Category Archives: MMO design

Xfire, TES MMO, and a lost EVE pilot

Posted on May 4, 2012 by SynCaine

Xfire: When I link Xfire stats, I don’t do it with the belief that Xfire is 100% accurate and to show exact sub numbers. I do it because Xfire trending has, historically, been accurate in painting how a game is … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, Random, SW:TOR | 47 Comments

EVE: 9 years

Posted on May 3, 2012 by SynCaine

9 years. What do 9 year old MMOs look like today? What will your current MMO look like after 9 years? Odds are, it won’t be growing, won’t be a technological marvel, and won’t be pushing the genre forward. It … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design | 31 Comments

GW2: The game Mythic tried to make

Posted on April 30, 2012 by SynCaine

Let me get this out of the way first; GW2 is worth the $60. If it had a sub I’d feel differently, but as it does not, what GW2 does is worth the $60. All of the below is based … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, PvP, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments

EVE: Jita Burns Trammel

Posted on April 27, 2012 by SynCaine

I was there. Jita Burns also reminds me why Trammel was such a horrible mistake. Most days, for most people, Empire space in EVE is ‘safe’ unless you do something stupid. Not all of New Eden is a FFA PvP … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Rant, Ultima Online | 28 Comments

EVE: Getting knocked into the whelp eggs all over again

Posted on April 11, 2012 by SynCaine

Playing multiple pilots in a wormhole is not smart. I won’t be making that mistake again, but it’s too bad it took losing about 500m ISK to learn the lesson. I was mining a grav site on one account in … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP | 10 Comments

EVE: First weekend in our wormhole

Posted on April 9, 2012 by SynCaine

Rumors of WH life being slow and boring are greatly exaggerated, at least based on our first weekend. Holy crap did a lot happen. After the previously reported POS setup failure, the EVE gods smiled on us and opened up … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP | 16 Comments

GW2: Same old siege

Posted on April 2, 2012 by SynCaine

Quick thought on this post from Werit about a GW2 siege video, and the comment from Snafzg that sieging in DAOC, WAR, and (potentially) GW2) suck: sieges in Darkfall don’t suck. They don’t display the same “bang a door” pattern, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online | 8 Comments

EVE: Shiny Cyberbullies

Posted on March 29, 2012 by SynCaine

This post is not about offing yourself, I swear. It is about bullies, but fear not, it’s actually about EVE and real gameplay. As I mentioned in a post pre-KillYourselfGate, INQ-E has started running Incursions as a Corp. Our first … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP | 40 Comments

All cyber-bullies should die

Posted on March 26, 2012 by SynCaine

Is it just me or is Massively home to the softest people on the Internet? Case in point: Goon being a goon, Massively white knights come out in full force. I think my favorite is the “There we have another … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Rant | 117 Comments

GW2: Microtransactions, fantasy PLEX

Posted on March 20, 2012 by SynCaine

Full post here. Key line: it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time. This is good, and hopefully ArenaNet sticks to this. Unlike most devs, I currently have no reason … Continue reading →

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