4 min 19 sec - Sep 25, 200
Description: :Kill Cult Video
Thanks Seven for putting this together
Yours Truly is Thump
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In my virtual life I belong to an Elite group of gamers called Kill Cult. Most of the members are real life friends that have been playing Online games together at least since Ultima Online. They made cyber history in a game called Shadowbane in which they accomplished feats of deception, strategy and just plain havoc in a game that was just as political as it was force in arms. Competing groups of players could build fortresses which then could be attacked and destroyed. Therefore the stakes in the game in terms of effort and playing intelligently could be quite high. Diplomacy with other groups for common defense and antagonism against other alliances based upon "Good" vrs "Chaotic" alignments generated an environment in which great sagas would unfold during weeks of play.
The subterfuge and deception game has never been played more brilliantly than the escapades engineered by Kill Cult during their heyday in Shadowbane. They created a "Secret" merchant city in the game called "Tradewinds" in which they pretended to be CareBear "Roll Players" intent on making profit. This city became the largest city on the server and catered to the most of the player population and thus generated ungodly amounts of virtual gold for the guild's coffers.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, while their aliases pretended to be peaceful and non-violent shopkeepers their alter egos in Kill Cult were the most feared guild on the server. Always outnumbered but never outsmarted they outfoxed, outthought and outplayed any and all comers. The normal engagement for the guild would that they would be outnumbered at least 3 to 1 and during the last days of the game pretty much had the whole player base arrayed against them, and still they won. With unlimited gold from Tradewinds at their disposal they could hurt their enemies economically as well as militarily. Using superb small force tactics and communication they could normally cut swaths thru less organized and less experience players until their reputation grew to almost godlike proportions.
Unfortunately through a disgruntled member their deception of Tradewinds became known thus costing them their economic base. Great Alliances were formed from other guilds with the sole purpose of destroying Kill Cult. Lankmar, Kill Cult's main city and Tradewinds were destroyed, but meanwhile Foehammer's vision of the ultimate city was being created in secret, it was called Blackspire.
Located on an island the city was constructed with only one thought in mind, defense. It was completely impenetrable as the hordes of other players found out after they tried and tried and tried some more to bring it down and could not do so.
Shadowbane was a landmark game, as was Ultima Online, but unfortunately the game engine was not sufficient for the task. But for all its faults I (we) are still looking for that game that could transcend its reality like Shadowbane and Ultima and become something more than its parts. The intrigue and the events that happened could have been real interest if it had been read out of a book. No other game has created that sense of freedom and consequences that those two games encompassed since. Our new hope for virtual land to conquer and pillage is a game called Darkfall which will build alot on the ideas of Shadowbane and even add more possibilities. Look to Kill Cult to be there and to be a force to be reckoned with.
I was born at a very early age
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