Monthly Archives: April 2014

DF:UW – Fear and fun in Agon

Posted on April 30, 2014 by SynCaine

Following the development of Darkfall is far more stressful than actually playing it for me. I have issues, most likely stemming from having more than one MMO I enjoyed crapped on by the developers. Whether it was Tammel in UO, … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design | 9 Comments

AcheAge: Getting through the themepark to get to the sandbox

Posted on April 28, 2014 by SynCaine

Keen’s ArcheAge post today reiterates one of the ‘core values’ I think any virtual world must have; at no point should I be ‘done’ with an area. I think the whole concept of moving through zones is distinctively ‘not virtual … Continue reading →

Posted in ArcheAge, MMO design | 30 Comments

EVE: I’m going to put this next to my “History of WoW Empires” book

Posted on April 25, 2014 by SynCaine

Via TAGN, Kickstater (already funded) for a history of EVE Empires book. Easiest $25 I’ve spent in a while.   #EVE

Posted in EVE Online, Mass Media | 2 Comments

ESO: State of the game, state of the MMO

Posted on April 23, 2014 by SynCaine

Since Bethesda releases a State of the Game today, I might as well post mine now as well. Overall I really like the game. I don’t know if I’d call it a great MMO, but as just a game overall … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, The Elder Scrolls Online | 10 Comments

EVE: Space Famous

Posted on April 21, 2014 by SynCaine

The latest EVE Blog Banter topic is about “space famous” individuals and everyone’s thoughts about them. Jester has his entry here. The topic reminded me that I had previously talked about the importance of such players, here in more general … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, Site update, The Elder Scrolls Online | 4 Comments

Steam number crunching

Posted on April 17, 2014 by SynCaine

Ars Technica has done some really nice work around Steam and what players are buying and playing on that service. If the stat that Steam makes up 75% of PC sales today is even remotely true, it only makes this … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Media, Random | 5 Comments

DF:UW – Those who don’t learn from history

Posted on April 16, 2014 by SynCaine

The big announcement recently from AV about DF:UW is that they are doing away with the class system and going back to a more free-form character skill system. The perception on Forumfall was that due to classes, balance was poor. … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online | 9 Comments

DF:UW – Levy

Posted on April 14, 2014 by SynCaine

Just as ESO went live, AV released a major update to Darkfall: Unholy Wars that included a new Area of Influence (AoI) system and a levy system. I’ve talked about the current flaws in the AoI system, but even flawed … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design | 7 Comments

SOE: This is not the dying-trend clone you are looking for

Posted on April 10, 2014 by SynCaine

What are many gamers sick of? Zombies. Specifically DayZ-clone zombies. This sentiment will only grow as more and more clones get dumped out. What is SOE working on? A DayZ clone poorly titled H1Z1! Do you SOE, do you! PS: … Continue reading →

Posted in Random, Rant | 8 Comments

ESO: Genre meld

Posted on April 8, 2014 by SynCaine

In the post below this one, one line of questions revolved around what percentage of ESO’s content is ‘themepark’, and at what percentage does an MMO go from having themepark elements to just being a themepark. This post won’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, The Elder Scrolls Online | 39 Comments