Category Archives: Rant

What’s that monthly fee really buying you?

Posted on October 9, 2009 by SynCaine

Two different yet related items have sparked this post about why we pay a monthly fee; the upcoming release of Cities XL and Tobold’s re-review of WoW. Cities XL because some are questioning why they would need to pay monthly … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Civilization Series, Console Gaming, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 36 Comments

Metal Gear Batman: Arkham Asylum

Posted on October 7, 2009 by SynCaine

Batman: Arkham Asylum’s developer would make Blizzard jealous of their copy/paste skills. Dear god is this game Metal Gear Solid with Batman replacing Solid Snake. (It’s still a fun enough game mind you, but each new room/area just scream ‘remember … Continue reading →

Posted in Random, Rant | 13 Comments

Niche and Mass Market: One big happy MMO genre

Posted on October 6, 2009 by SynCaine

We are at an interesting point in history with MMOs, highlighted beautifully with the recent re-release of the Asian answer to WoW in Aion and the uber-niche Fallen Earth. One is benefiting from a year of full release under its … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Rant, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 10 Comments

The WoW hate: Why 2009 is not 2005.

Posted on September 15, 2009 by SynCaine

Taken from a comment on TAGN, #16: @Syn: So was WoW the debbil when you were spending all waking hours of your life raiding MC (ca. 2005-06) or are these merely the rantings of the repentant sinner who has since … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 51 Comments

Level one, and god-mode already?

Posted on September 11, 2009 by SynCaine

Why do we assume the first mob we fight in an MMO should be an easy kill? I’m serious, how many MMOs can you name where the first mob you face has a legitimate chance to kill you? I mentioned … Continue reading →

Posted in Console Gaming, Darkfall Online, EQ2, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 35 Comments

Your family vacation, McDonalds, and the MMO genre

Posted on September 4, 2009 by SynCaine

Keen has a well written post about his return to WoW and what the game is all about now. Read it made me realize the difference between some people in the real world, one that also seems to apply to … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random, Rant, World of Warcraft | 16 Comments

The fear of impact in the MMO genre.

Posted on September 4, 2009 by SynCaine

The MMO genre is a funny place. On the one hand, it promises to let you play with thousands of other players and share adventures together, while on the other it sets you up to be a hero doing some … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 26 Comments

Eight easy steps to becoming a ‘kind of a big deal’ blog

Posted on August 26, 2009 by SynCaine

This may come as a surprise to some, but generating traffic and comments on an MMO blog is not all that difficult. It’s also not (IMO) all that fun for the writer long-term, but if your beer money or (god … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Mass Media, Random, Rant, Site update, World of Warcraft | 42 Comments

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – The single greatest expansion of all time?

Posted on August 21, 2009 by SynCaine

Readers might have picked up on the fact that I’m at times a bit tough on Blizzard and how they have been updating WoW. Sure I’m not the biggest fan of easymode everything, cookies for everyone, and the glacial pace … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, EQ2, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 60 Comments

Champions Online: My review (EG-style)

Posted on August 17, 2009 by SynCaine

If Champions Online survives longer than HellGate: London, it will be a miracle. I think the idea behind CO is to take CoH, make it suck, and try to get people to pay $200 up front for it before they … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Random, Rant | 36 Comments