Shadowbane - Almost free!

[Signe]

You can get Throne of Oblivion, with Shadowbane and Rise of Chaos included, for $1.99 from EB.

Just sayin'....

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/245818.asp

[schild]

Remind me when they're paying me to play it.

[Triforcer]

What does this have to do with Islam?

[Signe]

Shuddup.  You'll incur the wrath of Bob.

[stray]

The sad thing is:

It's still the best MMO that's ever been made. 

[schild]

It's still the best MMO that's ever been made. 

Puzzle Pirates, bitch.

Yar.

[Rasix]

The sad thing is:

It's still the best MMO that's ever been made. 

Hah. Good one.

sb.exe

Really, I can only think of two MMOs, that I've played, that I'd consider worse.   Best in this field is highly subjective, but I think Shadowbane just fails on a variety of levels.

[stray]

The sad thing is:

It's still the best MMO that's ever been made. 

Hah. Good one.

sb.exe

And I still thought it was fun! I mean, I'm well aware that it ran like complete shit, but I still put up with it despite those things (at least for a time). I can't recall doing that for any other MMO (and I've played many).

I'm a little ashamed for even admitting any of this, but I've got to be honest here.

[MrHat]

Give it to Haemish, he'll take anything with enough lube.

[Morfiend]

I played Shadowbane with Heamish, and you could almost hear his blood preasure rising over guild chat.

Speaking of SB.exe, anyone know what happened to cevik? He just up and disapeared didnt he?

[MrHat]

I played Shadowbane with Heamish, and you could almost hear his blood preasure rising over guild chat.

Speaking of SB.exe, anyone know what happened to cevik? He just up and disapeared didnt he?

Um, death by SB.exe, seven days style?

Rumor has it that there's this game, you play it and seven days later Jesus comes down from heaven and personally signs your fate to hell.

Edit: This post brought to you by Fat Tire and 11 hours of moving shit around.

[Triforcer]

I played Shadowbane with Heamish, and you could almost hear his blood preasure rising over guild chat.

Speaking of SB.exe, anyone know what happened to cevik? He just up and disapeared didnt he?

I've thought about starting a "Where are the forgotten posters of the Lummie Diaspora" thread, but then I remembered that nobody wants to refight every controversy that's ever taken place over the last six years.

[stray]

I thought Cevik was cool...But maybe a little on the depressing side of things. Did anyone here know him personally? Those weird rants of his about getting drunk, swallowing some pills, and "ending it all" were sort of funny at the time.....But now I wonder.

[Signe]

Cevik is too wonderful.  Anyway, he seemed to lose a lot of interest after his son was born.  His wife, also a gamer, lost interest before him.  I imagine they're doing the happy family thing. 

[HaemishM]

RAGE PUS-FILLED COCKBLISTERED THUNDERCUNTS

Look, Shadowbane had one of the best, if a bit arcane, interfaces. It had one of the best skill systems, some really cool, kick-ass characters and some nice concepts for PVP and strategic gameplay.

That said, FUCK A BUNCH OF BEST MMOG EVER. It had the most potential of any MMOG out there, and as a result, the most wasted potential. It ought to be a fucking crime just how badly that design team molested the concept. I mean, BTK type of molestation, the kind that is on par with having sex with little boys while dressing them up as little girls. Oh, and they were dressed like a clown while they did it, just for that Gacy vibe.

If MMOG's were crimes, Shadowbane would have to tell all its neighbors about its sorted past when it moved into the neighborhood.

[Shockeye]

Shadowbane was still the most fun I've had in MMOs.

Ebonlore couldn't kill the fun. Or Malagant. 

[Murgos]

If MMOG's were crimes, Shadowbane would have to tell all its neighbors about its sorted past when it moved into the neighborhood.

Cross thread humor.  I liked thundercunts, nice imagery.  I give it a 7.

[Pococurante]

If MMOG's were crimes, Shadowbane would have to tell all its neighbors about its sorted past when it moved into the neighborhood.

"sorted"?

[ahoythematey]

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=3806.35

[MrHat]

I'll second the 'most fun in an MMO' theme.

Oh, and if it makes you hate me, I was the one that made Ebonlore grow so big.  Then I left when SB came out, because it was more fun to prey on idiots as a thief.

[AOFanboi]

But "best potential MMO" is worthless if the execution doesn't match up, whether it's SB's instability and "go to sleep, wake up with your city in ruins because of a 24/7 catass guild", or SWG with its very un-Star Wars-ish SimBeru/SimCantina gameplay.

So I could say Anarchy Online is the bestest thing in the whole world IF it had a crafting system that didn't involve QL hunting, or didn't use a wide array of skills that take away IP you want to spend on combat skills, and IF mob/pet pathing was better and IF mobs didn't sink untargetable into the scenery because of the death animations and IF Shadowlands never happened and IF 90% of equipment wasn't worhless and IF NPC-given quests were easier to obtain and there were more of them thought the terminals weigh up for that a bit and...

But all of those IFs makes AO not be the bestest thing.

[stray]

Potential has been the only thing that's kept me in certain MMO's, and out of others. I mean, they're going to be shitty either way, so about the only thing I CAN look forward to is the general idea they're shooting for.

So many other games have had much more polish than SB, but I still hate them more because of their overall design. SWG for not being "Star Wars"; WoW for having a cookie cutter class system, for being too uber item centric for PvP, and for being yet another bland Diku rehash (same could be said for Daoc, except for the class system); Guild Wars for being too heavily instanced, etc., etc.. I hate these games on a much more fundamental level, while with Shadowbane, if I crashed, sure, I'd get pissed -- But I'd be lying if said I wasn't rushing to log back in soon after.

EDIT: I'm not trying to make light of SB's stability issues though. All I'm trying is say is, if all of these games were equally stabile, and all we'd have to worry about is the underlying game itself, I'd pick Shadowbane over any other. What would you choose?

[Signe]

I couldn't ever play SB again.  Even if ran like a dream, I never want to be forced to put that much time into a game again.  It's too stressy.

[Rasix]

EDIT: I'm not trying to make light of SB's stability issues though. All I'm trying is say is, if all of these games were equally stabile, and all we'd have to worry about is the underlying game itself, I'd pick Shadowbane over any other. What would you choose?

None. Which is why I'm playing none at the moment (I might resub to WoW once I get a new computer).  I don't think Shadowbane works. I don't the concept or the execution is there to make it an enjoyable experience for me.

Shadowbane did have the only what I'd consider major momentous battle ("Battle of the Desert Rose", DHL + allies v. others) I've participated in, during which I sb.exe'd 3 times.   Shadowbane for me probably did have the best race/class options ever, I'll give it that.  Bland and quite frankly insultingly retarded PVE, poor class balance, 3 am raids, massive time requirement (unless you like missing out on all of the decent action), the game ran like a dog for how ugly it was, and the reliance on uber guild/massive alliances are all reasons beyond stability why I'd never touch SB again.  Also the ability to truely win and lose the game DIDN'T work at least in the early stages of the game.  Being on a server that was basically pacified early on sucked worse than words can describe.

Personally, I had a lot more fun in early UO being a bastard, later on with guild v. guild battles (blood in the street of Trinsic), and then doing some "interesting" stuff on a Japanese server.   I really had better and more engaging small scale PVP in UO and that's really what I like more rather the epic scale battles which no game has been able to pull off without slide show quality lag and disconnects.   UO was my most fun ever, but I was a lot different back then, so I think even revisiting that wouldn't bring much joy.  WoW battlegrounds could have been a great deal of fun for me if they hadn't come out when I was just completely burnt out on the game.

[Threash]

Shadowbane did have the only what I'd consider major momentous battle ("Battle of the Desert Rose", DHL + allies v. others) I've participated in, during which I sb.exe'd 3 times. 

Ugh everytime i think im over my SB craving someone has to go and mention something that makes me want to jump straight back in.  I was at that battle, i was actually in the guild who owned desert rose, best time i've had in mmorpg ever. SB.exed 5 times, soon after that day my main char was lost for 3+ months, but god damnit that was what a fucking epic battle should be like.  Minus the crippling lag and constant crashes of course.

[stray]

Anyone here from Chaos?

[Hoax]

SB Scorn here, lasted from launch till less then 6mo in, forget the exact timing.  Definately the closest thing I've seen to a good concept + actual fun.  If only the game had ever actually worked...

But in the end even with 0 sb.exe's there was a flaw, hitting walls with siege hammers till 3am in the morning is not fun at all.

[Nija]

Some SB comedy - http://www.ashentemper.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=5046&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

I don't see what provolone has to do with communism.

[HaemishM]

If MMOG's were crimes, Shadowbane would have to tell all its neighbors about its sorted past when it moved into the neighborhood.

"sorted"?

Goddamnit. It took me many minutes of looking that over to see what exactly was wrong with that statement. Comedy ruined by grammar once again.

[Pococurante]

I thought the finger check was funnier.  But I can't pass up the opportunity for fun... ;)

[WayAbvPar]

I couldn't ever play SB again.  Even if ran like a dream, I never want to be forced to put that much time into a game again.  It's too stressy.

Exactly. I had A LOT of fun in Shadowbane, but 90% of that was the folks in HD. Once Tearin had his nutty and the time constraints started to wear on everyone, it got much less fun. As has been pointed out by others, there were some serious design flaws as well, not to mention the techical (sb.exe) issues.

[Merusk]

Exactly. I had A LOT of fun in Shadowbane, but 90% of that was the folks in HD. Once Tearin had his nutty and the time constraints started to wear on everyone, it got much less fun. As has been pointed out by others, there were some serious design flaws as well, not to mention the techical (sb.exe) issues.

Yeah, I still don't get what that nutty was all about, but meh, made life interesting for a week or so.

The whole time invested thing was pointed out by some folks before the game even went live.  I remember discussions back at Lum/SND where someone asked "What would it take to win in Shadowbane?" and I made the snarky-yet-true comment of, "Staying online 5-mins longer than your opponent."  J replied with, "Exactly" and nobody else seemed to catch on that I wasn't just being a shit.

This will be true iin ANY game with such an open-ended state of war and ability to wtfpwn your opponent back to the starting point.  All you have to do is outlast them.  Either by being more of a catass or by having a large enough player base you can mount a well-rounded and disciplined war party 24/7.

[stray]

I thought I had "won Shadowbane"...That is, until Morloch stepped in, allied with the rest of the server, and stomped our city into a smoldering ruin.

[HaemishM]

Exactly. I had A LOT of fun in Shadowbane, but 90% of that was the folks in HD. Once Tearin had his nutty and the time constraints started to wear on everyone, it got much less fun. As has been pointed out by others, there were some serious design flaws as well, not to mention the techical (sb.exe) issues.

Yeah, I still don't get what that nutty was all about, but meh, made life interesting for a week or so.

That was about devoting way too much of your time and emotional investment to a game and other things while neglecting your wife yet simultaneously playing the game with her. It was also about the sheer absurdity of the guild admin tools, which forced so much of a time commitment onto the guild leader and officers that it was quite easy to neglect everything else important in favor of keeping your city afloat. Of course, there was also other stuff no one but the two of them knew about as well.

This will be true iin ANY game with such an open-ended state of war and ability to wtfpwn your opponent back to the starting point.  All you have to do is outlast them.  Either by being more of a catass or by having a large enough player base you can mount a well-rounded and disciplined war party 24/7.

The key to having a Shadowbane style of system of open-war is that the political game has to be more than just a meta game. There needs to be gameplay aspects, like the ability to declare peace. Declaring peace would prevent any character from the guilds/nations/alliances who are at war from attacking the opposition peace has been declared with; or if one character wanted to resume hostilities, any attack would cancel the peace, but would also report the person breaking the peace treaty to both guild's leadership. It has to have some coded features like these, or  bounty from sacked cities, or some kind of voting bodies or treaty creation, etc.

Oh, and it also has to have player accountabilty, in the form of either SCS, all characters on an account sharing a last name, or something.

Really, there was the start of a good game design in SB, but it needed a lot of work at the design stage, never mind the fuckups.

Also, I once had 15 sb.exe's in one fucking night (about 6 hours gaming session), all while trying to lead a 40-50 man force to attack an opposing city. If anyone ever wanted to know what makes me explode with rage about that bug, that's the one.

[Evangolis]

I can list problems with SB until the Internet is full.

Despite that, it still is the closest view I've had of the Holy Grail of gaming.  Of course, the original Holy Grail quest didn't turn out so well, either.