Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings

Lore & Background

Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was set on the fictional planet of Auberean, following a major cataclysmic event that changed the topography of the continent Dereth. The three races inhabiting the continent—Isparians, Lugians, and Tumeroks—took shelter in portal space until it was safe to emerge. Players represented people emerging from these shelters to reclaim the world their ancestors left behind, while three warring factions and older, more powerful forces vied for control of Auberean's fate.

Reader's Guide

Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was a subscription-based game costing $12.95 USD/EUR per month. It offered monthly content updates or 'events' that added quests, skills, landmasses, monsters, and bug fixes. A major expansion, Asheron's Call 2: Legions, was released on May 4, 2005, introducing the Empyrean and Drudge races, the landmass Knorr, and the Hero 2.0 system. The game's significance lies in its unique approach to storytelling through linked story arcs and its kingdom-vs-kingdom (KvK) player-vs-player system, which allowed consensual conflict between three kingdoms: Order, Shadow, and Dominion. The crafting system operated independently of level-based advancement, allowing players to master narrow vocations. The game closed on January 31, 2017, after a beta relaunch for active Asheron's Call subscribers.

Did You Know?

• Turbine purchased the Asheron's Call intellectual property from Microsoft in December 2003.
• The expansion Asheron's Call 2: Legions was distributed by Sony Online Entertainment under the Station Publishing label.
• The Drudge race was never a playable race in Asheron's Call 2.
• The level cap for Heroes of Dereth was 126.

Development & Publishing Journey

Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was crafted by Turbine Entertainment Software, but its early life was shaped by a complicated publishing relationship. Microsoft Game Studios originally handled distribution, yet by December 2003 Turbine had secured ownership of the Asheron's Call intellectual property outright. The full handover from Microsoft to Turbine was not finalized until 2005, meaning the game's first three years of operation spanned two different corporate umbrellas. Once Turbine held full control, it sought international partners to broaden its reach. In 2004 and 2005, the company struck deals with Jolt Online Gaming to manage European operations and with Sony Online Entertainment, which distributed the Legions expansion under its Station Publishing imprint. This web of partnerships gave the title a broader footprint than many indie-scale MMORPGs of the era, even as the core development team remained a single studio working out of the United States.

The World of Auberean & the Dereth Cataclysm

The narrative foundation of Asheron's Call 2 rests on the fictional planet Auberean, a destination reached through portals conjured by the Empyrean mage Asheron Realaidain. Inhabitants of various home worlds felt an irresistible pull—the Call—to pass through those gateways and settle on Auberean's shores. The sequel's story picks up in the aftermath of a devastating cataclysm that reshaped the topography of the continent known as Dereth. The three races living there at the time of the disaster fled into protective shelters tucked away in portal space, waiting for conditions to stabilize. Players step into the roles of those emerging from concealment to reclaim a landscape their ancestors once called home. The three factions responsible for the original destruction remain active, still locked in a power struggle. Beyond them, older and potentially far more formidable forces also vie for dominion over Auberean's destiny, adding layers of tension to the world's ongoing conflict.

Races, Classes, and the Hero Path

Players in Fallen Kings selected from three founding races: Isparians, human settlers from Ispar; Lugians, arrivals from Tuu who had once been bitter enemies of the Isparians; and Tumeroks—nicknamed Tonks—originally regarded as monstrous by their neighbors from Hazahtu. By the sequel, inter-racial hostilities had largely been resolved, with conflict reserved for those who opted into player-versus-player encounters. The Legions expansion broadened the roster with the mythical Empyreans and the Drudge, the latter available only to pre-order customers at launch. Race was the sole constraint on class choice, with roles generally falling into damage dealers, tanks, or healers. At level fifteen, players could commit to a specialization or remain generalist, though escalating difficulty made specialization practically essential. Each level from one through fifty granted a credit for training combat skills. Reaching level forty-five unlocked the Hero Initiation quest, elevating a character to Hero of Dereth with a level cap of one hundred and fifty. This Hero progression debuted with Legions but was made available to every subscriber regardless of expansion ownership.

A Fractured Lifespan: Launch, Shutdown, and Resurrection

Launched on November 22, 2002, Asheron's Call 2 operated on a subscription model priced at twelve dollars and ninety-five cents per month. What set the franchise apart was its commitment to complimentary monthly content updates—events that introduced new quests, skills, landmasses, monsters, and gameplay mechanics, all bundled into interconnected story arcs. The major Legions expansion, released May 4, 2005, added the Empyreans, the Drudge, the continent of Knorr, and the Hero 2.0 system, while the franchise's final content update was described as one of the largest ever delivered. Despite this momentum, the servers went dark on December 30, 2005. The original Asheron's Call, however, continued running independently. In December 2012, Turbine reignited Fallen Kings on a fresh server as a beta accessible to active subscribers. That second life lasted until January 31, 2017, when the game closed for the final time.