12 Dead Online Video Games That Should Never Have Ended
12. Shadowbane
This fantasy MMO launched in 2003 to much critical acclaim and a very good reception from customers. Set in a fantasy world, it featured many of the elements that you would expect to see in that genre of MMO but also a couple of unusual design choices that set it apart from the other available titles. It shut down in 2009 despite having a dedicated fan base after the publisher announced that the player numbers were not sufficiently high enough to continue operating the servers. What made Shadowbane unique was that it didnt focus on a multitude of quests designed by the developers, instead it was all about player-versus-player combat in a huge, dynamic world. It gave you a continuous feeling of never being safe thanks to the fact that almost every area allowed you to be attacked from others; but this did not frustrate, but rather fostered an atmosphere of constant war. Even without large amounts of scripted content you were never short of things to do, players could built their own cities, set up governments and went to battle with neighbours to gain control of their territory. The siege warfare also meant that combat was different to your typical games, allowing for more diverse tactics and more innovative gameplay and the fact that the world changed according to the actions of the community as a whole gave the impression that you were really part of proceedings. Ultimately, Shadowbane tried to be something different rather than just another mundane MMO, and it was a great shame to lose it simply because of that. But more important was the loss of a compelling universe filled with unique classes and races in combination with truly interesting combat.
