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Latest Shadowbane News Updates and Reviews Updated daily
Shadowbane : The Perfect Ten: Non-vanilla worldrulesetsSep 08, 2011 10:00:00 AM News Item: 17576
Filed under: Age of Conan, Asheron's Call, City of Heroes, Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall, Dofus, EVE Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Lord of the Rings Online, Ultima Online, Vanguard, Shadowbane, Humor, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous
I've always thought that rulesets are a golden opportunity for MMORPG creators to get creative with their products and try something fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, most every MMORPG these days, new and old, adheres to the four "vanilla" rulesets that have been in place since Pong. You have your default PvE, your same-as-PvE-except-we-have-a-naming-policy PvE-RP, and the two gamer vs. gamer variants: Player vs Player and Player vs Player-RP.
Those are all well and good, but... y'know... couldn't rulesets be used to create fascinating variations on these games? It turns out that yes, yes they can.
While the vanilla rulesets are the vast majority, there does exist a group of fringe rulesets that dared to walk the different patch, er, path and made versions of MMORPGs that are a bold and refreshing flavor. Like blue! Sometimes these new rulesets were whipped up to inject new life into an aging title, giving gamers a valid factorto come back and see the game from a different perspective.
In this week's Perfect Ten, we're going to look into just how wild 'n' wacky worldrulesets can get!Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Non-vanilla worldrulesets  The Perfect Ten: Non-vanilla worldrulesets Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Talking with Josef Hall and Todd Coleman, part 2Aug 30, 2011 12:00:00 PM News Item: 17845
Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, MMORPG industry, Shadowbane, Free-to-play, The Game Archaeologist
Don't miss the first part of this conversation with the makers of Shadowbane, which we posted last week! And now for the thrilling conclusion...
The Game Archaeologist: What was the factorbehind the free-to-play switch in 2006? Did this help the game's population any?
Josef Hall: Todd and I left Wolfpack shortly after it was acquired by Ubisoft, so we don't actually have insight into the decision-making process behind the switch.
Todd Coleman: From what I have heard, it had a very positive impact on the size of the gamer population -- but yeah, I have no idea what it meant to the game monetarily.Continue reading The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Talking with Josef Hall and Todd Coleman, part 2 The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Talking with Josef Hall and Todd Coleman, part 2 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Your journeysAug 16, 2011 06:00:00 PM News Item: 17844
Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Player vs Player, Shadowbane, The Game Archaeologist
Every time I tackle a new game for this column, I keep rediscovering a key truth: that there are the bare facts of an MMORPG that you can research and process, and there are the memories and experiences that transcend the features bullet points on the back of the box. It's always terrific to see gamers come out of the woodwork and say things like, "You know what actually made this game special...?"
Shadowbane is proving an fascinating case study as well. Because it flew so very low on my personal radar during the entirety of its operation, I naturally assumed it wasn't that good for the few souls who did play it. It turns out that I was wrong, considering just how many testimonies we've had from citizens who confess that if you could get past the graphical limitations and technical issues, there was a helluva game experience waiting for you.
So to follow up from last week's conversation with a blogger, this week we're going to hear from readers who took the time to send in their favorite memories of Shadowbane so that they could be preserved in the hallowed Game Archaeologist vaults. Let's do it!Continue reading The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Your journeys The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Your journeys Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred bloggerAug 09, 2011 11:00:00 AM News Item: 17843
Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, Shadowbane, Free-to-play, The Game Archaeologist
I've long since enjoyed doing this column because, to me, it feels like the next best thing to having been there back in the day, playing these games. No one MMORPG gamer can occupy all titles at once, so experiences are bound to pass us by. Fortunately, the gamers who were there have long memories and are often more than willing to share a story or two if given half the chance.
After last week's initial foray into our Shadowbane retrospective, I fished around for a hearty veteran of the minotaur wars who was willing to step up and answer a few questions without succumbing to post-traumatic stress disorder. Within a minute, my good friend Grimnir bit into the topic, and I reeled him in as he flopped and gasped for air. At some point, this metaphor got away from me, but no worries. Hit that jump and let's cast our nets down memory river and see what we can dredge up!Continue reading The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred blogger The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred blogger Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The highlightsAug 02, 2011 06:00:00 PM News Item: 17842
Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Player vs Player, Shadowbane, Free-to-play, The Game Archaeologist
Way back when I used to haunt the corridors of Gamestop and not shun the place due to its stinky evil, I remember being enticed with these fancy-pantsy "MMORPGRPG" boxes when I'd see them on the shelf. I must have picked up Shadowbane a dozen or so times to look into the blurbs on the back, mentally weighing whether or not this would be the one to introduce me to online gaming, but ultimately it was not to be.
It's most likely for the best, considering that Shadowbane was primarily Player vs Player and I'm a PvE guy at heart. Plus, the title never actually took off the way that publisher Ubisoft had hoped, spending most of its six years of operation lurking in the background of the MMORPG industry instead of sharing the spotlight.
But still, six years! That's far longer than any of the titles we've been talking about these past couple months, and considering that Shadowbane won last week's poll to become this month's topic, there are obviously strong feelings lurking among you. What did Shadowbane try to do differently, how did it stay alive as long as it did, and what was its downfall? Hit the jump to find out!Continue reading The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The highlights The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The highlights Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : AionSource.com compromised, e-mails potentialy leaked to hackersJan 29, 2010 04:00:00 PM News Item: 13484
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events, real-world, Exploits, News items
Yesterday we reported that a wide number of e-mail password phishing scams were being sent out to Aion users. Today, AionSource.com has sent out an e-mail pronouncement to all of their users that this new wave of scams may have been due to a hacking attack on their website.
Knite Shadowbane, administrator of AionSource, has posted that AionSource.com had been under hacker attack five days ago on the 24th of January. The team has since cleared the attack and has proceeded to beef up their security, but today's e-mail to all AionSource members warns that their database could have been used for these phishing scams. So, if you are a member of AionSource, keep an eye out for any unusual e-mails coming your way.
Even if you aren't a member, always remember to check thecause of any e-mails coming to you that request for you to "access your account" or "confirm your password" or require you to log into an unverifiedcause.
Knite has also posted a handy guide to securing your account, such as changing your password and installing anti-virus software.
 AionSource.com compromised, e-mails potentialy leaked to hackers Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : Loading... MxO Takes the Blue PillMay 29, 2009 12:47:30 PM News Item: 10677
#1,089 - Reaction to the just announced shutdown of The Matrix Online, and who might be next...The Matrix Online will join Tabula Rasa and Shadowbane as as the list of MMORPGRPGs cancelled in 2009 continues to grow.
We'll remember the best and worst of MxO and consider what other MMORPGs...
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Shadowbane : Shadowbane closure date extended to July, potentialnew lease on lifeMay 02, 2009 04:00:00 PM News Item: 10243
Filed under: Fantasy, MMORPG industry, News items, Shadowbane, Free-to-play 
We thought we'd seen the end of Shadowbane in April, but we're happy to report that we were wrong. The game's worlds were scheduled to go dark yesterday, May 1st. Ubisoft said this was the case and the creators said their goodbyes. However, overwhelming response from the gamerbase is now keeping the game alive a bit longer for a proper farewell, and this stay of execution could potentialy allow the devs to seek other options. Shadowbane developer Xanther writes, "Following our recent news, the support and enthusiasm the community has shown for Shadowbane has led to an extension of the closure date to July 1, 2009. This should allow the community enough time to play out its final days appropriately. We are looking into different options to make these final days as fun as possible!"
It seems they're also looking into options beyond closure events for the gamers. Thanks to a tip from reader NT_we see that Aeria Games has point outed on Twitter that they're interested in picking up the game and are in discussion with Ubisoft. Also, Aeria Games is seeking input from Shadowbane gamers to help determine how viable running this title would be. You can let them know via Twitter at @aeriagames. While the circumstances still remains grim, that Shadowbane has roughly two months of time left, we're happy to see there's potential for a new lease on life for the game if publishers are willing to keep it running. If learns that Shadowbane gets picked up by a new publisher, we'll be sure to let you know.
[Thanks, NT_]Shadowbane closure date extended to July, potentialnew lease on life Sat, 02 May 2009 16:00:00 EST.
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Shadowbane : As the moon wanes, Shadowbane is no moreApr 18, 2009 06:00:00 PM News Item: 10124
Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, MMORPG industry, Shadowbane
The creators of Shadowbane will shut down its worlds for the last time on May 1st, 2009. The closure comes only weeks after its 6th year anniversary and a year after the historic "Shadowbane Reboot," which recommenceed the game to take advantage of better stability and performance architecture.
Shadowbane commenceed in March 2003 and was a pioneer for open-Player vs Player, political intrigue, and dynamic world substence, where the gamer could actually have an affect on the game's environment. Unfortunately, the title was plagued by stability issues at release, which prevented it from ever becoming much more than a cult classic. The game saw two expansions in its lifetime: Rise of Chaos (Dec 2003) and Throne of Oblivion (Dec 2004).
Ownership of the MMORPG changed hands several times over its lifespan and while it originated as a subscription-based game, it eventually went free-to-play in March 2006 and finally ad-driven in March 2007. We're always sad to report the demise of an MMORPGRPG, so let us leave you with the fond memories of one of Shadowbane's creators.
Thanks for being a sometimes inspiration and sometimes whipping-boy for the MMORPGRPG genre, Shadowbane. May your soul be eternally bound to the Tree of Life.As the moon wanes, Shadowbane is no more Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST.
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More Shadowbane News
(Click to read)
Apr 22, 2008 09:30:00 AMShadowbane : Shadowbanecreatorstudio to create MMORPG for the Wii
Jan 30, 2008 01:00:00 PMShadowbane : Shadowbane resets with Patch 22, on test worlds today
Nov 29, 2007 09:30:00 AMShadowbane : Damion Schubert seeks a different kind of grind
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