Category Archives: MMO design

Breaking news: Games pitched as MMOs are not actually MMOs!

Posted on August 31, 2011 by SynCaine

Borderlands is more of an MMO than Global Agenda. It has a bigger “open world”, a longer character progression path, more itemization, more quests, more lore, etc. Both games are limited in how many people can be in one area, … Continue reading →

Posted in DoTA, Global Agenda, League of Legends, Mass Media, MMO design, Random, Rant, Rift, RMT, World of Warcraft | 17 Comments

Options of terror

Posted on August 29, 2011 by SynCaine

Regardless of the game, if I don’t have a sense of where I should go next, I get anxious. I need to think about why this is. It’s not that I don’t enjoy an open world or freedom. I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 20 Comments

Darkfall: The only option

Posted on August 26, 2011 by SynCaine

To continue the blog merger, I’ll pick up where I left off on the reset topic and how it applies to Darkfall. It’s true that a character reset would cut millions of players from WoW, or thousands off games like … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, Housing, MMO design | 8 Comments

Lore and Gameplay

Posted on August 24, 2011 by SynCaine

Lore should justify gameplay, rather than gameplay justifying lore. In other words, if my MMO setting does not use magic, but a level designer creates something pretty awesome that requires a hint of magic (floating platforms), you don’t scrap the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Mount and Blade: Warband, World of Warcraft | 8 Comments

The more-of-the-same train just keeps on rolling

Posted on August 19, 2011 by SynCaine

Watching this video of the upcoming MMO Wildstar told me all I needed to know about the game (pass), but I find it interesting that what I see as “yet another WoW-clone” others see it as, well, here is one … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, MMO design, Rant, Rift, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Is Darkfall vaporware, again?

Posted on August 13, 2011 by SynCaine

With most MMOs you have to deal with a lot of hype pre-release. Ideas looking amazing on paper, fans letting their imagination run wild on what could be, all of that. Is Darkfall the only MMO to ever repeat this … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 17 Comments

The new MMO business model?

Posted on August 11, 2011 by SynCaine

Not to bank on financial writers for solid reporting related to MMOs or anything, but this little blurb I found interesting for one reason: how important are initial sales for an MMO? Of course they are important, after all if … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Media, MMO design, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

Dawntide: A little more time

Posted on August 9, 2011 by SynCaine

I played a little more Dawntide (I can’t explain why, other than that I’m a sucker for sandboxes I guess), and while I still would not recommend it to most people, I have seen a few noteworthy things. The combat … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, crafting, MMO design, Random | 1 Comment

Turning RPG players into MMO players: Solutions

Posted on August 8, 2011 by SynCaine

As first mentioned here, there seem to be a high number of RPG fans who turn to MMOs to get their gaming fix, yet most MMOs do a rather poor job of getting those solo-minded players into what really makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 13 Comments

I need something explained to me

Posted on July 27, 2011 by SynCaine

Why do you put out a PR release that anyone who has every played anything remotely resembling an MMO can immediately spot the major issue with? Discover new stuff to craft by experimenting? Hi in beta someone is going to … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Mass Media, MMO design, Patch Notes, Random, Rant | 32 Comments