Author Archives: SynCaine

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About SynCaine

Former hardcore raider turned casual gamer.

PvE Sandbox MMO: The beginning

Posted on April 6, 2011 by SynCaine

A few days ago I posted about a PvE Sandbox MMO, and while the post got my overall point across, I think it might be fun to fully expand upon the idea over a series of posts. One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random | 13 Comments

Shades of blue

Posted on April 5, 2011 by SynCaine

Back then I was on the ‘red’ side, now I’m firmly on the ‘blue’ side. Guess the player along with the game evolves. Wise words from a wise man, minus the grammar fail on the original. The first part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, Rift, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 13 Comments

Rift: Expert Dungeons, round one

Posted on April 4, 2011 by SynCaine

Inquisition has started running Expert dungeons in Rift, and so far the experience has been pretty damn enjoyable. The advancement pace is certainly much faster than 2004 WoW raiding, where I believe we spent about a week semi-pug-raid wiping on … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Inquisition Clan, Rift | 3 Comments

Patching like its 1999

Posted on April 1, 2011 by SynCaine

I appreciate the rapid pace of patching. It’s impressive, even by “first month of a new MMO” standards. And as we saw with 1.1, the updates are not all just bug fixes but actual content additions. Major bonus points for … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, EQ2, EVE Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rift, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

I should get hacked more often

Posted on March 31, 2011 by SynCaine

Remember this little encounter? It seems Trion thinks that ‘delayed’ response is worth 30 days of game time AND all of the weapon boost tokens you could receive from various pre-order deals. Just another day in a clone themepark. Basically. … Continue reading →

Posted in Rift, Site update | 24 Comments

Rift: World event quick hit

Posted on March 31, 2011 by SynCaine

The first Rift live event kicked off yesterday (along with the 1.1 patch), and for day-one of a major patch things were very smooth. Patching was quick, the servers stayed up, and no major bugs were introduced. The event itself, … Continue reading →

Posted in Inquisition Clan, Rift | 1 Comment

The apples taste like oranges

Posted on March 30, 2011 by SynCaine

I was in Stillmoor finishing up some quests when a raid-level quest opened up. About 30 minutes or so later, someone was advertising in zone-chat that they are putting together a raid for the quest. I sign up, and in … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

The PvE Sandbox

Posted on March 29, 2011 by SynCaine

Whenever a Darkfall update is features on Massively, odds are good someone is going to comment on how they would love to play in such a world, just without the FFA PvP. Now it should be pretty obvious to anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, Random | 9 Comments

Guild Wars 2 just cured cancer, world peace is next

Posted on March 29, 2011 by SynCaine

Dear world, Guild Wars 2 won’t solve your every issue with MMOs. It just won’t. It will, at the end of the day, be a PvE-based MMO with some PvP end-game, that’s overall pretty damn similar to what you see … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rant | 32 Comments

Rift: On the doorstep to 50

Posted on March 28, 2011 by SynCaine

Things are progressing nicely in Rift. I’m currently halfway through level 47, while others are just a few bars away from 50. We also have a nice ‘second core’ of people around the 20s and 30s. A few more members … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Inquisition Clan, PvP, Rift | 9 Comments