I totally sign this thread.  When I first got into MMOs, Shadowbane ruined my experience by being one of the coolest concepts around.  Getting ganked with my gimpy build made me a better gamer and build maker, but now I don't have anything to play that I can even have a unique character build. I'm still looking for the game that picks up its legacy.

As for not releasing screenshots on the new stray bullet game...  The Old Republic team has been writing storylines for two years but they just announced that it is even officially being developed.  I'm definitely going to try the new stray bullet game when it comes.

I actually agree with the OP, shadowbane has a better community than many people give it credit for.  The low amount of servers consolidates the players and the time windows for pvp action are well managed.  Thurin actually boasts a decent enough population to have a good time.  It is a shame how far it's decreased since it's peak though, there were epic politics and raging wars at one time.

The character creation and development  is probably the most intelligent and complex system I've ever played on.  There are an amazing number of builds and ways to play this game, and you only discover more once you think you understand how it works.  Also, it requires team strategy and good fundamental pvp skills to be able to beat people on the field or even to survive without getting ganked in some cases, not to mention building a city from scratch.

I've held on to Shadowbane for awhile though.  I've played it less and less since it came out, but I still pick it up every so often to see how things are going and check out what new builds are possible.  I wish some company would step up and pick up PVP where Shadowbane left off in MMOs.  Every MMO player would be better off if they got called gimpy and slaughted repeatedly in Shadowbane before moving on to whatever other game they want to play, cause I'm sick of how much people complain and whine for the nerfbat if they lose in games these days.  In Shadowbane getting stomped is natural, and the only thing you can do is open a can on someone before they can do it to you.

One final note... graphics over gameplay?  I still play SNES regularly for poop's sake, and if you don't know what I mean you're not a gamer no matter how much you post on forums (Go beat Mike Tyson in Punch Out on NES and then we'll talk).  You can't forget that most of these MMOs somehow stemmed from pen and paper games.  Looking pretty helps to immerse yourself, but nothing beats a creative imagination.

Well it's still the most popular on the front page of mmorpg.com and has the most unique hits this year.  People are still interested in this game, even WoW players who don't like it are posting in forum topics about it.  Many mmo players are watching the progress of this game without signing up.  At least I know I am, and so far I would still be willing to play if I ever get some money.  It looks like they are dedicated toward creating a good game and if the developers stick to their goals and listen to their player base, I have no worries about the decisions they make concerning server 'merges' and the future of the game.  After all, they did make the game, and kinda know how it works.  I guess I just don't think it's fun to stand on the sidelines trying to decide whether a game flops or not.  Heck, I go play Shadowbane every once in awhile just because the character creation and development was freakin' sweet, with other great ideas to boot. 

I think this bit of information is news because it is something that happened concerning the game, but not news in the sense of television news, eg. the world is ending every day and we have to be the first to cover it.  It's very far from being a sign of the game's impending doom.