Category Archives: MMO design

PvE Sandbox MMO: Economy and crafting

Posted on April 12, 2011 by SynCaine

After combat, I believe the economy is the most important aspect to a quality sandbox title, and not just for those hoping to play a merchant. The ideal system would impact everyone playing on a regular basis rather than being … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Housing, MMO design, Random | 34 Comments

Burnouts Anonymous

Posted on April 11, 2011 by SynCaine

Quick break from the PvE Sandbox series to make an observation about Rift, but no worries (you were worried, I could tell), another post in that series is coming soon. Over a month in and I’m still having a ton … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Fallen Earth, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, Rift, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 27 Comments

PvE Sandbox MMO: Combat

Posted on April 7, 2011 by SynCaine

The first area I’m going to tackle for the PvE Sandbox is combat, as I think it’s the glue that holds everything together and really sets the tone for the type of game you are playing. It also fuels other … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random | 20 Comments

PvE Sandbox MMO: The beginning

Posted on April 6, 2011 by SynCaine

A few days ago I posted about a PvE Sandbox MMO, and while the post got my overall point across, I think it might be fun to fully expand upon the idea over a series of posts. One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random | 13 Comments

Shades of blue

Posted on April 5, 2011 by SynCaine

Back then I was on the ‘red’ side, now I’m firmly on the ‘blue’ side. Guess the player along with the game evolves. Wise words from a wise man, minus the grammar fail on the original. The first part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, Rift, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 13 Comments

Patching like its 1999

Posted on April 1, 2011 by SynCaine

I appreciate the rapid pace of patching. It’s impressive, even by “first month of a new MMO” standards. And as we saw with 1.1, the updates are not all just bug fixes but actual content additions. Major bonus points for … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, EQ2, EVE Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rift, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

The apples taste like oranges

Posted on March 30, 2011 by SynCaine

I was in Stillmoor finishing up some quests when a raid-level quest opened up. About 30 minutes or so later, someone was advertising in zone-chat that they are putting together a raid for the quest. I sign up, and in … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

The PvE Sandbox

Posted on March 29, 2011 by SynCaine

Whenever a Darkfall update is features on Massively, odds are good someone is going to comment on how they would love to play in such a world, just without the FFA PvP. Now it should be pretty obvious to anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, Random | 9 Comments

Guild Wars 2 just cured cancer, world peace is next

Posted on March 29, 2011 by SynCaine

Dear world, Guild Wars 2 won’t solve your every issue with MMOs. It just won’t. It will, at the end of the day, be a PvE-based MMO with some PvP end-game, that’s overall pretty damn similar to what you see … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rant | 32 Comments

Bring back the server queue

Posted on March 23, 2011 by SynCaine

Last Sunday night I logged into Rift and waited in a three or four minute queue. In vent I joked about how this is totally unacceptable, but in a way it validated the fact that I was on a populated … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rift | 6 Comments