Hello everyone. My name is Matthew Ford, and I am the Lead Program Manager for the Asheron's Call games at Microsoft. I directly worked on Asheron's Call and its first year of updates (after which Ken Karl took over), and I have been directly working on Asheron's Call 2 since its conception. I'd like to introduce you to AC2, and share with you how excited we all are about this revolutionary game.

But first, a bit more about me so you know where I'm coming from, because I can guess what most people picture when they think of a “Lead Program Manager at Microsoft.” First of all, I'm not wearing a suit. I tend to throw on whatever I find in my closet and on the floor--which this morning included some silly-looking beads, it being Mardi Gras as I write this. Also, I'm not sitting in a huge Death-Star-like spaceship miles above the Earth's surface. The Microsoft Game Studios look pretty much like the other two game companies where I've worked (Atari and Accolade). All up and down the hall, people are playing games, talking about games, or gnashing their teeth about bugs in their games. Lastly, I am not sitting in a suede beanbag stuffed with thousand-dollar bills. I do, however, get free soda, which is pretty cool.

In next month's article, I'll go more into the role of a Program Manager and how Microsoft and Turbine work together. But now that basic introductions are over, I want to stop talking about me and start talking about something much more interesting--Asheron's Call 2.

I like the first Asheron's Call and its esteemed competition. They are all good, interesting evolutions of a genre which has been around for years--the Multi-User Dungeon (MUD). I played text MUDs a whole lot back in the day, and aside from the 3D, today's descendants are pretty similar. Run out to the nastylands, just as nasty as they were yesterday. Attack the resident Evil Creature and watch how the combat goes, ritually following your preplanned attack style, and decide if you should run away yet. Take the dead creature's stuff. Run back to town to sell extra stuff and buy better stuff. Repeat and go up a level. It's fun, it works, and it's a great way to spend time with friends. I think this evolution will continue for a while as we see more variations of this classic MUD.

But AC2 is not just another step in that evolutionary chain. It is a revolution, like the first mammals that sprung up amongst the feet of the dinosaurs. We questioned every axiom of the online role-playing game, broke it down to its essence, and built it back up. We set ourselves an ambitious goal: to make our game look and play in a way as beautiful, smooth, and exciting as any role-playing game, online or off. We simply won't encourage you to put yourself on auto-run or auto-attack or auto-sit-there-to-rest, and then lean back in your chair or go get a drink. We want to reward you for paying attention. We want you to experiment with interesting decisions. We want you to do fun exciting things a lot more often, and boring predictable things a lot less often.

What most distinguishes AC2 from anything you've ever played is that you're in a world that rocks with epic changes all around you, and that you drive these changes. You're not just stuck in one point in time: you ride the wave of a heroic story arc that rolls forward every month, or even more often. Our revolution puts the evolution where it belongs: constantly happening in the world where you dwell. No other game does this. AC1 forged and honed this idea, and AC2 sharpens it to a high sheen, bringing you new adventures and world-shaking changes much vaster, more surprising, and more far-reaching to all players than ever seen before.

All this must leave more questions than answers. What are the main goals of AC2's design? Exactly how do we differ? How do Microsoft and Turbine work together? Will there still be Monougat? Luckily for you, I'm not going anywhere. I plan to write up a cozy fireside chat like this for you every month until they kick me off my beanbag. I'll share the stage with the amazing people who also make Asheron's Call 2. Even as we work very hard, we are truly excited about this revolution in the making. Won't you please join us? Swell. Let's chat again soon.

--Matthew Ford