People use to rail this game. Now-a-days you see good comments. This thread only has one person railing on it, while most everyone else is saying its a good game, or great game. This, to me, is the greatest game ever second only to Ultama Online, the way UO was 10 years ago.
With the death of SB, the future looks grim for a sucessor. Darkfall comes close, but it has to much FPS style play and a horrible curse word filled community. Age of Conan is the other possibility, but its an instance fest and fighting only lasts seconds. Then there is good ole EVE online. EVE is perfect in every way except for their skill-over-time system, and its a space game.
Whats next?
The definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
Considering the HUGE controversy and hype that was around this game before release, its interesting to ponder its long term effect on the MMORPG genre. I was very heavy into EQ at the time, I think EQ was still top dog as well. The newcomers at the time were really innovative. Where DAoC's hook was RvR, 3 realms, 3rd person, Shadowbane went with the almost sandbox "make what you will" "build your own empire" 3rd person perspective. Not the economic simulation that EVE became, but not the hum drum MMORPG of the time. Sadly, the MMORPG space hasn't really pushed the boundaries since, with "instancing" being probably the most inventive "feature" (read workaround) in the past 5 years. There is something to be said about evolutionary design in MMOs. Make them better, don't re-invent the wheel. An conversly, being inventive for inventions sake, doesn't a good game make. But the current tendancy to make careful, safe games that appeal to the largest demographic, using a huge budget, I think will only weaken the future of MMOs.
Well said.
I enjoyed this game despite a lot of its faults. Unfortunately, one fault kept me from playing: way too much lag and crashing in mass PvP battles. If it hadn't been for that I would have been playing this game for years and years. Very sad to see it close down. There is nothing like it on the market.
Back in EvE. Started with BatMUD. Main MMOs have been EvE and DAoC.
I fondly remember the months and weeks before SB went live, the furor of SB Fanboi's invading the EQ1 forums and declaring that EQ1 would die as soon as SB went live, oh good days .
However it's always sad to see any MMO close it's doors for the final time, I suppose the silver lining would be that those paying customers might now migrate to DFO, as it's the only other MMO on a similar lvl.
Shadowbane is on the few mmo's I played for longer then a few months. From launch until about 2 years afterwards. I have never had as much playing MMO as when I played SB!
Noble and true, you are the hero other heroes aspire to be. You are a natural leader, selfless and kind, who will put the lives of others above your own, and are steadfast in your pursuit of justice. Take the quiz!
In 2003 I was searching for an on-line game to play. I found Shadowbane and bought it. I struggled through the first few months of server shutdowns, hacks and later all the lag-fest sieges. Joined many clans through out the first year until I found a guild that I liked. Through out the years that I played Shadowbane, I went through 3 different servers and many, many different toons and templates and at one point, I even had 3 accounts.
Though it had it's faults and bad moments, overall I really enjoyed the game and since I quit playing about a year and half ago, I have yet to find an mmo that can hold my attention the way that Shadowbane did. Maybe it's because it was my virgin mmo, or I'm just getting too old to compete with the younger crowd any more or the guild I was a member of, any way, I hope that Silver Bullet's project or some other game (DFO maybe) can bring back thrill that I had while playing Shadowbane.
Thank you Wolfpack and UBI for many years of enjoyment and RIP Shadowbane.
Ok, first to the players who had fun playing SB - GREAT!
Fun is the whole point to playing MMOs so gratz! on finding one you loved.
However...
Originally posted by zymurgeist It had dapth and scope like no other game before or since. It's an incredible study in emergent behaviors in MMOs and developers who ignore it's lessons do so to their peril.
Bollox.
The game failed because of the LACK of Depth and Scope. SB had one gameplay mechanic: Kill. The rest was fluff enabling you to kill more / faster. That's why it failed.
A study in Emergent Behavior? Please. The only thing that "emerged" was the game's collapse, and the only Lesson developers should learn from SB is to Never make one like it again because the one-trick pony of FFA PvP DOES NOT AND CAN NOT WORK as a viable social system, which is what MMOs are.
In other words - "Play To Crush!" got Crushed because it Doesn't Work as an MMO play mechanic. DarkFall will eventually learn this lesson as well.
I played this for a month or two after launch. I had fun with it but it was far from my favorite MMO of all time. Way too much of a grind. Plus, I'm not big on games where the entire world is open PVP. That's just my personal opinion though.
I played Shadowbane for about 2 years, and another year after that off and on. I have to say, I enjoyed my time playing, but even more what I learned from it.
I'm a developer, who likes to play all kinds of games, and as many people have said, I think Shadowbane did PvP right, in the sense of the goal and not the actual killing mechanics. I have very fond memories of playing with the guilds I did, as well as reading the forums, etc.
I could mention its faults, the reason it was never a huge success, etc. But that will be left for another time, following its passing. Until then, we should all just remember the game for what it offered to those who played it. If you didn't or you did not like it, it is understandable.
If anyone is interested, I have been compiling a list of features that Shadowbane had, in my quest to figure out what works well overall and what does not (I know people will say they have already enumerated these, but I prefer specifics rather than just saying: PVP, FFA, Full Loot, etc).
PM me if you want. I will be doing a comparison across all games in the market (MMORPGs), both in the same genre and not, and creating a detailed comparison of the features and how they worked, didn't, or how they needed to be changed.
I feel as if the company should totally just release everything that one would need to create a server of their own and run it if they like. Like a server package.
I get that they no longer want to put money into it and are shutting it down, but not really fair to those who want to play it if they are willing to pay to have it all set up.
Shadowbane was my jump in the MMORPG world. The classes and races were awesome and the guild system was great! A Shadowbane with current technologie and continuous support would be amazing I think.
"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance ; one cannot fly into flying"
Ok, first to the players who had fun playing SB - GREAT! Fun is the whole point to playing MMOs so gratz! on finding one you loved. However... Originally posted by zymurgeist It had dapth and scope like no other game before or since. It's an incredible study in emergent behaviors in MMOs and developers who ignore it's lessons do so to their peril.
Bollox.
The game failed because of the LACK of Depth and Scope. SB had one gameplay mechanic: Kill. The rest was fluff enabling you to kill more / faster. That's why it failed.
A study in Emergent Behavior? Please. The only thing that "emerged" was the game's collapse, and the only Lesson developers should learn from SB is to Never make one like it again because the one-trick pony of FFA PvP DOES NOT AND CAN NOT WORK as a viable social system, which is what MMOs are.
In other words - "Play To Crush!" got Crushed because it Doesn't Work as an MMO play mechanic. DarkFall will eventually learn this lesson as well.
If you think Shadowbane was a one trick pony of FFA PvP you nerver played it enough to understand it. Not everyone on the planet want's to play the same perfect game because there is no one perfect game for everyone.
I agree - there is no, and never will be a "Perfect" game. We, as gamers, are individuals and each have a different reason to play, a different idea of fun, and a different taste for type of game - ie Sci-fi, fantasy, etc.
The problem with MMO's isn't the gameplay of any specific game, in my opinion, it is our need as people for instant gratification. That leads to simplified games which are easy to beat without spending a lot of time at - good for the majority perhaps but not for the minority which appreciates a challenge. I played Shadowbane for a year - early on and I think it was a good game, it had it's flaws but overall it was a good experience. It outlived it's playability. All games will do this. Even Wow, eventually will die, probably when the Company decides it is time to do something else and that they are not getting enough revenues to support the game. Not saying it will be soon, still looks healthy to me, but fashions change - even in the gaming world. WoW was not the first MMO - it displaced those that came before and some day something will displace it - not wishful thinking, merely an observation of reality - all things die. Myself, I hope that in the future there will still be a place for challenging games that not everyone likes, EVE is a good example right now. peace.
If you think Shadowbane was a one trick pony of FFA PvP you nerver played it enough to understand it.
Or maybe people are reading more into their beloved game than was really there.
Not everyone on the planet want's to play the same perfect game because there is no one perfect game for everyone.
Agreed. However there is such a thing as a Commercially Viable game that can make enough profit to keep the servers running. I dunno, maybe if WolfPack had trimmed the staff to 1 or 2 people they could have stayed in business because that's about how many people it would take to support the handfull of paying customers who enjoy this genre.
You could argue that there is a market for MMO Pong, and there probably is, but unless you're willing to work for $3.00/hr you'll probably go out of business the first year. Same with Free-For-All Player-vs-Player MMOs, there's so few players who enjoy this enough to Pay for it that it's not a viable model.
edit: How about this - Would ShadowBane fans be willing to chip in $100 each to buy the rights and host a private server?
Looks like Woody at GU can finally get that Shadowbane fly into the zapper. Sort of a shame, I kind of liked how the Shadowbane and Horizons flies kept hanging in there.
I never played the game, but it seems like a lot of you enjoyed it. I guess just not enough of you to keep it going.
Ok, first to the players who had fun playing SB - GREAT! Fun is the whole point to playing MMOs so gratz! on finding one you loved. However... Originally posted by zymurgeist It had dapth and scope like no other game before or since. It's an incredible study in emergent behaviors in MMOs and developers who ignore it's lessons do so to their peril.
Bollox.
The game failed because of the LACK of Depth and Scope. SB had one gameplay mechanic: Kill. The rest was fluff enabling you to kill more / faster. That's why it failed.
A study in Emergent Behavior? Please. The only thing that "emerged" was the game's collapse, and the only Lesson developers should learn from SB is to Never make one like it again because the one-trick pony of FFA PvP DOES NOT AND CAN NOT WORK as a viable social system, which is what MMOs are.
In other words - "Play To Crush!" got Crushed because it Doesn't Work as an MMO play mechanic. DarkFall will eventually learn this lesson as well.
If you think Shadowbane was a one trick pony of FFA PvP you nerver played it enough to understand it. Not everyone on the planet want's to play the same perfect game because there is no one perfect game for everyone.
Quite true. If Shadowbane, which actually had some depth and breadth is dead, then how long does a game with only FFA PVP and nothing else to offer have?
Once again the writting is on the wall for Dark-n-Fail since it has <10% of what Shadowbane had to offer.
it is a sad day when games which have existed this long and brought a passionate community together finally meet their end. i am sure many will look back to this game fondly.
the same unfortunately cannot be said about other games or game developers, who have chosen to nerf the game to oblivion and screw its community before its certain future shutdown.
I will say this.,..to this day shadowbane had the BEST player run/siege idea in any MMO i have played. If it wasnt for the outdated graphics/animations bugs and horrible lag this game would have done so well.
I havent touched the game in almost 2 years but I have fond memories of it. If anyone remembers Ebonlore when he stole everything in the guild and Ebayed it, i was in the guild at the time as a high council.
that ended up being the main reason i left cuz i invested everything i had at that point into the guild.
Anyways, regardless always sad to see an MMO die. I just hope someone learns to take some great things away from this game and apply them to something new.
Comments
YOu bought a free game. You know you want your dollar back!!
People use to rail this game. Now-a-days you see good comments. This thread only has one person railing on it, while most everyone else is saying its a good game, or great game. This, to me, is the greatest game ever second only to Ultama Online, the way UO was 10 years ago.
With the death of SB, the future looks grim for a sucessor. Darkfall comes close, but it has to much FPS style play and a horrible curse word filled community. Age of Conan is the other possibility, but its an instance fest and fighting only lasts seconds. Then there is good ole EVE online. EVE is perfect in every way except for their skill-over-time system, and its a space game.
Whats next?
The definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
RIP Shadowbande. And to all the players who were still playing, I hope you, your online friends and your guilds can find a new home.
Well said.
I enjoyed this game despite a lot of its faults. Unfortunately, one fault kept me from playing: way too much lag and crashing in mass PvP battles. If it hadn't been for that I would have been playing this game for years and years. Very sad to see it close down. There is nothing like it on the market.
Back in EvE. Started with BatMUD. Main MMOs have been EvE and DAoC.
I fondly remember the months and weeks before SB went live, the furor of SB Fanboi's invading the EQ1 forums and declaring that EQ1 would die as soon as SB went live, oh good days
.
However it's always sad to see any MMO close it's doors for the final time, I suppose the silver lining would be that those paying customers might now migrate to DFO, as it's the only other MMO on a similar lvl.
Shadowbane is on the few mmo's I played for longer then a few months. From launch until about 2 years afterwards. I have never had as much playing MMO as when I played SB!
Noble and true, you are the hero other heroes aspire to be. You are a natural leader, selfless and kind, who will put the lives of others above your own, and are steadfast in your pursuit of justice.
Take the quiz!
win!!!
_________________
USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST
Good riddance. Was a very poorly written game that never really got better. Just gave indie developers a bad name.
Give it a few years and you will see Darkfall do the exact same thing.
Mediocrity does not sit well with game players.
In 2003 I was searching for an on-line game to play. I found Shadowbane and bought it. I struggled through the first few months of server shutdowns, hacks and later all the lag-fest sieges. Joined many clans through out the first year until I found a guild that I liked. Through out the years that I played Shadowbane, I went through 3 different servers and many, many different toons and templates and at one point, I even had 3 accounts.
Though it had it's faults and bad moments, overall I really enjoyed the game and since I quit playing about a year and half ago, I have yet to find an mmo that can hold my attention the way that Shadowbane did. Maybe it's because it was my virgin mmo, or I'm just getting too old to compete with the younger crowd any more or the guild I was a member of, any way, I hope that Silver Bullet's project or some other game (DFO maybe) can bring back thrill that I had while playing Shadowbane.
Thank you Wolfpack and UBI for many years of enjoyment and RIP Shadowbane.
Ok, first to the players who had fun playing SB - GREAT!
Fun is the whole point to playing MMOs so gratz! on finding one you loved.
However...
Bollox.
The game failed because of the LACK of Depth and Scope. SB had one gameplay mechanic: Kill. The rest was fluff enabling you to kill more / faster. That's why it failed.
A study in Emergent Behavior? Please. The only thing that "emerged" was the game's collapse, and the only Lesson developers should learn from SB is to Never make one like it again because the one-trick pony of FFA PvP DOES NOT AND CAN NOT WORK as a viable social system, which is what MMOs are.
In other words - "Play To Crush!" got Crushed because it Doesn't Work as an MMO play mechanic. DarkFall will eventually learn this lesson as well.
Meh.
I played this for a month or two after launch. I had fun with it but it was far from my favorite MMO of all time. Way too much of a grind. Plus, I'm not big on games where the entire world is open PVP. That's just my personal opinion though.
Still, I hate to see any game go away.
I played Shadowbane for about 2 years, and another year after that off and on. I have to say, I enjoyed my time playing, but even more what I learned from it.
I'm a developer, who likes to play all kinds of games, and as many people have said, I think Shadowbane did PvP right, in the sense of the goal and not the actual killing mechanics. I have very fond memories of playing with the guilds I did, as well as reading the forums, etc.
I could mention its faults, the reason it was never a huge success, etc. But that will be left for another time, following its passing. Until then, we should all just remember the game for what it offered to those who played it. If you didn't or you did not like it, it is understandable.
If anyone is interested, I have been compiling a list of features that Shadowbane had, in my quest to figure out what works well overall and what does not (I know people will say they have already enumerated these, but I prefer specifics rather than just saying: PVP, FFA, Full Loot, etc).
PM me if you want. I will be doing a comparison across all games in the market (MMORPGs), both in the same genre and not, and creating a detailed comparison of the features and how they worked, didn't, or how they needed to be changed.
RIP, Shadowbane...
The game definately still has a devote following which is why it's sad to see it go. I can't say I actually liked the game but...
Maybe all these Shadowbane lovers with make there own servers.
I feel as if the company should totally just release everything that one would need to create a server of their own and run it if they like. Like a server package.
I get that they no longer want to put money into it and are shutting it down, but not really fair to those who want to play it if they are willing to pay to have it all set up.
Shadowbane was my jump in the MMORPG world. The classes and races were awesome and the guild system was great! A Shadowbane with current technologie and continuous support would be amazing I think.
"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance ; one cannot fly into flying"
Bollox.
The game failed because of the LACK of Depth and Scope. SB had one gameplay mechanic: Kill. The rest was fluff enabling you to kill more / faster. That's why it failed.
A study in Emergent Behavior? Please. The only thing that "emerged" was the game's collapse, and the only Lesson developers should learn from SB is to Never make one like it again because the one-trick pony of FFA PvP DOES NOT AND CAN NOT WORK as a viable social system, which is what MMOs are.
In other words - "Play To Crush!" got Crushed because it Doesn't Work as an MMO play mechanic. DarkFall will eventually learn this lesson as well.
If you think Shadowbane was a one trick pony of FFA PvP you nerver played it enough to understand it. Not everyone on the planet want's to play the same perfect game because there is no one perfect game for everyone.
I agree - there is no, and never will be a "Perfect" game. We, as gamers, are individuals and each have a different reason to play, a different idea of fun, and a different taste for type of game - ie Sci-fi, fantasy, etc.
The problem with MMO's isn't the gameplay of any specific game, in my opinion, it is our need as people for instant gratification. That leads to simplified games which are easy to beat without spending a lot of time at - good for the majority perhaps but not for the minority which appreciates a challenge. I played Shadowbane for a year - early on and I think it was a good game, it had it's flaws but overall it was a good experience. It outlived it's playability. All games will do this. Even Wow, eventually will die, probably when the Company decides it is time to do something else and that they are not getting enough revenues to support the game. Not saying it will be soon, still looks healthy to me, but fashions change - even in the gaming world. WoW was not the first MMO - it displaced those that came before and some day something will displace it - not wishful thinking, merely an observation of reality - all things die. Myself, I hope that in the future there will still be a place for challenging games that not everyone likes, EVE is a good example right now. peace.
Or maybe people are reading more into their beloved game than was really there.
Not everyone on the planet want's to play the same perfect game because there is no one perfect game for everyone.
Agreed. However there is such a thing as a Commercially Viable game that can make enough profit to keep the servers running. I dunno, maybe if WolfPack had trimmed the staff to 1 or 2 people they could have stayed in business because that's about how many people it would take to support the handfull of paying customers who enjoy this genre.
You could argue that there is a market for MMO Pong, and there probably is, but unless you're willing to work for $3.00/hr you'll probably go out of business the first year. Same with Free-For-All Player-vs-Player MMOs, there's so few players who enjoy this enough to Pay for it that it's not a viable model.
edit: How about this - Would ShadowBane fans be willing to chip in $100 each to buy the rights and host a private server?
Looks like Woody at GU can finally get that Shadowbane fly into the zapper. Sort of a shame, I kind of liked how the Shadowbane and Horizons flies kept hanging in there.
I never played the game, but it seems like a lot of you enjoyed it. I guess just not enough of you to keep it going.
Bollox.
The game failed because of the LACK of Depth and Scope. SB had one gameplay mechanic: Kill. The rest was fluff enabling you to kill more / faster. That's why it failed.
A study in Emergent Behavior? Please. The only thing that "emerged" was the game's collapse, and the only Lesson developers should learn from SB is to Never make one like it again because the one-trick pony of FFA PvP DOES NOT AND CAN NOT WORK as a viable social system, which is what MMOs are.
In other words - "Play To Crush!" got Crushed because it Doesn't Work as an MMO play mechanic. DarkFall will eventually learn this lesson as well.
If you think Shadowbane was a one trick pony of FFA PvP you nerver played it enough to understand it. Not everyone on the planet want's to play the same perfect game because there is no one perfect game for everyone.
Quite true. If Shadowbane, which actually had some depth and breadth is dead, then how long does a game with only FFA PVP and nothing else to offer have?
Once again the writting is on the wall for Dark-n-Fail since it has <10% of what Shadowbane had to offer.
Darkfall took all their players.
and gave them nothing.
Never even new this game existed.
A real case of ultimate bad timing, then.
it is a sad day when games which have existed this long and brought a passionate community together finally meet their end. i am sure many will look back to this game fondly.
the same unfortunately cannot be said about other games or game developers, who have chosen to nerf the game to oblivion and screw its community before its certain future shutdown.
I will say this.,..to this day shadowbane had the BEST player run/siege idea in any MMO i have played. If it wasnt for the outdated graphics/animations bugs and horrible lag this game would have done so well.
I havent touched the game in almost 2 years but I have fond memories of it. If anyone remembers Ebonlore when he stole everything in the guild and Ebayed it, i was in the guild at the time as a high council.
that ended up being the main reason i left cuz i invested everything i had at that point into the guild.
Anyways, regardless always sad to see an MMO die. I just hope someone learns to take some great things away from this game and apply them to something new.