Category Archives: The Elder Scrolls Online

ESO: Turn right, always turn right

Posted on May 5, 2014 by SynCaine

This image, showing just how often ESO uses the same layout for dungeons, is a great illustration of why what worked well in Skyrim doesn’t work as well in ESO. It’s almost part of the IP that you reuse stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in The Elder Scrolls Online | 12 Comments

ESO: State of the game, state of the MMO

Posted on April 23, 2014 by SynCaine

Since Bethesda releases a State of the Game today, I might as well post mine now as well. Overall I really like the game. I don’t know if I’d call it a great MMO, but as just a game overall … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, The Elder Scrolls Online | 10 Comments

EVE: Space Famous

Posted on April 21, 2014 by SynCaine

The latest EVE Blog Banter topic is about “space famous” individuals and everyone’s thoughts about them. Jester has his entry here. The topic reminded me that I had previously talked about the importance of such players, here in more general … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Inquisition Clan, MMO design, Site update, The Elder Scrolls Online | 4 Comments

ESO: Genre meld

Posted on April 8, 2014 by SynCaine

In the post below this one, one line of questions revolved around what percentage of ESO’s content is ‘themepark’, and at what percentage does an MMO go from having themepark elements to just being a themepark. This post won’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, The Elder Scrolls Online | 39 Comments

ESO: Don’t call it a themepark

Posted on April 4, 2014 by SynCaine

One way to judge a recently released MMO is by how often the devs need to patch in the first few days to fix things. ESO has had one so far, so while no game to date has been perfect, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Elder Scrolls Online | 44 Comments

ESO: Exploring without a guide

Posted on April 1, 2014 by SynCaine

When the topic of exploration in an MMO comes up, it causes me to massive eyeroll. Usually what ‘exploration’ means in an MMO is heavily pre-planned, pre-set, and usually pre-marked locations for you to ‘explore’ off a checklist. It’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in The Elder Scrolls Online | 6 Comments

ESO: Day one was a great day

Posted on March 31, 2014 by SynCaine

The Elder Scrolls Online 5 day headstart began yesterday, with the servers actually going up an hour ahead of the scheduled start time (I’m sure someone out there raged about that as being ‘unfair’, because some people suck like that). … Continue reading →

Posted in The Elder Scrolls Online | 8 Comments

ESO: Game is live, Inquisition has been created

Posted on March 30, 2014 by SynCaine

Quick note, ESO is now live (headstart period), and our guild has been created. Inquisition for the Aldmeri Dominion faction. I’m Syncaine in-game. Feel free to reach out.

Posted in The Elder Scrolls Online | 6 Comments

Reviews vs Facts

Posted on March 19, 2014 by SynCaine

A while ago I had a conversation with someone about reviews. My basic point was that they don’t matter all that much, and that we sometimes think they do because the media that produces and relies on reviews tries to … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Mass Media, Random, The Elder Scrolls Online, WildStar | 20 Comments

ESO, DF:UW – Sometimes we go looking for something we already have

Posted on March 17, 2014 by SynCaine

This past weekend ESO had another beta weekend, but I wasn’t able to play much as I had issues with the account my highest-level character is on. I did create an Imperial on my purchased account, but beyond that and … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, The Elder Scrolls Online | 8 Comments