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Just got into beta, and... WOW

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 30
Date: December 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Like the titel say, I got into beta for Shadowbane. The play versus player system, which is actually a guild versus guild and kingdom versus kingdom system, is totally well thought through. It goes beyond the expectations of EverQuest or Asheron's Call 2. EverQuest and AC2 have an incredibly limited guild versus guilds sytem, where as Shadowbane's is very open and you can actually siege other guilds castles.

Some people say that the graphics are terrible. You just haven't taken the time to look at new screenshots with the updated graphics. With my system, 2.26GHZ, 512MB of Rambus... it actually looks better than Dark Age of Camelot and EverQuest: Planes of Power.

There is one downside. It has a problem with framerates. It is currently at about 17 per second on my computer. !0 per second on some minimum requirements users. However, that is why we are testing it. It is being revised and fixed, and soon it should get us 20+ frames per second.

I hope this helps.

UO's Successor

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 33
Date: March 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The leveling treadmill is relatively painless. You can hit close to, or better than, rank 3 in a days time if you are so inclined.

The graphics are satisfactory to me. I consider graphics secondary to gameplay. If all you want is eye candy, look elsewhere.

Frame rate and lag have recently been improved in beta. The only time lag is a problem is in the midst of a large siege, but even then, it is not a game killer.

The PvP is enjoyable. Each class has its strengths and weaknesses in PvP. One on one battles, on average, are well paced and require some strategy. Similar to UO's combat, but with more options. Large-scale battles and sieges are the highlight of Shadowbane.

Though I prefer the skill-based system, Shadowbane's class-based system is decent. Your characters are given a good amount of disciplines and traits to choose from, allowing diversity.

The world is huge. It took me hours to cross the continent with my scout (fastest character in the game along with the Centaurs) in the beta world. The size of the world will be increased when the game is released due to the larger population present and there will be different worlds (on different servers) of similar size, which are all connected.

Monster AI, which is not that important to me since I prefer human opponents, is adequate. None of the creatures are brain surgeons, but they are intelligent enough.

I cannot comment on the diversity of weapons and equipment since they may add items upon release. In beta, the weapon and armor selection is good. Clothes, on the other hand, are lacking. Hopefully they will be adding a vast array of threads, because, Style is Everything.

In my beta experience, there is always a good war going on. Cities were almost constantly being raided, enemies were being harassed as they hunted or traveled, allies would switch sides, Feature Characters (Gamemasters who create characters to start or further RP story lines) make appearances, and other such events happened often.

To me, UO (before being ruined) was the greatest MMORPG ever made. While Shadowbane is different in many ways, it still offers me the closest game to old UO that I will find. With the game going gold, and thousands of new players gaining entrance, Shadowbane has a chance to surpass UO in my eyes.

Warning- if you cannot handle being killed for no reason, do not play. EQers not wanted.

Absolutely fantastic endgame

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 27
Date: April 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I see a number of reviewers have attacked the game for lag and problems. I submit that they are using old operating systems and old PC's. Shadowbane has some fairly hefty requirements, but runs smoothly on my machine and my wife's machine.

I beta tested Shadowbane for over a year before it was released, so I have the advantage of knowing what the end-game is like, when everyone has reached the level cap, and the politics come into play.

There is nothing in online computer gaming that compares to the rush of facing another guild in siege warfare. Seeing an army of strangers coming to tear down the town you spent weeks building gives a strong adrenaline rush. There's a real sense of attachment to your guild, and to your city. Players, not the developers, dictate how the game develops. Cities are destroyed and empires fall because of the actions of players, not in monthly events that happen off-screen. Everyone has the chance to change the world. No other game offers this.

That said, you need to join a guild, and have a fair bit of time available to you to enjoy this game to its fullest. The world is not gentle to the solo adventurer, and you can't experience the best parts of the game until you are high level. Fortunately it doesn't take a long time to become high level. I reached lvl 55 (the cap is 60) in a week (and yes, I work full-time).

For people who find the existing online games lacking, Shadowbane is ideal. For novices, Shadowbane can be intimidating.

finally an upgrade to EQ

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 26
Date: March 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I gave this game 5 stars for one reason: I love it. Its not totally finished. There are still plenty of issues. But no worse than mmorpg fans are used to.

So why do I love it so much? End game action. Something to do once done leveling besides megaraid uber mobs. politics. alliances. tactical pvp on many levels.

Its a tough world. There are vile, ruthless people around who will cut your throat for your cash. However my beta experience was filled with honest, loyal adventurers. I met 5 good people who went out of their way to show they were dependable for every 1 griefer/whiner/l33t d00d. You see, Shadowbane is all about grouping- not only for protection, but also for faster leveling ( you get full xp per mob no matter how many in group!!) Soloers and small groups make tempting targets. you can of course solo, and I enjoy it occasionally, but it is risky.

character development makes for unique avatars. There are thousands of possible race/class/profession/discipline combinations. Many people search for power templates, and thats fine, but dont be afraid to experiment, you may discover something new. At the same time, it takes awhile to get used to developing characters "correctly". For example I put skill points into medium armor for a tank character only to find out later I got heavy armor at a later level. Wasted skill points suck hehe. Putting skill points in two different weapon types, or into swords if you dont get sword mastery but do get axe mastery at higher levels also "gimps" you in some ways...maybe the strategy guide will explain this..I had to learn thru trial and error.

Gear and Item drops are very similar to diablo/dungeonsiege. Intricate mace of craftmanship, counts bow of the ages, etc...

Shadowbane gives me a rush like no game since EQ way back in the day. I feel my heart pounding while I sit in stealth mode planning my attack on a small exp group. Im outnumbered so I wait for them to finish a big fight. The healer sits down to med and I tag him with an arrow...bam. bam bam..ut oh that pesky dwarf isnt dying very fast...here comes his scout and crusader buddy after me...run away, run away....hehe

btw, I suggest that you pvp at least some at all levels. Its easy to put on 3-4 levels in an xp group, train/bank, then go pvp for awhile. Makes for a very fun night. Dont think you have to be level 50+ to pvp.

Worth your money, worth leaving other MMPORGS.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 21
Date: April 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First, I've read many reviews here and elswhere... I tend to ignore the ones where a person trashes a game when they cannot spell or write a sentence. This usually means they need to stick to their playstation and a mindless shoot em up. Shadowbane is a thinking game. The interface, options, and possible selections are huge which makes the learning curve quite high but the eventual rewards of the game engine great and very adaptable to your own playstyle.

I have played The Realm, UO since beta (and go back every incarnation.... with hope that is dashed quickly), EQ, DAOC, Earth and Beyond, Neverwinter Nights, and AC2 and am a beta tester for Eve Online. First, be sure to not place too much heed on beta tester reviews since beta versions are DRASTICALLY different than the published version. It is surprising when a beta ends a few weeks prior to release the difference when you install the full version.

I find the lag in Shadowbane the best of all the above games. Part of this I believe is due to the tailored down character graphics. I do not believe they are as good as AC2 or DaOC but are entirely adequate and fitting of this generation (and decisively better than EQ or UO). The environment graphics are considerably better. ... though again AC2 wins. Although I do not know the motive I know that a) Shadowbane has been in production for a long time and b) guess that gameplay took the longest and also most recent innovations. As well due to the lower abilities of macs (this is the first mac and PC MMPORG) it could not take full advantage of a PC and the upside is that with lower graphics demands the lag improves. AC2 though the prettiest game of all BY FAR is also extremely laggy due to system demands unless you have a great system (and I have a Geforce 4 MX440 with 64 MB DDR Ram and 768 MB of DDR333 system RAM).

Shadowbane's world is expansive, I would equate it with EQ. AC2 world has three continents that really are based by level... and it has an endgame. Get to the last continent and finish the last vault and there is no more reason to play nor go back to the first continent ever. DaOC traps you on a rather small continent and you can never really move... the expansion has opened up some new area. However, because of its expansivness and low level of characters, and no transportation system yet... expect long boring journeys... though not like the dreaded EQ boat rides. This generation of games with their huge worlds are so far doing a POOR job of transportation... UO is the best here... though perhaps too easy.

Gameplay is fine. I feel like DaOC... with more options. PvP is going to be nasty in this game... and perhaps dreaded.... but it makes the climate Wolfpack wants. Good guild system, good city system. Gameplay will be fine.... particularly if they get rid of the right click -right click -right click.... just make it hold down (at least) Wolfpack. Gameplay is similar to NWN in view and play.

This game will grow like any. I don't know a game thats got it perfect on release. Not in the MMPORG world. Too many variables. It'll take a couple patches at least. However this game is closer to where it needs to be than most.

Grouping and guilding is almost forced but great. Finally I feel involved again. This element was lacking from AC2 somehow. Soloing by a character will be a surprise. The group system is the best I've found. There is good socialization. No trades... which means no more crafting (you employ a crafter to make things). Good idea. The monotony of other games' crafting systems that you had to live with were terribly draining. You could never play a game part time because of it.

Shadowbane will be huge. It has all the elements of success in this genre and it is finally allowing mac users to take part in MMPORGing simultaneously with PC users. This will increase the player population which is already huge.

Worth your money... will be your new home. I've been searching EVERY MMPORG for this type of game. I'm sold.

Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 17
Date: January 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing the game on beta and I've just got to say... My social life is throughly destroyed. :P This game even in its unfinished state has all the addictive properties of EQ, the Graphics of AC2 and the PvP and skills specialazation of DAoC.
I'm totally convinced this game is gonna be a HUGE success and might just finally be the game to Give EQ the competition us gamers have been looking for.
I dont know why people are complaining about the graphics. Of Course there gonna be a little behind on the power curve... Its not released yet people.... All the polish and fine tuned pretty things arent added in yet cause Wolfpack is still working on more important issuses... Like gameplay, items, Quests, PvP. which , I might add, are AWESOME as of this review.
My opinion is this. If you got 40-50 bucks to spend order this game and order it early cause the shelves WILL be bare on relase due to the demand this game will generate. See you in game :)

Supposedly it will be a hyrbid CD

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 15
Date: January 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

According to the official website this game should be released as a hybrid CD that will work with either a Mac or Windows computer.

On-line gaming will cost you a per month fee, but the game comes with one month free.

Given that NWN has dropped the Mac toolset, this game looks like the only option of a decent MMORPG where Mac and Windows people can play together (EQ is coming out for Mac but that will be a Mac-only world).

Sick of carebear games?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 13
Date: April 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have never been big on EQ, because I think it sucked. DAoC was okay but I never liked the PvP and got bored. AC1 was the best MMORPG I have played so far, because the PvP on the Darktide server was awesome (I don't care about graphics, just lag my computer and irrelevant for fun). Shadowbane is the best PvP MMORPG I have ever played, I bumped it to number 1. It is not one of those carebear games where you run around and pick things up that will only help you run around and pick more things up, this is competition. Yes, good ol' competition. Castles, cities, PvP combat, what could be better?(the question was rhetorical)

The Best PvP Game Out There

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 15
Date: April 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is the best game out there for people who want their own cities and for people who want to destroy other people's cities. The release was much better than I expected and the devs have been much more active in the community than I've seen in other games. The lvls are much easier to get than in the other mmorg I've played. If you can find a guild to join you'll enjoy a lot.

Can't wait...playing the beta test.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 19
Date: November 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm playing in the Shadowbane beta test and it's great fun. A lot of hard core gamers, too! They're pushing the envelope with game features I've wanted for quite some time. ...When can I pre-order it on Amazon.com?!

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