shadowbane finally gold

[algahar]

anyone going to play ?! i got the beta but i couldnt download it... so i can't tell if the game is worth playing or not...

[Qenan]

Everything I've heard so far tends to indicate it is laggy. That and my reservations about PvP games will keep me out for now... if I start hearing how wonderful it is, then I'll consider it.

[Mark Asher]

I'm gonna play. I think I'll play on the Deception server where a lot of Gone Golders are going to play. I'm kinda excited about it. I'm in the mood for something new in the MMOG genre.

[Robert Sharp]

I think the Star Wars delay will really help this one. If SWG had released in April as once predicted, Shadowbane wouldn't have much of a chance to get started, I think. However, coming right now is perfect. I was expecting to start a new MMORPG this summer, and now Shadowbane will probably be that game. I will probably wait for the reviews, but if they are favorable (not great, but good at least) I will likely get it. Thanks for the tip on where GGs will be playing.

[mtkafka]

I saw my friend play it briefly (beta tester), it does seem to have that AC2 simplified character development... but the graphics... mmm they are pretty bad (well at least compared to recent mmrpg's). The lag wasn't to obad that I saw him play on... hes on cable modem. Though I'm wondering if its playable on 56k...

I'm waiting for some 56k player impressions.

etc

[Matthew Gallant]

Might want to hold off. I've seen reports of other people's credit card information showing up during the registration confirmation screen, and slow as heck registration in general.

The game itself can't be too much better.

[DaveC]

Got a link to an announcement?

[Matthew Gallant]

http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=47406566&replies=15

Not an announcement, just a bunch of people saying it.

Also here's a report of someone signing up for multiple months, then being told their subscription has expired when they try to play.

http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=47416794&replies=6

[the_redbeard]

I played in the beta and saw lag get a lot better. In the final battle of beta, I had no server side lag - or none that I noticed. I _did_ have to turn down my graphics a bit! But it was over 200 players in the same location.

I patched my beta client to gold, patched my new install also.... that was fine. The patch server is working great. But ubi's registration server... SUCKS!

Maybe I'll get in later, after several hours of life.

[DaveC]

http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=47406566&replies=15

Not an announcement, just a bunch of people saying it.

Also here's a report of someone signing up for multiple months, then being told their subscription has expired when they try to play.

http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=47416794&replies=6

I trust no gold announcement until it's in a press release or confirmed.

[Desslock]

I trust no gold announcement until it's in a press release or confirmed.

Ubisoft has put out a press release. It shipped Tuesday.

Edit: here's a link to the release http://www.ubi.com/US/Articles/pressreleasemarch25.htm

[DaveC]

I trust no gold announcement until it's in a press release or confirmed.

Ubisoft has put out a press release. It shipped Tuesday.

Edit: here's a link to the release http://www.ubi.com/US/Articles/pressreleasemarch25.htm

Merci.

[Anonymous]

I saw my friend play it briefly (beta tester), it does seem to have that AC2 simplified character development...

I'd disagree with that. The game only allows you to choose one of four classes initially, but once you are level ten, you may choose one of eighteen 'promotion classes', which vary vastly in power. Most of those can be advanced in different ways (a bow-wielding ranger or a dagger dex-monkey ranger) and still be viable. Say what you will about SB's advancement scheme, it is very intricate and fun to build characters in.

[Matthew Gallant]

Another horror story (http://ubbforums.ubi.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=sb_discuss&Number=460651&page=4&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1). Guy gets charged $119...nine times.

[Anonymous]

if the story is legitimate, I agree, it would be horrible, but your account is not charged until your 31 free days are up. i can vouch for this, as a new subscriber. The first rule of any ORPG forum is to take everything you read with a grain of salt.

Anyway, I hadn't planned on getting SB, but my fiance was both interested and pursuasive so she picked up 2 copies. After a marathon weekend, i must say that I'm hooked. The handful of hours I put into the beta just did not do the game justice. The graphics may not be as flashy as newer games but they aren't as bad as they seem. The characters look a lot better once you start putting good armor on them, and the spell effects are some of the best in the genre. The gameplay so far has it's share of repetetive "kill the same mobs over and over" of any online RPG, but it moves at a better pace, advancement-wise, so it's not so bad. I was really skeptical going into it but I have been pleasantly surprised.

It isn't utter PVP chaos like some thought it would be either. It's very much a reputation-based world. I saw several people steal loot from other's graves on the newbie island, but the reputation of those people kept them from finding groups on the mainland and they were often killed on sight. Level 30 in 2.5 days, and I have not had anyone try to gank me. I have, however, defended group members who had existing feuds and killed people who tried to steal from others. The feeling is much of a player-policed environment. I have my doubts as to how long that will last if a powerful PK guild gets its talons on the server, but so far it has been really fun.

The only problem is that I see more marathon weekends in the future, and that was a phase I thought I had grown out of...

[Jason McMaster]

I'm thinking of trying this, so what server are people playing on

[Matt Perkins]

Having not played the game, I don't know for sure, but the word on P2P and PC is that it's broken. Very broken. Not just in graphics, login, etc, but also in game mechanics. Going to wait until I see some more information about it myself, as I've been suckered in by MMORPGs that promise the world one to many times.

[Anonymous]

There are some bugs, yes, but no worse than any other ORPG launch. Certainly nowhere near as scary as AO's or WW2O's launches. I'm loving the game to the point where I sit here at work and can't wait to get home to play.

If you check it out and want some heads up and maybe a little early help, I play on the War server and my name there is Valen.

I have to say that my first impression was fairly negative. I played the beta for like an hour and wondered why anyone would bother playing, but it's one of those games that can grow on you really quickly if you give it a chance. It is very important that you at least make level 10 because the game becomes MUCH more interesting at that point.

[Jason McMaster]

The biggest gripe I have, not playing the game yet, is that the graphics are really weak compared to the early screen shots that I saw.

[Robert Sharp]

I like the character class thing. The subclasses, and seeming multiclass stuff looks great. Do you choose a different branch after level 10? I noticed in CGWs EQ2 preview that it will have an advancement system like this...where you start with broad categories and then specialize...twice! I like that. I want my character to be as unique as possible, so that I feel like I am really adding something to a group...something no one else is already adding.

[Mark Asher]

Yeah, at 10 you choose a new branch. At level 20 you can further specialize, but I don't think it's required. You might even be able to spec a couple of branches once you hit 20. You also get to assign 5 attribute points each level, so you can beef up on Strength, go for hit points with Constitution, etc. The game doesn't auto-assign attribute points like the other MMOGs.

It makes for interesting character development. For instance, both the rogue and mage classes can spec at level 10 in the assassin profession. Both the fighter and mage classes can pick the warlock profession at 10.

It's fun so far. The memory leak is bugging me and I don't get the greatest framerates on my aging system, but the game has hooked me too. I'm playing on Deception with the name Devil-Boy. I plan on joining the Wanderers guild, the Gone Gold MMOG players guild. I'm one level away from moving out of the safe zone and into the PvP lands.

[Anonymous]

What I want to know is what is the "bane of shadows" referred to in the title? A Spider-Man nite-lite?

[Anonymous]

What I want to know is what is the "bane of shadows" referred to in the title? A Spider-Man nite-lite?

[Anonymous]

First off, the memory leak bites. The game becomes unplayable after a four hour session requiring a reboot. This is pretty inexcusable but hopefully they will get it ironed out soon.

Regarding character development, here's the rundown:

Levels 1-10 you are a base class of fighter, rogue, healer or mage. Every time you level you get 4 trains which you can put into skills, and 5 attribute points which you can put into your stats. At level 10 you can choose a profession, with restrictions based on your class and race. A multitude of abilities opens up at that point.

Levels 11-19 you start getting either 10 or 11 trains per level instead of 4, depending on your class, and you continue to get that many trains per character for the life of your character. You still get 5 attribute points.

Levels 20-29 you get only 4 attribute points

Levels 30-39 you get 3 attribute points

Levels 40-49 you get 2 attribute points

Levels 50-69 you get 1 attribute point. To date including beta, no player has exceeded level 60.

The result of the declining reward for levelling creates a diminishing returns system where a character who is level 60 is not appreciably stronger than one who is level 50. HP and Mana gains per level diminish at the top levels too. The intent is not to have a system where level means everything, and someone 3 levels higher than you will de-facto kick your ass. It works to get everyone to PVP capability quickly, but if you want the extra perks, you can spend the time getting them.


Also of note, after level 20 you can get a discipline. This is not an easy thing to do, because it involves locating a hard to find mob that drops a discipline runestone, and applying it, and then locating a trainer for that discipline. This provides an additional direction your character can develop in, however. For example, my dwarf warrior recently gained the commander discipline, which grants a group runspeed buff, a group damage and haste buff, group dispel stun, group XP bonus, and the ability to control siege weapons.

You can add your first discipline at 20, a second at 30, and a third at 40. However, many characters only opt for one or two, because each discipline has extra things you need to train in, and if you spread yourself too thin, you won't be effective enough. Still, if you want to have a wide variety of abilities and be a jack of all trades, that option is there.

When a player clicks on you, they see your name and a number of icons. The type of icon tells the class of a player. The number of icons tells their rank, or approximate level. If you click on someone that has three sword and shield icons, you will know that they are a rank 3 (level 30-39) warrior. You don't know what disciplines they have, however, and you don't know what base class they took. Are they a rogue assassin that will rely on poisoned blades, or a mage assassin that will poison you with spells? You also cannot tell if someone has any disciplines. The end result is that you can look at someone and get a very general idea of what they can do, but you never get to see the whole picture. This can lead to interesting surprises. :)

[Anonymous]

Oh, and in the game lore, Shadowbane was the sword that destroyed the original tree of life, which split the world into chaos.

[Rob de los Reyes]

Levels 50-69 you get 1 attribute point. To date including beta, no player has exceeded level 60.

I believe I saw a level 63 two days ago on Deception. Can't remember what profession he was (I still haven't memorized those icons). I hear that many people stop bothering to level in the late 40s and early 50s for lack of need to do so. Couldn't figure out why that guy (and you just know it was a guy) bothered to run up to 63.

[Michael Fitch]

Levels 50-69 you get 1 attribute point. To date including beta, no player has exceeded level 60.

I believe I saw a level 63 two days ago on Deception. Can't remember what profession he was (I still haven't memorized those icons). I hear that many people stop bothering to level in the late 40s and early 50s for lack of need to do so. Couldn't figure out why that guy (and you just know it was a guy) bothered to run up to 63.

Greetings:
Unless they've added a whole slew of new high-end content, that was probably a GM you spotted. There comes a point where all monsters give you 1 xp; in theory, you could continue to kill them to get the multiple millions of xp you need to go up a level, but I don't think you could do it in a week.

Michael.

[LionelThompson]

I'm out on Deception too having JUST moved to Vorringard (and hitting rank 2). I'm a thief (aka, everyone will kill me repeatedly) named Tommy Tutone who is also planning/hoping to get into the Wanderers.

If my thief generates too much hate (and I would NEVER steal from a guildmate or anyone I am grouped with), I rolled up a level 1 mage named, cleverly enough Thommy Tutone.

And except for the leak, I am thoroughly enjoying the game myself so far. I look forward to toying with the restricted races, but I have a hunch that by the time I can, I will be too dedicated to my current character(s).

[Anonymous]

We got the game from GameStop, and they had a bunch of extra preorder boxes with the promo codes that enable the restricted races, so they gave us each free preorder boxes.

Still though, it's hard to really effectively make a character with those races, they have too many armor restrictions. My first character was a minotaur warrior but a rerolled to a dwarf when i realized they could not wear helms or boots. I mean, it makes sense, but a main tank that cant wear armor all over just wasnt what I was looking for.

[Anonymous]

Just got home and saw that they have patched the client to fix the memory leak! Logging in to check it out

[Robert Sharp]

Wouldn't Light be a Shadowbane? It seems to remove mine. Though I guess you could argue darkness is a shadowbane as well. Or you could argue for light or darkness being Shadowboon, which is the working title of the sequel.

[Jason McMaster]

I guess I'll buy this tomorrow night and get "trained" by a group of burly minotaurs. If you see this happening, please don't tell my mom.

[Jaysun]

I'm gonna buy this tomorrow, head out to Treachery and play with the Shadowclan Virakt Guild there. Anyone else on that server?

[wumpus]

I guess I'll buy this tomorrow night and get "trained" by a group of burly minotaurs.
Shh, you'll attract Sinner 3001!

[Mark Asher]

Yep, the memory leak seems to be fixed.

Anyone on Deception message Devil-Boy. I just joined the Wanderers Monday night. They've created a new city, Wanderhome. There's already some guild politics going with Reinhart, the biggest guild city on our continent, hinting that they would like to ally with us and attack Dark Aegis, the other new city on our continent.

By tomorrow our cathederal should be built and we will have a bursar available for banking. I ran around and found lots of nice mob camps for XPing about 10 minutes from Wanderhome.

Shadowbane is the MMOG game that finally gets leveling right. I made six levels today, going from 21 to 27 in about 3-4 hours. I know it will get harder, but I'll be close to level 50 in a couple of weeks or so.

(Surprisingly, PKing hasn't been a big problem. Players seem to prefer order to chaos. This may change as the game matures and players aren't as driven to level, but so far it hasn't been bad at all.)

[LionelThompson]

I did witness a first-hand example of in-game policing at least tonight.

It seems that others in my group were tired of one Tyler Durden (I am Jack's dumbass wannabe) ninja-looting constantly, not that I would know since I am either too slow, old, or lack the clue to set up a hotkey for it. To fix this, they killed him and looted him. When he returned, he was killed a second time.

Yes, it was a very immature group, but it did get me from 20-23 pretty quickly. I look forward to testing my stealing/sneak skills on some random camp somewhere, but I don't want it to take away from my levelling.

[Rob de los Reyes]

Hey Mark, maybe broadcasting putative battle plans in public forums isn't a grand idea. Did you learn nothing from Gerlado Rivera's expulsion from Iraq? :wink:

[Mark Asher]

Hey Mark, maybe broadcasting putative battle plans in public forums isn't a grand idea. Did you learn nothing from Gerlado Rivera's expulsion from Iraq? :wink:

Heh -- yeah, I thought about that later. However, they actually have no plans or alliances at this point, and I didn't think any of the SB players from the other guilds would read these boards anyway.

But yeah, I shouldn't pull a Geraldo Rivera and disclose info.

Wanderhome's cathederal is now built. I think they're building a smithy next and hiring an NPC blacksmith.

Another nice SB feature is the ability some classes have to summon other players. Want to join a group? Ask them to summon you and save you the travel time.

[Jason McMaster]

I feel like a dumbass, the guy at gamestop talked me out of getting this game today.

[Mark Asher]

If you don't generally like MMOGs, you probably won't like this. Also, you really need to group to take advantage of what SB offers, and you want to join a guild eventually too. If that kind of thing doesn't appeal to you, stay away.

The Wanderers are nice guys so far. They're not into random PKing or anything like that. We're just trying to make money for Wanderhome for the most part.

[Jason McMaster]

I like all of these things. The guy at gamestop told me the game was terrible, so I bought Def Jam Vendetta.

[Anonymous]

Oh man, owned by a GameStop employee. Ouch.

Seriously though, you're missing out.

[Jason McMaster]

yeah, I'll get it in a week or two. I just gotta avoid gamestop.

See, it's like this:

Me(holding shadowbane box): you have any special pre-order versions with the codes and shit?
Him: NO, THAT GAME SUCKS DUDE
Me: I, uh, have heard good things about it...
HIM:NOPE
ME: OK PUSSING OUT, GIVE ME THE GAME WITH THE RAPPERS!

[Anonymous]

When you go into places like gaming stores and best buy, it helps to act like an arrogant asshole that knows everything. Generally it keeps the staff from talking to you. If someone tries to contradict you, respond in the most absolutely prickish way you can.

Example:
Best Buy Monkey: Hi can I help you?
Me: Yeah do you carry VGA boxes for the PS1 & 2?
BBMonkey: There is no such thing, Sony doesn't let anyone make them
Me to my fiance: This guys a fuckin' idiot
*pushes past him and keeps looking*

And then no one hassles me anymore! It works out wonderfully!

[Robert Sharp]

The guy at gamestop told me ...

never start a sentence like that. It's better to be less subtle and say, "Some idiot I don't really know, but whom I listen to because he has such a successful career ahead of him..."

[Jason McMaster]

sad thing is that he didn't actually try to sell me anything, I think he was just lonely. He talked about EQ2 a lot.

[Anonymous]

Oh man, so you didn't just get owned by a GameStop employee, you got owned by an EQ fanboy that can't stand the thought of a game with no carebear servers!

[insert abject horror here]

[Mark Asher]

Oh man, so you didn't just get owned by a GameStop employee, you got owned by an EQ fanboy that can't stand the thought of a game with no carebear servers!

[insert abject horror here]

Ha ha -- yeah, I think Jason got fanboi'd.

Shadowbane is no threat to EQ, DAoC, or EQ2. I think it's going to do ok, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, but I doubt it will ever hit 200,000 subscribers. SB is probably a major threat to AC2 though, and possibly UO.

The fast leveling and friendly grouping rules in SB are spoiling me for other games. I don't want to take six months or even three months to level a character to 50 in an MMOG. If EQ2, WoW, and other upcoming games are going to string out character development that long, I'll find it hard to take.