What is Shadowbane? A simple question, but not so simple to answer. Shadowbane is many things to many people. The game is officially classified as a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying game (MMORPG or MMO for short), but there are some who would classify it as a real-time strategy game. Which is it?

Well, both actually. Shadowbane uses many elements from strategy games such as city building, sieges, territory conquest, and tactical formations and weds them to a game system similar to other fantasy MMORPGs. Players level and adventure in Shadowbane as they do in other MMOs, but Shadowbane offers unique activities in the game world, adding reasons to continue play after the more conventional RPG has been mastered.

Shadowbane has expanded the concept of what an online persistent world RPG can be. Rather than focusing on the story arc of the single character and taking the game no further, Shadowbane extends the experience by creating a backdrop of political intrigue and warfare for players to become engrossed in. Players can join together to form guilds, raise armies and conquer Kingdoms. Leaders marshal their strength to build keeps, temples and fortifications. Armies battle their rivals to control resource mines crucial to their kingdoms' growth. And when diplomacy fails, legions and siege engines batter down the walls of cities, and the destinies of player nations are decided on virtual battlefields.