Category Archives: MMO design

UO Forever: More lessons

Posted on January 28, 2013 by SynCaine

UO Forever has been a great time so far, both from just a pure gameplay perspective and as a refresher of sorts on how the MMO genre got started and the design decisions that worked. I’ve covered combat already, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Housing, MMO design, Ultima Online | 5 Comments

WAR’s legacy

Posted on January 23, 2013 by SynCaine

Nice interview by Massively with Mark Jacobs. He makes some good points. WAR’s hype was inexpensive and very effective. The point of hype is to get people interested enough to buy; for WAR, that worked. My only question would be … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Warhammer Online | 24 Comments

UO Forever: Death by dragonfire

Posted on January 22, 2013 by SynCaine

While Aventurine continues to uphold the DF:UW NDA, and :stuff:, I’ve decided to entertain myself with a bit of UO:F, joining up with Keen and his crew. So far it’s been very enjoyable overall, and also leads to one amusing … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Ultima Online | 16 Comments

MMO housing IS gameplay

Posted on January 17, 2013 by SynCaine

And yes, I’ve heard the Ultima Online house analogy. But until I can plant a flower box outside my POS, I don’t buy it. EVE ain’t Minecraft. Going to pick on Jester a bit in this post. I say pick … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Housing, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online | 15 Comments

7 minutes in heaven, a month of hell

Posted on January 16, 2013 by SynCaine

One point that I don’t think I made clear enough in my post about UO’s combat was that the slower pace and simplicity leads to longer retention, and so today I want to expand on that a bit (in horribly … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, Rant, Rift, Ultima Online | 30 Comments

Lessons from the past: MMO combat

Posted on January 14, 2013 by SynCaine

Keen alerted me to a private version/server of Ultima Online, and due to extreme boredom I grabbed the client and messed around a bit. I have no intention of fully returning to UO, because to really get to the good … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, MMO design, Ultima Online | 11 Comments

Boxed in

Posted on January 10, 2013 by SynCaine

I bet you are wondering why I’m blogging less huh? Yea, I figured you were. Darkfall NDA is mostly to blame. MMO genre being a pile of crap is another factor. I mean, not only is there not a title … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Civilization Series, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, Rant, SW:TOR, The Witcher | 19 Comments

The Niche is Real

Posted on January 4, 2013 by SynCaine

Massively has linked to a video about 38 Studios. It’s worth watching. In the comments section, there is a link to an article about the entire thing. I’m pretty sure I’ve read it before, and perhaps even linked it here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Random, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

What 2012 was, and what 2013 will be

Posted on December 26, 2012 by SynCaine

The good for me in 2012 was more of the same (EVE, LoL), while the bad was highlighted by disappointment (GW2) and delay (DF:UW). The MMO genre as a whole continued to struggle with its identity, from massive failures like … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 18 Comments

Darkfall: Unholy Wars – Voicing the Manifested Vision in White Shades

Posted on December 20, 2012 by SynCaine

Darkfall is under NDA right now, so while I’m writing about it, I can’t post details until the NDA is down. Whenever that happens (current date I have is Dec 27th) expect either a long post, or a bunch all in … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP, SW:TOR, Vanguard, Warhammer Online | 5 Comments