Category Archives: Ultima Online

WAR crafting prediction, and Civ4 multiplayer.

Posted on May 29, 2008 by SynCaine

Warhammer released a bit of info about their crafting system. It sounds like all other crafting systems from un-released games: awesome, new and useful. Odds are good that come release it will be like all other crafting systems: boring, old, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilization Series, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online | 6 Comments

Quest pacing, and why killing boars is cool.

Posted on May 28, 2008 by SynCaine

Being part of the blog community, and spending a decent (read: too much) amount of time reading other blogs, you pick up on trends and common rants. Having been around the MMO block since UO, I’ve also seen my fair … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 29 Comments

Understanding what makes PvP tick.

Posted on April 28, 2008 by SynCaine

Watching people react to all the new info about AoC’s PvP model has been rather entertaining, while also frustrating and somewhat surprising. PvP seems to be an idea that most people ‘think’ they love in an MMO, but when you … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

PvP theorycraft, and the lessons MMOs need to learn.

Posted on April 22, 2008 by SynCaine

Playing as much DoTA as I have lately, it’s got me thinking about the general idea of PvP, and why most MMOs can’t seem to get it right. We have seen what happens when you make it too extreme in … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

You can’t have everything, sorry.

Posted on April 11, 2008 by SynCaine

Keen has a post up about his recent experience in DAoC. The gist of it is that after the ‘newness’ of being back in DAoC wore off, the fact that the PvE in DAoC is not as on-rails as more … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Site update, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

Sandbox or Theme Park?

Posted on February 13, 2008 by SynCaine

During the recent posts about stories in MMOs, the topic of sandbox vs theme park MMOs came up, which got me thinking on which style I prefer and why. The first MMO that I played heavily was Ultima Online back … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Stories in our MMOs.

Posted on February 11, 2008 by SynCaine

Scott over at Pumping Irony (great name btw) has a post about storytelling in MMOs and why they generally fail. He breaks down the current problems, mostly that character development is really just attribute development, which I fully agree with. … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, The Witcher, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

Back in the day…

Posted on February 7, 2008 by SynCaine

A quick but important note today, one that is long overdue. If you have never read WTFman.com, do yourself a favor and head on over. While I don’t agree with the site on all points, I still find it a … Continue reading →

Posted in PvP, Random, Ultima Online | Comments Off on Back in the day…

Goons, EVE, and Freedom!

Posted on January 29, 2008 by SynCaine

This Wired article is making the rounds on various blogs, and as it focuses on griefing, which is somewhat related to PvP, I figured I would throw in my two cents. Go read the article first, if nothing else it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Misunderstanding PvP.

Posted on January 25, 2008 by SynCaine

I think ‘PvP’ is the new ‘nerf’. Remember back in the day anytime anything bad happened, it was called a nerf? And nerf was this dirty word you used to blame the developers for everything going wrong in your MMO? … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 21 Comments