Category Archives: Rant

Is EA too cocky with SW?

Posted on July 22, 2011 by SynCaine

It’s not secret EA is basically banking the company on SW:sRPG, and from the outside looking in it SEEMS the game should be a hot ticket in its first month, but is EA a little TOO cocky here? First they … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Mass Media, Rant, RMT, SW:TOR | 27 Comments

Time, Money, and Glowsticks

Posted on July 21, 2011 by SynCaine

Between my post about new MMO pricing ‘methods’ and EA bending SW fans over with their $150 (more in EU)  CE, money has been the topic of late. My plan for SW:sRPG is to pick it up for $5 on … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, MMO design, Random, Rant, SW:TOR | 12 Comments

Speaking of innovation…

Posted on July 19, 2011 by SynCaine

The (not really all that) new MMO business model: Is your MMO ‘good’? If you lied and said “Yes”, go to A. If you ran out of money, need to ship the alpha, and said “No”, go to B. A: … Continue reading →

Posted in Allods Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Random, Rant, Rift, RMT, SW:TOR | 17 Comments

Innovation = Lowered Expectations

Posted on July 18, 2011 by SynCaine

This article is making the blog rounds today. It’s interesting enough, and also a little comical (count how many people complain about innovation, and then count how many of them are “Currently know for” a sequel). While mostly console-focused, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Console Gaming, Mass Media, MMO design, Random, Rant, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

Rift: EG review of 1.4

Posted on July 14, 2011 by SynCaine

One small step towards F2P, one giant leap towards Azeroth.

Posted in Patch Notes, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 1 Comment

Good F2P, bad F2P

Posted on June 30, 2011 by SynCaine

A proper free-to-play game allows players to enjoy the game and still spend money based on the amount they feel comfortable with Psychochild The “they feel comfortable with” is, for me, the key part here. Comfort to me is when … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantica Online, Inquisition Clan, League of Legends, MMO design, Random, Rant, RMT | 10 Comments

How much for a sparklepony with a monocle?

Posted on June 27, 2011 by SynCaine

Good summary of the EVE monocle debate over at TAGN, including links to other info and a post from the CCP CEO. I had to dig into my archive to find exactly what I have written about the WoW sparklepony, … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Rant, RMT, World of Warcraft | 13 Comments

The metrics made me do it!

Posted on June 24, 2011 by SynCaine

One of the justifications from Trion concerning nerfing difficulty in Rift was to allow Dungeon Finder groups to complete them. That statement contains a lot of value when broken down, and directly relates back to the topic of accessibility and … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 13 Comments

Rift: -Insert dramatic quitting title here-

Posted on June 23, 2011 by SynCaine

Rift patch 1.3 is out, along with the ‘new’ world event. Phase one has, more or less, the same exact daily quests as the previous event. And the one before it. Collect stuff around Sanctum, travel to a zone to … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Rift | 32 Comments

‘Accessibility’ killed Rift

Posted on June 16, 2011 by SynCaine

Some very perceptive readers have picked up on the fact that Rift has somewhat fallen out of favor with me. It might have been my post about patch 1.2. I did drop a few hints there. Patch 1.2 brought the … Continue reading →

Posted in Inquisition Clan, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 42 Comments