Category Archives: Ultima Online

The broken promise of the MMO genre

Posted on November 8, 2019 by SynCaine

Could you imagine playing the same videogame for a decade? Ten years, one game? If this question was asked in the 90s, it would seem silly. That would be at least two generations of consoles, and PC hardware was changing … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Clash of Clans, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, iPhone, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

The older form of Paying-4-Power, and some reading for laugh only

Posted on October 3, 2017 by SynCaine

My old iPhone 5s was starting to break down. For one, the battery was going south, but more importantly, I could only charge it if I put the charger in JUST RIGHT, and it would stop charging if you even … Continue reading →

Posted in Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, PUBG, Rant, RMT, Site update, Ultima Online | 3 Comments

WoW is gankbox, EVE is not

Posted on July 7, 2017 by SynCaine

And the gankbox discussion continues. What I find most interesting about all of this is that it reveals just how little most people understand about MMO design, or even what they themselves want in an MMO. Let’s talk about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Combat Systems, Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 8 Comments

Time as a measure of greatness

Posted on March 2, 2016 by SynCaine

I often give ‘reviews’ of games here. Sometimes official reviews (whatever that means), and sometimes just some random thoughts about a game I’m currently playing. I’ve now been playing games for multiple decades, and have likely written about hundreds here … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, League of Legends, MMO design, Mount and Blade: Warband, Ultima Online | 14 Comments

Living virtual worlds; Now technically possible yet still not here

Posted on January 5, 2015 by SynCaine

One of the fun things about the world in Farcry 4 is that events don’t feel as fake as they do in MMOs. For instance, when PQs were first introduced in Warhammer, they were new and fun. By the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, MMO design, Ultima Online | 12 Comments

AA: The true spiritual successor to UO

Posted on September 30, 2014 by SynCaine

With the lead weight that is Trion and F2P covered yesterday, let’s start digging into WHY you should tolerate Trion and play ArcheAge anyway, because yea, you should be if you enjoy virtual worlds and smart MMO design. I always … Continue reading →

Posted in ArcheAge, Combat Systems, crafting, MMO design, PvP, Review, Ultima Online | 25 Comments

Subtraction by addition

Posted on September 3, 2014 by SynCaine

One of the lazier strawmen in MMO blogging land is to dismiss the success of an older MMO by stating that fewer people play it today. I’m sure you have read some version of “If UO did so many things … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, DDO, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online | 6 Comments

My 15

Posted on March 24, 2014 by SynCaine

Via TAGN, my top 15 influential games. 1: Ultima Online This is an MMO blog, and UO was the first major MMO as we know them today. It’s also had the Ultima IP, which was huge for me. And as … Continue reading →

Posted in Bungie Studios, Console Gaming, EVE Online, League of Legends, Random, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Smed talks sandbox

Posted on February 12, 2014 by SynCaine

Smed has a new blog that yells at you with giant text. I wish he had named it “MMOs are still a niche market”, but no dice on that. His first post is about sandbox design. “When we first began … Continue reading →

Posted in EQNext, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 2 Comments

Closing out 2013. 2014 predictions

Posted on December 30, 2013 by SynCaine

2013 ends much like it began for the MMO genre, with a collective ‘meh’, and this blog overall has reflected that both in post volume and the number of posts about MMOs vs other games. My most played MMO this … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EQNext, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, SW:TOR, The Elder Scrolls Online, Ultima Online, WildStar, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments