I think Asheron's Call was perhaps Microsoft Gaming Studios' biggest mistake.
What do I mean by that?
Asheron's Call was developed by some amazing guys who basically built their company, Turbine Games, from scratch. Their first project was so excellent that Microsoft signed on to distribute, host, and publish the game.
Initially the game met with very good success. It's still legendary as one of the only games in the genre to have a 100% successful launch.
But after a couple years, Microsoft put AC on the “back burner.”
When AC's sequel came out, AC2: Fallen Kings, Microsoft rushed the development team and made them launch using Microsoft's then-unfinished RTC server as the game's backend chat and authentication system.
AC2's launch was mediocre. The game had some promise and a great combat system, but was clearly unfinished. Instead of putting some time and money into making the game right, Microsoft was content to sit and watch it die a slow and painful death - while several dedicated fans clung to the dying world.
Last year things changed. Turbine wrote their own chat server and revamped many of the game's backend systems. They also slowly fixed the game's bugs and added content month after month - never missing a monthly “episode.” All this despite the very low subscriber numbers.
Then they bought the franchise from Microsoft. Since then, they've written their own game launcher (Microsoft's abyssmal Zone service hosted AC1 until this year, and Microsoft hosted AC2 until about the same time), set up their own billing system, taken over all support (including vastly superior in-game support personnel), and developed an expansion pack to be released on May 4th.
Today, AC2 is the game it should have been two years ago. But luckily, AC2 was so far ahead of its time in technology that it looks and sounds better than most new games coming out today (easily besting World of Warcraft - and competitive with EverQuest 2).
I started playing the game again about a month or so ago, and I've been truly impressed with the work Turbine has done. The expansion pack is going to be huge and I'm counting the days til its release. This time, distribution will be handled by Sony Online Entertainment - but Turbine is completely in control of everything else.
Asheron's Call 2: Legions (EB Games)
Asheron's Call 2 Free Trial
They're also going to release an expansion for the original game from 1999, AC1 - which still has a very dedicated following and features some of the best content and gameplay the genre has ever seen.
Asheron's Call - Throne of Destiny (EB Games)