Category Archives: EVE Online

The Trinity: Keeping the masses safe since 1999!

Posted on August 20, 2010 by SynCaine

This post by ‘I played WAR before anyone else did’ Richard Bartle (via KTR) brings up some interesting points, with the big take-away for me being that the MMO genre would be a lot cooler right now if Ultima Online … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 23 Comments

Sheep, and the numbers they don’t understand.

Posted on August 16, 2010 by SynCaine

I always get a chuckle when people misuse the “80% of EVE pilots never leave Empire” stat from CCP as some sort of indicator that even the majority of EVE players don’t like PvP. As anyone who has actually played … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Rant, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Is the MMO genre back to being a niche market?

Posted on August 12, 2010 by SynCaine

Anyone else seeing the irony of SOE making their next EQ game a WoW clone? My my how quickly things change, and am I the only one thinking SOE is going to find a new and creative way to screw … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments

It’s been three years already?

Posted on August 2, 2010 by SynCaine

And this blog turns 3! Actually it turned 3 years old a few weeks ago, but that whole getting married thing prevented a timely update, so this one is a little late. 3 years is a rather crazy length of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Blogroll, Civilization Series, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, Random, Site update, Warhammer Online | 11 Comments

The newbie hero

Posted on July 1, 2010 by SynCaine

Yesterday’s post started the discussion about the perception vs the reality of a new player’s role in Darkfall, and what chance that player has of really contributing to Darkfall’s ‘end-game’ of massive PvP. It also brought up the issue of … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments

One too many gaming options

Posted on June 22, 2010 by SynCaine

Having too many games to play might seem like a silly thing to stress over (it is), but man can it be annoying/frustrating/great all at the same time. Between Darkfall being about as exciting as its ever been (with an … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Civilization Series, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Random, Site update, Wizard101 | 7 Comments

Chasing sheep money

Posted on June 16, 2010 by SynCaine

My comment yesterday about Warhammer 40k looking like WoW in the future was only partly based off the fact that, well, it looks like WoW in the future. The other factor in making that statement was the fact that in … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Rant, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

Character progression: Why SW:TOR is DOA

Posted on May 25, 2010 by SynCaine

The style and impact of character progression is an issue that every MMO must consider, and it’s an issue that far too often is misunderstood by many players (and devs for that matter). The concept of ‘the grind’ is heavily … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, SW:TOR, Uncategorized, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Bringing EVE’s Empire space to DarkFall

Posted on May 18, 2010 by SynCaine

The phrase “Play to Crush” from ShadowBane has an ironic history behind it. Before SB’s release, it was a rallying cry for the PvP ‘hardcore’, a declaration that all of those ‘soft’ features from other MMOs need not apply here. … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Uncategorized | 22 Comments

Community differences and evolution in a PvP world

Posted on May 17, 2010 by SynCaine

One major contrast I see between the player base in EVE and the one in DarkFall is permanence, alliance loyalty, and the ability to recover and continue the fight. As I was reading the 0.0 activity report in EON, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Uncategorized | 21 Comments