The Lessons of Shadowbane, Murder of Crows with J. Todd Coleman

Jacob Semmes Posted: Dec 29, 2017 1:00 PM

Category: Columns 0

Since we all know that taking our life’s savings and turning it into a game company is a great idea, we can fondly look at those who have done so and gifted us with games that live both in infamy and in memorial. Jeromy Walsh, founder of Soulbound Studios, in recent years seeded his company from his own finances. J. Todd Coleman and his buddies did the same thing twenty-some-odd years ago, selling their software company to start Wolfpack Studios and create Shadowbane. It’s a dream I believe many of us wish we had the opportunity, know-how, and balls to do. Really, that’s where Crowfall’s inception began. Looking at what Shadowbane was and what Crowfall plans to be, there are striking similarities between the two.

If you listen to the Crowfall developer streams, they reference Shadowbane regularly. Though I don’t have any experience with Shadowbane myself, it was talked about fondly during Crowfall’s Kickstarter funding by both the team behind the game and the community backing it, if not without some reservations. J. Todd Coleman’s Murder of Crows video below sheds a lot of light around his career during the creation of Shadowbane and the struggles of Wolfpack Studios. The video itself is interesting and informative.

If you played Shadowbane, feel free to cough up a discussion about the similarities between Shadowbane and Crowfall’s design. What did you like about Shadowbane that the team at Artcraft are bringing over into Crowfall? Which of those similarities did you not like that are still being implemented? Which would you like to see?