weapons to acquire. After the Shoushi creatures and the lag killed me four times I decided to peruse the vaults again. The next glyph had to be hunted for and after killing a big plucked chicken like creature a new friend and I headed in. We had no trouble dispatching the boss creature and then, story time! I decided to brave the Shoushi lag again and joined up with a group, killed the General and the Dragon! After dispatching some of the more interesting creatures in the region the lag forced me to log off in portal space. The lag was really starting to kill any enjoyment I was having.

Well I was on the most popular server so I opted to try out the Grey server. I made a level 10 tummy mage and did the portal loop quest and headed to the vault (this time I took the road) I met up with two other guys a Lugian Melee and a Human archer and between us three we went through all the vaults and had a rollicking good time. Then I started seeing red player killers camping the exit points. Yup, I was on a PVP world. This was fine while I was in that group but after they left and I was exploring I found that the same idiots that exist on AC2. Back to the red world for me. I got free of my ties to Shoushi and the lag went way down. I found the quaint town of Cavendo. This spot has a portal to Omshan, the Tumerok Island. I was delighted to find that I was quite able to hunt on this island and the prey turned out to be very exciting to battle. Along the way I choose the ability to get a pet lasher. A Lasher is a large lizard/lupine creature that is surprisingly sturdy. As I increased the power of the spell my lasher (named Britney) increased in level now as well. Suddenly I wasn''t solo anymore. She would attack the target I was on and continue if I switched targets as well. Her only flaw was the fact that in dungeons she becomes lost and disoriented and is very ineffectual. I started figuring out the portal system on Omshan and ended up in the town of Zu, which is right near the ruins of Tou tou. I hunted from the lighthouse all the way down to the bathhouse (both of which are still there). It was great hunting and a challenge to say the least. Still I had two more vaults to complete on Osteth, but I did accomplish a goal and so I set another one, a tour of the Linvak island towns.

There is a vault who''s approach is was too great a challenge. The Drudge Citadel Vault. The lands are dark and twisted and reek of evil. The drudges all seem to have personalities and attacks all their own. Soon I discovered that Britney and I could dispatch any of their brood with a little foresight. The canyon you run to the Vault on gets increasingly difficult with drudges and at one point you end up at the Citadel itself. A huge hollowed out spine is the path that leads you up to the vault itself. I made it that far when lag and drudges dragged me down.

I contacted an old friend, Empath, who took me to the portal for Linvak. It was the most treacherous journey. Despite the fact he was 15 levels my senior we both where killed at one point. Finally we reached the portal only to find that I was 10 levels to young to enter. Empath tied a portal for me and summoned (I''m not sure why he didn''t do that in the first place...)

Linvak was a desolate ice covered realm filled with nasty creatures and impossible warriors. Here I got to meet and observe a Lugian who could build walls and gun turrets to aid him in battle. He set a trap along the wall of a fortress and lured creatures into his kill zone. I skirted death a few times and decided to head back to Osteth and try that Drudge vault again.

This time I was armed with the advance techniques of the warriors on Linvak and was able to nicely get around most of the badduns. Further I learned the secret of lowering the graphics to a reasonable level and eliminated a goodly portion of lag. This time I got to the Citadel itself with little problems. There I was trying to figure how to fight the mob solo when I ran across a Lugian named Tencents. He was a level 50 and leading a group of three to the vault. His plan was simple. We hang back and he would kill everything, good plan. I liked it... I liked it more when I saw what awaited us. With his twin hammers he walked thru hell and we safely followed in his wake. The entrance to the vault was a fast spawn of level 26+ drudges there must have been ten or more of them. Without seeming to break his stride Tencents walked thru them leaving a bloody wake of death. We calmly skipped over them and headed into the vault. Inside it was a great battle and a better prize. I don''t think Ill be able to get the final prosper vault under my belt tonite, but I will try.

My recommendation to any who care is this. If your machine is capable and you have broad band access to the web and you find that Dereth doesn''t hold the luster it once had. This is actually a challenging game. There is a wide variety of attacks and methods that work better then others. The skill tree does allow for a good degree of unique characters but not until level 15+. Around level 20 your finding your stride and learning what works best for your character and carefully plotting which skill to get to next. I found a good deal of planning was needed to get the skills I wanted or thought I wanted. I ended up unlearning a few skills that didn''t live up to my expectations.

The crafting skill is very rewarding. I would suggest no one leave the starter island without a level II weapon. The two main things I enjoyed about this experience was the exploration and the ability to hunt constantly. No heading to town to sell or re-stock. You can just be a traveler calling wherever you are home.

The downside to me was the lag issues and the damn chat interface. I missed many messages because of the size of the window and I didn''t like cluttering up everything with multiple windows. I finally opted to have a fellowship and @tells window and the rest on two windows. It got me by fine.

Will I head into the retail of AC2? I''m on the fence. I would say yes at this point but there are a couple of outside factors I need to consider. All in all it was fun enough for me and I don''t see AC1 presenting me the challenges that AC2 can. I may wait a few months or until I get broadband.

What I''m enjoying about AC2.

Challenge: Last night I met up with Arduin Greymane, a monarch who is level 28. He had a ''secret'' hunting ground. This required swimming a long distance (almost killing me) running a bit then swimming again. We where killing Buruns. These are creatures'' that come in an interesting variety of shapes. I don''t have the names down yet but there are large slug like ones, body builder ones and a human size one with a nasty scythe. They hit for a lot of damage and their and they switch targets quite a bit. Throw into the mix that it takes a lot of arrows to drop one and you start to get the picture. I saw a group of four people wiped out by one of the slugs as it mashed them one by one. During the various fights there was quite a bit of running yelling and dieing until we started to learn the enemy. Soon we had a system for dropping these beasts that worked quite well. The major cause of chaos was when other spawns would come into the fray.

This is just one of the examples of new challenges we face. Each of these creatures have special attacks that can be quite devastating. Facing new powerful creatures that have some of the best AI is very exigent. Because of the dangers in swimming and the archipelago nature of Omnishan (the Tumerok continent) Exploration is at an all time high. Coming across the ruins of a town or fort and figuring where it fits into the lore is fascinating to me.

Chains: There wont be level 126''s in two months here. Level will actually have some meaning again. The highest-level people are barely in there 30''s and you have to really work to get any level past 21. I overheard someone in Mayoi bragging that they where getting 250 points a kill, with over 100k to level at 25 its going to take awhile to make it. In AC1 I ended up rescuing a level 126 Og mage from one of the monkey dens. This was due to the fact he didn''t have a clue about fighting silver tuskers. Later I discovered that he was a combat macro''er in a Chain. His character was about 5 months old and he didn''t have any idea what he was doing. This is the same kind of person who stands at the Tou tou lifestone spamming for a Subway portal for a good 15 minutes. This is also the level 102 guy in Holtburg trying to get to Glendenwood somehow. We have all seen them around and they are a source of irritation and amusement. Anyone who has worked hard to get up to level 126 has had their effort diminished by these macro chaining uber n00b''s.

"Wow your level 120! Impressive""Thanks, I have been working on it for two years now""Two years? LOL what a waste! you shoulda got into a chain""No thanks I prefer to earn my way up""L0053r!"

Character Maintenance: I am now free of stocking up on items. For every hour I play in AC1 it takes an equal amount of time just earning cash to keep myself supplied. This used to mean running through a dungeon using 6th sense to find the items worth selling. With all the death items, components, mana stones and specialty armor and weapons there wasn''t much room for loot. This means multiple trips into town, dragging the items one by one to the vendor and then converting the pyreals to MM notes and running back to the dungeon to do it all again. Or you can use AC-tool and run a money making macro overnight. I understand there is an applesauce macro that hasn''t been price nerfed by those in charge. Now I go through the familiar routine of killing and looting. Then Ill look through the items and either use them to build better equipment or transmute them into gold. No reason to recall back to town just to run back again. You have a lot less downtime. Of course when your starting out a new tier of items hitting the forge in Cavendo can help insure your success.

Cheats: I have found more and more AC1 requires the use of Decal. Yes I know that Decal isn''t a cheat per say. It actually removes some of the tedium of the game. Buffing, sorting, identifying, cooking, fletching. I can''t help but think that there is something wrong with it. I mean there was quite a challenge going through the Holtburg dungeon with only your level 2 buffs and then only the ones you absolutely needed because of the short duration of the spells. I recall many times holding off drudges as the mage went through their buff cycle. It was exciting and challenging. In contrast today you need to reach a buff bot get a set of level VII buffs and make sure you recall before they drop. I guess it''s just me wishing that other people would pay their dues in order to ascend. Or maybe there is some jealousy in there. At this point in time I can''t see where NB II or 6th sense would even be useful in AC2.

People: Here is where AC1 holds a lot of sway for people. For a goodly majority of people they log in to see and play with their buddies and friends. When I got into AC1 I met a great bunch of people. Many of them have gone their separate ways. Orion the Mighty, Banko, Morgan, Hack U, Ashiyr, Tark Ruelas, Strange Mageriks, Rippednbuff, Hiro Protaganist, Hellfury, Aslan the Lionheart. Some have curtailed their playing down to the point of being MIA. Akagi Kagerou, Tex, Tibbet Tallfellow, Finges, Marko. There are still a good-sized group of people I enjoy playing and chatting with. Tsung Hiro, Hamurabi, Cyricx, Warp, The Mark, Brother Dragon, Laine Meyers and Buffminster Fuller. Look at the above group and ask yourself "what do these people have in common?" The answer; I met them in game.

One of the best parts of AC, for me, was meeting new people. You are never sure where your next buddy is going to come from. It could be a chance meeting in a dungeon, or via an introduction on a message board. As of late I have noticed less and less chance meetings that produce a partnership. The lack of NEW new players combined with the games pre-occupation with leveling seems to have pared the social aspect of the game into a few meetings and click groups. I have currently re-met several old friends and have been having a blast with them.

KvK: Kingdom vs. Kingdom. Anyone who is planning on going PK needs to first head to a mule and rid themselves of their best equipment. Then they will stock up on Death Items and stalk other red dots. They will find a lot of trash talkers and gangs that feel 10 on 1 is the PK way. So when you go PK you''re suddenly seeing the worst side of AC and your facing it without your best equipment. Small wonder that PK is more of a side note then anything else. The Kingdom versus Kingdom area''s are easy to avoid if you have no desire to PK. However in those area''s you suddenly have allies (or you can identify your allies) and best of all, when your killed you don''t loose your valued items so you can fight as prepared as you can be. If the Dominion has cordoned off the acid resource and your group wants to take it back there is a lot of great opportunities for some tremendous battles without the begging to get items returned. Just good old fashion feuds!

Death: I can name few people who have done and been rescued as many times as I have been. I know that it''s a great aspect of the game. I also know that it''s a great frustration. How many times have you been ready to head off to bed to get some badly needed sleep only to be pulled into a rescue or worse you end up dying in some horrid spot- and loose that one item your sure you need. Several hours and many of your friends deaths later you have all recovered your gear but now your going to fall asleep in a meeting and get fired for it. Or you just missed your last chance to study for that mid-term. Or your spouse has just had enough and is going to dial their attorney. Don''t get me wrong, a good rescue gets the heart pounding and can be a great time. Still being able to just shrug, log off at the lifestone and work down that Vitae penalty another day is a great option to have. Not to mention the backpack slots that don''t need to be filled with portal gems and robes. So many times that a quest became a rescue mission and never went back to being a quest. When the focus of a mission changes you can chuck the original objective out the door. This can actually cause a side effect of angry questors who now have to abandon their goals too or wait for the return of the member.

Lore: AC2 is steeped in lore both from AC1 and its own. The vault dungeons are good sources of xp and provide people with first hand information about the world they are in. I''m very much looking towards the first event to see what happens in the lore.

Loyalty: Turbine has provided me with awesome entertainment for the last four years. They worked hard on a second generation product that they feel will become the watermark for MMORPG''s to come. This new game is all the things they wanted to do but couldn''t the first time out, coupled with the things learned from the first go around. We who have played AC1 know that Turbine has delivered on their monthly content additions without fail. They address bugs and flaws in a careful manner. Sure they have made a lot of mistakes, they acknowledge that themselves and they work long and hard to rectify those. I like the work ethic and the product.