Category Archives: PvP

Camelot Unchained: Concerns based on MJ’s history

Posted on April 9, 2013 by SynCaine

As previously mentioned, the Camelot Unchained kickstarter is up and running, but as of now I’ve not contributed due to a few concerns that I want to cover today. First and foremost, the total removal of PvE raises some doubts. … Continue reading →

Posted in Camelot Unchained, Dark Age of Camelot, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RvR | 41 Comments

DF:UW – The brilliance of the prowess system

Posted on March 25, 2013 by SynCaine

The appeal of a “use and improve” system to character progression is easy to understand, in part because it mimics real life. Want to get better at something? Do it (practice). Unfortunately sometimes being ‘realistic’ does not work in the … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP | 48 Comments

The difficulty of depth

Posted on February 1, 2013 by SynCaine

Jester’s excellent Fractal post is well worth reading, and it’s just one example of the deep, multilayered posts frequently made about EVE. If you read enough blogs with enough variety, I’m sure you have picked up on this as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, World of Warcraft | 25 Comments

Darkfall: Unholy Wars – Voicing the Manifested Vision in White Shades

Posted on December 20, 2012 by SynCaine

Darkfall is under NDA right now, so while I’m writing about it, I can’t post details until the NDA is down. Whenever that happens (current date I have is Dec 27th) expect either a long post, or a bunch all in … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP, SW:TOR, Vanguard, Warhammer Online | 5 Comments

Glitch was EVE without PvP?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by SynCaine

Glitch is closing. I’ve never played the game, nor looked into it enough to really have an opinion, but if this is true: The game IMO is a 2D Eve without the PVP – instead of star systems you have … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Random | 10 Comments

Darkfall:UW – Best Case

Posted on November 6, 2012 by SynCaine

With Darkfall set to release in two weeks, I want to write down my expectations for the game. Today will be a best-case post, while tomorrow I’ll do worst-case. If nothing else, it will be interesting to revisit these post-release … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, Darkfall Online, Housing, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP | 7 Comments

The good times will return

Posted on October 18, 2012 by SynCaine

As we draw closer to the release of DF:UW (which, considering AV just made DF1 free, indicates it might actually happen on Nov 20th?), the launch brings up an interesting question that has often been alluded to on blogs and … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, PvP, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

GW2: One step forward, two steps back for the genre

Posted on September 24, 2012 by SynCaine

Keen has a report card out for GW2, and while I think the grades are a bit high, I agree overall with his assessment. In short, GW2 is a good game, but a month in its pretty clear GW2 is … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Guild Wars, MMO design, PvP, Rant, RMT, RvR | 65 Comments

GW2: End-game woes

Posted on September 21, 2012 by SynCaine

Remember that ultra-casual MMO that just came out? Hey turns out more people queue up for the PvP in that game than the number of people who raided in WoW (by % of the population). Who could have predicted that? … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, PvP, Rant | 36 Comments

Darkfall Unholy War: The what and the why

Posted on September 19, 2012 by SynCaine

It would seem the recent Darkfall: Unholy War (DF:UW) announcement has caused some confusion, so consider this my public service in attempting to clear some things up. Note that most of this is just personal speculation based on what AV … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP | 5 Comments