Demise of MMORPG 'Asheron's Call' is sad news for this 74-year-old gamer

By Mark Coppock January 13, 2017

My Grandpa and his Asheron's Call

Let’s face it — there’s a gamer stereotype that extends from teenage boys to a decade or two older, but not beyond. Like all stereotypes, it’s likely completely unfair and it definitely creates an inaccurate notion of the kind of person who enjoys playing video games. There really isn’t just one type of gamer, and sometimes it takes a major disruption to demonstrate that basic truth.

Most recently, that disruption is the impending end of the popular massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) title Asheron’s Call. While Turbine, the game’s publisher, had kept the servers running, that’s coming to an end on January 31, 2017. That’s particularly bad news for a 74-year-old grandfather who’s been playing the game since 1999, as Techspot reports.

Related Videos

The story is told in a YouTube video that was published on January 9, and already has almost a million views. “Grandpa,” as he’s referred to in the video, has made friends all over the world playing the game and has been through all of the typical ups and downs of such long-running titles.

One character that Grandpa has been playing was started in 2003 and amassed over three months of playing time. Another character has existed since 1999, representing a major commitment in the nearly two decades since Grandpa started playing Asheron’s Call. So far, he hasn’t found another MMORPG to take the place of the game that he’s been playing so faithfully all this time.

It’s a heartwarming story to be sure, and bittersweet. It also highlights how important such communities can become, with the game taking on a secondary role to the relationships that are built up along the way. While Grandpa might very well find another game to play, one can’t overestimate the impact that shutting down such a system can have on people of all ages.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Gaming

State of Decay 3: release date prediction, trailer, news

While the world's zombie obsession isn't as prevalent as it was a few years ago, we're still set to see some serious undead action in the future. Undead Labs has a third entry in its State of Decay series in the works that will surely pit an eclectic cast of survivors against hordes of wandering undead as they try to rebuild in a brutal world. Each entry of the series so far has included action-adventure, survival-horror, stealth, role-playing, and strategy elements, blending genres into an interesting civilization-rebuilding, zombie-decapitating experience.

We still don't have a lot of details on what State of Decay 3 will look like, but we've been stealthily searching the wasteland for any news we can find. Here's everything we know about State of Decay 3 right now.
Release date

Gaming

Microsoft signs a 10-year deal to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms

Characters shooting in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Microsoft and Nintendo have signed a 10-year deal to bring Xbox games to Nintendo platforms. Microsoft President Brad Smith announced the deal in a tweet, which affirmed that Call of Duty will come to Nintendo platforms if its Activision Blizzard acquisition formally closes.

Ever since Microsoft announced its intent to purchase Activision Blizzard, the company has maintained that it intends to keep games like Call of Duty multiplatform. It even went one step farther, sayingg that it would bring the series to Nintendo devices. Now, Microsoft and Nintendo have officially signed a "binding 10-year contract," says Smith.

Gaming

The best Call of Duty games, ranked from worst to best

Characters shooting in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Few video game series are as influential and popular as Call of Duty. The annualized franchise throws players into fast-paced battles across various historical time periods -- along with fictional eras, as well. Call of Duty has taken us to World War II, the Cold War, a modern setting, and even to the future.

Although it's one of the most successful video game franchises out there, Call of Duty's quality varies significantly, with some fantastic entries in the series, but many mediocre ones as well. But which Call of Duty games are worth your time and which ones should you skip? To answer that question, we've ranked all the mainline entries in the series, with details about why you should or shouldn't play that particular game.