Monthly Archives: October 2009

Aion: Eminem’s “Kim” track, final verse, final line.

Posted on October 30, 2009 by SynCaine

Watching Aion bleed out in record time is, to be honest, enjoyable for me. Part of that just comes from my general dislike that the genre of gaming I enjoy most has, on the AAA level, gone from persistent worlds … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, Rant | 60 Comments

DarkFall: Bounty Hunter event aftermath.

Posted on October 29, 2009 by SynCaine

Last night the NA DarkFall server saw its first major player-driven event, a bounty hunter chase that went off very well considering it was the first of its kind in DF. I was able to log on just after the … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP | 6 Comments

DarkFall’s version of EVE University

Posted on October 28, 2009 by SynCaine

As frequent readers here know, one of the reasons I greatly prefer a sandbox MMO over a themepark is the amount of control players have in shaping their game and the world around them. While that control is a double … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Housing | 13 Comments

Dragon Age does hype the right way

Posted on October 27, 2009 by SynCaine

My anticipation for Dragon Age has been slowly ramping up, and not in the usual ‘watch ever movie/screen shot asap!’ way. I actually made it a point to avoid all that in order to keep the experience of playing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Media, Random | 8 Comments

More Aion vs Fallen Earth observations

Posted on October 26, 2009 by SynCaine

The trending examples provided by the recently released Aion and Fallen Earth continue, and some interesting if not entirely unexpected observations can be made. Today’s topic is player reaction, and how it differs when comparing a niche game (FE) versus … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Fallen Earth, MMO design | 33 Comments

DDO: Too fast?

Posted on October 22, 2009 by SynCaine

Am I the only one who thinks DDO would be a better game if everything inside a dungeon was at 50% speed? I think they have a great combat system, one that is both a little action hack-n-slash and also … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, DDO, MMO design | 13 Comments

Shocking! Asian grind game is grindy

Posted on October 21, 2009 by SynCaine

This is rather amussing. Damn NCSoft for tricking everyone into believe this Asian import with a year+ record of well documented grinding would be a grind. Those bastards. (Bonus points for kicking those with high-end rigs in the nuts once … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, beta | 15 Comments

More DarkFall expansion details

Posted on October 21, 2009 by SynCaine

The bad news about the next DarkFall expansion/patch is that is has been delayed until mid-November. The good news is we have some more info about what it will contain. Clicky here to read the Spotlight piece and all the … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes | 3 Comments

Dealing with the undesirables of any MMO community.

Posted on October 20, 2009 by SynCaine

Yesterday’s post was about the theory/dream of a persistent world with a reactive ecosystem, among other features. One of the very valid arguments against this setup is the possibility of the players themselves not playing nice and ruining everything. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design | 42 Comments

What the MMORPG genre could (and should) be.

Posted on October 19, 2009 by SynCaine

Last Friday’s post, and the links in the comments to Raph Koster’s posts (here, here, and here) (Thanks Brian) about the old Ultima Online eco system have sparked some old memories of what got me interested in the MMORPG genre … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Housing, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 64 Comments