Category Archives: MMO design

EQN – Player freedom is too scary for most

Posted on August 12, 2013 by SynCaine

The most interesting topic around right now is how a living ecosystem or smart AI could actually work in an MMO. Now, before you go ahead and comment “but SynCaine, you already told us how it would work in 2011”, … Continue reading →

Posted in EQNext, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design | 15 Comments

EQN: Leading off with your best

Posted on August 6, 2013 by SynCaine

When someone states their MMO is doing something different from everyone else, which of the following innovations would you rather see: WAR’s Public Quests, changing how you go about getting into a group to do group content. Or EQN’s “parkour”, … Continue reading →

Posted in EQNext, Mass Media, MMO design, SW:TOR, Warhammer Online | 34 Comments

EQN: The next big AAA disaster

Posted on August 5, 2013 by SynCaine

In case you don’t want to sit through the EQNext showing, here are the cliff notes: “If someone should do it, it should be EverQuest. Again” (UO…) Lighting Lighting Lighting Lighting Adventure Lighting Lighting How do you like it? :mild … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, EQ2, EQNext, Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rant, The Elder Scrolls Online, Ultima Online | 33 Comments

DF:UW – High risk harvesting at sea

Posted on July 29, 2013 by SynCaine

MMOs (should) add lots of content over time. What is added and what it accomplishes varies. Sometimes you get more of the same (not a bad thing if ‘the same’ is still good), sometimes you get a revamp/upgrade, and sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP | 2 Comments

The blogs reflect the genre

Posted on July 10, 2013 by SynCaine

This post about blogging over at TAGN, along with the comments, is worth reading, even if you are only vaguely interested in the topic of MMO blogs. As the posts-per-day rate here has slowed over the last two months, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Camelot Unchained, Darkfall Online, DDO, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Kickstarter, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rift, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

Victory conditions and personal goals

Posted on June 27, 2013 by SynCaine

This Tobold post contains a lot of straw, and while I don’t think he believes some of the things he wrote, I do wonder if others might look at things in such a way. Before I get to that however, … Continue reading →

Posted in League of Legends, MMO design, RMT | 19 Comments

The choices you can make

Posted on June 25, 2013 by SynCaine

Over at KTR, thanks to a RSS trigger from TAGN, the topic of groups has been brought up. I’m generally a “pro groups” person, but playing DF:UW has reminded me why and how most MMOs get the basics wrong. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, Rift, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

The difference between good and great games

Posted on June 17, 2013 by SynCaine

If there is one thing real MMO fans struggle with it’s the acceptance of ‘grind’ to justify progression or rewards. This is often expressed as “remove all the crap and just let us do the fun stuff”, and in that … Continue reading →

Posted in Eador, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design | 10 Comments

DF:UW – Dungeon content in a virtual world

Posted on June 3, 2013 by SynCaine

Last Friday the latest patch for DF:UW was released, and it included the first dungeon added to the game. Sunday night OTG and allies put together a group of eight to go check it out. Entering the dungeon works like … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Housing, MMO design, Old Timers Guild, PvP | 3 Comments

DF:UW – Newbie perspective

Posted on May 20, 2013 by SynCaine

My guess is most of you did not catch MJ from Massively live streaming a little over an hour of her DF:UW experience a few days ago. It’s not exactly appointment viewing given the length, but it’s actually rather interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Mass Media, MMO design | 18 Comments