An introduction to Shadowbane

In March 2003, UBIsoft released an excellent online game. This was not to be the average online roleplaying game. This game existed without quests and heavy non-player character (NPC) interaction. The goal was rather just outright Player Vs Player domination. A player logs in, seeks out other players (humans) and attempts to kill them before they can kill you. Not my pic, as this was created by Ashen Temper.

There were no limitations to prevent a high player character from annihilating a low level character in most of the game world. What items you character wore, they could keep, but if you were killed out in the main world, your inventory contents stays behind. Spoils to the victor. Gravestone seen on the left of this low quality pic. Not my pic but of that siege laying shield design seen (happy to give proper credit -email me per my index page).

There was another unique angle in the game as players were able to own and create their own cities. Cities for other players to visit, or perhaps make walls and keep strangers out. The game even allowed players who accumulated enough power and wealth to declare war and attempt to tear down another city via weapons, spells and even ballista such as controllable trebuchets. In the early days of the game it was not uncomon to see 60 or more players per side waging battle. Below is not my pic. Rights reserved by owner.

The game eventually lost popularity. Some theorize the internet was not ready yet. Some players were still attempting to communicate via modem to thier Internet Service Providers to attempt to play. For the most part, the average connection speed was less (and often FAR less) than 1MB p/sec. There were other games coming out which took some players away such as World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies Online, Everquest II which all offered diverse content but often it was for story and questing.

The fans were not amused, nor were we done playing!

Some of the playerbase continued a vigilant effort to create an emulation of the game. A server which would support the last patched version of the released game. That playerbase kept a forum of interested players and kept conducting trial and error until they were able to create a stable product. The time to play is upon us. Come one, come all.

It is true that Shadowbane has a steep learning curve. This site will aim to conduct a little bit of screen familiarization, a litte bit of character creation advice, and just some basic walk-through stuff. Please hit up my email on my index page if you want to contribute or have other advice.

Purpose of this game: to bring back the play of the original

Player vs Enemy, aka Leveling

Players will venture out into the game world to fight game created monsters. This is one of several methods to gain valuable experience points in order to level up your character. When you attempt to fight a non-player monster, you the player will click on it thus making it your selected target. Once targeted, you must either initiate a melee attack or cast an offensive spell on it. Be wary as the color of the targeted monster will indicate both strength and ability to gain experience points. Example: a red name of a creature indicates a much higher level and you may face imminent death. Orange and yellows can be handled by well built character design and an experienced player. Dark blue is at close to your level and will dcontinue to be blue for you for many levels. Light blue is slightly below you. Green gives almost no experience and white gives none at all. Killing white colored monsters have advantages: they are less likely to kill you but do not drop less gold or other loot based on level difference. Lower level monsters then are essential gathering resources. Your max level will be 75. When you get to 75, you will gain a fourth discipline slot... more on that later.

PvP, GvG, and Army vs Army

Player vs Player is known as PvP. Thusly Group vs Group is GvG but not as widely referred to. Army vs Army is usually called Nation vs Nation. As you, the player, proceed into the game world, you will eventually want to join a guild. A guild is a group of players who fight under the same shield. Those little shields under your character that say which tree/city you belong to. Sure, you can belong to any of the open NPC safe ones... up to about level 54 (someone confirm this pls). Then it will take your shield away and your experience points gain will drop very low. To continue leveling, you must join someone's guild or make your own provided you have saved enough gold.

City Building

Nations require a tree of their own to be placed. Why a tree? It is just the 'magical' barrier to protect specific buildings within the town. Owning a city is considered by many to be end-game. I disagree, it is the prime time of the game. You may be able to get into helping manage a town rather early on. Be loyal to your guild and nation.

Strategy

Mines, resources, spires, hotzones and more!

Friendships

Make friends. Use voice communications.

Making Enemies

You will make people mad. They will make you mad. Grudges go a LONG WAY here. Try to be forgiving. There is not a moderator that punishes players for using hateful comments. They say they do, but not really. You will get bad messages in a form of player to player called 'tells'. That is the RED chat text. You can hit 'r' for a quick autoreply. Otherwise you can hit 't' and it will pre-fill the command '/tell' for you. Now type and send your message. Be wary of angering powerful members of spiteful nations.

Navigate the game

Basic controls will go here. Also how to adjust basic settings both in and out of game.