Author Archives: SynCaine

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About SynCaine

Former hardcore raider turned casual gamer.

Console gamers: “no tough concepts please”.

Posted on July 13, 2007 by SynCaine

Aside from MMOs, I really enjoy playing the Civilization series of games, notably Civ 4 at the moment. While looking for a mod pack, I ran across this news piece over at Gamespot. At first glance I thought it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization Series, Console Gaming, Random | Comments Off on Console gamers: “no tough concepts please”.

I demand content!

Posted on July 12, 2007 by SynCaine

Here is a quick recount of my first trip to the new area of LoTRO, Evendim. By design, you receive a quest to talk to a hobbit in the northern area of the shire. Having completed most of the quests in … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | Comments Off on I demand content!

My guild house > your guild house.

Posted on July 11, 2007 by SynCaine

Yesterdays post talked about player housing and some common issues with it. Today I’m going to attempt to break down the theory behind player housing; what makes it work, why it’s attractive, and what are some pitfalls to avoid.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 2 Comments

Ghost town, population you.

Posted on July 10, 2007 by SynCaine

One feature either already in a MMO, or always talked about as ‘coming soon’ is player housing. Seemingly always difficult to implement, highly demanded, and always a hot button issue on forums, housing seems to polarize players almost as much … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 8 Comments

Lord of the Rings Online is good, and getting even better.

Posted on July 9, 2007 by SynCaine

Lord of the Rings Online is a good game, and at level 31 now, I feel fairly confident to say it’s got a lot going for it now and in the future. Over the weekend a few events took place … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 2 Comments

Optimus Prime is the man…bot.

Posted on July 6, 2007 by SynCaine

First things first, Transformers was an awesome, awesome movie. Go see it.   Final day of my crusade to take away your epics, I promise. Judging from some of the comments, I think people are having a tough time with … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Random, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

Buff characters, nerf items.

Posted on July 5, 2007 by SynCaine

Yesterday I talked about how in recent MMOs, items play a greater role in a characters power than they have in the past, to the point that items DEFINE your character. While I believe items are indeed a very important … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design | 5 Comments

World of Clone Craft, Lord of the Clones.

Posted on July 4, 2007 by SynCaine

MMO’s have one major goal, to build up your character/persona. You start very weak, and progress until you are able to take down demi-gods at will. That’s the hook. Developers place screenshots on the back of the box with high … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

Back tomorrow.

Posted on July 3, 2007 by SynCaine

So I go away for a night to see the Red Sox play back to back nights (two wins, woot), and what happens? WoWInsider links my blog, sending my hit rate through the roof. Great day to take a day … Continue reading →

Posted in Site update | 4 Comments

Hard Mode please.

Posted on July 2, 2007 by SynCaine

With my last post, I took a shot at Turbine for including a silly time sink in the form of mass kill deeds without really providing a good solution to the problem. Here is one possible solution.   Hard mode. … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 4 Comments