Category Archives: Pirates of the Burning Sea

Camping for a beta spot… no thanks.

Posted on April 25, 2008 by SynCaine

Open beta does not mean what it use to in the MMO world. Back in the day, open beta for an MMO was not a big deal, and for the most part was quite similar to the most recent closed … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 15 Comments

Understanding failure, the PoTBS story.

Posted on April 17, 2008 by SynCaine

As has been well reported, Pirates of the Burning Sea is cutting down on servers, going from 11 to 4. While PR would like you to believe otherwise, it’s fairly clear that the game is underperforming, and the reduction in … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EVE Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, PvP | 18 Comments

The value of the blogging community.

Posted on February 11, 2008 by SynCaine

Darren made a nice plea over at his site for bloggers to get into the WAR beta, or at the very least Keen. I support that (both the bloggers part and the Keen part), and can’t really come up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, EQ2, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Podcast, Site update | 7 Comments

Delivering the goods.

Posted on December 17, 2007 by SynCaine

As 2007 draws to a close, we are left to reflect on what happened in the MMO space, and what lies ahead. Back at the start of the year, it looked like 2007 was going to be a great year … Continue reading →

Posted in Pirates of the Burning Sea, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 1 Comment

Holding Pattern.

Posted on December 14, 2007 by SynCaine

Dear snow, thanks for that four hour drive yesterday. Nothing like leaving work early, at 2pm, and finally getting home at 6pm. That was awesome… On to a happy topic, gaming, I find myself in somewhat of a standstill. Currently … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization Series, Console Gaming, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Mythos, NWN2, Pirates of the Burning Sea, SotNW, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Sifting through the junk.

Posted on December 10, 2007 by SynCaine

Try as I might, I just can’t get into Pirates of the Burning Sea. Having taken a break since the close of beta, I logged in this weekend to find my old character wiped, and had to start from scratch. … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

When less is more, a lesson learned.

Posted on December 7, 2007 by SynCaine

The upcoming release of Pirates of the Burning Seas has highlighted some interesting discussion points about MMOs and the importance of certain features. As is often the case, it is not until we see both sides that we realize how … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EVE Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea | 5 Comments

Pirates of the Instanced Sea, mini-game madness.

Posted on December 4, 2007 by SynCaine

Now that the PotBS NDA is officially down (oops…) plenty of opinions are popping up around the blogosphere, most along the lines of ‘fun game, but not the usual addiction you get from a new MMO’, and I completely agree … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, DDO, EVE Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

More PotBS talk. The game is FUN!

Posted on November 23, 2007 by SynCaine

Seems the PotBS stress test to beta access is indeed true. I was able to log on last night and play on the beta server, which was a nice surprise. After a little more time with the game, this time … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea | 7 Comments

6 hours of PotBS.

Posted on November 19, 2007 by SynCaine

PotBS had its second stress test this weekend, and I was actually able to get in this time and give the game a shot, and it only took 12 hours of patching, thanks SOE… Download issue aside, and I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea | 7 Comments