Shadowbane Releases New Asian-Specific MMO Fork

Thanks to Waterthread.org for its messageboard thread pointing to major new Asian-specific features for UbiSoft's PC MMO title Shadowbane, following Asian publisher En-Tranz's decision to create a separate version of the game to better meet "the needs of the Asia-Pacific players." This unique split, with 2 development teams working on different version of the same MMO, has led to Asian-specific changes such as "a 'WASD' control scheme (no more mouse clicking movement)", a new experience curve ("players can now reach level 20 much more easily but as players reach the higher levels, it gets much more difficult"), and a general "newbie experience overhaul." Update: 03/01 19:07 GMT by S : In related news, UbiSoft has just announced the purchase of Wolfpack Studios, creators of ShadowBane.

Comments

After reading the article

[foidulus]

You really have to wonder what specifically is for the asian market? Maybe it's just that asians are more accepting of MMO's than the general public, so they can slim down the newbie station? Or is it that they tend to have greater tolerance for random monsters so they jack up the monster count. Or they love very cartoony looks so they overhaul some of the outfits? Or is it that they love collecting very rare items so the price skyrockets? A lot of it sounds like catering to hardcore gamers versus the hobbyist public than anything specifically asian, but maybe thats just my take on it.
Maybe someone more familiar with the asian gaming market can tell me what cultural aspects make this stuff more appealing. I guess as a regular dumb American I just see a lot of these features as a way to take up more time that could be spent doing something else, like FPing on /.

Re:After reading the article

[Anonymous Coward]

Or maybe the asian market is just more accepting of really shitty MMOs. I gave SB a long time to "get working" and it never did. After many months, I just gave up even though I'd already paid for a year long subscription at $120. The ideas were interesting but it was just so technicall inferior and needed a lot of work. And the gameplay got EXTREMELY boring.

changing because they failed

[Filiks]

Shadowbane was supposed to have been user created warfare against other humans. I haven't played since summer, but the game hadn't yet accomplished that.

The changes sound as though they're making the higher levels difficult to reach so the game becomes more like Everquest. Since the warfare didn't work like it was supposed to, change the focus to player vs. monsters. If the PVP had worked, leveling quickly would still be appreciated as the real fun I had was against other humans. Getting most players to similar levels makes for a more even battlefield.

Re:We Love Asia

[Anonymous Coward]

How did this get a +2 insightful?! This is the dumbest post I've ever read. "An asian version of the game would be good because hard core gamers would buy an asian version of the game"??? Whatever! It's an ASIAN SERVER dude. That's it.

Should have been in at the start.

[darkmayo]

So I actually just read the article and it definately looks like the Asia team is willing to impliment alot that (imo) should have been in the game in the first place.

Biggest problem was the point and click movement which was something that tons of people bitched about and what alot of people never got use to. There should have been at least the option to Go WASD , wolfpack stated that the keyboard commands would cause too much lag so they went with the single click movement instead.
(Not sure if that was all just bullshit or not)

The user interface was always fairly customizable you could pretty much drag buttons anywhere on the screen , if they make it even more friendly to use thats a plus.

Redesigns of Islands is a great idea and honestly should have happend right after beta. As well having more monsters out in the farther areas is an idea that should have been implimented from the get go, you can seriously run around for hours and not see a monster at all in some areas.

Looks like they want to add more focus to PVE into the game, or at least making it a bit more enjoyable, since as much as the game might want to deny it, you have to PvE alot to farm gold for your towns. Why not make it a bit more fun while doing it.