Father Time wasn’t the only one bidding a fond farewell to 2004. Fans of Asheron’s Call 2 are nostalgic for 2004, having just said their final goodbyes to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game on December 30.

The developer of Asheron’s Call 2, Turbine Entertainment, ended the year by pulling the plug the game and shutting down the last remaining game server. Originally released in November 2002, Asheron’s Call 2 never gained the popularity of its predecessor, Asheron’s Call. Gamers often lamented the low player population and the game’s initial lack of content. Turbine quickly announced monthly content patches to keep the game fresh and players busy in the fantasy world, and promotional campaigns were upped to draw in new players. An expansion pack for Asheron’s Call 2 was even released in the spring of 2005. But despite the developer’s best efforts, it was not enough to keep the game going.

Earlier in 2005, Turbine made the decision to migrate all players to a single server, clearing indicating a problem with low player population. For the sake of comparison, Blizzard Entertainment currently runs 128 player servers for its popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft. Clearly this was the beginning of the end for Asheron’s Call 2.

Finally, in August 2005 just three months after the release of the new Asheron’s Call 2 expansion pack, Legions, Turbine announced its plans to shut down the game. Citing financial liabilities with the game, the company’s Director of Community Relations noted that “in spite of our hard work and the launch of [the Asheron's Call 2 expansion pack] Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the serviceâ€�.

So the sun rose and set on Asheron’s Call 2 for the last time on December 30, 2005.
Employees previously working on content and maintenance for Asheron’s Call 2 have been reassigned, although player forums for the game temporarily remain open to give players time to mourn the death of the game and the passing of their high level characters.

In an interesting twist, the original Asheron’s Call game, released in late 1999, is still going strong and has survived its sequel. In fact, in the wake of the shutdown of Asheron’s Call 2, Turbine has announced that it is weighing a number of possible upgrades to the original game. We can only presume this is an attempt to calm the fears of worried players who foresee an end to the original Asheron’s Call in light of recent events.

Turbine is spending little time licking old wounds, with two new high-profile MMORPGs on the horizon. Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach has a tentative release of late February 2006, while Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is scheduled for sometime later in the year.

Asheron’s Call 2 - We bid you adieu.

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