I was there today, and managed to snag a G4 for about 90 minutes. I've been eagerly following this game for over a year now.
Impressions:
BAD:
• This build is unoptimized, and dropped frames far too often for dual-GHz G4's with GF4s. This should be fixed.
• The graphics, unfortunately, look no better in person than they do in screenshots. I know some people don't care about this, but it bothers me (for comparison's sake, look at Asheron's Call 2, which will be released around the same time).
• Combat is clumsy; I needed to click attack 3-4 times before I'd start swinging my axe. This might have been a lag issue. Furthermore, characters won't attack unless facing the enemy when attack is clicked, and those "emenies" need more variation (I quickly bored of random deer, rats, and wolves).
• It crashed about every 20 minutes. The server also went down twice for about 10 minutes each time. Darn beta software!
• There is no efficient way to heal -- potions are overpriced, and "sitting" results in absurdly slow regeneration. If you want to seriously level up, you need a healer around.
• The font used to display most general information is unbelievably ugly.
• It's nighttime, all the time. I needed to turn the gamma waaaaaaay up.
GOOD:
• The character models & spell effects are both pretty good, far surpassing the world graphics.
• The game ran almost as poorly on the PC's as it did on the Macs.
• When creating a character, you're presented with TONS of options.
• You can zoom way-out and play it Diablo -style.
• Vendors are easy to deal with, though items are a bit overpriced.
• Trading is secure.
• Parties are easy to form and you're given a wealth of options concerning them.
It's important to note that Shadowbane's main appeal is the politics; Building cities, establishing empires, making allegiances, and participating in guild wars were obviously key elements that I was unable to play with. However, I'm sorry to say that I came away, overall, unimpressed. The graphics need a lot of work, as does player vs. monster combat. However, I'm hoping that they will polish things up -- A LOT -- before release in November.
And BTW, just for showing up at their booth, I was able to secure a beta account to be activated in 2-3 weeks, plus I got a free t-shirt! Hopefully, after a month or two with the beta, my opinion of the game will go up, as it's my only choice for an MMORPG I can play with my Windoze-uzin' friends. If, however, there's little or no improvement, I just can't justify a monthly fee to play the game in it's current form.
Anyone else get a chance to play it?
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