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Shadowbane: FREE MMORPG

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Level 25
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Hey guys, the other day me and my friends were bored and were looking for a game to play. In our search, we stumbled across Shadowbane, an old MMORPG that used to cost a monthly fee, which Ubisoft trys to cover up by not including information about the trial being actually all games (Shadowbane and the Expansion packs) put together and with an unlimited time to play. The only other MMORPG I ever knew of that was free was Runescape. So I thought I'd show some love by letting you guys know about this. You can download the "15 day trial" (lasts forever, not 15 days) at:
http://www.fileplanet.com/130645/130000/fileinfo/Shadowbane-Free-Game-[Win32]-(US-&-Canada-Only)

The screenshots on the website aren't as good as they are in-game, so don't let them back you down.
To actually play, you must be sure to have a www.Ubi.com account otherwise it won't let you log in.

Once you get the game started and your character made, you'll want to watch this video to set up your Shadowbane Layout in-game so you play more efficiently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?

After you've made your layout, it will be saved the way it is automaticly when you log out, and when making a new character you must either remake your layout on the new character or load the layout from your other character(s) by pressing [Esc], then clicking Windows, and then click Load Layout. After you've clicked Load Layout, you should only have to place your status bar and spells.

Enjoy!
 
Level 18
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I wouldn't really call this an advertisement, more he's trying to spread the word about something he's found really fun / useful / good..... Do we actually have rules against advertising? I took a look at the rules again today, didn't notice one, although I could've missed it.

-*meow*
 
Level 22
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May 11, 2004
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When its free, its often because its beta, or becasue it cost nothing to make (and therefor has very little quality). If it IS its beta, expect to lose your character files when it goes gold.

Althoght I never checked that game out, so I probably should not be sterotyping, but oh well. I'm just weary about "free" mmorpgs after what happened with ROSE.
-VGsatomi
 
Level 24
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there's Maple Story, and FlyFF (Fly For Fun). both of them have started advertising recently (well, Maple Story has at any rate). have you really never heard of either?

@VG, in MXO (Matrix Online) your characters got bonus stuff during gold if you preordered the beta.

on a side note... holy flaming $hit Shados! did you use a program to do the gradient colouring? every single letter has a slightly different colour >_<!
 
Level 36
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This MMORPG blows. I played it years ago, hated it, and neevr went back. Rose, Silkroad, Knights Online, even Anarchy Online (the best free one of the bunch) sucked ass. They all blow. If you want a cheap MMO, then buy Guildwars. Don't like Guildwars? Then get ready to shell out 15 bucks a month.
 
Level 25
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First of all, I am not advertising, although now that I've read it after I've posted it I can see what you mean. But now, I mainly posted it because I want more people to play this game with actually. Like only 800 per server are online, maybe less, and this game is better than Runescape in my opinion. BTW, this is not a beta for I remember this game coming out when I was in sixth grade (about 6 years ago.), This game used to be a regular MMORPG that required 10$ per month fee, but after a long time, it got out-dated and less people thought it was worth paying 10$ per month.
The site is out-dated as well, which is why it still states that it is a 15 day trial. I've asked about 10 people in the game if it the trial was an unlimited play game and they said it was unlimited.

If this is advertising and against the rules in even the Off-Topic forum, then I appologize.
- Craka_J

PS: The download is 891.46mb (Almost 1 Gigabyte), there is also a 30-45 minute patch that automaticly updates the first time you load the game, just to let you know.
 
Level 21
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Just because something's free doesn't mean it's bad quality. There's a lot of good MMORPG's. Take Priston Tale for example, MU Online, Fly FF (not too good graphics for Fly FF, but still can be fun). I would add Knights Online to the list, but the server's are always packed, it's extremely easy to get good items and money, and really easy to kill things, so it's really not that challenging
 
Level 2
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This MMORPG blows. I played it years ago, hated it, and neevr went back. Rose, Silkroad, Knights Online, even Anarchy Online (the best free one of the bunch) sucked ass. They all blow. If you want a cheap MMO, then buy Guildwars. Don't like Guildwars? Then get ready to shell out 15 bucks a month.

Shadowbane's changed a lot since "years ago". It's among the best mmo's, is well supported, is currently getting a monthly 'content patch', not to mention that it's stark raving free. Oh, and did i mention it kicks ass?

BUT - it's not for everybody. I love it. Some people hate it.... For the same exact reason: TOTALLY UNRESTRICTED PVP. And the entire game is totally player driven. What you do is up to you.

I started off as a complete newb getting ganked silly... and it was frustrating... I knew nobody... But I stuck with it, made friends, joined a guild... to make a long story short, I am now a guild leader and own a city where I can craft items for my guildies in my forges, or I can use it as a merchant center or a training center to earn gold from other players, or use it as a base for waging war and take other people's assets. whatever. It's all up to you what you do with your city.

There are hundreds of cities on the map and all but 4 of them are player owned. The non-player owned cities are 'safeholds' and are the only places where you cannot attack another player. (Besides the starting area that everybody calls 'newb isle' where you can stay to learn the controls and level on easy mobs until you are lvl 20 - of a possible 75).

Besides guild vs guild skirmishes over resource mines, or solo PK'ing, or whatever, the big thing about Shadowbane that no other game has is BANES.

A bane is when you drop a banecircle on another player city (aka 'declare war'). City assest are indestructible until the city is baned. Then the defenders have 48 hours (and the ability to adjust the live time to his advantage as much as possible).

When the bane goes live, your assets become vulnerable. The attacker and defender place giant trebuchets and when the bane goes live, all hell breaks loose. It's very cool imo. Flaming balls of fire flung through the air, impacting the city walls, hundreds of players involved in multiple skirmishes: charges on the banestone, charges toward a breech in a city wall, in short: all out war. It can be total sloppy chaos or a masterpiece of precision, depending upon the skills, tactics and coordination abilities of the participants.

Anyway, The attackers pound the city walls with their trebs trying to breech the walls and bring down the city... and the defenders try to batter down the banestone. The war ends with the destruction of the city's "Tree of Life", or with the destruction of the banestone. If the tree of life falls first, the city is taken over by the attackers. If the banestone falls first, the siege is broken and the assets resume their invulnerable state.

Big fun. Big big heart-thumping fun.

There are NO game mechanics that dictate who is allied with who or where or when the fighting starts or ends. There is no punishment for unruly playstyles... other than that which can be inflicted upon you by the vengeful players you upset. It's all about the balance of power and player-driven politics.

The character possibilites are virtually limitless. The combinations of racial abilities, class skills, and disciplines allow amazing depth in character development. The level grind is far less of a 'grind' than any other mmo I've ever played -- far easier to reach viability than WoW, for instance - and there is far greater character variety:

12 Races: Human, Elf, Aelfborn, Aracoix (birdmen), Vampire, Half-Giant, Nephilim (flying demons), Irekei (red skinned desert dwellers), Shade (undead), Minotaur, Centaur and Dwarf.
4 base classes: Healer, Fighter, Rogue and Mage
22 Profession Classes: Assassin, Thief, Nightstalker, Sentinel, Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Ranger, Scout, Confessor, Templar, Doomsayer, Channeler, Crusader, Prelate, Warrior, Bard, Fury, Huntress, Priest, Warlock and Wizard.
And 47 disciplines of which you can take 4 per character.

It's hard for me to understand how or why UBI is able to maintain the game after having dropped the monthly fee. The only thing I can figure is that it's 'research' for their next project. I dunno. But I dont' look such a nice gift horse in the mouth. :xxd:

BTW - I actually found this forum because I got into the world editor recently, was delighted by it, and decided to try to make a "Shadowbane" based campaign to share with my guildies (which is coming along nicely thanks to the hive!! - I have learned a lot about cinematics, character modeling,etc, and my guildies will be surprised to find themselves starring in an epic War3 Campaign chronicling some major events in our guild's history, hehe).

Anyhow, I searched the forum for "Shadowbane" to see if any models or anything SB-related had been posted, and found this post. (btw The trebuchet model I found is sweeeet!!! thanks.)

I had to weigh in on this topic. Sorry to bump an old thread and put up such a long post, but I just had to give you the skinny (albeit a rather fat skinny) on my favorite MMO. If you don't like some NPC telling you what to do, and if you find repetitive fetch quests tiresome, and if you're not afraid to PvP at the drop of a hat, any time, any place, then you'll love Shadowbane too. To me, that's what it's all about.
 
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Level 2
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How can you say it's not supported when it gets a monthly content patch and there are in-game customer care reps to handle problems? To me, a free trial that has no time limit is a good thing.
 
Level 2
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I'm sure it would be a good thing if the game was worth playing to begin with.

The fact is, Shadowbane is a terrible, terrible game, always has been, and free MMO's are waning next to the might of Guildwars, whilst paid MMO's are waning next to the might of WoW.



I understand from your op that you played "years ago and never went back" so your assessment which you deliver so authoritatively is completely unqualified in regard to the current state of Shadowbane.

As I said, I know the game's not for everybody, especially those who don't care for unrestricted pvp. It's the non-linear play and the community and real player politics that hooked me on the game. To have the ability to raise an army and conquer other people in an unrestricted environment is just plain cool.

I'm just wondering what you found so "terrible, terrible" about it when you tried it years ago?

tbh, I've seen a lot of guys go off to play WoW or DAoC or GW or whatever and after a while, they'll return to SB, saying "it just didn't scratch the itch like Shadowbane." and "I missed REAL pvp", etc.

And I've seen new players appear, play a week or so, constantly whining about getting killed by higher levels... and then you never see them again. But I understand. It's a merciless environment and definitely not for the average casual gamer.
 
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Level 36
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Denigo you don't happen to work for Shadowbane do you? You're honestly a giant advertisement for the game.

Free MMO's suck, no exception for Shadowbane. It just blows. I'm sure the game has it's little niche of deluded fans that due to alcohol and/or drug abuse find the game appealing, but to everyone else it's that rotting pile of garbage burning in the sun that everyone avoids.
 
Level 25
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Hey! I don't do drugs!... though alchohol can be fun. :grin:

I don't play Shadowbane anymore. It's one of those games you play for a week or two and then never play it again for another two years. It's fun to pass the time when playing with friends, but otherwise there's a lot more that could be added to the game to make it a lot better.

I agree with robot-dude. All MMORPG's that are free these days suck. That includes Shadowbane, Runescape, Maplestory (I don't see how people find that game fun the least bit), etc.
World of Warcraft is good. But it is something I don't regret quitting.
Guild Wars isn't my type of game. Though I only played a trial for it, I don't plan on playing anything more of it. I've seen enough of it.

Another good MMORPG is Dark Age of Camelot or Everquest. Sure they have their flaws, but they do kick ass and still have a pretty big fan-base. Can't wait for Warhammer Online though, god that game is gonna rock!
~Craka_J
 
Level 2
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Denigo you don't happen to work for Shadowbane do you? You're honestly a giant advertisement for the game.

Free MMO's suck, no exception for Shadowbane. It just blows. I'm sure the game has it's little niche of deluded fans that due to alcohol and/or drug abuse find the game appealing, but to everyone else it's that rotting pile of garbage burning in the sun that everyone avoids.

rofl. So, first you insult me by snidely suggesting I'm a Shadowbane employee hawking the game, and then you insinuate I'm on drugs and/or alcohol... just because I disagree with your taste in games?

And still you don't qualify your critique of the game with anything even remotely intelligent. "It just blows," repeated what? Four times now? That is a little bit sad.

I suggest you exercise your moderator powers, slap yourself on the hand for making a personal attack just because somebody doesn't agree with you, and lock this thread before you get any further out of line.
 
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Level 4
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I have also played Shadowbane. 7 months ago. i haven't played since, but that might be because i have game-ADD. It was kinda fun, but nothing worth spending time on. it's like WoW in that respect- fun for a week, but then you realize how lame it is compared to other far more addicting games like N or rome-Total War: you just keep coming back, once or twice a month. (this applies to pretty much every mmorpg I've tried, except sword of the new world.)

try it anyway: you might like it.
 
Level 36
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I was kidding obviously, but your devotion to the game (in my eyes) goes beyond that of the typical player.

Furthermore, there is no point in me triyng to write a comprehensive review of the game. It's not worth the time.

This is one of those avoid-at-all-costs-and-nothing-less sort of games. You just don't play it, period. Shadowbane has it's own niche market, but it, along with every other free MMO is poorly made, poorly planned, lacks in the innovative features department, lacks in graphics, lacks in gameplay, and finally lacks in budget. And it all shows.

I would certainly lock this thread if I could, but unfortunately my powers do not extend out to the realm of Off Topic, and Shados made the poor decision of letting you carry on with this tripe instead of locking the thread and giving you negative reputation points for gravedigging from the get-go.
 
Level 2
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You were one of those that whined about getting ganked by a higher level, weren't you? lol

Anyway, I'm done with this thread and the entire off-topic category. People seem to get all worked up and pissed off when you express any views contrary to theirs. I'm sticking to the world editor help threads from now on.
 
Level 4
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Runescape is a chat room. so is WoW. any mmo is really lame until you mmet some people to talk to or get some friends to play. this applies to every mmo I've played.

@brad.dude.03: sword of the new world has multiple character control. that's innovative.
 
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