Category Archives: MMO design

Are Clash of Clans and Boom Beach MMOs?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by SynCaine

This is mostly just food for thought, and spoiler answer: No, but its real close. To really answer this question, you first have to ask yourself what you value most in an MMO, and how many of those factors does … Continue reading →

Posted in Boom Beach, Clash of Clans, MMO design | 5 Comments

Fun vs Reward

Posted on June 23, 2015 by SynCaine

Designing MMO content is, IMO, far different than designing gaming content, primarily because MMO content has to last, while other gaming content has to be as fun as possible. It may sound odd, but I don’t think you should try … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, MMO design | 12 Comments

What really makes a themepark tick, and why FFXIV is a rolex

Posted on June 9, 2015 by SynCaine

Where a good sandbox is like a mountain climb with incredible peaks along with plenty of valleys, playing a good themepark is like taking a nice walk on a familiar path; at no point are you overly thrilled, but the … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Final Fantasy XIV, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

FFXIV: Sub model isn’t just about higher quality, its also about safety

Posted on March 10, 2015 by SynCaine

Full interview can be found here. So, just because ESO moved into a free-to-play subscription model, it doesn’t necessarily mean for us to move into that direction as well. Also, for use we have taken player surveys and took a … Continue reading →

Posted in Final Fantasy XIV, MMO design, RMT | 11 Comments

Crowfall: The winners don’t need help

Posted on March 5, 2015 by SynCaine

Building a bit off this post from Az (link coming later, site blocked due to work network) about winner and loser motivation in Crowfall today, but a quick note first: I think Az is missing or discounting the fact that … Continue reading →

Posted in Crowfall, MMO design | 6 Comments

Crowfall: The winners stand alone

Posted on March 2, 2015 by SynCaine

If there is one thing I still regret about Darkfall, it’s AV not making the now-gone MVP forums public after they did away with the program; a lot of good ideas and discussions all gone because I don’t think AV … Continue reading →

Posted in Crowfall, Darkfall Online, MMO design | 13 Comments

What is success or failure in the MMO genre?

Posted on February 23, 2015 by SynCaine

The words success and failure are tossed around often when talking about MMOs on blogs, especially here. And usually, someone will ask for a definition of success/failure, so here goes. Note that this ONLY applies to MMOs, not games in … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design | 14 Comments

FFXIV: People are nice due to design

Posted on February 19, 2015 by SynCaine

I haven’t done an update post about FFXIV since our return, in part because I wasn’t sure what to write beyond “Playing FFXIV again, still the best themepark out, still has that WoW-vanilla-but-in-2015 feel”, but this post from Loire is … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Final Fantasy XIV, MMO design | 2 Comments

State of the MMO genre, 2015 edition

Posted on February 4, 2015 by SynCaine

First things first, it’s now 2015, and just like in 2014, 2013, and really since the beginning of time, we still haven’t seen an as-successful F2P MMO as we have sub MMOs (WoW/FFXIV/EVE). Until we do, this isn’t a debate. … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Asheron's Call, Camelot Unchained, EQ2, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Life is Feudal, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Pathfinder Online, Rift, RMT, Star Citizen, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 64 Comments

Living virtual worlds; Now technically possible yet still not here

Posted on January 5, 2015 by SynCaine

One of the fun things about the world in Farcry 4 is that events don’t feel as fake as they do in MMOs. For instance, when PQs were first introduced in Warhammer, they were new and fun. By the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, MMO design, Ultima Online | 12 Comments