Asheron's Call (AC) is a fantasy MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) for Microsoft Windows-based PCs developed and published by Turbine Entertainment. Though it was developed by the Turbine team (with Microsoft's extensive assistance), it was published as a Microsoft title until 2004.
The game was set on the island continent of Dereth and several surrounding smaller islands and archipelagos on the fictional planet of Auberean. The game was played in a large, seamless 3D virtual world which could host thousands of players' characters at a time.
Released on November 2, 1999, it was the third major MMORPG to be released and was developed at the same time as Ultima Online and Everquest. After initial success, its subscription numbers dropped as newer MMORPGs moved into the market. Its host servers remained online for over 17 years after the game's original launch.
Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings is a MMORPG, with a monthly subscription, that was released on November 22, 2002 as a sequel to the original Asheron's Call. The severs for AC2 were first shut down in December 2005 when the game did not have enough subscribers to continue being viable for the company to support.
It was announced that the game was going to be relaunched as a beta for those subscribed to Asheron's Call on December 13, 2012.
Turbine announced that is would no longer develop MMOs on December 20, 2016 and that it's servers and account system would be transitioned over to a new studio, Standing Stone Games. As Turbine retained the rights for the Asheron's Call IP the game servers for both MMOs will go offline on January 31, 2017.
Centered in the city of Stormreach, DDO is set on the fictional continent of Xen'drik, in the world of Eberron, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting. Xen'drik is a vastly unexplored and wild locale, once the center of the Advanced Giant Civilization, which was destroyed thousands of years before. Players can create their characters following the revised edition of D&D 3.5 rule-set fashion, and play them in both indoor and outdoor environments, including dungeons.
Lord of the Rings Online is the premier MMORPG set in J.R.R. Tolkien's wondrous world of Middle-earth. LOTRO brings you into the timeline of the events of The Lord of the Rings story, and sets you on a path that parallels the Fellowship of the Ring, aiding them on their journey to Mordor by performing tasks and adventurous deeds surrounding their path across Middle-earth.