f13.net

http://chronicle.ubi.com/newspost.php?id=15088


In-game ads, micropayments, or a Guild Wars type thing?

Also,  sb.exe.

A last ditch effort to save a dying game?

Any word of what type of sub numbers shadowbane is pulling in these days? God, it could have been such a.............


SB.EXE

sb.exe is so cliche.  Well I for one will give it a whirl!!!  Nothing to lose but my soul.

Hmmm...

Free version comes with starforce, perhaps?

Starforce.dll + SB.exe would surely create a singularity of suck.

Maybe they're going adventure packs? There's not enough WP-created content in the game, nor enough ways to funnel players to it, to go with ingame advertising in my opinion. Not unless Massive Entertainment started working directly with the owners of the cities... hey, wait a sec...

Only if you get PKed because of that.

So how many "run your own MMORPG" server/client software packs could they sell for $XXX a pop?

SB evolved quite a bit during last year, stability and content. If you give SB a whirl don't expect to jump back into your old character/template and expect to win anything. People who still playing are very competent and are on Nth iteration of perfect template in a perfect group with perfect gear.

There's got to be a reason for it, and they had to know that there would likely be an increase in demand for the game if they went free. I guess we'll see what happens as time unfolds. Other than that I can't really say much. SB.EXE happens from time to time, but they did a good job of stamping that out over a year ago.  SB's biggest problem IMHO is when they introduced Windows of Opportunity. By doing that and making cities invulnerable, they removed 90% of the random PVP in the game.

We'll see how it continues to evolve as it goes free.

If they don't cut the very little support it already had...

Hmm. I have two SB boxes with expansions sitting on my shelf. SB.EXE wasn't a huge issue last time i played (chaos expansion i think?). If it's no sub, and there's still an OSX client i'll definatley check it out, particularly if i can roll on the lore server. Have to wonder what their revenue model is though...

I'm guessing it's the same model Anarchy Online uses. Only the original game being free. Basicly they just try to get you addicted with the original game so that you buy the expansions.

Yes. I had thought the same, but I guess it would have to mean that future expansion pack content is only available for pay accounts because they already had an expansion or two and this announcement states that current subscribers are now free as well.

In any case, I think I'll give it another whirl, this time on my Powerbook. What the hell. It's free!

My guess is they are building interest back up for the game/genre in preparation for SB2 (or an expansion that is so big it might as well be SB2.) With a bloated sub count, they can build a better business case to show investors.

AO uses in game ads, I believe. And with SB both the released expansions are activated by default for all users.

If this is a "bridge" to a true sequel I think it's a brilliant idea. Much better than those companies that decide to overlap same-genre games.

But isn't SB2 only in very early development?

I lastest 2 minutes in the game.  Sheesh it was utter chaos, new interface that makes sense plz mm'kay?

I think new mmorpgs have spoiled us lots :) Horrible and cluttered UIs were the norm instead of the exception. And btw, SB wasn't even too bad from what I remember. I had to pass a lot of time to set it up but then it wasn't too bad.

Instead I had major problems trying to figure out how to play and how to develop the character. The newbie experience and all. And a client that felt really clunky and prehistoric.

Maybe they will put up a website where you can buy gear and autolevel your characters for $$$!

SB's interface was sublimely good. In that you actually had to fuck with it a bit, but once you got it like you liked it, it was butter.

I am so tempted by this. Shadowbane really is the hawt ex-girlfriend that is so good in bed but you just know she's got the clap.

You can pull any buttons down you want off of anything.  Make windows click through, transparent, change fonts whatever.  The default isn't all that great.  It's the customization that makes it great though.

Two minutes isn't enough time to set your interface up to where you want it. ;)

It seems like everyone has one of those memories from the college days.

Don't you think that the first moments you spend with a game shouldn't be dedicated to rearanging a gui? Unless of course you've just bought Evergui or World of Guicraft. Then I guess it'd be great.

Sure. Let me know when a game comes out that lets me do that that isn't a console game.

EQ2's? Rearranged (and added a user made map feature). WoW's? DEAR GOD YES. User mods made that game much more enjoyable.

There are very few UI's that are good right out of the box. None of them are MMOG's.

For veterans, that is truth. For newbies, not so much. WoW's GUI gets the job done for people who haven't been mucking with their UI since /hitsmode was a crazy DOS line of code.

I was also having problems with the UI, I will spend some time to see if I can make it work for me. Then back to wacking a few spiders I guess.

First, Haemish, your quote made me ROFL!  Good to see some thing haven't changed :D

Anyhow, if you are interested in basically unrestrained PvP (and yes, I'll fully admit, Shadowbane is not for everyone), read on.  If you're not interested in the concept at all, I wouldn't take the time to download the game.  Shadowbane is built upon player conflict and unrestrained PvP; so if you're looking for a questing game or PvE or PvP Light, Shadowbane would not be for you.

But, if it is, I would highly recommend reading the following:

What is Shadowbane?
- http://chronicle.ubi.com/What+is+Shadowbane.php

Getting Started
- http://chronicle.ubi.com/Getting+Started.php

Shadowbane Player-Created Guides
- http://ubbforums.ubi.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=playerguides

Now, as far as the UI goes, I would check these links:

http://chronicle.ubi.com/SIG_Interface.php

http://chronicle.ubi.com/chatfilter.php

So Ashen, can you tell us the details behind the free thing yet?

I had a little problem with the SIT archive for Mac, but it was not the fault of Wolfpack or Shadowbane. It was some problem with my Stuffit Expander installation. I re-installed and rebooted and it unpacked like a charm. SB is installed and patching the Throne of Oblivion files now. Should get a chance to login soon.

@Cheddar
I know that customizable interfaces can be daunting especially to newbies to the game and to the genre. I did my homework on SB before I started playing so I knew what to expect there and I actually really liked the ease of customizing their interface. It was one of the best interface experiences that I ever actually had in an MMOG. I know what you mean though about those first few minutes making an impression on the new player.

I did make an attempt to figure things out, and saying I played for 2 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration.  I probably spent around 10 minutes working on UI things- I logged off after not finding the means to reverse the mouse. 

I'll give it another shot later this week, assuming I can find a palatable GUI.  Character creation was a wee bit chaotic as well, but I understood some of what I picked so no substantial complaints there.  

I wish I could but I was told not to yet (I know, I know).  As soon as I can, though, I'll make sure to answer all questions.

Are we going have an f13 guild?

That can be arranged, assuming I (or someone else) get into enough to leave the nooblet place, and assuming we get enough people to play.  Assumptions are pretty radical!

You thinking of trying it Tazel?  We can get noobified together!

Interface was very nice because you could set it up the way you wanted for the most part.

If you dip your toe back in Haemish, lemme know. I could see myself getting back into this. I bet Nebu would be tempted as well.

Just FYI, we added a new option under the Windows Menu called "Import Layout".  So if you set up one character with the layout you want, you can use that function to import it to other characters.  That, combined with "Import Hotkeys" (in the Hotkeys GUI) makes setting up interfaces MUCH easier after you have one the way you like it.

Very nice. I always dreaded having to re-set things up for each character.

From what I remember, if you didn't research extensivly before creating a character, just accept that it will be gimped.  Don't get married to it, but don't abandon it either.  Leveling-up is so damn fast that it's actually worth running through and learning all the mistakes before rolling-up a "real" character.  (And who knows.. maybe my sword-ranger isn't gimp anymore! Hahahaha.)

FYI I have the install file downloaded currently.  If anyone has any ideas as to where to host it I can upload it wherever.  Otherwise you have to go through File Planet (the other download site offered never works for me). 

Depending on how old your Ranger is, there are new Ranger-Only swords called Braialla's Blades that are Dex-based.  Dual-wielding Rangers are quite rough, especially rogue-based ones since, by the time you see them, they have probably hit you at least a few times :D

Aelfborn and Human Rogue Rangers are my favorite characters, aside from Confessors.

What's the deal with the billing/registration site that doesn't support Firefox?

I know... been trying to get that changed for some time.  I am on too many websites to not use Firefox.

I haven't played since mid-beta, when so many things changed at once that my healer-channeler ended up very gimped.  I'm in line to download now, I'm not playing any MMOs at the moment, hopefully I'll have some time to give this a shot.

Alkiera

I'll reinstall tonight and check things out.  But there is no point in investing anytime without a nation. It's not like EVE, where one can survive without being in a large alliance(I guess you could, but you'll always be on the lamb).  My experience is from the first few months after release, but I don't think this aspect of the game has changed.

Ideally there is a someone on F13 who has an established guild and wouldn't mind an influx of newbs joining their guild.

We're all going to get herpies, Hooray!

Sign me up captain oh captain.  I love me some SB.

Bravo.  While SB is not a style of game that interests me, I applaud making little features like this.  I know I would love it in other games I play.

What server does everyone plan on playing on?



edit.  My guy is on Mourning, his name is Arzhel.  Things are much better now that I have shit re-arranged.  I am about to try out the tutorial.

assuming I can make it through the waiting line on FilePlanet, I'd like to give this a shot also. I'm about to go out of town for a week, but after that things should be decently clear.

SB is going free because you are moments away from releasing Shadowbane 2, right, Ashen?  RIGHT???

PS  I think House Daenyr still exists in SB, just not very many. 

This is one of those times that a picture can speak a thousand words (or at least 6): Link (Warning: To an mage on my website) (http://www.ashentemper.com/images/CounselorOfPayne.jpg).

Now that is funny.

He pwnd me.  He used to be so nice.

For as much as Shadowbane scared me, to this day I still think of my Confessor as one of my favorite characters. Not many games give you the depth of character that SB did. I have always been a sucker for Offensive Priest classes.

(http://images.apple.com/games/articles/2005/07/secondlife/images/shot6.jpg)

Well I played for a bit this afternoon and here are my initial impressions:

Character creation- WTF?  I did some reading here and there and still only had a vague idea as to what the hell was going on.  Figured this was a learning character though, and now I have a vague idea what to go next time.  I made a red devil looking race person and chose rogue as my profession.

Initial log in-  Wow.  Was a serious mess.  Resolution sucked, windows sucked, had no idea what was what, and logged off after fiddling around for ten minutes or so.  Logged back in today and played with it a bit more.  Once I learned how to move windows around (shift + drag) it made things much better.  I fixed the resolution finally (I have my computer set to 1600x1200) and it seems nice.  Read every hint pop up thingy that appeared and found them fairly helpful.  Also added the status window; seeing ones health/stamina is pretty handy!  Also, I am still getting used to the point and click movement.  Camera angle was driving me up the wall, so I mapped the camera movement to wasd keys in a vain attempt to ensure my sanity.  So far it has worked.

First adventure-  Ran north from town and began hitting ants.  Levelled fairly fast, and figured out the different windows and how to raise stats.  Finally got sick of General and Trade channels, so nuked them (someone stated that the nooblets needed to "L2P" and it broke my want for global chats).  For some reason one of my skills was working then just stopped; Dancing Blade I believe is what its name was.  All it would say was "Skill not ready."   My other two skills seemed functional though so I was AOK.

After hitting level 5 I decided to seek adventure out in the land.  Began running north, and found nothing but more ants along with low level snakes.  Kinda annoyed that I would run for 2 minutes, then have to sit for 1 minute to regain stamina.  I finally wised up and looked at the map (hit M button), and I think I am heading to an area with excitement and adventure!   

And thats it for now; I will echo the statement made earlier that the UI is relatively flexible and much better once one alters it.  I do not like the path finding (manually needing to click to get around trees sucks), but after years of being virtually kicked in the scrotum I guess I will survive.


Thingy should be recognized by spell checker!  If VD can create vernacular so should I.  Damnit.

You're taking everyone's soul that plays?

For those interested in trying this out here is a link from Corpnews (I am evil  :evil:)

http://38.119.37.21/L?T=H&ST=L&PID=0051400051&source=&gameid=2014

I am going to take a wait and see attitude on this one, I don't see SB as something you can start playing on a lark.  It looks like Corpnews may mount a serious attempt to "play to crush", so I may join them. If not, no biggie.  EQ2 still holds my attention and GW:F is not too far away.

I'm going to join just so I can scream for them to add Trammel.

*flees*

All of you people who were bitching about Starforce earlier need to reevaluate your urge to partake in free shit.

SB is run by Ubisoft.  The same Ubisoft that is keeping me from playing games I'd dearly love to play; Silent Hunter III, Splinter Cell 3, and various upcoming Tom Clancy games, all because they've got digital gonhorrea.  SB very likely doesn't, and there are guys here involved with the game who aren't bad people, but they are at the very least employed in an offhand way by a company that isn't doing us any favors at the moment.

If you're serious about a boycott, be serious about it.  No involvement with any Ubi related game, period.

      Agree with the Starforce thing, if its there then no way spanky! (Hmm maybe on the local rent a net/comp cafe)

      Honestly Haemishs remark hit the nail on the head....and I got penicillin baby!

      SB.exe were annoying as hell, but at least it used to thin the ZERG HERD.

 
       
 

Can you re-map the movement keys yet?  I couldn't figure out how to do that and it drove me nuts!  I guess I'm so used to having ASWD that it sucked to have to use the mouse click to move.

While you have a point its not like anyone is going to give them money, at most all their going to get from this crew is some bad reviews a week from now.

I would love it if we could.  I was not able to figure out how earlier.  Remapping wasd to my camera keys gave me an enormous erection though and worked better than I hoped.

You have to move with the mouse, that was one of the things set in stone when i played.

If Starforce is not a part of the product, then it should be okay to support it even if they use it on other products.  It shows that the things they release that do not use it are more popular and gives them something to correlate their sales numbers to.

Ah, well then no way in hell I'm going to play this game again.  I might have given it a whirl again, but that clunky-assed click to move with the mouse stuff got old real quick.

I wonder why they won't let you revamp something as basic as how you move in the game?

That was pretty painless to re-active two of my old accounts. Yes, I dual-boxed. Yes, I had multiple accounts. Yes, I played to crush. Yummy.

SB doesn't have anything to do with Starforce, but hey if you want to boycott a title for wrong reasons by all means DO NOT use FREE stuff , you will probably SAVE them some bandwidth costs.

Weee.  I'm moderately interested in this.  I have my old account info, but don't have the client download anywhere.  Ass.

Wading through the slooow download at Corp, yippe for Dagger Rangers, that seemed like a good template on paper.

I always understood that the issue was bandwidth.  PnC movement involves giving the server a single set of coordinates and letting it move you there.  WASD movement requires the server to know every point along your route. 

The game is incredibly clunky. The point is that it's not just the client to be archaic, but even the design.

Some things can be justified, like the game having bugs or not having a very good client. But the design isn't something that needs special resources to make it right.

I'm really fighting with the game and the UI to have an idea about what the game wants me to do. At some point I inadvertently killed the mini map and I just couldn't find a way to have it back. I don't understand how to export the UI setting so that I don't lose everything if I happen to mess things again.

The character development is really obscure. As a warrior I cannot even figure the combat, if there is something to figure out. I don't seem to have any skill to use so what I can do is just attack and then hope the combat goes well. No other input whatsoever.

I have a minutaur with a 2h sword. I've noticed that I have percent skills, but I cannot figure out which one is directly related to my sword (I cannot understand if I need a specific 2h sword skill or if there's just a generic sword skill for every type of weapon). And these skills only advance through training? And I gimp my character if I train incorrectly? And what's the practical result of training?

Btw, isn't there an option to NOT reduce the other characters to 2D silhouettes as they are slightly zoomed out? Come on, I have a powerful PC, I would like to see at least the other characters looking acceptable instead of flickering placeholders...

I also wonder if there's a way to remove the input bar at the bottom of the chat box. I was able to trigger it on, but now I cannot remove it anymore (I have a chat box for the chat and another for the combat, so I don't need the input box in this one).

For those stuck with shitty download speeds, if you have the original CD, you can install from that and let it patch. It'll patch you up to current.

I re-activated and will probably see how much of it I can stand at lunch. What server is everyone going to be on?

From what I understand, if you reactivate with the expansions now enabled, you can re-install from the original CD and the new content will be downloaded via the updater.

Pick one and I'm there. Sand elf Irekei 4tehwin.

The damn patcher doesn't resume the downloads. I had quite a bit of problems to get the texture file all at once. It's 480Mb.

L2patchNob.

We did implement keyboard movement early on but it caused a lot of bandwidth issus due to the way the PnC movement system works.  It would take a lot of ripping out of old code and reimplementing an entirely new movement system (which we have come close to doing many times).  With that said, any future products we have will definitely include WASD+.

SB is not newbie friendly, on par with Dread Lord days of UO. You will get PKed until you quit in frustration, unless you happen to find a guild that willing to take you in.

SB interface is one of the best of many mmorpgs I played but again its not newbie friendly like the rest of the game. Once you get used to not close you minimap and chat windows you are good to go.

I suggest you RTFM before you play, or even better ‘newbie guide’ linked on chronicles, a lot of your questions will be answered.

As to your warrior – at level one you can only kick (accessible through powers window or you can bind a key to it)  but once you get few levels and get to train your main weapon skill (i.e. sword) you will get more options. These called weapon styles. Fully developed warrior character has about 8 different styles available plus number of abilities like stances, disk powers and racial abilities.

You also have to worry about promotional class and your template. Not all templates are equal, unlike WoW you CAN gimp your character to levels where it won’t be competitive and will require rerolling.

Hit the Escape (ESC) key to bring up the main menu.  You can turn on (and off) pretty much all the windows and GUIs through that.

He ALMOST said Shadowbane 2.  I just know it.

Please don't, I for one HATE WASD in 3D MMOGs, save it for FPS. Reason is that for good PvP you need FREE hand for macros, so you should be able to control your character with just one hand. If you move with WASD, like WoW and rotate camera with mouse you have very little time for using powers/spells/whatnot.


On top of that WASD movment ends up centering PvP too much on range dancing - knowing your range exactly and being able to step in and out becomes a lot more important than anything else. IMO not a good model of PvP.

Unfortunately, Sinij, you and maybe 14 other people feel that way.  Most people prefer WASD or, at least, the choice to use both.  If there's a choice, I'm all for the choice choice.

Oh, I didn't say we wouldn't have PnC; I've come to love PnC.  But we will also have WASD+.  In today's market, it is almost a necessity since that is the norm most gamers are use to (and it is much easier to walk up staircases with keyboard movement).

Character creation is one of the nicest things about SB. It has depth no other game has. As a result it is very confusing to newbies. My suggestion is to find a template guide, newer the better, and follow it to the letter. Spend at least 2 hours researching your template before you roll character – read guides, get a feel what work and what doesn’t and most importantly how that character going to play. Don’t hesitate to ask people on class forums about your template.

For example in WoW you can PnC but without using WASD you can't compete in PvP since they put 'target is behind' and many range limitations in, so PvP in WoW is about facing opponent at all times, staying in range and having better gear. Not a good mix IMO.

YES.  This is part of what drew me to the game years ago.  Why, oh why oh why, don't more games do this?

Oh, right.  That's why.

They should go the AC route and include a 'pick a template' thing during creation.  I'm pretty sure I gimped myself a bit during creation... Tho I'm liking my staff-weilding healer.  I could 2-shot newbie mobs at level 1.  And even tho I get armor skills, I'm not sure whether I should go that route or not if I plan to go Channeler.  I'm not sure I have the patience to absorb the forums to figure out what the build du jour is.

Alkiera

That's because it was designed for WASD with PnC tacked on.  If their WASD system acted like CoH, where facing isn't as important, then it wouldn't be an issue.  And I'd find the melee game less annoying.  8)

Alkiera

Staff wielding healer is almost guarantee to end up gimp if you roll it as your first character. Reason is that healers don’t get good melee stances, powers and masteries and you need to know how to work around it to end up with good template. In SB healers and mages are mostly casters, rogues are mostly melees and fighters can be just about anything. If you don’t want to specialize in casting or melee I’d suggest trying hybrid class – templar or crusader… maybe rogue ranger but it a lot more melee-centric or mage assassin that a lot more centered around casting.

Closest thing to make your template work is to roll staff druid – it can be done, I seen it work but sadly I have no experience and can only *guess* what will work with that template.

Staff druid – start human healer to get extra trains, get +10int, +10dex and human racial +dex or +5 Light Armor and lucky starting runes. Aim at ending with high dexterity, high int, no spi (-5 at start), no str (-5 at start) and bare-minimum con (80ish). You want to end up with maxed light armor, maxed staff, maxed focus and use druid focus staff.

Good luck.

Didn't the Asian SB spinoff try WASD?

I really think you're the only one. How do you play your FPS games? I've not really played much in recent years, since Counterstike killed the genre, but when I played qwtf and q2ra, I used esdf + every key around there for weapon binds. I can still remember my exact keybinds for q2 actually. In most other games like UT I used the entire top row, sometimes pushing the same button several times to get different weapons and that's normal. The hotkey management in mmorpgs is a lot like fps games now.

Also, range dancing is one of the only skillful elements left in these games. I'd hate to lose that like we did being able to dodge projectiles and magic spells like in AC1.

This is a good thing, anymore I'm not even interested in a game if it's only point/click movement, give me wasd or forget it.

Got this going at lunch. Holy shit, am I rusty. I also forgot how completely bad the snow-covered terrain is. I'm fucking snowblind. AAGGGHHHH.

I moved my old Haemish, level 52 Barbarian onto the Redemption server. Then I started a new character on Vindication, Gracchus MacLennan, who is now a level 4 human rogue. Yes, I am an unorginal tit. Vindication apparently is one of the "Fast" exp. gain servers. I couldn't move my old character there, but I could start a new one.

So Vindication it is, until my eyes bleed, the itch gets too much and I must quit.

I think I'll start a subforum. Fuck.

Righ and I both started characters on Vindication last night.  Mourning seems to always have a "low population" which.  Not good for a game like SB.  I haven't even smacked a spider yet, however.  I don't know that I ever will.  Running around in a circle for almost a minute was enough for one night. 

My 51 prelate is wasting away in Character Creationville.  She doesn't know what to do with her own gimpy self.

Downloading the client as I post this.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

I hate you all  :heart:

I personally prefer timing and combinations of attacks to range dancing. In my book PvP in MMOG should be about selecting best course of action out of number of available abilities and victory should be decided by timing, correctly evaluating situation and predicting and countering actions of your opponent. This type of PvP is closer to chess in concept.

As to FPS – that’s completely different type of PvP. WASD movement works there because it revolves around AIM and positioning. In FPS you usually have one type of attack at the time and it is about how well you use it as often as you can. This type of PvP is closer to soccer in concept.
Now imagine is chess players were required to run around the field chasing a ball while playing a match – it would only distract them from what they are trying to do. Same goes for WASD movements in MMOG.

Not to say that FPS-type PvP is worse, its just different and does not belong in MMOG genere.

Make sure you understand what LORE server is before you commit to it.

I do. Faction-specific guilds and such. I like lore.

And cake.

Yes, Mommy.

DZZZZ. Wrong. Its about spec groups, zergs and greatly restricted options on what templates you can guild and group with. If you are liking RP (filthy prevert, god hates furries and RPs :) )  go Mourning.

sin-JI, j00 got some splainin' tado.

I can't link you to chronicles, I'm at work right now, but that the place to start reading if you want more details.

I take it this (http://chronicle.ubi.com/loreplay.php) is what you mean. Essentially you can't group with anyone not in your factionhold type, and if you aren't guilded with a faction hold, you can't group at all.

Thats correct and what charter you play GREATLY restricts what characters you can use. Ultimate effect of this is that most guilds run around with Oblivion, Vampire and maybe one other charters and if you are not one of these popular charters you are SOL. It also means that people in your guild HAVE to be part of the spec group or you will plain simply won't be able to kill anyone or anything.

By the way, just in case you BOUGHT MY DAMN BOOK (all 3000 or so of you), there's a Shadowbane install on the DVD. I checked and there's about a 60mb or so patch from that version.

You wrote a book?

Actually I meant to buy it, right after I buy a car and a 600gb external HD.   :hello_kitty:

LOL a quick search and it's in the mall across from me at work now.  Well, Lum you got me.  (http://elouai.com/images/yahoo/53.gif)  And I'll try SB from the CD.

I put a http://ubbforums.ubi.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=playerguides&Number=2678533&Main=2678533#Post2678533]Skill and Stat Refinement Overview up in the SG player guides section. Some older members might not have been around when those were implemented, and fishing through 3 years of patch history for that sorta info is a PITA.

For some the option may be a reroll, but since you can refine skills, stats, discs, and runes nowdays you might not have to reroll if you don't want to.

Umm... I was meaning to buy it, too.  Right after I clean out the bookcase in the bathroom. 

No, really.

 :heart:

I did actually buy it several months ago.  But that's mostly because I have a whole page in it. (Even then, I'm so cheap I almost didn't.  My girlfriend at the time convinced me.  "Gregg," she said, because she liked to call me that... in fact, just about everyone I  meet in reality calls me that... "You're IN THE BOOK.  Buy it!"  So I did, cause she was right and also I wanted to have sex that night and figured being both cheap and stubborn wouldn't put her in the mood.) I mean... I know about MMGs already.  Most of what you explain I already get.  It's well-written, but old news to me.  Though I did start calling them "MMGs" since reading it, so thanks for that?

I did install Shadowbane using the CD.  I rolled up an Irekei (they looked least ugly), tried to figure out how to move, wandered (or stumbled, really) around a little bit until I could figure out how to find foozles, found a foozle, whacked it, decided, "Wow, this is a really bad UI and I can't even imagine getting used to this control scheme."  I then spent about a minute figuring out how to quit, then quit.

AND SO BEGINNETH AND ENDETH MY GLORIOUS JOURNEY INTO THE CHAOTIC REALM OF AERYNTH

Sorry, not for me.

Sat. am update:

Unequivocally the worst game UI ever.  And I don't say that flippantly.  I've never tried worse, although I'm sure some exist.  Can you get XP for the grinding the UI?  I'm waiting to figure out how to unlock the ability to move windows.  Trying the FM, wherever that is.

[Edit] I won't repeat what everyone else has said.  I'll give it another try, otherwise I don't mind paying $20/month for a gaming experience that won't kill my cognitive load.

[Edit2]
Ok  /calm
1) how do you remap movement keys?
2) how do you lock the overhead camera?  moving anywhere's moves the camera vertically
3) how do you lock the rotating camera?  moving left pans it right, right is left...
4) anyone got an export of their preferences of a normal file I can grab?

To drag the windows press shift+left click.
From the options (press Esc, then go to preferences), one of the icons on the left tab will open another panel for the keys.

I think you can disable the scrolling. From the patcher open the configurator. Or remap the camera controls to WASD as many of us have done.

I inverted the x axis of the mouse. Again from SB Config -> Options.

I don't know if it's possible. The game only shares profiles from other characters as far as I know.

Btw, it couldn't be possible to organize with the Corp guys? I don't think splitting is a good thing in this game, also considering that many of us won't probably last too long.

Plus I would also vote for the Mourning server, so that we can see more variance in classes and races.

Also, when they say 'you can remap the movement keys'  keep in mind it'll still be point & click movement.  That's alll Shadowbane has at this point.

Even as a vet I've forgotten more about the interface than I remember... and a lot of it came back to me with bad, bad memories.  Like tooltips that don't have any logic behind why they will or won't display.  The rotating hyper-sensitive camera Soln mentioned (which I can remap at least..)  It's just a frustrating experience over-all because it's such a 'non-standard' interface you have to re-learn everything.

>> 1) how do you remap movement keys?

You move with a mouse. Click on any part of terrain or minmap and you character will run there.

>> 2) how do you lock the overhead camera?  moving anywhere's moves the camera vertically

You use camera to look around. While there is setting to lock it somewhere in /esc/settings/camera controls doing so will leave you nearly blind to the world.


Here is how you move and look around: Right click on any part of minimap or terrain and you character will start moving toward that spot. Move cursor toward edge of the screen and camera will rotate. While your character running toward distant spot you are looking around.

3) how do you lock the rotating camera?  moving left pans it right, right is left...

ESC/Settings/Reverse horizontal, with that being done it will be more sane. Also hit Esc/setting/camera controls/AutoTrack - this will stop camera moving on its own. All important camera controls located in that menu - play with them until you are happy with your camera settings.


4) anyone got an export of their preferences of a normal file I can grab?

Trust me, you will need to know how to set up your interface and how to navigate around it. Getting someone's else interface will only help you in a short run.

To move any window - shift and drag. You can move any and all windows and any and all round ( ) buttons also can be moved and/or binded to hot key (right click on it and find bind menu)

Short list of important windows and how to get to them:

a) Chat window - you will want at least two of them, one for combat feedback, another for communications. Found in esc/windows/chat window. Click on window to get to chats and for your combat window, filters unselect all but combat and powers. In your communication window unselect all but nation, shout,info,group,guild,city,say,tell

b) minimap - if you ever close it it can be found in esc/windows/local map

c) Powers window - esc/character info/powers(small), this will bring a list of all actions your character can do, with level it will be rather numerous. Shft+drag to move individual powers to anywhere on screen.

d) esc/windows/selection - this is information about your current target. Number of symbols on it tell you a rank, red and dark orange you are outleveled and will die trying to kill mob, white and you outlevel it and won't get exp from killing. Best is shades of blue.

      The UI is daunting when you first pop it open, but Shadowbanes UI was the first totally customizable UI available in a MMG. I also reverse the camera movements, use hotkey/button to target NPC's/PC's. I use keyboard shorts for everyday stuff...A =melee, S =stats(and access to spells/skills from there), E=equiped, I= Inventory..etc.

I threw together three UI's real quick - even the font type and size is changeable-  Wish I could find those sweet custom ones I used back in the day, still searching :p
(http://jupiter.walagata.com/thumbs/erukul_UI1.jpg) (http://jupiter.walagata.com/w/erukul/UI1.jpg) (http://jupiter.walagata.com/thumbs/erukul_UI2.jpg) (http://jupiter.walagata.com/w/erukul/UI2.jpg) (http://jupiter.walagata.com/thumbs/erukul_UI3.jpg) (http://jupiter.walagata.com/w/erukul/UI3.jpg)

And a pony.

Out of interest, are all the very many short threads on this board about moving SB threads out of view? If so, oops. It's certainly an intersting posting 'style', akin to IGN.

Na, it's just UO Board is cult of Chatty Kathy's.  They have to have something to do while the macroes play the game for them.

QFT

He was being an ass.  Ignore him and he will go away.

Well due ot Shadowbane being dead and boring.  I think the post deserves to disappear.  I enjoy killing ppl and not worrying about some guild coming and ransacking my town in vengence.  I enjoy not having to run around to find some player trainer that is high enough in rank to train me.

No experience grind, no need to do every single repetitive task (macros WOOO!!), and some other things.  I'd say UO is my top candidate for free game to play.

That bit was wrong at least.

That's going to work.  I am on the verge of quitting F13.net right now.  Where is the cancel button anyway?  Or do I have to call Schild directly?

I guess I'll post something topical.  I was browsing the SB boards, killing time this weekend. It's like nothing was changed in the 3 years.  Same old pissing coutests:  So-and-so is the zerg. So-and-so exploits. So-and-so razes new trees. So-and-so sucks at pvp. Its fallen into a patten and not really any more "meaningful" than DAoC RvR.

But that goes without saying for all the 'official' gaming boards. It's all b.net behaviour, whether it's WoW, SWG, SB, or whatever. People feel slighted and come to game boards to whine, piss and moan about other folks.

And on a more interesting Shadowbane story - has Sachant's next job been made known yet?