Monthly Archives: August 2011

Breaking news: Games pitched as MMOs are not actually MMOs!

Posted on August 31, 2011 by SynCaine

Borderlands is more of an MMO than Global Agenda. It has a bigger “open world”, a longer character progression path, more itemization, more quests, more lore, etc. Both games are limited in how many people can be in one area, … Continue reading →

Posted in DoTA, Global Agenda, League of Legends, Mass Media, MMO design, Random, Rant, Rift, RMT, World of Warcraft | 17 Comments

Play to (profitably) crush: Round 2?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by SynCaine

 Massively has a nice two-part interview (linking not working atm…) with two original Shadowbane, and now Wizard101, devs that is well worth reading. The story behind Shadowbane is a familiar one. New devs biting off more than they can chew, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Options of terror

Posted on August 29, 2011 by SynCaine

Regardless of the game, if I don’t have a sense of where I should go next, I get anxious. I need to think about why this is. It’s not that I don’t enjoy an open world or freedom. I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 20 Comments

Darkfall: The only option

Posted on August 26, 2011 by SynCaine

To continue the blog merger, I’ll pick up where I left off on the reset topic and how it applies to Darkfall. It’s true that a character reset would cut millions of players from WoW, or thousands off games like … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, Housing, MMO design | 8 Comments

Global Agenda: Looking ahead to the next update

Posted on August 25, 2011 by SynCaine

While I have not been posting much about Global Agenda, I and a few others have been playing it somewhat frequently of late, and having a good time (InqClan if you want to join us). GA is one of those … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Agenda, Patch Notes, PvP | 6 Comments

League of Legends lets you see how much cash you have spent

Posted on August 25, 2011 by SynCaine

The latest League of Legends update lets you see your purchase history, both real cash and IP spending. From a quick survey on the Inquisition forum, it’s pretty clear Riot going F2P has earned them a whole hell of a … Continue reading →

Posted in League of Legends, RMT | 22 Comments

Lore and Gameplay

Posted on August 24, 2011 by SynCaine

Lore should justify gameplay, rather than gameplay justifying lore. In other words, if my MMO setting does not use magic, but a level designer creates something pretty awesome that requires a hint of magic (floating platforms), you don’t scrap the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Mount and Blade: Warband, World of Warcraft | 8 Comments

Videogames, coming to a bar near you

Posted on August 23, 2011 by SynCaine

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about watching SC2 matches in a sports bar. As gamers age, and as gaming continues to eat into music, movies, and TV, I think mainstream acceptance of gaming as an eSport is inevitable. … Continue reading →

Posted in League of Legends, Mass Media | 10 Comments

Just another post gushing about FFT

Posted on August 23, 2011 by SynCaine

I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics like a madman since picking it up (Aria loves the super-loud sound effects, just ask her), and I just don’t get how a game from 1997 can STILL be the greatest TBS title of … Continue reading →

Posted in iPhone | 10 Comments

Sad mummy = happy results

Posted on August 22, 2011 by SynCaine

1498. Silver. Winning. As previously reported, my quest for Silver ranking for Season One hit a little snag after getting to 1494, just one ELO point below the cutoff. After dropping to 1440ish, last night I finally won the game … Continue reading →

Posted in League of Legends | 12 Comments