Line #29 VideoGame/AsheronsCall


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asherons_call_group_logo.jpg]]
2	''Asheron's Call'' was a CultClassic fantasy {{MMORPG}} by the small but respected development house Creator/{{Turbine}}, who is also responsible for ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' and ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline''.
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4	It revolves around an island in an alternate universe called Auberean, [[AfterTheEnd after the world is destroyed]]. The titular Asheron, while researching dimensional portal magic, accidentally let loose the Olthoi, a race of [[HiveMind insect]] monsters that very, very quickly took over his world. The entire game of ''Asheron's Call'' takes place on a small island called by the original people, Ireth Lassel, and is the site where Asheron's research took place. Before the start of the game, the portal experiment, which had run wild after opening the portal to the Olthoi homeworld, opened random portals to a world with 3 (later 4) human races, Ispar. The Isparians come through and are quickly enslaved or killed by the Olthoi, but a later rebellion allows them to overthrow the Olthoi and, in killing the Olthoi Hive Queen, free the land, which they rename Dereth, for colonization.
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6	A noteworthy feature of ''Asheron's Call'' was its relative lack of {{Expansion Pack}}s -- in over a decade, only 2 have been released. Instead, as part of the standard monthly fee, Turbine adds ''Monthly'' content patches to the game -- over 100 to date. In addition to adding new dungeons, quests, enemies, and so forth, each patch also advances the game's ongoing storyline, which plays out in a series of year-long {{Story Arc}}s (barring some occasional ScheduleSlip). Recent years have seen major overhauls of the game mechanics, including new races, new methods of character advancement, and most recently (2012) a complete revamp of the combat system.
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8	The player, when created, is considered to be a new arrival to Dereth from one of the random portals to Ispar. Character customization does not use the typical class system that most [=MMORPGs=] use, instead allowing a character to pick a number of skills using a points based system, and allows the player to buy more skills as he or she levels up. Experience does double duty: XP levels up characters, earning points to buy new skills, but is also is put into a pool where it is spent to improve stats and skills directly. Character builds, called Templates, are often discussed in and named by the community, for example, a "3 school melee" (a melee character with 3 magic skills), a "Og Mage" (named after a particularly successful [=PVPer=]), or a "Pure Archer" (Bow or Crossbow, Melee Defense, and no magic).
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10	It spawned the first MMORPG sequel in history, ''Asheron's Call 2'', which after [[ScrewedByTheNetwork years of mis-management by Microsoft]], was also one of the first major name [=MMORPGs=] to end.
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12	The original game was sometimes considered a FranchiseZombie -- while monthly content updates continue, the active ''Asheron's Call'' player base shrank for years. Many theories abound to why this is -- most people agree that at least one of the 100+ monthly updates fall under TheyChangedItNowItSucks -- but the answer may be more marketing than anything else. Whereas ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' released its expansion packs as new retail titles (thus keeping it eternally inside game stores), ''Asheron's Call'' instead chose to release its expansion packs as free downloads. As such, the game propagated mainly by word-of-mouth, and not much by that since a lot of things are showing their age nowadays.
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14	Regardless, ''Asheron's Call'' remained one of the most unique MMORPG experiences in the genre.
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16	Nonetheless, on January 31st, 2017, both the original game and its sequel were [[DefunctOnlineVideoGames shut down]] after 17 years of activity.
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18	----
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20	!!This game has examples of the following tropes:
21	* AbortedArc: Late in the game's run there were a few monthly patches that hinted at new story arcs ,including 2 ''more'' renegade virindi factions, the Empyrean EvilSorcerer Geraine creating the gurogs (a race of powerful satyr like monsters), and some new islands allegedly controlled by [[EldritchAbomination T'Thuun,]] but none ever went anywhere.
22	* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: The original MMORPG example -- experience capped out at 4 ''billion'', or around level 126, with requirements going up logarithmically. Players could continue to gain experience to max out every skill, with a similar cap of 4 billion, without actually increasing in level. A later update changed this, creating 275 levels in the game. Add in alternate forms of advancement such as Augmentations and Luminance and it qualifies as SerialEscalation.
23	* AcronymConfusion: In this game, {{UST}} is a [[PunnyName punny acronym]] for Universal Salvaging Tool, and also means "That which reduces" in Empyrean. It was introduced in-game like this:
24	-->'''Town Crier''' tells you: ''Do you have an UST already?''
25	* AfterTheEnd: Kind of. The game takes place after the entire planet of Auberean was ravaged by a horde of giant sentient bugs, but also after the bugs had been killed off and civilization had been re-established.
26	* AlternateCalendar: The exiled Isparians abandoned their calendars and adopted P.Y. (Portal Year) as their new calendar. 0 P.Y. marks the death of the Olthoi Queen.
27	* AnAdventurerIsYou: The peculiar mechanics of fighting means that the roles are limited mostly to nuker, healer, debuffer and D.P.S.
28	* AncientConspiracy: The Filinuvekta (Winds From Darkness), an undead aristocracy that ruled their empire through pawns.
29	* AndTheAdventureContinues: Every big crisis is followed by yet another big crisis. As of mid-2014, when the game went buy-to-play, the evolving world stopped evolving.
30	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: A long quest line rewards you with a... simple fedora that does nothing special. Also, the traditional Halloween mask festival.
31	* AnotherDimension: There are at least five major worlds in the cosmology (Ispar, Bur, Tuu, Ezheret-Hazahtu, and the unnamed Olthoi home), besides the elemental planes and several eldritch places. All except Bur, the Burun (frogmen) homeworld, are inaccesible from Auberean.
32	* AntiMagic: Chorizite is a metal that ignores magical energies. It was first introduced as the KryptoniteFactor of magic users in PVP.
33	* ArrowsOnFire: And frozen, and electrifying...
34	* AscendedFanboy: Magaritte de Jacquette and Ned The Clever are N.P.Cs stand-ins for notable players Maggie The Jackcat and Ned Cleversun. Maggie The Jackcat ran for many years a [[http://www.thejackcat.com/ famous reference site for the game]]. Ned Cleversun was her vassal (an ''Asheron Call'' unique game mechanic, basically a guild member who generates experience points for another guild member), and he passed away in late 2008. (Maggie retired from the game after Ned's passing.)
35	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Tremendous Monougas are a 50 foot tall version of normal monougas (green-skinned triclops).
36	* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Elysa Strathelair won her crown by slaying the Olthoi queen. Also, pretty much every ruler of every faction.
37	* AWizardDidIt: Basic mechanics like lifestones, the PK switch, and even the burst of light that accompanies a level up are explained as being "Asheron's Magic"
38	* BadFuture: ''Asheron's Call'' 2
39	* BadassBookworm: Elysa Strathelair, future queen of Dereth, was a scribe's daughter. She managed to translate Empyrean, eventually leading to finding Asheron's retreat. She later dealt the killing blow to the Derethian Olthoi Queen.
40	* BeefGate: AC has way too many to comprehensively list.
41	** Venture too far out of town, even the starter towns, without buffs and you will get ripped apart by the level 50+ monsters. Thankfully the starter towns have a much larger 'buffer' zone with lower level baddies and the line is very clearly marked with 'Shadow Stones'. The (these days) very quick level progression very soon leaves this moot though.
42	** A few of the endgame areas don't have quests to 'flag' you for entering them. An example of this is the Mhoire Graveyard. Venture too far outside the Hall of Metos, an older lowbie dungeon, and you'll find the graveyard and level 200+ monsters. Even the area immediately around it is populated by level ~100 monsters.
43	** Even being too cocky in trying to access the upper-end areas is usually cause for immediate death. Think you're prepared for the level 200+ baddies near the Lost City of Neftet? Until you're ALSO 200+, have both normal augmentations and luminance augmentations, and have every skill and stat maxed, doubly so if you're playing a mage, think again.
44	* BigFancyCastle: In-game player housing includes these. Usually it takes a guild to pay the rent, though.
45	* BigCreepyCrawlies: Olthoi, and later Grievvers.
46	* BizarreAlienPsychology: The Virindi where [[StarfishAliens really alien creatures]] that normally live in [[EldritchLocation portal space]], and had a HiveMind. As such, they always knew what eachother are thinking, and the concept of deception was foreign to them, so that when they got stuck in the material world, they tried to blend in using [[PaperThinDisguise paper thin disguises]], consisting of a robe with a hood and a harlequin "drama" mask. It didn't exactly work, due to them having no feet and hovering, along with making a DroneOfDread. Oddly, when Aerbax and some other Virindi gained individual conciousness, they didn't seem to get any better at the whole deception thing and wore basically the same costumes. Maybe it [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm just wasn't possible for virindi minds to really figure such a concept out?]]
47	* BlobMonster: [[SdrawkcabName Knathteads]].
48	* BloodMagic: Falatacot magic relied mostly in human sacrifice.
49	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Virindi find disorder unwholesome and individuality is a sin for them.
50	* BugWar: The ongoing, never-ending war against the Olthoi.
51	* TheCaligula: One of the later villains turns out to be the rich son of the former king, who intentionally screwed up Asheron's portal experiments in an attempt to get him killed. This resulted in the deaths of 95% of the population, the only ones surviving being the ones Asheron trapped in stasis between dimensions. He's not amused that Asheron survived and that the majority of "his" subjects are trapped in stasis.
52	* CanonDiscontinuity: By WordOfGod, some or all of lore and future history told in ''Asheron's Call'' 2 might not be canon anymore.
53	* CastFromHitPoints: A Life Magic spell lets you turn your hit points into mana. The other routes are also available -- Mana to Health, Stamina to Health, et cetera. This is a primary reason for taking Life Magic, as it allows a mage to cast magic effectively nonstop when paired with a large mana pool and a high enough mana conversion (read: conservation) skill.
54	* CastingAShadow: Void magic
55	* CharacterLevel: Interestingly, it's almost entirely cosmetic, due to the PointBuySystem. Level only affects the ability to enter certain areas, use certain items, and turn in certain quests.
56	* CloudCuckooLander: Ulgrim the Unpleasant. Notorious drunken sage, self-proclaimed best mage of Dereth and maybe every bit as good as he says. At one time he managed to split himself into ten different selves by miscasting with an splintered wand.
57	** Virindi are so removed from reality that they think their chosen material form of a floating cloak with a harlequin mask and scythe-like hands actually fool humans into believing they are humans, too. And for some reason, they like using French names: Claude, Jean, Luc...
58	* CombatTentacles: Slithis are the main offender/s, but not the only ones.
59	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: After being defeated, Gaerlan was trapped in a phylactery within his fortress, doomed to be repeatedly killed by adventurers for his crimes.
60	* CosmeticAward: Titles, plushies and house furniture.
61	* CreepyChild: Shadow Children.
62	* CrystalPrison: The one that held Bael'Zharon, for starters.
63	* DamageSpongeBoss: The Tremendous Monougas. Despite being about 50 feet tall their only advantage was having literally 1,000,000 hp. Otherwise, they cast no magic and had no special attacks, meaning it was just a matter of persistence.
64	** The Colosseum boss DemonSpawnMatron was even worse (at first), she also had a 1,000,000 hp but no special attacks, and had a bunch of {{Mooks}} with a 1000 hp that respawned every 30 seconds. They eventually made her better, reducing her hp to 300,000 and the mooks to 700 (as well as lowering their armor rating), but increased the mooks damage significantly.
65	* DarkIsNotEvil: A strong will can bend it to any use. Falter, and it will bend you instead.
66	* DealWithTheDevil: Bael'Zharon is a product of one of these. Virindi are a major source of these, too.
67	* DeathCourse: Gaerlan's Fortress. It includes a CorridorCubbyholeRun and a SolveTheSoupCans room.
68	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: At the time it had one of the kindest death penalties in {{MMORPG}}s: a penalty to skills and attributes ("vitae") that went away by gaining experience, and leaving on your corpse a number of the player's most valuable items (defined by their vendor value). This lead to the unusual practice of D.I.s (Death Items), expensive but useless equipment carried around solely for the purpose of dropping it on death instead of the day-to-day working tools.
69	* DesignatedVictim: Until 2002 (when it was finally found and fixed), players with the dreaded "Wi Flag" gained aggro instantly. The game used an ID number randomly assigned at players during creation to select aggro when no other considerations were in effect, meaning that monsters drew a bee line towards Wi-flagged (an unusually low ID) players as soon as they entered a new room or there was a respawn.
70	* DiscOneNuke: Step one: get a set of no-wield (no skill or level requirement for using them) weapons and Major armor for your character, either by getting it on a better character or asking around. Step two: have the armor tinkered and the weapons rended and tinkered as appropriate to their element. Step 3: get buffed with level 7 spells. Step four: rip apart Tuskers and Olthoi 50-60 levels above you at level 20 while barely breaking a sweat.
71	* TheDragon: Isin Dule to Bael'Zharon, at first. Despite their VillainousFriendship, he eventually became a DragonTheirFeet when he realized Bael'Zharon was BrainwashedAndCrazy.
72	* DrunkenMaster: MemeticBadass Ulgrim.
73	** Eventually, players gained the ability to brew beers. These beers are capable of buffing stats to levels higher than those attainable by magic, leading to a playstyle known as "chugging".
74	* DungeonBypass: Every door that can be unlocked (including ones that require a unique key) can be unlocked from one side by simply using it. Due to the way physics works in game it's possible for two players to work together to glitch through a door. Also, the Jump skill can sometimes help jump over walls in outdoor structures you are supposed to require a key to get in.
75	* DynamicLoading: An impressive feat for a fully 3D MMORPG of the day, Asheron's Call does all of its loading transparently to the player. Simply running across the landscape, the content streams in from the hard drive and servers as it's needed, and travelling via portal is the only loading screen you will see (and even the fact that it's a loading screen isn't obvious). Nowadays it's a bit more obvious, with a little bar in the center saying "Downloading x/x" when you enter an area for the first time on a particular machine.
76	* EldritchAbomination:
77	** Several. The Kemeroi; the Virindi Singularity; although the singular Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer was possibly the closest to the trope.
78	** Aerbax eventually changed himself into one (which looks like a combination of virindi and GiantSpider, as seen [[https://asheron.fandom.com/wiki/Aerbax_(Creature) here.]]
79	** The Falatacot worshipped some really disturbing...things. Things like the Great One T'Thuun, the Blighted Dreamer.
80	* ElementalPowers: Elemental powers and abilities play heavily in the game's engine. Weapons, for example, can be Slashing, Piercing or Bludgeoning damage... but also Fire, Ice, Thunder, or Acid charged. Golems and Elementals can be any element, with particularly powerful ones being dual elemental.
81	* EmoteCommand: "@atoyot" and ''Asheron's Call'' 2 "@gokart" being the most unusual.
82	* EnemyCivilWar: The Virindi, of all people, had one.
83	* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Undeads love cold. It is good for their rotting bodies.
84	* EvilVersusEvil: Bad guys have conflicting interests. Some want to destroy everything, some to lord over it.
85	* ExpansionPack: [[http://www.thejackcat.com/AC/Culture/Dereth/Dereth.htm Over 100.]] Or 2, depending on if you require the expansion be in a box instead of a download.
86	* ExperienceBooster: In the early game you get a Pathwarden Trinket for free that is enchanted with Augmented Understanding II, which raises experience gained by 4%. Later, with the Gearcrafting skill, you can create trinkets with Augmented Understanding (up to level III).
87	* ExpositionFairy: Town criers.
88	* {{Expy}}: Virindi are pretty much [[Series/BabylonFive Vorlons]]. And of course, there are Shadows, too.
89	** The Olthoi are obviously inspired by the xenomorphs from ''[[Franchise/{{Alien}}]]''
90	* TheFairFolk: Zephyr. Nasty pests.
91	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Aluvian are late Middle Ages European of Saxon/Germanic flavour, Gharundim are Arabian and Sho Japanese/Chinese. Viamontians are imperialistic Norman/Spaniard/Italians.
92	* FantasticSlur:
93	** In the first game the Viamontians ([[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue-skinned people]]) call the other human ethnicities the "bloodless"
94	** In the second game, the Gurogs (Satyr/minotaur-like creatures) call the Lugians (8 foot tall giants that were [[PromotedToPlayable made a playable race in the sequel]]) "rock pusher!"
95	* FetchQuest: And even with portals, the place is huge. Good thing there is a Run skill.
96	* FightingAShadow: Literally. Virindi also cheat. And Slithis only show their tentacles.
97	* FishPeople: Moarsmen.
98	* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Nifflis are levitating, spell-casting Nautiloids.
99	* FriendOrIdolDecision: Gaerlan tried to shake off Martine by offering him a way to return to Ispar and his family. Martine didn't take the bait.
100	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Aerbax started out as mere virindi puppet, before gaining sentience in a freak incident and eventually becoming an EldritchAbomination and the BigBad of the sixth story arc.
101	* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: To an almost absurd degree. Seemingly every change the developers make acquires a justification in the lore. Sometimes things are [[HandWave handwaved]] by [[AWizardDidIt Asheron messing around,]] but other times they get creative:
102	** When Gertarh's Dagger had to be retired from the game, someone paid an assassin to "retire" Gertarh.
103	** The nerfing of Shadowhunter Armor was explained by an assassin killing the armorsmiths. In this case, lifestones saved them, but the death penalty meant the quality of their work went down.
104	** Arwic's dramatic destruction (blown sky high by a BigBad with a magical WMD), was the result of players complaining about how crowded it was. The rebuilt town was spread around the rim of the resulting crater, alleviating the problem greatly.
105	** The most hilarious is probably the explanation for the entrance to the [[UndergroundCity underground town of Xarabyden]] changing from a level-restricted portal to a long tunnel: Ulgrim the Unpleasant, too high-level to take the portal, had ''dug through fifty feet of solid rock'' to procure a sample of the barkeep's famous brew.
106	** The Olthoi (a race of insectile monsters similar to the Xenomorphs from ''Franchise/{{Aliens}}'') are basically the game's iconic enemies/monsters, and are the whole reason humans (who, like most of the in game monsters, are originally from another planet) are on Dereth in the first place: The Empyreans brought some Olthoi back from their homeworld, which got out of control and ended up destroying Empyrean civilization, so that they had to flee into portal space and leave the planet. In game, however, the olthoi aren't nearly that powerful (while they were among the hardest monsters at launch, they were still fairly easy for players around 40-50 or so to kill.) Meanwhile, most of the Empyreans were really fucking powerful (one of them, Gaerlan, was powerful enough to serve as the BigBad for one story arc, and nearly killed Asheron himself.) And while harder olthoi were eventually added to keep up with level increases and the like, they were still way weaker than the Empyreans.
107	* GargleBlaster: Tusker Pus. It will hit you so hard the [[RespawnPoint lifestone]] will flinch.
108	* GeneralRipper: Nuhmudira, one of the foremost human mages and counselor of the Queen, got obssessed with the potential danger Empyreans might present and eventually defected, now siding with anyone who wants Empyreans ''dead''.
109	* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: The humans want to make the [[InsectoidAliens Olthoi]] extinct, as they enslaved and ate a lot of them. Given that the olthoi are barely-sapient predators, the feeling is mutual.
110	* {{Golem}}: Empyreans used them for pretty much everything, and built them of pretty much any material. While many are fairly smart, to this date only one is truly sentient.
111	** There's even [[Literature/TheGingerbreadMan a ''Gingerbread golem''!]]
112	* HeelFaceTurn: Many major antagonist factions have eventually aligned with the Isparian kingdom wholly or in part. Turns of note included Martine's, which allowed the defeat of the megalomaniac Empyrean mage Gaerlan, and Isin Dule's, which prevented Bael'Zharon's victory during the Fourth Sending of Darkness.
113	* HeroicSacrifice: The Empyrean Mage Council that defeated the Third Sending of Darkness.
114	** Also Candeth Martine.
115	* TheHighQueen: Played straight with Elysa Strathelar, the kindly and courageous queen of the Isparians (humans.)
116	* HitPoints
117	* HiveMind: Olthoi are ant-like, and Virindi are manifestations of a single, extradimensional mind. Shadows risk losing themselves to the hateful sentient energy that powers them.
118	* HubLevel: The Abandoned Mine, a dungeon near Arwic, became known as "the Subway" ("the Hub" in some servers) for its huge room with portals to many other towns. Later, there were other additions, like the "Super Subway", which has portals nearly everywhere. Nowadays, new players are sent into one as a part of the tutorial.
119	* HughMann: Simulacra look like humans, but they surely don't act or talk like one.
120	* InexplicableTreasureChests: Why are so many funky shaped chests lying around in the wilds?
121	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: The second game has the Gauntlet, which can only be done solo and has a series of increasingly tough monsters. You had to be around level 70 to get all the way through, received nothing if you died. That said, you could always leave early and still get some xp as a consolation prize.
122	* KillItWithFire: Or KillItWithIce, or with [[ElementalRockPaperScissors whatever element it is vulnerable to.]]
123	* KillerRabbit: The "[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail White Rabbit]]" monster which is level 666, has the most powerful piercing damage attack in the game, has one of the more powerful electrical attacks in the game and can cast the "Bunny Smite" spell which kills the target instantly no matter where the target is. To top it all off she'll attack you if you even ''look'' at her funny. (More specifically, you can identify creatures to see their stats without them noticing you. However, identifying the white rabbit will cause it to murder you; This is unique to the white rabbit.)
124	* LargeHam: Gaerlan and pretty much every Empyrean. And ursuins (an strange bear-like huge bunny/cat) are apparently aiming for an Oscar in their death animation...
125	-->'''Asheron''': Stand back, citizens!
126	* LeyLine: The Olthoi have an intuitive understanding of mana flows and dam them to prevent the use of magic. Also, leylines have been shaped on a planetary scale to ward off... ''something''.
127	* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: At low levels, mages are a boring, tedious, pain-in-the-ass to play whereas warriors are (at least in comparison) a breeze. But once the mages reach high levels...
128	* LivingShadow: One of the main bad guy factions is mainly armies of these, but they're not necessarily evil, as Isin Dule followers proved when they joined the Isparian kingdom.
129	%%* MadScientist: Aerbax.
130	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction / MinorInjuryOverreaction: For some reason creatures and [=PCs=] would make some kind of noise when hit with a critical (or just a lot of damage), but wouldn't make any noise when taking magic damage, even though it was usually much higher (I.E, you might get hit for 15 damage in melee and scream, but get hit for 100+ damage with a war spell, and you don't make a sound.)
131	* MagicKnight: The PointBuySystem supports it. In fact, buffing is such a critical part of AC that ''any'' melee character is using buffs. This game does not support a BadassNormal.
132	* MassiveRaceSelection: The game started with only humans available as player characters. ''Asheron's Call'' 2 then added the Tumerok beast men, giants of dwarven disposition called Lugians and the goblin-like Drudges. After a decade of expansion, ''Asheron's Call'' lets you play humans, blue-skinned humans, Tumeroks, Lugians, Empyreans, former enemies Shadows and Undead, and sentient, mechanical armor suits called Gear Knights.
133	* MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest: A major component of the higher level gameplay.
134	* MinmaxersDelight: Item Magic school. Don't leave home without it.
135	%%* MoneySpider
136	* {{Mordor}}: Aerlinthe Island, a volcanic island full of Golems and Undead. It was the highest level area in the game when it was first implemented
137	* MugglesDoItBetter: Somehow a bunch of enslaved humans managed to overthrow and kill an Olthoi Queen, something an entire species of powerful mages was incapable of. Lots of story background was added as {{Authors Saving Throw}}s to justify this.
138	* NeverTrustATrailer: There was one ad that showed up in numerous videogame magazines showing someone fighting a tremendous monouga (a 50 foot tall version of normal monougas, which were basically ogre-like creatures that were normally about 7 or so feet tall). While said monsters appeared at the end of beta to give it a suitably apocalyptic end, they weren't in the release, and weren't re-added till ''much'' later (2003). Unfortunately, this, combined with the [[ManualMisprint strategy guide listing their stats and talking about them as if they were still in game]] created an UrbanLegendOfZelda that they were still in the game but just really rare.
139	* NonindicativeName: the Unarmed skill. You can use it empty-handed, but it isn't a very good idea.
140	* NumberOfTheBeast: Bael'Zharon is level 666, as the Killer Rabbit. Ulgrim the Unpleasant's lucky number, too.
141	* OminousFloatingCastle: Shadow Spires, Gaerlan's Fortress. All were shot down.
142	* OneManParty: Magic-using melee fighters, for a long time.
143	* OrderVersusChaos: Virindi and Shadows.
144	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They were called Gromnatrosses. It is implied that they left Auberean for parts unknown because of a curse that made their offspring dumb animals (what players know as gromnies).
145	* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Lugians fit the traditional dwarf niche... but they are 9-feet tall hairless marsupials (although the marsupial part might be CanonDiscontinuity now).
146	* OurMonstersAreDifferent: And how! There are ''no'' typical monsters in Dereth. 3 eyed ogres, giant cat... bunny... things... hordes of rabid guinea pigs... Giant monkeys with 1' long feet and 12' long arms... 2' tall flightless dragons... three-legged land sharks... The only thing that is remotely normal is the Undead.
147	** Averted with a very small number of individual monsters. The elementals are fantasy stock (except the ones that mix 2 elements together). Most of the mice, chickens, cows and rabbits could pass for normal in real life.
148	* PerpetuallyStatic: While the developers often come with plausible explanations for this, N.P.C.s have moved, died and even whole cities have dissappeared. Then there was the incident during the first year's arc (the Fourth Sending of Darkness) where the players were charged with defending the last CrystalPrison keeping the BigBad in check. On the other hand, great rewards were offered to those who destroyed the crystal and set him free (players were required to go PVP to participate). In most servers a half-hearted defense was mounted and the crystal was quickly destroyed, but in one, Thistledown, they were able to mount a round-the-clock vigilant defense. Unfortunately the developers had expected the crystal to be destroyed for plot purposes, and thus were forced to intervene (in game, with overpowered {{GMPC}} characters) to keep all of the servers on the same page. Read the whole story [[http://www.ethblue.com/acpaper/page2.htm here]] and [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-elaborate-dick-moves-in-online-gaming-history_p2/ here]].
149	* PhlebotinumRebel: Candeth Martine was altered by the Virindi. They regretted it.
150	* PointBuySystem: The first major MMORPG to use this style of system. There are no classes, merely you are given a set number of skill points to take your skills from untrained to trained to specialized, and then must allocate experience points directly to them.
151	* PortalNetwork: The main mode of transportation.
152	* ThePowerOfTheVoid: The Shadows' power source.
153	* ProjectileSpell: Being {{Painfully Slow Projectile}}s, they can be dodged by simply ''moving aside''. Fortunately, the AI isn't that smart.
154	* RainbowPimpGear: Before the advent of dyeing and tailoring armor and weapons, one could see people all running around in gear that was outright garish. Some people took special care to have gear that looked at least similar to the rest of what they had on, but they were generally so far in the endgame at that point that it was really only because they had nothing better to do.
155	* RandomlyDrops: Some enemies are known for specific drops, however -- Golems, for example, randomly drop specific types of spell components, the 2 foot tall dragons drop caster items, undead typically drop jewelry, etc etc.
156	* RatStomp: The rats have a breath weapon, just for variety.
157	* LaResistance: Thorsten Cragstone's original band of escaped slaves that managed to kill the Derethian Olthoi queen.
158	* RedSkyTakeWarning
159	* RespawnPoint: Lifestones. This is actually Lampshaded, as one of the things that causes the Shadow's HeelFaceTurn is discovering how to use them.
160	* RespawningEnemies: Areas have "encounter points" which will spawn a suitably large number of a monster that is appropriate to that area, on that spot. These typically turn active as you walk towards them.
161	* ScaryScarecrows: Hollow Minions, Virindi watchdogs and bodyguards.
162	* SdrawkcabName: Someone in Turbine really likes this trope. See the ShoutOut entry.
163	* SealedEvilInACan: Bael'Zharon, for a long time.
164	* SentientPhlebotinum: The Shadows are powered by this. And it hates ''everything''.
165	* ShoutOut: The [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Killer Bunny]].
166	** Some players claim to have seen a strange [[Series/DoctorWho British Police Box]] in the wilds, but Turbine insists it's an UrbanLegendOfZelda.
167	** Ulgrim the Unpleasant tells you, "Some monsters get stronger, some monsters get weaker. [[Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina Just remember what ol' Ulgrim says when the health is down, fire is raining from the sky and monsters are clawing at his throat."]]
168	** Ulgrim the Unpleasant tells you, [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness "Strong...weak. I'm the one with the wand."]]
169	** @[[SdrawkcabName atoyot]], an EmoteCommand referencing a series of old Toyota ads.
170	** The various kinds of [[SdrawkcabName Knathteads]], [[BlobMonster jelly-like monsters]] whose model resemble the tanks of the vintage Atari ''Battlezone'' game, all bear the {{Sdrawkcab Name}}s of past Turbine staff.
171	** By WordOfGod, Hoshino Kei, a canon character, got her surname from [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Hoshino Ruri]].
172	** [[Creator/DouglasAdams Don't Panic. Do you know where your towel is?]]
173	** Ulgrim the Unpleasant tells you, [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand "You cannot always acquire what you desire. You cannot always acquire what you desire. But if you attempt it occasionally, you potentially could discover, that you acquire what you require.]] I'm thinking of setting it to music."
174	** [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} The Puffy Shirt]]
175	** [[Series/MorkAndMindy The Chalice of Morkindmity]]
176	** A whole quest where all the N.P.C.s names reference ''Series/HogansHeroes''
177	** [[Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes Bright Eyes]], the tailor of Tusker Island.
178	-->'''Bright Eyes''': [[Film/SoylentGreen Mushed Nanners is people!]]
179	** [[Myth/PaulBunyan Paul the Monouga and his giant blue auroch.]]
180	** The [[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Discus of the Mite Warrior Princess.]]
181	** EmoteAnimation @[[Music/VillagePeople ymca]]
182	* TheSingularity: The Virindi reached one, long ago, and then stayed there.
183	* ShmuckBait: Portals. You're in your homeworld, doing your business, and then a glowing, swirling hole in reality opens. Would it hurt to peek into it a little? The answer is: no, as long as you don't want to go home ever again.
184	* SnakePeople: Sclavus.
185	* SoLastSeason: Many, many, examples, due to [[LensmanArmsRace bigger and badder monsters requiring bigger and badder firepower]]. For example: the Silfi Of Crimson Stars was originally an endgame weapon for Axe-wielders. Today, it's just a step above a newbie weapon.
186	** Its big brother, the Sword of Lost Light, has been upgraded at least four times and is ''still'' an InfinityMinusOneSword.
187	** Explorer gear, a low-level set of weapons and armor that requires a rather convoluted quest, isn't worth the trouble now that everyone gets Pathwarden Armor right at the start.
188	** This can even happen to entire areas. The Direlands used to be a popular lower-end hunting area, now almost no one ventures out into them. The Obsidian Plains were meant for high-level characters when it was introduced, now a mid-range character can handle it with ease by themself. Black Spawn Den used to have a crazy-fast spawn rate and you needed to be 40+ to survive, but now you can go in almost out of the starting gate and wreck the Tuskers therein. There are many, many examples of this, these are just a few.
189	* {{Splat}}: Being a class-less system, group role is defined by whatever specialized skills the character has picked up.
190	* StarfishAliens: Virindi have a hard time understanding material entities.
191	* SuperSoldier: Viamontese Knights.
192	* TakeThat: The players' habit of obtaining spoilers by looking directly into patch data and continuous demands for mounts and capes lead to an infamous case where a certain patch included icons for items like ''winged'' horses, capes, ''bikinis'' and ''rayguns''.
193	** Cloaks, by the way, were finally added... ten years later.
194	* TempleOfDoom: Plenty of those around, but the Falatacot ones are the oldest.
195	* TheyLookLikeUsNow: Simulacra, a Virindi attempt to make better human infiltrators. They talk funny.
196	** It is heavily implied that the Empyrean playable race are actually Virindi that took the place of the Empyreans. [[spoiler: Float off the ground? Glowing eyes? Came from portal space? ... Yeah.]]
197	* ThrowDownTheBomblet: Alchemical grenades, used for debuffing monsters. Expensive but reliable.
198	* TimeAbyss: The average Empyrean lives up to 1000 years. Asheron is far older. And some Undead and Shadows are even older. And let's not speak about Great Ones and the Virindi Singularity.
199	* TomeOfEldritchLore: The [[MeaningfulName Book of Eibhil.]]
200	* [[TouchedByVorlons Touched By The Virindi]]: The Virindi just ''love'' to tinker with other species. Their biggest success and terrible mistake? An Isparian called Camdeth Martine.
201	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Only the Empyreans, Undead and older Shadows are native to Auberean. Every other species and most monsters simply stumbled upon a portal and ended stuck there.
202	* TwentyBearAsses: The quest system was revamped late in the game's lifecycle, but many of the quests before and after involved handing a NPC x number of a given item, many of which were random chunks of monster.
203	* TheUndead: Sentient undeads are the norm in Auberean, not the exception. Skeletons, mummies, and your regular walking corpse are typical examples; you can come across typical ghosts, too.
204	* {{Uncancelled}}: Thanks to Turbine, ''Asheron's Call 2'' was revived during the holiday season of 2012. As of this writing (April 2020) it is the only MMORPG ever to have this happen.
205	** The players, having been ScrewedByTheNetwork when WB refused to honor the agreement to have the server and client go open source if the game was ever shut down, banded together to recreate the game's protocols and create their own server software.
206	* UndergroundCity: Two.
207	* {{Underground Monkey}}s: In the literal sense, and the trope sense too. (Tusker Island is filled to the brim with monkeys in caves; most monsters are part of monster "families" that consist of pallet swaps, size changes, and slight cosmetic modifications.)
208	* UnholyMatrimony: Lord Rytheran and Lady Aerfalle were two [[OurLichesAreDifferent liches]] who were married and made several in game appearances (sometimes appearing as killable enemies, other times as quest givers). Appropriately, when societies were added into the game, they were the leaders of the Eldrych Web (the evil faction.)
209	* UnseenEvil: The "Great Master" is said to be behind the creation [[LivingShadows shadows,]] mukkir, and other [[DarkIsEvil "dark" creatures,]] and the game's GreaterScopeVillain. Bael-Zharon (the game's first ArcVillain) says that he serves him. We later learn that he's apparently [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned at the center of the planet,]] though exactly how this works is unclear ,other than the menhir rings having something to do with it. He [[TheGhost never actually showed up,]] although the devs implied multiple times that if he ''did'' get free, it would be a doomsday event.
210	* VideogameTutorial: Optional. Not recommended to skip.
211	* VolcanoLair: Aerlinthe Island.
212	-->''On far [[VolcanoLair Aerlinthe Island]], an intrepid band has found the lair of the [[TheUndead Dark Lady Aerfalle]], at whose whim the earth itself does shake. But the bold AnAdventurerIsYou has driven her back into her hidden crypts, and the ground stills... until she next awakens.''
213	* WeirdlyUnderpoweredAdmins: An [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-elaborate-dick-moves-in-online-gaming-history invoked case]] happened when a group of players inexplicably decided to protect a crystal shard whose destruction was required as part of an event that would usher in the game's next update, some of them even sacrificing themselves to the crystal in order to raise its hitpoints to nigh-invulnerable levels. Rather than simply rewriting the shard's code to reset its hitpoints or banning the players, or any number of other solutions they could have taken, the developers tried to beat the players in-game, using high-powered avatars with high-level weapons, assisted by two high-level players to give the whole thing legitimacy. They lost. ''Three times.'' It was only on their fourth try that they finally got lucky and beat the "Defenders of the Shard", allowing them to move the event forward.
214	-->"The admins donned their epic weapons, sallied forth... ''and promptly got their asses kicked.'' They were killed by their own players in a world they'd built, making this officially a science fiction movie. 20 Turbine staff watching on a break room screen were treated to players jumping up and down on the admins' corpses. Because ''VideoGame/AsheronsCall'' doesn't have a crouch button."
215	* WelcomeToCorneria
216	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Nuhmudira
217	* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Virindi "wear" them. Camdeth Martine wore one, too, to hide his [[FacialHorror scars]]. Dolls are nothing but one giant floating mask wreathed in energy.
218	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Candeth Martine.
219	* YeahShot: Easy to do with the built-in emote command @atoyot.
220

Context VideoGame / AsheronsCall