Shadowbane Has Had Time To Grow

dakilla666

Ok, been going through some of the old posts and unfortunately most of them seem to be answers to people downing the game simply because it is not, well, the game that they are currently playing (guess it makes sense to people who aren't really all there to begin with).

Anyways, I used to play SB way back when in beta and even for a few months after release and just wondering how the game has come along since then. (I know it's been ALONG time but, I don't need every single detail either lol).

Looking more for how is it for new players who wish to maybe come into the game (one of my biggest issues way back when was getting killed with my assassin and having to take my wizard out to go hunt and make cash back to get new equipment). Yeah, I was a freelancer, not the smartest decision in the world but I like to travel in games hehe. Anyways, like, how are things for new beginners, is there room for them or is everything restricted to R6 and R7 (not sure what the max level range is anymore) characters who go around owning everyone hehe.

Any and all criticism is welcome, but remember ... criticism is based on facts, not dilusions so, don't go around dissing and "flaming" things that you do not understand, thank you.

P.S. Right now I am playing EVE online and love it because of the importance that is attributed to PvP, know SB used to be big on player controlled cities and what not, that still a major part of the game ?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Edward78

The sad thing about SB is it had the open PvP market, but that was all. The engine sucked, they are just now allow stat refinement, a few years after the players asked for it, I used to play maybe a year ago, & had a r6 healer channy on mourning. With a full set of wymskin armor, but well the guild I was in moved to test, & I went not really wanting to leave mourning then last year they all went carebare and went to EQ2, then WoW. so I left SB a year back.

Honkie

There is definately a place for new players in Shadowbane.  The downside is that it may be a bit tricky to get the hang of things when you first start, and until you've found a guild to call home.  My suggestion to any who may be interested in playing is to download the free trial, go to the game forums (www.chronicle.ubi.com), log in, and post on the Recruitment Forum of the server of your choice.  Make it clear that you're a new player looking for a guild, then go out and get a (very) basic feel for the game through levels 1-10.  Come back the next day to the forums, see what kind of response you've recieved to your post, and hopefully hook up with a guild that will show you the ropes.  If not, promote (from your base class of mage/rogue/healer/fighter to your chosen profession, see the website for details) and go to one of the Safeholds (non-pvp areas) and talk to people in /nation chat channel, stating that you're new to the game.  New players are often greatly appreciated, and if those you talk to won't guild you they will oftentimes help you find another guild that will.

These initial levels are something of a pita, and many established players don't care for them at all.  The lack of quality equipment when you first start is something of a handicap, as you'll have a bit of a miss rate when going through the pve leveling process.  Best bet would be to play a class that isn't too dependant on equipment (perhaps a Neph healer-Doomsayer, or a Wizard that uses Mystic Bolt for the primary damage, or even a mage-warlock) to get started.  You'll be able to self level with relative ease by r4ish, and with a bit of luck get enough cash to build a more sophisticated and pvp oriented character (not that those aforementioned classes are "teh suxx0rz" for pvp, but there are many more options out there), which will probably be fairly equipment dependant.

Anyhow, enough of the stuff for someone brand new getting started that might be reading the thread.  The game is still heavily pvp oriented.  Some major changes that might have occurred since you left include Mines (which produce gold or resources), which offer a good source of pvp daily.  Item crafting is now possible (though not easy, resources are required...obtained from your guild controlling a mine, or farming and getting small amounts dropped off of mobs), so that the exact enchantments you want are on the item.  Resource rolled items can be of higher quality than in the game previously, though not a HUGE boost, it still helps.

Many of the lag issues of the past have been resolved, and when I'm only running one game client I rarely have any lag.  There is still something of a memory leak (WAY better than it used to be), so rebooting after many hours of play is kinda mandatory.  I manage around 2-4 hours while running 2 clients between reboots, and could probably go for 6+ if I only ran one client the whole time.

You'll still need to farm a bit to afford to repair your equipment, though repair costs have been reduced.

Player controlled cities still make up the majority of the map (3 safeholds on the server I play on, and only one gets any notable action-Therikos Senn).  Some limits were placed on the number of player cities that can be on the map at any given time, limiting the 1 man rolling cities.

Anyhow...that was way more than I intended to type, and probably a bit basic for ya as you've played before.  Go visit the website, download the free trial, and give it a shot.  If you remember how buggy it used to be then you'll be impressed with how far it's come along.

Setekh

yup, give it a shot... me and all my friends are joining... being new is fine:) Doesn't take long to climb up:)