Category Archives: MMO design

Seeing red

Posted on May 17, 2010 by SynCaine

In a move that took a little longer than we initially planned, myself and two close friends left the VAMP alliance and joined Blood, following in the footsteps of three others who about a month ago made a similar move. … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, Site update, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Why all but 330k people should hate EVE

Posted on May 14, 2010 by SynCaine

I’m starting to really hate EVE Online. I’m starting to hate it because it makes all other MMOs look like crude kids toys, like silly side activities you dabble in before getting back to the ‘real’ game. It makes events … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, Rant, RMT, Site update, Ultima Online, Uncategorized, World of Warcraft | 36 Comments

You say polish, I say rehash

Posted on May 11, 2010 by SynCaine

The Blizzard model has generally been to take a successful product, apply a Games Workshop IP to it, and release basically the same game with a new coat of paint and a high level of polish, one that will run … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Console Gaming, Diablo 3, MMO design, Random, Rant, Uncategorized, World of Warcraft | 36 Comments

Why raiders hate to see the word ‘accessible’

Posted on May 5, 2010 by SynCaine

First I’d like to thank Ravious over at KTR for being an ass and posting a great review of The Guild Leaders Handbook. I’m also reading that book at the moment and more or less agree with what he has … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Patch Notes, Random, Rant, Uncategorized, World of Warcraft | 20 Comments

Ignorance in the sandbox

Posted on May 3, 2010 by SynCaine

WoW player and iconic carebear Tobold’s recent attempt to ‘get’ EVE (or as is clear to anyone reading between the lines, and pointed out countless times in comments, simple experience it on a surface level in order to bash it … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Rant, Ultima Online, Uncategorized, World of Warcraft | 41 Comments

Perma-death to all Darkfriends!

Posted on April 29, 2010 by SynCaine

Since 1997 and Ultima Online the concept of perma-death in an MMO has always interested me. I think a large part of it has to do with a core appeal of MMOs themselves; the fact that everything ‘counts’ and you … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EVE Online, MMO design, Perma-death, PvP, Random | 29 Comments

The dreams of an IP, and the inevitable reality

Posted on April 28, 2010 by SynCaine

Over vacation I read a good chunk of Vampire Wars, a collection of books set in the Warhammer universe all about the von Carstein vampire counts. Considering I’ve been reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series almost exclusively for the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, Site update, Warhammer Online | 28 Comments

The future of DarkFall.

Posted on April 26, 2010 by SynCaine

During my week of vacation Aventurine was busy on the forums making posts about upcoming changes to DarkFall, along with a new initiative to drive more developer-player interaction as related to the design of the game. They also gave more … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, DoTA, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, Random, World of Warcraft | 10 Comments

PLEX vs Cash Shops, plus the e-peen pony

Posted on April 16, 2010 by SynCaine

To finish off a week of EVE-related posting, let’s talk about PLEX vs Cash Shops and how I believe they are two extremely different pieces of an MMO. As a side bonus this should also cover the e-peen pony that … Continue reading →

Posted in Allods Online, Atlantica Online, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, Rant, RMT, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

Give me a reason to return

Posted on April 15, 2010 by SynCaine

Continuing the recent string of WAR-related musings, I’d like to talk about developer focus today. As I see it, there are basically three groups of players for any MMO at all times: those who never played your game, those who … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Warhammer Online | 9 Comments