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Source lines of code

Source lines of code (SLOC), also known as lines of code (LOC), is a software metric used to measure the size of a computer program by counting the number of lines in the text of the program's source code. SLOC is typically used to predict the amount of effort that will be required to develop a program, as well as to estimate programming productivity or maintainability once the software is produced.

Measurement methods
Many useful comparisons involve only the order of magnitude of lines of code in a project. Using lines of code to compare a 10,000-line project to a 100,000-line project is far more useful than when comparing a 20,000-line project with a 21,000-line project. While it is debatable exactly how to measure lines of code, discrepancies of an order of magnitude can be clear indicators of software complexity or man-hours.

There are two major types of SLOC measures: physical SLOC (LOC) and logical SLOC (LLOC). Specific definitions of these two measures vary, but the most common definition of physical SLOC is a count of lines in the text of the program's source code excluding comment lines.

Logical SLOC attempts to measure the number of executable "statements", but their specific definitions are tied to specific computer languages (one simple logical SLOC measure for C-like programming languages is the number of statement-terminating semicolons). It is much easier to create tools that measure physical SLOC, and physical SLOC definitions are easier to explain. However, physical SLOC measures are more sensitive to logically irrelevant formatting and style conventions than logical SLOC. However, SLOC measures are often stated without giving their definition, and logical SLOC can often be significantly different from physical SLOC.

Consider this snippet of C code as an example of the ambiguity encountered when determining SLOC:

In this example we have:
 * 1 physical line of code (LOC),
 * 2 logical lines of code (LLOC) (for statement and printf statement),
 * 1 comment line.

Depending on the programmer and coding standards, the above "line" of code could be written on many separate lines:

In this example we have:
 * 4 physical lines of code (LOC): is placing braces work to be estimated?
 * 2 logical lines of code (LLOC): what about all the work writing non-statement lines?
 * 1 comment line: tools must account for all code and comments regardless of comment placement.

Even the "logical" and "physical" SLOC values can have a large number of varying definitions. Robert E. Park (while at the Software Engineering Institute) and others developed a framework for defining SLOC values, to enable people to carefully explain and define the SLOC measure used in a project. For example, most software systems reuse code, and determining which (if any) reused code to include is important when reporting a measure.

Origins
At the time when SLOC was introduced as a metric, the most commonly used languages, such as FORTRAN and assembly language, were line-oriented languages. These languages were developed at the time when punched cards were the main form of data entry for programming. One punched card usually represented one line of code. It was one discrete object that was easily counted. It was the visible output of the programmer, so it made sense to managers to count lines of code as a measurement of a programmer's productivity, even referring to such as "card images". Today, the most commonly used computer languages allow a lot more leeway for formatting. Text lines are no longer limited to 80 or 96 columns, and one line of text no longer necessarily corresponds to one line of code.

Usage of SLOC measures
SLOC measures are somewhat controversial, particularly in the way that they are sometimes misused. Experiments have repeatedly confirmed that effort is highly correlated with SLOC, that is, programs with larger SLOC values take more time to develop. Thus, SLOC can be effective in estimating effort. However, functionality is less well correlated with SLOC: skilled developers may be able to develop the same functionality with far less code, so one program with fewer SLOC may exhibit more functionality than another similar program. Counting SLOC as productivity measure has its caveats, since a developer can develop only a few lines and yet be far more productive in terms of functionality than a developer who ends up creating more lines (and generally spending more effort). Good developers may merge multiple code modules into a single module, improving the system yet appearing to have negative productivity because they remove code. Furthermore, inexperienced developers often resort to code duplication, which is highly discouraged as it is more bug-prone and costly to maintain, but it results in higher SLOC.

SLOC counting exhibits further accuracy issues at comparing programs written in different languages unless adjustment factors are applied to normalize languages. Various computer languages balance brevity and clarity in different ways; as an extreme example, most assembly languages would require hundreds of lines of code to perform the same task as a few characters in APL. The following example shows a comparison of a "hello world" program written in BASIC, C, and COBOL (a language known for being particularly verbose).

Another increasingly common problem in comparing SLOC metrics is the difference between auto-generated and hand-written code. Modern software tools often have the capability to auto-generate enormous amounts of code with a few clicks of a mouse. For instance, graphical user interface builders automatically generate all the source code for a graphical control elements simply by dragging an icon onto a workspace. The work involved in creating this code cannot reasonably be compared to the work necessary to write a device driver, for instance. By the same token, a hand-coded custom GUI class could easily be more demanding than a simple device driver; hence the shortcoming of this metric.

There are several cost, schedule, and effort estimation models which use SLOC as an input parameter, including the widely used Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) series of models by Barry Boehm et al., PRICE Systems True S and Galorath's SEER-SEM. While these models have shown good predictive power, they are only as good as the estimates (particularly the SLOC estimates) fed to them. Many have advocated the use of function points instead of SLOC as a measure of functionality, but since function points are highly correlated to SLOC (and cannot be automatically measured) this is not a universally held view.

Example
According to Vincent Maraia, the SLOC values for various operating systems in Microsoft's Windows NT product line are as follows:

David A. Wheeler studied the Red Hat distribution of the Linux operating system, and reported that Red Hat Linux version 7.1 (released April 2001) contained over 30 million physical SLOC. He also extrapolated that, had it been developed by conventional proprietary means, it would have required about 8,000 person-years of development effort and would have cost over $1 billion (in year 2000 U.S. dollars).

A similar study was later made of Debian GNU/Linux version 2.2 (also known as "Potato"); this operating system was originally released in August 2000. This study found that Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 included over 55 million SLOC, and if developed in a conventional proprietary way would have required 14,005 person-years and cost US$1.9 billion to develop. Later runs of the tools used report that the following release of Debian had 104 million SLOC, and, the newest release is going to include over 213 million SLOC.

Advantages

 * 1) Scope for automation of counting: since line of code is a physical entity, manual counting effort can be easily eliminated by automating the counting process. Small utilities may be developed for counting the LOC in a program. However, a logical code counting utility developed for a specific language cannot be used for other languages due to the syntactical and structural differences among languages. Physical LOC counters, however, have been produced which count dozens of languages.
 * 2) An intuitive metric: line of code serves as an intuitive metric for measuring the size of software because it can be seen, and the effect of it can be visualized. Function points are said to be more of an objective metric which cannot be imagined as being a physical entity, it exists only in the logical space. This way, LOC comes in handy to express the size of software among programmers with low levels of experience.
 * 3) Ubiquitous measure: LOC measures have been around since the earliest days of software. As such, it is arguable that more LOC data is available than any other size measure.

Disadvantages

 * 1) Lack of accountability: lines-of-code measure suffers from some fundamental problems. Some  think that it isn't useful to measure the productivity of a project using only results from the coding phase, which usually accounts for only 30% to 35% of the overall effort.
 * 2) Lack of cohesion with functionality: though experiments  have repeatedly confirmed that while effort is highly correlated with LOC, functionality is less well correlated with LOC. That is, skilled developers may be able to develop the same functionality with far less code, so one program with less LOC may exhibit more functionality than another similar program. In particular, LOC is a poor productivity measure of individuals, because a developer who develops only a few lines may still be more productive than a developer creating more lines of code – even more: some good refactoring like "extract method" to get rid of redundant code and keep it clean will mostly reduce the lines of code.
 * 3) Adverse impact on estimation: because of the fact presented under point #1, estimates based on lines of code can adversely go wrong, in all possibility.
 * 4) Developer's experience: implementation of a specific logic differs based on the level of experience of the developer. Hence, number of lines of code differs from person to person. An experienced developer may implement certain functionality in fewer lines of code than another developer of relatively less experience does, though they use the same language.
 * 5) Difference in languages: consider two applications that provide the same functionality (screens, reports, databases). One of the applications is written in C++ and the other application written in a language like COBOL. The number of function points would be exactly the same, but aspects of the application would be different. The lines of code needed to develop the application would certainly not be the same. As a consequence, the amount of effort required to develop the application would be different (hours per function point). Unlike lines of code, the number of function points will remain constant.
 * 6) Advent of GUI tools: with the advent of GUI-based programming languages and tools such as Visual Basic, programmers can write relatively little code and achieve high levels of functionality. For example, instead of writing a program to create a window and draw a button, a user with a GUI tool can use drag-and-drop and other mouse operations to place components on a workspace. Code that is automatically generated by a GUI tool is not usually taken into consideration when using LOC methods of measurement. This results in variation between languages; the same task that can be done in a single line of code (or no code at all) in one language may require several lines of code in another.
 * 7) Problems with multiple languages: in today's software scenario, software is often developed in more than one language. Very often, a number of languages are employed depending on the complexity and requirements. Tracking and reporting of productivity and defect rates poses a serious problem in this case, since defects cannot be attributed to a particular language subsequent to integration of the system. Function point stands out to be the best measure of size in this case.
 * 8) Lack of counting standards: there is no standard definition of what a line of code is. Do comments count? Are data declarations included? What happens if a statement extends over several lines? – These are the questions that often arise. Though organizations like SEI and IEEE have published some guidelines in an attempt to standardize counting, it is difficult to put these into practice especially in the face of newer and newer languages being introduced every year.
 * 9) Psychology: a programmer whose productivity is being measured in lines of code will have an incentive to write unnecessarily verbose code. The more management is focusing on lines of code, the more incentive the programmer has to expand his code with unneeded complexity. This is undesirable, since increased complexity can lead to increased cost of maintenance and increased effort required for bug fixing.

In the PBS documentary Triumph of the Nerds, Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer criticized the use of counting lines of code: In IBM there's a religion in software that says you have to count K-LOCs, and a K-LOC is a thousand lines of code. How big a project is it? Oh, it's sort of a 10K-LOC project. This is a 20K-LOCer. And this is 50K-LOCs. And IBM wanted to sort of make it the religion about how we got paid. How much money we made off OS/2, how much they did. How many K-LOCs did you do? And we kept trying to convince them – hey, if we have – a developer's got a good idea and he can get something done in 4K-LOCs instead of 20K-LOCs, should we make less money? Because he's made something smaller and faster, less K-LOC. K-LOCs, K-LOCs, that's the methodology. Ugh! Anyway, that always makes my back just crinkle up at the thought of the whole thing. According to the Computer History Museum Apple Developer Bill Atkinson in 1982 found problems with this practice: When the Lisa team was pushing to finalize their software in 1982, project managers started requiring programmers to submit weekly forms reporting on the number of lines of code they had written. Bill Atkinson thought that was silly. For the week in which he had rewritten QuickDraw’s region calculation routines to be six times faster and 2000 lines shorter, he put “-2000″ on the form. After a few more weeks the managers stopped asking him to fill out the form, and he gladly complied.

title: Source lines of code


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The Exciters

The Exciters were an American pop music group of the 1960s. They were originally a girl group, with one male member being added afterwards. At the height of their popularity the group consisted of lead singer Brenda Reid, Herb Rooney, Carolyn Johnson and Lillian Walker.

Career
Brenda Reid, Carolyn (Carol) Johnson, Lillian Walker, and Sylvia Wilbur formed the group while at high school together in Queens, New York City, in 1961. They were originally called the Masterettes, as a sister group to another group called the Masters, and released their first recording, "Follow the Leader", in early 1962. Wilbur then left the group to be replaced by Penny Carter, and they auditioned for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, winning a recording contract. Penny Carter then left, and was replaced by Herb Rooney, a member of the Masters; Reid and Rooney later married.

The group's name was changed to the Exciters, and their first hit record, arranged by Teacho Wiltshire and produced by Leiber and Stoller for United Artists Records, was "Tell Him", which reached no. 4 on the U.S. pop chart in early 1963, and no. 12 in Canada. The song had previously been released unsuccessfully, as "Tell Her", by Gil Hamilton later known as Johnny Thunder. According to Jason Ankeny at AllMusic, the Exciters' version of "Tell Him" "...boasted an intensity that signified a sea change in the presentation and perception of femininity in popular music, paving the way for such tough, sexy acts as the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes."

Dusty Springfield was on a stop-over in New York City en route to Nashville to make a country music album with the Springfields in 1962, when she heard the Exciters' "Tell Him" playing while taking a late-night walk by the Colony Record Store on Broadway. The song helped Springfield decide to embark on a solo career with a pop/soul direction. She'd recall: "The Exciters sort of got you by the throat...out of the blue comes blasting at you “I know something about love”, and that’s it. That’s what I wanna do."

Other songs by the group included "He's Got the Power" (written by Ellie Greenwich and Tony Powers), "Get Him", and Northern Soul classic "Blowing Up My Mind". The Exciters also recorded "Do-Wah-Diddy", written by Greenwich and Jeff Barry, in 1963; with a revised title of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" it was covered shortly after by Manfred Mann, for whom it was an international hit. They were one of the opening acts for the Beatles during their first North American tour in August–September 1964. During this tour, they became the first black musicians to perform at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida; the stadium's management had initially refused to allow the Exciters to perform because of their race, but when the Beatles said they would refuse to perform too, the group was allowed to go on.

In 1965, the Exciters left the Leiber-Stoller management team, and the United Artists label, for Roulette Records. There they issued a remake (with revised lyrics) of the Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' song "I Want You to Be My Boy". They continued to record through the 1960s for Bert Berns' labels Bang and Shout, and later for RCA, but with little success. Ronnie Pace and Skip McPhee replaced Johnson and Walker. The group broke up in 1974.

In 1975, Brenda and Herb Rooney, credited as the Exciters, enjoyed a hit single in the UK with "Reaching for the Best", produced by Rooney and young newcomer producer Ian Levine. The song was aimed at the British Northern soul scene but crossed over to the UK Singles Chart where it peaked at No. 31. As Brenda & Herb, Reid and Rooney had a final R&B chart hit in 1978 with "Tonight I'm Gonna Make You A Star". The pair later separated, and Reid later launched a new version of the Exciters with members of her family. Brenda Reid and Lillian Walker still occasionally performed together as The Exciters.

Herb Rooney died in the early 1990s. Brenda and Herb Rooney's son, Mark Cory Rooney, is a music business executive. Carolyn 'Carol' Johnson died on May 7, 2007, aged 62. Lillian Walker-Moss died on February 5, 2023, at the age of 78. She had been battling angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

Albums

 * Tell Him (United Artists, 1963)
 * The Exciters (Roulette, 1965)
 * Caviar and Chitlins (1969)
 * Black Beauty (1971)
 * Heaven Is Where You Are (1976)
 * The Exciters (1977)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Exciters


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1952 Governor General's Awards

In Canada, the 1952 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the sixteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize and were just an honour for the authors.

Winners

 * Fiction: David Walker, The Pillar.
 * Poetry or Drama: E. J. Pratt, Towards the Last Spike.
 * Non-Fiction: Bruce Hutchison, The Incredible Canadian.
 * Non-Fiction: Donald G. Creighton, John A. Macdonald, The Young Politician.
 * Juvenile: Marie McPhedran, Cargoes on the Great Lakes.

title: 1952 Governor General's Awards


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Word of Wisdom (Latter Day Saints)

The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of an 1833 section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to be a sacred text. The section defines beliefs regarding certain drugs, nutritious ingredients in general, and the counsel to eat meat sparingly; it also offers promises to those who follow the guidance of the Word of Wisdom.

As practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, the Word of Wisdom explicitly prohibits the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee (with tea and coffee being labeled as "hot drinks"), and recreational drug use, and encourages healthy practices such as nutritious eating, the sparing use of meat, regular exercise, proper hygiene, and getting sufficient rest.

Compliance with the Word of Wisdom is necessary in the LDS Church to become a member and to participate in various church functions, however, violation of the code is not normally cause for a church membership council.

Beginnings under Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, dictated the Word of Wisdom as a revelation from the Christian God on was dictated on February 27, 1833. The Word of Wisdom was first published as a stand-alone broadsheet in December 1833. In 1835, it was included as Section LXXX (80) in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Brigham Young stated after Smith's death that the revelation was given in response to problems encountered while conducting meetings in the Smith family home:

"When they assembled together in this room after breakfast, the first they did was to light their pipes, and, while smoking, talk about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco would then be taken. Often when the Prophet [Joseph Smith] entered the room to give the school instructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor, made the Prophet think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result of his inquiry."

In February 1834, Joseph Smith proposed a resolution before the high council of the church that stated, "No official member in this Church is worthy to hold an office after having the word of wisdom properly taught him; and he, the official member, neglecting to comply with and obey it." This resolution was accepted unanimously by the council. The charge of "not observing the Word of Wisdom" was later one of five leveled against David Whitmer (who was an apostle, and one of the Three Witnesses) on April 13, 1838, which led to his excommunication.

Joseph Smith is however recorded at various times drinking wine, beer, and tea, and using tobacco. One account by Amasa Lyman, a member of the First Presidency under Smith, reports that Smith once finished preaching a sermon on the Word of Wisdom and immediately afterward rode through the streets smoking a cigar. Similarly, Almon W. Babbitt stated "that he had taken the liberty to break the Word of Wisdom, from the example of President Joseph Smith, Jun., and others, but acknowledged that it was wrong" when he was brought before the church's high council on August 19, 1835, on the charge of "not keeping the Word of Wisdom". Joseph Smith had also been operating a hotel/tavern in Far West, Missouri, in 1838, and in June of that year, the high council of Far West felt compelled to remind Smith's family that there was a ban on the sale and consumption of "ardent spirits in the place".

In the LDS Church
After Smith's death, several factions emerged from the Latter Day Saint movement. The largest of these groups, the LDS Church, was led by Brigham Young. At a church general conference on September 9, 1851, Young called on the attendees to "leave off the use of" items mentioned in the Word of Wisdom:

The Patriarch [ John Smith ] again rose to speak on the Word of Wisdom, and urging on the brethren to leave off using tobacco, &c.

President Young rose to put the motion and called on all the sisters who will leave off the use of tea, coffee, &c., to manifest it by raising the right hand; seconded and carried.

And then put the following motion; calling on all the boys [sic] who were under ninety years of age who would covenant to leave off the use of tobacco, whisky, and all things mentioned in the Word of Wisdom, to manifest it in the same manner, which was carried unanimously."

The Patriarch then said, may the Lord bless you and help you to keep all your covenants. Amen.

President Young amongst other things said he knew the goodness of the people, and the Lord bears with our weakness; we must serve the Lord, and those who go with me will keep the Word of Wisdom, and if the High Priests, the Seventies, the Elders, and others will not serve the Lord, we will sever them from the Church. I will draw the line, and know who is for the Lord and who is not, and those who will not keep the Word of Wisdom, I will cut off from the Church; I throw out a challenge to all men and women.

Though Young encouraged Mormons to follow the Word of Wisdom code, the church was tolerant of those who did not follow it. In 1860, Young counseled those chewing tobacco in church meetings to at least be discreet and not excessive, but did not charge users with sin. By 1870, he ended the practice of chewing and spitting tobacco in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Young also recognized a separation between using tobacco (which was discouraged), and selling it to non-Mormons as a business (which was encouraged). He also owned and maintained a bar in Salt Lake City for the sale of alcoholic beverages to non-Mormon travelers, on the theory that it was better for LDS Church authorities to run such establishments than for outsiders.

The modern LDS application of the Word of Wisdom has its beginnings in the presidency of Joseph F. Smith, who became LDS Church president in 1901 at a time when even notable church leaders drank alcohol and coffee. For example, George Albert Smith, apostle and later church president, "took brandy for medicinal reasons", Anthon H. Lund, First Counselor in the First Presidency, "enjoyed Danish beer and currant wine", Charles W. Penrose, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, "occasionally served wine", Matthias F. Cowley, apostle, "enjoyed Danish beer and currant wine", Brigham Young, Jr. and John Henry Smith, both apostles, argued in 1901 "that the Church ought not interdict beer, or at least not Danish beer", and Emmeline B. Wells, of the Relief Society presidency (and who was later president of the Relief Society), "drank an occasional cup of coffee". As church president, Joseph F. Smith emphasized the proscriptions on alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee. Adherence was still however not a prerequisite for entry into the temple, and in 1902 Smith encouraged stake presidents to be liberal when issuing temple recommends with old men who used tobacco and old ladies who drank tea. Of those who violated the revelation, it was mainly habitual drunkards that were excluded from the temple.

In 1921, LDS Church president Heber J. Grant finally made adherence to the Word of Wisdom a prerequisite for temple admission. Then, both the 1928 and 1934 editions of the Handbook — but not previous editions—listed "liquor drinking" and "bootlegging" among the "transgressions which are ordinarily such as to justify consideration by the bishop's court." To these the 1934 edition also added "drunkenness." Violation of the Word of Wisdom is however not currently (no longer) cause for church discipline.

Popular application
Adherence to the Word of Wisdom in the LDS Church is required for baptism and participation in the church (such as entry into the temple, full-time missionary service, and attendance at church schools), however the church instructs its leaders that violation of the Word of Wisdom is not normally cause for a church membership council and that church discipline "should not be [used] to discipline or threaten members who do not comply with the Word of Wisdom".

A 2019 study of attitudes among Mormons within the U.S. said that a quarter to a half of such individuals interpret the Word of Wisdom in variance with the official interpretation by the LDS Church in some manner, and LDS Church leaders have counseled church members that they should not have personal interpretations of, or become extreme in their observance of the Word of Wisdom. One church leader specifically warned that adding additional unauthorized requirements, emphasizing it with excess zeal, or making it a "gospel hobby" is a sign of spiritual immaturity and sometimes apostasy.

Alcohol
LDS Church leaders teach that consumption of any form of alcohol, including beer, violates the Word of Wisdom, however, wine was used in the sacrament, and "mild drinks" (beers) were originally allowed.

Tobacco
In the LDS Church, tobacco is not allowed in any form, including smoking, chewing, or vaping.

Tea and coffee
The LDS Church prohibits tea and coffee, as interpreted from the mention of "hot drinks" in the scripture; it teaches that it does not matter whether or not the drinks are hot. It has not taken a clear position on decaffeinated tea or coffee.

There is generally thought to be no prohibition against drinking herbal tea, coffee substitutes such as Pero and Postum, hot chocolate, malt drinks such as Ovaltine and Milo, mate, or hot water.

Definition of the term "hot drinks"
"Hot drinks" is clarified for the LDS Church handbook:"The only official interpretation of 'hot drinks' (D&C 89:9) in the Word of Wisdom is the statement made by early Church leaders that the term 'hot drinks' means tea and coffee."In 1842, Smith's brother Hyrum, who was the Assistant President of the Church and its presiding patriarch, provided an interpretation of the Word of Wisdom's proscription of "hot drinks":

And again "hot drinks are not for the body, or belly;" there are many who wonder what this can mean; whether it refers to tea, or coffee, or not. I say it does refer to tea, and coffee.

According to a book written by LDS missionary and hymnographer Joel H. Johnson in 1881, Joseph Smith shared Hyrum's interpretation:

I understand that some of the people are excusing themselves in using tea and coffee, because the Lord only said "hot drinks" in the revelation of the Word of Wisdom .... Tea and coffee ... are what the Lord meant when He said "hot drinks".

Cola and other caffeinated beverages
A longstanding issue among members of the LDS Church is whether it is permissible to ingest drinks containing caffeine that are not tea or coffee. In 1918, Frederick J. Pack, a Mormon professor at the University of Utah, published an article in an official church magazine in which he reasoned that because Coca-Cola contained caffeine, which is also present in tea and coffee, Mormons should abstain from Coca-Cola in the same way that they abstain from the Word of Wisdom "hot drinks". Since Pack's article, many Mormons have come to believe that the reason tea and coffee are proscribed is the presence of caffeine in the drinks. However, the church has never stated that this is the reason for the prohibition.

The church does not have an official position on the consumption of caffeinated beverages, apart from the general statement that the Word of Wisdom does not specifically mention it. In 2012, in response to a report on Mormonism on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams, which claimed that LDS faithful were prohibited from drinking caffeine, the church wrote:

Despite what was reported, the Church revelation spelling out health practices (Doctrine and Covenants 89) does not mention the use of caffeine. The Church's health guidelines prohibits alcoholic drinks, smoking or chewing of tobacco, and "hot drinks"—taught by Church leaders to refer specifically to tea and coffee.

In the past, a number of church leaders have discouraged the use of such products. For example, in 1922, church president Heber J. Grant counseled the Latter-day Saints:

I am not going to give any command, but I will ask it as a personal, individual favor to me, to let coca-cola [sic] alone. There are plenty of other things you can get at the soda fountains without drinking that which is injurious. The Lord does not want you to use any drug that creates an appetite for itself.

Two years after making this statement, Grant met with a representative of The Coca-Cola Company to discuss the church's position on Coca-Cola; at the conclusion of their second meeting, Grant stated that he was "sure I have not the slightest desire to recommend that the people leave Coca-Cola alone if th[e] amount [of caffeine in Coca-Cola] is absolutely harmless, which they claim it is." Grant never again spoke out against the use of cola drinks.

Approximately fifty years later, the church issued an official statement which stated:

With reference to cola drinks, the Church has never officially taken a position on this matter, but the leaders of the Church have advised, and we do now specifically advise, against the use of any drink containing harmful habit-forming drugs under circumstances that would result in acquiring the habit. Any beverage that contains ingredients harmful to the body should be avoided.

Because of such statements, some adherents believe that caffeine is officially prohibited under the Word of Wisdom. In the mid-1950s, the director of the food services for Brigham Young University, a college owned by the LDS Church, decided not to sell caffeine on campus. This changed in September 2017 when the director of BYU Dining Services announced that caffeinated beverages would be sold on campus. Wright said this was the result of a change in customer preferences. Official church publications have occasionally published articles by medical practitioners that warn of the health risks of consuming caffeine. However, in November 2010, the Salt Lake Tribune noted that in the 2010 church Handbook, which sets out the official position of the church on health and social issues, no position on drinking Coca-Cola or caffeinated drinks is included. The Salt Lake Tribune concluded that the church "takes no official position on caffeine".

Meat
The Word of Wisdom states that "flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air ... are to be used sparingly", and that "it is pleasing unto [God] that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."

Many LDS Church leaders have expressed their views on the subject of meat. In 1868, church president Brigham Young counseled, "Flesh should be used sparingly, in famine and in cold." In 1868, apostle George Q. Cannon said, "We are told that flesh of any kind is not suitable to man in the summer time, and ought to be eaten sparingly in the winter." From 1897 to 1901, apostle and then church president Lorenzo Snow repeatedly emphasized the importance of eating meat sparingly, teaching that church members should refrain from eating meat except in case of dire necessity, and that this should be seen in light of Smith's teaching that animals have spirits. In 1895, Snow stated, "Unless famine or extreme cold is upon us we should refrain from the use of meat." Apostle George Teasdale taught the same thing, and held that eating pork was a more serious breach of the Word of Wisdom than drinking tea or coffee. When Joseph F. Smith succeeded Snow as president of the church in 1901, he preached regularly against the "unnecessary destruction of life", and emphasized kindness to animals and the important stewardship humans have toward them.

Despite these statements, restricting meat consumption was not given an explicit mention for worthiness in the LDS Church as the standards for obedience to the Word of Wisdom were made increasingly central to LDS Church doctrine and practice in the early 20th century. The increased emphasis on the Word of Wisdom took place during the presidency of Heber J. Grant, a long-time enthusiastic promoter of the Word of Wisdom. Although Grant did not emphasize restricting meat consumption, he continued to interpret it as part of the counsel in the Word of Wisdom. In the 1937 General Conference, at 80 years old, Grant said he worked long hours "without fatigue and without feeling the least injury". He attributed his excellent health, in part, to eating very little meat.

In a 1948 LDS general conference address, apostle Joseph F. Merrill emphasized the importance of not eating meat as "freely as many Americans are doing". In 1950, apostle and plant scientist John A. Widtsoe wrote, in relation to meat consumption, "they who wish to be well and gain the promised reward stated in the Word of Wisdom must obey all of the law, not just part of it as suits their whim or their appetite, or their notion of its meaning." As recently as 2012, official church spokesperson Michael Otterson stated "the church has also encouraged limiting meat consumption in favor of grains, fruits and vegetables.

To this day, the LDS Church's hymnal includes a hymn with the following lyrics: That the children may live long / And be beautiful and strong, / Tea and coffee and tobacco they despise, / Drink no liquor, and they eat / But a very little meat; / They are seeking to be great and good and wise.

A student manual published by the church has suggested that limiting the consumption of meat to the wintertime may be to some degree of the time in which the "Word of Wisdom" was delivered by Smith:"This verse has caused some to ask if meat should be eaten in the summer. Meat has more calories than fruits and vegetables, which some individuals may need fewer of in summer than winter. Also, before fruits and vegetables could be preserved, people often did not have enough other food to eat in winter. Spoiled meat can be fatal if eaten, and in former times meat spoiled more readily in summer than winter. Modern methods of refrigeration now make it possible to preserve meat in any season. The key word with respect to the use of meat is sparingly."

Refined grain products
In a pamphlet written in 1930 called The Word of Wisdom, LDS Church apostle John A. Widtsoe taught that refined flour was contrary to the Word of Wisdom. The church, however, has never prohibited the use of refined flour.

Other areas
Speculation exists concerning the use of alcohol as a cooking ingredient or "alcohol-free" varieties of drinks. The LDS Church has taken no official stance on either.

Marijuana was banned by the LDS Church in August 1915. In 2019 the church clarified in New Era that medical marijuana should only be used "under the care of a competent physician." "Members should not use any substance that contains illegal drugs. Nor should members use harmful or habit-forming substances except under the care of a competent physician."

Enstrom study regarding members of the LDS Church
A 14-year selective study conducted by UCLA epidemiologist James E. Enstrom tracked the health of 10,000 moderately active LDS Church members in California and ended in 1987.

Of these non-smoking, monogamous non-drinkers, Enstrom concluded from the study "that LDS Church members who follow religious mandates barring smoking and drinking have one of the lowest death rates, including from cancer and cardiovascular diseases—close to half that of the general population. ... Moreover, the healthiest LDS Church members enjoy a life expectancy eight to eleven years longer than that of the general white population in the United States." For LDS high priests who exercised, had proper sleep, and never smoked cigarettes, the mortality rate was even lower.

The results were largely duplicated in a separate study of an LDS-like subgroup of white non-smoking churchgoers in Alameda County, California.

title: Word of Wisdom (Latter Day Saints)


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Virtue jurisprudence

In the philosophy of law, virtue jurisprudence is the set of theories of law related to virtue ethics. By making the aretaic turn in legal theory, virtue jurisprudence focuses on the importance of character and human excellence or virtue to questions about the nature of law, the content of the law, and judging.

The topics encompassed by virtue jurisprudence
Among the topics encompassed by virtue jurisprudence are:
 * 1) Virtue ethics has implications for an account of the proper ends of legislation. If the aim of law is to make citizens virtuous (as opposed to maximizing utility or realizing a set of moral rights), what are the implications for the content of the laws?
 * 2) Virtue ethics has implications for legal ethics. Current approaches to legal ethics emphasize deontological moral theory, i.e. duties to clients and respect for client autonomy, and these deontological approaches are reflected in the various codes of professional conduct that have been devised for lawyers, judges, and legislators.
 * 3) Accounts of the virtue of justice (in particular, Aristotle and Aquinas's theories of natural justice) have implications for debates between natural lawyers and legal positivists over the nature of law.
 * 4) A virtue-centered theory of judging, which describes the particular excellences required by judges.

The judicial virtues
The most developed aspect of virtue jurisprudence is its distinctive theory of judging. A virtue-centered theory of judging offers an account of the characteristics or excellences that make for a good judge. These include: judicial temperance, judicial courage, judicial temperament, judicial intelligence, judicial wisdom, and justice. Although every theory of judging can incorporate some account of judicial virtue, a virtue-centered theory of judging makes the distinctive claim that the judicial virtues are central, i.e. that they have basic explanatory and normative significance.

Criticisms of a virtue-centered theory of judging
Many of the criticisms of virtue jurisprudence are parallel to those offered in the context of debates over virtue ethics. Some of these include:
 * The charge that virtue jurisprudence does not provide sufficient guidance for making legal decisions. Advocates of virtue-centered theories of judging urge, "Do as a virtuous judge would do!" This formula provides little instruction to an ordinary decision maker, and it may encourage unedifying debates about the character--or lack thereof--of judges with whom one disagrees. Such virtue-centered standards may be too abstract to provide clear guidance, and may invite inappropriate personal attacks on judges' characters.
 * The argument that virtue jurisprudence requires inordinate trust in the capacities of judges. In a democratic society, the rightness or wrongness of legal decisions should be decided by criteria that are public and accessible to all citizens. Judges who make decisions based on their own individual view of what an (ideally?) virtuous judge would do, may violate this publicity requirement by relying on a personal ideal of judging, rather than on established legal norms.
 * The claim that in modern liberal societies there is significant disagreement about what virtues a good or exemplary judge must possess. Some putative judicial virtues (e.g., impartiality, wisdom, open-mindedness, integrity, fairness, industriousness, and good temper) are relatively uncontroversial, while others (such as judicial restraint or sympathy for the underprivileged) are more contentious.

Other common criticisms of virtue jurisprudence include:
 * The claim that rules play a more important role in law than they do in ethics. In law, for example, respect for the rule of law may require judges to decide cases primarily by invoking legal rules and other well-established legal norms. In ethics, there may be more scope for individualized judgment and discretion, as well as a greater focus on issues of personal character and flourishing.
 * The argument that virtue jurisprudence, in virtue of its commitment to human flourishing as the proper aim of the law, can easily lead to illiberal values and misguided attempts to legislate morality.

Virtue as the proper end of law
Aristotle argued that the promotion of virtue was the proper end of law. Aquinas argued that true laws (which are rational) can teach virtue by being internalized by those who already possess sufficient virtue to grasp the purpose of the law. Even those who have not yet achieved this level of virtue can be coerced into obedience to the law, and this may enable them to become more virtuous.

A contemporary restatement of this view is found in the writings of Robert George. In his book, Making Men Moral, George argues for the promotion of virtue as the end of law and against the contrary views that the purpose of law is either the protection of rights or the general happiness.

Law and virtue outside the Western tradition
The phrase "virtue jurisprudence" is usually applied in the context of contemporary Western philosophical thinking about law. There are, however, important ideas about the relationship between law and virtue in other intellectual traditions. One example is provided by Confucian ideas about virtue. In the Analects, Confucius argues that a society in which people are virtuous would have no need of judges, rules, or jurisprudence because people would be able to resolve social conflicts by themselves. Thus, it is argued that the idea of virtue is opposed to the idea of law.

It can be argued that even virtuous citizens might disagree about the application of the law, especially where their own interests or ideological commitments are at stake. However, this argument is rather foreign to both traditional and modern Chinese political thought. Chinese political theory tends to assume that the truly virtuous are selfless to the point of martyrdom and would not consider their own personal interests and that the virtuous are able to transcend ideology. At the same time, traditional Chinese political thought regards those with absolute virtue to be historically extremely rare, and that most people, including the Emperor and his officials, are prone to both corruption and error. Consequently, there is a belief that law and indeed government is an unfortunate necessity in dealing with an imperfect world and with imperfect people.

The view that the inculcation of virtue is the proper end of legislation contrasts markedly with traditional Chinese thinking on the subject, which argues that laws exist because men are lacking in virtue. Confucianism places very little faith on the ability of law or external pressure to make men moral but rather believes that virtue must come from introspection and education. Throughout Chinese political and intellectual history, the Confucian view on law was frequently contrasted in discourse and practice with Chinese Legalist philosophy.

title: Virtue jurisprudence


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Port Hawkesbury

Port Hawkesbury (Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Chlamhain) is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County.

Their slogan is "Opportunities Await".

History
The end of glaciation began 13,500 years ago[5] and ended with the region becoming largely ice free 11,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of Palaeo-Indian settlement in the region follows rapidly after deglaciation.[6]

Several thousand years ago, the territory of the province became known a part of the territory of the Mi'kmaq nation of Mi'kma'ki. Mi'kma'ki includes what is now the Maritimes, parts of Maine, Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula. The town of Port Hawkesbury is in the traditional Mi'kmaw district of Unama'ki.

In 1605, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the future Canada (and the first north of Florida) at Port Royal, founding what would become known as Acadia.[7][8] While the French established the first European settlements on Île Royale (as the French called Unama'ki) at present day Englishtown in 1629 and the following year at St. Peter's, just 40 kilometres away from present-day Port Hawkesbury, neither settlement lasted past 1659. European settlers did not return to the island until Louisbourg were re-established by the French in 1713. By 1763 most of Acadia, including what had now become Cape Breton Island had come under British control. Founded in 1789 as Ship Harbour, Port Hawkesbury was renamed in honour of Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, who commanded the ship that brought Governor Edward Cornwallis to Halifax. Incorporated in 1889, the community built ships for the timber export trade in the early and mid 19th century, such as the brig James, the subject of one of the earliest ship portraits in Canada.[4] Schooners and fishing boats were also built for the inshore and banks fishery by firms such as the noted boat builder H.W. Embree and Sons.

Today the town is largely a service centre for western Cape Breton Island, with many of its residents working in large industries, particularly the pulp and paper plant in the industrial park located in the adjacent community of Point Tupper, Richmond County.

Government
The Town of Port Hawkesbury is governed by a council composed of a mayor and four councillors elected at-large. [23] The mayor is Brenda Chisholm-Beaton. Day to day activities are managed by a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who is accountable to Council.[25]Municipal governments in Nova Scotia are elected every four years and the most recent round of elections took place on October 15, 2016.[26] The provincial legislation that creates and empowers the municipality is the Nova Scotia Municipal Government Act.[27]

Municipal Council is responsible for all facets of the municipal government, including directly delivered and shared or regional services. Directly delivered services include services such fire, public works, roads, as well as the municipally owned and operated electrical and water utilities. The municipality participates in shared services, such as library services and policing. The town's municipal operating budget was $7.8 million in the 2018/19 fiscal year.[28 ]

Port Hawkesbury is represented in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly by Allan MacMaster, elected to the riding of Inverness, and in Canada's House of Commons by Mike Kelloway, elected to represent the riding of Cape Breton—Canso.

Economy
In 2006, the Port of Port Hawkesbury was the second largest by annual tonnage in Canada, second only to Vancouver, British Columbia, due to large volumes of crushed rock and gravel shipments and oil trans-shipments. It handled 31.6 million metric tonnes in 2006, of which 21.6 million tonnes was crude petroleum. By 2011, the volume of annual tonnage had dropped to 23.7 million tonnes, making it the 7th largest port in Canada.

The port is served by tugs of Svitzer Towing such as the tug Point Chebucto. Historically, it was a stop for American coastal steam ships.

Located in neighbouring Point Tupper, the Port Hawkesbury Mill began operation in 1962. The overwhelming majority of the paper produced is exported to the United States. The mill has the capability to produce nearly 400,000 tons of supercalendered paper, or 25–20% of the market for that type of paper. The mill was closed for a year 2011-12, following the 2008 financial crisis. However, by 2018, the company reported its annual order book was once again full.

Geography
The land area of the municipality is 8.1 square kilometres with a population density (2016) of 396.6 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the provincial land area of 52,940 square kilometres and population density of 17.4 persons per square kilometre.

Climate
Port Hawkesbury experiences a Humid continental climate (Dfb). Due to the proximity to surrounding bodies of water, seasons tend to be delayed when compared to areas further inland. Precipitation is high, with the fall and winter being the wettest time of year and summer being the driest. Winters are cold, snowy and stormy with frequent snowstorms. Summer is the most pleasant time of year, with significantly less precipitation and warm temperatures.

The highest (reliable) temperature ever recorded in the strait area was 35.0 C on 7 July 1912 and 19 July 1975. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -28.5 C on 7 February 1993.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port Hawkesbury had a population of living in  of its  total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of. With a land area of 8.1 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Media

 * 101.5 (FM) - The Hawk
 * SAERC FM - 93.9
 * SAERC TV
 * The Reporter, community newspaper

Notable people

 * Lynn Coady, author.
 * Mark Day, actor.
 * Aaron Johnson, professional hockey player.
 * Billy Joe MacLean, politician.

title: Port Hawkesbury


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Running back

A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a halfback (in certain contexts also referred to as a "tailback"  —  see below), a wingback, or a fullback. A running back will sometimes be called a "feature back" if he is the team's key player/more prominent running back.

With the increase in pass-oriented offenses and singleback formations, it is more common to refer to these players as simply running backs.

Halfback/tailback
The halfback (HB) or tailback (TB) position is responsible for carrying the ball on the majority of running plays, and may frequently be used as a receiver on short (or sometimes long, depending on the system) passing plays.

In the modern game, an effective halfback must have a blend of both quickness and agility as a runner, as well as sure hands and good vision up-field as a receiver. Quarterbacks depend on halfbacks as a safety valve or checkdown receiver when primary targets downfield are covered or when they are under pressure. Occasionally, halfbacks line up as additional wide receivers.

When not serving either of these functions, the primary responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking, either to protect the quarterback or another player carrying the football. If a team uses a Wildcat formation, often the halfback—instead of the quarterback—is the one who directly receives the snap. As a trick play, running backs are occasionally used to pass the ball on a halfback option play or halfback pass.

The difference between halfback and tailback is the position of the player in the team's offensive formation. In historical formations, the halfback lined up approximately halfway between the line of scrimmage and the fullback (similarly, quarterbacks lined up a quarter of the distance between the line of scrimmage and the fullback). Because the halfback is usually the team's main ball carrier (while the fullback is primarily a blocker), modern offensive formations have positioned the halfback behind the fullback (at the "tail end" of the formation), to take advantage of the fullback's blocking abilities. As a result, some systems or playbooks will call for a tailback as opposed to a halfback.

In Canadian football, the term tailback is often used interchangeably with running back, while the use of the term halfback is often exclusively reserved for the defensive halfback, which refers to the defensive back halfway between the linebackers and the cornerbacks.

Fullback
In most modern college and professional football schemes, fullbacks (FB) carry the ball infrequently, instead using their stronger physiques as primary "lead blockers". On most running plays, the fullback leads the halfback, attempting to block potential tacklers before they reach the ball carrier.

When fullbacks are called upon to carry the ball, the situation typically calls for gaining a short amount of yardage, such as scoring from the goal line, as the fullback can use his bulkiness to avoid being tackled early. While fullbacks do act as an eligible receiver, most plays call for the fullback to remain in the backfield and block any defensive players who make it past the offensive line, a skill referred to as "blitz pickup". Fullbacks are technically running backs, but today the term "running back" is usually used in referring to the halfback or tailback. Although modern fullbacks are rarely used as ball carriers, in previous offensive schemes fullbacks would be the designated ball carriers.

In high school football, where player sizes vary greatly, fullbacks are still frequently used as ball carriers. In high school and college offenses, the triple option scheme uses the fullback as a primary ball carrier. The fullback plays a unique role by establishing an inside running threat on every play. College teams such as Georgia Tech and Air Force have employed the triple option scheme.

While in years past the fullback lined up on the field for almost every offensive play, teams often opt to replace the fullback with an additional wide receiver or a tight end in modern football. Fullbacks in the National Football League today rarely carry or catch the ball, since they are used almost exclusively as blockers. Fullbacks are also still used occasionally as rushers on plays when a short gain is needed for a first-down or touchdown or to surprise the defense since they are usually not expecting a fullback to run or catch the ball. In the past, fullbacks could even be a team's featured back, using their larger size and strength as a "power rusher" to dominate the ground game. Pro Football Hall of Fame members Jim Brown, Marion Motley, Franco Harris, John Riggins, and Larry Csonka were fullbacks.

Height and weight
There is a diversity in those who play at the running back position. At one extreme are smaller (5'4"–5'10"), shiftier players. These quick, agile, and elusive running backs are often called "scat backs" because their low center of gravity and maneuverability allow them to dodge tacklers. Running backs known for their elusiveness include Red Grange, Hugh McElhenny, Gale Sayers, and Barry Sanders.

At the other extreme are "power backs:" bigger, stronger players who can break through tackles using brute strength and raw power. They are usually slower runners compared to other backs, and typically run straight ahead (or "North-and-South" in football terminology) rather than dodging to the outside edges of the playing field. Hall of Famers Earl Campbell, Bronko Nagurski, John Riggins, and Larry Csonka, as well as NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, were considered power running backs. Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram II, Carlos Hyde, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, and Leonard Fournette are all examples of current NFL power running backs.

More recently the NFL has turned to running backs who combine those traits such as Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, and Saquon Barkley. These backs combine elusiveness with power and patience as well as receiving ability and blocking to become an all around, three-down backs.

Receiving ability
Over the years, NFL running backs have been used as receivers out of the backfield. On passing plays, a running back will often run a "safe route", such as a hook or a flat route, that gives a quarterback a target when all other receivers are covered or when the quarterback feels pressured. Hall of Famer Lenny Moore was a halfback who played primarily as a pass receiver.

Christian McCaffrey, is one of few players to have 1000 yards rushing and 1000 yards receiving in the same season in 2019. Some teams have a specialist "third down back", who is skilled at catching passes or better at pass blocking and "picking up the blitz", and thus is often put in the game on third down and long. It can also be used to fool the defense by making them think it is being put into the game for a pass play, when the play is actually a run. James White was used as a third-down back, or as an extra wide receiver. His receiving statistics exceed his rushing statistics, with 3,184 yards and 25 receiving touchdowns on 369 receptions, compared to 1,240 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on 309 carries.

Blocking
Running backs are also required to help the offensive line in passing situations, and, in the case of the fullback, running plays. Running backs will regularly block blitzing linebackers or safeties on passing plays when the offensive line is occupied with the defensive linemen. On running plays, the fullback will often attempt to create a hole in the offensive line for the running back to run through. Effective blocking backs are usually key components for a running back's success. On passing plays, a running back will stay back to help block and pick up the blitz

Goal line backs
Many teams also have a running back designated as a "goal line back" or "short yardage specialist". This running back comes into the game in short yardage situations when the offense needs only a little bit of yardage to get a first down or a touchdown. Normally, when an offense gets inside the 5-yard line it sends in its goal line formation, which usually includes eight blockers, a quarterback, a running back, and a fullback. The closer it is to the goal line, the more likely it is to use this formation. If a certain running back is used often near the goal line, he may be called the "goal line back." Short yardage and goal line backs often are power backs who are not prone to fumbling, who muscle through or push a large mass of defenders to get the first down or touchdown.

As kick and punt returners
Running backs are sometimes called upon to return punts and kickoffs, a role usually filled by wide receivers and cornerbacks, who are generally among the fastest players on the team. A running back, Brian Mitchell, currently holds the NFL records for career kickoff return yards (14,014 yards) and career punt return yards (4,999 yards).

Value of running backs in the NFL

In previous decades, the running back position was considered to be one of the more important skill positions in the NFL. In fact, as recently as the 1990s, the running back position was considered by some to be as important, if not more important, than the quarterback position. For example, in the history of the NFL draft, 23 running backs have been selected with the first overall pick, the most recent of these being Ki-Jana Carter in 1995. However, in the modern NFL, teams currently value running backs significantly less than they did in previous decades.

Usage of analytics
There are several possible explanations for the aforementioned shift in how teams have valued running backs. A common explanation for the shift is that teams have incorporated analytics into team-building. The analytics community has often considered the running back position to be the least important and most replaceable of any position in football. These analysts have defended this argument by noting that running back production is heavily dependent on offensive line play and offensive scheming rather than the ball carrier himself. Additionally, these analysts have noted that running back talent is replicable by citing that backups and mid-to-late round backs have often matched and sometimes exceeded the production of starting running backs or first-round backs. For example, in every season from 2019 to 2022, Dallas Cowboys backup running back Tony Pollard, a 2019 fourth-round selection, averaged more yards per carry than Dallas's starting running back, Ezekiel Elliott, who was selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. Furthermore, in 2022, star running back and 2017 first-round selection Christian McCaffrey, who began the season as the feature back for the Carolina Panthers, averaged 4.7 yards per carry in the team's first six games of the season. After Carolina traded McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers before Week 7, running backs D'Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard, who were selected in the third round in 2017 and the fourth round in 2021, respectively, took over backfield duties for the Panthers. Foreman averaged 4.6 yards per carry as a Panther in 2022, which was similar to what McCaffrey averaged as a Panther that season. Meanwhile, Hubbard averaged 4.9 yards per carry as a Panther in 2022, which exceeded McCaffrey's average yards per carry as a Panther that season. In other cases, the starting quarterback is a central component of the rushing attack. The Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles are two examples of such teams.

Analytics departments have also argued that offenses are more successful if they pass they ball more often. Passing plays have consistently averaged more yards than running plays in recent NFL history. Such analysts have argued that this is the case because during running plays, the defensive linemen, linebacking corps, and secondary all have a chance to tackle the ball carrier, but on passing plays, it is possible to effectively eliminate the defensive linemen, linebacking corps, and even the secondary from stopping the play. Furthermore, on passing plays, it is easier to gain additional yards when the ball is delivered to a receiver in open space, but it is not as easy for a running back to make defenders miss. This is especially the case when a running play is designed for the back to run between the tackles, and thus, through the teeth of the defense. Some analysts believe that running the ball is simply a complement to the passing game and will rarely win a team games. These analytical arguments may have also played a role in the NFL's transition from a run-heavy to pass-happy offensive attack.

Because analytics have hinted at what it takes for rushing attacks to thrive, the widespread availability of productive and inexpensive running backs, and the efficiency of the passing offense, they may have served as the impetus for teams' transition to a passing offense and declining need for and valuation of traditional feature running backs.

The rise of running back committees
Another possible cause for the devaluation of running backs are the rise of running back committees. This is the practice of constructing a roster that has more than one featured running back. As of the 2023 NFL season, there are a number of running back committee setups present around the league, with the most common being the "70-30 rotation", a setup which has a featured running back taking the majority of the snaps while one or more change of pace backs make up the rest. Other setups include the "tandem backfields", which are setups that have two featured running backs splitting carriers, often with two different running styles, i.e. a power running back partnered with an elusive back or pass-catching back. One of the most famous of these setups was the tandem duo of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown as part of the 2008 Miami Dolphins. The last of these setups are "full-blown" committees, which often feature 3 or more running backs that are often cycled through throughout a game, with coaches often sticking to whomever is "hot" as the main running back. The running back by committee style has been popularized across the league because of how injury prone the position is and the effects of fatigue on players. Because of how successful this style of offense has been, the traditional "workhorse" back has become significantly less common.

Despite the rise of committees, "workhorse" running backs are still present, with a recent and prominent example being Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans, who, during the 2022 season, took nearly 90% of all of the Titans' carries that season.

Long-term running back contracts
Another possible explanation for the declining value NFL teams place on running backs is the risk of signing one to a lucrative, long-term deal. There are several examples of such contracts given to running backs that have backfired on teams. Most notably, before the 2018 NFL season, Los Angeles Rams star feature back Todd Gurley signed a 4-year extension for $60 million (with $45 million in guaranteed money). The deal made him the highest-paid running back in the NFL at the time. Although Gurley turned in another strong season in 2018 in which he led the league in rushing touchdowns and made a third Pro Bowl, an arthritis diagnosis hampered him during the 2018 Rams’ playoff run and in the 2019 NFL season. This led to the Rams releasing him after the conclusion of the 2019 season, meaning that Gurley did not play a down as a Ram for the time period that the team extended him for. Despite owing Gurley, who ended his playing career after the 2020 NFL season, a dead cap hit of $8.4 million for the 2021 NFL season, the Rams won that season's Super Bowl LVI with an offense that ranked 24th in rushing but 5th in passing. The 2021 Rams opted to utilize a running back by committee approach and instead put greater focus on the passing attack.

On the other hand, several successful teams have survived without distributing significant financial capital towards running backs. In addition to the 2021 Los Angeles Rams, who won Super Bowl LVI in spite of the Gurley contract, the 2022 Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII with an offense that finished 20th in rushing but 1st in passing. Seventh-round rookie running back Isiah Pacheco (who overtook the starting job from 2020 first-round selection Clyde Edwards-Helaire due to the latter's injuries and suboptimal production) was Kansas City's primary back during the team's Super Bowl run. Out of the last 14 Super Bowl winners, only five of those teams paid their top rusher a base salary over $1 million, and only one of those five paid its top rusher a base salary of over $2 million, thus proving that a highly paid running back is not essential for winning.

Other examples of lucrative, long-term contracts given to running backs that backfired on teams include those given to Le'Veon Bell (4-year contract for $52.5 million, cut during year 2 of contract), Ezekiel Elliott (6-year extension for $90 million, cut after year 2 of extension), and David Johnson (3-year extension for $39 million, traded after year 1 of extension).

Draft value
Although drafting running backs in the first round of the NFL draft was commonplace throughout the 20th century, doing such is less commonplace and frequently criticized in the current era of NFL football. As previously mentioned, 23 running backs have been selected with the first overall pick in the history of the NFL Draft, but no running back has been selected first overall since 1995. However, football analytics departments view running back talent as replicable and thus believe that productive running backs can be drafted in the later rounds of the draft or signed to low-risk deals in free agency. For that reason, in recent years, teams with desires for a stronger rushing attack have passed on running backs during the first round and instead used those top draft picks on other needs or other positions that (according to analytics) are actually more responsible for rushing success, such as offensive linemen.

As teams have become more analytically inclined, they have not used their first round draft picks on running backs nearly as much as they used to. For example, from 1981 to 1985, more than half of all lead running backs were selected in the first round of the draft, but from 2016 to the present, that figure dipped to just over a quarter of all lead running backs. In fact, during the 2022 NFL draft, not a single running back was selected in the first round. The following year, when the Atlanta Falcons used the eighth overall pick to select running back Bijan Robinson, several analysts heavily criticized the Falcons and argued that they could have used the pick to fulfill another need and selected a productive running back in the later rounds. The Detroit Lions faced similar backlash for taking running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the twelfth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Gibbs was considered a questionable pick because analysts felt that the pick could have been put to better use even with the known talent that Gibbs offered.

Despite the widespread criticism of drafting running backs in the first round, some observers have defended the practice if done in the right circumstances. For example, some writers defended the selection of Robinson in the first round due to his versatility and contributions to the passing attack while he was in college.

Consequences of evolving team-building approaches on running backs
Because teams have changed how they view the running back position, running back contracts have declined in value. For example, as of 2023, the average running back makes $1.808 million per season, which is less than what the average kicker makes ($2.196 million per season). Also, the franchise tag for running backs has decreased from $10.95 million in 2015 to $10.09 million in 2023. In fact, the running back position is the only position to see a decline in franchise tag value since 2015. Furthermore, in 2023, the franchise tag for running backs was the least valuable of franchise tags for any offensive or defensive position.

In recent years, NFL teams have shown that they are willing to move on from productive running backs once they are due for a big payday and instead replicate their production by taking advantage of cheaper alternatives such as their own backups, mid to late round draft picks, and low-risk free agent running backs. For example, during the 2023 NFL offseason, feature running backs Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, and Kareem Hunt, despite enjoying productive careers up to that point, were either released by the respective teams that they previously played for or allowed to leave during free agency. As of July 18, 2023 (the beginning of training camp for several NFL teams), the four aforementioned unemployed running backs have remained as such. Other productive running backs such as Las Vegas Raiders starting running back Josh Jacobs, New York Giants starting running back Saquon Barkley, and Dallas Cowboys backup running back Tony Pollard were franchise tagged by their respective teams during the 2023 offseason. The three aforementioned backs failed to agree to a long-term deal by the July 17 deadline. As of July 18, 2023, only Pollard has signed his franchise tender, while Barkley and Jacobs have yet to sign their tenders (Barkley would later agree to a separate one-year deal worth up to $11 million with the Giants on July 25, and Jacobs would later agree to a separate one-year deal worth up to $12 million with the Raiders on August 26). In other cases, productive running backs have accepted pay cuts due to a lack of leverage and/or the desire to contribute to teams. For example, Cincinnati Bengals feature back Joe Mixon took a pay cut before the 2023 season despite boasting a productive career resume to that point.

Due to the decline in value of running back contracts and the prolonged periods in which previously productive running backs (e.g. Elliott, Cook, Hunt, and Fournette) have remained unemployed, several running backs, such as Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, have spoken out about the state of the running back market in 2023 and complained that running backs have not been provided with fair compensation for the services they provide.

title: Running back


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Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Leiber and Stoller were an American Grammy award-winning songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.

Leiber and Stoller found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as "Hound Dog" (1952) and "Kansas City" (1952). Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work with the Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits—including "Young Blood" (1957), "Searchin'" (1957), and "Yakety Yak" (1958)—that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal.

Leiber and Stoller wrote hits for Elvis Presley, including "Love Me" (1956), "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), "Loving You", "Don't", and "King Creole". They also collaborated with other writers on such songs as "On Broadway", written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil; "Stand By Me", written with Ben E. King; "Young Blood", written with Doc Pomus; and "Spanish Harlem", co-written by Leiber and Phil Spector. They were sometimes credited under the pseudonym Elmo Glick. In 1964, they launched Red Bird Records with George Goldner and, focusing on the "girl group" sound, released some of the notable songs of the Brill Building period.

In all, Leiber and Stoller wrote or co-wrote over 70 chart hits. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

1950s
Both born to Jewish families, Leiber came from Baltimore, Maryland, and Stoller from Queens, New York, but they met in Los Angeles, California, in 1950, where Stoller was a freshman at Los Angeles City College while Leiber was a senior at Fairfax High. Stoller had graduated from Belmont High School. After school, Stoller played piano and Leiber worked in Norty's, a record store on Fairfax Avenue, and when they met, they found they shared a love of blues and rhythm and blues. In 1950, Jimmy Witherspoon recorded and performed their first commercial song, "Real Ugly Woman". Stoller's name at birth was Michael Stoller, but he later changed it legally to "Mike".

Their first hit composition was "Hard Times", recorded by Charles Brown, which was a rhythm and blues hit in 1952. "Kansas City", first recorded in 1952 (as "K. C. Loving") by rhythm & blues singer Little Willie Littlefield, became a No. 1 pop hit in 1959 for Wilbert Harrison. In 1952, the partners wrote "Hound Dog" for blues singer Big Mama Thornton, which became a hit for her in 1953. The 1956 Elvis Presley rock and roll version, which was a takeoff of the adaptation that Presley picked up from Freddie Bell's lounge act in Las Vegas, was an even bigger hit. Presley's showstopping mock-burlesque version of "Hound Dog", playfully bumping and grinding on the Milton Berle Show, created such public outcry and controversy that on The Steve Allen Show they slowed down his act, with an amused Presley in a tuxedo and blue suede shoes singing his hit to a basset hound. Allen pronounced Presley "a good sport", and the Leiber-Stoller song would be forever linked to Presley.

Leiber and Stoller's later songs often had lyrics more appropriate for pop music, and their combination of rhythm and blues with pop lyrics revolutionized pop, rock and roll, and punk rock.

They formed Spark Records in 1954 with their mentor, Lester Sill. Their songs from this period include "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and "Riot in Cell Block #9", both recorded by the Robins.

The label was later bought by Atlantic Records, which hired Leiber and Stoller in an innovative deal that allowed them to produce for other labels. This, in effect, made them the first independent record producers. At Atlantic, they revitalized the careers of the Drifters and wrote a number of hits for the Coasters, a spin-off of the Robins. Their songs from this period include "Charlie Brown", "Searchin'", "Yakety Yak", "Stand By Me" (written with Ben E. King), and "On Broadway" (written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil). For the Coasters alone, they wrote 24 songs that appeared in the US charts.

In 1955, Leiber and Stoller produced a recording of their song "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" with a white vocal group, the Cheers. Soon after, the song was recorded by Édith Piaf in a French translation titled, "L'Homme à la Moto". The European royalties from another Cheers record, "Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')", funded a 1956 trip to Europe for Stoller and his first wife, Meryl, on which they met Piaf. Their return to New York was aboard the ill-fated SS Andrea Doria, which was rammed and sunk by the Swedish liner MS Stockholm. The Stollers had to finish the journey to New York aboard another ship, the Cape Ann. After their rescue, Leiber greeted Stoller at the dock with the news that "Hound Dog" had become a hit for Elvis Presley. Stoller's reply was, "Elvis who?" They would go on to write more hits for Presley, including the title songs for three of his movies—Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole—as well as the rock and roll Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Back in Town", for Presley's first Christmas album.

On March 9, 1958, Leiber and Stoller appeared together on the TV panel quiz show What's My Line? as rock and roll composers of "Hounddog", "Jailhouse Rock" and "Don't". They were not household names and did not appear as celebrity mystery guests (a regular feature of the show) but as ordinary people with an unusual “line” of work. They even signed in under their own names, as the producers apparently were certain that the panel would not know who they were.

Post-1950s
In the beginning of the 1960s, they started Daisy Records and recorded Bob Moore and The Temps (with Roy Buchanan) on their label.

In the early 1960s, Phil Spector served an apprenticeship of sorts with Leiber and Stoller in New York City, developing his record producer's craft while observing and playing guitar on their sessions, including the guitar solo on the Drifters' "On Broadway".

After leaving the employ of Atlantic Records—where they produced, and often wrote, many classic recordings by the Drifters with Ben E. King—Leiber and Stoller produced a series of records for United Artists Records, including hits by Jay and the Americans ("She Cried"), the Exciters ("Tell Him"), and the Clovers ("Love Potion #9", also written by Leiber and Stoller).

In the 1960s, Leiber and Stoller founded and briefly owned Red Bird Records, which issued the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" and the Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love".

After selling Red Bird, they continued working as independent producers and songwriters. Their best-known song from this period is "Is That All There Is?" recorded by Peggy Lee in 1969; it earned her a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy. Earlier in the decade, they had a hit with Lee with "I'm a Woman" (1962).

Their last major hit production was "Stuck in the Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel, taken from the band's 1972 eponymous debut album, which the duo produced. In 1975, they recorded Mirrors, an album of art songs with Peggy Lee. A remixed and expanded version of the album was released in 2005 as Peggy Lee Sings Leiber and Stoller. Also in 1975, they produced the Procol Harum album Procol's Ninth, which included the UK Top 20 single "Pandora's Box" and a version of Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin'".

In the late 1970s, A&M Records recruited Leiber and Stoller to write and produce an album for Elkie Brooks; Two Days Away (1977) proved a success in the UK and most of Europe. Their composition "Pearl's a Singer" (written with Ralph Dino & John Sembello) became a hit for Brooks, and remains her signature tune. In 1978, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris and her pianist-composer husband William Bolcom recorded an album, Other Songs by Leiber and Stoller, featuring a number of the songwriters' more unusual (and satiric) works, including "Let's Bring Back World War I", written specifically for (and dedicated to) Bolcom and Morris; and "Humphrey Bogart", a tongue-in-cheek song about obsession with the actor. In 1979, Leiber and Stoller produced another album for Brooks: Live and Learn.

In 1982, Steely Dan member Donald Fagen recorded their song "Ruby Baby" on his album The Nightfly. That same year, former Doobie Brothers member Michael McDonald released "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)", inspired by Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin'" for which they were eventually given a 50% songwriting credit.

2000s
In 2009, Simon & Schuster published Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography, written by Leiber and Stoller with David Ritz. As of 2007, their songs are managed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

With collaborator Artie Butler, Stoller wrote the music to the musical The People in the Picture, with book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart. Stoller and Butler's music received a 2011 Drama Desk Award nomination.

On August 22, 2011, Leiber died in Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, aged 78, from cardio-pulmonary failure. He was survived by his sons Jed, Oliver, and Jake.

Stoller wrote both music and lyrics to the song "Charlotte", recorded by Steve Tyrell and released in advance of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Awards and honors
Leiber and Stoller won Grammy awards for "Is That All There Is?" in 1969, and for the cast album of Smokey Joe's Cafe, a 1995 Broadway musical revue based on their work. Smokey Joe's Cafe was also nominated for seven Tony awards, and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history.

Other awards include:
 * 1985 – Induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * 1987 – Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
 * 1988 – Elvis Presley's recording of "Hound Dog" placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame
 * 1991 – ASCAP Founders' Award
 * 1994 – A star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of 7083 Hollywood Blvd., and their handprints embedded into the Hollywood Rockwalk
 * 1996 – National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award
 * 1997 – Distinguished Artist Award/Los Angeles Music Center
 * 1998 – Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music
 * 1999 – NARAS (Grammy) Trustees Award
 * 2000 – Johnny Mercer Award/National Academy of Popular Music
 * 2000 – Ivor Novello International Songwriters Award
 * 2005 – ASMAC President's Award
 * 2005 – "Kansas City" named official song of Kansas City, Missouri
 * 2005 – World Soundtrack Award/Flanders International Film Festival
 * 2017 – Elvis Presley's recording of "Jailhouse Rock" placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame
 * 2022 – BMI Icon Award

Legacy
In the 1950s the rhythm and blues of the black entertainment world, up to then restricted to black clubs, was increasing its audience-share in areas previously reserved for traditional pop music, and the phenomenon now known as "crossover" became apparent.

Leiber and Stoller affected the course of modern popular music in 1957, when they wrote and produced the crossover double-sided hit by the Coasters, "Young Blood"/"Searchin'". They released "Yakety Yak", which was a mainstream hit, as was the follow-up, "Charlie Brown". This was followed by "Along Came Jones", "Poison Ivy", "Shoppin' for Clothes", and "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)".

They produced and co-wrote "There Goes My Baby", a hit for the Drifters in 1959, which introduced the use of strings for saxophone-like riffs, tympani for the Brazilian baion rhythm they incorporated, and lavish production values into the established black R&B sound, laying the groundwork for the soul music that would follow.

title: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller


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Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings

Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows which was released on November 22, 2002 and shut down on December 30, 2005 before it was relaunched as a beta for active Asheron's Call subscribers in 2012. It is a sequel to 1999's Asheron's Call, although content, graphics and gameplay dynamics differed greatly from its predecessor.

Both games were developed by Turbine Entertainment Software and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios, until Turbine purchased the Asheron's Call intellectual property in December 2003. The Microsoft-to-Turbine transition was completed in 2005. In 2004 and 2005, Turbine entered business arrangements with Jolt Online Gaming to operate Asheron's Call 2 in Europe and with Sony Online Entertainment to distribute the game's first expansion, Asheron's Call 2: Legions, under the Station Publishing label.

The original Asheron's Call continued to be operated, even after Asheron's Call 2 was shuttered. In December 2012, Asheron's Call 2 was restarted, on a new server. The game closed on January 31, 2017.

Updates

 * As with most other MMORPGs of the era, Asheron's Call 2 was a subscription-based game, costing $12.95 USD/EUR per month to play. The Asheron's Call franchise was unique in providing complimentary monthly content updates or "events" that added new quests, skills, landmasses, monsters, gameplay dynamics and bug fixes to all subscribers. Epic storylines linked multiple episodes to form distinct "story arcs".
 * A major expansion pack for Asheron's Call 2 titled Asheron's Call 2: Legions was released on May 4, 2005. It included a new playable character race, the mythical Empyreans, and a major new landmass, Knorr. Players who pre-ordered the expansion were granted access to a second new character race, the Drudge, at the time of the Legions launch. High-level gameplay was also revisited with the Hero 2.0 system and plentiful new content. The subsequent (and final) content update was one of the largest ever, featuring two new types of monsters, dozens of additional quests, as well as other content additions.

Game setting
Both Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 were set on the fictional planet of Auberean. The "Call" of Asheron's Call refers to the urge followed by people on several different "home worlds" to enter portals to Auberean, created by the Empyrean mage, Asheron Realaidain. Asheron's Call 2 took place following a major cataclysmic event on the planet, resulting in massive changes to the topography of one continent on the planet Dereth. The three races inhabiting the continent at the time of the cataclysm high-tailed it into the safety of shelters hidden in portal space until it was safe to emerge. The basic premise of Asheron's Call 2 was that the players represented people emerging from the shelters to reclaim the world their ancestors left behind. The three warring factions that brought about the original cataclysm were still present, and still fighting for power. In addition to these three warring factions, there were other, older and perhaps more powerful forces also fighting for control of Auberean's fate.

Gameplay
Players chose a character that was one of three races: Isparians were humans from Ispar, one of the first races to answer Asheron's Call. Lugians came to Dereth in the same fashion as Isparians from a different home world, Tuu, and were (in the original game) quite hostile to Isparians. Tumeroks, or Tonks, also came to Dereth through Asheron's portals from their home world on Hazahtu, and were also originally treated as monsters by Isparians. These hostilities were worked out between the first game and the sequel, and in Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings the three races co-existed with conflict limited to those choosing player versus player content. Players that purchased the Legions expansion pack gained access to two additional races, Empyreans and Drudges.

One's race was the only limiting factor on the "class" or "profession" that could be played by player's character. In general terms, character classes were considered "damage dealers", "tanks", or "healers".

Characters could choose one of several specializations when they reached the 15th level. Characters also had the opportunity to choose to proceed un-specialized, though eventually the difficulty level of the content in the world made it important to specialize to continue advancement. For each level between 1 and 50, characters gained a credit that could be used to train skills used in combat. After reaching the 45th level, players could begin the "Hero Initiation" quest to become a Hero of Dereth and unlock character advancement beyond level 50. The level cap for Heroes of Dereth was 150. The character development system for Heroes was one of the major updates to the game released with the Legions expansion pack, but was open to all players, regardless of whether they purchased the expansion pack.

Levels were gained by completing activities that gave the character "experience points", or "XP", which was also used to increase the skill rating, or power, of each skill trained. Characters gained XP in a wide variety of ways: hunting monsters on a solo basis or with groups of other players, completing quests, or even just turning in items that can be traded for. Most quests (but not all) could be repeated for multiple rewards after the passage of time. There was significant variety in the quests offered in Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings: some centered on simply combating an overpopulation of a certain type of monster, some involved entering a dungeon or cave to destroy a powerful "boss" monster, some involved running errands for NPCs, or escorting NPCs to safety, in addition to the epic style quests that involved the major NPCs in the current or past story arcs. Quest rewards also ran the gamut: some offered temporary buffs or summonable pets to increase the character's power, some offered simply an XP reward, some offered gold, some offered weapons, armor, or trinkets, still others unlocked movie "vignettes" offering insight into the game's backstory.

Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings also had an extensive crafting system that operated almost completely independently of the level-based advancement system. In contrast to the XP system, the craft system placed no hard-set limitation on the number of skills one could master, but each skill was fairly narrow (for example, Tumerok Martial Weapons was one vocation, while Empyrean Armor was another). There were no level requirements to unlock craft skills: the craft skill alone was what mattered. For all but the most single-minded of crafters, players generally strove to master a single vocation, or to become adept enough in several to create items for a wide range of low- to mid-level characters. Players could craft weapons and armor up to level 100 that were highly sought after, and highly customizable. Enchantment effects could be extracted from weapons and armor generated by the treasure system.

Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings did not have a "faction" system by which the players improved (or worsened) their character's rapport with various NPC factions. The initial intent was to have Player Vs. Player (PvP) confined to certain areas of the game. This concept, however, was prone to exploits as many portals passed through these PvP assigned areas thus exposing players to ganking. This led developers to come up with a KvK (Kingdom Vs. Kingdom) system where players can instead chose to join one of three "kingdoms" (Order, Shadow, and Dominion) and could then participate in player-vs-player conflict, and gain access to some quest content that was centered on competition between the kingdoms, broadly referred to as "kingdom-vs-kingdom" content. As the players completed KvK quests and/or defeated characters of other kingdoms, they gained "kingdom points" which allowed them to train additional skills granted by their chosen Kingdom. These skills were unlocked in a strict hierarchy; players were not able to pick and choose which kingdom skills they could train. In addition, there were certain quests that could be completed to strengthen each Kingdom's fort (which had to be defended against predation by members of the opposing kingdom).

Player vs player combat in Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was always consensual, and was not considered necessary for advancement of your character. For most servers, regions of the landscape were identified as "peaceful" or "conflict" zones, and PvP fighting was only allowed in conflict zones between members of opposing kingdoms. For Darktide, the "conflict server", PvP combat was possible in all regions of the world, and was not limited to conflict between different kingdoms. Quests that were not in some way related to increasing the power of one kingdom over the others generally avoided conflict regions on the map, thus allowing players who chose to avoid PvP combat to do so without limiting their activities significantly. Some of the main portals, though, passed through PVP areas forcing players to either go around them, or risk being ganked.

Reception
Asheron's Call 2 received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator GameRankings, the game received an average score of 83% based on 29 reviews. On Metacritic, the game received an average score of 82 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.

The game was nominated for GameSpot's annual "Best Graphics (Technical)" and "Best Role-Playing Game" awards among computer games, which went to Unreal Tournament 2003 and Neverwinter Nights, respectively. During the AIAS' 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Fallen Kings received nominations for "Massive Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering".

Shut down, relaunch and second shut down
Asheron's Call 2 failed to achieve enough subscribers to be viable and was shut down in December 2005. There were no plans to release the source code. In December 2012, Turbine relaunched the game starting with a beta for all subscribers of Asheron's Call.

By December 2016, Turbine was no longer developing MMORPGs, and the servers and account system were transitioned over to a newly formed studio Standing Stone Games, but the Asheron's Call IP remained with Turbine and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game closed on January 31, 2017 (along with closing the original game as well).

title: Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings