Category Archives: MMO design

Why a hip-hop based MMO is genius

Posted on July 31, 2009 by SynCaine

At first glance one might dismiss this gem of an idea and logically conclude that the overlap between hip-hop fans and MMO players is rather slim. You might also be thinking “wtf does rap music have to do with grinding … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Warhammer Online: The oRvR/Scenario tug-of-war

Posted on July 29, 2009 by SynCaine

The topic of whether scenarios in Warhammer Online do more to harm the game than help/enhance it has been debated a few times already, but with the recent server mergers and overall increase in server population, I think it might … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online | 15 Comments

DarkFall: Don’t worry, that review won’t be around for long

Posted on July 28, 2009 by SynCaine

Sorry for the lack of posts around here of late; a bad blogging combo of work being very busy and nothing really jumping out at me in terms of topics. Hopefully both situations resolve themselves soon. One side-bonus to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Mass Media, MMO design | 16 Comments

Gaming Progress Report: WAR, DarkFall, and some Blood Bowl.

Posted on July 24, 2009 by SynCaine

Some random Friday updates today, as I don’t have anything major to talk about. In an odd way, the last few days have been an ‘all good’ type of deal in Syn’s MMO land. Happy times lead to less blogging … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, RvR, The Casualties Guild, Warhammer Online | 1 Comment

WAR: Solid core with pieces of suck, but is there any hope?

Posted on July 16, 2009 by SynCaine

Out of all the recent MMOs I’ve played or been playing, by far the most frustrating one is Warhammer Online. Not because of anything related to bugs, crashes, or features/ui stuff, but because of how much the game changes from … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, MMO design, Warhammer Online | 16 Comments

Why is the B-team messing with your AAA product?

Posted on July 15, 2009 by SynCaine

I’m a bit late on this one, but Eric from ElderGame has a long and detailed breakdown of why WoW is currently being run by the B-team, adding his own experience as a former dev on AC2. It’s a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 28 Comments

Dummies like dummy games

Posted on July 13, 2009 by SynCaine

My fiancé currently prefers WAR over DDO because DDO got hard. I prefer DDO over WAR because DDO is an enjoyable challenge rather than the insta-win that is general MMO PvE. I consider myself an MMO gamer; she is the … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 57 Comments

It’s Curt in the car up next, hi Curt.

Posted on July 10, 2009 by SynCaine

Have you ever listened to local sports radio, and heard callers suggest beyond ridiculous trades? You know, the one that goes something like “We get their star players, and we give them three of our bench guys that are underperforming … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, RMT | 40 Comments

F2P MMOs: The land of ‘just good enough’.

Posted on July 9, 2009 by SynCaine

One of the common complaints against the subscription model is that if you only play that MMO sparingly (whatever that may be for you), you are not really getting your moneys worth compared to those who play more. The perceived … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Atlantica Online, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, FreeRealms, MMO design, RMT, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

DDO Hirelings: Nicely done Turbine!

Posted on July 8, 2009 by SynCaine

Last night I tried out the somewhat new hireling system in DDO when my fiancé and I ran into a tough level 3 quest and came away very impressed. It’s not exactly like having a real player, but its close … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, MMO design | 11 Comments