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RPGDot Game Rating Machine |
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Chafin
has rated the following games:
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Shadowbane: 10/10 points |
In a game like Evercrack, PvE is challenging because PvE is one of the few activities other than farming and crafting available.
PvE represents an artificially enhanced time-sink in which to spread out the experience of game content.
In ShadowBane, PvE is necessarily limmited and not nearly as hyped up because ShadowBane has a unique concept: that of the player created end-game.
The political situations, board-warrioring, and maneuvering in game represent a depth of gameplay rarely seen outside chess games. Leveling is simply a nod in the direction of lore and traditional MMORPG's. There is no valid reason for leveling a character once game mechanics are learned.
After one month or so of playing this game, I had personally visited very single camp and spawn on the server (Fear) and been to every NPC in the game to discover what i could about the world of ShadowBane. At first I was dissapointed, expecting more of a storyline and at least one quest from the developers.
I soon discovered that individual players and guilds and their stories, far surpassed that of any imaginative enterprise on Ubi's or Wolfpack's behalf.
Within the world of SB, you must be prepared to discard the traditional perspective of a MMO*. This game is player driven, the content and Lore player made, and the end-game, player made.
I doubt even Wolfpack knew the consequences of their inital idea, but I'm glad they forged this path; no other game on the market has the depth or intricacy of shadowbanes PvP system. The character creation and development system is unparralleled, save for AD&D, and the PvP balance is far closer to true balance than any other so called PvP game on the market (Save for the FPS's, as they utilize the fact that each of their players is a clone of the other, and no differences exist in which to differentiate playstyles.)
Although it does have crappy CCR support and has an admittedly inferior graphics engine, most of the sb.exe errors, in game bugs, and lag has been resolved and that my friends is something to cheer about. The errors and lag is basically the only thing that prevented this game from being as popular as Evercrack and the others. The good thing is that with those problems resolved, more people are joining and re-joining this game now then when it came out.
I'm sure, if you've been playing as long as I have, that you can wholeheartedly agree; Despite Shadowbane's remaining problems, it is still, without a doubt, the absolute best MMO on the market. No other game comes close to the fun factor.
They still think that spending 2 full years (gametime, not subscription time) is reasonable (hell, they know its profitable) in order to achieve and experience end-game content.
Instead of abusing our obsession, WP has been relatively honorable and has fulfilled their obligation to do their best to provide us with a premier PvP, NvN, siege oriented game.
They haven't provided many time-sinks, which has led to some early burn-out and disillusionment, but overall, they have kept this game fun.
Asset destruction, open PvP, the probability of rPK and griefing, the player driven content.. all those things are what we play for. You might as well play a red-EQ server if you can't handle losing a city.
Without asset destruction, theres no reason for PvP. Without a city to defend, theres no reason to siege. Without an enemy to hate (zerg vs rPK vs small guilds, etc) theres no reason to board warrior. Without a reason to board warrior, theres no reason to engage in active politics. Without a reason to engage in active politics, theres no reason to attack your neighbors. Without a reason to attack your neighbors, theres no reason to solicit terrritorial rights. Without a reason to claim territory... theres no reason to fight those who encroach.
The game centers around sieges and siege balance. The economy and power centers orbit around those with the largest numbers or those with the best siege strategy. Without cities or personal assets... well, you do the math.
Fortunately, we have some real gaming geniuses on our side. |
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