As a shadowbane player of 3 years. It is sad news. Been playing MMO's for over 10+ years now. I can say without a doubt that Shadowbane was a truly unique game. It may not have the graphical flash or smooth coding that newers products have. It was a game hat was originally made by people who had little experience in the MMO realm. They did however have a hell of a concept.
The shadowbane experience is the truly open world PvP, and the strategic/political element the game brings with its ability to declare war and destroy your enemies cities. Fighting in Shadowbane had some of the most rewarding PvP experiences I have yet to see in MMo's. Instead of fighting in some instanced battleground, or just pvping in tourneyment games (gw) Sb had fighting for not just your pride but your land and your right to live in whatever terrority you wished.
For me Shadowbane is, was, and will always be freedom. The game truly let you do what you wish, being able to affect the entire server as a whole and shape its future. Instead of going though dungeons trying to figure out how to beat some boss mob, or going through instances where you have no other player inaction you had guilds meeting, fighting, and preparing on their next steps. The political aspect of the game combined with the PvP made for an always changing persistant world. How your guild acted, and fought could literally affect hundreds of player overnight. Causing alliances and grudges to form which in turn led to more PvP.
If you never played SB or only played at it buggy release you never got to fully appreciate what the game had to offer. If you enjoyed Player vs Player there is no other game out there that could offer on the same level what SB offered.
I can not put into words what my 3 years of Shadowbane has meant to me, because no words will do. I can say i have played almost every MMO on the market that offers PvP and none can fill the shoes that this game has made.
As far as people saying SB players are a--holes or whatever I could care less. Every mmo has it griefers, the difference was in SB you could fight back and had to fight back. The weak were cast aside, there is no safe place for the weak of heart to hide. If you wished to be good you had to fight the evils of the land. If getting pked, or looted, or griefed made you not like the game then go back to the single player games or single player with who chat rooms mmo's that are out there. SB forced players to interact with one other, something I can say most MMO's out there really don't try to accomplish.
well, when wolfpack shuts their doors someone is going to have to pay for the server upkeep to keep the game going at all. It's possible that someone could purchase the rights to the game but i would bet that they aren't going to do that and offer the game as a free service as well.
awhile back they had stated that it was going to go to a free play service much like anarchy online where you can play the basic game free but have to pay if you want to enjoy any of the expansions. I don't know if this is not going to happen now or what. if I had to guess, i'd say it won't . In fact, i'd say the game is probably just going to go away completly. anything can happen though.
Only true succesor to SB and even better is DARKFALL if it will be released only truely open pvp mmorpg to play.
So all who wanne play a FFA PVP MMORPG and dont wanne see carebears go to DARKFALL FORUMS it will be one of best FFA pvp mmorpgs ever released!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77 CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now)) MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB PSU:Corsair AX1200i OS:Windows 10 64bit
With the anticipated death of Shadowbane, I find myself at a loss. I suppose that Eve is the closest I can come to the open pvp environment, but it's a poor substitute at best.
No game out there gave cause for guilds to grow closer. Threats against city and ally caused people to pull together like in SB. For example...any reason to have a guild in WoW? You can go through 59 levels without one and not even notice the loss.
Somewhat to my surprise, it's also the most political game out there. Smack talk on the forums can result in destruction of assets in game, and the maneuverings that I've seen made (or partially seen, the behind the scenes stuff will remain unknown to all uninvolved parties) are quite fascinating.
I'll never see anything like that again, I don't think, and that saddens me greatly.
There is NO way a MMO game can survive catering to just a small, niche market as Open PvP.
It's just not possible.
When SB first came out, I knew this was going to happen. Full on open PvP? Yea riiight! It will attract and keep 10%, maybe 20% of the population compared to other MMO games, then go belly up. Thats what I said then, and it looks like I was proved right.
To those looking forward to another game taking its place, maybe one will pop up, but my prediction will be the same of what happened to SB.
Originally posted by Silversaber IMO it was inevitable. There is NO way a MMO game can survive catering to just a small, niche market as Open PvP. It's just not possible. When SB first came out, I knew this was going to happen. Full on open PvP? Yea riiight! It will attract and keep 10%, maybe 20% of the population compared to other MMO games, then go belly up. Thats what I said then, and it looks like I was proved right. To those looking forward to another game taking its place, maybe one will pop up, but my prediction will be the same of what happened to SB.
Full and open PvP was not the reason for the problems that faced SB at launch. Technical issues had been the true problem, not the game design systems. Those that stuck with the game for 3 years I might add, not a short time, found that they did enjoy the environment that was created.
The industry and more importently, the genre can indeed market games to a niche playerbase. Something that WP has/had no control over.
Who knows what will happen to WP and SB, we are working hard for our fans to do all we can.
Sorry to see it go in a way. SB had alot of unique things to offer such as still one of the most in depth, intresting, and balanced character creation systems in an mmorpg to date. Unfourtunately SB's doom started in beta, not so much because of the graphics or anything else but because of the reluctance of the developers to listen to anyone but the hardcore PvP minority. Simply adding more PvE content which many stated SB needed would have increased the game by tenfolds, unfortunately a game with such unrewarding and boring PvE content drags once the PvP and leveling/farming becomes redundant. Which is pretty much what happened with SB. Tied in with the attitudes of the hardcore PvP minority which was left its no suprise its finally dead and imho died years ago regardless. Anyways sorry to see such a promising system and game die, but its was unfortunately no big suprise.
I am glad to see this and I wish more older MMOGs would shut down, as they are draining too many people from supporting new upcoming worthwhile MMOGs.
Nothing against Shadowbane per say, but it's outdated and outlived it's usefulness.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it." Brad McQuaid Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc. Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes www.vanguardsoh
Sorry to see you go Wolfpack, you made a great game that will go down in MMO history and I wish you every success in the future!
ps. In response to the post above: there is very little or nothing to fill the shoes of Shadowbane currently, so I don't really understand your logic at all. A great game that is 10 years old still has a right to exist and be successful, and this success should be measured on the substance of the game and not the subscriber numbers...not everything is meant to be appeal to the masses
I would be sad it to seen online game go, that people enjoy playing. Just because a game is old does not mean it's bad. I think of Ulitma Online and how old it is, and how old it looks, but EA still has enough people playing it to keep it going.
Well apparently the moderator swept through the grifing topic posters with a heavy hand. On the topic of griefing within Shadowbane and how that no doubt led to the games demise however, there certainly is room for factual comment. As was mentioned before , "griefers" exist in every game that has forced PvP and always will. I fully understand and agree that's true. However, no other game that I can think of had a /who and filter command that gave name, level and location of every player as soon as they logged in and locked those players out of save zone cities after a certain level that was set way too low for that player to defend himself. Don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happened. Every high level "griefer" in game came spawning down on you within minutes of logging in unless you were in a safe player city (and you better stay there too). Not to mention the tells sent to port capable low levels to "Help! Please port me. " and as soon as you did they killed you. This is "fun"? Ya .. for the griefer it is. Oh .. excuse me .. was.
Originally posted by Bullbyte However, no other game that I can think of had a /who and filter command that gave name, level and location of every player as soon as they logged in and locked those players out of save zone cities after a certain level that was set way too low for that player to defend himself.
Whoa there pardner. The /who and filter could look up names, races, class, and level. Not a thing about location. If you weren't in their general area, or they didn't tell you/announce it, you had no idea where they were.
Also, in regards to safe zones, there is a safe zone city that you can bind to named Sea Dogs Rest with no level cap. Also, the level cap for the lower level safe zones was raised into the upper 40s, as far as I'm aware. You'll always have a safe place, be it a player city (kept safe by guards, though people can raid your town and kill the guards, pretty unlikely unless you've been doing things to make people angry) or a safezone to bind to/spawn at.
There is no way that people are aware of where you're at when you log in. I have no idea what you mean by "higher level players sweeping down on you as soon as you logged in" at all.
As for the tells sent to port capable low levels to "Help! Please port me. " there is nobody to blame for this one but yourself. Don't summon people you don't know if you're not in a safe zone, and don't accept summons that you aren't expecting. Just a little common sense on that one.
Sir, your "factual comment" had very little in the way of "fact" in it.
Just a clue guys. Wolf Pack Studios... if it's the same wolf pack... did a lot more games than just shadowbane.... I am very sorry to see them go. I wish all of them the best of luck in finding new jobs.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
Originally posted by Elnator Just a clue guys. Wolf Pack Studios... if it's the same wolf pack... did a lot more games than just shadowbane.... I am very sorry to see them go. I wish all of them the best of luck in finding new jobs.
True enough, but non ever were, hmmm not to be rude, but shadowbane on release was a nightmare for those that remember and to this day was still a lag fest from hell. Only the true core stuck it out, heck I did for 2 years. However things change, thou I am wondering what UBI meant by "going to more popular genres" has anyone seen any good title that emphases pvp beyond sb or daoc? While UO originally had this concept, it's so out of date, I don't even count it. Point being, there are companies attempting this release and I know if one does come and is well done, it will be close as successful as WoW, not in the multi-millions to start, but I wouldn't doubt a million or more. There is a market for this, just most companies research departments are purly looking at WoW atm.
Hopefully this will change, one title that has some decent pvp being developed by a good crew will be warhammer, Thou again time will tell. As far as wolfpack, there time is done. No innovations or fixing broken things will do this to you no matter were you work for a publishing house.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
We are still talking about SB? Shoot ...it had its good points. The griefer thing is way overblown in SB. I hope like the other poster that Warhammer out of Mythic studios (I think) will have the same kind of open ended conquest and tug of war between cities of players. Yes along with that comes criminals (griefers) but like in society get a clan together or a team and let the heads roll.
Comments
As a shadowbane player of 3 years. It is sad news. Been playing MMO's for over 10+ years now. I can say without a doubt that Shadowbane was a truly unique game. It may not have the graphical flash or smooth coding that newers products have. It was a game hat was originally made by people who had little experience in the MMO realm. They did however have a hell of a concept.
The shadowbane experience is the truly open world PvP, and the strategic/political element the game brings with its ability to declare war and destroy your enemies cities. Fighting in Shadowbane had some of the most rewarding PvP experiences I have yet to see in MMo's. Instead of fighting in some instanced battleground, or just pvping in tourneyment games (gw) Sb had fighting for not just your pride but your land and your right to live in whatever terrority you wished.
For me Shadowbane is, was, and will always be freedom. The game truly let you do what you wish, being able to affect the entire server as a whole and shape its future. Instead of going though dungeons trying to figure out how to beat some boss mob, or going through instances where you have no other player inaction you had guilds meeting, fighting, and preparing on their next steps. The political aspect of the game combined with the PvP made for an always changing persistant world. How your guild acted, and fought could literally affect hundreds of player overnight. Causing alliances and grudges to form which in turn led to more PvP.
If you never played SB or only played at it buggy release you never got to fully appreciate what the game had to offer. If you enjoyed Player vs Player there is no other game out there that could offer on the same level what SB offered.
I can not put into words what my 3 years of Shadowbane has meant to me, because no words will do. I can say i have played almost every MMO on the market that offers PvP and none can fill the shoes that this game has made.
As far as people saying SB players are a--holes or whatever I could care less. Every mmo has it griefers, the difference was in SB you could fight back and had to fight back. The weak were cast aside, there is no safe place for the weak of heart to hide. If you wished to be good you had to fight the evils of the land. If getting pked, or looted, or griefed made you not like the game then go back to the single player games or single player with who chat rooms mmo's that are out there. SB forced players to interact with one other, something I can say most MMO's out there really don't try to accomplish.
Hope some company picks up SB, great game, always will be!
isnt shadowbane going to be free to play or will it completely shut down?
honestly once i heard the news that shadowbane was in trouble once i heard the news that shadowbane was going to be free to play.
Have played: CoH, DDO EQ2, FFXI, L2, HZ, SoR, and WW2 online
Have played: CoH, DDO EQ2, FFXI, L2, HZ, SoR, and WW2 online
well, when wolfpack shuts their doors someone is going to have to pay for the server upkeep to keep the game going at all. It's possible that someone could purchase the rights to the game but i would bet that they aren't going to do that and offer the game as a free service as well.
awhile back they had stated that it was going to go to a free play service much like anarchy online where you can play the basic game free but have to pay if you want to enjoy any of the expansions. I don't know if this is not going to happen now or what. if I had to guess, i'd say it won't . In fact, i'd say the game is probably just going to go away completly. anything can happen though.
Only true succesor to SB and even better is DARKFALL if it will be released only truely open pvp mmorpg to play.
So all who wanne play a FFA PVP MMORPG and dont wanne see carebears go to DARKFALL FORUMS it will be one of best FFA pvp mmorpgs ever released!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
With the anticipated death of Shadowbane, I find myself at a loss. I suppose that Eve is the closest I can come to the open pvp environment, but it's a poor substitute at best.
No game out there gave cause for guilds to grow closer. Threats against city and ally caused people to pull together like in SB. For example...any reason to have a guild in WoW? You can go through 59 levels without one and not even notice the loss.
Somewhat to my surprise, it's also the most political game out there. Smack talk on the forums can result in destruction of assets in game, and the maneuverings that I've seen made (or partially seen, the behind the scenes stuff will remain unknown to all uninvolved parties) are quite fascinating.
I'll never see anything like that again, I don't think, and that saddens me greatly.
IMO it was inevitable.
There is NO way a MMO game can survive catering to just a small, niche market as Open PvP.
It's just not possible.
When SB first came out, I knew this was going to happen. Full on open PvP? Yea riiight! It will attract and keep 10%, maybe 20% of the population compared to other MMO games, then go belly up. Thats what I said then, and it looks like I was proved right.
To those looking forward to another game taking its place, maybe one will pop up, but my prediction will be the same of what happened to SB.
Full and open PvP was not the reason for the problems that faced SB at launch. Technical issues had been the true problem, not the game design systems. Those that stuck with the game for 3 years I might add, not a short time, found that they did enjoy the environment that was created.
The industry and more importently, the genre can indeed market games to a niche playerbase. Something that WP has/had no control over.
Who knows what will happen to WP and SB, we are working hard for our fans to do all we can.
I am glad to see this and I wish more older MMOGs would shut down, as they are draining too many people from supporting new upcoming worthwhile MMOGs.
Nothing against Shadowbane per say, but it's outdated and outlived it's usefulness.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it."
Brad McQuaid
Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc.
Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
www.vanguardsoh
Sorry to see you go Wolfpack, you made a great game that will go down in MMO history and I wish you every success in the future!
ps. In response to the post above: there is very little or nothing to fill the shoes of Shadowbane currently, so I don't really understand your logic at all. A great game that is 10 years old still has a right to exist and be successful, and this success should be measured on the substance of the game and not the subscriber numbers...not everything is meant to be appeal to the masses
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Well apparently the moderator swept through the grifing topic posters with a heavy hand. On the topic of griefing within Shadowbane and how that no doubt led to the games demise however, there certainly is room for factual comment. As was mentioned before , "griefers" exist in every game that has forced PvP and always will. I fully understand and agree that's true. However, no other game that I can think of had a /who and filter command that gave name, level and location of every player as soon as they logged in and locked those players out of save zone cities after a certain level that was set way too low for that player to defend himself. Don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happened. Every high level "griefer" in game came spawning down on you within minutes of logging in unless you were in a safe player city (and you better stay there too). Not to mention the tells sent to port capable low levels to "Help! Please port me. " and as soon as you did they killed you. This is "fun"? Ya .. for the griefer it is. Oh .. excuse me .. was.
Whoa there pardner. The /who and filter could look up names, races, class, and level. Not a thing about location. If you weren't in their general area, or they didn't tell you/announce it, you had no idea where they were.
Also, in regards to safe zones, there is a safe zone city that you can bind to named Sea Dogs Rest with no level cap. Also, the level cap for the lower level safe zones was raised into the upper 40s, as far as I'm aware. You'll always have a safe place, be it a player city (kept safe by guards, though people can raid your town and kill the guards, pretty unlikely unless you've been doing things to make people angry) or a safezone to bind to/spawn at.
There is no way that people are aware of where you're at when you log in. I have no idea what you mean by "higher level players sweeping down on you as soon as you logged in" at all.
As for the tells sent to port capable low levels to "Help! Please port me. " there is nobody to blame for this one but yourself. Don't summon people you don't know if you're not in a safe zone, and don't accept summons that you aren't expecting. Just a little common sense on that one.
Sir, your "factual comment" had very little in the way of "fact" in it.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
True enough, but non ever were, hmmm not to be rude, but shadowbane on release was a nightmare for those that remember and to this day was still a lag fest from hell. Only the true core stuck it out, heck I did for 2 years. However things change, thou I am wondering what UBI meant by "going to more popular genres" has anyone seen any good title that emphases pvp beyond sb or daoc? While UO originally had this concept, it's so out of date, I don't even count it. Point being, there are companies attempting this release and I know if one does come and is well done, it will be close as successful as WoW, not in the multi-millions to start, but I wouldn't doubt a million or more. There is a market for this, just most companies research departments are purly looking at WoW atm.
Hopefully this will change, one title that has some decent pvp being developed by a good crew will be warhammer, Thou again time will tell. As far as wolfpack, there time is done. No innovations or fixing broken things will do this to you no matter were you work for a publishing house.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
We are still talking about SB? Shoot ...it had its good points. The griefer thing is way overblown in SB. I hope like the other poster that Warhammer out of Mythic studios (I think) will have the same kind of open ended conquest and tug of war between cities of players. Yes along with that comes criminals (griefers) but like in society get a clan together or a team and let the heads roll.
Thanks Shadowbane! R.I.P.