Category Archives: Lord of the Rings Online

The broken promise of the MMO genre

Posted on November 8, 2019 by SynCaine

Could you imagine playing the same videogame for a decade? Ten years, one game? If this question was asked in the 90s, it would seem silly. That would be at least two generations of consoles, and PC hardware was changing … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Clash of Clans, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, iPhone, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

PUBG is to 2017 what WoW was to 2004

Posted on September 14, 2017 by SynCaine

The parallels between the current explosive growth and influence of PUBG and WoW back in 2004 are many, though there are also some very interesting differences. Neither game was the first in its genre. WoW wasn’t the first MMO, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Rift, SOE being SOE, SW:TOR, Tobold being Wrong, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 2 Comments

LotRO: Still a dumpster

Posted on July 21, 2017 by SynCaine

On a whim I fired up LotRO, which was a mistake. I’m not sure the last time I played LotRO, but it’s been a while, perhaps as far back as the F2P change. My history with LotRO is that initially … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant | 6 Comments

Give LotRO a proper ending

Posted on April 29, 2016 by SynCaine

LotRO and I have a long history. It was one of the first MMOs I played with my wife that she really got into, and for a time I enjoyed the game despite its many issues. Its one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online | 1 Comment

Warhammer Online killed the MMO genre

Posted on January 19, 2016 by SynCaine

Sensationalized blog title for all of the clicks! Except not really, because WAR really did kill the MMO genre, at least in terms of being a mainstream genre similar in popularity to say RPGs, Sports titles, or FPS. Now don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Camelot Unchained, Crowfall, Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rift, Star Citizen, SW:TOR, Uncategorized, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 10 Comments

2015 predictions review

Posted on December 15, 2015 by SynCaine

Prompted by Wilhelm again, lets look back at my 2015 predictions. DF:UW will shut down. The population is at an all-time low, AV is completely lost with the title, and Forumfall continues to stick daggers into the one game even … Continue reading →

Posted in ArcheAge, Camelot Unchained, Clash of Clans, Crowfall, Darkfall Online, EQNext, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Kickstarter, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, Random, Site update, SOE being SOE, SW:TOR, Trion being Trion, World of Warcraft | 16 Comments

The Turbine info has been right here for years

Posted on March 4, 2015 by SynCaine

Link to the first of many Aylwen posts. If the general gist, and even some of the exact details were news to you, you haven’t been reading this blog long have you? Still, it’s nice to have someone ‘officially’ confirm … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, RMT | 5 Comments

State of the MMO genre, 2015 edition

Posted on February 4, 2015 by SynCaine

First things first, it’s now 2015, and just like in 2014, 2013, and really since the beginning of time, we still haven’t seen an as-successful F2P MMO as we have sub MMOs (WoW/FFXIV/EVE). Until we do, this isn’t a debate. … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Asheron's Call, Camelot Unchained, EQ2, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Life is Feudal, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Pathfinder Online, Rift, RMT, Star Citizen, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 64 Comments

LotRO: You’ll never see Mordor

Posted on January 22, 2015 by SynCaine

Let’s talk about LotRO! Actually let’s not talk about the content of LotRO, because why make everyone suffer, but instead let’s talk about how things have gone for the game overall, and specifically under F2P. Spoiler alert: LotRO is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, Rant, RMT | 17 Comments

Looking back at 2014, looking forward into 2015

Posted on December 15, 2014 by SynCaine

Time to review 2014 and make some 2015 predictions (I don’t get as fancy as some people and do two posts!) Here are the 2014 predictions: EQNL will have everyone loving it the first month of release. Shortly after just … Continue reading →

Posted in ArcheAge, Camelot Unchained, Clash of Clans, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EQNext, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Citizen, SW:TOR, The Elder Scrolls Online, Trion being Trion, WildStar, World of Warcraft | 43 Comments