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Shadowbane- Does it Suck or Not?
Syrous
Member Posts: 4
Shadowbane is a game that really appeals to a far different crowd of gamers. Shadowbane is one of those games meant for people who don't seriously play many games. For Example- my friends and I don't play games very often- very little time. But the whole lot of us are hooked on Shadowbane.
Most people look for depth and play time in an MMO. Thats understandable. They want a game they can easily spend hours upon hours playing, create a great character who has gathered a wonderful and vast reputation of the many years this person has played, and has become the best there is. If that is what you want- avoid Shadowbane. <G>
Shadowbane is good for one thing- basically: PvP. Almost no one fights mobs anymore. The fact of the matter is, 90% of the players get on, make a character, get powerleveled up to 40+, then go on to PvP their lives away. Whether Ubi likes it or not, it seems this has become the #1 thing to draw players to the game. This is both good and bad. Its good (and part of what draws players to it) because you don't have to worry about leveling. The players who play shadowbane are, 9 times out of 10, those who probably invest money into buying an account off the net so they don't have to level. Does this make them a bad person? Not at all. Most of those people simply do not have the time to keep up with gamers who put in 5 to 10 hours a day into their games. Some of us can spare 1 or 2 at the most. In Shadowbane, leveling consists of finding a group, finding a safe spot to sit, and then going on about your daily business. Maybe you leveled, or maybe your whole group got rolled by a pk squad. =-P
The bad thing about this? It gets old... quick. I myself have 2 r5s, 3 r4s, and an r2(rs are Ranks. you get a rank every 10 levels. R1 = 10. R2 = 20. etc, etc...). That is after a month of playing. Is that something to brag about? Oh no, that's actually the normal character selection for someone who has played as long as me. =-P The thing is, when you don't play a character through and level him yourself, you don't feel any particular attachment for it, and basically you start out using your level 40+ character as a n00b. Most of the time this results in a gimped character, and then yet another character to be made and gimped. =-P (of all my characters, only 2 aren't gimped to an extreme extent. The others I don't play. Those two would have been deleted and remade correctly, but I joined Evil Bastages and decided I'd just take the time to make enough money and use a refiner to ungimp them instead)
On to the interface. This is probably the number one thing to be bashed about this game. The interface of the game is not near as complex as everyone screams about. It took me all of 2 hours to figure it out. Yes, that is a long time, but it's not impossible. The thing is, because there is so much complexity that comes along with this game, you end up finding things later you never knew existed, making you like the game again. =-P The entire interface is customizable as well. I personally love it. The original layout is teh suck, so I set my own way up(status bar in the middle on bottom, chat window with combat on left the of it, chat window with talking to the right. Both chat windows at 60% transparency, locked, and click through Attributes window right above left chat window, along with effects window. both at 60% locked clickthrough. and then group goes wherever). =-P
Overview- If you are looking to escape a horrible social life and replace it with the social life of a great knight on a large white steed who is loved by all and lives by the name of Bob... you're out of luck in Shadowbane. If you are looking for a game that will let you run around and mercilessly kill everyone around you, burn cities to the ground, and either be a hero, villian, or lazy bum who runs around looting after the battle, yet requires no real effort to get to a decent level to have fun- come play Shadowbane. =->
Shadowbane tip of the day- Shadowbane is a fun game, but it can hit its moments of extreme boredom (as does any RPG). Sometimes sitting around gets old. The cure? A faster paced game. Keep one handy. Anything except for another RPG will do. I use Planetside. When I get tired of making money and PKing people just to watch em get mad and cuss me out, I go play Planetside and blow up tanks with my reaver. =-P Alternate between the two and you'll be fine.
Shadowbane N00b Tip of the day- If you start playing Shadowbane, make sure to join the Vengeance Server. Its the largest one up so far, usually with about 1,000 players or around. Smallest Ive seen is 800. The other servers are tiny. =-P (300-600 normally)
Comments
Well that's the biggest problem, lack of players. You might get 1000 at peak times. It isn't a blood soaked adventure either. Sieges are usually a lag-fest affair. PvP and this so called kill everyone you see is running around in a group and jumping people while they powerlevel. Hell most people who you jump are afk
Shadowbane is good for about 5 hours out of the week. If you like this kind of gaming then you like wasting money because this is hardly worth the monthly fee. PvE was never meant to be the the high point of SB but the WP pretty much created the worst incarnation of it EVER.
In short this game SUCKS by all standards mmorpgs are judged.
It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
I no longer play Shadowbane and shan't again.
The ost fun I ever had playing Shadowbane was setting up a defense for an ally of Ad Infinitum on the War server. I was the sole Scout put inot charge of a group of around 15 other Scouts, I set up their positions and had them checking in on a schedule with a SITREP. It was astounding, I would relay the SITREPS to the sole person in charge of the whole ordeal. Noone ever came to attack the tree, but neverthless, this is the most fun I had while playing it.
I had a level 65 Scout and would also perform recon missions. I would also trail and relay information on advancing enemy forces. This on top of being the first one on the battlefield from my guild and send them the opposition numbers at their own base. This was also some of what i enjoyed while playing.
Yes, it was laggy. This is not why I left. I left Shadowbane for the simple fact that it wasn't what i personally was looking for. I will not refer anyone to buy it nor refer anyone NOT to buy it. Buy it try it and discard it if it's not for you.
Even so, with only a thousand players the number of cities arise every day. MMO standards are set for games like Everquest and the like, where PvP servers consists of walking outside and dying at the hands a dwarf with an axe who doesn't even bother to stop when he kills you. =-P Shadowbane is all about the contacts you make. Just about everyone who says they hate the game never bothered to really get to know people. That's where the fun comes in. Me, for instance. On Vengeance server there are two very large very evil nations everyone else hates. <G> Evil Bastages and the Presidents. I'm part of the Evil Bastages. There is NEVER a boring moment with them, because there is always several PK groups out looking to kill random people. We're the bad guys. And just the same, the nations of the world send out their pk groups to try to stop us. It keeps balance and interest in the games. Anyone who says they "playing during beta and hated the game" probably has a very good reason. There was no one there. -_-' I won't try to tell you there is no lag. There is. Its rough too. I "ran" the same patch of land 5 times last night thanks to lag. =-P I've drowned before thanks to lag(and I wasnt even near water). I've had a newbie mob stop attacking me... then a minute later go off on my for over 400 hp of damage and kill me. =-P But the lags only take place during major events, like banes and other things like that. Why? Because EVERYONE is involved. Which makes it fun. It comes with the territory. So, I don't really know what to say. Its a great game IF you like that type of (99% PvP). Otherwise, I suggest a more carebare approach, such as non-pvp servers on everquest or the Pvpless realms of FFXI and Horizons. =-P
Shadowbane is still a playable game, but it's pretty much 90% P vs P. The P vs E content is fairly week (no dungeons that I know of), and the point and click movement system would not lend itself to maneuvering down corridors very easily anyway.
However, Shadowbane has cool character skills, advancement, and customization. Cool armor and weapons which offset the fact that the character models are just okay (some better than others, of course). The problem is that the game is a major gankfest, at the higher levels it's guilds ganking guilds, so you never feel at ease even in a town.
The problem with P vs. P, and I assume it's the same with most games with this element in them, is how do you keep it from going too far? (i.e., just rampant continuous, mindless ganking). I tried going back to it once, but three times I left town to do some newbie hunting and got ganked by someone 30 or 40 levels higher than myself. Trashed my newbie armor and set me back with only neglible gain to the ganker. I stayed with the subscription another day or two, then cancelled again.
Shadowbane was a noble attempt and I am impressed that they are still hanging in there. It's not as bad as some would have you think. Imagine Diablo online with better graphics, and that's sort of what you have.
its all about who you know, unlike DAOC which I played for over 6 months and made 2 freinds in, I play SB, and in the 1.5 months ive played it, ive made tens of freinds, why because we need each other in SB, unlike the other "good" mmog's thare are single player games with others around to talk to and sometimes join.
SB, is a great game, as was UO before Tram, and thats it.
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Seeking People Devoted to Thievery, Brigandeering, Piracy, Necromancy,
Crafting, Pillaging, Merchandising, Smuggling, the Dark Arts, well you get the point.
Currently Recruiting: Dark and Light / UO (Metropolis Shard) / Wish Beta / Lejendary Adventure
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Check out my side project http://lfger.com/ - a mobile lfg tool for any game, any time.
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It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
Such a well though out and eloquent argument, how ever did you come up with it, and especially the part "is a freaking retard". I mean you really should leave such eloquent rebuttles to international debates on trade.
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Seeking People Devoted to Thievery, Brigandeering, Piracy, Necromancy,
Crafting, Pillaging, Merchandising, Smuggling, the Dark Arts, well you get the point.
Currently Recruiting: Dark and Light / UO (Metropolis Shard) / Wish Beta / Lejendary Adventure
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Check out my side project http://lfger.com/ - a mobile lfg tool for any game, any time.
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