Category Archives: MMO design

WoW Classic – Ding 60

Posted on February 25, 2020 by SynCaine

A few days ago I hit 60 on my human rogue, which officially closes the book on the leveling game of Classic for at least that character. It was, as expected, an enjoyable run and a reminder of what Blizzard … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Site update, World of Warcraft | 1 Comment

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

Old Blizzard teaching New Blizzard the same old tricks

Posted on November 7, 2019 by SynCaine

There are two ways to take the news that New Blizzard is finally learning from Old Blizzard about how to make an MMO. On the one hand, maybe it gives you hope that New Blizzard can turn Retail around and … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, World of Warcraft | 9 Comments

WoW Classic: New Blizzard removes layers with New Blizzard execution

Posted on October 23, 2019 by SynCaine

My motivation to blog about Classic is obviously down thanks to the whole Bliz/China issue, which sucks on multiple levels that I’ve already written about. Blogging today because New Blizzard continues to screw up Classic, which at this point is … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

WoW Classic: The game-changer expansion

Posted on October 3, 2019 by SynCaine

I posted my initial thoughts on what a Classic expansion might look like. It was basically ‘more of the same’, and avoiding what WoW gets wrong with WotLK and beyond. But the more I think about it, a lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 4 Comments

WoW Classic: Nostalgia or Design?

Posted on October 2, 2019 by SynCaine

What Blizzard feels is the correct answer to the question “Why are people playing and enjoying Classic” will go a long way in determining the game’s future direction. If the answer is heavily towards ‘nostalgia’, then the key to Classic’s … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 9 Comments

WoW Classic: Alt-itis

Posted on September 30, 2019 by SynCaine

One of the big surprises related to WoW Classic for me has been my enjoyment of playing alts. Back in Vanilla I only had my Orc Warrior, and later had a lvl 19 twink undead Rogue. But I never got … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 5 Comments

WoW Classic: First month and the game is still growing, but for how long?

Posted on September 25, 2019 by SynCaine

We are a month into WoW Classic and a few things are shaking out. The biggest IMO being that the population hasn’t gone down since launch, and if anything is still growing, as Blizzard continues to open new servers. Of … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 5 Comments

WoW Classic: I’m a Pali, and I auto-attack things

Posted on September 19, 2019 by SynCaine

I never played a Paladin in WoW. The biggest reason for this was that I played Horde at release, and was never big on creating alts. When TBC came out, I rolled a space goat shaman. Now that Classic is … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

WoW Classic: Two dungeons, two different games

Posted on September 16, 2019 by SynCaine

In the last few days our guild ran two instances, Shadow Fang Keep and Gnomeregan, and the two experiences nicely mirror the differences between WoW Classic and Retail IMO. For SFK, our group was a bit higher in levels than … Continue reading →

Posted in Inquisition Clan, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments