It looks like Turbine is going to be hibernating for a few hours while it does its scheduled maintenance. We just got word that the scheduled maintenance for all Turbine Inc. games, forums, and websites will be occurring on Monday, February 25.

The official announcement can be found after the jump!

Good news for all Ashen Empires players out there! Developer Iron Will Games is giving you the chance to strut your PvP skills as the company has a tournament planned especially for you. And come on, don't give us the crap that you're only joining for fun. We're pretty sure a prize package including 2GB iPod Nano from Apple sounds good enough to persuade you.

To join, send an email to support@ashenempires.com with the subject title "AE Tournament Entry." Your entry should contain your character's name and its level as well as your server. This is the rather tricky part: The tournament will be using brackets and they will be randomly generated. This means that it is possible for a rookie to be paired with a seasoned player so you better start building your character up now.

Furthermore, the tournament will be in single elimination format and will take place in Lotor's Castle Arena. While the bracketing and start times will be announced on February 20, entries should be received by midnight of the 15th and not a minute after. The tournament will be conducted on March 3 and 4.

Asheron's Call has just released its December Event called Cold Tracks. A number of changes were made and the concept of the Squelch Panel was discussed.

Here a rundown of the updates and changes:

• Rare Infinite Arrowheads will now work on bundles of the appropriate shafts. Rare gems can now be stacked up to 100.
• Mr.P has made the location of his home known to players. There are suggestive hints about making a trip to Frost Haven and about being nice to Mr.P.
• Some quest dungeons were revised and would play a role in the current storyline.
• More answers this month for those who want info about the Tanada Clan.
• An idea of adding a Squelch Panel in the game is in the works and it would be similar to the friends panel.

Other improvements:

• The snow has begun to fall in Dereth, and winter is now upon us.
• The Scarecrows have gone back into hiding for the season. Snowmen should now be appearing on the landscape in their place.
• Several small typos were fixed on various quests.
• On the Messenger's Collar quest, the respawn timer on the Falatacot Tome has been increased.

Asheron's Call by Turbine Inc. is a fantasy which takes players to the land of Dereth and the surrounding islands.

Christmas is almost here and various MMO titles have several events lined-up for the Holiday. Guild Wars, as you may not be aware of, is hosting a Winterfest Tournament while fans of City of Heroes/Villains can look forward to receiving a special badge just by hanging in virtual environment Paragon City.

If you thought that free MMO Asheron's Call won't be getting any, then you are mistaken, gravely mistaken. Have you forgotten about Cold Tracks? Come on, you couldn't have! At any rate, this is what AC Community Relations Officer  Andy "Frelorn" Cataldo has to say:

This week the team is working on getting things prepared for the December event. This includes testing for any final issues as well as making sure that things are in line with where the team wanted them to be. The event is set to go live on Tuesday December 19th and is titled Cold Tracks.

Cold Tracks, eh? It kind of reminds us of the recent animated movie Happy Feet. Have you watched it? As much as it is fun, I honestly feel that seeing Mumble with a homing device attached on his back is really disturbing. Anyway, we hope the event on the 19th wouldn't be disturbing for fans as well.

Turbine Inc. has finally announced that the much-anticipated free trial for Asheron's Call is now live, so make sure you tell your friends and let them experience the game firsthand. You can sign up for it by pointing your browsers over to trial.ac.turbine.com. Just follow the instructions there and you'll be up and running around in the Asheron's Call gameworld in no time.

Long-time Asheron's Call players will recall that there were a few issues that dampened down the enthusiasm for the last Asheron's Call free trial. Well, according to Turbine, a new restriction has been put in the housing system which requires a character to purchase any form of housing. provided that it has been on a particular server for more than 15 days.

Since the free trial lasts for only 14 days, you won't be able to purchase housing if you're on a free trial account. Pretty good, eh? If you're really gung-ho about making the purchase, you can go ahead and purchase housing under the rules that are already in place once the 15-day trial period is over.

Buy: [Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny]

The holiday season usually heralds the change to be brought about by the new year, and such a theme is what permeates Asheron's Call's November Letter. New staff members have been hired, and with the coming of the Free Trial of Throne of Destiny, this holiday season seems like the best time to initiate growth and change in Turbine's hit MMORPG.

One of the things that have undergone changes is Asheron's Benediction. This pre-order health gem has caused quite a few balance issues. When the November event goes live, players will be able to get a new augmentation at a cost of 2 billion XP. Getting this augmentation will place a gem in the users pack similar to the already existing pre-order gem. When used, this will grant the player an 8% bonus to his or her health, which is non-stackable with the 10% pre-order gem.

Houses have also been improved, with mansion owners now able to hook two more portal devices and two more casting devices. Several new items have also been added to the list of things that Agents of the Arcanum will accept in exchange for Writs of Refuge, and speaking of new items, the crafters of Dereth have finally come up with the latest tier of heritage masks. A mask is available for each of the game's playable races, so try collecting them all.

If you're looking for some new quests, you might want to head for Ulgrim's Island. Ulgrim has decided to test everyone's drinking prowess, and you might just be the one to finally put him under the table. The Orphanage Quest has also undergone some revisions. A new step has been added and players will be able to obtain experience along with the classic reward. With these changes, the time in which you can turn in the item from the Orphanage has been changed to 13 days. Lastly, you can now turn in the quest item from the Mines of Despair for some nice XP rewards if you feel that you don't need the item.

Sounds like November's got a lot in store for all you Asheron's Call players out there. Since MMORPGs are constantly changing, updating, and evolving, make sure to keep an eye on QJ's MMORPG blog for the latest updates.

Asheron's Call is one of the few MMOs that have stood the test of time. Turbine Entertainment first opened the gates of fantasy world Dereth back in 1999. Players those days entered not knowing they'd be gripped and changed for a long time, if not for the rest of their lives.

To know content is to know a game, right? What better way to start then than an interview with the game's content designer, Kitani. A content designer takes charge of creating storylines, quests, monsters, and rewards among other things. Simply put, most of what you see in the game is his creation. It's quite interesting to note that Kitani started out rather far from where he is now. "Before that, I worked, at different points, as a Web Designer, a contract Artist (both Digital and Conventional), and an Exotic Animal Trainer," he shares.

Given that varied experience, Kitani holds AC in such high esteem. He recalls that "pretty much everything I know about the Gaming Industry I learned from the AC Team." During his stint as designer, Kitani learned to love and favor some aspects of the work over the others. "My favorite aspect of being a Dev is adding things that evolve and further the existing Lore. I always liked the world of Dereth and its evolving history," Kitani quips.

Aside from the graphics, Kitani doesn't want to change anything to Asheron's Call. If anything, he is very proud of the game's skill-based character development and allegiance system. He also shares that he prefers listening to in-game sound and music rather than to songs.

We have all been told that the best things in life are free. Indeed! And any buzz regarding free stuff is sure to call any person's attention. That is exactly the reason why, even if we aren't big fans of Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny ourselves, we have suddenly turn our heads on its way. Community Relations Officer Frelorn just announced that they are bringing back AC's 14 day free trial.

Beginning next week, the gates of fantasy world Dereth will be opened for everyone through the free trial site. "The Asheron’s Call team has been hard at work with some great game improvements and exciting new content," writes Frelorn. Also, the upcoming holiday special issue of PC Gamer Magazine will be containing a full page for the promo.

No other information were mentioned as of now, but the officer promised gamers that more will be revealed as the launch of the trial program draws near. We hope, he means more and more freebies.

The critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game from Turbine, Inc., Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny, is now available for purchase online through Direct2Drive for $19.99. The package includes 30 days of Free Play. So join thousands of other players online and heed Asheron's Call.

Download Features:

•     Includes the complete contents of Asheron’s Call and Asheron’s Call: Dark Majesty plus all 70+ content updates in one game!
•     All new graphics engine & interface
•     New playable heritage group, the Viamontians
•     Extensive new landmass to explore
•     New weapons and armor to discover and use
•     Hundreds of new kinds of items extend the world via our innovative rares system.
•     Dozens of new creatures & quests will challenge players of all levels!

Minimum System Requirements:

•     Windows 98SE/2000/XP
•     733 MHZ processor
•     256 MB RAM
•     56K+ internet connection
•     3 GB hard drive space
•     32 MB DirectX compatible video card with hardware T&L
•     DirectX compatible sound card

File Size:

•     378 MB