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As many people awaiting the release of Shadowbane know, one of the key features of this upcoming MMORPG is the ability to lay siege on rival cities. Given the fact that sieges can involve large numbers of players, extensive and tweaking during the beta testing phase has resulted in a streamlined city siege system that is explained in depth in a recent news article at the official Shadowbane site.

Though attacking one force with another is certainly part of the siege process, it also contains various other complexities that include economic models, challenge phases, and timing, which ensure that playing smart can be just as important as playing strong:

The city sieging system has been dramatically streamlined to be more inline with a number of our original design goals: increasing the ability to cripple neighboring states through the use of economic pressure, extending the time of a siege to minimize the effectiveness of "4am raiding", making the system more intuitive and easier to manage, and increasing guild participation on behalf of both attacker and defender.

[Q]. What is to stop the defenders from simply healing up their walls after I break through by repairing them with gold?

[Warden]: Nothing, other than money. Think of the equation this way : once you have the bulwarks up, you have (effectively) an infinite supply of damage you can deal out to the town. The defenders have a specific amount of healing they can do (based on the gold they have accumulated.) So in that light, my answer to your question is "nothing but money" -- but I think the money will be enough.

Shadowbane - The Shadowbane City Siege System

Shadowbane - The Shadowbane City Siege System Q&A

Shadowbane - Screenshots

Ubisoft

Wolfpack Studios

Shadowbane

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