Category Archives: MMO design

Going small

Posted on April 2, 2013 by SynCaine

Edit: Camelot Unchained kickstarter is live today, which is relevant to today’s topic. I’ve not donated yet, but more on that in a different post. After the WAR bubble burst, one of the many complaints was a lack of population … Continue reading →

Posted in Camelot Unchained, MMO design, Warhammer Online | 15 Comments

Devilish details

Posted on March 27, 2013 by SynCaine

Yesterday’s post got some interesting replies, not the least of which is this post over at KTR. It got me wondering if I just over-focus on some things, or if other MMO players don’t see them or don’t care about … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, beta, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design | 38 Comments

DF:UW – The brilliance of the prowess system

Posted on March 25, 2013 by SynCaine

The appeal of a “use and improve” system to character progression is easy to understand, in part because it mimics real life. Want to get better at something? Do it (practice). Unfortunately sometimes being ‘realistic’ does not work in the … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP | 48 Comments

Graphics creating gameplay

Posted on March 20, 2013 by SynCaine

I find this post from City State (Camelot Unchained) mostly on point. It’s a good read, and I want to focus on one line in particular: “There’s not a tradeoff between graphics and gameplay when the graphics are the gameplay.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Camelot Unchained, Darkfall Online, MMO design | 8 Comments

The good stuffs in the middle

Posted on February 27, 2013 by SynCaine

Let’s talk a little about the history of the mid-game in the MMO genre. IMO the mid-game is the time after you have learned the basics of the game (tutorial or beginning phase), and before you stop progressing or have … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

Losing your mid-game

Posted on February 21, 2013 by SynCaine

Apologies for the lack of content around here lately, I’m emulating the MMO genre… I continue to play a bit of UO:F, and the server’s skill settings have once again confirmed something I’ve already had confirmed a million times before; … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Ultima Online | 15 Comments

Be un-massive for a reason

Posted on February 15, 2013 by SynCaine

One of my least favorite parts of blogging is presenting a topic and having people directly apply it to the now. The best example of this is talking about item loss, and having WoW players say it would never work … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, EVE Online, MMO design, Random, Rant, SW:TOR | 21 Comments

Sky-clone please

Posted on February 14, 2013 by SynCaine

I’ve been playing a good bit of Skyrim: Dawnguard of late. Quality DLC to a game I’m fairly sure I’ll never see all of, even without the recently released DLC Dragonborn. Skyrim will be on my PC for a while, … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, MMO design, Random, SW:TOR, The Elder Scrolls Online | 14 Comments

Camelot Unchained: A good first impression

Posted on February 8, 2013 by SynCaine

Snowmageddon will not stop my blogging! Camelot Unchained is making noise of late thanks to Mark Jacobs sharing some details. I’m not going to link to all of the info, but it’s out there and you should go check it … Continue reading →

Posted in Camelot Unchained, MMO design | 8 Comments

The difficulty of depth

Posted on February 1, 2013 by SynCaine

Jester’s excellent Fractal post is well worth reading, and it’s just one example of the deep, multilayered posts frequently made about EVE. If you read enough blogs with enough variety, I’m sure you have picked up on this as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, World of Warcraft | 25 Comments