Category Archives: MMO design

Mass media gets an MMO story right, no joke.

Posted on July 7, 2008 by SynCaine

In a clear case sign of the apocalypse, NYTimes.com has posted a positive article about an online game, one which was for the most part fairly accurate, informative, and a good read. Very impressive Seth Schiesel! It’s funny timing too, … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Mass Media, MMO design, World of Warcraft | Comments Off on Mass media gets an MMO story right, no joke.

Breaking down MMO burnout, and ways to avoid it.

Posted on June 26, 2008 by SynCaine

Rick over at /random expressed concern that his longtime guild may not be as hyped for WAR as he is, and that their time together in the game may be rather limited due to general MMO veteran burnout, a legitimate … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Console Gaming, Dark Age of Camelot, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online | 19 Comments

MMO history, that Bartle guy, and why WoW2 won’t blow your mind.

Posted on June 23, 2008 by SynCaine

It seems we had a busy weekend in the MMO blog world, fueled by an interview with Richard Bartle done by Michael Zenke over at Massively. As with anything remotely interesting posted on the internet these days, the responses to … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Console Gaming, EVE Online, MMO design, Perma-death, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 5 Comments

AoC bashing, LoTRO update, ISK talk.

Posted on June 20, 2008 by SynCaine

Ah Friday sweetness. Heartless and Rick over at /random both commented on a Massively report about AoC and it’s troubles with its much-hyped endgame PvP. It would seem that massive amounts of high details characters letting off fancy spell effects … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP | 13 Comments

Focused crafting, not just a bullet point on a box!

Posted on June 19, 2008 by SynCaine

Psychochild breaks down the general ideas behind crafting in his recent post, a topic that was addressed here on this blog not too long ago. While I don’t want to rehash the great discussion we had from my previous post, … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 5 Comments

Warhammer Online and the queue issue, RELAX!

Posted on June 18, 2008 by SynCaine

I really should not be getting this worked up about a pre-release MMO topic, but this just hit a nerve for some reason. Keen, and today Tobold, made posts about Mythic’s plans for realm balance, and that ONE tool they … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 20 Comments

Cutting down the money tree, MMO style.

Posted on June 13, 2008 by SynCaine

This is a rather amazing back and forth. Quite a long read to get the full story, but well worth your time. It’s rather hard for me to comment on anything specific because I’ve never played SWG, but like everyone … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Stop raising the level cap, it’s not working!

Posted on June 5, 2008 by SynCaine

For years now MMO gamers expect a level increase when their MMO of choice releases an expansion pack. Bumping up the level cap a few levels is as natural as adding new items or monsters, but is it really needed? … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 23 Comments

Time to get all Nostradamus with WoW.

Posted on June 4, 2008 by SynCaine

Tobold has a post up today talking about the future of WoW and how sustainable it might be, a topic Brent over at Virgin Worlds also recently mentioned in his latest news podcast. The importance and influence WoW has on … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, StarCraft Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

How I would do crafting.

Posted on May 30, 2008 by SynCaine

As the topic of Warhammer Online’s crafting system was briefly mentioned here recently, I figured this was as good a time as any to throw out my somewhat fleshed out idea for a crafting system, and see what flaws or … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design | Tagged | 17 Comments