Shadowbane Interview pt2
Here is an old interview I found while going through Massively (massively.joystiq.com)
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/30/the-game-archaeologist-uncovers-shadowbane-talking-with-josef-h/
Shadowbane 2 ? Don’t tease me like that….
Hall: It’s been pretty cool to see elements of Shadowbane show up here and there in other MMOs. Games like Darkfall have obvious connections, but even games like Age of Conan reflect some elements, such as the siege system. Maybe it’s time for Shadowbane 2?
Coleman: I think Shadowbane has left its mark on a bunch of titles, both here in the U.S. and internationally — Shadowbane was suprisingly successful in China. But I haven’t seen any game attempt the same degree of strategy, with a fully dynamic world where players can build castles anywhere and then reduce them to dust. Occasionally I will read an article about a new castle siege system, and my ears perk up — but so far, every one I’ve encountered has revolved around a handful of designer-placed castles that the guilds are supposed to fight over, basically a pre-mapped game of capture the flag. That can still be a lot of fun, mind you, but I would love to see someone try to make a fully dynamic world simulator again.
Some great Guild Wars 2 Info
http://www.badcartridge.com/index.php?/topic/24366-guild-wars-2-whats-your-story/
This post contains some great details about GW2 and its features… check it out!
Din’s Curse – Great Indie Diablo Clone
I have been playing a lot of Din’s Curse lately. It is a great game from Soldak Entertainment (http://www.soldak.com/Dins-Curse/Overview.html) . The graphics aren’t super awesome , but the game play is outstanding. All dungeons, towns, and loot are all random. No game will ever be the same! With the Demon War expansion, there are a total of 196 different class combinations with an almost unlimited skill set.
At the start of the game, you can choose your standard archetype or choose to create your own hybrid class consisting of two of the skill sets in the base archetype classes. The skill system is a point buy system, but treed. So you aren’t required to purchase all the skills unless you want them. The leveling also supports skill removal so that you aren’t bound to a particular build.
If you have a spare hour or two, this will definitely eat it up and make you wish you had more spare time.
The cherry on top is the game is fully moddable and supports multiplayer!
New Life for Darkfall?
According to Tasos @ http://www.darkfallonline.com/blog/darkfall-2-0/ , it looks like DF is getting a much needed revamp. I can only hope it fixes the skill up issues and balance problems that currently exist in the game.
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We started with the changes we had in mind for Darkfall, from all the lessons learned since the game went live and in the process we delivered 3 expansions, and more than 60 updates. About a year ago, we decided that we should branch out development and build a new game out of the one we had. This was in order to better implement the major changes we had in mind.It is not a sequel, it’s version 2.0. It’s a very ambitious project, and it’s the product of more than 2 years of lessons learned and evolving the game, and a full year of development with a much larger team than we had for Darkfall. No aspect of the game has been left untouched. It’s very much a new game, but at the same time it’s the next chapter to the game we’re currently playing.
There were concerns about wipes: We’ve considered wipes on various levels, however these are important decisions because while this is like a new game, it’s still the continuation of the current one. Also, the way things will work in the new version, it would not be as necessary to wipe, but wiping would also not be as drastic as it would be in the current version. This is a topic we’ll open up for discussion after we’ve given you more information on the new version of the game, so you can understand all the parameters involved.
There were also questions about having to pay for the relaunch version, and the answer is no if you’ve already bought Darkfall. Active subscribers will have priority in playtesting and in a developer interaction group about the new game. They will also participate in the major events that conclude the first chapter of Darkfall. The ending of the first chapter is the reason we’re bringing the relaunch version of the siege system to the current version. We expect quite a few people that have taken a break from the game to return for the exciting ending of the first chapter and the beginning of the new version.
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PlaytoCrush and SBEmu : Factions Splinter !
We all knew it was too good to be true. The awesome folks that were at http://www.playtocrush.org were building a complete rebuild of the old school Shadowbane. It looks like the dev team had a change of heart and now are going to focus on making Playtocrush a new and improved SB. Thus , there was a mass exodus of purists who have setup a new SBEmu program at http://www.shadowbaneemulator.com . It contains all the code that has been completed thus far, so no work has been lost.
After following this project for such a long as I have always thought SB was the perfect PVP game (even with its bugs) as you had player accountability and you had to back up your talk with action.  Crassus points out my viewpoint quite clearly: http://www.shadowbaneemulator.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=201
Which side of the fence do you fall on?
‘ello, nice to meet you!
Ministry of Chaos is a Evil/Chaos Role-play PvP based guild with a ‘pirate democracy’ governmental rule. Emphasis will be placed on Guild vs. Guild (GvG) based combat for the purpose of increasing guild power instead of Random Player Killing (RPKing). There will be plenty of opportunities to test one’s wit and steel. And! when we do so it will be with purpose, conviction, forethought and precision! All that join Ministry of Chaos will leave behind their previous politics and grudges. We are one guild, one team, one family. We fight to protect ourselves and our interests around the shard, not to satisfy bruised egos. When a member of Ministry of Chaos acts he acts for the entire guild. When you join us you embrace us.*
The one and only goal of Ministry of Chaos is to be the guild with the best team players in the world.**
By ‘pirate democracy’ we mean that every guild mate gets their fair share. The belief is that individuals know what’s best for them, how to spend their gold and decisions they make for themselves will be the best for them and in the long run for the guild. Guild leaders and inner council should not be trying to micromanage every aspect of city building, guild politics, city production, forming xp groups, etc. This will only lead to burnout by those with all the responsibility, lack of interest by guild mates that feel they have no say or that their ideas are not being heard or appreciated. Much of this will take form in decisions made in the guild and how city building is handled.
While everyone should play characters that are appealing to them, members should concentrate on building GROUP PVP based characters. Not solo killing machines or farmers.
Ministry of Chaos is a very unique guild because it is also an experiment in representative democracy in a mmorpg. If that didn’t scare you away then let me continue… By democracy we don’t mean that every guild mate will have to throw their vote behind every decision, but that guild mates will discuss all major decisions that don’t need immediate resolution amongst each other. Most of these discussions take place on the guild message board. Things that need immediate resolution will be handled by guild officers and leaders.
Running a quality guild takes a lot of effort from officers and members. The idea here is to decentralize the work, create a framework everyone can refer back to and establish a set of rules so that people have close to the same expectations. If everyone knows what to expect from each other then there will be fewer instances of people feeling as though they have been slighted.
* – We are not a cult.
** – And conquer the world.