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Work on Asheron's Call's player-run servers continues
Earlier this summer, Asheron's Call 1 and 2 went buy-to-play with no sub and technically went into maintenance mode, with no more content updates planned for the pair of games. But it wasn't to be game over; Turbine vowed to keep the servers up for its loyal players because it was, as Turbine's Rob "Severlin" Ciccolini put it, "the right thing to do." Critically, the studio also promised to release tools, though not the source code itself, to help players run their own servers, create their own live events, and someday implement their own locations. Just before the holidays, Ciccolini quietly released an update about the "community-foused initiative" on the official forums. I finished documenting and preparing the files players will need for all the SQL set up. We are working on getting documentation for setting up the patch server and and gls servers. I am also checking to see how a player can configure a local one person server with a simplified set up so they can play solo or in a LAN environment but I don't know yet if it will be possible to do without the full login process. We are moving to get things up in a place where they can be downloaded. Severlin explained that documentation and testing continues, and there's a chance, though not a guarantee, that a "simplified server set up for solo or LAN players" might be workable.
H1Z1 floats possible server rulesets
A short Reddit post from SOE revealed a few possible server rulesets that the team has been discussing for H1Z1. While these aren't set in stone, it is an interesting peek into the possibilities of both official and player-run servers. The possible server rulesets include: Hardcore ruleset (wipes all ownership and recipes upon death) PvP vs. PvE Military weapons toggle Guns toggle (melee/bows only server) Roleplay (VOIP attracts zombies and other tidbits) World chat vs. area chat Hardcore ruleset #2: Starvation! (food and water consumption are much higher) Hardcore ruleset #3: Zombies and wolves are deadlier, faster, and hardier Base destructibility (easy, hard, not at all) SOE also indicated that it would be possible to create rulesets that mix-and-matched between these ideas.
Asheron's Call 1 and 2 go free-to-play in August
We are in the final months of a pay-for-play Asheron's Call, as Turbine announced yesterday that it will not be charging a subscription after June 31st. "As of August 2014, Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 will no longer charge a subscription fee for players," Turbine posted. "The last payments will be processed on June 31st [sic], making July the final 'paid' month. Note that this means some players will technically receive some portion of July free as a result, as we have decided to absorb the cost and not run partial payments to cover it." The free-to-play version of both MMOs will continue operating, although new or lapsed players will need to pony up $10 to activate an account. Turbine also said that the forums will remain running, that help will be limited, and that it will no longer be doing MSN Zone migrations after May 31st. As for player-run servers, Turbine plans to offer up a "basic" Asheron's Call server and client download by the end of the year, supported by new sub-forums. [Thanks to Jack for the tip!]
