Author Archives: SynCaine

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About SynCaine

Former hardcore raider turned casual gamer.

Life Evolution in the sandbox

Posted on November 24, 2009 by SynCaine

Pacing and gameplay evolution are very important and at times overlooked factors in any MMO. The actions and motivations of a day one player are very different than those of a two year veteran, and good game design takes that … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 20 Comments

Why a sandbox makes life more difficult for a griefer

Posted on November 23, 2009 by SynCaine

If you only know one thing about DarkFall, you likely know that a LOT of people just outright hate the game, or more accurately, the supposed playerbase behind the game. If you have been playing MMOs for any decent length … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 36 Comments

DarkFall Community Publisher update

Posted on November 23, 2009 by SynCaine

With the DarkFall Community Publisher initiative a week old, here are some initial thoughts: The link itself gets clicked quite often here, more so (on average) than any other link. Whether this is due to placement, the link being an … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Darkfall Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Patch Notes, Site update, Ultima Online | 9 Comments

Are you sure that’s really an expansion?

Posted on November 20, 2009 by SynCaine

In the comments of a previous DarkFall-related post here, the question of whether the next update should be considered a patch or expansion was brought up. Now I’ve already written what pushed the update from patch to expansion for me … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Housing, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, World of Warcraft | 26 Comments

Some random Dragon Age questions

Posted on November 19, 2009 by SynCaine

My rogue is wearing a massive armor set, mainly because the chest has a +15% backstab bonus and other rogue-friendly stats. It looks badass as well (warden set) That seems odd, but even more odd is the fact that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | 22 Comments

DarkFall caravans = roaming mobs or economic tool?

Posted on November 19, 2009 by SynCaine

So far so good on the DarkFall twitter front, with little updates on what certain teams are working on. I’ve said this before, and it comes up again here, but Aventurine loves toying with ForumFall, with the latest example being … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 25 Comments

DarkFall expansion gets a release date, from Twitter

Posted on November 18, 2009 by SynCaine

It’s a good thing Greeks don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, because it looks like the next DarkFall expansion is set for release late next week (with some caution that it might slip a few days, but that never happens in MMO land … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Patch Notes, Random, Site update | 19 Comments

Speaking of getting paid…

Posted on November 17, 2009 by SynCaine

I find it funny people are wondering who would pay $20 for a gold guide when people are freely spending $10 (or more if you gotta-catch-em-all) for a pet, one that will ultimately provide less entertainment per dollar than said … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, RMT, World of Warcraft | 10 Comments

I am, in fact, paid by Aventurine to promote DarkFall

Posted on November 17, 2009 by SynCaine

It’s been joked around here that because I talk so highly of DarkFall, I must be paid by Aventurine or just Tasos directly. While that is sadly not the case (feel free to contact me though Tasos), today is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Housing, Mass Media, Patch Notes, Site update | 21 Comments

A question for Bhagpuss

Posted on November 16, 2009 by SynCaine

This is going to be addressed directly to Bhagpuss, but really I think it covers quite a large group of players, so please chime in. @Bhagpuss: I saw on Tobold’s blog you said you played Dragon Age for 14 hours … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | 21 Comments