Category Archives: MMO design

The bored WoW player wave comes and goes, leaving empty servers behind

Posted on October 31, 2008 by SynCaine

With WAR’s recent server transfers, the natural first reaction would be that since so many players are jumping ship, WAR is dying and needs to consolidate. It’s generally the statement we make whenever we hear an MMO is merging servers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 25 Comments

The Witching Night battle report.

Posted on October 30, 2008 by SynCaine

It’s amazing what a little motivation can do. Yesterday was the first day of Warhammer Online’s current event, The Witching Night, and so far it looks to be a hit. It’s not perfect, but it’s a huge step in the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online | 7 Comments

17 is the new 13.

Posted on October 29, 2008 by SynCaine

I can’t wait for November, and I don’t mean the 13th. On November 17th (right around the time you run out of unique WotLK content) Mythic is bringing us Heavy Metal, Warhammer Online’s next live event. It’s a bit crazy … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Patch Notes, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Remove 2/3rd of the content in WAR, and we might actually have a game.

Posted on October 27, 2008 by SynCaine

Warhammer Online has just too much content. I think back to pre-release, and the announcement that Mythic had cut 4 cities, and the player outcry of “oh now we will just be repeating the same city all the time, boring”. … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 31 Comments

How to cure the scenario plague in Warhammer Online.

Posted on October 24, 2008 by SynCaine

Out of all the possible post-launch issues, I wonder if “the players are in the wrong place” was ever considered. On the one hand, a player choice, rather than a technical issue, would indicate that you avoided the usual MMO … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online | 19 Comments

Stating the obvious, but this time it’s official.

Posted on October 21, 2008 by SynCaine

Not to toot my own horn but…. Beep Beep. Self pat on the back asshattery aside, it’s a good interview and sheds some light on Mythic’s stance with WAR and it’s future. (for the lazy, the pat on the back … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 2 Comments

One month of WAR, some thoughts.

Posted on October 21, 2008 by SynCaine

With my free month up in Warhammer Online, it was time to make the decision to pay up or move on. Given how WAR sucks, and all the new awesome in WoW, that decision was easy. On to grind those … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online | 23 Comments

2008 sure looks a lot like 2004 in MMO land.

Posted on October 20, 2008 by SynCaine

If you were given a budget of $500 million, a proven veteran dev team, a stable and established engine, 4+ years, and the worlds largest feedback group; what kind of MMO could you make? Would your list of highlights include … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Housing, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 27 Comments

Mythic and Blizzard go at it. Round one review!

Posted on October 17, 2008 by SynCaine

To borrow a quote: “Shit just got real” Seems it did not take long for the gloves to come off, and for Mythic and Blizzard to go at it. Lum has a good collection of the relevant quotes (like him, … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 23 Comments

Warhammer Online: State of the Game

Posted on October 17, 2008 by SynCaine

Today was going to be a non-MMO post day and I was going to talk about Civ 4: Colonization, but then Mark from Mythic put out his State of the Game letter, and well yea, Colonization will have to wait … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Warhammer Online | 6 Comments