Category Archives: MMO design

DarkFall: Kraken eats a ship video.

Posted on December 5, 2009 by SynCaine

This looks like it might be a tiny bit of fun… :head re-explodes) (No expansion on NA still, plus some ForumFall’ing about bugs with archery and PvE on EU) (DarkFall-related post disclaimer/reminder. If you click the image link near the … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes | 25 Comments

Reasons to skip SW:TOR, +1.

Posted on December 4, 2009 by SynCaine

While I’ll very likely be skipping SW:TOR for a few reasons (It’s SW, it’s ‘casual’, it’s a mega-themepark), the news about henchmen being added to allow you to solo everything makes that choice even easier. Hopefully the idea of designing … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, SW:TOR, Ultima Online | 50 Comments

Passing MMO judgment

Posted on December 1, 2009 by SynCaine

I few days ago a wrote a post about why I believe Warhammer Online failed to live up to it’s potential/hype, and Tobold took the following line and ran (out of context) with it: Because unless you are a believer … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, beta, Combat Systems, Console Gaming, crafting, Darkfall Online, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Fallen Earth, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Rant, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 76 Comments

DarkFall: Lessons from the fall of TRA

Posted on November 30, 2009 by SynCaine

Sunday night saw VAMP and co (the alliance either has no name, or the name changes on a daily basis, so I’ll just refer to our side as VAMP going forward) siege another TRA city on Yssam. While there was … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Housing, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 10 Comments

DarkFall: CtS gets a Q&A and a release date.

Posted on November 27, 2009 by SynCaine

Taking a break from tourist talk and doomed MMOs for a moment, lets talk about what really matters to MMO gamers, DarkFall! First off the next expansion got delayed until Thursday, with a notice that DF might be down for … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes | 21 Comments

Mark Jacobs should have listened to his own blog.

Posted on November 27, 2009 by SynCaine

File this one under “Dark Humor”, but Mark Jacob’s (former Warhammer Online lead designer) now-dead blog was called “Online Games Are a Niche Market”, a title that at the time was used as a joke because Mark believed MMOs had … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 33 Comments

What caused Warhammer Online to fail?

Posted on November 26, 2009 by SynCaine

Today Tobold is asking why Warhammer Online failed to live up to it’s mega-title expectations (expectations that I was grossly wrong about as well), give readers either the choice that WotLK killed it (tourists) or that WAR was just a … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Darkfall Online, Fallen Earth, Mass Media, MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 39 Comments

DarkFall: Spotlight on ship-related changes

Posted on November 25, 2009 by SynCaine

For the TL:DR crowd, I’ll just sum up the new spotlight for you: bla bla bla pure gold bla bla bla. I’m curious to see how the new collision detection works with bigger ships pushing smaller ones, and whether this … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 2 Comments

Life Evolution in the sandbox

Posted on November 24, 2009 by SynCaine

Pacing and gameplay evolution are very important and at times overlooked factors in any MMO. The actions and motivations of a day one player are very different than those of a two year veteran, and good game design takes that … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 20 Comments

Why a sandbox makes life more difficult for a griefer

Posted on November 23, 2009 by SynCaine

If you only know one thing about DarkFall, you likely know that a LOT of people just outright hate the game, or more accurately, the supposed playerbase behind the game. If you have been playing MMOs for any decent length … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 36 Comments