ShadowBane Ranting

[ULO]

/rant on

How the hell did I of all people not know about the guild getting into Shadowbane? I have been awaiting that game for a while and was in NE before they went public. I'm also am posted on that short list asking people who will be playing SB to post. Aside from my recent period of alot of crazy shyt happening in RL (which would take me a few threads to do all the ranting I could regarding RL things that happened or are happening), I have been active on the boards and was active on DaoC up until Andred died out (I was the only member of the pre merger NE that hopped on Andred, and if any others bought the game it wasn't many). I played with BWC on merlin before that. In original NE (you know back when their was actually alot of stuff to discuss) I made it a point to post anywhere I could provide a differant veiw or improve an idea (which was rather often. Hell, in guild chat Druth announced that he was putting me in some kind of battle commander position even tho he hasn't seen me play a game. My triats which include a not blind loyalty help solve a few big problems. Back when I was posting on SB boards I was always the first to jump in defense of my guild (aside from times druth somehow beat me). Instead of going back to DaoC I'm saving money for SB.

I think that covers at least most of my reasons for bein pissed I missed the guild goin into beta.

Also while I'm on SB I think we should have a sticky global to inform people of the Official UBI announced March 25th release date. I know official dates are not incapable of changing, but they don't change like unnoficial dates and given how long it has been worked on and how accurate WP wanted to be if giving a date I'm not expecting any problems.

Also I'm curious how many people are in SB Beta and what races they plan on playing (not to cop em, still goin with the plan I had a few years back).

[Guyute]

shadowbane... feh.

Sure looks good on paper! I dont know anyone in our guild that is beta testing this. I'll give it the same chance I gave AC2... if I dont like it after my first free month, I cancel my account.

[ULO]

"Not sure who or when pulled it off but have received two tells in DAoC about this. Gratz and give us the fooking details SB gimps. Last I heard HEL formed a city as well that BWC was using."

-Law in the Shadowbane forum

[ULO]

By the way this post is here cause it was moved from the officer forum Due to the title it had and my not being an officer I mistook it as a semiexlusive (not strictly officers but not all guildies) place to rant without disuading those who overreact or making myself to appear less loyal than I actually am.

So please keep in mind the context this was in when I originally posted it before mistaking it for flaming my own guild or something like that.

[Twystyd]

Hey ULO long time no see.

[ULO]

Back for good but unfortunatly things aren't perfect/good enough yet in my personal life. If you woulda made a movie about the last 6 months of my life multiple things would have veiwers mad at how far fetched they thought it was. I'm just thankful everyone except my ex gf (she's not dead yet but I won't feel sorry for her when she does or feel any joy at all at the fact that she'll no longer be suffering. Bad enough to do me wrong but there are some lines you don't cross.) is alive and reasonably healthy and fed.

So what's up with BWC in SB? How many people in beta and do they/we have a leader? I woulda prolly joined beta if I knew about our guild getting in, esp with how much I needed distraction from all the shyt happening.

[barbos]

our guild didn't get into the beta... just individuals from the guild...

at least thats what I've heard

[ULO]

Ah ok. Any idea of how many? If it's not enough but people from my shop form a guild I'm sure I could get any BWC in that care to play shadowbane.

[Twystyd]

Yea, Gaudhand and a few others got into beta early and another batch got in during open beta. Have no idea what is up there anymore. Last I heard HEL and DDH were housing us. Everyone I know quit by now cause the beta is disappointing. Extremely buggy for a late beta and the graphics are archaic. The Interface could not get any clunkier and Wolfpack has their head up their ass. Too bad, but the revolving world aspect will come to resolve sooner or later with or without SB.

[ULO]

As far as graphics are concerned they adapt to your capabilities but have for the most part been set low in beta. The final version uses fractals to make the graphics consistent at any polygon count.

If you check the pics with an unrestricted graphics beta versionon on a normal but decent machine you'll see what I mean. The graphics suck in beta only because they don't need to test the graphics. I'll put the link to the pics when I have more time if nobody beats me to it.

As far as game play being buggy for this late in the game, only the proggrammers know just how bad it is. The amount of screwyness is not neccissarilly a measure of how bad or how many the code issues are. One small quirk in or unexpected effect of the code could have a very global effect on the game. You'de be surprized the weird crap you can cause on some 8-bit nintendo games when you modify a game genie code to set something numeric in game (i.e. health, lives) to a value it's not intended to be. Total graphics chaos, sinking into solid ground, and character going backwords/controls messed up with objects and enemies all misplaced are a few of the more interesting results I've gotten from negative or maximum lives/score/health.

I personnally don't think they would announce an official date if it was that far from being fixed. I'm sure if needed they'll take an extra month or 2 to work some things out. Official dates for the most part are much more stable the developer estimates (I remember all the whining about wanting to know when it comes out despite them explaining the trouble with guessing a date then all the whinning when it didn't come out anywhere near when they approximated) but small delays are far from unheard of. Bottom line is don't judge bugginess till final product. Providing a working game at first release was one of Wolfpacks stated objectives from the beggining and I don't expect them to comprimise to the degree peopel are insinuating they will.

So why do I even care? Because I guarantee their are a number of people refusing to even consider SB or take a look at the final result based on the complaints of beta. Wait till March 25th to see if it gets released like announced and what state it's in. If it gets a short delay (1-4 months total) check back on the new release. Just because the date draws near doesn't mean the ambition or ability isn't their, or that those who have anticipated it should consider the game anything more than an unfinished product until it releases.

[Twystyd]

All good points except the graphics and hardware problems ULO. Being one that plays almost a lot of betas I can tell you along with many other's that SB had far too many bugs for a final beta stage. It also had server hardware failure multiple times a day all through beta.

As far as graphics are concerned, early in game SB was not even compatible with many graphics cards. These issues for the most part have been corrected but they remain generations apart from current games much less future ones. Wolfpack is a small company that took on a huge project without the quantity or quality of programmers most MMORPG'ers have.

[ULO]

Being that you have tested so many other betas your accustom to what predetailed 3d programs should be like at this stage. Given the fractal nature of both the graphics and the controlable terrain that puts your ability to judge this particular game beta at a lower level than those who haven't seen any betas. Just because you're going by what you've seen and your past experiences doesn't mean you're going by the facts.

[Twystyd]

Are you gei? ULO please get some friends or other social contact. I want to stroke each other off in a subjective and worthless debate about SB graphics as much as wanting to justify to you my opinions. If you don't think Shadowbane graphics are going to be shit, hell enjoy. If you want to know why I say the graphics are going to be shit...it's because they are.

[ULO]

I'm quite straight and have a fiance and some friends. Also I doubt the amount of time that I've spent learning math (especially outside the classroom) exceeds the amount of time you've spent on beta. Or do you count that as social contact? Furthermore you were the first to interject your opinion. If you don't want there to be any debate or need to justify opinions then you have 2 choices: don't say anything, or be a nazi and ban me from the site. Speaking of which love the "...it's because they are", totally void of logical support and gives n explanation whatsoever as to what flaw you see in my reasoning. Everyone has knowledge in areas someone else doesn't so don't hate. I'de give my response in less intilllectual sounding and more !_337 7R0!_!_ manor but the last time I did that people thought I got too personal or went to far or whatever.

BTW the ingame graphics of SB I've seen didn't look like shit to me, esp the recent ones.

[Zeris]

cut that shit out, or I'll ban both of you.
There, does that solve it?


anyways, if SB is all its cracked up to be - as far as game mechanics and playability go, I dont care if the graphics are shit. As long as they get the point across, and they're not done with low quality (as opposed to just looking old, which I don't mind), then I'm happy. Dazzling eye candy is icing on the cake, and I'll still devour the whole fuckin thing, icing or not.
I also don't think, especially with Shadowbane's case, that you can accurately judge the playability/fun level of SB's system in beta because of the player-based nature of it. That isn't meant to argue with anything said by anyone so far, it's just a disclaimer against people who would argue against that point in future posts.

So I'll buy it unless I hear horrid reviews just to try it out.