Category Archives: Ultima Online

SC: Developer deja vu

Posted on December 5, 2013 by SynCaine

The 2013 Chris Roberts cult worship reminds me of 2006 Richard Garriott cult worship. If you look at their Wikipedia pages, their careers look amazingly similar. RG has Ultima, CR has Wing Commander. RG has Tabula Rasa, CR has Wing … Continue reading →

Posted in Random, Star Citizen, Ultima Online | 30 Comments

MMO Future: Understanding old memories

Posted on October 31, 2013 by SynCaine

Almost all of the original MMOs worked. UO, EQ1, AC1, DAoC; all of those games had solid populations and growth in their prime. In contrast, most of the recent MMOs (AoC, WAR, LotR, SW:TOR, Aion, Rift, etc) have not. Either … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rift, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 52 Comments

EQN: The next big AAA disaster

Posted on August 5, 2013 by SynCaine

In case you don’t want to sit through the EQNext showing, here are the cliff notes: “If someone should do it, it should be EverQuest. Again” (UO…) Lighting Lighting Lighting Lighting Adventure Lighting Lighting How do you like it? :mild … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, EQ2, EQNext, Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rant, The Elder Scrolls Online, Ultima Online | 33 Comments

The blogs reflect the genre

Posted on July 10, 2013 by SynCaine

This post about blogging over at TAGN, along with the comments, is worth reading, even if you are only vaguely interested in the topic of MMO blogs. As the posts-per-day rate here has slowed over the last two months, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Camelot Unchained, Darkfall Online, DDO, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Kickstarter, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rift, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

The good stuffs in the middle

Posted on February 27, 2013 by SynCaine

Let’s talk a little about the history of the mid-game in the MMO genre. IMO the mid-game is the time after you have learned the basics of the game (tutorial or beginning phase), and before you stop progressing or have … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

Losing your mid-game

Posted on February 21, 2013 by SynCaine

Apologies for the lack of content around here lately, I’m emulating the MMO genre… I continue to play a bit of UO:F, and the server’s skill settings have once again confirmed something I’ve already had confirmed a million times before; … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Ultima Online | 15 Comments

UO Forever: More lessons

Posted on January 28, 2013 by SynCaine

UO Forever has been a great time so far, both from just a pure gameplay perspective and as a refresher of sorts on how the MMO genre got started and the design decisions that worked. I’ve covered combat already, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Housing, MMO design, Ultima Online | 5 Comments

UO Forever: Death by dragonfire

Posted on January 22, 2013 by SynCaine

While Aventurine continues to uphold the DF:UW NDA, and :stuff:, I’ve decided to entertain myself with a bit of UO:F, joining up with Keen and his crew. So far it’s been very enjoyable overall, and also leads to one amusing … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Ultima Online | 16 Comments

MMO housing IS gameplay

Posted on January 17, 2013 by SynCaine

And yes, I’ve heard the Ultima Online house analogy. But until I can plant a flower box outside my POS, I don’t buy it. EVE ain’t Minecraft. Going to pick on Jester a bit in this post. I say pick … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Housing, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online | 15 Comments

7 minutes in heaven, a month of hell

Posted on January 16, 2013 by SynCaine

One point that I don’t think I made clear enough in my post about UO’s combat was that the slower pace and simplicity leads to longer retention, and so today I want to expand on that a bit (in horribly … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, Rant, Rift, Ultima Online | 30 Comments