Monthly Archives: October 2013

MMO Future: Understanding old memories

Posted on October 31, 2013 by SynCaine

Almost all of the original MMOs worked. UO, EQ1, AC1, DAoC; all of those games had solid populations and growth in their prime. In contrast, most of the recent MMOs (AoC, WAR, LotR, SW:TOR, Aion, Rift, etc) have not. Either … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rift, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 52 Comments

I’ll just answer my own challenge

Posted on October 30, 2013 by SynCaine

I’m currently semi-addicted to Steam trading cards and leveling up my Steam account. Why? Because I’m an idiot. F2P ALL THE WAY! PS: If you are not into the cards, please send one or all to me and we can … Continue reading →

Posted in Random, RMT | 21 Comments

F2P challenge, still waiting

Posted on October 28, 2013 by SynCaine

Last week I asked F2P fans to comment/post on why the F2P model for an MMO is better for both devs and players. I’m still waiting…

Posted in RMT | 84 Comments

MMO Future: Suits and timebombs

Posted on October 24, 2013 by SynCaine

A lot of good back and forth dialog happened yesterday, which you should go read if you haven’t. Thanks go out to Brian (Psychochild) Green for putting up more of a fight than the hotbar salesmen from SW:TOR. I’d like … Continue reading →

Posted in EQNext, EVE Online, Kickstarter, MMO design, Rant, RMT, SW:TOR, The Elder Scrolls Online, World of Warcraft | 77 Comments

People of F2P MMOs

Posted on October 23, 2013 by SynCaine

Nope. First, can we stop linking to that 2011 LotRO announcement of how great it’s doing? Please link to the 2013 “still doing great” announcement. Same goes for DDO. Last I heard, Turbine was releasing a response to in-game protests … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, RMT | 38 Comments

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes mini review

Posted on October 22, 2013 by SynCaine

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes was on my Steam wishlist since release, and recently went on a 75% sale so of course was picked up. Initially I was a bit meh on it because at first glance, is almost the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | 6 Comments

MMO future: Social baseline

Posted on October 17, 2013 by SynCaine

At the time of its release, WoW was criticized for not bringing much to the MMO genre, and simply being a refined EverQuest. Refining someone else’s idea was, after all, how Blizzard made a name for themselves originally. In 2004, … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 26 Comments

All in

Posted on October 14, 2013 by SynCaine

One point I didn’t see made when we were talking about Warhammer Online (notably I read about 3 blogs about it, so if I missed this someone post a link); I think it was the last MMO to launch where … Continue reading →

Posted in Warhammer Online | 10 Comments

Waiting for the future

Posted on October 10, 2013 by SynCaine

I remember in the early/mid 90s going into Boston to a ‘gaming café’ and playing a very primitive shooter game in a virtual reality setup. You got into a raised circular area with waist-high padded bumper rails, put on some … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | 5 Comments

The case for expansions

Posted on October 3, 2013 by SynCaine

The recent lack of Darkfall posts is due, surprise, to an overall lack of playing DF lately. It’s moved from a game I played daily to something I put a few hours into a week, which in turn moves me … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online | 25 Comments