Category Archives: Combat Systems

UO Forever: More lessons

Posted on January 28, 2013 by SynCaine

UO Forever has been a great time so far, both from just a pure gameplay perspective and as a refresher of sorts on how the MMO genre got started and the design decisions that worked. I’ve covered combat already, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Housing, MMO design, Ultima Online | 5 Comments

7 minutes in heaven, a month of hell

Posted on January 16, 2013 by SynCaine

One point that I don’t think I made clear enough in my post about UO’s combat was that the slower pace and simplicity leads to longer retention, and so today I want to expand on that a bit (in horribly … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, Rant, Rift, Ultima Online | 30 Comments

Get Darkfall on Steam

Posted on November 28, 2012 by SynCaine

Aventurine has submitted Darkfall: Unholy Wars for Steam’s Greenlight. Go vote to get it in. Also the newest video has been released, showing off the Skirmisher role / Brawler school. Gotta love that jump range. Hopefully the dodge move is … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online | 7 Comments

Bernie Madoff was a great investor. Used the wrong payment model.

Posted on November 8, 2012 by SynCaine

“I think there will definitely be failures within the next 12 to 24 months. Many who are entering the market right now are doing it as almost a money-grab. But subscription is dead. [Star Wars:] The Old Republic was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, DDO, EVE Online, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Random, Rant, Rift, RMT, SW:TOR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 23 Comments

Xcom Ironman is like playing Darkfall, minus the NPC aliens

Posted on October 22, 2012 by SynCaine

I’m a little late in jumping on the Xcom bandwagon, but its every bit as good as you likely have heard. I went straight into Classic/Ironman, and I’m glad I did. So far (game 11), I’ve not survived longer than … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Console Gaming, Darkfall Online, Inquisition Clan, Random | 10 Comments

GW2: One step forward, two steps back for the genre

Posted on September 24, 2012 by SynCaine

Keen has a report card out for GW2, and while I think the grades are a bit high, I agree overall with his assessment. In short, GW2 is a good game, but a month in its pretty clear GW2 is … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Guild Wars, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RMT, RvR | 65 Comments

Darkfall Unholy War: The what and the why

Posted on September 19, 2012 by SynCaine

It would seem the recent Darkfall: Unholy War (DF:UW) announcement has caused some confusion, so consider this my public service in attempting to clear some things up. Note that most of this is just personal speculation based on what AV … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP | 5 Comments

GW2: Broken Jack of Trades

Posted on September 17, 2012 by SynCaine

GW2 has a serious identity crisis. Is it an ultra-casual MMO that rewards everyone for everything? Is it an e-sport title for competitive 5v5 teams? Is it an updated DAoC focused on RvR? Is it a WoW clone, or the … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Guild Wars, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RMT | 15 Comments

GW2: Review at the midpoint

Posted on September 5, 2012 by SynCaine

I hit level 41 last night on my Human Elementalist. In that time I’ve completed (all items checked) three zones, done all storyline quests up to my level, have two crafting skills to 130ish, ran the first instance in Story … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP, RvR, Warhammer Online | 21 Comments

GW2: Retention fails

Posted on August 14, 2012 by SynCaine

My retention post about GW2 had some interesting if not unsurprising responses. Perhaps the MOST surprising (but not really) part was how varied the ‘why’ explanations were. The easiest justification was that GW2 will have fluff to ‘grind’, and since … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Guild Wars, MMO design | 55 Comments