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Meet Heroes of Evermore, Dungeon Runners' spiritual successor
Almost three years ago, a quirky and charming MMO died. It was NCsoft's Dungeon Runners, a Diablo-like action title that had a wicked funny streak running through it. We were genuinely sad to see it go away, but perhaps not as sad as its producer, Steve Nichols. In fact, Dungeon Runners was such an influence on his life that when he moved on to a new studio, he brought with him the idea of creating another MMO in the same vein. Today we caught up with Nichols to talk about that project, called Heroes of Evermore. Heroes of Evermore is currently in pre-alpha but is pushing hard to make strides in 2013 toward release. What would the spiritual successor to Dungeon Runners look like? You're about to find out!
The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Talking with Josef Hall and Todd Coleman, part 2
Don't miss the first part of this interview with the makers of Shadowbane, which we posted last week! And now for the thrilling conclusion... The Game Archaeologist: What was the reason behind 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 really 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 player population -- but yeah, I have no idea what it meant to the game monetarily.
The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: Talking with Josef Hall and Todd Coleman, part 1
After a couple of weeks of talking with players about their favorite experiences in Shadowbane, I decided it was high time to flip the discussion from those who played it to those who made it. Today we're going to kick off a two-part interview with the makers of Shadowbane, Josef Hall and Todd Coleman. It's interesting to realize that while MMOs come and go, many developers remain in the industry, moving between projects in surprising ways. In this case, both Hall and Coleman went from the brutal lands of cutthroat PvP to a colorful kids title: Wizard101. It's hard to imagine two MMOs being more different, but that goes to show you that developers, like gamers, don't always like being pigeonholed into specific roles. The duo were extremely eager to talk about Shadowbane, as you'll see from this interview. Buckle up -- you're in for a treat! The Game Archaeologist: Can you introduce yourself to us and explain how you became involved with Shadowbane? Josef Hall: I'm Josef Hall, co-founder of Wolfpack Studios, the creator of Shadowbane. Currently, I'm the Vice President of Development at KingsIsle Entertainment, creator of Wizard101. Todd Coleman: And I'm Todd Coleman, co-founder of Wolfpack. I'm currently the VP of Production and Creative for KingsIsle. Josef and I still work together; we were the two first people brought in start the dev studio for KingsIsle here in Austin. Hall: In fact, Wizard101 was our idea, which is a bit odd, given that we were also the first two people to come up with the core idea behind Shadowbane.
The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The highlights
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 "MMORPG" boxes when I'd see them on the shelf. I must have picked up Shadowbane a dozen or so times to check out 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 probably for the best, considering that Shadowbane was primarily PvP and I'm a PvE guy at heart. Plus, the title never really took off the way that publisher Ubisoft had hoped, spending most of its six years of operation lurking in the background of the MMO 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!
As the moon wanes, Shadowbane is no more
The developers of Shadowbane will shut down its servers 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 relaunched the game to take advantage of better stability and performance architecture.Shadowbane launched in March 2003 and was a pioneer for open-PvP, political intrigue, and dynamic world content, where the player 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 MMO 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 MMORPG, so let us leave you with the fond memories of one of Shadowbane's developers.Thanks for being a sometimes inspiration and sometimes whipping-boy for the MMORPG genre, Shadowbane. May your soul be eternally bound to the Tree of Life.
Shadowbane developers announce new project
When Wolfpack Studios was shut down by UbiSoft last May, they left behind a legacy that included semi-popular MMORPG Shadowbane. So color us not surprised that Stray Bullet Games, which includes many members of the disbanded Wolfpack team, has announced that their first project will be -- are you ready for this? -- an MMORPG that looks a lot like Shadowbane. Shock and awe.While a name has yet to be given to this new title, which is based upon an original intellectual property, the pictured concept art and the announcement itself all seem to point to a heavy Shadowbane influence. Player versus player combat looks to be the focus once again as "characters, guilds, and global factions will engage in meaningful, exciting, and fun mass combat."Stray Bullet Games also announced they will also be making use of middleware to get the job done, as opposed to creating their own game engine from scratch. I think we speak for all who remember Shadowbane's years languishing in development hell when we say, "Godspeed."
