Category Archives: Combat Systems

Warhammer Online vs DarkFall: Combat

Posted on August 6, 2009 by SynCaine

Expanding a bit on yesterdays post about combat, I think it will be worthwhile to compare what I currently do in Warhammer Online versus what combat looks like when I play DarkFall. In a somewhat odd twist, most of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online | 10 Comments

When the combat system in 1997 was better than what we have today, you know we have a problem.

Posted on August 5, 2009 by SynCaine

Now that his resurrection is complete, Tobold has started a multi-part series of posts talking about why we play MMOs, with today’s topic being gameplay. In most MMOs today, gameplay generally means combat, and so the type of combat system … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

Gaming Progress Report: WAR, DarkFall, and some Blood Bowl.

Posted on July 24, 2009 by SynCaine

Some random Friday updates today, as I don’t have anything major to talk about. In an odd way, the last few days have been an ‘all good’ type of deal in Syn’s MMO land. Happy times lead to less blogging … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, RvR, The Casualties Guild, Warhammer Online | 1 Comment

WAR: The casual PvP MMO

Posted on June 4, 2009 by SynCaine

Playing WAR again after having played DarkFall is changing my mind about what WAR might be all about. Pre-release, WAR was being positioned as a great RvR game with a lot of great ideas. (ToK, PQs, Scenarios) While I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Combat Systems, Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, RvR, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 23 Comments

Phasing out ‘multiplayer’ in MMOs

Posted on June 3, 2009 by SynCaine

Tobold has a post up today talking about direct and indirect social interactions in MMO games. It’s a good read with interesting points, but is a somewhat odd topic to be discussing in a genre with Massive and Multiplayer in … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

DarkFall PvE screenshots

Posted on March 29, 2009 by SynCaine

While DarkFall is a PvP game first and foremost, even our very PvP-focused guild is not out ganking 24/7.  A few of our members were exploring recently, and found a new dungeon we had not seen before. Gathering a group … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design | 10 Comments

What playing way too much DarkFall gets you.

Posted on March 23, 2009 by SynCaine

Things change quickly in DarkFall, on both a personal scale and on the grand political scale. With the game still in its infancy, everyone is scrambling to establish and maintain alliances, and guilds that were allies just hours ago are … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, PvP | 14 Comments

If WoW tourists ran DarkFall

Posted on March 18, 2009 by SynCaine

I came across something rather terrifying. I saw what the world would be like if WoW tourists had full control of DarkFall. Allow me to explain. Thanks to a comment on Keen’s site, I found Ixobelle’s blog with three posts … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Rant, World of Warcraft | 60 Comments

Some quick thoughts on WAR’s 1.2 patch notes.

Posted on February 12, 2009 by SynCaine

The Warhammer Online patch notes for 1.2 are now available; if you have a few hours to spare check all 55 pages out. Its jaw-dropping how many changes are set to go in, the new systems being added, and just … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Patch Notes, RvR, Warhammer Online | 10 Comments

Why usually ‘kill ten rats’ sucks, and how AO nails it.

Posted on February 2, 2009 by SynCaine

Lots of people hate kill ten rats. No I don’t mean the blog (it rocks), but that style of quest in an MMO, where some NPC with some minor issue sends you out to kill some number of enemies, only … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantica Online, Combat Systems, MMO design, Warhammer Online | 5 Comments